bard

bard¹

—bardic, adj. —bardish, bardlike, adj. —bardship, n.

/bahrd/, n.

1. (formerly) a person who composed and recited epic or heroic poems, often while playing the harp, lyre, or the like.

2. one of an ancient Celtic order of composers and reciters of poetry.

3. any poet.

4. the bard, William Shakespeare.

[1400-50; late ME < Celt; cf. Ir, ScotGael bard, Welsh bardd, Breton barz < IE *g^wrs-do-s singer, akin to Albanian grisha (I) invited (to a wedding)]

bard²

/bahrd/, n.

1. Armor. any of various pieces of defensive armor for a horse.

2. Cookery. a thin slice of fat or bacon secured to a roast of meat or poultry to prevent its drying out while cooking.

v.t.

3. Armor. to caparison with bards.

4. Cookery. to secure thin slices of fat or bacon to (a roast of meat or poultry) before cooking.

Also, barde (for defs. 1, 3).

[1470-80; < MF barde < Southern It barda armor for a horse < Ar barda'ah packsaddle < Pers pardah covering]

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Celtic tribal poet-singer gifted in composing and reciting verses of eulogy and satire or of heroes and their deeds.

The institution died out in Gaul but survived in Ireland, where bards have preserved a tradition of chanting poetic eulogy, and in Wales, where the bardic order was codified into distinct grades in the 10th century. Despite a decline in the late Middle Ages, the Welsh tradition is celebrated in the annual National Eisteddfod.

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▪ poet-singer

      a poet, especially one who writes impassioned, lyrical, or epic verse. Bards were originally Celtic composers of eulogy and satire; the word came to mean more generally a tribal poet-singer gifted in composing and reciting verses on heroes and their deeds. As early as the 1st century AD, the Latin author Lucan referred to bards as the national poets or minstrels of Gaul and Britain. In Gaul the institution gradually disappeared, whereas in Ireland and Wales it survived. The Irish bard through chanting preserved a tradition of poetic eulogy. In Wales, where the word bardd has always been used for poet, the bardic order was codified into distinct grades in the 10th century. Despite a decline of the order toward the end of the European Middle Ages, the Welsh tradition has persisted and is celebrated in the annual eisteddfod, a national assembly of poets and musicians.

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