A Bard's Book of Pagan Songs: Stories and Music from the Celtic World - CD included

by Hugin the Bard

Lady of the Moon,
Maiden, Mother, Crone,
Granter of the Boon,
With you we're not alone.
We honor you tonight,
As we read the rune.
Love within your light,
Lady of the Moon.

These are the lyrics to just one of the more than fifty songs, chants, and invocations you'll find in A Bard's Book of Pagan Songs by Hugin the Bard.

The book begins by explaining the nature of a bard's life. It is more than just singing songs. It is sharing the ancient stories and helping to build the community. It is functioning, when need be, as a spiritual guide. And it is being able to entertain with song.

There are two types of songs in this book. First, there are more than a dozen songs based on stories from the ancient Welsh book, the Mabinogion. Songs include "Rhiannon of the Birds," "Caswallon's Quarry," and "The Dreams of Arianhrod." The second part of the book has over forty songs, chants, and invocations, beginning with one for each of the major festivals such as "The King Shall Return" for Imbolc and "Dark Night" for Samhain. Then there are a wide variety of tunes that share Hugin the Bard's thoughts, experiences, and ideas, such as "Knights of the Moon, "They Call Us Witches," and "Goddess Delight."

For each piece of music you will find the story or explanation for it along with the lead sheet, lyric sheet, and chord chart. In order to really experience this music, every copy of this book now includes, absolutely free, a CD featuring sixteen of the songs from this book!

Genres: Music, Mythology, Wicca, Poetry, Paganism

272 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1996

Reviews

[Theo Logos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Back in 1999 I was running a side gig as a busking fiddler and storyteller. I picked up A Bard’s Book of Pagan Songs to add new material to my repertoire. It did not disappoint.

I should mention that this is a Llewelyn book, with all that implies. It contains a fair amount of New Age Paganism-Light that one expects from that publisher. If you are into that sort of thing you’ll likely enjoy this book even more than I did. Me, I looked past that material for what I considered the meat of this collection.

The gold in this book is its Welsh mythology — stories and songs reshaped and retold from The Mabinogion, a medieval collection of Welsh myths. Hugin took tales from the Four Branches of The Mabinogion and created original songs, both words and music, from them. Each song magically captures the eerie beauty of these myths. Before each song he gives a thumbnail outline of the story that inspired it. Each song is presented with a simple melody line of notes, and with guitar chords preceding it. The book includes a CD of these songs so you can listen to them performed even if you are not musically inclined.

A Bard’s Book of Pagan Songs is an excellent introduction into the gorgeous mythology of The Mabinogion. It’s also a fine resource for storytellers. If you can find it, it will be a great addition to your collection.

[Julie Decker · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book of "Pagan songs" is actually partly a specific set of Welsh tales set to music and partly a group of ritual/festival songs. The sheet music is minimalist--it's just a basic idea so you can get the tune--and there are notes and comments from the artist throughout. It's a real treat to see something authentic and old school here (I feared it would just be nursery rhyme tunes with replaced Pagan lyrics about the Goddess or something), but it's firmly rooted in folklore and a lot of fun. Plus it comes with a CD for those who can't read music or just want to hear it!

[Jedidiah Bird · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first came across this book many years ago (1999-2000) while working at a library. It became one of my favorite books to check out due to the CD in the back. Sadly, after a couple of months, someone returned the book without the CD, and I have never heard the music since. However, I still to this day sometimes sing one or two of the songs (My favorite is the song about the island of the mighty. "Then Matholwch misused the Cauldron, fed into it parts of the dead, and from it came demon warriors, that all of the mortals did dread...")

[Rose Tell-Drake · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been toting this book and CD around with me since I was a teen in the nineties. Pulled it out today because my young sons are doing a mythology unit and were reading about the Mabinogion. The songs about Welsh mythology are pure gold, no matter your religious feelings about the Pagan songs in the book. All the songs on the CD are the myth retellings. The one with the chorus, "Mighty Pwyll descended into Annwn..." is a banger. I'd love to know whatever became of Hugin the Bard.

[Katra · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not what I was hoping for. I dove into this book with ulterior motives. I have a Celtic trio and I'm the self-appointed tune finder, so I'm always searching archives and other odd places for old tunes for our group. This seemed like a find when I ordered it. While it started with a few tales from the Mabinogian with accompanying songs, the songs were all composed by the author, a contemporary wiccan elder from Minnesota. Soon it went from Welsh tales to "Cosmic Cowboy" and a couple of hymns for wiccan worship. The stories, while probably engaging when told in person, lacked the literary quality that mad enjoyable reading.

[Swankivy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this (with the CD!) as a gift from a friend, and it's pretty unique. I was kinda hoping it would have some songs I recognized, but it appears to be mostly stuff I've never heard of, with very old-school, minimalist sheet music to guide bards and lovers of simple Pagan folk music to sing these songs. The CD is really helpful, and those who want to infuse their rituals or their private study with the musical side of the Craft might wanna pick this up.