Gorsedd - Ceremony

Ceremony

Three Gorsedd ceremonies are held during the Eisteddfod week:

  • The Crowning (Coroni) of the Bard (awarded to the poet judged best in the competitions in free meter)
  • The Awarding of the Prose Medal (for the winner of the Prose competitions)
  • The Chairing (Cadeirio) of the Bard (for the best long poem).

During these ceremonies, the Archdruid and the members of the Gorsedd gather on the Eisteddfod stage in their ceremonial robes. When the Archdruid reveals the identity of the winning poet, the 'Corn Gwlad' (a trumpet) calls the people together and the Gorsedd Prayer is chanted (the Corn Gwlad symbolically calls everyone from the four corners of Wales). The Archdruid partially withdraws a sword from its sheath three times, and cries "A oes heddwch?" ("Is there peace?"), to which the assembly reply "Heddwch" ("Peace"). The sword is then placed fully back into its sheath, and hence is never drawn fully. Then the Horn of Plenty is presented to the Archdruid by a young local married woman, who urges him to drink the 'wine of welcome'. A young girl presents him with a basket of 'flowers from the land and soil of Wales' and a floral dance is performed, based on a pattern of flower gathering from the fields.

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