eisteddfod, meaning a session or congress, was a competition of Welsh bards and minstrels under the patronage of the aristocracy. The institution was of great antiquity since the laws of Hywel Dda (d. 950) describe in some detail arrangements for chairing the bard, the climax of the activities. Gruffydd ap Cynan, king of Gwynedd, is said to have held an eisteddfod at Caerwys about 1100 and Rhys ap Gruffydd, king of Deheubarth, at Cardigan in 1176. Another important gathering was at Carmarthen c.1450, presided over by Gruffydd ap Nicholas, which laid down the rules of poetic metre. A rather strange commission by Elizabeth in 1568 suggested that the principality was crawling with bards and minstrels and authorized an eisteddfod at Caerwys to restore order—competent bards were to be recognized by experts, ‘the rest not worthy to return to some honest labour’. The institution declined in the 17th cent. but in the 18th cent. there was a marked increase of interest in Welsh language and culture, with the Society of Cymmrodorion set up in 1751 and the Gwynnedigion Society in 1771. Revivals of local eisteddfodau soon followed, with meetings at Corwen and Bala in 1789. ‘The first of the great modern eisteddfodau’ was held at Carmarthen in 1819. The National Eisteddfod Association was formed in 1880 and holds an annual gathering, alternating between north and south Wales. There are also provincial and local eisteddfodau.

J. A. Cannon

Eisteddfod (Welsh, ‘Session’, from eistedd, ‘to sit’. Plural Eisteddfodau). The nat. Welsh gathering of bards and celebration of Welsh language and culture, dating in its present form from 1817, though it is said to date back, in one form or another, as far as the 7th cent., with a suspension throughout the entire 18th cent. and a few years before and after it. It now takes place annually (in Aug.) alternately in towns in N. and S. Wales. Degrees conferred on musicians by Gorsedd Beirdd Ynys Prydain (Throne of Bards of the Isle of Britain) are Cerdd Ofydd (Music Ovate), Cerddor (Musician), and Pencerdd (Chief Musician). Many local Eisteddfodau exist in the form of competitive fests. An int. Eisteddfod, at which choirs and dancers from all over the world compete, has been held annually in Llangollen since 1947.

eisteddfod a competitive festival of music and poetry in Wales, in particular the annual National Eisteddfod. The word is from Welsh, and means literally ‘session’, from eistedd ‘sit’.

eisteddfod congress of Welsh bards. XIX. — W., ‘session’, f. eistedd sit, for *eitsedd, f. IE. *sed- SIT.

Eisteddfod

a company of druids; a congress of bards, 1822.