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The part about "the modern African American practice of freestyle battles" should be changed to something that is not race specific. The statement is neither historically accurate nor is it a currently factual statement. The term "freestyle battles" no doubt refers to a practice within HipHop & Rapping which has always been a multi-ethnic activity which is even more true today. Many of the official title holders are of European descent. Not sure the best way to rephrase the statement otherwise I would have just done it myself. 71.20.196.231 (talk) 04:22, 16 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

"The flyting of Loki is missing" 66.90.151.217 (talk) 21:28, 30 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Flyting is a very specific term related to 16th century Scottish poets, nothing more or less. Flyting is one example of the genre called "verse contest" which can be found the world over and very ancient. See also for example Medieval debate poetry. Green Cardamom (talk) 23:27, 8 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

This article mainly uses Germanic examples. The phenomenon was actually common in Gaelic and Welsh poetry too. Walter Kennedy would have been aware of that tradition.-MacRùsgail (talk) 10:29, 26 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Monty Python used flyting in their sketches, meesems.Zezen (talk) 20:11, 2 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

this doesn't explain that flyting was a traditional precursor to battles eg The Battle of Maldon. It is most likely that practising in the hall was to sharpen one's wit ready for the battle flyting. Battles were then seen in two parts: who won the war of words and who won the battle. This was culturally important because what they were after was not just dominance but "fame". In Anglo Saxon and especially Viking (Norse) culture, the warrior wanted a famous death. This meant being witty and showing his bravery and total lack of fear. This comes through into modern times - the British admiration from someone who can be witty in the face of overwhelming odds, or the witty 'famous last words'. Flyting is also present in the blason populaire of football chants where the game of football substitutes for the battle. You have to remember that the ideal warrior is someone like Egil Skallagrimsson who was clever and witty but also good in battle. To be a hero who was lauded and remembered you needed both skills. This was to achieve 'fame'. This spills over into mythology where the gods even are given a flyting in Lokasenna.SandrinaHatman (talk) 11:48, 19 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Perhaps oral battle is the correct term. Verbal includes the written word. Dankennerly (talk) 15:10, 2 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

• But "oral" includes a whole bunch of other things. Besides, it's not called "verbal battle" in the article. Drmies (talk) 15:12, 2 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

As noted by an on-screen text message between areas, and here: https://elderscrolls.fandom.com/wiki/Dragon_Shouts , "when dragons shout, breathing fire or frost at each other with the Thu'um they are actually having a deadly verbal debate." Unsure if this would qualify under Modern Portrayals or if there's a more fitting article you can use for it. 64.188.186.48 (talk) 02:36, 5 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]