A bardic name (, , ) is a pseudonym used by poets and other artists in the Ancient Britons of Wales, Cornwall and Brittany.
In Wales, it is also associated with the National Eisteddfod, with new member of the Gorsedd assuming a bardic name when being admitted.
History
Early Medieval Bards
It was common in Medieval Wales for personal names to derive from
rather than hereditary, patronymic or occupational names and there is evidence that Bardic names are even more ancient. The ninth century
Historia Brittonum names five bards who were active shortly after the End of Roman rule in Britain with features of modern bardic naming conventions are found in all five names.
Talhaearn Tad Awen, (English: The Father of Awen) and Cian Guenith Guaut (English: Cian of the wheat-harvest of song) are given explicitly bardic names, while Blwchfardd appears to be named as a bard, with the element fardd, the lenition of the plural form. The fourth, Aneirin (English: Aneurin of the flowing verse) or Aneurin Gwenithwawd (English: Aneurin of the Corn Poetry), acquired his poetic sobriquet at some point in the early history of Medieval Welsh literature. The final bard was given the patronymic name Gwion Bach ap Gwreang at birth, but was named Taliesin (English: Radiant Brow) by his first patron Elffin ap Gwyddno.[("At that time Talhaearn the Father of the Muse was famous in poetry, and Neirin, Taliesin, Blwchfardd and Cian who is called Gweinthgwawd, at one and the same time were renowned in British poetry." — Gildas et Nennius, ed. Mommsen, p. 205; Mon. Hist. Brit. p. 75), quoted in John Edward Lloyd, Dictionary of National Biography, 1885–1900, Volume 55]
Court Bards
These earliest bards were followed by the period of
Yr Hengerdd (English: The old poetry) which lasted until the Norman invasion of Wales. The next period,
Beirdd y Tywysogion (English: Bards of the Princes) lasted until the fourteenth century and saw the rise of a professional class of Bards who enjoyed formal education in bardic schools, found employment in the numerous princely courts around Wales and were even members of a "Guild of poets" with rights and responsibilities enshrined in ancient
Cyfraith Hywel. These poets continued to use Bardic names such as Cynddelw Brydydd Mawr (English: Cynddelw the Master Poet) and
Iolo Goch (English: Iolo the Red).
Continued usage
Welsh culture experienced great challenges following the Glyndŵr rebellion. The 1401 and 1402 Penal laws against the Welsh acts were continually reaffirmed throughout the fifteenth century, before being replaced by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542 when Wales was effectively annexed into the Kingdom of England. The effect of these changes saw traditional Bardic patrons become steadily replaced with an English-speaking gentry, who used the English language and English customs. The laws had a substantial impact on Bardic culture, reducing opportunities for bardic patronage. Despite these hardships however, the tradition of Bardic Names continued, with itinerant Bards (Welsh: Y Glêr) such as Guto'r Glyn noted as some of the greatest poets of the era.
Revival
By the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, traditional Welsh names had given way to modern
Welsh surnames. These surnames retained Welsh patronymic conventions, using a small number of historical or biblical
Given name with the element ap (meaning "son of" and cognate with the Gaelic "Mac") leading to names like Powell (from ap
Hywel), Price (from ap
Rhys) and Bowen (from
ab Owen). Or with the addition of an
"-s" termination to the father's name, as in Jones (from John), Davies (from David) and Williams (from
William).
As Wales industrialised and the population of formerly rural parishes grew exponentially, it became common practice to refer to an individual by a nickname often derived from their home village or farm, their occupation or a defining personal characteristic. One of the most prominent figures in the resurgence of Bardic names was Edward Williams, who took the name Iolo Morganwg (English: Iolo of Glamorgan) around 1788.
As the Eisteddfod movement increased, and more Welsh language literature was published, many Welsh writers took Bardic Names to distinguish them from others with similiar or identical names, but also to identify themselves as a poet, writer or musician.
Modern Bardic names
Today, a Bardic name can be a
pen name but it could also be an accolade, such as the Bardic names given in the context of an
eisteddfod. This is particularly true of the National Eisteddfod and the Gorsedd of Bards, where Bardic names are commonly adopted when being inducted into the Orders of distinguished bards and writers.
The sobriquet could be:
-
added to the surname, as in William Williams Pantycelyn – as a suffixed accolade.
-
as a replacement of the original surname, as in: William Pantycelyn – often to preserve a distinction between the literary persona and the private persona.
-
stand alone, as in: Pantycelyn – without further elaboration, sometimes better known than the Bard's birth name.
In Brittany and Cornwall
The usage has also extended to
Breton language and
Cornish language poetry.
[ BBC iWonder - "Druids, bards and rituals: What is an Eisteddfod?". Accessed 7 October 2015] In Cornwall, some of the pioneers of the
Cornish language movement are referred to by their bardic names, e.g., "Mordon" for Robert Morton Nance, and "Talek" for E. G. Retallack Hooper.
[ List of new Cornish bards / bardic names ]
See also
