Flyting

1545 woodcut by Lucas Cranach referencing (and possibly illustrating) flyting. German peasants respond to a papal bull of Pope Paul III. Caption reads: "Don't frighten us Pope, with your ban, and don't be such a furious man. Otherwise we shall turn around and show you our rears."[1][2]
The Norse gods Freyja and Loki flyte in an illustration (1895) by Lorenz Frølich

Flyting or fliting (Classical Gaelic: immarbág, Irish: iomarbháigh, lit. "counter-boasting"),[3] is a contest consisting of the exchange of insults between two parties, often conducted in verse.[4]

  1. ^ "Nicht Bapst: nicht schreck uns mit deim ban, Und sey nicht so zorniger man. Wir thun sonst ein gegen wehre, Und zeigen dirs Bel vedere"
  2. ^ Edwards Jr, Mark U. (2004-11-19). Luther's Last Battles: Politics and Polemics 1531-46. Fortress Press. p. 199. ISBN 978-1-4514-1398-4.
  3. ^ Vivian Mercier (1962). The Irish Comic Tradition. Oxford University Press. p. 146.
  4. ^ Parks, Ward (1986). "Flyting, Sounding, Debate: Three Verbal Contest Genres". Poetics Today. 7 (3): 439–458. doi:10.2307/1772505. JSTOR 1772505.