The Bards of Keltoi


Gathering information about the Celts

Gwion Bach was stirring the cauldron of Ceridwen. The potion of wisdom was almost done. The last three drops splattered onto his fingers and he put them into his mouth. Ceridwen was angry and began to chase him. They changed shapes as they chased. Finally, Gwion Bach changed into a grain of wheat and Ceridwen became a hen and ate him. When Ceridwen changed back to human form, she found that she was pregnant. When the child was born, she couldn't kill him so she set him afloat in a basket. He was found and named Taliesin. He became the greatest of the Bards. After that, Bards were known by some as the Sons of Ceridwen.
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When learning was banned in the Celtic countries, it was the Bards who continued to teach, leaving a guard to watch for enemies. Later, when the light of learning had gone out over Europe, the Irish Monks took on the Bardic responsibility. Compared to other contemporary cultures, there is little known about the Celts. The Druids preferred to keep the learning verbal and when they died, their knowledge died with them. We can find out much of what the ancient Celts knew, through legends, myths, folklore, archaeology, and how other cultures saw them. We are taking back the traditional role of the Bards, to diseminate and amass information.
Ceridwen.

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© 1998 Y Barddau Keltoi


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