> Thanks for the replies thus far folks, they've really got me
> thinking. To answer Jane's question, it's more of a political thing
> I had in mind. It seems that boasting has a number of roles.
>
> The first is the basic communicative social role (I'd
> thought 'Barbarian Business Card' rather than 'CV').
>
> Another might be to convey a sense of personal oral history and
> lineage; for example one would tell one's children of what their
> great grandfather did, and this could take the form of a boast.
>
> Another might be blowing off steam after a battle (the beer, the
> beef, the boasting).
>
> The thing I'm aiming for in game terms ultimately is a more
> political form of boasting. I'd be interested to hear if any of you
> have used this in your games. I have the notion that if boasting is
> an inherrently Orlanthi behaviour, after the Battle of Iceland there
> will be a fair amount of it going on. Sartar Rising suggests that
> players might have political rivals from within the rebellion
> itself - others who aspire to greatness and who see the PCs as a
> challenge. If you combine these two things, there is an opportunity
> for a boasting-based story telling competition.
>
> What one has done on the battle field will obviously be important to
> how one is perceived afterwards. But only a handful of people will
> actually have seen what one did; everyone else will only know from
> the formal stories that are told (by skalds etc.) and from word of
> mouth (natural human tale telling, and also personal boasting). It
> occurred to me that the *political* winners of the battle of Iceland
> will be those who (i) fought well (ii) have a handy skald or three
> around to make a good story of it and (iii) make a good tale of it
> themselves. Boasting thus has a role to play.
>
> In this sense it has a political edge. All things being equal, if
> I'm better at it than you, I can score political points that may
> have huge ramifications. It requires (i) having done something
> notable in the first place (ii) a passionate delivery (iii) the
> ability to turn basic facts into a good tale, including a sense of
> the poetic and dramatic (iv) perhaps a little discerning
> exaggeration (v) memory (vi) knowledge of the enemy (if you know the
> deeds of your great adversary, and can relay them to others, your
> victory could appear all the greater). It probably needs some other
> things too. Hence, for a political leader it seems like a skill in
> it's own right.
>
> Anyway, I'm not sure where all that leads me but it has been most
> helpful for me to be able to write it all down!
>
> Thanks and kind regards
>
> Nam
>
Other examples of boasting can be found in the Icelandic sagas (Egil's
saga springs to mind) and stories adapted from them like Tim Severin's
Viking trilogy. Egil's boasting takes the form of verse (very Orlanthi)
and in one instance is used as reparation to a king when he makes a
verse boasting of the king's deeds. In the Viking books kings and
chieftans employ skalds to compose verses boasting of their deeds, maybe
something for the Drogarsi to do.
Adrian
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