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Year One to Three: Foundations
The beginning student—called Fochloc (very young person)—learned basic forms. Simple verses, common meters, genealogies of their own family and immediate neighbors. They memorized perhaps fifty poems, learned to recite without stumbling, began developing the mental disciplines required for larger work.
The training was oral, rhythmic, repetitive. The master Bard recited. The student repeated. Over and over until the words bypassed conscious thought and lodged in deep memory. The student learned to breathe with the verse, to let rhythm carry meaning, to trust the pattern.
Year Four to Six: Expansion
The intermediate student—Macrecloc (young person)—expanded their repertoire dramatically. They learned mythological cycles (the Ulster Cycle, the Fenian Cycle, the Mythological Cycle), mastered complex verse forms, began composing original pieces under the master’s supervision.
This was when many students failed. The memorization load was crushing. Hundreds of poems, thousands of lines, intricate genealogies connecting every noble family. Some students’ memories could not hold it all. They tried, failed, tried again, failed worse. Eventually they withdrew, finding other professions.
Those who continued demonstrated not just intellectual capacity but calling. They were becoming Bards not from ambition but from inability to be anything else.
Year Seven to Nine: Mastery
The advanced student—Cli (poet)—learned the deepest forms. Satire composition (dangerous art requiring perfect judgment), praise-poetry (requiring genuine insight into character), prophecy-verse (requiring connection to Otherworldly knowledge). They also learned musical accompaniment (harp, lyre), understanding that words and music together created power neither possessed alone.
At this stage, the student began performing publicly—supervised by the master, limited to appropriate contexts, but actually practicing the craft. They recited at local gatherings, composed praise-poems for minor nobles, demonstrated their developing skill.
Year Ten to Twelve: Refinement
The final years were refinement. The student—now called Anruth (noble stream, referring to the flowing quality of their verse)—polished their craft to perfection. They learned the subtlest verse-forms, the most complex allusions, the techniques for handling dangerous situations (praising a cruel king without lying, satirizing a powerful enemy without provoking fatal retaliation).
They also learned professional ethics—when to speak and when to remain silent, how to maintain independence while accepting patronage, how to preserve truth while navigating political complexity. The Bard’s power could destroy, and with power came responsibility for its wise use.
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