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Prifardd
In its own language: Y Prifardd
A Welsh title for bards who win the chair or the crown at the National Eisteddfod
Prifardd is a Welsh title. It goes to a bard who has won the chair, or else the crown, at the National Eisteddfod of Wales. The word means 'the chief bard'. It is used both as a noun and before a person's name, and it carries great respect in the Welsh language community.
When is Prifardd kept?
Prifardd is kept on when a bard wins the chair or the crown at the National Eisteddfod of Wales.
Prifardd is the Welsh title held by a bard who has won the chair or the crown at the National Eisteddfod of Wales. The word means 'the chief bard'. People use it as a plain noun, or set it before a name rather as English uses The Reverend. In the Welsh language community it marks real artistic achievement, and it is treated with high respect.
What it is
Prifardd is a Welsh title. It belongs to a bard who has won one of the two honours given at the National Eisteddfod of Wales: the chair or the crown. A win in either of them makes the bard a prifardd. The Welsh word means 'the chief bard', so the name states plainly what the honour is. The title marks the artistic talent needed to win, and the article says it is highly respected among the Welsh language community.
Using the title
Prifardd works in two ways. As a common noun it names the holder: a person can be described as a prifardd, and the plural of the word is prifeirdd. As an honorific it goes in front of a name, the way English places The Reverend or The Honourable before one. The article gives the example 'Y Prifardd Christine James'. Welsh puts its definite article Y first, so the full form is Y Prifardd. Both uses are current, one for talking about the honour and one for naming the person who holds it.
Standing it carries
The title is held in very high regard. The article links that regard to the Welsh language community, and to an acknowledgement of the artistic talent a bard needs in order to win the chair or the crown. Each win is recorded: readers are pointed to one list of chaired bards and another of crowned bards. That split matters, because the two honours are counted separately even though both lead to the same title. A prifardd, then, is a person whose name travels with an honour from the National Eisteddfod of Wales.
How Prifardd is kept
A bard enters the competition at the National Eisteddfod of Wales. If the bard wins the chair, or wins the crown, the title follows. From that point the person is a prifardd, and may be named as Y Prifardd before their own name. The wider Welsh language community treats the title as a mark of standing, because it rests on artistic ability that the Eisteddfod has judged. Later records keep the two groups apart: one list for chaired bards, one for crowned bards. Both groups hold the same title.
When and where
The title is settled when the chair, or the crown, is won at the National Eisteddfod of Wales. The sources name no month and no single day for it, and they do not say how often the Eisteddfod is drawn together. What is clear is that the honour arrives with the result, and that it stays with the bard afterwards.
Prifardd belongs to Wales and to the Welsh language community, which the sources name as the circle in which the title carries its weight. It is tied to one event above all: the National Eisteddfod of Wales, where the chair and the crown are won. The sources give no other place, and no city or town as a home for the title.
What Prifardd means
The word carries more than a label to those who use it. It says that a bard has taken the chief place, and it is spoken and written with respect, both as a description of a person and as a title set before a name. In the Welsh language community it stands for the artistic talent that a win at the National Eisteddfod of Wales demands, and for the standing that such a win is given.
Questions people ask about Prifardd
When is Prifardd kept?
Prifardd is kept on when a bard wins the chair or the crown at the National Eisteddfod of Wales.
What is a prifardd?
It is the Welsh title for a bard who has won the chair or the crown at the National Eisteddfod of Wales. The word itself means 'the chief bard'. The title is held in very high regard in the Welsh language community.
How is the word used in a sentence?
Two ways. As a common noun it describes the holder, and its plural is prifeirdd. As an honorific it comes before the name, much as The Reverend or The Honourable does in English. The article's example is 'Y Prifardd Christine James'.
Who holds this title?
It belongs to Wales and to the Welsh language community. Bards who win the chair or the crown at the National Eisteddfod of Wales hold it, and the community gives it high respect. Winners appear on separate lists for chaired bards and crowned bards.
See also
Christmas carolFestive songs and hymns sung during the Christmas season and door to door
SteelpanA tuned percussion tradition forged from industrial steel containers in Trinidad
Morris danceA rhythmic English folk dance performed in costume with bells, sticks and handkerchiefs
Fleadh CheoilAn annual gathering of Irish traditional music and dance, featuring competitions, public sessions, and concerts across IGood reading and sources
The facts on this page come from the Wikipedia article "Prifardd", written by its contributors and used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence, and from its Wikidata record (CC0). EveryParampara rewrote the text in its own words, with AI assistance, and compares every page with the article to make sure no passage is copied. It may be reused under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 licence with a link back.
It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-12.
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