{"collection":"Northern European Mythology","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/neu/celt/bim1/index.htm","path":"neu/celt/bim1/index.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/bim1/index.htm","text":"The Barddas of Iolo Morganwg is a collection of writings, largely\nforged, about ancient Welsh Bardic and Druidic beliefs.\nAlthough the author of this work is cited as J. Williams Ab Ithel, he\nwas actually the editor, who pieced it together from manuscripts\nwritten by Iolo Morganwg.\nIolo Morganwg (1747-1826), itinerant poet and scholar,\nwas a key figure in the Druid revival of the 19th century.\nHe was personally responsible for reviving the Welsh national\npoetry contest, the Gorsedd.\nOn June 21st, 1792, Midsummer evening, Iolo and a dozen other Welsh poets\ngathered on Primrose Hill in London and held the first Gorsedd in hundreds\nof years.\nIolo was a Welsh patriot and held revolutionary views; he was a personal\nfriend of Tom Paine,\nand George Washington subscribed to his first volume\nof poetry.\nHe is said to have influenced both William Blake's poetry and\nRobert Grave's\nWhite Goddess.\nHe revived the concept that the Welsh explorer Madoc discovered America.\nThis led to an expedition to Mandan territory in the Great Plains, which\nfound no trace of the Welsh, but was one of the\ninspirations for Thomas Jefferson's Lewis and Clarke expedition.\nIolo Morganwg's contributions to world culture are still with us today;\nthere is an extensive neo-Druid movement; and the Gorsedd (and Welsh\nnationalism) are still going strong.\nThe Gorsedd is held annually during the Eisteddfod in Wales, a festival\nof Welsh culture.\nTwo other Celtic regions, Cornwall and Brittany, have\nalso adopted the Gorsedd.\nIolo Morganwg, born Edward Williams, a native speaker of both English and Welsh,\nspent his entire life collecting and transcribing\nmediaeval Welsh documents, as well as writing poetry under his own byline.\nHe was also a first-rate literary forger of ancient Welsh;\nsome have commented that\nhis forgeries were as good or better than the real thing.\nFurthermore, he wrote much of the Barddas\nunder the influence of laudanum (an opium-based medication\nwhich he took for asthma).\nScholars have spent two centuries trying to establish which\nparts of his extensive writings purporting to be based on ancient\nmanuscripts are genuine, and which he wrote personally.\nOur understanding is still very murky.\nFor these reasons, Iolo's writings are considered highly controversial.\nBecause Druidic beliefs were exclusively transmitted orally,\nwe have no primary accounts of it, so there is practically\nnothing to compare this text with.\nWhat we do know is summarized neatly in the Preface to this work,\nand consists of a few excerpts from classical authors.\nThe longest account is from Julius Caesar,\nwho was more interested in exterminating\nDruids, so he was hardly a disinterested observer.\nHowever, this is one of those visionary\ntexts which is worth reading for its own merits,\nirrespective of whether it is 'genuine' or not.\nTaken at face value, the Barddas remains a fascinating text.\nIt has resonances with the Upanishads,\nKabbalah,\nand Freemasonry.\nThe Bardic alphabet presented in the 'Symbol' section is completely\ninvented, based on Runic and Ogham, and has utility as a magical alphabet.\nHowever it is about as genuine as the alphabets of J.R.R. Tolkien.\nThe 'Theology' section appears to be based on Iolo's peculiar Christian\nviews (he described himself as a Unitarian Quaker).\n'Theology' also contains a great number of Triads, some of which may\nbe from authentic ancient Bardic lore.\nThe 'Wisdom' section has a great deal of\nmythopoetic information, some of which is authentic, some not.\nThe Barddas is great\nreading if you are at all interested in the ancient\nDruids, as long as you keep in mind the background of its creation.\nProduction notes:\nI have omitted the Welsh text of this book, which was printed on the\neven numbered pages, but retained all page numbers.\nThe English footnotes often started on the facing (preceding)\npage and occasionally continue\non for several pages, so I have taken\ncare to document page numbers in footnotes.\nI have omitted sporadic footnotes which were only relevant to the\nWelsh text, except in a few cases where they also impact the understanding\nof the English translation.\nThese footnotes use asterisks instead of numbers.","title":"Barddas, Vol. I Index","type":"page"}