Professor Thomas Gwynn Jones

C.B.E. The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(10 October 1871 – 7 March 1949), more widely known as T. Gwynn Jones, was a leading Welsh poet, scholar, literary critic, novelist, translator, and journalist who did important work in Welsh literature, Welsh education, and the study of Welsh folk tales in the first half of the twentieth century. He was also an accomplished translator into Welsh of works from English, German, Greek, and Irish.

Personal life

Thomas Jones was born at Y Gwyndy Uchaf in

Betws-yn-Rhos Betws yn Rhos ('' en, Chapel house in Rhos'') is a village and community in Conwy County Borough, Wales. Betws yn Rhos is located about inland between the coastal towns of Abergele and Colwyn Bay. Until 1974 it formed part of Denbighshire, bu ...

Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; cy, Sir Ddinbych; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. Its borders differ from the historic county of the same name. This part of Wales contains the country's oldest known evidence of habitation – Pontnewydd (Bontnewy ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, the eldest son of Isaac Jones and Jane Roberts. He was educated in Denbigh and

Abergele Abergele (; ; ) is a market town and community, situated on the north coast of Wales between the holiday resorts of Colwyn Bay and Rhyl, in Conwy County Borough and in the historic county of Denbighshire. Its northern suburb of Pensarn lies ...

. In 1899 he married Margaret Jane Davies, the daughter of Thomas Davies of Denbigh, by whom he had three children.

Career

In 1890 he was a sub-editor on the Welsh-language newspaper ''

Baner ac Amserau Cymru The ''Baner ac Amserau Cymru'' (established in 1857) was a weekly Welsh language newspaper, distributed throughout Wales and in the Liverpool area. It contained local and national news and information. It was formed by the amalgamation of ''Baner ...

'' (''Y Faner''). He wrote a famous biography of the great Liberal publisher

Thomas Gee Thomas Gee (24 January 181528 September 1898), was a Welsh Nonconformist preacher, journalist and publisher. Gee was born in Denbigh, Wales. At the age of fourteen he went into his father's printing office, Gwasg Gee, but continued to atte ...

, whose work influenced Jones throughout his life. After many years as a journalist, Jones worked at the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth, and later as a lecturer in the Welsh department at the

University College of Wales, Aberystwyth , mottoeng = A world without knowledge is no world at all , established = 1872 (as ''The University College of Wales'') , former_names = University of Wales, Aberystwyth , type = Public , endowment = ...

, where he became a professor in 1919. He won the Chair at the National Eisteddfod of Wales in Bangor in 1902 for his ode, ''

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 ...

''. His major work was an edition of the fifteenth-century poet,

Tudur Aled Tudur Aled (c. 1465 – 1525) was a late medieval Welsh poet, born in Llansannan, Denbighshire (Sir Ddinbych). He is regarded as a master of cynghanedd. Beginnings It is uncertain when Tudur Aled started to write poetry. A remark by him in his el ...

. A strong opponent of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Jones walked out of the Tabernacle Chapel in Aberystwyth when the minister offered a prayer for a British victory in the war. He later wrote "If there's anything I understand from the New Testament, it is that Jesus Christ is not a militaristic person. He is the Saviour of the world, he is the Prince of Peace. Therefore those who say they are Christians, followers of Christ must reject war totally." He was awarded

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in the 1937 Coronation Honours.

Influence

T. Gwynn Jones's writings had a significant influence on Robert Graves in his mythopoeic study ''

The White Goddess ''The White Goddess: a Historical Grammar of Poetic Myth'' is a book-length essay on the nature of poetic myth-making by author and poet Robert Graves. First published in 1948, the book is based on earlier articles published in ''Wales'' magaz ...

''. Graves developed his suggestion of a distinction between the restricted poetry of the official Welsh bards, and the more expansive and fanciful unofficial Welsh writings: "The tales and Romances, on the other hand, are full of colour and incident; even characterization is not absent from them. In them fancy...develops into imagination".Quoted in

Published works

*''Astudiaethau'' (1936) *(trans.), ''Awen y Gwyddyl'' (1922) – translated

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

poetry. *''Bardism and Romance'' (1914) *''Beirniadaeth a Myfyrdod'' (1935) *(trans.), ''Blodau o Hen Ardd'' (1927) – translated

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

epigrams. *''Brethyn Cartref'' (1913) *''Brithgofion'' (1944) *''Caniadau'' (1934) *''Cofiant Thomas Gee'' (1913) *''Cymeriadau'' (1933) *''Y Dwymyn'' (1944) *''Dyddgwaith'' (1937) *''Eglwys y Dyn Tlawd'' (1892) *''Emrys ap Iwan. Cofiant'' (1912) *(trans.), ''Faust'' by

Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as tr ...

(1922) *''Gwedi Brad a Gofid'' (1898) *(ed.) ''Gwaith Tudur Aled'', 2 vols., (1926) *''Gwlad y Gân a cherddi eraill'' (1902) *'' John Homer'' (1923) *'' Lona'' (1923) *''Llenyddiaeth Y Cymry'' (1915) *''Rhieingerddi'r Gogynfeirdd'' (1915) *(trans.) ''Visions of the Sleeping Bard'' (1940) *''Welsh Folklore and Welsh Folk-custom'' (1930)

References

External links

*
Welsh Biography Online – JONES, THOMAS GWYNN (1871–1949), poet, writer, translator and scholarDescription of the ''T. Gwynn Jones and Arthur ap Gwynn Papers''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, T. Gwynn 1871 births 1949 deaths Academics of Aberystwyth University British anti–World War I activists Calvinist and Reformed poets Calvinist pacifists Chaired bards Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Epic poets Mythopoeic writers Translators of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Translators to Welsh Welsh anti-war activists Welsh children's writers Welsh Eisteddfod winners Welsh-language poets Welsh-language writers Welsh writers Writers of Arthurian literature Writers of modern Arthurian fiction