Bard, Skald, Makar: A Poet and Poetry in Scottish Court Flyting

Abstract

The article explores the genre of Scottish court flyting using the example of The Flyting of Dunbar and Kennedy and The Flyting betwixt Montgomerie and Polwart. These two works are the only fully preserved compositions written in the genre of court flyting. The article aims to give a brief description of this genre, outlining its characteristic features, to identify the individual traits inherent in the poetic style of the flyting participants and their attitude to such verbal competitions. The focus is on the theme of art and creativity, which is repeatedly raised in the speeches of the opponents, and on their characteristics of a poet and poetry. The ambiguous status of flyting plays an important role here: in the times of Dunbar and Kennedy it was considered a low genre, and winning a ‘flyting battle’ both meant the poet’s triumph and could potentially cast a shadow on his reputation; during the times of Montgomerie and Polwart, the attitude toward flyting improved. All the four poets use a rich arsenal of synonyms for the word ‘poet’, including ‘bard’, ‘skald’, ‘makar’ (creator, maker), among which not all are compliments by nature. To analyze the designations of a poet and the participants’ views on poetry, the article employs the cultural-historical, comparative-typological, and biographical methods of analysis. The study has established that the poets expressed their attitude to art and criticized the skills of their opponents both using unsubstantiated accusations and basing their comments on examples from the opponents’ works, turning to the topics of plagiarism and imperfection of style. They used various synonyms for the word ‘poet’, both laudatory and offensive. The main goal was to humiliate the interlocutor not only as a member of society but also as a creator.