A bardic name (, ) is a

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

used in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

, or

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

s and other artists, especially those involved in the

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, a ...

movement. The

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

term bardd ("poet") originally referred to the Welsh poets of the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

, 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 the Great Poet"; wlm, Kyndelw Brydyt or ; 1155–1200), was the court poet of Madog ap Maredudd, Owain Gwynedd (Owen the Great), and Dafydd ab Owain Gwynedd, and one of the most prominent Welsh poets of the 12 ...

("Cynddelw the Master Poet"), fl. 1155–1200 and

Iolo Goch Iolo Goch (c. 1320 – c. 1398) (meaning ''Iolo the Red'' in English) was a medieval Welsh bard who composed poems addressed to Owain Glyndŵr, among others. Lineage Iolo was the son of Ithel Goch ap Cynwrig ap Iorwerth Ddu ap Cynwrig Ddew ...

("Iolo the Red"), c. 1320 – c. 1398. The practice seems to have very ancient antecedents, as in the names of the presumably 6th century poets

Talhaearn Tad Awen Talhaearn Tad Awen (''fl'' mid-6th century), was, according to medieval Welsh sources, a celebrated British poet of the sub-Roman period. He ranks as one of the earliest, if not the earliest, named poets to have composed and performed in Welsh. ...

, Blwchfardd and Culfardd, mentioned by the Welsh historian

Nennius Nennius – or Nemnius or Nemnivus – was a Welsh monk of the 9th century. He has traditionally been attributed with the authorship of the ''Historia Brittonum'', based on the prologue affixed to that work. This attribution is widely considered ...

alongside

Taliesin Taliesin ( , ; 6th century AD) was an early Brittonic poet of Sub-Roman Britain whose work has possibly survived in a Middle Welsh manuscript, the '' Book of Taliesin''. Taliesin was a renowned bard who is believed to have sung at the courts ...

and

Aneirin Aneirin , Aneurin or Neirin was an early Medieval Brythonic war poet. He is believed to have been a bard or court poet in one of the Cumbric kingdoms of the Hen Ogledd, probably that of Gododdin at Edinburgh, in modern Scotland. From the 17th c ...

, the last referred to as ''Aneurin Gwenithwawd'' ("Aneurin of the Corn Poetry"). The revival of bardic names became something of a conceit following the reinvention of medieval tradition by

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 Encyclop ...

in the 18th century. The usage has also extended to

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally ** Breton people ** Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Ga ...

and Cornish poetry. In Cornwall, some of the pioneers of the

Cornish language Cornish (Standard Written Form: or ) , is a Southwestern Brittonic language, Southwestern Brittonic language of the Celtic language family. It is a List of revived languages, revived language, having become Extinct language, extinct as a livin ...

movement are referred to by their bardic names, e.g. "Mordon" for

Robert Morton Nance Robert Morton Nance (1873–1959) was a British writer and leading authority on the Cornish language, a nautical archaeologist, and joint founder of the Old Cornwall Society. Nance wrote many books and pamphlets on the Cornish language, inclu ...

, and "Talek" for E. G. Retallack Hooper.List of new Cornish bards / bardic names
Many surnames in Wales derive from

patronymics A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor. Patronymics are still in use, including mandatory use, in many countries worldwide, alt ...

rather than, for instance, places of origin. Many people therefore share a limited number of surnames, and many people can share even the full name, so it was common practice to add a nickname to distinguish between people with similar names. For some people, this might be a reference to their occupation within the village, but for those with a literary reputation, whose name would be known across the land, it was common practice to take, or be awarded, a

sobriquet A sobriquet ( ), or soubriquet, is a nickname, sometimes assumed, but often given by another, that is descriptive. A sobriquet is distinct from a pseudonym, as it is typically a familiar name used in place of a real name, without the need of expla ...

. For example,

John Jones (Talhaiarn) John Jones (19 January 1810 – October 1869), known by his bardic name of Talhaiarn, was a Welsh poet and architect. Life and reputation Jones was born at the ''Harp Inn'' (now known as ''Hafod y Gân'') in Llanfair Talhaearn, Denbighshi ...

took his bardic name from his place of origin, to distinguish him from contemporaries with the name John Jones. The minister

Joseph Harris (Gomer) Joseph Harris (1773 – 10 August 1825) was a Welsh Baptist minister, author, and journal editor. A Welsh language poet, he took the Biblical name of Gomer as his bardic name. On 1 January 1814 he launched the first Welsh-language weekly ''Seren G ...

selected his bardic name from the Bible. Others, such as

Hedd Wyn Hedd Wyn (born Ellis Humphrey Evans, 13 January 188731 July 1917) was a Welsh-language poet who was killed on the first day of the Battle of Passchendaele during World War I. He was posthumously awarded the bard's chair at the 1917 National ...

, used poetic inventions. The name could be a

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 na ...

but it could also be an accolade. A bardic name, in the context of the

, is a particular accolade, as it is adopted when 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. * placed instead of the original surname, as in: William ''Pantycelyn'' – to preserve a distinction between the

literary persona A persona (plural personae or personas), depending on the context, is the public image of one's personality, the social role that one adopts, or simply a fictional character. The word derives from Latin, where it originally referred to a theatr ...

and the private persona. Although it is not an exact parallel, one writer had a personal life as the ''Lady Mallowan'' but continued to write murder-mysteries as (Dame) Agatha Christie and wrote non-fiction as Agatha Christie Mallowan. * stand alone, as in: ''Pantycelyn'' – in the same way that the literary name of

John le Carré David John Moore Cornwell (19 October 193112 December 2020), better known by his pen name John le Carré ( ), was a British and Irish author, best known for his espionage novels, many of which were successfully adapted for film or television. ...

is widely recognised without further elaboration, possibly better known than the writer's real name of David ''Cornwell''.

References

{{Use dmy dates, date=March 2017 Welsh poetry Pseudonymous writers Arts in Wales Welsh-language literature Cornish culture Breton language Cornish language Gorseddau Eisteddfod

See also

References