This morning I was investigating the word seanchaidh, which is the
Scottish Galic term for storyteller. Finding this ancestral word and
learning how to pronounce it led me to exploring alternative words for
storytellers. Also, I found seanachi, the Irish name for storyteller.
Related to this you can investigate some of my new links on the What Makes You Click? list on the right side of this page. In particular I found Story Lovers World provided a wonderful collection of answers to my inquiry about alternative words for storyteller.
My inquiry would not have been complete without looking for synonyms. I was pleased to see the definition of storyteller on http://thesaurus.com/browse/storyteller as the "recounter of stories". However, the synonyms below the definition changed everything. I was shocked! It read:
"Synonyms: allegorist author, bard, fibber, liar, minstrel, narrator, reconteur, writer."
Furthermore the main entry was "liar". And, the next entry was listed as a "person who tells falsehood". The synonyms were listed as "cheat, con artist, deceiver, deluder, dissimulator, equivocator, fabler, fabricator, fabulist, false witness, falseifier, fibber, maligner, misleader, perjurer, phony, prevaracator, promoter, . . . trickster" . . . well, I now can understand why not everyone wants to be known as a storyteller. There certainly are a lot of negative connotations to being a storyteller.
Yes, you may have been afraid for your reputation as you become a storyteller. You may have worried about the name calling, "Storyteller!" or if you have had a bit of experience already, whether anyone will ever believe you again once they know you are a confirmed storyteller.
Here's my solution. If you want to be a storyteller, own up to it. Tell everyone you are a storyteller and frame your stories right from the beginning with the words "once upon a time", "many years ago", or "this morning". That way, people will know that you belong to the storytellers-for-good group. Storytelling, my friends, has be maligned and I do not want you to be afraid of being a storyteller-for-good. You, too, can overcome your fear of storytelling by clearing the air of the maligning imagery right from the start of your story. Have fun! Tell stories!
My inquiry would not have been complete without looking for synonyms. I was pleased to see the definition of storyteller on http://thesaurus.com/browse/storyteller as the "recounter of stories". However, the synonyms below the definition changed everything. I was shocked! It read:
"Synonyms: allegorist author, bard, fibber, liar, minstrel, narrator, reconteur, writer."
Furthermore the main entry was "liar". And, the next entry was listed as a "person who tells falsehood". The synonyms were listed as "cheat, con artist, deceiver, deluder, dissimulator, equivocator, fabler, fabricator, fabulist, false witness, falseifier, fibber, maligner, misleader, perjurer, phony, prevaracator, promoter, . . . trickster" . . . well, I now can understand why not everyone wants to be known as a storyteller. There certainly are a lot of negative connotations to being a storyteller.
Yes, you may have been afraid for your reputation as you become a storyteller. You may have worried about the name calling, "Storyteller!" or if you have had a bit of experience already, whether anyone will ever believe you again once they know you are a confirmed storyteller.
Here's my solution. If you want to be a storyteller, own up to it. Tell everyone you are a storyteller and frame your stories right from the beginning with the words "once upon a time", "many years ago", or "this morning". That way, people will know that you belong to the storytellers-for-good group. Storytelling, my friends, has be maligned and I do not want you to be afraid of being a storyteller-for-good. You, too, can overcome your fear of storytelling by clearing the air of the maligning imagery right from the start of your story. Have fun! Tell stories!
