List of Welsh-language poets (6th century to c. 1600)

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See also Category:Welsh-language poets

Welsh language poetry has, until quite recently, been regulated by specific verse forms (Canu Caeth), with the encouragement of the eisteddfod movement. The following list is as inclusive as possible for the years prior to 1600. It includes as many minor poets as possible to illustrate the range and content of Welsh poetry throughout the ages. Note that much early poetry has been lost and also that a great deal of medieval verse is either anonymous or, usually in the case of mythological poems and prophetic verse, attributed to the 6th century poet Taliesin or the mythical figure of Myrddin. Early religious and gnomic verse is also usually anonymous. Where possible examples of each poets surviving work is presented at Welsh Poetry at Wikisource

Each period of the poets listed below is accompanied by a graphical timeline to illustrate the main events and individuals that influenced the poets and their work. These timelines also depict the development of the Welsh language. This page is limited to the practitioners of the language and further details of its development may be found at Welsh language.

Contents

Pre 6th century

No works by Welsh poets prior to the 6th century have survived. Tradition records:

6th century to 1100

Extant

The bulk of surviving verse from the period known as "Canu'r Bwlch" is anonymous.(see Wikisource)

The works of the following poets, belonging to the Hengerdd or Cynfeirdd period, are extant and accepted as probably genuine:

The following works are probably apocryphal:

The englyn-cycles which were previously attributed to Llywarch Hen and Heledd are now seen as works of later (ninth-10th century) poets.

Non-extant or doubtful

Four others are named by Nennius as poets of renown alongside Taliesin and Aneirin:

Other

Timeline


1100 to 1290

The following group of court poets used to be called the Gogynfeirdd and are now generally referred to as "Beirdd y Tywysogion", the Poets of the Princes. The list is roughly chronological.

Timeline of Major Poets


1290 to c.1500

The poets of this period are known as Beirdd yr Uchelwyr. The list is fairly chronological but not exhaustive as the work of some minor poets of the late 15th and 16th centuries remains in manuscript and a large corpus of late medieval Darogan, prophetic verse, is anonymous or attributed to early poets. Traditional patronage dwindled in the late 16th century but a handful of bards still received patronage from the gentry into the 17th century. Free verse by individuals composing "freelance" gradually took over from the mid-16th century onwards.

Timeline of Major Poets


16th century

Most of the earlier poets here are very much in the Beirdd yr Uchelwyr tradition. Traditional patronage dwindled in the late 16th century but a handful of bards still received patronage from the gentry into the 17th century. Free verse by individuals composing "freelance" gradually took over from the mid-16th century onwards. The free verse and strict metre poets sit rather uneasily together in this list.

Timeline of Major Poets


References

  1. ^ "St. Joseph of Arimathea at Glastonbury", Theo Brown, Folklore, Vol. 57, No.2, 1946.
  2. ^ Sir Ifor Williams, 'Beginnings of Welsh Poetry', University of Wales Press, Second Revised Edition,1980
  3. ^ Bleheris "J. L. Weston, From Ritual to Romance, Cambridge University Press 1920"
  4. ^ Myrddin "A.O.H. Jarman, 'A oedd Myrddin yn Fardd Hanesyddol?', (Studia Celtica 1976)
  5. ^ J Lloyd-Jones, 'The Court Poets of the Welsh Princes', Proceedings of the British Academy, 1948
  6. ^ Gwaith Tudur Aled, Thomas Gwynn Jones (ed.), (Cardiff, 1926).
  7. ^ Andrew Breeze, 'Two bardic themes: the Virgin and Child, and Ave-Eva', Medium Aevum, Vol. 63, 1994
  8. ^ 'Llanarthney - Llanbedrog', A Topographical Dictionary of Wales (1849), pp. 478-93. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=47842
  9. ^ Islwyn Jones (ed.), Gwaith Hywel Cilan (Caerdydd, 1963)
  10. ^ Owen Thomas, 'Gwaith Dafydd Epynt', Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies, Aberystwyth, 2002
  11. ^ Rhiannon Ifans, 'Gwaith Syr Dafydd Trefor', Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies, Aberystwyth, 2006
  12. ^ Catholic Online Saints: http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=4599
  13. ^ a b (Peniarth Manuscript. 287)
  14. ^ (NLW MS. (1553) Llanst. MSS. (123, 125, and 133)
  15. ^ (N.L.W. MSS. 695)
  16. ^ (B.M. Add. MS. 14906)
  17. ^ (Mostyn MS 144)