In Celtic cultures, a bard was a professional storyteller, poet, musician, historian, and recorder of family histories. They worked for a patron, such as a king or leader, to honor the patron's ancestors and praise their achievements.

Over time, as the tradition of bards declined in the modern era, the word "bard" came to mean a general term for a minstrel or writer, especially a well-known one. For example, William Shakespeare is called "the Bard of Avon" (often just "the Bard"), and Rabindranath Tagore is known as "the Bard of Bengal." In 16th-century Scotland, the term became a word used to insult traveling musicians. However, later, the term was made more romantic by Sir Walter Scott (1771–1832).

Etymology

The English word "bard" comes from Celtic languages. In Gaulish, it was "bardo-" meaning "bard or poet." In Middle Irish, it was "bard," and in Scottish Gaelic, it was "bàrd," also meaning "bard or poet." In Middle Welsh, it was "bardd," which meant "singer or poet." In Middle Breton, it was "barz," meaning "minstrel," and in Old Cornish, it was "barth," meaning "jester." The ancient Gaulish word *bardos appears in Latin as "bardus" (singular) and in Ancient Greek as "bárdoi" (plural). It also appears in compound words like "bardo-cucullus" (meaning "bard's hood"), "bardo-magus" (meaning "field of the bard"), "barditus" (a song to inspire soldiers), and "bardala" (a type of singing bird called a "crested lark").

All these terms come from the Proto-Celtic word bardos, which meant "poet-singer or minstrel." This word evolved from the Proto-Indo-European compound gʷrH-dʰh₁-o-s, which meant "praise-maker." This word is related to similar words in other languages, such as Sanskrit: "gṛṇā́ti" (meaning "calls or praises"), Latin: "grātus" (meaning "grateful or pleasant"), Lithuanian: "ģirti" (meaning "praise"), and Armenian: "kardam" (meaning "raise voice").

History

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, bards were an ancient Celtic group of poet-musicians. Their main job was to write and sing poems, often using a harp, to praise the bravery of leaders and warriors. They also recorded important events, religious rules, laws, and family histories in verse.

In medieval Gaelic and Welsh societies, a bard (in Scottish and Irish Gaelic) or bardd (in Welsh) was a trained poet who wrote poems to honor their employer, such as elegies for their lord. If the employer did not pay the agreed amount, the bard might write a satirical poem instead. In other Indo-European cultures, similar roles were held by skalds, rhapsodes, minstrels, and scops. Historians believe that in early Proto-Indo-European society, there was a family group of professional poets, based on comparisons between medieval Irish and ancient Indian traditions.

Bards (who were different from the Irish filidh or fili) sang songs that remembered the heroic deeds of warriors and shared the histories of powerful families in Celtic societies. Before the arrival of Christianity, the Celtic people did not write histories, but they kept detailed oral histories. These stories were memorized and passed down by bards and filid. Bards helped people remember these stories by using patterns like rhythm, rhyme, and other poetic techniques.

Regions

In medieval Ireland, bards were one of two groups of poets, the other being the fili. According to the Early Irish law text Uraicecht Becc, bards were considered a lower class of poets and were not allowed to hold higher poetic roles. However, some scholars believe the difference between filid (plural of fili) and bards was created during Christian times, and the filid were more closely connected to the church. By the Early Modern Period, the names "bard" and "fili" were used interchangeably.

Irish bards were a professional group of poets who passed their skills through families. They were highly trained and knew the history, traditions, and poetic techniques of their clans and countries. These techniques included using syllables, sounds that repeat at the beginning of words (alliteration), and half rhymes. As officials in the courts of kings or chieftains, bards had many duties. They recorded events, wrote poems to praise their employers, and created satires to criticize those who opposed them. It was believed that a powerful satire, called glam dicenn, could cause physical harm, such as making someone’s face break out in boils.

The bardic system lasted until the mid-17th century in Ireland and the early 18th century in Scotland. In Ireland, bards were closely tied to the Gaelic aristocracy, which declined during the Tudor Reconquest.

The early history of bards is known only through myths and legends. The first mention of bards in Ireland appears in the Book of Invasions, which tells a story about the Tuatha Dé Danann (Tribe of Goddess Danu), also called Danonians. They became the aos sí (folk of the mound), similar to Norse alfr or British fairies. During the tenth year of the reign of the last ruler of the Fir Bolg, the Tuatha Dé Danann invaded and settled in Ireland. They were divided into three groups: the nobility, the priests, and the bards. This story is legendary, but it was an important part of the oral history of Irish bards. One famous bard in Irish mythology was Amergin Glúingel, who was also a druid and judge for the Milesians.

In Scotland, the most well-known group of bards were the MacMhuirich family, who were active from the 15th to the 18th centuries. The family lived in the Hebrides and claimed to be descended from an Irish bard exiled to Scotland. At first, they worked for the Lords of the Isles as poets, lawyers, and doctors. After the Lordship of the Isles fell in the 15th century, they served the chiefs of the MacDonalds of Clanranald. Some family members were also musicians and clergymen. The last member of the family to write classical Gaelic poetry was Domhnall MacMhuirich, who lived on South Uist in the 18th century.

In Gaelic-speaking areas, a village bard or village poet (Scottish Gaelic: bàrd-baile) is a local poet who writes in a traditional style about their community. Notable village bards include Dòmhnall Ruadh Chorùna and Dòmhnall Ruadh Phàislig.

In Welsh mythology, many bards are mentioned in medieval Welsh texts like the Red Book of Hergest, the White Book of Rhydderch, the Book of Aneirin, and the Book of Taliesin. The bards Aneirin and Taliesin may be based on real people who lived in the 6th and 7th centuries. Little is known about Welsh court traditions during the Dark Ages, but Welsh texts from the Middle Ages became the basis for stories about Britain and King Arthur. The Laws of Hywel Dda, written around 900, describe a bard as a member of a king’s household. Bards had duties, such as singing about the sovereignty of Britain, which may explain why the genealogies of British kings were recorded.

Many Welsh bards were blind.

The royal bardic tradition in Wales ended in the 13th century after the English conquest of 1282. The story of The Last Bard, who supposedly died by suicide around 1283, was later used by the Hungarian poet János Arany in 1857 to symbolize resistance to oppression. However, bardic and musical traditions continued, as seen in the works of poets like Dafydd ap Gwilym and Iolo Goch in the 14th century. The tradition of gathering bards at an eisteddfod never ended and was strengthened by the creation of the Gorsedd by Iolo Morganwg in 1792.

Today, Wales is a leading country in preserving the bardic tradition. The annual National Eisteddfod of Wales (Eisteddfod Genedlaethol Cymru), first held in 1880, includes events where bards are chaired and crowned. The Urdd National Eisteddfod is also held yearly. Many schools in Wales host their own eisteddfodau to honor bardic traditions.

Several studies about the Welsh bardic tradition have been published, including works by Williams (1850), Parry-Williams (1947), Morgan (1983), and Jones (1986). Research on this topic has likely continued into the current century.

Popular culture

The idea of a bard as a singer and storyteller with qualities of a wise person, magician, or prophet became part of fantasy stories during the 1960s to 1980s. This idea appeared in games like Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder, in books such as "Bard" by Keith Taylor (1981) and "Bard: The Odyssey of the Irish" by Morgan Llywelyn (1984), in video games like "The Bard's Tale" (1985), and in modern books and TV shows such as "The Witcher" books by Andrzej Sapkowski (1986–2013) and the TV version created by Lauren Schmidt Hissrich (2019).

In 2020, an online trend began where people use modern songs and change them to sound like they were written in medieval times, using old-style musical instruments and rewriting the lyrics to match that style. This trend is called "bardcore."

In 2023, Google introduced an AI chatbot named Bard.