bard

Celtic tribal poet-singer gifted in composing and reciting verses of eulogy and satire or of heroes and their deeds. The institution died out in Gaul but survived in Ireland, where bards have preserved a tradition of chanting poetic eulogy, and in Wales, where the bardic order was codified into distinct grades in the 10th century. Despite a decline in the late Middle Ages, the Welsh tradition is celebrated in the annual National Eisteddfod.