Fili

Filid [' fild ] (" poet " or " bards " ), or singular fili ( younger) file is the name given to poets or bards in medieval Ireland. The Latin name is bardi, the old Irish baird, the kymrische bard or awenydd. The filid were part of the cult personnel of the Celtic religion, together with the druids and Vates, and had a high social stand your office was hereditary and was also outside their tribal alliance ( tuath ).

Training and tasks

Like the Bards and Vates the filid had to go through a training program in which they were taught the orally transmitted knowledge. They had skills in writing and price libelous poems ( Old Irish Glam dícenn or AER) to acquire and turn to train adepts. They had the future ruler magically recognize ( Tarb - feis, " bull sleep" ), dominated practices to prophesy, had substantial knowledge, healing and other magical abilities. Because of the " font refusal " in handing down the mystical knowledge, this knowledge was recorded later. The book na Auraicept nÉces ( "Guide to the learned poet ") is a collection of rules for grammar and metrics that had a fili to dominate, as had the Dindsenchas be studied ( " place-names statements" ).

In the story Sana Cormaic ( " Cormac whisper " ) is the imbas forosna ( " the comprehensive knowledge lightening " ) reported: The fili chews a piece of raw meat, sings an incantation and falls into a trance. After a short or prolonged period he awakened and answered all previously asked questions. More mantic practices are the teinm Laida ( " breaking up, prophecy in song " ), the díchetal do chennaib ( " invocation of the bone ends here" ) and the already mentioned Tarb - feis. The Tarb - feis is in the saga Togail Bruidne Since Derga ( " The destruction of the hall since Dergas " ) portrayed. If the fili when playing a prophecy log, so shall his lips have died.

According to various traditions there should have been a hierarchy with up to seven stages, which were allocated according to knowledge. The highest level, the supreme poet of Ireland, was named ollam. The ollam had all four practices mentioned above dominate. As ollam flatha one called personal poet of a ruler who was at that in a special relationship of trust. In today's Ireland a university professor is called ollamh. In the Irish legend Immacallam in dá Thuarad ( " The conversation of the two ways " ), a competition between two filid before the king for the title is a ollam described.

The tasks of the filid overlapped with those of the Druids and Vates. Especially after the removal of Druidism in the course of the Christianization of the British Isles, they took their tasks.

In Wales, the chief poet was pencerdd (of cerd, "art" ) called, named the fili corresponding storyteller cyfarwydd. After the traditional Welsh legal texts poet and blacksmith were seen as artists. Their activity was banned for prepaid and their position was at princely courts correspondingly high .. In the story Math fab Mathonwy ( " Math, the son Mathonwys " ), the fourth branch of the Mabinogi, is Gwydyon outputs as pencerdd, so that the confidence to sneak out of Pryderi, he wants to cheat his herd of pigs.