Tag: Song

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A whole new world!

Pennsic is a home for many people who may not be as active in the SCA as they’d like to be. For those who are ridden with anxiety, even this town of 12,000 humans who inhabit here for up to two weeks can be a safe haven. For some, it can also be a place where dreams come true and things you would never have done can be realities… so also, dreams coming true.
This was Pennsic #2 for me. Riding solo but still having a group to camp with has been amazing. Mermaid’s song is a group of Bards and Fencers and yes, there is crossover. I arrive and set up my tent hastily. I made a new friend as we had new camp mates. Atilla was kind and welcoming and helped me set up my tent, hastily as, in true Solveig fashion, I have overbooked myself and I don’t really know how to say “no” yet. I’m working on it. With that, I was off to my first Pennsic experience for the year.
Hastily dressed I ran up the hill (Yes, that hill. I live in the bog) to the amphitheater. There was a non-English concert set up to happen. Sadly, there were no spectators, but I think that it made it less of a concert and more of a song sharing session. There were familiar faces and new faces. One face I had seen at this gathering was Heather Dale. For those of you who don’t know Heather, she is an SCA super star and professional touring artist with 20 CD’s available for purchase. It’s like meeting Robert Downey Jr. or any large Hollywood legend. I had met her previously the year before as I was part of Drake Oranwood’s concert which opened for Heather. I didn’t expect her to know or remember me as it was just a glance meeting, but low and behold, like a normal person, she greeted me, said hello and *gasp* remembered my name. I’m terrible with names. Clearly, she was not. I tried to withhold my awestruck words and tried to treat her as a normal person. I -believe- I succeeded. It was eventually my turn and I chose not to sing my best pieces. This was a chance to show languages. I pulled out an old piece I really should memorize.

by Ludwig Senfl (1534, German)
Es Warb Ein Schöner Jüngling
Es warb ein schöner Jüngling
über ein breiten See.
um eines Königes Tochter,
nach leid geschach ihm Weh.

Ach Elselein liebes Elselein mein,
wie gern wär ich bei dir!
So sein zwei tiefe Wasser
wohl zwischen dir und mir.”

“Das bringt mir grossen Schmerzen,
herzallerliebster Gsell.
Redich von ganzem Herzen
Habs für gross Ungefäll.”

Hoff, Zeit werd es wohl enden,
hoff, Glück werd kummen drein
sich in alls Guets verwenden,
herzliebstes Elselein!”
Once there was a handsome young man
from across a wide sea.
Pursuit of a king’s daughter
led him to great sorrow.

“Oh Elselein, my dear Elselein,
how I long to be with you!
But there are two deep waters
between you and me.”

“That brings me great pain, my
dear friend.
I say wholeheartedly this is
great misfortune.”

“Have hope that time will end this.
Have hope that fortune will change.
Have hope that all else will fall into
place, beloved Elselein!”

The rest of the first evening was pretty low key afterwards. Bird the Bard and I spent the rest of the night singing into the hours.

Day 2! Saturday! Low key day as well. Several months prior to I had been asked if I would sing at the East Kingdom/Midrealm invitational Bardic. This was -HUGE-. This is a display of the best/up and coming Bards the kingdoms had to offer. There was no competition involved, just performance. It was certainly quite the show. I had chose to do Amarilli, mia Bella. This piece has a lot of emotional attachment to me as it’s a piece of music I have been doing long before the SCA.

Amarilli, mia bella,                 Amaryllis, my beloved,
Non credi, o del mio cor,       Do you not believe
dolce desio,                           Sweet desired one,
D’esser tu l’amor mio?           That you are my love?
Credilo pur:                            Believe only this:
e se timor t’assale,                 And if fear assails you,
Prendi questo mie strale        Take one of my arrows
Aprimi il petto.                        Open my breast
e vedrai scritto in core:           And see written in my heart,
Amarilli, Amarilli, Amarilli        Amaryllis, Amaryllis, Amaryllis
è il mio amore.                       Is my beloved.

Guilio Caccini (1551-1618). Composed in 1602 and the text was by Alessandro Guarini . Written before the development of the pianoforte (which was invented in 1700), “Amarilli, mia bella” was meant to be accompanied by the lute, which lends it a particularly intimate and hauntingly beautiful atmosphere. Even the words evoke an earlier time—the line, “Prendi questo mie strale” (take one of my arrows) evokes images of bows and arrows. Any performer of “Amarilli, mia bella” will want to sing with a hushed sotto voce (soft singing) throughout with exquisite legato phrasing.
Who decided that waking up prior to 12 on a Sunday was a good idea!? Oh wait… it was the best time for people to meet. ***SIIIGHHHH**** It was time for the EKCOP annual Pennsic meeting. Honestly, I think it was a really constructive meeting. I’ve been the deputy Chatelaine for almost a year now and It was really nice to see how our work has been going and what people had to comment on it. At this meeting I was nominated for Chancellor. I, however, was floored seeing the unanimous vote for my nomination. I know I really care about this group and making performance a safe and tangible place for others, but I never thought my work had gone this noticed. The rest of the day was spent celebrating other delightful musicians such as Cedar Barefoot and the Queen’s Bard, Laila (celebrating her birthday).

Monday was spend rehearsing for our concert on Wednesday and Pirate debauchery at night. Bird has spent many years as a Shantyman. I have always enjoyed a good shanty, but have never thought much about singing them. I was a bel canto singer. We sing pretty. Shanties are for the rough and tough pirates and seaman!!! (Get your head out of the gutter). However, I felt like getting out of my comfort zone. Roll the Old Chariot Along was my song of choice and belting was my game. Mind you, belting is -not- my forte, but the belting muses hit me in the face like a sack of flour. WHOA where did that sound come from!!!!??? I was elated that my voice was continuing to mature. For those of you who don’t know, you go through several vocal puberties during your life. The bigger and darker your voice is, the longer it takes to mature. Mine, according to my voice teachers from college, would be done around age 35. Joy! I digress.

Tuesday was more laid back… I think. Around 11 or so, Bird and I climbed up the brewer’s road hill, filing everyone’s favorite past time song, “Baby Shark”, to motivate us in the intense sun. We eventually made it to our family gathering where the Bard Yard could just relax and enjoy each other’s company. My Laurel and all connections to her, have become some of the most supportive and people in my SCA life. I’ve talked about brain weasels before. They continue to persist. Having a family like this as a performer is essential for building that skin up. I wouldn’t change anyone in this group for the world. Later that night, Bird and I had donated a concert to the royal travel fund. We made our way into the camp of the winners. It was a very “dry” setting despite the alcohol freely flowing. Everything from period pieces to ruckus was performed for an hour. I’m not sure how I felt about this, but I was later told that it was enjoyed. Sometimes, it’s nice to just perform and not peacock. Getting to sing/perform your non forte pieces is a relief sometime.

Wednesday! Oh man. This. This is what you’ve all been waiting for! This would be the day when we would strut all our stuff. I say we, because Bird and I were inseparable this whole war. It started with a very prestigious performance. We had been invited to perform at queen’s tea. That is the big time. Only the “right” performers got to do that. It’s a very specific setting where you are background, not the center of attention. To be invited to perform for this meant you knew how to be unobtrusive, appropriate and a good performer. Bird and I also used this as a warmup for our concert…. Which was 2 hours after. The pieces performed will be discussed after. We were presented a few tokens from attending queens and thanked for our service. It was super magical. It really felt like I was a hired performer in ye olde times… despite some of the modern accouterments. From there, off we went to present, for the first time ever “Song Byrds”. Originally this was supposed to include Collete la Trouvere, however, life happened, and it was just Bird and I. We spent a good amount of time trying to break the concert in to 3 sections that would compliment one another. The first was all period pieces, the second was SCA appropriate/Filks and finally original compositions.

Below is the concert in it’s entirety. Enjoy!

This was the best week of my life, filled with so much song. I regret not being able to perform at the Opera dell’est concert as my voice was shot from the war, but I do not regret having all the opportunities to sing. This only fire up my need to perform more, but I made more connections and started digging for more repetoir!
On an unrelated note, I did meet up with a super amazing lutenist and got to jam to some Dowland with her.

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Birka # 10

This is my first of double digit events for me. This is starting my 9th year in the society and I am still so very fond of my first event. This was also my partner’s first Birka. I chose not to fence this year as I wanted to focus on him and make sure he got to do everything he wanted at his first Birka.

Our main concerns today were making several deliveries as well as seeing friends of ours receive awards. Also… Fashion show.

Aegir had provided 3 tree of life necklaces to the auction for the incoming reign. I made the matching earrings for them as he wasn’t comfortable to making them. I happily obliged. After finding his 3 delivery recipients and receiving his auction purchase, I had to make my deliveries and receipt. I had donated a 30 minute private performance for the auction, however, this delivery was of another nature.

Last year, I was inducted into the prestigious order of the Silver Brooch. This is the award of arms level of Arts and Sciences awards in the East Kingdom. We decided to do an artisans gift exchange. My recipient wasn’t there, but I delivered hand made trim to her. I finally met up with my gift creator and I was in TEARS with the gift she presented me.

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Music is the only thing that truly keeps me alive. Someone made music for -Me-. After I cried over this masterpiece, I spoke with the artist, Shoshanna Gryffyth, and asked her if we could collaborate. She happily agreed. Not only did this project yield new beautiful art that may not have been created (It inspired art) but it helped me connect with someone I would never had met before.

Next was shopping! I didn’t purchase too much, but I am excited for the newest member of the family.

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Next, the fashion show! This year, at the coronation of Willhelm and Vienna, there was a challenge issued that we would incorporate Marvel and DC heroes and villains. I’m not much of a seamstress, but I wanted to improve my skills. I am a huge fan of Wonder Woman and German garb, so why not.

I just learned how to embroider. This is my 3rd project for embroidery.  Here are a few pictures of the in progress of the embroidery and then the final project.

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This is Aegir and I in our pieces:

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After the fashion show was over, Baronial court was happening. This was the last court of her Excellency Jocelyn Del Espada. I went to support her and my friends who were to be the incoming Baron and Baroness. After the court was over, I went to thank her for all she had done for me personally. What I didn’t expect was the flood of tears that came from me. She touched me a way that few have ever. She was/is a huge advocate of music. She inspired me to compete. She inspired me to be -HER- Bard/champion. Despite everything she experienced in the past 5 years, between the SCA and Mundane, SHE was my Baronessa.

Kingdom court came and it was time to see my friends receive much appreciated awards. This is always an exciting time for me. However, just before court, my friend, Master Lucien approached me. He was supposed to Herald the Boast for now, Master Scamus. However, he had fallen ill and requested that I do this. I was excited and honored to be able to herald in my friend, fencing teacher and mentor. I had only done this once before, but never for a crowd this large. Luckily, Lucien had written up the boast, so all I had to do was be loud.

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My friends Kenneric and Cat received their silver wheels, which I had crafted for the (see previous blog post) and our company escorted them into court. Additionally during court I retained for the princess.

After court was over, my favorite part of Birka was about to begin. I was once again honored to run bardic at Birka for the 4th year in a row. We had about 25-30 folks show. We had everyone from ages 13-??? (old). We heard song, story, poem. We had folks who this was their first event, 90th event and those in between. Everyone performed well. I learned a new story which I can’t wait to try out at winter nights (If Aegir doesn’t steal it from me first). Also, at the end of the night, a new and exciting voice arose. I quickly ran to him to present him with my token and encouraged him to get involved. I filled him in on allll the bardic stuff going on and gave him my information as the EKCoP Deputy Chatelaine.

All in all, this was an amazing Birka. So many emotions.. not a single one bad.

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Lochleven Sheep!

At Palio this summer, Baroness Jocelyn and I were chatting about the sheep that has been gifted to Stonemarche from Lochleven. She had a desire, nay, a passion to have the world know of these infamous sheep. Her excellency entrusted me to share their story. Here is the Ballad of the sheep!  Recording to come:

The Ballad of the Lochleven Sheep

By Solveig Bjarnardottir

Year Thirty five , Pennsic all were off
The gate was naked, Ewe the list’ner may scoff
What a way for the glory of the East
Than to guard the gate with a flock of sheep

Sheep, Sheep, Sheep
Rustlin’, Bustlin’ Sheep
Roaming free without their Bo Peep
They once were lost, but now are found
Keep an eye out for the sheep soon to be bound
Lo le lo le Lochleven
Lo le lo le Lochleven

Like the story goes, the herd did roam
The Sheep were missing, but not a Scottsman blows
A ransom laid, of mead well made
Libations for liberation , a splendid set trade

Hide and Seek, Stonemarche’s kids ne’er fail
The sheep were returned with no avail
Honors bestowed upon them at their feet
The taxes roll in without a single bleet

Sheep, Sheep, Sheep
Rustlin’, Bustlin’ Sheep
Roaming free without their Bo Peep
They once were lost, but now are found
Keep an eye out for the sheep soon to be bound
Lo le lo le Lochleven
Lo le lo le Lochleven

A new herd was granted, but something was a wry
Amongst the skein, they did lack all the eyes
A haunted face, an image dare burn
Into the minds of the Barony, all stomachs did turn

When gifted this splendid drove, to our Baroness
Discomfort replaced dreams about the new largesse
How could we make these noble creatures sans morose
Replace these emptied sockets with buttons to diagnose

Two Mismatched pupils, handsewn with care
These two baaaaaad sheep, now serve as Ambassador Heirs
No longer haunting, a fond memory they serve
For Stonemarche, the Children and all who hear the word …

Sheep, Sheep, Sheep
Rustlin’, Bustlin’ Sheep
Roaming free without their Bo Peep
They once were lost, but now are found
Keep an eye out for the sheep soon to be bound
Lo le lo le Lochleven
Lo le lo le Lochleven

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Bardic Around the fire, Strikes again!

Winter is coming, my friends and it’s time for more Bardic!

 

With winter starting to show it’s face and the camping events slowing down, it’s time to keep our bodies and souls warm with the best thing I can think of. Bardic!

Once or twice a year for the last few years I have been running an unoffical gathering at the Inn of Bards Rest. There is a bonfire, potluck and of course, Bardic lubricant. The event is child friendly until 10pm and then the bawdy material may seep its way out.  I try to make this a safe place for all sorts of performers all all levels.

This particular time we have just shy of 30 folks showing up from Maine, Mass., NH and even Vermont. We had performers ranging from age 9 to 60. The fired roared and so many new pieces I have never seen or heard performed happened. One story even made its debut as it was completed being written while the story was being told!

The best part about this was there were folks who showed up only to listen and they grew brave enough with the encouragement of myself as well as those around the circle to perform themselves. It was a magic night especially since the rain held off.

Until next year, when I have a new witty title to name this.

 

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Pensic Pity Party

Pity me on my pilgrimage to Loch Derge!

As in the aforementioned post, I could not make the journey to the holy land this year. Next year in Jerusa—– Pennsic.A few folks had created a small circle in the middle of the lawn. Garb, fencing, thrown weapons, food and archery were all surrounding this (safely at distance… the marshalls all checked! I watched). Music started. I sat and listed to the dulcet tones of these strangers. There is nothing more comforting and home than music.  One gentleman asked me if I sang or played anything or if I was just there to listen. I responded “Both”. They asked me if I would share.  Who was I to say no. I was honestly there to just listen, but denying someone music is the worst crime of all.

I pulled out a tune I knew well and suddenly new friends were made. We jammed for what seemed like hours.  I harmonized with the other performers, I noodled on one of their guitars, sang by myself, had them harmonize with me. It was heaven. Now I just need to figure out how to make this happen in Malagentia. To the drawing board!

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A Walk Amongst the Pines

I pine for you!

Holy mother of rain, Batman. Was this a wet demo. It was raining cats and dogs off and on. Though, it did clear up for a couple of hours.  I was asked a few months prior, knowing that I wasn’t going to Pennsic, to perform for the attendees of the demo. The plans for this had not changed, but there was a hiccup. The individual who was supposed to marshall for this event had to step out last minute.

The Monday evening prior to the demo, I received a message from the autocrat asking if I knew any fencing marshalls who’d be willing to attend the event. I said I would ask around. The Northern Region Rapier Marshall attends my local fencing practices and I asked her as well as the local marshalls if they would be available or have any suggestions. I, myself, had been working on my fencing marshallate for the last year but was not a marshall yet. That evening, I had earned my fencing marshallate and was able to reply to the autocrat with good news. I would be MiC(Marshall in Charge) to make sure fencing could happen.

Fast forward to day of, paperwork was provided, everyone was safe, no one died and it was a good demo. I even heralded and announced the fencers as well. The heavy armored fighters were so thrilled to see this, they asked me to herald them in as well and speak to the audience. I think this went well.

Finally, the rain just overtook the whole event. We curled up inside of structure… Barn/garage thing… A small bardic circle formed. Ruadh was discussing that bardic can be for everyone and comes in all shapes and sizes. I sang for the group… pretty pieces and not so pretty pieces. I told stories and hammed it up (Kosher Ham, mom. I promise!). I gently nudged new performers to get up and do their thing. I sang with the new comers and I could feel the cold air turn warm. There is something magical about how bardic can make a garage with crockpots feel like an old tavern.

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The Great Northeastern War

She turned me into a GNEW-t!… I got better.

Lord Frederick Vanderveer had approached me once again to open my mouth to make pretty noises. It was time to arrange another concert for GNEW. It was a bit harder to wrangle performers this year due to the fighting schedule and the notoriously long pomp and circumstance of Court.

I had lined up a few new acts for the concert. Something about this year filled me with the anticipation of new and exciting talent.

A few days prior to the concert, I began to receive multiple messages from people who could no longer perform. What started as a venue of 7 performers was now down to 4. This would still work, but we all suddenly had more stage time to fill.

Bardic Grove had been moved to Merchants Row, and the stage was now more intimate. The concert was slated for Friday night so it would not compete with Court (besides, some of us like to go to bed BEFORE the thunder parties are over).

Waiting with me to perform was Lady Nuala McKensie, but my 2 other performers never appeared.

I swore I would still make this work.

Nuala and I would weave between pieces. I also had the genius idea to turn the concert stage into a safe space for newer and less confident performers.

Lord Frederick Vanderveer happened to be in attendance. I asked him if he would grace us with a piece. He gladly accepted and entertained the audience with a beautiful melody. It was really nice to see him perform. He doesn’t often get a venue to perform vocally and sometimes the bard factor can be intimidating.

After that, we also had the joy of being entertained by Lord Greger when he told us a humorous tale of one of his many experiences within the SCA.

To round out the night, we had a young woman with a beautiful voice who had never performed publicly before. It was absolutely lovely to have new blood show such bravery as to perform in front of an audience at our show.

We finished with a group performance of “Life Blood”, which has always been an SCA favorite of mine.

The next day, there were to be several courts held. There was one mid day at which a friend of mine would be receiving an award, so I made sure to be present.

There was a hold with the royalty (not uncommon in these situations). They had called for a bard. Typically, in these circumstances the King’s or Queen’s personal bard would be called to perform, however, neither was present for this event. Being noticed by the King, I was called to perform. I did not have my bard book on me, but without hesitation I began to sing. I few verses later, my services were no longer needed and court resumed.

I had never been called on to perform so suddenly and without preparation. This was a huge honor bestowed upon me by the royalty, and I can only be thankful my performance was not preceded by me losing my lunch all over the court attendees.

 

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Sing for the East- CD

Some funds, some funds, my Kingdom for some funds!

It had been 8 years since I had done my last professional recording. I was eager to get my feet wet again. The wish fairy came to my aid via the Tome of Visages carrier pigeon. I received a request from Drake Oranwood. Drake was organizing a fundraiser for the East Kingdom Travel Fund. If one is not familiar, it is very expensive to be King and Queen, and so, we, as loyal citizens, aim to increase the size of their coffers.

We would put together a CD/digital download of East Kingdom anthems.

I was sent a piece by Mistress Aife Ingen Chonchobair in Derthaige called The Eastern Tyger’s Roar. I gave the piece one listen and needed no additional motivation. I learned the piece over the next few days and traveled to the Barony of Endewerde to visit with Mistress Aneleda. She had a sweet, sweet setup (next to her washer, dryer, and ironing board).

Recording started promptly at 10:30 PM Eastern Standard Time, and concluded 11:30 PM. I think I may have done 9 takes in that time, some of which may or may not have been composed entirely of giggles. The finished product was sent via carrier pigeon to Lord Drake and were never heard from again until the time of final production. What can I say? I am my biggest critic. 

If you’d care for a listen, and to support the East Kingdom, please follow the link below.

www.singfortheeast.bandcamp.com

 

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Giggleswick Garden of Arts and Sciences

It’s a maze this garden, it’s a maze of ways…

I may have a minor addiction to going to classes. I swore, when I was done with college I would never set foot in a classroom again. This, coming from the education major. That didn’t last very long. The one things that beats my desire to learn is my desire to teach. An opportunity arose at the Giggleswick Garden of Arts and Sciences that there were no bardic classes, only one on instruments themselves. How could this be? Why would anyone ever let this happen?  (It just so happened that after I submitted my classes, so did Lord Nicol) I couldn’t let this happen! When I found out this news, I made sure I would teach a new class and one I had taught before. Since this was a relatively small venue, it would be a safe avenue for testing out my new bardic class.

I arrived early on site as that’s the only way I know how to be. This is humorous as not only am I in the SCA, but my family is Jewish.  Being on time is not really a thing. Being early? UNHEARD OF! I guess the musician in me lives by our golden rule: “To be early is to be on time. To be on time is to be late. To be late, fired!” I threw on my garb hastily and then greeted a friend who was attending his first SCA event.

The first class was one on medieval musical notation and church modes. This was one I have taught a few years prior. I was really impressed with the level of questions I received after the class ranging from why we didn’t have musical documentation, the evolution of documentation and why most of our earlier documented music was sacred versus secular. Where, these were not necessarily on topic, I was overjoyed to answer these questions and cultivate eager minds.

It was then time for food and the day board was terrific. Thank you Giggleswick for your delicious noms. I don’t think I remembered to pack feast gear or prepare food. I was so excited to teach, I had forgotten about my need to eat. You also had this for me too. Yay!

The final class I was stated to teach was a beginning class on ear training. Ear training is a methodology of creating a better sense of identifying the center of the pitch to be able to sing/play in tune, recognize intervals and be able to sing/play back passages. I had two students. One of my students I had worked with before and she had a balanced sense of the above, but was not professionally trained and was looking to better herself. The other was a gentleman who had never sang formally. He had a good ear but, as we all do, had things to work on.

This was a new and interesting experience for me. Where I have worked with groups before for minor adjustments, this was my first time doing individualized adult instruction which was not chorus based. Both of the students grew in skill tremendously fast. It was clear that they both were frustrated with their own mistakes. Knowing where to back off and move on is always finding the feel for it. I feel like I had a decent sense of this.

Would I teach this class again? Absolutely! I would change up some of the structure and skill level activities, but all in all, I feel like it went well.

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King and Queens Bardic Competition

Hit me with your best shot!

It was time for me to put on my big bard… big skald? Pants and go out head to head… neck to neck.. Voice to voice with the best that the east kingdom had to offer. Fuzzy hat? Check! Brooches! (or as some call them, nipple shields)? Czech… I mean CHECK! Documentation? 2 pages…. Check! Repertoire? Checkkkkkkk.

Lets back up a little bit. The week prior to the event, several of my friends, peers, peerfriends had asked if I was competing in King and Queens Bardic competition. I’d frequent statements like, “Oh, it’s too far” or “I’m not good enough” or even “I didn’t know … I got nothin’”. Finally, it was 5 days prior to the event, when I somehow got swindled into competing and agreed. I sent in my email of intent to compete… a whopping 4 hours before the deadline.

The Friday before the event, I drove to Lady Olivia’s abode and realized.. ACK! I had forgotten my documentation on my desk at work. Thank goodness I has a smart and save all my documentation in cloud form. The new task was making sure her printer actually did a thing. A bottle of mead later, we had a working printer and mostly legible documentation.

The day of the event, I wandered lost, gripping my styrofoam cup of milk of gods… dunkin doughnuts coffee in one hand and the other clung to an eggwhite sandwich. I wandered the beautiful venue, gathering myself and aimlessly looking to where troll was. I maybe knew a few familiar faces, but the queen and kings bards were not amongst them. I eventually stumbled on them.

As I anxiously waited for the competition to begin, I was blessed to have more familiar faces there on site. Lady Ada happened to have a fidget cube which she sacrificed for me to calm my nerves. The time had come and my name was called for my first piece. I started by speaking about the piece itself, the translation literal than poetic and then made a -just barely- off color joke. I think the audience received this well. Racing through my head, hidden behind my pleasant facade, was thoughts of “Oh, Viking persona… how well can she sing?” “Oh, she told a joke… she must be compensating”. Even the king himself looked distracted and less than interested at the moment.  It was time, I opened my mouth and the room seemed to lull into a hush. My heart stopped at the end of the cadenza when the applause filled the room. Almost immediately after the first round was over, several individuals approached me with tokens. I was astounded. I have never received more than one at a time at an event, ever. I thanked everyone graciously for their tokens and then wandered into the A and S display to calm my mind a little bit.

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Round 2, fight! It was time to announce of the 16 competitors, who could be moving on. My name was called as one of the last few announced and my heart hit the floor in gratitude. Now it was time to regain my composure for round 2. I had a stories prepared to show that I was more diverse than just a vocalist. Albeit, I only have 1 story to tell, but damnit I am going to tell it.

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I approached as my name was called, and called for the biggest, bravest individuals in the audience to join me. Let’s face it, we bards are hams. I had about 9-10 folks join me. I left their participation description to the end and informed the audience of their parts in my story. Again, fighting the urge to self deprecate myself in my own mind I pushed on. The story roared for about 13 minutes (4 minutes longer than I had planned) and again, a thunderous applause.

Wise guy remarks were dropped to me from the Prince afterwards and I felt good about myself. The final 4 were to be announced, but my name had not been called. That was ok. I felt good about my work. Another several individuals approached me and presented me with tokens, and two more had IOUs for me. The King himself was amongst those who had presented me with their token. I was in shock and awe. I’ll take it!

I approached the current reigning bards for feedback so I’d be ready for next year. I was told my documentation was spot on, my vocal performance was stellar, but my story was too long. I was however, told that I was a fantastic story teller. They asked me if I had more, to which I said, “No, this is my one and only, which I have only performed 2 times prior”. I was encouraged to continue singing and of course storytelling.

 

This may have not made me KIng or Queen’s bard, but I went home a winner!