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

Much of Welsh language poetry has, until quite recently, been composed in various forms of strict metre (canu caeth), latterly 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. However much early poetry has been lost, and much 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 poet's 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. Further details of its development may be found at Welsh language.

Pre 6th century

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

• Maelgwyn of Llandaff (c. 450) – said, according to one source, to have written of Joseph of Arimathea's burial at Glastonbury.^[1] However, in the mid-5th century he would have spoken Brythonic, not Welsh, and as a monk would probably have written in Latin. His existence is doubtful.
• St. Meugan (fl. c. late 5th century) – possibly a court poet to Cadwallon of Gwynedd

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:

• Aneirin (Neirin mab Dwyrei) (fl. 550–600)
• Taliesin (fl. later 6th century)

The following works are probably apocryphal:

• Meigant (fl. c. 600–620) – a poet whose surviving work is recorded in the Black Book Of Carmarthen.
• Afan Ferddig (7th century) – accepted as the author of Moliant Cadwallon a praise poem to Cadwallon ap Cadfan
• Juvencus Manuscript/ Cambridge Juvencus (late 9th century) contains two Welsh englyn-poems, one of nine and one of three englynion.^[2] For the text and Sir Ifor William's translation see: The Juvencus Englynion.
• The englyn-cycles which were previously attributed to Llywarch Hen and Heledd are now seen as works of later (9th–10th century) poets.
• St Elaeth (11th century) – a poet and a monk whose surviving verse is recorded in the Black Book Of Carmarthen.

Non-extant or doubtful

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

• Blwchbardd

• Cian (Guenith Guaut)

• Culfardd

• Talhaearn Tad Awen
• Arofan (7th century)
• (?9th century) – referred to in several poems but otherwise unknown. None of his work survives. The earliest reference to him is in a text http://cy.wikisource.org/wiki/Kervit_vrten (English version) found in the Black Book Of Carmarthen. However, a later charter of Sir Nicholas FitzMartin, Marcher Lord of Kemes, off-handedly describes someone as his descendant; the charter grants the supposed descendant land in the Preseli Hills.^{[3] [4]}
• Bleheris (?11th century) – an otherwise unknown poet of doubtful authenticity referred to as "born and bred in Wales" in Gawain and as a source for the story.^[5]

Other

• Myrddin ab Morfryn – was believed by some to be an historical person who died in AD 570, but is now accepted as a mythical figure (see Merlin).^[6]

Timeline

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at:410 text:• Collapse of the Roman Empire in Britain

from: 550 till: 600 color:PA text:"Aneirin" at:570 text:†St Gildas

from: 575 till: 600 color:PA text:"Taliesin" at:589 text:†St David

at:594 text:• First occurrence of 'Arthur' in Welsh poetry at:597 text:• St. Augustine in Britain at:640 text:• Earliest date 'Marwnad Cynddylan' thought to be composed at:670 text:• Earliest date 'Canu Heledd' thought to be composed

from: 757 till: 795 color:BL text:"Offa’s Dyke constructed"

from: 800 till: 825 color:PA text:"Llywarch Hen" at:820 text:• Historia Britonum composed

at:840 text:• Viking raids on the Welsh coast at:870 text:• Juvencus Manuscript

at:877 text:†Rhodri Mawr at:909 text:†Asser at:930 text:• Armes Prydein composed at:950 text:†Hywel Dda

at:970 text:• Annales Cambriae

at:1060 text:• Mabinogion composed at:1063 text:†Gruffudd ap Llywelyn at:1066 text:• Norman Conquest at:1090 text:• Creation of Welsh March at:1100 text:• Birth of Geoffrey of Monmouth

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shift:(-10,-5) color:white bar:Welsh from:1050 till:1200 text:"Middle Welsh"

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.

• Meilyr Brydydd (fl. 1100–1137)
• Gwalchmai ap Meilyr (fl. 1130–1180)
• Owain Cyfeiliog (c. 1130–1197)
• Llywarch Llaety (fl. c. 1140–1160)
• Llywelyn Fardd I – (fl. c. 1150–1175) – named in the Red Book of Hergest as “Llywelyn Fardd, son of Cywryd”.^[7]
• Seisyll Bryffwrch (fl. 1155–1175)
• Cynddelw Brydydd Mawr (fl. 1155–1200)
• Peryf ap Cedifor (fl. c. 1170)
• Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd (died 1170)
• Gwynfardd Brycheiniog (fl. c. 1170–1180)
• Llywarch ap Llywelyn ("Prydydd y Moch") (1173–1220)
• Elidir Sais (1190–1240)
• Meilyr ap Gwalchmai (fl. second half of the 12th century)
• Gwilym Rhyfel (12th century)
• Cneppyn Gwerthrynion (c. 13th century)
• Einion ap Gwalchmai (fl. 1202–1223)
• Einion Wan (fl. c. 1202–1245)
• Einion ap Gwgon (fl. c. 1215)
• Y Prydydd Bychan (fl. c. 1222–1268)
• Goronwy Foel (fl. c. middle of the 13th century)
• Dafydd Benfras (fl. 1230–1260)
• Hywel Foel ap Griffri ap Pwyll Wyddel (fl. c. 1240–1300)
• Adda Fras (c. 1240 – c. 1320) – whose poems haven't survived but whose name is recorded in one of the Peniarth manuscripts and in Tudur Aled's elegy to Dafydd ab Edmwnd.^[8]
• Madog ap Gwallter (fl. c. 1250)
• Bleddyn Fardd (fl. c. 1258–1284)
• Llygad Gŵr (fl. 1268)
• Gruffudd ab yr Ynad Coch (fl. 1277–1282)
• Cadwgan Ffôl (13th century) – whose englyn celebrating a victory gained by the Welsh over the English at Degannwy is preserved in one of the Peniarth Manuscripts.

Timeline of major poets

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from: 1100 till: 1137 color:PA text:"Meilyr Brydydd (1100–1137)" from: 1130 till: 1180 color:PA text:"Gwalchmai ap Meilyr (1130–1180)"

from: 1130 till: 1197 color:PA text:"Owain ap Gruffydd (1130–1197)" from: 1155 till: 1200 color:PA text:"Cynddelw Brydydd Mawr(1255–1200)"

at:1160 text:†Madog ap Maredudd at:1170 text:†Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd at:1176 text:• First known eisteddfod at Cardigan

at:1223 text:†Gerald of Wales

from: 1230 till: 1260 color:PA text:"Dafydd Benfras(1230–1260)"

at:1240 text:†Llywelyn ab Iorwerth

from: 1277 till: 1282 color:PA text:"Gruffudd ab Yr Ynad Coch (1277–1282)"

at:1282text:†Llywelyn ap Gruffydd

at:1284 text:• Statute of Rhuddlan incorporates Wales into England

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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.

• Casnodyn (fl. first half of the 14th century)
• Phylip Brydydd (fl. c. 1300–1325)
• Madog Benfras (fl. c. 1320–1360) – best known for his elegy on Dafydd ap Gwilym.
• Dafydd ap Gwilym (c. 1320 – c. 1370)
• Iolo Goch (1320–1398)
• Bleddyn Ddu (fl. c. 1330-1385) – whose surviving poems are preserved in the Red Book of Hergest.
• Rhys Goch Eryri (1330–1420)
• Gruffudd Gryg (fl. c.1340–1380)
• Gruffudd ab Adda (fl. mid 14th century)
• Llywelyn Goch ap Meurig Hen (fl. c. 1350–1390)
• Gruffudd ap Maredudd ap Dafydd (fl. 1352–1382) – famed for his awdlau to the Chester Rood and the Virgin Mary, and for his elegy to Gwenhwyfar of Pentraeth.^[9]
• Einion Offeiriad (died 1356)
• Tudur ap Gwyn Hagr (fl. second half of the 14th century)
• Iorwerth Beli (fl. second half of the 14th century)
• Dafydd ap Hywel ap Madoc ("Dafydd Ddu Athro o Hiraddug") (died 1371)
• Dafydd y Coed (fl. 1380) – whose awdlau and satirical poems are found in the Red Book of Hergest.
• Mab y Clochyddyn (fl. c. 1380) – whose elegy to Gwenhwyfar, "Marwnad Gwenhwyfar ferch Madog", is found in the Red Book of Hergest.^[10]
• Gruffudd Llwyd (fl. c.1380–1410)
• Dafydd Bach ap Madog Wladaidd ("Sypyn Cyfeiliog") (fl. 1340–1390)
• Siôn Cent (ca. 1400–1430/45)
• Dafydd Llwyd ap Llywelyn ap Gruffudd (Dafydd Llwyd o Fathafarn) (fl. c. 1400–1490)
• Sefnyn (fl. 1408)
• Dafydd Gorlech (c. 1410 – c. 1490)
• Ieuan ap Rhydderch ab Ieuan Llwyd (fl.1410-1430)
• Lewys Glyn Cothi (c. 1420–1490)
• Tudur Penllyn (fl. c. 1420–1490)
• Hywel Swrdwal (fl. 1430–1475)
• Hywel Cilan (fl. 1435–1470) – who composed poems to the nobility of north Wales.^[11]
• Guto'r Glyn (c. 1435 – c. 1493)
• Llywelyn ab y Moel (died 1440)
• Sefnyn (fl.1440)
• Gwilym ab Ieuan Hen (fl. c. 1440–1480)
• Llawdden (fl. 1440–1480)
• Maredudd ap Rhys (fl. 1440–1483)
• Ieuan Gethin (fl. c. 1450)
• Maredudd ap Rhys (c. 1450–1480)
• Dafydd ab Edmwnd (fl. c. 1450–1497)
• Rhys Brydydd (fl. mid-15th century)
• Ieuan Brydydd Hir (fl. 1450–1485)
• Dafydd Nanmor (fl. 1450–1490)
• Bedo Brwynllys (fl. c. 1460)
• Dafydd Epynt (fl. c. 1460) – who composed poems in praise of Christ, patron saints and the nobility associated with Brecon and Abergavenny. Texts of his poems are found in the Peniarth manuscripts.^[12]
• Deio ab Ieuan Du (fl. 1460–1480)
• Ieuan Dyfi (c. 1460–1500)
• Gutun Owain (fl. 1460–1500)
• Gwilym Tew (fl. 1460–1480)
• Gwerful Mechain (fl. 1462–1500)
• Ieuan ap Tudur Penllyn
• Owain ap Llywelyn ab y Moel (fl. 1470–1500)
• Rhys Nanmor (fl. 1480–1513)
• Siôn ap Hywel (fl. c. 1490–1532)
• Rhisiart ap Rhys (fl. c. 1495–1510)
• Bedo Aeddren (fl. 1500)
• Dafydd ap Ieuan Llwyd (fl. 1500)

Timeline of major poets

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from: 1320 till: 1370 color:PA text:"Dafydd ap Gwilym(c. 1320-c. 1370)" from: 1320 till: 1398 color:PA text:"Iolo Goch (1320–1398)" from: 1330 till: 1420 color:PA text:"Rhys Goch Eryri (1330–1420)"

at:1340 text:"• White Book of Hergest" at:1346 text:"• Book of the Anchorite of Llanddewibrefi "

from: 1347 till: 1350 color:BL text:"Black Death in Wales"

from: 1350 till: 1390 color:PA text:"Llywelyn Goch ap Meurig Hen (fl. c. 1350–1390)"

at:1356 text:"†Einion Offeiriad" at:1371 text:"†Dafydd Ddu Athro o Hiraddug"

from: 1400 till: 1430 color:PA text:"Siôn Cent (c. 1400 – 1430)" from: 1400 till: 1490 color:PA text:"Dafydd Llwyd o Fathafarn (fl. c.1400–c.1490"

at:1400 text:"†Geoffrey Chaucer in England" at:1400 text:"• Red Book of Hergest " at:1416 text:"†Owain Glyndŵr"

from: 1420 till: 1490 color:PA text:"Lewys Glyn Cothi (c. 1420 – 1490)" from: 1450 till: 1497 color:PA text:"Dafydd ab Edmwnd (fl. c. 1450–97)" from: 1450 till: 1490 color:PA text:"Dafydd Nanmor (fl. 1450 – 1490)"

from: 1445 till: 1485 color:GP text:"War of the Roses"

from: 1462 till: 1500 color:PA text:"Gwerful Mechain (fl. 1462–1500)"

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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.

• Tudur Aled (c. 1465–1525)
• Lewys Môn (fl. 1485–1527)
• Siôn Ceri (fl. early 16th century)
• Dafydd ap Rhys O Fenai (fl. 16th century)
• Meurig Dafydd (c. 1510–95), bard, genealogist and historian in Glamorgan
• Lewys Morgannwg (fl. 1520–1565)
• Siôn Tudur (1522–1602)
• Morus Dwyfech (1523- 1590) - poet in Gwynedd writing many types of verse and also his will in the form of a poem.^[13]
• Dafydd Trefor (died 1528) – whose work includes cywyddau on religious themes and an elegy on the death of Henry VII.^[14]
• Simwnt Fychan (c. 1530–1606)
• St. Richard Gwyn (c. 1537–1584) – who composed a number of odes in defence of Catholicism, while jailed.^[15]
• Alis Wen (Alice ferch Gruffudd ap Ieuan Fychan; fl. 1540–1570) – whose surviving poems include musings on the type of man she desired to marry and on her fathers’ second marriage.^[16]
• Catrin ferch Gruffudd ap Ieuan Fychan (fl. 16th century) – whose surviving poem is on a theme of religion.
• Morus Dwyfach (fl. 1540–1580)
• Rhys Cain (c. 1540–1614)
• Llywelyn Siôn (c. 1540–1615)
• Siôn Phylip (1543–1620)
• Edmwnd Prys (c. 1543–1623)
• Robin Clidro (1545–1580)
• Dafydd Alaw (fl. 1550) – whose surviving work includes an elegy to Lewys Môn and poems in praise of the nobility of Anglesey.^[17]
• Wiliam Midleton (c. 1550 – c. 1596)
• Morris Kyffin (c. 1555–1598)
• Catrin ferch Gruffudd ap Hywel – who composed a poem in praise of Jesus Christ.^[18]
• Gwilym Gwyn (fl. c. 1560–1600) – whose surviving work includes a cywydd to St. Elian Geimiad.^[19]
• Gruffudd Hiraethog (died 1564)
• Tomos Prys (c. 1564–1634)
• Rhisiart Gruffudd (fl. c. 1569) – whose surviving work includes a poem seeking reconciliation between Sir Richard Bulkeley of Anglesey with his second wife, Agnes, who had been accused of poisoning her husband.^[20]
• Rhys Prichard (1579–1644)
• Cadwaladr ap Rhys Trefnant (fl. 1600) – whose surviving poems in praise of noble families of Montgomeryshire are recorded in some of the Peniarth and Mostyn manuscripts.

Timeline of major poets

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from: 1465 till: 1525 color:PA text:"Aled Tudur (c.1465–1525)"

at:1495 text:"†Jasper Tudor" at:1509 text:"†Henry VII"

from: 1520 till: 1565 color:PA text:"Lewys Morgannwg (fl. 1520–1565)" at:1520 text:

from: 1522 till: 1602 color:PA text:"Siôn Tudur (1522–1602)"

at:1525 text:"†Sir Rhys ap Thomas" at:1536 text:"• Henry VIII's Act of Union (English becomes official language of Wales)"

from: 1537 till: 1584 color:PA text:"St. Richard Gwyn (c.1537–1584)" from: 1543 till: 1632 color:PA text:"Edmwnd Prys (1543/4-1623)"

at:1546 text:"• Sir John Price publishes 'Yn y Lhyvyr Hwnn'" at:1547 text:"†Henry VIII" at:1553 text:"†Edward VI" at:1558 text:"†Queen Mary"

at:1568 text:"• Queen Elizabeth I orders an eisteddfod to be held in Caerwys"

from: 1579 till: 1644 color:PA text:"Rhys Prichard (1579–1644)"

at:1587 text:"†Wiliam Cynwal" at:1588 text:"• William Morgan publishes first Welsh translation of the Bible"

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Notes and 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. Baronia de Kemeys. From the original documents at Bronwydd., Sir Thomas Davies Lloyd (Bt.), London, 1862, p.48
4. An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Wales and Monmouthshire, Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales, 1914, Volume 4, p 276
5. Bleheris "J. L. Weston, From Ritual to Romance, Cambridge University Press 1920"
6. Myrddin "A.O.H. Jarman, 'A oedd Myrddin yn Fardd Hanesyddol?', (Studia Celtica 1976)
7. J Lloyd-Jones, 'The Court Poets of the Welsh Princes', Proceedings of the British Academy, 1948
8. Gwaith Tudur Aled, Thomas Gwynn Jones (ed.), (Cardiff, 1926).
9. Andrew Breeze, 'Two bardic themes: the Virgin and Child, and Ave-Eva', Medium Aevum, Vol. 63, 1994
10. 'Llanarthney – Llanbedrog', A Topographical Dictionary of Wales (1849), pp. 478–93. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=47842
11. Islwyn Jones (ed.), Gwaith Hywel Cilan (Caerdydd, 1963)
12. Owen Thomas, 'Gwaith Dafydd Epynt', Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies, Aberystwyth, 2002
13. Web site: Morus Dwyfech, or Mours ap Dafydd ab Ifan ab Einion . Looker . Ray (Mrs Ray Morgan). Dictionary of Welsh Biography . December 18, 2016 . His will, in the form of a poem, expressed the poet's desire to be buried at Penllech, and, from the elegies composed to him by Siôn Phylip and Huw Pennant, it is evident that his wish was granted. .
14. Rhiannon Ifans, 'Gwaith Syr Dafydd Trefor', Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies, Aberystwyth, 2006
15. Catholic Online Saints: http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=4599
16. (Peniarth Manuscript. 287)
17. (NLW MS. (1553) Llanst. MSS. (123, 125, and 133)
18. (N.L.W. MSS. 695)
19. (B.M. Add. MS. 14906)
20. (Mostyn MS 144)