A question for my more knowledgeable friends

[eveglass]

Consider a bard from a culture with an oral tradition (medieval, Norse, Celtic, whatever). How much material, either measured in lines or duration, do you think this person would have known?

Just curious.

Comments

Re: It's like asking how many songs do you know!

[ryss-rhiannon.livejournal.com]

Like the 16th and 17th c. Irish bards. Only they would have been learning since a very early age, say 5 or 6. I'd guess that the rate would have been one a month at the beginning then increased as the skill increased. But those are people who dedicated their life to bardic tradition.

Still an interesting question.

Re: It's like asking how many songs do you know!

[eveglass.livejournal.com]

That's pretty much exactly what I'm asking: for people who have dedicated their lives to bardic, but who don't have written materials to reference, how much would they have known?

I find it a fascinating question, as someone who only dabbles.