Welsh-language literature

The seeds of Anglo-Welsh literature can also be detected, particularly in the work of Henry Vaughan and his contemporary, George Herbert, both Royalists.^[25]

Though individual members of the Welsh

While prose remained a comparatively small part of the total output of Welsh-language literature in the eighteenth century, the century saw the publication of a number of canonical prose works which would have a lasting influence on the Welsh literary tradition. The first of these, Gweledigaetheu y Bardd Cwsc ('Visions of the Sleeping Bard') by

Another clergyman, Theophilus Evans (1693–1767), was the author of Drych y Prif Oesoedd ('A Mirror to the Main Ages'; originally published in 1716 but heavily expanded and revised in 1740).^[32] This important prose work purported to be a history of the Welsh people, though as it drew heavily on sources such as Geoffrey of Monmouth it is a work of historiography or historical fiction rather than of genuine historical research. The book portrays historical events in a narrative style, often with imagined dialogue between historical characters, and many individual passages anticipate the later development of the Welsh-language novel.^[32] It would go through several editions over the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Both Ellis Wynne and Theophilus Evans had been clergy in the established

The Methodists were also active in prose-writing with Pantycelyn once more to the fore, producing a number of prose works in the later part of his career.[35] As with all Pantycelyn's work his prose is all religiously themed, and while many of his prose works belong to the genre of didactic tracts and practical advice for living the Christian life rather than being genuine literary works, others, such as Tri Wŷr o Sodom a'r Aifft ('Three Men of Sodom and Egypt'; 1768) are religious allegories using fiction to explore Christian morality. Though they have this in common with Gweledigaetheu y Bardd Cwsc, as with Pantycelyn's poetry he did not draw on the existing Welsh tradition and a more likely influence is John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress, which had appeared in Welsh translation as early as 1688 under the title Taith y Pererin and was one of the most popular and influential books of the period in Welsh.^[22]

Ever since the

The Morris brothers championed poetry, especially strict-metre poetry in cynghanedd,^[40] and the support and opportunities provided by them either directly or via the Cymmrodorion was a key contribution to the careers of important poets, chief among them Huw Jones o Langwm (c. 1700–1782), a popular and prolific balladeer and composer of anterliwtiau (see below); Goronwy Owen (1723–1769); and Ieuan Fardd (1731–1788). Ieuan Fardd was an influential strict-metre poet but also an important scholar who published Some Specimens of the Poetry of the Antient Welsh Bards (1764), which contained the first ever publication of Y Gododdin, perhaps intended to capitalise on the popularity of the Ossian forgeries. Of the names associated with the Cymmrodorion, Goronwy Owen was perhaps the greatest poet in his own right. A curate and a classicist, almost all his poetry was in cynghanedd and most discusses religious themes. He was a major influence on the poets of the following century,^[41] who would later attempt to realise Owen's great ambition (which he never realised himself) of writing an epic poem.^[41] Owen would, however, fall out with Lewis Morris,^[40] and live out the last part of his life in America, never returning to Wales.^[42]

While the Cymmrodorion would continue for some time after the death of Lewis Morris in 1765, it was perceived by some to be elitist, and some resented that circle's focus on cynghanedd.^[40] This contributed to the establishment of the Gwyneddigion in 1770, with the two societies running in parallel for some time. Although the latter society's name (meaning 'Gwynedd scholars') suggests a particular link with the region of Gwynedd, its affiliations were from the start with the whole of North Wales, and later with all parts of Wales.^[43][44] Foremost among the founders was the antiquarian Owain Myfyr (1741–1814), who became the society's first president.^[45] Other notable members included many of the key literary figures of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries: the antiquarian and lexicographer William Owen Pughe (1759–1835) and the poets Twm o'r Nant (1739–1810), Siôn Ceiriog (1747–1792), Iolo Morganwg (1747–1826), Edward Jones ("Bardd y Brenin"; 1752–1824), and Jac Glan-y-gors (1766–1821).

The major collective achievement of the Gwyneddigion was the establishment of the Eisteddfod tradition in the form it exists today. While there had been documented examples of eisteddfodau – public competitions between bards and musicians – being held as far back as 1176, little is really known about their form, and the Eisteddfod tradition as it exists today was effectively founded by the Gwyneddigion, with the first held in Bala in 1789; others of various sizes have been held regularly throughout Wales ever since, though it was not until much later (1860) that the official National Eisteddfod was first held.

Perhaps the most famous name associated with the Gwyneddigion, however, was that of the poet and

While the Cymmrodorion had had a definite elitist streak, being often dismissive of poetry in the free metres and other popular forms, the Gwyneddigion were inclusive and many of their members such as Twm o'r Nant (1739–1810) and Jac Glan-y-gors (1766–1821) were active in popular genres such as the ballad and songs.

Although the anterliwt had been a popular form in the previous century and possibly earlier (see above), the eighteenth century was the golden age of the form and the majority of the surviving examples date from this period.^[23][24] Though some are anonymous, many were by known writers such as Huw Jones o Langwm (d. 1782), Elis y Cowper (d. 1789), Jonathan Hughes (1721–1805) and Twm o'r Nant (1739–1810), all of whom came from the north-east of Wales, which became the part of the country most strongly associated with the form.^[24] Most of these writers were also associated with folk genres such as the ballad. Anterliwtiau by Twm o'r Nant were particularly popular, often incorporating social criticism of the ills of the day, such as greedy landowners or unpopular taxes.^[49][50]

Due in part to their bawdy content, however, anterliwtiau had always been the subject of disapproval from more conservative circles, and the spread of Methodism – which was itself often the subject of the satire in anterliwtiau – meant that as the century wore on anterliwtiau become both more respectable and less popular. Even Twm o'r Nant turned away from the genre for a period, though he would return to it later.^[50] While a few examples of anterliwtiau survive from the early years of the nineteenth century the genre had to all intents and purposes disappeared by the time of Twm's death in 1810.^[24]

Due mainly to the Industrial Revolution the 19th century was an enormously transformative period in Wales, with the population growing fivefold due to both natural growth and significant immigration, particularly into the South Wales Valleys. The majority of the newcomers were English or Irish, and though some learned Welsh and integrated into their new communities, where immigration was very significant English displaced Welsh as the community language such that, while virtually the entire population was Welsh speaking at the start of the century (with the majority monoglot), by the end of the century only about half the population could speak Welsh; it has been argued that Wales thus experienced a greater change over the course of the century than it had at any previous period in its history.^[51]

periodicals, newspapers, poetry, novels, ballads and sermons, all of which were provided in copious quantities in what has been described as the "Golden Age" of the Welsh-language press;^[55] one estimate suggests that as many as 10,000 books in Welsh were published over the course of the 19th century.^[56] This represented an enormous increase in the quantity and variety of literature produced in Welsh, its nature steered by the sometimes competing values of the Eisteddfod, the nonconformist tradition, and wider developments in Western Aesthetics such as Romanticism. During this period Welsh became an international language, with newspapers and periodicals published by and for the Welsh-speaking diaspora Welsh locally in England, the United States, Argentina and Australia

.

The influence of the chapels, though sometimes credited with ensuring the survival of Welsh as a living language,^[57][58] was not necessarily entirely positive, and some commentators have suggested that the channelling of so much energy into religion had a negative impact on literature on the whole.^[38] The Treachery of the Blue Books is also cited as a factor, contributing to an obsession that literature should contribute to the reader's spiritual and/or moral wellbeing,^[59][60] which might come at the expense of considerations of literary merit. Consequently, by even the early decades of the twentieth century a critical consensus had emerged that, taken together, the bulk of Welsh-language literature in the 19th century was of a poor quality.^[61] This view is espoused in the work of major twentieth century critics such as W. J. Gruffydd,^[62] Saunders Lewis^[63] and Thomas Parry,^[64] and from later critics such as Hywel Teifi Edwards.^[65] Nevertheless, others such as R. M. Jones have challenged this view,^[66] and even the aforementioned critics often championed individual poets and authors and held up individual works of the century as major contributions to literature in Welsh.

As in previous centuries poetry remained the focus of much creative activity in Welsh, much of it written as a part of the

O. M. Edwards (1858–1920) were also active in the study and re-discovery of Wales, its literature and the past of both, as were figures from outside Wales such as Charlotte Guest (1812–1895), Matthew Arnold^[67] (1822–1888) and Ernest Renan (1823–1892);^[68] while figures like Thomas Gee (1815–1898) laboured to teach the Welsh about the wider world. Much of this scholastic activity can be viewed as a part of the wider Celtic Revival

of the period.

Poetry

Hymns

Developments in Welsh poetry of the first decades of the nineteenth century were a continuation of those of the eighteenth century. As the Methodist Revival continued and non-conformist chapels took increasing hold of the spiritual lives of Wales's population, a strong native tradition of hymn-writing emerged, drawing on the example of Williams Pantycelyn. Prominent Welsh hymn-writers of this first part of the century included David Charles (1762–1834) and Robert ap Gwilym Ddu (1766–1850), however undoubtedly the finest and most influential figure in this tradition in this period (and perhaps any) was the short-lived Ann Griffiths (1776–1805^A). Although she died in comparative obscurity and her complete poetic output consists of only seventy stanzas over twenty-seven hymns she would later become recognised as a major religious poet of almost cult-like popularity^[69][70] and an important figure in Welsh nonconformism;^[71] she would even become the subject of a 21st-century musical.^[72] She was the first female writer in Welsh to receive widespread canonical acceptance, as evidenced by the fact she is the only female poet included in 1962's Oxford Book of Welsh Verse.^[73]

Many hymns from this period are still sung in nonconformist chapels today. While the hymn in Welsh is inextricably linked with Welsh nonconformist tradition, some hymn-writers such as

Gwilym Hiraethog (1802–1883) would also make significant contributions to the Welsh hymn tradition in the second quarter of the century. However, despite the efforts of later poets such as Elfed (1860–1953), in the view of R. M. Jones, there was little development within this tradition after 1859, which Jones attributed to the increasing respectability and establishment nature of nonconformity by the later part of the century.^[75]

Eisteddfod Poetry

Eben Fardd

(Ebenezer Thomas, 1802–1863), one of the most successful poets of the early 19th century in Welsh. The three medals are for his chairs won at the Eisteddfodau held in Welshpool (1824), Liverpool (1840) and Llangollen (1858).

After the codification of the modern

Eben Fardd noted for leading the change in this regard.^[77]

Eben Fardd ("Eben the Poet") was one of the most successful Eisteddfod competitors of his age and alongside Caledfryn made a significant impact also as an Eisteddfod adjudicator;^[78] his most famous poem, Dinistr Jerusalem ("the Destruction of Jerusalem," depicting the Siege of Jerusalem) has been described as "one of the finest awdlau in Welsh"^[79] and "a high point of Eisteddfod strict metre poetry";^[74] his shorter poetry has also been highly praised.^[74] Alongside him, perhaps the most notable poet of this generation was Ieuan Glan Geirionydd, described as "the most versatile poet of the [19th] century".^[80] He was highly thought of by Saunders Lewis for poems such as Ysgoldy Rhad Llanrwst (Llanrwst's Cheap School), who saw in his work a distinctive stoicism.^[81] Particularly by the end of his life he was associated with a turn away from cynghanedd towards free verse.^[80] The same could be said of another influential poet, Alun,^[82][83] though he was also author of a number of successful eisteddfod awdlau which have been favourably compared to those of the twentieth century.^[82] Other poets however attempted to maintain a neo-classical focus on cynghanedd; Caledfryn was perhaps the most influential of these, as much through his often scathing criticism as an Eisteddfod adjudicator as through his own verse.^[84]

Though the Eisteddfod had provided a major impetus for the composition of strict metre poetry and provided a path for poets to attain a genuine celebrity status, poets as far back as

National Eisteddfod's Crown

, first awarded in 1880 for the best pryddest, nominally of equal prestige to the chair. The Crown is still awarded today at the National Eisteddfod, though typically for a series of shorter poems rather than a single pryddest as was originally intended.

Of all the streams of Welsh poetry in the nineteenth century it is perhaps the pryddest which is the most contentious. Dozens of epic pryddestau, typically on either biblical themes or depicting passages from

Gwilym Hiraethog's pryddest Emmanuel as "probably the longest poem written in Welsh and possibly the worst written in any language."^[89] Others have identified merit in individual examples, however, such as R. M. Jones who identified Iesu (Jesus) by Golyddan and particularly the second of two pryddestau titled Y Storm by Islwyn (1832–1878) as masterpieces.^[90] Though comparatively little-known in his time Islwyn has since become recognised as one of the major poets of the century in the Welsh language.^[91][90][92] Much of Islwyn's poetry was inspired by the early death of his fiancée in 1853 and is frequently extremely bleak in tone. His output has been described as extremely uneven and many critics have suggested that he had produced all his significant poetry in the space of a few years in his early twenties, after which he produced little other than uninspired awdlau in a futile attempt to win the National Eisteddfod Chair.^[93][94] Nevertheless, at its best, including in both versions of Y Storm, Islwyn's work shows a "complexity of imagery and intellectual ambition rare in any Welsh poetry of the period."^[92] One critic went so far as to say, "If the 19th century has a great poet [in Welsh], it is Islwyn";^[95] and he was perhaps the main influence on the generation of Eisteddfod poets that immediately followed him.^[91][96]

Lyric Poetry

Despite turning increasingly to cynghanedd later in his life, Islwyn's writings on poetry advocated the free metres and lyric poetry,^[92] and notwithstanding the enormous efforts poets devoted to awdlau and pryddestau to compete at Eisteddfodau it is poetry in this vein which was the most popular of the period with a wider audience. Ieuan Glan Geirionydd and Alun had led the way in this regard in the earlier part of the century^[82] but it reached its full flowering in the work of the poets of the middle part of the century, particularly Talhaiarn (1810–1869), Mynyddog (1833–1877) and Ceiriog (1832–1887).^[97] Talhaiarn was a popular though controversial figure in his day due to his extravagant lifestyle, his willingness to argue against the orthodoxies of his time, and his involvement in several Eisteddfod adjudication controversies.^[98] He composed popular lyrics for a great number of songs by composers of the day; according to R. M. Jones much of it was "superficial and tasteless", yet in his finest poems, such as the long Tal ar Ben Bodran (Tal[haiarn] on Bodran Hill), Talhaiarn was a "unique, intelligent and experienced poet with something sobering to say about life".^[99] Saunders Lewis described Talhaiarn as "the only poet of his age who understood the tragedy of the life of man".^[100]

As with Talhaiarn, music played a key role in the work of Mynyddog — perhaps best known now as the author of Myfanwy — and the most popular of all these lyric poets, Ceiriog, the most popular poet in Welsh of the 19th century: his volume Oriau'r Hwyr (The Late Hours) was outsold in the 1860s only by the Bible.^[101] Ceiriog's most successful lyrics such as Nant y Mynydd (The Mountain Stream) are direct, moving and effective, often describing rural and romantic scenes. They were an inspiration for 20th-century poets like R. Williams Parry,^[102] and some of Ceiriog's songs such as Ar Hyd y Nos remain familiar to many today. Ceiriog's poetry became strongly associated with a particular vision of Welshness, much in the way Robert Burns had become associated with Scotland;^[103] in one novel of 1905 the mother of a young Welshman migrating from Wales to America packs him a Bible and a book of Ceiriog's poetry.^[104] His work, however, is often criticised for its sentimentality^[105] and his desire to appeal to "the most basic tastes, the most simple desires and the ignorance" of his audience.^[99]

Mamon) use irony to express his social criticism of philistinism and materialism and he was also a significant translator of poetry into Welsh, such as that of Heinrich Heine and Omar Khayyam. Though his own poetry did not continue to develop in the opening decades of the twentieth century, Jones's followers such as T. Gwynn Jones and W. J. Gruffydd would become key figures in the literary renaissance in Welsh poetry of the following century.^[106]

Later Eisteddfod Poets

It is notable that despite multiple efforts in some cases, many of the above poets including Islwyn, Ceiriog, Talhaiarn and others failed to win either of the main prizes at the Eisteddfod. Indeed, critics have been virtually unanimous in condemnation of the successful Eisteddfod poets in the last decades of the century.[92] Poets such as Llew Llwyfo (1831–1901; a chair and two crowns), Iolo Caernarfon (1840–1914; two crowns), Cadfan (1842–1923; three crowns), Tudno (1844–1895; four chairs, still a record), Pedrog (1853–1932; three chairs) and Job (1867–1938; three chairs and a crown) – many of whom belonged to a loose grouping sometimes referred to as "y Bardd Newydd" (the New Poet) – are almost completely forgotten today: these are in the words of Robert Rhys "the poet-preachers with their enormous compositions and prosaic styles who made ideal punch-bags for later critics."^[107] Alun Llywelyn-Williams went further and said of them: "The plain truth is that the Bardd Newydd was not a poet and had no grasp of poetry."^[108]

By the last years of the century, following the example of John Morris-Jones, poets who would become the significant voices of the first part of the twentieth century such as T. Gwynn Jones (1871–1948) sought to both simplify and improve the quality of Eisteddfod poetry, which they perceived had become formulaic and stilted.^[109]

Social Radicalism in Poetry

feminist themes; it is also understood that she had relationships with women.^[112]

While the work of many prominent Welsh poets of the period — including but not limited to

socialist themes, and T. Gwynn Jones (1871–1948). T. Gwynn Jones would later become regarded as a major poet of the 20th century (see below), but already by the end of the 19th he had published a number comparatively radical poems, most notably the satirical Gwlad y Gân (The Land of Song). Influenced by thinkers like Emrys ap Iwan, Jones has been described as "the unofficial poet of the [proto-nationalist] Cymru Fydd movement".^[114]

Prose

The vitality of the Welsh language press meant the nineteenth century was a golden era for Welsh prose in Welsh in terms of quantity, if not necessarily quality. A significant amount of the prose published in Welsh during the period served primarily religious purposes: published sermons, biblical commentaries and the biographies and autobiographies of important ministers and preachers were all popular. Some more literary works such as Y Bardd (1830) by the poet Cawrdaf blended religious and literary elements in a similar way to the prose works of the eighteenth century. Although its spread was slow in the first third of the century, the publication of more secularly-oriented prose works would gather pace throughout the century and by the end of the century hundreds of novels and short stories had been published, though even works intended firstly to entertain often contained religious morals.^[60]

Novels

See also: Daniel Owen

The first magazine serial stories in Welsh had begun appearing in periodicals by the 1820s, though translations of works such as

Gwilym Hiraethog's (1802–1883) Aelwyd F'Ewythr Robert (1852), which incorporates a translation of Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel Uncle Tom's Cabin, and Llewelyn Parri (1855) by Llew Llwyfo

(1831–1901).

By the 1870s novels were being regularly published as serials in a number of publications in the Welsh language press, and occasionally as books. Competitions for the composition of novels became a semi-regular feature of Eisteddfodau, though not until the establishment of

Winnie Parry (1870–1953) and T. Gwynn Jones (1871–1949) were evidence of a well-established tradition of novel-writing in Welsh, though not until the twentieth century would any Welsh novelist match Daniel Owen's popularity with either audiences or critics.^[116]

(1828–1870)

Short Stories

Short prose stories had appeared in Welsh periodicals as far back as the eighteenth century and by the end of the nineteenth they were extremely common, though it has been argued that only very few before the twentieth century can be considered examples of the literary

folk literature or tall tales.^[117] An early example are the stories of Glasynys (1828–1870) which appeared in the compendium Cymru Fu ("Wales that Was") edited by Isaac Foulkes (1836–1904). Glasynys's stories draw on extensively on Welsh folklore though they draw as much on his own invention. Novelist Daniel Owen (see above) was also the author of Straeon y Pentan ("Fireside Tales") the first ever collection of Welsh short stories to be published in book form under its author's name.^[118] The stories in the collection, which Owen claimed to be "true every word," appear to be at least partly based on material Owen collected from taverns.^[118]

(1870–1938)

Essays & other forms

Thanks to the explosion in readership and publications Welsh readers could draw from an enormous range of original creative writing concerning various subjects. While religious subjects remained the most prominent by some distance, particularly by the end of the century there were examples of genres like

Liberal tradition which dominated Welsh political life during the nineteenth century; however, the nineteenth century also saw the emergence of a native, nationalist political tradition, most notably in the writing of Emrys ap Iwan (1848–1906), perhaps the first original political philosopher whose primary language of expression was Welsh.

(1848–1926), "father of the Welsh-language drama".

Stage Works

Although a handful of Anterliwtiau survive from the first years of the nineteenth century, and some eighteenth century Anterliwtiau such as those of Twm o'r Nant would be republished in nineteenth, the form had disappeared as a performance art and there when Welsh-language drama re-emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century it was effectively a new tradition rather than one which had continuity to the Anterliwt.^[119] The Theatres Act 1843 had relaxed legal restrictions on public performance and English-language theatre consequently became established, leading to a new interest in a secular Welsh-language theatre, which led to theatrical performances becoming an occasional feature of Eisteddfodau by the last third of the century.^[119] Drama remained a small part of the total literary output in Welsh however. The key practitioners in the field were poets such as R. J. Derfel (1824–1905), whose verse play Brad y Llyfrau Gleision (1854), depicting the Treachery of the Blue Books was a part of the literary response to that event; and journalist/novelist Beriah Gwynfe Evans (1848–1927), sometimes described as the "father of the Welsh-language drama".^[120] His dramas, such as Owain Glyndŵr (1880) and the "drama-cantata" Llewelyn ein Llyw Olaf (1883) drew on Welsh history (as did many of Evans's novels). Llewelyn ein Llyw Olaf was written to music by composer Alaw Ddu (1838–1904), and the period saw many settings of words in Welsh to musical performances, such as the first opera in Welsh,^[121] Blodwen (1878) by Joseph Parry (1841–1903), the libretto to which had been written by Mynyddog (1833–1877).

20th century onwards

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While the nineteenth century had seen an explosion in the quantity of literature composed in Welsh, the first decade of the twentieth century saw the first generation of a more professional, artistically sophisticated kind of poet. Though better known at the time as a novelist,

John Morris Jones and R. Silyn Roberts

(whose Trystan ac Esyllt won the Eisteddfod Crown in the same year as Gwynn won the chair). Many of these were university-educated and Gwynn and Morris-Jones in particular made major contributions in academia.

This period would prove to be short-lived, however, and the First World War – as well as literally killing one of the movement's brightest young talents in Hedd Wyn, who was killed in the Battle of Passchendaele a few short weeks before being awarded the chair at the 1917 Eisteddfod – also seemed to close the book on romanticism, with many of the movement's leading lights favouring a more modernist idiom after the war.

Though the first poets of this new modernist period, such as T. H. Parry-Williams, continued to make use of native Welsh forms and cynghanedd, they also effectively employed European forms in particular the sonnet, of which Parry-Williams was a master. Modernism was reflected in both the subject matter of Welsh poetry as well as its form: Parry-Williams' sonnet Dychwelyd ("Return") is a bleak expression of nihilism for example, and E. Prosser Rhys courted controversy for his frank (for the time) depictions of sexuality, including homosexuality, in poems such as Atgof ("Memory"), which won the crown at the 1924 Eisteddfod. Poets such as Cynan described their own experiences of the war much as English language poets had done.

Modernism caught on more slowly in prose, and the prominent early twentieth century novelists (most notably

Gwenallt, a semi-autobiographical novel describing the author's experiences in a prison as a conscientious objector

during the war.

The most popular novelists of the first half of the century continued the realist tradition, however, such as E. Tegla Davies Kate Roberts and Elena Puw Morgan. The most successful novelist of this period was perhaps T. Rowland Hughes, who was notable for describing the culture of the slate quarrying regions of North-West Wales. His novels, such as William Jones (1942) and Chwalfa (1946) were the first to match Daniel Owen for popularity, though his novels belong stylistically to an earlier period.

As the twentieth century wore on, Welsh literature began to reflect the way the language was increasingly becoming a political symbol, with many of the leading literary figures also involved in

publisher Kate Roberts. Lewis, who had been brought up in Liverpool, was a leader of Plaid Cymru jailed for his part in protests; though a poet and a novelist as well as a significant critic and academic, his main literary legacy was in the field of drama. Novelist and short story writer Kate Roberts had been active since the 1930s, but in the late 40s and 50s produced a remarkable stream of novels and stories, often depicting the lives of working-class women and with feminist themes, that earned her the moniker "Brenhines ein llên" ("The Queen of our Literature")^[123]

and established her as perhaps, to this day, the single best known prose writer in Welsh.

The 1940s also saw the creation of a notable writing group in the Rhondda, called the "Cadwgan Circle". Writing almost entirely in Welsh, the movement, formed by J. Gwyn Griffiths and his wife Käthe Bosse-Griffiths, included the Welsh writers Pennar Davies, Rhydwen Williams, James Kitchener Davies and Gareth Alban Davies.

After a relatively quiet period between 1950 and 1970, large numbers of Welsh-language novels began appearing from the 1980s onwards, with such authors as

Wiliam Owen Roberts and Mihangel Morgan

.

Meanwhile, in the 1970s Welsh poetry took on a new lease of life as poets sought to regain mastery over the traditional verse forms, partly to make a political point. Alan Llwyd and Dic Jones were leaders in the field. Female poets such as Menna Elfyn gradually began to make their voices heard, overcoming the obstacle of the male-dominated bardic circle and its conventions.

The scholar Sir Ifor Williams also pioneered scientific study of the earliest Welsh written literature, as well as the Welsh language itself, recovering the works of poets like Taliesin and Aneirin from the uncritical fancies of various antiquarians, such as the Reverend Edward Davies who believed the theme of Aneirin's Gododdin was the massacre of the Britons at Stonehenge in 472.

See also

• Breton literature
• Cornish literature
• Dafydd ap Gwilym
• Four Ancient Books of Wales
  • Black Book of Carmarthen
  • Book of Taliesin
  • Book of Aneirin
  • Red Book of Hergest
• Geoffrey of Monmouth
• Iolo Morganwg
• List of Welsh language authors
• List of Welsh language poets
• List of Welsh writers
• Literature in the other languages of Britain
• Thirteen Treasures of the Island of Britain
• Welsh-language comics
• Welsh literature in English
• Welsh mythology
• Welsh Triads

Notes

A.^ Although Griffiths lived most of her short life in the eighteenth century she wrote most of her poetry in the early years of the nineteenth.

References

1. ^ Huws Daniel National Library of Wales and Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic studies. 2022. A Repertory of Welsh Manuscripts and Scribes c. 800 – c. 1800. Aberystwyth: National Library of Wales and the Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies.
2. ^ Hutchison et al. 1991.
3. ^ Boyd 2017.
4. ^ ^{a b c} Williams 1994.
5. ^ Jarman 1981.
6. ^ Parry 1955, p. 1.
7. ^ Williams 1987, p. ix.
8. ^ Parry 1952, p. 512.
9. ^ Evans 1970, p. xvi.
10. ^ Koch 2006.
11. ^ Parry 1952, p. 519.
12. ^ Parry 1955, pp. 127–131.
13. ^ Parry 1955, p. 133.
14. ^ Ford 1975.
15. ^ White 1996.
16. ^ Parry 1955, p. 302.
17. ^ Laws in Wales Act 1535.
18. ^ Parry 1955, p. 232: "Hundreds of poems like this were written by scores of poets during the second half of the seventeenth century and throughout the eighteenth, to well-known airs, [...] Highly finished poetry was no longer the possession of the upper class, but the entertainment of every class in society, and the commonest plebeian had his fill of the beauty of cynghanedd.".
19. ^ Phillips 2017.
20. ^ Davies 2007, p. 250.
21. ^ Grufydd 1969.
22. ^ ^{a b c d} Hunter, Jerry. "Yr Hen Iaith Fifty Nine: Replacing the Bloody Sword with an Angry Pen". Nation.cymru. Retrieved 4 March 2025.
23. ^ ^{a b c} Stephens 1986, p. 19.
24. ^ ^{a b c d} Rosser, Siwan M. "Anterliwt". Porth Esboniadur. Retrieved 4 March 2025.
25. ^ Ellrodt 2000.
26. ^ Parry 1955, p. 221.
27. ^ Glyn Tegai Hughes, "Life and Thought" in Branwen Jarvis (ed.) (2000) A Guide to Welsh Literature c. 1700–1800, Cardiff: University of Wales Press, p.4
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External links

• Welsh Writers A to Z
• Welsh Writers