What is "bard"

Eelpout \Eel"pout`\, n. [AS. ?lepute.] (Zo["o]l.)

1. A European fish ( Zoarces viviparus), remarkable for producing living young; -- called also greenbone, guffer, bard, and Maroona eel. Also, an American species ( Z. anguillaris), -- called also mutton fish, and, erroneously, congo eel, ling, and lamper eel. Both are edible, but of little value.

2. A fresh-water fish, the burbot.

mid-15c., from Scottish, from Old Celtic bardos "poet, singer," from PIE root *gwer- "to lift up the voice, praise." In historical times, a term of contempt among the Scots (who considered them itinerant troublemakers), but one of great respect among the Welsh. All vagabundis, fulis, bardis, scudlaris, and siclike idill pepill, sall be brint on the cheek. [local Scottish ordinance, c.1500]Subsequently idealized by Scott in the more ancient sense of "lyric poet, singer." Poetic use of the word in English is from Greek bardos, Latin bardus, both from Gaulish.

Etymology 1 n. 1 A professional poet and singer, as among the ancient Celts, whose occupation was to compose and sing verses in honor of the heroic achievements of princes and brave men. 2 (context by extension English) A poet. Etymology 2

n. 1 A piece of defensive (or, sometimes, ornamental) armor for a horse's neck, breast, and flanks; a barb. (Often in the plural.) 2 Defensive armor formerly worn by a man at arms. 3 (context cooking English) A thin slice of fat bacon used to cover any meat or game. 4 The exterior covering of the trunk and branches of a tree; the rind. 5 Specifically, Peruvian bark. vb. 1 To cover a horse in defensive armor. 2 (context cooking English) To cover (meat or game) with a thin slice of fat bacon.

v. put a caparison on; "caparison the horses for the festive occasion" [syn: caparison, dress up]

1. n. a lyric poet

2. an ornamental caparison for a horse

Bård is a Norwegian given name for males. It is a Norwegian form of the Old Norse name Bárðr. Sometimes it also appears as a surname. It may refer to:

The term bard came to be used in the Soviet Union in the early 1960s, and continues to be used in Russia today, to refer to singer-songwriters who wrote songs outside the Soviet establishment, similarly to folk singers of the American folk music revival. Because in bard music songwriters perform their own songs, the genre is also commonly referred to as author song ("авторская песня" avtorskaya pesnya). Bard poetry differs from other poetry mainly in being sung with simple guitar accompaniment as opposed to being spoken. Another difference is that it focuses less on style and more on meaning. This means that fewer stylistic devices are used, and the poetry is often in the form of a narrative. What separates bard poetry from other songs is that the music is far less important than the lyrics; chord progressions are often very simple and tend to repeat from one bard song to another. A far more obvious difference is the commerce-free nature of the genre; songs are written to be sung and not to be sold, as the bards are often working professionals in a non-musical occupation.

Stylistically, the precursors to bard songs were Russian "city romances", also known as urban romances, which touched upon common life and were popular throughout all layers of Russian society in the late 19th to early 20th centuries. These romances were traditionally written in a minor key and performed with a guitar accompaniment.

Bard poetry may be roughly classified into two main genres: tourist song and political song, although some other subgenres are also recognized, such as outlaw song and pirate song.

Initially the term "bard" was used by fans of the tourist song genre, and outside those circles, the term was often perceived as slightly derisive. However, there was a need for a term to distinguish this style of song from the traditional mainstream pop song, and the term eventually stuck.

Many bards performed their songs for small groups of people using a Russian guitar, and rarely, if ever, would they be accompanied by other musicians or singers. Those who became popular were eventually able to hold modest concerts. Bards were rarely permitted to record their music, given the political nature of many of their songs. As a result, bard tunes usually made their way around via the copying of amateur recordings (known as magnitizdat) made at concerts, particularly those songs that were of a political nature.

A bard is a minstrel in medieval Scottish, Irish and Welsh societies; and later re-used by romantic writers.

Bard, BARD, The Bard or Bård may also refer to:

Bard is the third studio album by the English progressive rock band, Big Big Train. It was released in 2002 by Treefrog Records. It is the only one of their early albums that the band decided not to re-release, and as such it is currently out-of-print.

The bard is a standard playable character class in many editions of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. The bard class is versatile, capable of combat and of magic ( Divine magic in earlier editions, arcane magic in later editions). Bards use their artistic talents to induce magical effects. The class is loosely based on the special magic that music holds in stories such as The Pied Piper of Hamelin, and in earlier versions was much more akin to being a Celtic Fili or a Norse Skald, although these elements have largely been removed in later editions. Listed inspirations for bards include Taliesin, Homer, Will Scarlet and Alan-a-Dale.

Bard is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:

• Alexander Bard (born 1961), Swedish philosopher and musician
• Allen J. Bard (born 1933), American chemist
• Ben Bard (1893-1974), American actor
• Charles Bard, 2nd Viscount Bellomont (1647-1667)
• Daniel Bard (born 1985), American baseball pitcher
• David Bard (1744-1815), United States Representative from Pennsylvania
• Guy K. Bard (1895-1953), American judge and politician
• Henri Bard (1892-1951), French footballer
• Henry Bard, 1st Viscount Bellomont (1616-1656)
• Howard B. Bard (1870-1954), American Unitarian minister
• Joseph Bard (1882-1975), expatriate Hungarian writer
• Josh Bard (born 1978), American baseball catcher and designated hitter
• Maria Bard (1900-1944), German stage actress
• Mitchell Bard, American foreign policy analyst
• Ralph Austin Bard (1884-1975), Assistant Secretary of the Navy 1941–1944
• Samuel Bard (physician) (1742-1821)
• Samuel Bard (politician) (1825-1878), Governor of Idaho Territory
• Thomas R. Bard (1841-1915), American politician from California

Fictional characters:

• Jason Bard, a character in DC Comics