''Barddas'' is a book of material compiled and written by the Welsh writer

Iolo Morganwg Edward Williams, better known by his bardic name Iolo Morganwg (; 10 March 1747 – 18 December 1826), was a Welsh antiquarian, poet and collector.Jones, Mary (2004)"Edward Williams/Iolo Morganwg/Iolo Morgannwg" From ''Jones' Celtic Encyclopedi ...

. Dressed as an authentic compilation of ancient Welsh

bard In Celtic cultures, a bard is a professional story teller, verse-maker, music composer, oral historian and genealogist, employed by a patron (such as a monarch or chieftain) to commemorate one or more of the patron's ancestors and to praise t ...

ic and

druid A druid was a member of the high-ranking class in ancient Celtic cultures. Druids were religious leaders as well as legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and political advisors. Druids left no written accounts. Whi ...

ic theology and lore, its contents are largely Iolo's invention. It was posthumously published by

John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (15 November 2022)Classic Connection review ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who wa ...

for the

Welsh Manuscripts Society The Welsh Manuscripts Society, also known as the Society for the Publication of Ancient Welsh Manuscripts, was an organisation formed in Abergavenny, Wales, in 1837. It was led by prominent members of the clergy and other notables including Tali ...

in two volumes, in 1862 and 1874.

Publication

After

's death in 1826, his son

Taliesin Williams Taliesin Williams (bardic name Taliesin ab Iolo or Ab Iolo; 9 July 1787 – 16 February 1847) was a Welsh poet and author, and son of the notable Iolo Morganwg. He was born in Cardiff, went to school in Cowbridge, and became an assistant teache ...

set about collecting and publishing his unpublished manuscripts. This resulted in three volumes, including ''The Iolo Papers'' in 1848, published a year after Taliesin Williams' unexpected death. Subsequently, Iolo's papers were purchased by

Benjamin Benjamin ( he, ''Bīnyāmīn''; "Son of (the) right") blue letter bible: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h3225/kjv/wlc/0-1/ H3225 - yāmîn - Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (kjv) was the last of the two sons of Jacob and Rachel (Jacob's thir ...

and

Augusta Hall Augusta Hall, Baroness Llanover (21 March 1802 – 17 January 1896), born Augusta Waddington, was a Welsh people, Welsh Beneficiary, heiress, best known as a patron of the Welsh arts. Early life She was born on 21 March 1802, near Abergavenny, ...

, who made them accessible to other scholars.

, alias "Ab Ithel", was among the first to take up the offer; he edited the two volumes now known as ''Barddas'' for the

, which appeared in 1862 and 1874.

Williams claimed the ''Barddas'' material was based on authentic ancient manuscripts originally compiled by the 16th-century antiquarian

Llywelyn Siôn Llywelyn Siôn (1540 – c. 1616) was a Welsh language poet and bard. His instructors included Meurig Dafydd and Thomas Llewelyn. Around 1575, he is mentioned under the name Lewelyn John by Sir Edward Mansel in his ''History of the Norman Conques ...

. In fact it was almost all either Iolo's own work, or heavily edited by him. Volume I divides into three sections. The first, "Symbols", chiefly discusses " coelbren", a supposed Bardic

alphabet An alphabet is a standardized set of basic written graphemes (called letters) that represent the phonemes of certain spoken languages. Not all writing systems represent language in this way; in a syllabary, each character represents a syll ...

devised by Iolo. The second, "Theology", is the most significant. It discusses Iolo's elaborate philosophy and cosmology, which he claimed was the actual belief system of the ancient bards, though it is really a variegation of Iolo's own unconventional Christian beliefs and interpretation of Welsh tradition.Matthews, p. xvi. This section includes a "

catechism A catechism (; from grc, κατηχέω, "to teach orally") is a summary or exposition of doctrine and serves as a learning introduction to the Sacraments traditionally used in catechesis, or Christian religious teaching of children and adult c ...

" in the form of a question-and-answer session on the cycle of

re-incarnation Reincarnation, also known as rebirth or transmigration, is the philosophical or religious concept that the non-physical essence of a living being begins a new life in a different physical form or body after biological death. Resurrection is a ...

. It discusses the "circles of being" from

Annwn Annwn, Annwfn, or Annwfyn (in Middle Welsh, ''Annwvn'', ''Annwyn'', ''Annwyfn'', ''Annwvyn'', or ''Annwfyn'') is the Otherworld in Welsh mythology. Ruled by Arawn (or, in Arthurian literature, by Gwyn ap Nudd), it was essentially a world of de ...

(lowest state,

Hades Hades (; grc-gre, ᾍδης, Háidēs; ), in the ancient Greek religion and myth, is the god of the dead and the king of the underworld, with which his name became synonymous. Hades was the eldest son of Cronus and Rhea, although this also ...

or Fairyland) through circles of Abred (probation state), Gwynfyd (perfect

liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

) and Ceugant (infinity). It also has a number of "Triads" apparently derived from authentic

Welsh Triads The Welsh Triads ( cy, Trioedd Ynys Prydein, "Triads of the Island of Britain") are a group of related texts in medieval manuscripts which preserve fragments of Welsh folklore, mythology and traditional history in groups of three. The triad is a ...

; according to the scholar

Rachel Bromwich Rachel Bromwich (30 July 1915 – 15 December 2010) born Rachel Sheldon Amos, was a British scholar. Her focus was on medieval Welsh literature, and she taught Celtic Languages and Literature in the Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic at ...

, this suggests Iolo had access to versions of the triads long before they were widely known or collected. The third section, "Wisdom", contains esoteric lore that may date from the 16th–17th centuries, though not from ancient druidic tradition as Iolo claims. Volume II was left unfinished at Williams' death; it is largely a guidebook for bards and

gorsedd A gorsedd (, plural ''gorseddau'') is a community or meeting of modern-day bards. The word is of Welsh origin, meaning "throne". It is spelled gorsedh in Cornish and goursez in Breton. When the term is used without qualification, it usually r ...

Notes

References

* * * *{{Cite book , last1= Iolo Morganwg , last2= Matthews , first2= John (Foreword) , author-link= Iolo Morganwg , title=The Barddas of Iolo Morganwg , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EJrNcb-5dnEC&q=Barddas+Iolo+forgery , access-date= March 15, 2013 , year=2004 , publisher=Weiser Book , isbn=1609253787

External links

''Barddas'' Volume 1 on Sacred Texts
1862 books 1874 books Public domain books Catechisms Druidry Reincarnation Philosophy of mind Afterlife

Publication

Contents

Notes

References

External links