#flyting

I think the reason why Sir Kay is always such a loudmouth and why he is always getting his ass kicked in the Romances is because it's a holdover of Flyting.

Flyting is an ancient practice of ritual insult dueling, found in a number of cultures, most notably Norse and Celtic. It involves two parties verbally sparring each other in poetic verse, often with provocations of cowardice and sexual deviancy. In other words, literal rap battles and diss tracks.

Presumably, as one of the oldest characters in the Arthurian Mythos and one rooted in the Welsh poetic tradition, Kay would have been expected to be not just a powerful warrior but also a combative wordsmith that can raise morale, praising allies and jeering opponents.

This comes into conflict when the High Medieval Period comes along and principles of Chivalry and Courtliness came into vogue. The philosophies of that time emphasized the cultivation of a well-mannered and sensible warrior-courtier, not starting needless conflicts amongst peers while maintaining martial hardiness.

The ability to brag and getting under a rival's skin probably ran counter to this new ideal of being a well-behaved knight, so steps had to be taken to curb and remove that culture from the warrior ethos.

What if I took this a step further and make him be good at flyting in Drekabornr? But not just him, the other Vikings too

Flyting is the practice of exchanging insults in rhyming/poetic form and the Norse people were good at it

You were respected if you could destroy your opponents verbally, not just on the battlefield

Balagull

Pop culture loves to portray the Vikings as mindless, screaming berserkers who only cared about swinging heavy iron. We treat them like pure barbarians.

But if you walked into a Norse mead hall in the 9th century and all you could do was fight, they didn't respect you. They thought you were an absolute joke.

To be a true warrior in ancient Norse and Germanic cultures, you also had to be a poet. They practiced an art called Flyting (from the Old English word flītan, meaning "to quarrel"). It was a highly structured, rhythmic exchange of insults. It was, in every sense of the word, a historical rap battle.

You couldn't just yell at someone. You had to verbally destroy your opponent—attacking their bravery, their honor, their family, and their sexual prowess—all while keeping perfect poetic meter and alliteration.

It was so culturally significant that it was practiced by kings and gods in the sagas. The most famous example is the Lokasenna (The Flyting of Loki). In this myth, Loki crashes a divine feast and systematically roasts every single major god in the Norse pantheon, completely paralyzing them with his wit and perfect poetic structure before Thor finally threatens him with a hammer.

Flyting proved that your mind was just as lethal as your arm. Anyone can pick up a piece of metal and swing it blindly in a rage. But to dismantle a man's entire soul to his face, in perfect rhyme, before you ever draw your blade? That is psychological dominance.

A sharp blade is good. A sharper tongue is better.