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A brief history of the National Eisteddfod. The beginning: In 1176 Lord Rhys hosted the first known ‘eisteddfod’. He held two major competitions at Cardigan Castle; one in poetry, and the other in music. A sudden decline: Similar tournaments were held in the 15th and 16th centuries.
The National Eisteddfod is the largest and oldest celebration of Welsh culture, unique throughout Europe as each year it visits a different area of Wales. Eisteddfod literally means a sitting ( eistedd = to sit), perhaps a reference to the hand-carved chair traditionally awarded to the best poet in the ceremony ‘The Crowning of the Bard’.
In Welsh culture, an eisteddfod is an institution and festival with several ranked competitions, including in poetry and music.: xvi The term eisteddfod, which is formed from the Welsh morphemes: eistedd, meaning 'sit', and fod, meaning 'be', means, according to Hywel Teifi Edwards, "sitting-together."
Held during the first week of August every year, the National Eisteddfod is a celebration of the culture and language in Wales. The festival travels from place to place, alternating between north and south Wales, attracting around 150,000 visitors and over 250 tradestands and stalls.
- museum.wales
- › What is the Eisteddfod?
Talk of a National Eisteddfod began in earnest, and in 1858 something wonderful happened. Another of the clergy, John Williams ab Ithel, a man who was intoxicated by the ideas of Iolo Morgannwg, and believed one hundred percent in the Gorsedd of Bards, and a man with quite a bit of the entrepreneur about him too, saw the significance of the ...
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The word eisteddfod means “sitting together” or “gathering”, and eisteddfodau are cultural gatherings of all sizes, usually conducted in the Welsh language, involving a variety of contests and performances. In medieval Wales, the skills of the bard or poet were much revered.
