| Cadfan Stone | |
|---|---|
| Carreg Cadfan | |
 | |
| Material | Stone |
| Height | 2.3m originally (now 2.18m) |
| Width | 0.25m |
| Depth | 0.2m |
| Period/culture | 7th-9th centuries |
| Present location | St Cadfan's Church, Tywyn |
The Cadfan Stone (Welsh : Carreg Cadfan) [1] is a 7th-9th century stone that has the earliest known Welsh language inscription, specifically in Old Welsh. The stone is located inside St Cadfan's Church, Tywyn, Gwynedd.
Recent scholarship dates the inscriptions to the 9th century. [2] They were previously considered to be older. Ifor Williams dated them to the 8th century, [3] and a late 7th century or early 8th century date was suggested by Kenneth H. Jackson. [4] A date between the 7th century and the 9th century is suggested by Coflein, the website of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales. [5]
Despite its undoubted significance, the Cadfan Stone has been given relatively little attention from Welsh authors and poets. Exceptions include the poems 'Cofebion Tywyn' by Owain Owain [6] and 'Y boen' by Myrddin ap Dafydd. [7]
Originally the stone stood over 2.3 metres tall, but it now measures 2.18m tall by 0.25m and 0.2m. [8]
Below is the interpretation given in the most recent study of the stone (sides A, B, C and D) by Nancy Edwards. [9]
'Tengrumui wedded wife of Adgan (lies) fairly near ( or very near) to Bud (and) Marciau (or But Marciau).'
'The mortal remains of the three'
'Cun woman (or wife of Celyn), a mortal wound remains.'
'The mortal remains of four'
Aneirin, Aneurin or Neirin was an early Medieval Brythonic war poet who lived during the 6th century. He is believed to have been a bard or court poet in one of the Cumbric kingdoms of the Hen Ogledd, probably that of Gododdin at Edinburgh, in modern Scotland. From the 17th century, he was usually known as Aneurin.
Merionethshire or Merioneth is one of thirteen historic counties of Wales, a vice county and a former administrative county.
The Kingdom of Gwynedd was a Welsh kingdom and a Roman Empire successor state that emerged in sub-Roman Britain in the 5th century during the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain.
Tywyn, formerly spelled Towyn, is a town, community, and seaside resort on the Cardigan Bay coast of southern Gwynedd, Wales. It was previously in the historic county of Merionethshire. It is famous as the location of the Cadfan Stone, a stone cross with the earliest known example of written Welsh, and the home of the Talyllyn Railway.
Y Gododdin is a medieval Welsh poem consisting of a series of elegies to the men of the Brittonic kingdom of Gododdin and its allies who, according to the conventional interpretation, died fighting the Angles of Deira and Bernicia at a place named Catraeth in about AD 600. It is traditionally ascribed to the bard Aneirin and survives only in one manuscript, the "Book of Aneirin".
Medieval Welsh literature is the literature written in the Welsh language during the Middle Ages. This includes material starting from the 5th century AD, when Welsh was in the process of becoming distinct from Common Brittonic, and continuing to the works of the 16th century.
Pennal is a village and community on the A493 road in southern Gwynedd, Wales, on the north bank of the River Dyfi, near Machynlleth.
Old Welsh is the stage of the Welsh language from about 800 AD until the early 12th century when it developed into Middle Welsh. The preceding period, from the time Welsh became distinct from Common Brittonic around 550, has been called "Primitive" or "Archaic Welsh".
Wales in the Late Middle Ages spanned the years 1282–1542, beginning with conquest and ending in union. Those years covered the period involving the closure of Welsh medieval royal houses during the late 13th century, and Wales' final ruler of the House of Aberffraw, the Welsh Prince Llywelyn II, also the era of the House of Plantagenet from England, specifically the male line descendants of Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou as an ancestor of one of the Angevin kings of England who would go on to form the House of Tudor from England and Wales.
Wales in the Middle Ages covers the history of the country that is now called Wales, from the departure of the Romans in the early fifth century to the annexation of Wales into the Kingdom of England in the early sixteenth century. This period of about 1,000 years saw the development of regional Welsh kingdoms, Celtic conflict with the Anglo-Saxons, reducing Celtic territories, and conflict between the Welsh and the Anglo-Normans from the 11th century.
Llangelynnin is a small village and community near Tywyn, Gwynedd, Wales. Although the village is usually known as Llangelynnin in English, the community name used was Llangelynin though now its also "Llangelynnin".
Bryncrug, sometimes spelt Bryn-crug, is a village and community in Gwynedd, Wales. Afon Fathew flows through the village and into the River Dysynni. The village is situated to the north east of the town of Tywyn, at the junction of the A493 and B4405 roads. Although the village is usually spelt Bryncrug in English, the community name uses the Welsh language version, Bryn-crug. The population of the community taken at the 2011 census was 622.
The House of Aberffraw was a medieval royal court based in the village it was named after, Aberffraw, Anglesey within the borders of the then Kingdom of Gwynedd. The dynasty was founded in the 9th century by a King in Wales whose descendants founded the Welsh Royal Houses. The other medieval Welsh dynasties were the Royal Houses of Dinefwr and Mathrafal.
Anwyl of Tywyn are a Welsh family who claim a patrilinear descent from Owain Gwynedd, King of Gwynedd from 1137 to 1170 and a scion of the royal House of Aberffraw. The family motto is: Eryr eryrod Eryri, which translates as "The Eagle of the Eagles of Snowdonia. The family lives in Gwynedd and speak Welsh.
St Cadfan's Church is situated in Tywyn in the county of Gwynedd, formerly Merionethshire, Wales.
St Cadwaladr's Church is a Grade I listed church in Llangadwaladr, Anglesey. The location of the current church was established in the 7th century by the Kings of Gwynedd, after whom the church is named, King Cadwaladr. The Church standing today was built in the 'T' shape perpendicular style. The nave is dated to the 12th to early 13th century and the chancel to the 14th. Later the chapels were built, the north in 1640 and the southern Bodowen Chapel in 1661. Then, during 1856 the church underwent restoration, at which time to south porch was added.
Cyfoesi Myrddin a Gwenddydd ei Chwaer is an anonymous Middle Welsh poem of uncertain date consisting of 136 stanzas, mostly in englyn form. Myrddin, the legendary 6th-century North British bard and warrior, is depicted as being encouraged by his sister Gwenddydd to utter a series of prophecies detailing the future history of the kings of Gwynedd, leading up to an apocalyptic ending. The mood of the poem has been described as "one of despair and of loss of faith and trust in this world".
"Gorhoffedd Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd", sometimes known in English as "Hywel's Boast", has historically been considered a poem by the mid-12th-century prince, warrior and poet Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd. However, some scholars now believe it to be two quite separate poems by Hywel which have become fused together in the process of manuscript transmission. It is his best-known work. In the first half the poet expresses his love of his native Gwynedd – its scenery, its men and women – and boasts of his own prowess in defending them; in the second he praises several Welsh ladies and tells us how many of them are sexual conquests of his. According to the writer Gwyn Williams, "The sharpness and clarity of the North Wales landscape has never been so well caught in words, nor have tenderness and humour been better mingled in the expression of love".
