A PRINCE who prized bards above bloodshed – that is Lord Rhys according to a West Country author who is publishing a novel on the first eisteddfod next month.

Somerset-born Luke Waterson has been fascinated by the landscape and history of Wales since he was a small boy – but it is the story of Cardigan Castle and that first eisteddfod in 1176 that has inspired his latest novel Song Castle.

“The fact that Lord Rhys and Cardigan Castle was a beacon for culture in an era that was renowned for its bloodshed is just compelling,” he said.

“I’ve always wanted to write a big novel on Welsh history. The story is not just about the festival but also the journey of the people who came to Cardigan Castle that Christmas of 1176.

“We know that bards came from all over Britain and France but is it possible they came from further afield?

“In my novel I have a character journeying to Cardigan from Persia. Could that have been possible? They came to Wales not for war, not for fighting but for poetry.”

Luke will be giving a talk on his book and the first eisteddfod at Cardigan Castle on Thursday, 26 April, at 6pm – two days before the 821st anniversary of Lord Rhys’s death.

“The few sentences that are written about what we now know as the first eisteddfod are tantalisingly short,” he said, “but we do know that this festival attracted people from all over the known world.”

See this week’s south papers for the full story, available in shops and as a digital edition now