Gerallt Lloyd Owen (6 November 1944 – 15 July 2014) was a Welsh-language poet who lived in

Llandwrog Llandwrog (; Welsh language: meaning 'The church of Saint Twrog') is a village and community in Gwynedd, north-west Wales, most notable for the presence of the headquarters of Welsh record label Sain and the site of Caernarfon Airport. It has ...

. He is considered to be one of Wales's leading "strict-metre" poets.

Works

Owen began as a "political poet" in the 1960s, often using medieval forms or imagery for purposes of promoting

Welsh nationalism Welsh nationalism ( cy, Cenedlaetholdeb Cymreig) emphasises and celebrates the distinctiveness of Welsh culture and Wales as a nation or country. Welsh nationalism may also include calls for further autonomy or self determination which includes ...

. His political works at times satirized the failings of the Welsh people, or Welsh history, rather than simply praising them. The 1982 Bardic Chair at the National Eisteddfod of Wales was awarded to Owen for his ''

awdl In Welsh poetry, an ''awdl'' () is a long poem in strict metre (i.e. ''cynghanedd''). Originally, an ''awdl'' could be a relatively short poem unified by its use of a single end-rhyme (the word is related to ''odl'', "rhyme"), using cynghanedd; ...

'' ''Cilmeri'', which

Hywel Teifi Edwards Hywel Teifi Edwards (15 October 1934 – 4 January 2010) was a Welsh academic and historian, a prominent Welsh nationalist, a broadcaster and an author in the Welsh language. He was the father of the BBC journalist Huw Edwards. ...

has called the only 20th-century ''awdl,'' that matches T. Gwynn Jones' 1902 masterpiece ''

Ymadawiad Arthur ''Ymadawiad Arthur'' ("The Passing of Arthur") is a Welsh-language poem, some 350 lines in length, by Thomas Gwynn Jones. It won its author the Chair at the National Eisteddfod in 1902 but was several times heavily revised by him in later year ...

'' ("The Passing of Arthur"). Owen's ''Cilmeri'' reimagines the death of Prince

Llywelyn ap Gruffudd Llywelyn ap Gruffudd (c. 1223 – 11 December 1282), sometimes written as Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, also known as Llywelyn the Last ( cy, Llywelyn Ein Llyw Olaf, lit=Llywelyn, Our Last Leader), was the native Prince of Wales ( la, Princeps Wall ...

of the Royal

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 o ...

in battle near the village of the same name on 11 December 1282, while leading a doomed uprising against the occupation of Wales by King

Edward I of England Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vas ...

. Owen's poem depicts the Prince as a

tragic hero A tragic hero is the protagonist of a tragedy. In his ''Poetics'', Aristotle records the descriptions of the tragic hero to the playwright and strictly defines the place that the tragic hero must play and the kind of man he must be. Aristotle ba ...

and invests his fall with an anguish unmatched since

Gruffudd ab yr Ynad Coch Gruffudd ab yr Ynad Coch ( fl. 1277–1282) was a Welsh court poet. Gruffudd composed a number of poems on the theme of religion. His greatest fame however, lies with his moving elegy for Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Prince of Wales Prince of Wa ...

wrote his famous lament for the Prince immediately following his death. Owen also, according to Edwards, encapsulates in the Prince's death the

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 ...

's continuing "battle for national survival." One of his later works, ''Afon'', is more about childhood. Part of it is quoted in a document on early children's education in Wales.

Death

Owen died on 15 July 2014 in hospital at the age of 69.

Awards

*1992

Wales Book of the Year The Wales Book of the Year is a Welsh literary award given annually to the best Welsh and English language works in the fields of fiction and literary criticism by Welsh or Welsh interest authors. Established in 1992, the awards are currently ad ...

winner, Welsh-language.BBC Staff (15 July 2014) "Gerald Lloyd Owen is dead," BBC (London) captured at 17:41 on 15 July 2014 (in Welsh)
Literature Wales
*2002 Glyndŵr Award for literature.

References

External links

Literature Wales page on him (In Welsh)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Owen, Gerallt Lloyd Welsh-language poets Welsh-language writers People from Merionethshire 1944 births 2014 deaths 20th-century Welsh poets People from Llandwrog