William John Gruffydd (1916 – 21 April 2011), better known by his

bardic name A bardic name (, ) is a pseudonym used in Wales, Cornwall, or Brittany by poets and other artists, especially those involved in the eisteddfod movement. The Welsh term bardd ("poet") originally referred to the Welsh poets of the Middle Ages, who m ...

of Elerydd, was a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

Baptist minister and poet who served as Archdruid of the

National Eisteddfod of Wales The National Eisteddfod of Wales (Welsh language, Welsh: ') is the largest of several eisteddfodau that are held annually, mostly in Wales. Its eight days of competitions and performances are considered the largest music and poetry festival in Eur ...

between 1984 and 1987. Like all Archdruids, Elerydd was himself the winner of a major prize at the National Eisteddfod, in his case the crown at the

Pwllheli Pwllheli () is a market town and community of the Llŷn Peninsula ( cy, Penrhyn Llŷn) in Gwynedd, north-western Wales. It had a population of 4,076 in 2011 of whom a large proportion, 81%, are Welsh language, Welsh speaking. Pwllheli is the pl ...

Eisteddfod in 1955 and at

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

in 1960.

Works

Poetry

*''Ffenestri'' (1961) *''Cerddi'r Llygad'' (1973)

Autobiography

*''Meddylu'' (1986) *''O Ffair Rhos i'r Maen Llog'' (2003)

Other

*''Folklore and myth'' (1964) *''Tua Soar'' (1994–97) Capel Soar y Mynydd, Ceredigion.

References

1916 births Crowned bards 2011 deaths Welsh-language writers Welsh male poets 20th-century Welsh Baptist ministers Welsh Eisteddfod archdruids Welsh Eisteddfod winners 20th-century Welsh poets 20th-century British male writers 20th-century Welsh writers {{Wales-writer-stub