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The fili (or filè) (), plural filid, filidh (or filès), was a member of an elite class of poets in Gaelic Ireland, and later Scotland, up until the Renaissance. The filid were believed to have the power of divination, and therefore able to foresee, foretell, predict – important events.
In an early society where most people were illiterate – including its hierarchy of chieftains, sub-kings and kings – the oral tradition was an important means of communicating current news and historical events. As both a poet and , the fili would hope to gain a professional reputation for the authenticity and reliability of their information.
The word "fili" is thought to derive from the Proto-Celtic *widluios, meaning "seer, one who sees" (attested on the Gaulish language inscription from Larzac as "uidluias", which is the feminine genitive singular form), derived ultimately from the verb *widlu-, "to see". To be compared to the Latin vatis and the Ancient Greek ouateis, stemmed in Gaulish, modern vates improperly written ovate but still used by the OBOD neodruidism.
| Ollamh rig Alban | Master poet of Scotland | <> Scotland |
| An Ollaimh Righ | The master poet of the king | <> king |
| Do gairm rig | Proclamation of the king | <> proclamation |
Those traditions were introduced into Scottish Dal Riata – from Irish Dal Riata – where the ceremony was known as do gairm rig ..."Proclamation of the king". The Dal Riata community later moved east to the Perthshire region of Scotland, following Vikings attacks on the west coast in the 9th century.
At the darker and more extreme end of the scale – if leaders failed to treat the filid with due respect – they ran the risk of satire – a kind of blackmail – whereby the filid might Ridiculous them in front of neighbouring leaders.
The filid were believed to have the power of divination, and therefore able to foresee, foretell, predict – important events. It was also feared that they might have the power to Witchcraft.
In this manner, a significant corpus of pre-Christian Irish mythology remained largely intact many centuries into the Christian era. Much of it was first recorded in writing by scholarly Christian monks. The synergy between the rich and ancient indigenous oral literary tradition and the classical tradition resulted in an explosion of monastic literature that included epics of war, love stories, nature poetry, Hagiography and so forth which collectively resulted in the largest corpus of non-Latin literature seen in Europe since Ancient Greece.
The Ó Maol Chonaire were chiefly Ollamhs of the Síol Muireadhaigh, the Ó Conchubhair Donn and the MacDermot of Magh Luirg, although this family was also associated with Ulster and spread from Connacht into the courts of Munster and Leinster. Finally the Ó Cléirighs who served the O'Donnel chieftains of Tír Connell.
The hereditary poets that were a fixture of court life in medieval Ireland serving as entertainers, advisors and genealogists maintained practices of and enjoyed a similar status as the pre-Christian fili. But from the 12th century onwards, Norman Ireland elements had increasing influence on Irish society. As Gaels culture waned, these folk became increasingly involved with written literature and such non-native traditions as heraldry. Nonetheless in Gaelic society the chief filí of the province, or Ollamh, was seen as equal status to the Ard-rí, or High King. This high social status existed right into Elizabethan era times, when English nobility were horrified to see the Gaelic chieftains not just eating at the same table as their poets, but often from the same dish. Eventually classical literature and the Romantic literature that grew from the troubadour tradition of the Southern France superseded the material that would have been familiar to the ancient fili.
Besides its value to historians, this canon has contributed a great deal to modern literature beginning with retellings by William Butler Yeats and other authors involved with the Celtic Revival. Soon after, James Joyce drew from material less explicitly. Now fantasy literature and Fantasy art draws heavily from these tales and characters such as Cúchulainn, Finn McCool and the Tuatha Dé Danann are relatively familiar.
Through such traditional musicians as Turlough O'Carolan (who died in 1738 and is often lauded as "the last of the bards") and countless of his less-known or anonymous colleagues, the musical tradition of the fili has made its way to contemporary ears via artists such as Planxty, The Chieftains, and The Dubliners.
In their subject matter and techniques, the seanachie are considered the inheritors of the ancient Irish tradition of oral literature.
The modern Irish and Scottish Gaelic words for "poet" are derived from fili.
Finally, practitioners of Celtic Reconstructionist Paganism are working to reconstruct trance and visionary techniques that were used by the filid, such as imbas forosnai and aspects of the tarbhfeis ritual.
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