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<blockquote data-quote="kigmatzomat" data-source="post: 2133454" data-attributes="member: 9254">You seem to misunderstand the word &quot;oblique.&quot;&nbsp; Ignoring the mathematical definitions it means &quot;indirect or evasive; devious, misleading, or dishonest.&quot;&nbsp; Any such statement remains misleading or evasive regardless of the reader.&nbsp; However riddles are to bards as math is to physicists: stock in trade to both.&nbsp; That doesn't mean that they are right all the time though.&nbsp; Careful, your bias is showing. You have an idea of bards as seen through a british lens.&nbsp; To the mythic world there will be many races that do not speak as mortals do.&nbsp; Mute people would not use songs.&nbsp; Deaf gods would not listen to sagas.&nbsp;&nbsp; Bardic lore requires some understanding of other culltures, plural, means of storing knowledge.&nbsp; A proper bard should know of cuneiform, heiroglyphics, sagas, and epic poems.&nbsp; All non-divine knowledge is imprecise.&nbsp; The finite nature of man alone ensures that.&nbsp;&nbsp; Written lore has one advantage over oral: it remains static.&nbsp; Oral tradition has an advantage over written lore: it can be explained.&nbsp;&nbsp; Both have errors introduced by the writer/speaker and reader/listener.&nbsp; Only true mind-to-mind communication could perfectly duplicate knowledge 100% of the time.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="kigmatzomat, post: 2133454, member: 9254"] You seem to misunderstand the word "oblique." Ignoring the mathematical definitions it means "indirect or evasive; devious, misleading, or dishonest." Any such statement remains misleading or evasive regardless of the reader. However riddles are to bards as math is to physicists: stock in trade to both. That doesn't mean that they are right all the time though. Careful, your bias is showing. You have an idea of bards as seen through a british lens. To the mythic world there will be many races that do not speak as mortals do. Mute people would not use songs. Deaf gods would not listen to sagas. Bardic lore requires some understanding of other [i]cullture[b]s[/b][/i], plural, means of storing knowledge. A proper bard should know of cuneiform, heiroglyphics, sagas, and epic poems. All non-divine knowledge is imprecise. The finite nature of man alone ensures that. Written lore has one advantage over oral: it remains static. Oral tradition has an advantage over written lore: it can be explained. Both have errors introduced by the writer/speaker and reader/listener. Only true mind-to-mind communication could perfectly duplicate knowledge 100% of the time. [/QUOTE]

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