Gwalchmai ap Meilyr ( fl. 1130 – 1180) was a

Welsh-language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language of the Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut Province, Argentina). Historically, it has als ...

court poet A poet laureate (plural: poets laureate) is a poet officially appointed by a government or conferring institution, typically expected to compose poems for special events and occasions. Albertino Mussato of Padua and Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) ...

, connected with Trewalchmai in

Anglesey Anglesey (; cy, (Ynys) Môn ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms a principal area known as the Isle of Anglesey, that includes Holy Island across the narrow Cymyran Strait and some islets and skerries. Anglesey island ...

. He was one of the earliest of the ''

Gogynfeirdd 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 t ...

'' ("less early poets") or ''Beirdd y Tywysogion'' ("Poets of the Princes"). He composed poems in praise of

Owain Gwynedd Owain ap Gruffudd ( 23 or 28 November 1170) was King of Gwynedd, North Wales, from 1137 until his death in 1170, succeeding his father Gruffudd ap Cynan. He was called Owain the Great ( cy, Owain Fawr) and the first to be ...

, king of

Gwynedd Gwynedd (; ) is a county and preserved county (latter with differing boundaries; includes the Isle of Anglesey) in the north-west of Wales. It shares borders with Powys, Conwy County Borough, Denbighshire, Anglesey over the Menai Strait, and C ...

, and his brothers. He was the son of another poet,

Meilyr Brydydd Meilyr Brydydd ap Mabon ( fl. 1100–1137) is the earliest of the Welsh Poets of the Princes or ''Y Gogynfeirdd'' (The Less Early Poets) whose work has survived. Meilyr was the court poet of Gruffudd ap Cynan (ca. 1055–1137), king of Gwynedd. He ...

, and father of the poets

Meilyr ap Gwalchmai Meilyr ap Gwalchmai (fl. second half of the 12th century) was the son of the Welsh poet Gwalchmai ap Meilyr Gwalchmai ap Meilyr (fl. 1130 – 1180) was a Welsh-language court poet, connected with Trewalchmai in Anglesey. He was one of the earlie ...

and

Einion ap Gwalchmai The Welsh court poet Einion ap Gwalchmai ( fl. 1202–1223) was the son of the poet Gwalchmai ap Meilyr and brother of the poet Meilyr ap Gwalchmai. He lived in Gwynedd. Some lines of a praise poem to Llywelyn ab Iorwerth, Prince of Gwynedd, ...

. He shares his name with Gwalchmei ap Gwyar, a figure from Welsh legend described as the nephew of

Arthur Arthur is a common male given name of Brittonic languages, Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. An ...

and known in English as

Gawain Gawain (), also known in many other forms and spellings, is a character in Arthurian legend, in which he is King Arthur's nephew and a Knight of the Round Table. The prototype of Gawain is mentioned under the name Gwalchmei in the earliest ...

. His most important work is perhaps ''Gorhoffedd Gwalchmai'' ("Gwalchmai's praise poem"), one of the greatest medieval Welsh poems.

Bibliography

*J. E. Caerwyn-Williams (ed.), ''Gwaith Meilyr Brydydd a'i ddisgynyddion'' (Cardiff, 1994). Welsh-language poets 12th-century Welsh poets {{Wales-writer-stub

See also

Bibliography