The Celtic Bards

The precise nature of the bard in Celtic Europe is difficult to ascertain, partly due to the diverse nature of Celtic society. The bardic traditions of Ireland differed greatly at times from those of Wales, which again differed from the traditions of the European mainland. It also doesn’t help that as keepers of an oral tradition, most of the bards’ history went unrecorded.

In the eyes of the Gauls, the bards were a branch of a threefold order of the learned, along with the druids, and the vates. The former were the priests and scholars of the Gauls, while the latter were held to have the power of prophecy. The primary responsibility of the Gaulish bard was the composition of poems to praise their patrons and the heroes of the people. Not everything they composed was pleasant, however - the satire of the bard was much feared in Celtic culture.

The bards of Ireland may have originally held the same role and powers of those of the Gauls, but in time they were replaced as praise-poets by the filidh, the Irish counterparts to the Gaulish vates. The term bard came to refer more to mere entertainers - storytellers and minor poets, with the title of Ollave, or master poet reserved for those who had completed formal training. It should be noted, however, that even the lower status Irish bards were often on a level with the bards of other cultures in terms of knowledge.

In Wales, the fate of the bards, (bardds) went another way. Their status as learned poets increased over time, and they served as praise-poets and lorekeepers until the rise of Christianity in the region, at which point most were reduced to mere court poets, with most of their creative freedoms severely limited.


The Powers of the Bards

The praise of the bard was considered to be more than just good P.R. for their patrons - it was believed that their words held power to not only highlight the patron’s finer qualities, but to strengthen them and bring new qualities into existence. In the thirteenth century, the Welsh poet Phylip Brydydd was quoted as telling his patron “I made fame for thee.”

If the praise poems of the bards were believed to have beneficial effects that went beyond the reputation of the patron, their satires were feared for much the same reason. The satires of the bards were held to cause not only bad luck to their subject, but also physical harm, illness, or even death.

Historically speaking, this belief in the ability of the bards to help or hinder with their words led to a freedom of speech unheard of in most other cultures of the time, or any time. The satires of a rival’s bard could be countered by the praise of one’s own, but any noble who attempted to place restrictions on the bards would quickly find himself the target of an entire class of well spoken satirists. Even if one didn’t believe in the magical effects of such things, the effect this onslaught of scorn would have on the noble’s reputation could not be easily ignored. The idea of bardic freedom lasted long after belief in the bard’s supernatural powers faded. Even after the bards of Ireland were reduced in status to entertainers, their freedom remained. This is most evident in the poem Fúbún Fúibh, a sixteenth century invective against the ruling class of Ireland, by a bard that was furious at their decision to acknowledge English dominance.


Offshoots of the Bardic Tradition

Throughout the various cultures and bardic traditions many offshoots of the bard arose, each with their own unique place in their society. This includes the aforementioned Filidh and Ollave of the Irish, but can also include the Brehons, the Geilte, and the Pencerdd, among others.

The Brehon, or Breitheamhain, were legislative bards of Ireland. Part of their bardic training was to memorize the laws of the region, which they recited as needed in a monotonous chant. The Brehon lasted to the end of the seventeenth century, their teachings adapted to suit the English after the coming of Saint Patrick. The book of Brehon Law records its own origins: :--"And when the men of Erin heard--all the power of Patrick since his arrival in Erin--they bowed themselves down in obedience to the will of God and Patrick. It was then that all the professors of the sciences (Druids) in Erin were assembled, and each of them exhibited his art before Patrick, in the presence of every chief in Erin.--What did not clash with the Word of God in the written law, and in the New Testament, and with the consciences of the believers, was confirmed in the laws of the Brehons by Patrick, and by the ecclesiastics and the chieftains of Erin."

The Geilte were a peculiarity in terms of the poets of Ireland. It was not unknown for warriors to be overwhelmed by what they experienced in battle, driven mad by the things they witnessed. Those former warriors who retreated to the wild places and lived as hermits were known as Geilte. These warrior poets, while rarely seen due to their reclusive nature, are distinct enough to be separated from the other types of bard.

The Pencerdd were offshoots of the bardic traditions in the Christian courts of medieval Wales. Where their predecessors were linked closely to Druidic worship, the Pencerdd were equally tied to the Christian faith. For every song they sang in praise of their King, they sang another in praise of God.