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Contention Of The Bards In Gwynedd
According to Welsh tradition, the event sometimes referred to in English as the Contention of the Bards took place at Deganwy in the Kingdom of Gwynedd, and was a contest in bardic skill between Taliesin and the court poets of king Maelgwn Gwynedd, led by Heinin. According to the legendary history of Taliesin, the poet (not to be confused with the historical figure Taliesin) was a boy of 12 at the time, and was the bard of Elffin ap Gwyddno. Maelgwn is said to have held Elffin in captivity and Taliesin challenged his bards to a bardic contest for which Elffin was the prize. Taliesin won the contest and Elffin's freedom, and also (correctly) prophesied Maelgwn's death from a swamp-born pestilence. The poems ''Prifardd ydwyf i Elffin'' (''Primary Chief Bard am I to Elffin'') and ''Cân y Gwynt'' (''Song to the Wind''), which are later medieval poems attributed to Taliesin, are amongst those that, according to some versions of the legend, he sang in the Contention. These and other po ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Welsh People
The Welsh ( cy, Cymry) are an ethnic group native to Wales. "Welsh people" applies to those who were born in Wales ( cy, Cymru) and to those who have Welsh ancestry, perceiving themselves or being perceived as sharing a cultural heritage and shared ancestral origins. Wales is the third-largest country of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. In the Acts of Union 1707, the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland merged to become the Kingdom of Great Britain. The majority of people living in Wales are British citizens. In Wales, the Welsh language ( cy, Cymraeg) is protected by law. Welsh remains the predominant language in many parts of Wales, particularly in North Wales and parts of West Wales, though English is the predominant language in South Wales. The Welsh language is also taught in schools throughout Wales, and, even in regions of Wales in which Welsh people predominantly speak English on a daily basis, the Welsh language is often spoke ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Deganwy
Deganwy (Middle Welsh ''Degannwy'', Brythonic *''Decantouion'') is a town and electoral ward in Conwy County Borough in Wales with a population of 3,936 (2011). It lies in the Creuddyn Peninsula alongside Llandudno (to the north) and Rhos-on-Sea (to its east). Historically part of Caernarfonshire, the peninsula is in a region of north Wales where as many as 1 in 3 of residents are able to speak Welsh, and is home to some of the most expensive streets in Wales. Deganwy is located to the east of the town of Conwy (which is on the opposite side of the River Conwy) and with it forms the Conwy community. The name ''Deganwy'' has been interpreted in modern times as ''Din-Gonwy'', which would mean "Fort on the River Conwy", but the historical spellings make it impossible for this to be the actual origin of the name although mentioned in Domesday Book is "the territory of the Decanae tribe". The original wooden castle was rebuilt in stone after 1210. Deganwy is in the ecclesiastical p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kingdom Of Gwynedd
The Kingdom of Gwynedd (Medieval Latin: ; Middle Welsh: ) was a Welsh kingdom and a Roman Empire successor state that emerged in sub-Roman Britain in the 5th century during the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain. Based in northwest Wales, the rulers of Gwynedd repeatedly rose to dominance and were acclaimed as " King of the Britons" before losing their power in civil wars or invasions. The kingdom of Gruffydd ap Llywelynthe King of Wales from 1055 to 1063was shattered by a Saxon invasion in 1063 just prior to the Norman invasion of Wales, but the House of Aberffraw restored by Gruffudd ap Cynan slowly recovered and Llywelyn the Great of Gwynedd was able to proclaim the Principality of Wales at the Aberdyfi gathering of Welsh princes in 1216. In 1277, the Treaty of Aberconwy between Edward I of England and Llewelyn's grandson Llywelyn ap Gruffudd granted peace between the two but would also guarantee that Welsh self-rule would end upon Llewelyn's death, and so it represen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bardic
In Celtic cultures, a bard is a professional story teller, verse-maker, music composer, oral historian and genealogist, employed by a patron (such as a monarch or chieftain) to commemorate one or more of the patron's ancestors and to praise the patron's own activities. With the decline of a living bardic tradition in the modern period, the term has loosened to mean a generic minstrel or author (especially a famous one). For example, William Shakespeare and Rabindranath Tagore are respectively known as "the Bard of Avon" (often simply "the Bard") and "the Bard of Bengal". Oxford Dictionary of English, s.v. ''bard'', n.1. In 16th-century Scotland, it turned into a derogatory term for an itinerant musician; nonetheless it was later romanticised by Sir Walter Scott (1771–1832). Etymology The English term ''bard'' is a loan word from the Celtic languages: Gaulish: ''bardo-'' ('bard, poet'), mga, bard and ('bard, poet'), wlm, bardd ('singer, poet'), Middle Breton: ''barz'' ('m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taliesin
Taliesin ( , ; 6th century AD) was an early Brittonic poet of Sub-Roman Britain whose work has possibly survived in a Middle Welsh manuscript, the '' Book of Taliesin''. Taliesin was a renowned bard who is believed to have sung at the courts of at least three kings. In 1960, Ifor Williams identified eleven of the medieval poems ascribed to Taliesin as possibly originating as early as the sixth century, and so possibly being composed by a historical Taliesin. The bulk of this work praises King Urien of Rheged and his son Owain mab Urien, although several of the poems indicate that Taliesin also served as court bard to King Brochfael Ysgithrog of Powys and his successor Cynan Garwyn, either before or during his time at Urien's court. Some of the events to which the poems refer, such as the Battle of Arfderydd (c. 573), are referred to in other sources. John T. Koch argues that the description of Easter in the praise poem ''Yspeil Taliesin'' ('The Spoils of Taliesin') indica ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maelgwn Gwynedd
Maelgwn Gwynedd ( la, Maglocunus; died c. 547Based on Phillimore's (1888) reconstruction of the dating of the ''Annales Cambriae'' (A Text).) was king of Gwynedd during the early 6th century. Surviving records suggest he held a pre-eminent position among the Brythonic kings in Wales and their allies in the " Old North" along the Scottish coast. Maelgwn was a generous supporter of Christianity, funding the foundation of churches throughout Wales and even far beyond the bounds of his own kingdom. Nonetheless, his principal legacy today is the scathing account of his behavior recorded in ''De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae'' by Gildas, who considered Maelgwn a usurper and reprobate. The son of Cadwallon Lawhir and great-grandson of Cunedda, Maelgwn was buried on '' Ynys Seiriol'' (now known as Puffin Island in English), off the eastern tip of Anglesey, having died of the "yellow plague"; quite probably the arrival of Justinian's Plague in Britain. Name ''Maelgwn'' (IPA: /mɑːɨlgʊn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elffin Ap Gwyddno
:''The variant spelling 'Elphin' may refer to Saint Elphin, the town of Elphin, County Roscommon, Ireland or the Diocese of Elphin, cathedral in Sligo Town, Co. Sligo, Ireland. Elphin is also a village in Sutherland, Scotland.'' In Welsh mythology, Elffin ap Gwyddno (Welsh, also Elphin) was a son of Gwyddno Garanhir, 'Lord of Ceredigion'. The earliest example of the name occurs in several of the mythological poems attributed to Taliesin in the ''Book of Taliesin''. The date of their composition is uncertain but probably predates the Norman conquest. Several late medieval compositions refer to Elffin and Taliesin in more detail. Hanes Taliesin The legend of Elffin's association with Taliesin is given at its fullest in the late medieval prose text ''Ystorya Taliesin'', the earliest redaction of the tale known as Hanes Taliesin. In that tale Elffin was extremely unlucky. Gwyddno sent him to a salmon weir and had him fish. Instead of catching salmon, Elffin found a baby boy and c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prophesied
In religion, a prophecy is a message that has been communicated to a person (typically called a ''prophet'') by a supernatural entity. Prophecies are a feature of many cultures and belief systems and usually contain divine will or law, or preternatural knowledge, for example of future events. They can be revealed to the prophet in various ways depending on the religion and the story, such as visions, divination, or direct interaction with divine beings in physical form. Stories of prophetic deeds sometimes receive considerable attention and some have been known to survive for centuries through oral tradition or as religious texts. Etymology The English noun "prophecy", in the sense of "function of a prophet" appeared from about 1225, from Old French ''profecie'' (12th century), and from ''prophetia'', Greek ''propheteia'' "gift of interpreting the will of God", from Greek ''prophetes'' (see prophet). The related meaning, "thing spoken or written by a prophet", dates from 1300 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Medieval Welsh Literature
Medieval Welsh literature is the literature written in the Welsh language during the Middle Ages. This includes material starting from the 5th century AD, when Welsh was in the process of becoming distinct from Common Brittonic, and continuing to the works of the 16th century. The Welsh language became distinct from other dialects of Old British sometime between AD 400 and 700; the earliest surviving literature in Welsh is poetry dating from this period. The poetic tradition represented in the work of ''Y Cynfeirdd'' ("The Early Poets"), as they are known, then survives for over a thousand years to the work of the ''Poets of the Nobility'' in the 16th century. The core tradition was praise poetry; and the poet Taliesin was regarded as the first in the line. The other aspect of the tradition was the professionalism of the poets and their reliance on patronage from kings, princes and nobles for their living. The fall of the Kingdom of Gwynedd and the loss of Welsh independence in a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Culture Of Gwynedd During The High Middle Ages
Culture and Society in Gwynedd during the High Middle Ages refers to a period in the History of Wales spanning the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries (AD 1000–1300). The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages. Gwynedd is located in the north of Wales. Distinctive achievements in Gwynedd during this period include further development of Medieval Welsh literature, for instance in the poetry of those of the '' Beirdd y Tywysogion'' ( Welsh for ''Poets of the Princes'') associated with the court of Gwynedd, the reformation of bardic schools, and the continued development of ''Cyfraith Hywel'' (''The Law of Hywel'', or Welsh law); all three of which further contributed to the development of a Welsh national identity in the face of Anglo-Norman encroachment of Wales and the threat of conquest by the Crown of England. Gwynedd's traditional territory included Anglesey (''Ynys Môn'') and all of north Wales between the River Dyfi in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
House Of Gwynedd
120px, Flag of Gwynedd The House of Gwynedd is the Royal house of the Kingdom of Gwynedd, in Medieval Wales, and is divided between the House of Cunedda and the House of Aberffraw. History The House of Gwynedd, divided between the earlier House of Cunedda, which lasted from c.401 to 825, was eventually replaced by the later House of Aberffraw, beginning in 844. The first is so named after Cunedda (386-460), the founding King of Gwynedd; and the second after Aberffraw, the old capital of Gwynedd. This House was the first not being descended from the male line of Cunedda. Through inheritances from the great uncle of Merfyn the Oppressor, the line of Cunedda continued from the maternal side through the House of Aberffraw. The Senior line of the House of Aberffraw descended from Prince Llywelyn the Great in patriline succession and became extinct on the death of Owain Lawgoch in 1378. Lineage Under the laws of Hywel Dda, which were adapted from the much earlier pagan Molmutine Laws ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Welsh Mythology
Welsh mythology (Welsh: ''Mytholeg Cymru'') consists of both folk traditions developed in Wales, and traditions developed by the Celtic Britons elsewhere before the end of the first millennium. As in most of the predominantly oral societies Celtic mythology and history were recorded orally by specialists such as druids ( cy, derwyddon). This oral record has been lost or altered as a result of outside contact and invasion over the years. Much of this altered mythology and history is preserved in medieval Welsh manuscripts, which include the Red Book of Hergest, the White Book of Rhydderch, the Book of Aneirin and the Book of Taliesin. Other works connected to Welsh mythology include the ninth-century Latin historical compilation '' Historia Brittonum'' ("History of the Britons") and Geoffrey of Monmouth's twelfth-century Latin chronicle ''Historia Regum Britanniae'' ("History of the Kings of Britain"), as well as later folklore, such as the materials collected in ''The Welsh Fair ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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