Llywarch ap Llywelyn (

fl. ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...

1173–1220) was an important medieval

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, of or about Wales * Welsh language, spoken in Wales * Welsh people, an ethnic group native to Wales Places * Welsh, Arkansas, U.S. * Welsh, Louisiana, U.S. * Welsh, Ohio, U.S. * Welsh Basin, during t ...

poet. He is also 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 language, Welsh term bardd ('poet') originally referred to the Welsh poets of the M ...

, "Prydydd y Moch" ("poet of the pigs"). Llywarch was a poet at the court of the

kingdom of Gwynedd The Kingdom of Gwynedd (Medieval Latin: ; Middle Welsh: ) was a Wales in the Early Middle Ages, Welsh kingdom and a Roman Empire Succession of states, successor state that emerged in sub-Roman Britain in the 5th century during the Anglo-Saxon ...

in the reigns of

Dafydd ab Owain Gwynedd Dafydd ab Owain Gwynedd ( – 1203) was king of Gwynedd from 1170 to 1195. For a time he ruled jointly with his brothers Maelgwn ab Owain Gwynedd and Rhodri ab Owain Gwynedd. Dafydd was the son of Owain Gwynedd and Cristin ferch Goronwy ab O ...

and

Llywelyn ab Iorwerth Llywelyn ab Iorwerth (, – 11 April 1240), also known as Llywelyn the Great (, ; ), was a medieval Welsh ruler. He succeeded his uncle, Dafydd ab Owain Gwynedd, as King of Gwynedd in 1195. By a combination of war and diplomacy, he dominate ...

, and he is known for a number of ''

awdl In Welsh poetry, an ''awdl'' () is a long poem in strict metre (i.e. ''cynghanedd''). Originally, an ''awdl'' could be a relatively short poem unified by its use of a single end-rhyme (the word is related to ''odl'', "rhyme"), using cynghanedd; ...

au'' in praise of his lord. One of Llywarch's successors in the court of

Gwynedd Gwynedd () is a county in the north-west of Wales. It borders Anglesey across the Menai Strait to the north, Conwy, Denbighshire, and Powys to the east, Ceredigion over the Dyfi estuary to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. The ci ...

was the poet Dafydd Benfras, who may possibly have been his son. He was a very nationalistic poet, and his fervent support for Llywelyn's policy of uniting Wales was a prominent element of his poetry.

Life

We have very little information about Llywarch's life apart from the evidence of his poetry. He was most probably from the

commote A commote (, sometimes spelt in older documents as , plural , less frequently )'' Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru'' (University of Wales Dictionary), p. 643 was a secular division of land in Medieval Wales. The word derives from the prefix ("together" ...

of Is Dulas (the eastern part of the

cantref A cantref ( ; ; plural cantrefi or cantrefs; also rendered as ''cantred'') was a Wales in the Early Middle Ages, medieval Welsh land division, particularly important in the administration of Welsh law. Description Land in medieval Wales was divid ...

of Rhos, near Llandulas in the

Perfeddwlad Perfeddwlad or Y Berfeddwlad was an historic name for the territories in Wales lying between the River Conwy and the River Dee. comprising the cantrefi of Rhos, Rhufoniog, Dyffryn Clwyd and Tegeingl. Perfeddwlad thus was also known as the Fo ...

). In 1334, the survey of the

Lordship of Denbigh The Lordship of Denbigh, also known as Denbighland, was a marcher lordship in North Wales created by Edward I of England, Edward I in 1284 and granted to the Henry de Lacy, 3rd Earl of Lincoln, Earl of Lincoln. It was centred on the borough of D ...

recorded the ''gwely'' (in this case meaning tribal land) of ''Prydydd y Moch''. The poet may have acquired this land by the patronage of Llywelyn. Also recorded is a "mill of Prydydd y Moch", and the poet may have had significant earnings from grinding the corn of local farmers. His pseudonym ''Prydydd y Moch'' can be interpreted in various ways. It might refer to some defiant poetic lines threatening

Gruffudd ap Cynan ab Owain Gwynedd Gruffudd ap Cynan ab Owain Gwynedd was the grandson of Owain Gwynedd, a famous king of Gwynedd and ruler of most of Wales in the 12th century. The longer patronymic form of his name is usually used to distinguish him from the earlier and better-kn ...

, comparing singing to that prince with "casting pearls before swine" ( Gospel of Matthew, chapter 7). Another possibility is that the poet was a swineherd, before attaining bardic status in his youth.

Poetry

Nineteen of his ''awdlau'' are extant (a total of 1,318 lines), together with 11 series of

englyn (; plural ) is a traditional Welsh short poem form. It uses quantitative metres, involving the counting of syllables, and rigid patterns of rhyme and half rhyme. Each line contains a repeating pattern of consonants and accent known as . Ear ...

ion (462 lines). This body of poetry is second only to the work of

Cynddelw Brydydd Mawr Cynddelw Brydydd Mawr ("Cynddelw the Great Poet"; or ; 1155–1200), was the court poet of Madog ap Maredudd, Owain Gwynedd (Owen the Great), and Dafydd ab Owain Gwynedd, and one of the most prominent Welsh poets of the 12th century. Cyn ...

. His works celebrate several princes and lords of Gwynedd, as well as princes of Powys,

Arwystli Arwystli was a cantref in mid Wales in the Middle Ages, located in the headland of the River Severn. It was chiefly associated with the Kingdom of Powys, but was heavily disputed between Powys, Gwynedd, and the Norman Marcher Lords for hundred ...

, and the

Deheubarth Deheubarth (; , thus 'the South') was a regional name for the Welsh kingdoms, realms of south Wales, particularly as opposed to kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd (Latin: ''Venedotia''). It is now used as a shorthand for the various realms united under ...

. His only known works to sing praise to someone other than his sponsors are his awdl to Gwenllïan ferch Hywel from the cantref of

Gwynllŵg Gwynllŵg was a kingdom of Medieval Wales and later a Norman lordship and then a cantref. It is named after Gwynllyw, its 5th century and 6th century ruler. Location The place consists of coastal plain stretching between the Rhymney and Usk ...

, and the 'Awdl yr Haearn Twym' ("awdl of the warm iron"). Llywarch was the court poet for the

House of Aberffraw The House of Aberffraw was a medieval royal court based in the village it was named after, Aberffraw, Anglesey (Wales, UK) within the borders of the then Kingdom of Gwynedd. The dynasty was founded in the 9th century by a King in Wales whose de ...

on the isle of

Anglesey Anglesey ( ; ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms the bulk of the Principal areas of Wales, county known as the Isle of Anglesey, which also includes Holy Island, Anglesey, Holy Island () and some islets and Skerry, sker ...

, and working for

, and for

Llywelyn the Great Llywelyn ab Iorwerth (, – 11 April 1240), also known as Llywelyn the Great (, ; ), was a medieval Welsh ruler. He succeeded his uncle, Dafydd ab Owain Gwynedd, as King of Gwynedd in 1195. By a combination of war and diplomacy, he dominate ...

he became chief poet; he wrote nine poems for Llywelyn. The poem ''Poetry to God'' is attested to him in the

Hendregadredd Manuscript The Hendregadredd Manuscript (), is a medieval Welsh manuscript containing an anthology of the poetry of the "Poets of the Princes" (Medieval Welsh literature#Poets of the Princes (c. 1100 – c. 1300), Gogynfeirdd); it was written between 1282 and ...

, however both the

Red Book of Hergest Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secon ...

and

The Myvyrian Archaiology of Wales ''The Myvyrian Archaiology of Wales'' is a printed collection of medieval Welsh literature, published in three volumes by the Gwyneddigion Society between 1801 and 1807. Until John Gwenogvryn Evans produced diplomatic editions of the important ...

attribute the poem to Cynddelw.

References

Bibliography

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External links

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Llywarch ap Llywelyn at Wikisource
Welsh-language poets 13th-century Welsh poets {{Wales-writer-stub