Google Trends search interest for 'Bard' has almost no spike for December 2019 when the Netflix Witcher series was released [1]

(It does show a spike for the Netflix series 'Bard of Blood' which is an 'Indian espionage thriller' but the marketing for that doesn't show any medieval instruments)

[1] https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=today%205-y&q=...

Witcher is not the first medieval fantasy show or game.

Memes using the Bayeux tapestry were a reasonably active niche a few years ago, I suspect this phenomenon is derived from that.

The Witcher, the Netflix show, has a bard song which became a popular earworm. I'm confident it has played a part in the popularization of Bardcore as a meme/genre.

I think the juxtaposition of modern writing and wit in Witcher with the not-really-medieval society stuck with pre-steam technology might be the catalyst for creating the Bardcore genre.

Pretty sure normies learned about bards from The Witcher and not, say, EverQuest.

Or maybe people with a regular western European education didn't wait for the Witcher to know what a bard is.

That's like... hundreds of millions of people. Most of them "normies" by your standards, certainly :)

Has Bardcore reached "normies" at all yet?

You're here arnt you.

I'll admit I initially thought Bard was a derogatory term, from the way they were using it in "The Witcher"...

I haven't watched "The Witcher" but "The Bard" is a common, affectionate moniker for one of the English language's most quintessential and influential playwrights and poets.

If anything I'd considered that term to be flattering.

Just sounded derogatory, if you hadn't heard the term before... for example;

> "Stop following me 'Bard'!"