Bard
For other meanings of the word, see Bard (disambiguation).A
bard is a
poet or
singer, in
religious or
feudal contexts.
The word is a
loanword from
Proto-Celtic *bardos, ultimately from
Proto-Indo-European *gwerh2:
"to raise the voice; praise". The word entered the
West Germanic languages twice. The first recorded example is in
1449 from the
Scottish Gaelic language into
Lowland Scots, denoting an
itinerant musician, usually with a contemptuous connotation. A Scots ordnance of ca.
1500 orders that
"All vagabundis, fulis, bardis, scudlaris, and siclike idill pepill, sall be brint on the cheek". The word subsequently entered the
English language via
Scottish English.
Secondly, in medieval
Welsh and
Gaelic society, a
bard (Scottish or
Irish Gaelic bard,
Welsh bardd) was a professional poet, employed to compose
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
European societies, the same function was fulfilled by
skalds,
rhapsodes,
minstrels, etc. During the era of
Romanticism, when knowledge of
Celtic culture was overlaid by
legends and
fictions, 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
Scottish romantic novelist Sir Walter Scott. The word was taken from
Latin bardus,
Greek bardos, in turn loanwords from the
Gaulish language, describing a class of
Celtic
priest (c. f.
druid,
vates). From this
romantic use came the
epitheton The Bard applied to
William Shakespeare and
Robert Burns.
In medieval Ireland it was common for there to exist "Bardic" schools. Though the primary function of these schools was Gaelic education, they also helped preserve the Gaelic tradition of learning by default until well into the 17th century before Ireland finally adapted to the notion of university scholarship.
The Making of Modern Ireland, J. C. Beckett.
In modern
Wales the
Gorsedd of Bards is a society whose honorary membership is 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
ironic tone. In the
Soviet Union, singers who were outside the
establishment were called
bards from the
1960s.
Bards make up one of the three grades of the
Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, a
Neo-Druidic order based in
England.
*
Bard (Soviet Union)*
Three Bards*
Bard College*
Brobdingnagian Bards*
Bardic*
Aois-dàna*
Contention of the bards *
Druid,
Vates *
Fili,
Fáith,
Gorsedd*
Minstrel,
Skald,
Rhapsode,
Udgatar*
War poet*
Robert Burns*
William Shakespeare*
A View of the Role of the Bard Among the Celts*
Bard of the Grey Wind
