This study draws on a wide range of texts - early Irish, pre-modern Scottish Gaelic, early Welsh, Early Norse, Old English -to illustrate the role of the poet as a tool of power, as seer, and as ceremonial figure.
The authors describe the varying roles which "poets" have historically filled in society, suggesting their various functions. They draw on a wide range of texts - Irish, Gaelic, Welsh, Norse - to illustrate these functions and the centrality of "wisdom literature" to the tribal poet.
