Druids, Bards and Filidh in Irish Society* In Ireland the three groups — Druids, Bards and Filidh — appear to have shared certain duties and activities: thus, the Bards were primarily singers, praise poets and satirists, but the last two responsibilities also fell to the Filidh. Likewise the Druids and the Filidh shared certain duties, notable prophecy, divination and teaching. Both the Filidh and the Druids trained for many years before gaining full proficiency in their crafts. Caesar tells us that the Druids trained for a lengthy 20 years, and insular sources inform us that the Filidh's apprenticeship lasted for 12. The Druids seem to have been the most politically influential of the three groups of learned men. They had the ear of the rules and their divinatory powers meant that their advice was sought before any important activity was undertaken. They were mediators between kings and the spirit world. They also controlled the kings by means of gessa — divine injunctions or prohibitions with which they bound rulers to keep their powers in check. By the 7th Century AD, however, many Druidic functions in Ireland had been taken over by the Filidh. Moreover, during the medieval period, the Filidh assumed many of the functions carried out by the bards. What appears to have happened in Christian Ireland is that when the old pagan system began to lose its hold, so the influence of the Druids also gradually disappeared. But the Filidh remained strong, and they took over many of the old Druidic functions, especially the role of prophesying the future. Indeed the Filidh's political power did not finally disintegrate until British rule prevailed in Ireland in the 17th Century. The Power of Words A strong theme running though Irish literature is the power engendered by speech, whether praise, poetry, satire or prophecy. The Bards and Filidh had magic in their voices and utterances, and the poets of later medieval Ireland saw themselves as the successors of the Druids and poets of early legends. One such mythic character was Amairgin, who is described in the Mythological Cycle as one of the Gaels or Celts who colonised Ireland in the last series of mythic invasions, after they had deposed the divine race called Tuatha dé Danaan. Amairgin's name means 'Wonderful Mouth,' and he is said to have chanted a poem called the 'Invocation of Ireland,' as he set foot on the land. In the poem, Amairgin extolled the knowledge and wisdom that enabled the Celts to overcome Ireland's previous inhabitants. Words had the power to wound as well as to bless. There are many descriptions of the physical deformation that could be caused by the lashing tongue of the satirist, whose blight was in many ways as effective a sanction or control as excommunication in medieval Ireland. See Also:
Source *From Green, Miranda, J. "The
Learned Class." The World of the Druids. Thames & Hudson:
London. 1997. p 124. Page last updated 11 Jan 2006 Website Design and Myths & Magic logo by Míchealín Dhochartaigh Copyright © 2006 Ireland's OWN All Rights Reserved.
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