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A bardic name is a pseudonym
Pseudonym

A pseudonym, , is a fictitious alternative to a person's legal name. In some cases, pseudonyms are adopted because it is part of a cultural or organizational tradition, as in the case of Religious names used by members of some religious orders and "cadre names" used by Communist party leaders such as Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin....
, used in Wales
Wales

native_name = Cymru|conventional_long_name = Wales|common_name = Wales|image_flag = Flag of Wales 2.svg|national_motto = ...
, Cornwall
Cornwall

Cornwall , constitutional Duchy and palatine, is a metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties of England of England, United Kingdom, located at the tip of the south-western peninsula of Great Britain....
 and Brittany
Brittany

Brittany is a former independent Celtic nations monarchy and duchy, now incorporated into France. It is also, more generally, the name of the cultural area whose limits correspond to the historic province and independent duchy....
, by poet
Poet

A poet is a person who writes poetry....
s and other artists, especially those involved in the eisteddfod
Eisteddfod

An eisteddfod is a Wales festival of literature, music and performance. The tradition of such a meeting of Welsh artists dates back to at least the 12th century, when a festival of poetry and music was held by Rhys ap Gruffydd of Deheubarth at his court in Cardiganshire in 1176 but, with the decline of the bardic tradition, it fell into abey...
 movement.

The Welsh
Welsh language

Welsh ]], is a member of the Brythonic branch of Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, in England by some along the Welsh Marches and in the Welsh settlement in Argentina in the Chubut Valley in Argentina Patagonia....
 term bardd ("poet", which is the source of the English word bard
Bard

In Celts society, a bard was a professional poet, paid by a monarch to praise the sovereign's activities.The term acquired generic meanings of an epic author/singer/narrator or any poets, especially famous ones....
) originally referred to the Welsh poets of the Middle Ages
Middle Ages

File:Karl 1 mit papst gelasius gregor1 sacramentar v karl d kahlen.jpgThe Middle Ages of European history are a period in history which lasted for roughly a millennium, commonly dated from the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century to the beginning of the Early Modern Period in the 16th century, marked by the division of Western Christi...
, who might be itinerant or attached to a noble household. Some of these medieval poets were known by a pseudonym, for example Cynddelw Brydydd Mawr
Cynddelw Brydydd Mawr

Cynddelw Brydydd Mawr was one of the most prominent Welsh poets of the 12th century.Cynddelw began his career as court poet to Madog ap Maredudd, prince of Kingdom of Powys, and among his early poems is an elegy on Madog following his death in 1160:...
 ("Cynddelw the Master Poet", fl.






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A bardic name is a pseudonym
Pseudonym

A pseudonym, , is a fictitious alternative to a person's legal name. In some cases, pseudonyms are adopted because it is part of a cultural or organizational tradition, as in the case of Religious names used by members of some religious orders and "cadre names" used by Communist party leaders such as Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin....
, used in Wales
Wales

native_name = Cymru|conventional_long_name = Wales|common_name = Wales|image_flag = Flag of Wales 2.svg|national_motto = ...
, Cornwall
Cornwall

Cornwall , constitutional Duchy and palatine, is a metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties of England of England, United Kingdom, located at the tip of the south-western peninsula of Great Britain....
 and Brittany
Brittany

Brittany is a former independent Celtic nations monarchy and duchy, now incorporated into France. It is also, more generally, the name of the cultural area whose limits correspond to the historic province and independent duchy....
, by poet
Poet

A poet is a person who writes poetry....
s and other artists, especially those involved in the eisteddfod
Eisteddfod

An eisteddfod is a Wales festival of literature, music and performance. The tradition of such a meeting of Welsh artists dates back to at least the 12th century, when a festival of poetry and music was held by Rhys ap Gruffydd of Deheubarth at his court in Cardiganshire in 1176 but, with the decline of the bardic tradition, it fell into abey...
 movement.

The Welsh
Welsh language

Welsh ]], is a member of the Brythonic branch of Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, in England by some along the Welsh Marches and in the Welsh settlement in Argentina in the Chubut Valley in Argentina Patagonia....
 term bardd ("poet", which is the source of the English word bard
Bard

In Celts society, a bard was a professional poet, paid by a monarch to praise the sovereign's activities.The term acquired generic meanings of an epic author/singer/narrator or any poets, especially famous ones....
) originally referred to the Welsh poets of the Middle Ages
Middle Ages

File:Karl 1 mit papst gelasius gregor1 sacramentar v karl d kahlen.jpgThe Middle Ages of European history are a period in history which lasted for roughly a millennium, commonly dated from the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century to the beginning of the Early Modern Period in the 16th century, marked by the division of Western Christi...
, who might be itinerant or attached to a noble household. Some of these medieval poets were known by a pseudonym, for example Cynddelw Brydydd Mawr
Cynddelw Brydydd Mawr

Cynddelw Brydydd Mawr was one of the most prominent Welsh poets of the 12th century.Cynddelw began his career as court poet to Madog ap Maredudd, prince of Kingdom of Powys, and among his early poems is an elegy on Madog following his death in 1160:...
 ("Cynddelw the Master Poet", fl. 1155 - 1200) and Iolo Goch
Iolo Goch

Iolo Goch , , was a medieval Welsh people poet or bard who composed poems addressed to Owain Glyndwr, among others....
 ("Iolo the Red", c.1320 - c.1398). The practice seems to have very ancient antecedents, witness the names of the presumably 6th century poets Talhaearn Tad Awen, Blwchfardd and Culfardd, mentioned by the Welsh historian Nennius
Nennius

Nennius, or Nemnivus, is either of two shadowy personages traditionally associated with the history of Wales. The better known of the two is Nennius, the student of Elvodugus....
 alongside Taliesin
Taliesin

Taliesin , , was a Brythonic languages poet of Sub-Roman Britain whose work has survived in a Middle Welsh manuscript, the Book of Taliesin....
 and Aneirin
Aneirin

Aneirin or Neirin was a late 6th century Brythonic poet. He is believed to have been a bard or 'court poet' in one of the Cumbric kingdoms of the Old North or Hen Ogledd, probably that of Gododdin at Edinburgh, in modern Scotland....
, the latter referred to as Aneurin Gwenithwawd.

However, the use of so-called bardic names became something of a conceit following the re-invention of medieval tradition by Iolo Morganwg
Iolo Morganwg

Iolo Morganwg...
 in the eighteenth century. Its main purpose nowadays is to conceal the identity of eisteddfod competitors during judging. The usage has also extended to Breton
Breton language

The Breton language is a Celtic languages spoken by some of the inhabitants of Brittany in France....
 and Cornish
Cornish language

The Cornish language is one of the Brythonic group of Celtic languages. The language continued to function as a community language in parts of Cornwall until the late 18th century, and there have been attempts to revive the language since the early 20th century....
 poetry. In Cornwall
Cornwall

Cornwall , constitutional Duchy and palatine, is a metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties of England of England, United Kingdom, located at the tip of the south-western peninsula of Great Britain....
, some of the pioneers of the Cornish language
Cornish language

The Cornish language is one of the Brythonic group of Celtic languages. The language continued to function as a community language in parts of Cornwall until the late 18th century, and there have been attempts to revive the language since the early 20th century....
 movement are generally referred to by their bardic names, e.g. 'Mordon' for Robert Morton Nance
Robert Morton Nance

Robert Morton Nance Born in Cardiff of Cornish parents. Nance moved to Cornwall in 1906 where he lived at the village of Nancledra near St Ives, Cornwall....
, or 'Talek' for E.G. Retallack Hooper
E.G. Retallack Hooper

E.G. Retallack Hooper was a Cornish people writer and journalist from St Agnes, Cornwall who became the third Grand Bard of the Gorseth Kernow in 1959 to 1964....
.

Bardic names are also useful in differentiating between individuals of the same name (a problem which is much more common in Wales than most other countries). For example, John Jones (Talhaiarn)
John Jones (Talhaiarn)

John Jones , known by his bardic name of "Talhaiarn", was a Wales poet and architect.Talhaiarn lived in England and France but wrote in the Welsh language....
 took his bardic name from his place of origin, to distinguish him from contemporaries with the name John Jones
John Jones

John Jones may refer to:...
. The minister Joseph Harris (Gomer)
Joseph Harris (Gomer)

Joseph Harris was a Wales Baptist minister, author, and journal editor. A Welsh language poet, he took the Biblical name of Gomer as his bardic name....
 selected his bardic name from the Bible. Others, such as Hedd Wyn
Hedd Wyn

File:Hedd Wyn statue.jpgHedd Wyn was a Merionethshire farmer and Welsh language poet of World War I....
, used poetic inventions.

See also

  • Gorseth Kernow
    Gorseth Kernow

    Gorseth Kernow is a non-political Cornwall organisation, which exists to maintain the national Celtic spirit of the county of Cornwall in the United Kingdom....
  • List of Welsh language poets (6th century to c.1600)