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

historical History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...

and mythological fiction and

non-fiction Non-fiction (or nonfiction) is any document or content (media), media content that attempts, in good faith, to convey information only about the real life, real world, rather than being grounded in imagination. Non-fiction typically aims to pre ...

. 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 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 a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

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 is an American department store chain founded in 1907 in Dallas, Texas by Herbert Marcus, his sister Carrie Marcus Neiman, and her husband Abraham Lincoln Neiman. It has been owned by Saks Global, a Corporate spin-off, spin-o ...

and

Arthur Murray Arthur Murray (born Moses Teichman; April 4, 1895 – March 3, 1991) was an American ballroom dancer and businessman, whose name is most often associated with the dance studio chain that bears his name. Early life and start in dance Arthur Mur ...

. 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 responsibilities trainers have are caring for the animals' physical needs, as well as teaching them good behaviors and/or coaching them for events, which ...

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

dressage Dressage ( or ; , most commonly translated as "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 equestrianism, equestrian sport defined by th ...

. 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 Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the Setting (narrative), setting of particular real past events, historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literatur ...

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 Foot ...

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 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
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 ...
! (We have the proven genealogy from the College of Heralds.) 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 (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
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 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. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and was mayor of New York City from 1978 to 1989. Koch was a lifelong Democrat who ...

, 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 is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

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 Northmen) were a cultural group in the Early Middle Ages, originating among speakers of Old Norse in Scandinavia. During the late eighth century, Scandinavians embarked on a Viking expansion, large-scale expansion in all direc ...

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

Grace O'Malley Gráinne O'Malley (, ; – ), also known as Grace O'Malley, was the head of the Ó Máille dynasty in the west of Ireland, and the daughter of Eóghan Dubhdara Ó Máille. Upon her father's death, she took over active leadership of the lords ...

, told through letters from Granuaile 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. History Tor was founded by Tom Doherty, ...

, *1980 '' Lion of Ireland'',

Forge Books Macmillan Publishers (occasionally known as the Macmillan Group; formally Macmillan Publishers Ltd in the United Kingdom and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC in the United States) is a British publishing company traditionally considered to be o ...

, *1983 ''The Horse Goddess'', Tor Books, *1984 '' Bard: The Odyssey of the Irish'', Tor Books, *1984 ''Personal Habits'', Doubleday *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'', 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'', Forge Books, *1995 ''Cold Places'' *1995 ''Ireland: A Graphic History'' (with Michael Scott) *1995 ''Silverhand'' (Arcana, Book 1; with Michael Scott), Baen, *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