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Crowning Of The Bard
The Crowning of the Bard () is one of the most important events in an eisteddfod. The most famous such ceremony takes place at the National Eisteddfod of Wales, and is normally on the Monday afternoon of Eisteddfod week (it was formerly held on the Tuesday). A new bardic crown is specially designed and made for each eisteddfod and is awarded to the winning entrant in the competition for the Pryddest, poetry written in free verse. There are three judges and these have included past crowned bards, such as Mererid Hopwood and T. James Jones. The National Eisteddfod crown was first awarded in 1867. The crowning ceremony is presided over by the Archdruid, who invites one of the judges to read the adjudication and judges' comments before announcing the identity of the bard, using only the pen name that the winner has used when submitting the work. Up to this point, no one knows the true identity of the bard, who is asked to stand and is then escorted to the stage and crowned. Winning ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eisteddfod
In Welsh culture, an ''eisteddfod'' is an institution and festival with several ranked competitions, including in poetry and music. The term ''eisteddfod'', which is formed from the Welsh morphemes: , meaning 'sit', and , meaning 'be', means, according to Hywel Teifi Edwards, "sitting-together." Edwards further defines the earliest form of the eisteddfod as a competitive meeting between bards and minstrels, in which the winner was chosen by a noble or royal patron.Hywel Teifi Edwards (2015), ''The Eisteddfod'', pages 5–6. The first documented instance of such a literary festival and competition took place under the patronage of Prince Rhys ap Gruffudd of the House of Dinefwr at Cardigan Castle in 1176. However, with the loss of Welsh independence at the hands of King Edward I, the closing of the bardic schools, and the Anglicization of the Welsh nobility, it fell into abeyance. The current format owes much to an 18th-century revival, first patronized and overseen by the L ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Eisteddfod Of Wales
The National Eisteddfod of Wales (Welsh language, Welsh: ') is the largest of several eisteddfodau that are held annually, mostly in Wales. Its eight days of competitions and performances are considered the largest music and poetry festival in Europe. Competitors typically number 6,000 or more, and overall attendance generally exceeds 150,000 visitors. The 2018 Cardiff National Eisteddfod, 2018 Eisteddfod was held in Cardiff Bay with a fence-free 'Maes (eisteddfod), Maes'. In 2020, the event was held virtually under the name AmGen; events were held over a one-week period. History The National Museum of Wales says that "the history of the Eisteddfod may [be] traced back to 1176 Cardigan eisteddfod, a bardic competition held by the Lord Rhys in Cardigan Castle in 1176", and local Eisteddfodau have certainly been held for many years prior to the first national Eisteddfod. There have been multiple Eisteddfodau held on a national scale in Wales, such as the Gwyneddigion Eisteddfod of , ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mererid Hopwood
Mererid Hopwood (born February 1964) is a Welsh poet. She became in 2001 the first woman to win the bardic chair at the National Eisteddfod of Wales. Teaching Originally from Cardiff, Hopwood graduated with first-class honours in Spanish and German from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth. She was a lecturer in German at the University of Wales, Swansea, and since 2001 has also been a Creative Writing tutor in the Welsh Department. She was a Spanish teacher in Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Bro Myrddin Carmarthen until January 2010, and is currently a lecturer at the Trinity University of Carmarthen. Hopwood was appointed in October 2020 as Professor of Welsh and Celtic Studies at Aberystwyth University. Eisteddfodau In 2003 she won the Crown at the National Eisteddfod in Meifod, and in 2008 the Eisteddfod's Prose Medal for her book ''O Ran''. She is also an S4C presenter. In 2012 she was awarded the Glyndwr Award by MOMA, Machynlleth. She now lives in Carmarthen with her husband and t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Archdruid
Archdruid () is the title used by the presiding official of the Gorsedd. The Archdruid presides over the most important ceremonies at the National Eisteddfod of Wales including the Crowning of the Bard, the award of the and the Chairing of the Bard. Although Iolo Morganwg was the first to preside over the Gorsedd when the National Eisteddfod came into being, his successor David Griffith, under the bardic name "Clwydfardd", was the first to be known by the official title "Archdruid". The Archdruid's regalia, devised by the early revivers of the eisteddfod during the early 19th century, includes a crown, a sceptre, and a breastplate in the form of a torc. These were redesigned in 1896 by Hubert von Herkomer, to be made of gold and decorated with oak leaves, symbolising the sacred groves associated with druidry. (The Welsh word for "oak" is "derw" from which "druid" is thought to be derived.) A special ring of office was also introduced. The current sceptre has been in use since ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pen Name
A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise the author's gender, to distance the author from their other works, to protect the author from retribution for their writings, to merge multiple persons into a single identifiable author, or for any of a number of reasons related to the marketing or aesthetic presentation of the work. The author's real identity may be known only to the publisher or may become common knowledge. Etymology The French-language phrase is occasionally still seen as a synonym for the English term "pen name", which is a "back-translation" and originated in England rather than France. H. W. Fowler and F. G. Fowler, in ''The King's English'' state that the term ''nom de plume'' evolv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chairing Of The Bard
The Chairing of the Bard () is one of the most important events in the Wales, Welsh eisteddfod tradition. The most famous chairing ceremony takes place at the National Eisteddfod of Wales, and is always on the Friday afternoon of Eisteddfod week. Winners are referred to as ''Prifardd, Y Prifardd'' (literally "The Chief Bard"). The custom of chairing the bard is, however, much older than the modern eisteddfod ceremony, and is known to have taken place as early as 1176. A new bardic chair is specially designed and made for each eisteddfod and is awarded to the winning entrant in the competition for the "awdl", poetry written in a strict metre form known as cynghanedd. It is possible for the chair to be withheld, if the standard of entries is not considered high enough by the judges. This was the case in 1889, when a chair made for a minor eisteddfod at Bagillt, in Flintshire, was not awarded. The chair in question made news in 2006, when it was returned to Wales after being a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alan Llwyd
Alan Llwyd (born 1948), original name Alan Lloyd Roberts, is a Welsh poet, literary critic and editor. He is one of the most prolific Welsh-language poets in the last quarter of the 20th century. He is also known under the Bardic name Meilir Emrys Owen. Upbringing Born in Dolgellau, Gwynedd, Llwyd was brought up on a farm at Cilan and educated at Bangor University. Since then he has been manager of a bookshop at Bala, worked as an editor for the Christopher Davies publishing company, and served as an editorial officer for the Welsh Joint Education Committee. Works He published his first volume of poetry, ''Y March Hud'' (The Magic Horse), in 1971 as Alan Lloyd Roberts. This was followed by a series of others. He came to prominence with the rare feat of winning both the Crown and the Chair at the 1973 National Eisteddfod and then repeating the feat in 1976. On the second occasion there was some controversy, as another popular poet, Dic Jones, lost out on the chair through a tech ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Donald Evans (Welsh Poet)
Donald Evans (born 1940) is a Welsh poet, who writes in the Welsh language. Evans comes from Talgarreg in Ceredigion, and was born on a farm. After going to school at Aberaeron, he obtained his degree in Welsh from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth. Between 1966 and 1972 he produced the periodical ''Y Cardi''. He won the "double" of crown and chair twice, once at the 1977 National Eisteddfod of Wales and again in 1980; he is one of only three poets to have achieved this "double double". In 2006 Evans was awarded a PhD by the University of Wales, Lampeter, for his work on strict-metre Welsh poetry submitted to eisteddfodau in the years 1955 - 1999. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Catrin Dafydd
Catrin Dafydd (born c. 1982) is a Welsh author, scriptwriter and poet, who was awarded the Crown at the 2018 National Eisteddfod of Wales. Background Dafydd is of a Welsh language family from Gwaelod y Garth, near Cardiff and attended her local Welsh-medium school Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Rhydfelen (now Ysgol Garth Olwg) in the Pontypridd area. She graduated with a degree in Welsh from the University of Aberystwyth. Work Dafydd's first Welsh-language novel, ''Pili Pala'', was published in 2006 and her first English-language novel, ''Random Deaths and Custard'', in 2007. She co-wrote the television drama ''Ar y Tracs'' in 2009. She later became one of the writers for the S4C soap opera, ''Pobol y Cwm''. In August 2018, Dafydd won the Crown at the National Eisteddfod of Wales, in Cardiff Bay, for a poetry collection on the theme of ''Olion'' (Traces), exploring Welshness in the Grangetown area of Cardiff. Archdruid Geraint Llifon caused argument at the award ceremony by claim ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Geraint Lloyd Owen
Geraint Lloyd Owen (born 15 May 1941) is a Welsh-language poet, also known by his bardic name Geraint Llifon. He is a retired head teacher and was the Archdruid of the Gorsedd between 2016 and 2019. He was born in a farmhouse between Llandderfel and Sarnau, Meirionnydd, before moving to his mother's family home in Sarnau village. He attended the local school, then Ysgol Tŷ-tan-domen, Bala, and trained as a secondary-school teacher at the Heath College, Cardiff. He taught at Machynlleth. He won numerous local eisteddfod chairs, including Pontrhydfendigaid, Lampeter, Gŵyl Fawr Aberteifi (Cardigan), Powys and the Urdd. He was head teacher of Ysgol y Ffôr, Pwllheli, and Ysgol Treferthyr, Cricieth, before taking early retirement in order to run Siop y Pentan in Caernarfon. He won the Crown in The National Eisteddfod of Wales ( Wrecsam and District) 2011. Lloyd Owen became Archdruid, having been appointed in July 2015. His tenure as Archdruid started in 2016 and was to last fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anna Fison
Anna Fison known as Morfudd Eryri and Anna Walter Thomas (14 February 1839 – 12 February 1920) was a British translator, poet and educator. She had an interest in fairy tales and an enthusiasm for Welsh culture. Life Fison was born in Suffolk in 1839 as the last of twenty children born to Thomas Fison and his second wife, Charlotte. She and her siblings were keen on fairy tales despite the disapproval of her parents. They would tell tales about fairies including ''Tom Tit Tot'' and ''Cap o'Rushes''. She was educated well both in Europe and in London, and she took a strong interest in languages whilst living with one of her brothers in Oxford. There she met Charles Williams of Jesus College who passed on to her his enthusiasm for Eisteddfods and the Welsh language. In 1851 she married David Walter Thomas and they brought their four children up in the Welsh culture while living at Bangor. Their children included Evan Lorimer Thomas. Fison was an enthusiast for education and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
