Morgan Llywelyn (born December 3, 1937) is an American-Irish historical interpretation author of

historical History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

and mythological fiction and

non-fiction Nonfiction, or non-fiction, is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to provide information (and sometimes opinions) grounded only in facts and real life, rather than in imagination. Nonfiction is often associated with b ...

. Her interpretation of mythology and history has received several awards and has sold more than 40 million copies, and she herself is recipient of the 1999 ''Exceptional Celtic Woman of the Year'' Award from Celtic Women International.

Biography

Llywelyn was born Sally Snyder in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

in 1937. She was the daughter of Joseph John (an attorney) and she attended high school in Dallas. In her teens, Llywelyn moved to the

Dallas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

area, where she developed a love of horses. By the age of 16, Llywelyn was competing in professional horse shows across the United States. By age 18, she modeled for

Neiman Marcus Neiman Marcus Group, Inc. is an American integrated luxury retailer headquartered in Dallas, Texas, which owns Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Horchow, and Last Call. Since September 2021, NMG has been owned by a group of investment compani ...

and Arthur Murray. After 15 years of experience as a

horse trainer A horse trainer is a person who tends to horses and teaches them different disciplines. Some of the responsibilities trainers have are caring for the animals' physical needs, as well as teaching them submissive behaviors and/or coaching them for e ...

and instructor, she tried out for and narrowly missed making the 1976 United States

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

Team in

dressage Dressage ( or ; a French term, most commonly translated to mean "training") is a form of horse riding performed in exhibition and competition, as well as an art sometimes pursued solely for the sake of mastery. As an equestrian sport defined by ...

. She was instead shortlisted, missing the cut off score by .05 percent. With her mother's encouragement and a successfully published article on horse training, she refocused her efforts in tracing the Llywelyn family history and eventually made a career out of writing historical novels that allowed the exploration of her

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foo ...

roots. In reference to this career change, Llywelyn had this to say:

I have a strong strain of Welsh on my mother's side, which does indeed go back to Llywelyn ap Iorwerth. And
Llywelyn the Great Llywelyn the Great ( cy, Llywelyn Fawr, ; full name Llywelyn mab Iorwerth; c. 117311 April 1240) was a King of Gwynedd in north Wales and eventually " Prince of the Welsh" (in 1228) and "Prince of Wales" (in 1240). By a combination of war and ...
! (We have the proven genealogy from the
College of Heralds The College of Arms, or Heralds' College, is a royal corporation consisting of professional officers of arms, with jurisdiction over England, Wales, Northern Ireland and some Commonwealth realms. The heralds are appointed by the British Sovere ...
.) She was very proud of her royal Welsh connection. That is why she was so interested in
genealogy Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kin ...
in the first place, and inspired me to get involved as well ... leading in turn to THE WIND FROM HASTINGS. But both my parents were predominantly Irish – my father totally so – and I spent half the years of my childhood here. So I have always been much more interested in
Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...
and its history and legends.

Llywelyn has received several awards for her works. She received the Novel of the Year Award from the

National League of American Penwomen National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

for her novel, ''The Horse Goddess'', as well as the Woman of the Year Award from the Irish-American Heritage Committee for '' Bard: The Odyssey of the Irish''. The latter award was presented to her by

Ed Koch Edward Irving Koch ( ; December 12, 1924February 1, 2013) was an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, film critic, and television personality. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and was ma ...

, then-mayor of New York City. Although Llywelyn's grandparents have their roots in Ireland, it was only after the death of her parents and her husband in 1985 that she relocated to Ireland. Llywelyn now lives outside

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

and has become an Irish citizen. In 1990, Llywelyn began her focus on writing books geared for younger readers. These works started with ''Brian Boru: Emperor of the Irish'', for which she won an Irish Children's Book Trust Bisto Award in 1991, and includes other titles, such as ''Strongbow: The Story of Richard and Aoife'', for which she won a Bisto Award in the Historical Fiction category, 1993 and the Reading Association of Ireland Award, 1993, and ''Star Dancer'', which departed from her usual Celtic topic and was centered on her experiences with dressage. Further works include ''The Vikings in Ireland'', an exploration of when the

Norsemen The Norsemen (or Norse people) were a North Germanic ethnolinguistic group of the Early Middle Ages, during which they spoke the Old Norse language. The language belongs to the North Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages and is the ...

arrived in Ireland, and ''Pirate Queen'', a younger reader's version of the story of

Grace O'Malley Grace O'Malley ( – c. 1603), also known as Gráinne O'Malley ( ga, Gráinne Ní Mháille, ), was the head of the Ó Máille dynasty in the west of Ireland, and the daughter of Eóghan Dubhdara Ó Máille. In Irish folklore she is commonly ...

, told through letters from

Granuaile Grace O'Malley ( – c. 1603), also known as Gráinne O'Malley ( ga, Gráinne Ní Mháille, ), was the head of the Ó Máille dynasty in the west of Ireland, and the daughter of Eóghan Dubhdara Ó Máille. In Irish folklore she is commonly k ...

to her beloved son.

Bibliography

Novels and short fiction collections

*1978 ''The Wind from Hastings'',

Tor Books Tor Books is the primary imprint of Tor Publishing Group (previously Tom Doherty Associates), a publishing company based in New York City. It primarily publishes science fiction and fantasy titles, and is the largest publisher of Chinese scienc ...

, *1980 '' Lion of Ireland'',

Forge Books Macmillan Publishers (occasionally known as the Macmillan Group; formally Macmillan Publishers Ltd and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC) is a British publishing company traditionally considered to be one of the 'Big Five' English language publi ...

, *1983 ''The Horse Goddess'', Tor Books, *1984 '' Bard: The Odyssey of the Irish'', Tor Books, *1984 ''Personal Habits'', Double Day *1986 '' Grania: She-King of the Irish Seas'', Forge Books, *1987 ''Xerxes'', Chelsea House Publications, *1989 ''The Isles of the Blest'', Olmstead Press, *1989 ''

Red Branch The Red Branch (; alternatively, ) is the name of two of the three royal houses of the king of Ulster, Conchobar mac Nessa, at his capital Emain Macha (Navan Fort, near Armagh), in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. In modern retellings it i ...

'', Ivy Books, *1990 ''Brian Boru: Emperor of the Irish'', Tor Books, *1989 ''On Raven's Wing'', Mandarin, *1991 ''Druids'', Del Rey, *1992 ''The Last Prince of Ireland: A Novel'', W. Morrow, *1992 ''O'Sullivan's March'' *1993 ''The Elementals'', Tor Books, *1993 ''Star Dancer'', The O'Brien Press, *1994 ''

Finn Mac Cool Fionn mac Cumhaill ( ; Old and mga, Find or ''mac Cumail'' or ''mac Umaill''), often anglicized Finn McCool or MacCool, is a hero in Irish mythology, as well as in later Scottish and Manx folklore. He is leader of the ''Fianna'' bands of y ...

'', Forge Books, *1995 ''Cold Places'' *1995 ''Ireland: A Graphic History'' (with Michael Scott) *1995 ''Silverhand'' (Arcana, Book 1; with Michael Scott),

Baen Baen Books () is an American publishing house for science fiction and fantasy. In science fiction, it emphasizes space opera, hard science fiction, and military science fiction. The company was established in 1983 by science fiction publishe ...

, *1996 ''19 Railway Street'' (with Michael Scott), Poolbeg Press Ltd, *1996 ''The Vikings in Ireland'' *1996 ''Strongbow: The Story of Richard & Aoife'', The O'Brien Press, *1996 ''Silverlight'' (Arcana, Book 2; with Michael Scott) *1996 '' Pride of Lions'' *1998 ''1916, A Novel Of the Irish Rebellion'', Forge Books, *1999 ''The Essential Library for Irish Americans'' *2000 ''Etruscans'' (with Michael Scott), Tor Books, *2000 ''A Pocket History of Irish Rebels'' *2000 ''The Earth Is Made Of Stardust'', Borgo Press, *2001 ''1921, The War for Independence'', Forge Books, *2001 ''Granuaile, The Pirate Queen'' (republished as ''Pirate Queen'' in 2006), The O'Brien Press, *2003 ''1949, The Irish Republic'', Forge Books, *2005 ''1972, A Novel of Ireland's Unfinished Revolution'', Forge Books, *2006 ''The Greener Shore: A Novel of the Druids of Hibernia'', Del Rey, *2006 ''The Young Rebels'', The O'Brien Press, *2006 ''The History of Irish Rebels'' *2006 ''The Vikings in Ireland'' *2008 ''1999 - A Novel of the Celtic Tiger and the Search for Peace'', Forge Books, *2010 ''Brendan - The Remarkable Life and Voyage of Brendan of Clonfert'', Forge Books, *2012 ''Cave of Secrets'', The O'Brien Press, *2013 ''After Rome'', Forge Books, *201
''1014: Brian Boru & the Battle for Ireland''
Dover Publications, *2016 ''Only the Stones Survive'', Forge Books, *2018 ''Drop by Drop'', Tor Books, *2019 ''Step by Step'' *2020 ''Inch by Inch'', Tor Books, *2021 ''Breath by Breath'', Tor Books,

Awards

References

External links

– "owned by the Morgan Llywelyn Completist Society" (archived December 2013) * *
Shannon Lewis
at LC Authorities, with 1 record {{DEFAULTSORT:Llywelyn, Morgan 1937 births Living people 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American female models American fantasy writers American historical novelists American people of Welsh descent Irish fantasy writers Irish historical novelists Irish people of Welsh descent Writers of historical fiction set in the Middle Ages American women novelists 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers