The Barddas of Iolo Morganwg is a collection of writings, largely
forged, about ancient Welsh Bardic and Druidic beliefs.
Although the author of this work is cited as J. Williams Ab Ithel, he
was actually the editor, who pieced it together from manuscripts
written by Iolo Morganwg.
Iolo Morganwg (1747-1826), itinerant poet and scholar,
was a key figure in the Druid revival of the 19th century.
He was personally responsible for reviving the Welsh national
poetry contest, the Gorsedd.
On June 21st, 1792, Midsummer evening, Iolo and a dozen other Welsh poets
gathered on Primrose Hill in London and held the first Gorsedd in hundreds
of years.
Iolo was a Welsh patriot and held revolutionary views; he was a personal
friend of Tom Paine,
and George Washington subscribed to his first volume
of poetry.
He is said to have influenced both William Blake's poetry and
Robert Grave's
White Goddess.
He revived the concept that the Welsh explorer Madoc discovered America.
This led to an expedition to Mandan territory in the Great Plains, which
found no trace of the Welsh, but was one of the
inspirations for Thomas Jefferson's Lewis and Clarke expedition.
Iolo Morganwg's contributions to world culture are still with us today;
there is an extensive neo-Druid movement; and the Gorsedd (and Welsh
nationalism) are still going strong.
The Gorsedd is held annually during the Eisteddfod in Wales, a festival
of Welsh culture.
Two other Celtic regions, Cornwall and Brittany, have
also adopted the Gorsedd.
Iolo Morganwg, born Edward Williams, a native speaker of both English and Welsh,
spent his entire life collecting and transcribing
mediaeval Welsh documents, as well as writing poetry under his own byline.
He was also a first-rate literary forger of ancient Welsh;
some have commented that
his forgeries were as good or better than the real thing.
Furthermore, he wrote much of the Barddas
under the influence of laudanum (an opium-based medication
which he took for asthma).
Scholars have spent two centuries trying to establish which
parts of his extensive writings purporting to be based on ancient
manuscripts are genuine, and which he wrote personally.
Our understanding is still very murky.
For these reasons, Iolo's writings are considered highly controversial.
Because Druidic beliefs were exclusively transmitted orally,
we have no primary accounts of it, so there is practically
nothing to compare this text with.
What we do know is summarized neatly in the Preface to this work,
and consists of a few excerpts from classical authors.
The longest account is from Julius Caesar,
who was more interested in exterminating
Druids, so he was hardly a disinterested observer.
However, this is one of those visionary
texts which is worth reading for its own merits,
irrespective of whether it is 'genuine' or not.
Taken at face value, the Barddas remains a fascinating text.
It has resonances with the Upanishads,
Kabbalah,
and Freemasonry.
The Bardic alphabet presented in the 'Symbol' section is completely
invented, based on Runic and Ogham, and has utility as a magical alphabet.
However it is about as genuine as the alphabets of J.R.R. Tolkien.
The 'Theology' section appears to be based on Iolo's peculiar Christian
views (he described himself as a Unitarian Quaker).
'Theology' also contains a great number of Triads, some of which may
be from authentic ancient Bardic lore.
The 'Wisdom' section has a great deal of
mythopoetic information, some of which is authentic, some not.
The Barddas is great
reading if you are at all interested in the ancient
Druids, as long as you keep in mind the background of its creation.
Production notes:
I have omitted the Welsh text of this book, which was printed on the
even numbered pages, but retained all page numbers.
The English footnotes often started on the facing (preceding)
page and occasionally continue
on for several pages, so I have taken
care to document page numbers in footnotes.
I have omitted sporadic footnotes which were only relevant to the
Welsh text, except in a few cases where they also impact the understanding
of the English translation.
These footnotes use asterisks instead of numbers.
![Druids Cutting the Mistletoe on the Sixth Day of the Moon, by Henri Paul Motte [ca. 1890-1900] (Public Domain Image)](img/druid.jpg)