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Canu Heledd
''Canu Heledd'' (modern Welsh /'kani 'hɛlɛð/, the songs of Heledd) are a collection of early Welsh ''englyn''-poems. They are rare among medieval Welsh poems for being set in the mouth of a female character. One prominent figure in the poems is Heledd's dead brother Cynddylan. Summary Dorothy Ann Bray summarised the cycle thus: The entire cycle of the Heledd poems ... is a statement of mourning from which a background story has been deduced: Cynddylan, prince of Powys, and his brothers along with his heroic band are slain in battle, defending their country against the English in the mid-seventh century. Heledd, his sister, is one of the few survivors, who witnessed the battle and the destruction of Cynddylan's hall at Pengwern. She has lost not only all her brothers, but also her sisters and her home, and the poems suggest that she blames herself for the destruction of Cynddylan's court because of some ill-spoken words. As with the other so-called 'saga ''englynion''’ (p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Englyn
(; plural ) is a traditional Welsh and Cornish short poem form. It uses quantitative metres, involving the counting of syllables, and rigid patterns of rhyme and half rhyme. Each line contains a repeating pattern of consonants and accent known as . Early history The is found in the work of the earliest attested Welsh poets (the ), where the main types are the three-line and . It is the only set stanzaic metre found in the early Welsh poetic corpus, and explanations for its origins have tended to focus on stanzaic Latin poetry and hymns; however, it is as likely to be a development within the Brittonic poetic tradition. Whereas the metrical rules of later are clear (and are based on counting syllables), the precise metre of the early is debated and could have involved stress-counting. The earliest are found as marginalia written in a tenth-century hand in the Juvencus Manuscript. Many early form poems which seem to represent moments of characters' emotional reflection i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Maserfield
The Battle of Maserfield () was fought on 5 August 641 or 642 (642 according to Ward) between the Anglo-Saxon kings Oswald of Northumbria and Penda of Mercia, ending in Oswald's defeat, death, and dismemberment. The location was also known as ''Cogwy'' in Welsh, with Welshmen from Pengwern participating in the battle (according to the probably ninth-century ''Canu Heledd''), probably as allies of the Mercians. Bede reports the commonly accepted date given above; the Welsh ''Annales Cambriae'' is generally considered incorrect in giving the year of the battle as 644. The site of the battle is traditionally identified with Oswestry; arguments have been made for and against the accuracy of this identification. Background "Since the death of Oswald's uncle Edwin of Northumbria at Hatfield Chase in 633, the Mercians under Penda had presented an obstacle to the power of Northumbria over the lands of Britain south of the Humber. Oswald had defeated Cadwallon ap Cadfan of Gwynedd, Kin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Goddess Of Sovereignty
Sovereignty goddess is a scholarly term, almost exclusively used in Celtic studies (although parallels for the idea have been claimed in other traditions, usually under the label ''hieros gamos''). The term denotes a goddess who, personifying a territory, confers sovereignty upon a king by marrying or having sex with him. Some narratives of this type correspond to folk-tale motif D732, ''the Loathly Lady'', in Stith Thompson's ''Motif-Index''. This trope has been identified as 'one of the most well-known and often studied thematic elements of Celtic myth'. It has also, however, been criticised in recent research for leading to "an attempt to prove that every strong female character in medieval Welsh and Irish tales is a souvenir of a Celtic sovereignty goddess". Historical evidence There is some evidence in Greek and Roman accounts of historical Celtic women that leading women such as Camma and Cartimandua might in antiquity actually have been associated with goddesses. It is al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harleian Genealogies
__NOTOC__ The Harleian genealogies are a collection of Old Welsh genealogies preserved in British Library, Harley MS 3859. Part of the Harleian Library, the manuscript, which also contains the ''Annales Cambriae'' (Recension A) and a version of the ''Historia Brittonum'', has been dated to ''c.'' 1100, although a date of c.1200 is also possible.Siddons, "Genealogies, Welsh," pp. 800-2; Remfry, P.M., 'Annales Cambriae. A Translation...', p. 4. Since the genealogies begin with the paternal and maternal pedigrees of Owain ap Hywel Dda (d. 988), the material was probably compiled during his reign. The collection also traces the lineages of less prominent rulers of Wales and the Hen Ogledd. Some of the genealogies reappear in the genealogies from Jesus College MS 20. See also *''Bonedd Gwŷr y Gogledd'' *Genealogies from Jesus College MS 20 *Frankish Table of Nations References Secondary sources * Siddons, Michael. "Genealogies, Welsh." In ''Celtic Culture. A Historical Encyclopedia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Old Welsh
Old Welsh ( cy, Hen Gymraeg) is the stage of the Welsh language from about 800 AD until the early 12th century when it developed into Middle Welsh.Koch, p. 1757. The preceding period, from the time Welsh became distinct from Common Brittonic around 550, has been called "Primitive"Koch, p. 1757. or "Archaic Welsh". Texts The oldest surviving text entirely in Old Welsh is understood to be that on a gravestone now in Tywyn – the Cadfan Stone – thought to date from the 7th century, although more recent scholarship dates it in the 9th century. A key body of Old Welsh text also survives in glosses and marginalia from around 900 in the Juvencus Manuscript and in . Some examples of medieval Welsh poems and prose additionally originate from this period, but are found in later manuscripts; ''Y Gododdin,'' for example, is preserved in Middle Welsh. A text in Latin and Old Welsh in the ''Lichfield Gospels'' called the "Surrexit Memorandum" is thought to have been written in the early ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Middle Welsh
Middle Welsh ( cy, Cymraeg Canol, wlm, Kymraec) is the label attached to the Welsh language of the 12th to 15th centuries, of which much more remains than for any earlier period. This form of Welsh developed directly from Old Welsh ( cy, Hen Gymraeg). Literature and history Middle Welsh is the language of nearly all surviving early manuscripts of the ''Mabinogion'', although the tales themselves are certainly much older. It is also the language of most of the manuscripts of Welsh law. Middle Welsh is reasonably intelligible, albeit with some work, to a modern-day Welsh speaker. Phonology The phonology of Middle Welsh is quite similar to that of modern Welsh, with only a few differences. The letter ''u'', which today represents in North Western Welsh dialects and in South Welsh and North East Welsh dialects, represented the close central rounded vowel in Middle Welsh. The diphthong ''aw'' is found in unstressed final syllables in Middle Welsh, while in Modern Welsh it has be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Davies (Mallwyd)
John Davies, Mallwyd ( – 1644) was one of Wales's leading scholars of the late Renaissance. He wrote a Welsh grammar and dictionary. He was also a translator and editor and an ordained minister of the Church of England. Born in Llanferres, Denbighshire, the son of a weaver, he graduated from Jesus College, Oxford in 1594. His name is traditionally associated with the parish of Mallwyd, Gwynedd, where he was rector from 1604 until his death in 1644. He is believed to have been the main editor and reviser of the 1620 edition of the Welsh translation of the Bible and the 1621 edition of the Welsh translation of the Book of Common Prayer. He published a Welsh grammar in Latin in 1621, ''Antiquae linguae Britannicae ...'', and a Welsh–Latin Latin–Welsh dictionary in 1632, ''Antiquae linguae Britannicae ... et linguae Latinae dictionarium duplex''. In 1632 he also published , a masterly translation and Protestant adaptation of (1582) by English Roman Catholic Robert Pa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Library Of Wales
The National Library of Wales ( cy, Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru), Aberystwyth, is the national legal deposit library of Wales and is one of the Welsh Government sponsored bodies. It is the biggest library in Wales, holding over 6.5 million books and periodicals, and the largest collections of archives, portraits, maps and photographic images in Wales. The Library is also home to the national collection of Welsh manuscripts, the National Screen and Sound Archive of Wales, and the most comprehensive collection of paintings and topographical prints in Wales. As the primary research library and archive in Wales and one of the largest research libraries in the United Kingdom, the National Library is a member of Research Libraries UK (RLUK) and the Consortium of European Research Libraries (CERL). At the very core of the National Library of Wales is the mission to collect and preserve materials related to Wales and Welsh life and those which can be utilised by the people of Wales fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thomas Wiliems
Thomas Wiliems (born in Ardda'r Mynaich in Arllechwedd, Wales possibly on 20 April 1545 or 1546; died in or before 13 August 1623) was a Welsh-language antiquarian.“Wiliems, Thomas (b. 1545/6?, d. in or before 1623?),” J. E. Caerwyn Williams in ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', ed. H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison (Oxford: OUP, 2004); online ed., ed. David Cannadine, October 2005, http://0-www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/29549 (accessed August 28, 2017). Biography Wiliems's mother was Catherine, the illegitimate daughter of Meredydd ab Ifan of the Wynn family, and Wiliam ap Tomos ap Gronwy. Wiliems was brought up in the parish of Trefriw, Arllechwedd Isaf, Caernarfonshire, and is likely that Wiliems was educated in the Wynn family's own school (like William Morgan, who translated the Welsh Bible). The renaissance brought unprecedented interest in education to Wiliems's generation, and had a clear effect on his life. He attended Brasenose College, Oxford for a ti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peniarth Manuscripts
The Peniarth Manuscripts, also known as the Hengwrt–Peniarth Manuscripts, are a collection of medieval Welsh manuscripts now held by the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth. The collection was originally assembled by Robert Vaughan (c. 1592–1667) of Hengwrt, Merionethshire, and in the 19th century was housed at Peniarth Mansion, Llanegryn, Merioneth. It contains some of the oldest and most important Welsh manuscripts in existence. The collection was sold in 1898 by William Wynne VII of Peniarth to Sir John Williams. When the plan to establish a National Library of Wales emerged, Williams promised that he would donate his valuable collection, including the Peniarth Manuscripts, on the condition that the library be based in Aberystwyth. This condition was met, and Sir John duly donated the collection to the National Library. The collection includes treasures such as the Black Book of Carmarthen, Book of Taliesin and White Book of Rhydderch (containing the Four Branches o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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