Bard - Revival

Revival

Works discussing "bards" 18th and 19th century Celtic revivalism include The Bard by Thomas Gray, Cuma, The warrior-bard of Erin by John Richard Best, The Bard by John Walker Ord, The Mountain Bard by James Hogg, The Bard of Mary Redcliffe by Ernest Lacy, among others. The role of bards in Neo-Druidism (such as the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids), in Welsh nationalism and in popular notions on pre-Roman Britain originate in this context. In modern Wales the Gorsedd of Bards (Welsh: Gorsedd y Beirdd) is a society whose honorary membership is extended to those who have done great things for Wales.

From its frequent use in Romanticism, 'The Bard' became attached as a title to various poets,

• 'The Bard of Avon,' 'The Immortal Bard' (or in England, simply 'The Bard') is William Shakespeare
• 'The Bard of Ayrshire' (or in Scotland, simply 'The Bard') is Robert Burns
• 'The Bard of Olney' is William Cowper
• 'The Bard of Rydal Mount' is William Wordsworth
• 'The Bard of Twickenham' is Alexander Pope
• 'The Bard of Armagh' is Patrick Donnelly
• 'The Bard' is Bob Dylan
• 'The Bard' is Jim MacCool
• 'The Bard's Song' is Blind Guardian

In the 20th century, the word lost much of its original connotation of Celtic revivalism or Romanticism, and could refer to any professional poet or singer, sometimes in a mildly ironic tone. In the Soviet Union, singers who were outside the establishment were called bards from the 1960s.

From its Romanticist usage, the notion of the bard as a minstrel with qualities of a priest, magician or seer also entered the fantasy genre in the 1960s to 1980s, for example as the "Bard" class in Dungeons & Dragons, Bard by Keith Taylor (1981), Bard: The Odyssey of the Irish by Morgan Llywelyn (1984), and in video games in fantasy settings such as The Bard's Tale (1985). The MMORPG Forsaken World allows the player to play as a Bard.