Who were the filid in early Irish literature?

In early Irish society, the filid (singular: fili) were a powerful, aristocratic class of professional poets who served as the primary custodians of traditional lore, history, and genealogies. Inheriting the roles of the ancient Druids, they functioned as historians, judges, and poets responsible for preserving the past and present glory of the ruling class.12

The filid were organized into seven distinct grades, with the highest, the ollamh, requiring at least 12 years of rigorous study to master hundreds of stories and complex meters. Beyond their literary duties, they were often granted land and tasked with instructing others in law—specifically the Brehon laws—and national history.1

They wielded significant social influence, partly through the feared áer (lampoon), a poet’s curse believed to cause physical harm or death to those who offended them. While their priestly functions diminished with the spread of Christianity, they remained vital to the oral transmission of native lore, which was eventually recorded by ecclesiastical scholars. By the 13th century, their status gradually gave way to the supremacy of the bards.12