Insults

It is pretty clear from surviving sources, as well as literary classics such as Shakespeare and Chaucer, that early Europeans were a pretty foul-mouthed lot. So when reenacting fighting for display it is a good idea to have a nice little repertiore of insults that you can throw at your opponent. It helps to maintain the ambience, and it frequently gives the audience a good laugh.

However, since many of the members of our audiences are likely to be school children, and may include adults who are sensitive to bad language, it is important to avoid any of the common "taboo" words, at least half a dozen of which I am sure you can think of.

Period insults can come in several categories. They may be direct (suggesting that the target is inadequate or a poor fighter) or indirect (impugning the honour or morals of the target's female relatives, for example).

For a direct insult, few can ignore a comparison to an animal - especially one that is considered "dirty" or lower-class. You can refer to your opponent as a "filthy dog" or a "Norman pig". Descriptive adjectives are handy here as well - "Gut-brained, pox-mouthed hairy pig!" Comparisons with animals are almost always acceptable in a display situation, so long as the taboo words are avoided. Indirect insults can be made from the same stock, as they are today, simply by adding "your mother is a..." to the beginning.

In a warrior society, implying that someone is a coward, or that their abilities on the battlefield are not up to scratch, is almost as effective. Calling someone a "coward", while effective, is a little tame for most audiences. Instead, calling them a "cowardly Saxon son of a half-starved mule" is much better.

Implying that the target, or the target's relatives, have loose morals is more difficult to do effectively when certain words or concepts cannot be used. This is where the indirect reference comes into play. You can't say "I f***ed your sister last night", but you can say "Your sister is very pretty when she's screaming my name". Depending on your opinion this can either lose or gain impact when said by a female combatant.

Traditionally, many insults were religion-based. Cursing someone to the demons of Hell allows an awful lot of scope for descriptive interpretation, as do the implications of the wrath of Odin. In practice, however, I would advise caution, particularly if the display is at a Catholic school. Even in a general audience there are some who may be offended by cursing or blasphemy.

However, pre-Christian religion is fair game. Telling someone that "Odin will flay the skin from your pox-ridden back when I'm finished with you" is perfectly all right in most circumstances.

Oaths

Oaths have a different purpose. Where an insult is used to denigrate or offend your opponent, an oath is a promise of dire consequences if the described activity is not taken.

Oaths can be sworn by gods ("By Thor!") or by famous figures ("I swear on the head of the king"), or even by their body parts ("By the Queen's ankles!"). Generally they take the form "I swear by ... that I will ..."

For example "On the grave of my mother I swear that you will lay dead when this day is finished!" or "May Woden strike me blind if my sword doesn't find its mark in your heart!" Christian oaths may be used by certain personas, eg the Normans or the occasional Viking, without undue stress. It should be pointed out however that the idea of swearing by the various Catholic saints was in general a later-period device.

Links

Stefan's Floregilium is a mailing list which discusses many period subjects - this particular thread is about period insults and has some good ideas.

Create Your Own Shakesperean Insults is a "one-from-column-a" style of insult generator. It has a good selection of hyphenated descriptive adjectives.

Randomly Generated Period Insults has an awful lot of material. One is given to think that someone has too much time on their hands.