Bard 79504 223649441 2008-07-05T02:13:09Z 66.17.126.241 Removed vandalism {{citations missing|date=October 2007}} {{Celtic mythology}} [[Image:The Bard.jpg|thumb|''The Bard'' (ca. 1817), by [[John Martin (painter)|John Martin]]]] :''For other meanings of the word, see [[Bard (disambiguation)]].'' A '''bard''' was one of a caste of poets and scholars of medieval and early modern [[Ireland]], [[Scotland]], [[Wales]] and [[Cornwall]]. == Headline text == The term acquired generic meanings of an epic author/singer/narrator (compare with the terms in other cultures: [[minstrel]], [[skald]], [[rhapsode]], [[udgatar]], [[griot]]) or any poets, especially famous ones. For example, [[William Shakespeare]] is known as The Bard.<ref> [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bard "Bard"], Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc.. Accessed 11 Jan. 2008.</ref> ==Etymology== The word is a [[loanword]] from descendant languages of [[Proto-Celtic language|Proto-Celtic]] ''*bardos'', ultimately from [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] ''*g<sup>w</sup>erh<sub>2</sub>'': ''"to raise the voice; praise"''. The first recorded example is in 1449 from the [[Scottish Gaelic|Scottish Gaelic language]] into [[Scots language|Lowland Scots]], denoting an [[itinerant]] musician, usually with a contemptuous connotation. The word subsequently entered the [[English language]] via [[Scottish English]]. Secondly, in medieval [[Gaels|Gaelic]] and [[Wales|Welsh]] society, a ''bard'' ([[Scottish Gaelic|Scottish]] and [[Irish language|Irish]] Gaelic) or ''bardd'' ([[Welsh language|Welsh]]) was a professional poet, employed to compose [[Eulogy|eulogies]] for his [[lord]] (see [[planxty]]). If the employer failed to pay the proper amount, the bard would then compose a [[satire]]. (c. f. ''[[fili]]'', ''[[fáith]]''). In other [[Europe]]an societies, the same function was fulfilled by [[skald]]s, [[rhapsode]]s, [[minstrel]]s and ''[[scop]]s'', among others. Bards (who are not the same as the 'Filidh' or 'Fili') were those who sang the songs recalling the tribal warriors' deeds of bravery as well as the genealogies and family histories of the ruling strata among [[Celt]]ic societies. The pre-Christian Celtic peoples recorded no written histories; however, Celtic peoples did maintain an intricate oral history committed to memory and transmitted by bards and filid. Bards facilitated the memorization of such materials by the use of [[poetry|poetic]] meter and rhyme. During the era of [[Romanticism]], when knowledge of [[Celtic culture]] was overlaid by [[legend]]s and [[fiction]]s, the word was reintroduced into the West Germanic languages, this time directly into the English language, in the sense of 'lyric poet', idealised by writers such as the [[Scotland|Scottish]] [[romanticism|romantic novelist]] [[Sir Walter Scott]]. The word was taken from [[Latin]] ''bardus'', [[Greek language|Greek]] ''bardos'', in turn loanwords from the [[Gaulish language]], describing a class of [[Celts|Celtic]] [[priest]] (c. f. [[druid]], [[vates]]). From this romantic use came the [[epitheton]] '''The Bard''' applied to [[William Shakespeare]] and [[Robert Burns]]. ==Irish bards== {{See also|Bardic poetry}} Irish bards formed a professional hereditary [[caste]] of highly trained, learned poets. The bards were steeped in the history and traditions of [[clan]] and country, as well as in the technical requirements of a verse technique that was [[Syllabic verse|syllabic]] and used [[assonance]], [[half rhyme]] and [[alliteration]], among other conventions. As officials of the court of king or chieftain, they performed a number of official roles. They were [[chronicle]]rs and [[Satire|satirists]] whose job it was to praise their employers and damn those who crossed them. It was believed that a well-aimed bardic satire, ''glam dicenn'', could raise boils on the face of its target. However, it should also be noted that in medieval Ireland Bards were one of two distinct groups of poets, the other being the ''[[fili]]''. According to the [[Early Irish law]] text on poets, ''Uraicecht Becc'', bards were a lesser class of poets. Allegedly they did not have either sufficient training or lineage qualifications. As should they were said to not be eligible for higher poetic roles as described above. However, it has also been argued that the distinction between ''filid'' (pl. of ''fili'') and bards was a creation of Christian Ireland, and that the ''filid'' are were more associated with the church.<ref name="Breatnach">Breatnach, Liam. ''Uraicecht na Ríar'', ca. p. 98</ref> <!-- this should have some publication data or a URL if at all possible --> However, in Gaelic portions of Ireland after the Norman Conquest <!-- specify when --> the Bards became the main carriers of poetic tradition. The bardic schools were extinct by the mid 17th century in Ireland and by the early 18th century in Scotland. ==Revival== In 18th and 19th century Romanticism, 'The Bard' became attached as a title to various poets, * 'The Bard of Avon' (or in England, simply 'The Bard') is [[William Shakespeare]] * 'The Bard of Ayrshire' (or in Scotland, simply 'The Bard') is [[Robert Burns]] * 'The Bard of Olney' is [[William Cowper]] * 'The Bard of Rydal Mount' is [[William Wordsworth]] * 'The Bard of Twickenham' is [[Alexander Pope]] In modern Wales the [[Gorsedd]] of Bards ([[Welsh (language)|Welsh]]: ''Gorsedd y Beirdd'') is a society whose honorary membership is extended to those who have done great things for Wales. In the 20th century, the word lost much of its original connotation of [[Celtic revivalism]] or Romanticism, and could refer to any professional poet or singer, sometimes in a mildly [[irony|ironic]] tone. In the [[Soviet Union]], singers who were outside the establishment were called [[bard (Soviet Union)|bard]]s from the 1960s. The 1960s also saw the birth of the [[Society for Creative Anachronism]] (SCA), an international organization dedicated to researching and re-creating the arts and skills of pre-17th-century Europe. As the medieval bard was the repository of histories, stories, legends, songs of his/her people, SCAdian bards seek to recreate this profession in modern times by emulating those performance arts within the framework of the SCA. Many SCAdian bards do painstaking research and perform pieces in a historically accurate style, others take those songs/stories and [[parody]] them with comic intent, while others create original works in a medieval style. Joe Bethancourt (Ioseph of Locksley) and Leslie Fish (Leslie the Bard) are good examples of all three approaches. Bards make up one of the three grades of the [[Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids]], a [[Neo-druidism|Neo-druidic]] order based in [[England]]. ==Examples of bards== ===Notable bards of Britain=== * [[Taliesin]], a 6th century Welsh bard who wrote the ''[[Book of Taliesin]]''. * [[Aneirin]], a late 6th century Brythonic poet who wrote the ''[[Book of Aneirin]]''. * [[Dafydd ap Gwilym]], a 14th century Welsh poet, generally regarded as the greatest Welsh poet of all time. * [[Iolo Morganwg]], an 18th century Welsh rogue and bard, famous for his forgeries and lies. * [[Iolo Goch]] a 14th century Welsh poet and bard, famous for several surviving works, especially 'The Labourer'. ===Fictional bards of Britain=== * Kevin the bard from Marion Zimmer Bradley's ''The Mists of Avalon'' * Several characters in the ''Bardic Voices'' Trilogy by [[Mercedes Lackey]] * Fflewddur Fflam in the ''[[Prydain]]'' series, written by [[Lloyd Alexander]] * Beedle the Bard from JK Rowling's ''[[Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows]]'' ==See also== *[[Contention of the bards]] *[[Aois-dàna]] *[[Charan]] *[[Druid]] *[[Vates]] *[[Fili]] *[[Gorsedd]] *[[Gorseth Kernow]] (Cornwall) *[[Bard (Dungeons & Dragons)]] *[[Bard (Soviet Union)]] == References == {{reflist}} ==External links== *[http://www.ucc.ie/celt/bardic.html Irish Bardic Poetry] Corpus of Electronic Texts, University College Cork. {{wiktionary}} [[Category:Occupations in music]] [[Category:Celtic studies]] [[Category:History of Wales]] [[Category:Irish literature]] [[Category:Scottish literature]] [[Category:Welsh literature]] [[Category:Welsh folk music]] [[Category:Welsh poets| ]] [[Category:Medieval Ireland]] [[Category:Medieval Scotland]] [[Category:Cornish culture]] [[Category:Romanticism]] [[Category:Druidry]] [[Category:Eisteddfod]] [[br:Barzh]] [[cs:Bard]] [[de:Barde]] [[es:Bardo (profesión)]] [[eo:Bardo]] [[fr:Barde (druidisme)]] [[gl:Bardo]] [[it:Bardo]] [[he:משורר נודד]] [[ka:ბარდები]] [[hu:Bárd (költő)]] [[nl:Bard (zanger)]] [[pl:Bard (muzyka)]] [[pt:Bardo]] [[ru:Бард]] [[simple:Bard]] [[sk:Bard]] [[fi:Bardi]] [[sv:Bard]] [[uk:Бард]] [[zh:吟游诗人]]