The word Bard is used in English and other Indo-European languages chiefly to denote a Celtic poet (and musician). Musicians and poets comparable to the Celtic Bard have also been found in other cultures. Bards have greatly influenced the musical and general histories of their peoples, among the Celts they were mainly responsible for the development of secular music. The Bard was a repository of histories, stories, legends, songs and poetry of his people. Wherever the bard travelled, he was honoured and given certain diplomatic impunity. Before the invention of the printing press, books and scribes were very costly, and recently news travelled very slowly and inaccurately. The bard, due to his education in oral tradition, could be relied upon to know the latest news from his court, whether crops had failed to the south, or which roads were safe to travel. For some villages and towns, the bard was the only reliable source of information.
Throughout the British Isles local kings, princes and chieftains maintained bards, bestowing gifts upon them for their services. The bards played the harp, and sang elegies and eulogies on famous men, composed proverbs, and recited sagas. Monasteries also occasionally maintained bards as historians and genealogists. The high esteem in which the bard was held is evident in the early legal codes of both Ireland and Wales. The Laws of Hywel Dda (Howel the Good), distinguish two classes of bard: the bardd teulu, who was a permanent official of the king's household, and the pencerdd ('chief of song'), or head of the bardic fraternity in the district.

The term bard has sometimes been extended to refer to epic singers of non-Celtic peoples, such as the aoidoi of the Homeric epics and the bards of Eastern and Western Central Asia. Singing long narrative poems of the great heroes of the past, these epic singers were also poets, composers, instrumentalists, and story-tellers. The many sided nature of their role goes back to a past when their function were in some ways comparable to those of the old Celtic bards.

Bards are skilled in the arts of songs, story-telling, dramatics and music. They are powerful public speakers and have the ability to move an audience to action with the power of their word. With their instruments they are able to weave songs of great potency and enchantments of lasting moment. Bards make their living by providing live shows in cities, villages and palaces. They enjoy guaranteed bed, board and spending money, though in return they are expected to produce words and music as the patron demands.
 

Ancient Classes