Cynddelw Brydydd Mawr
Encyclopedia
Cynddelw Brydydd Mawr in English also known as Kendall, was the court poet of Madog ap Maredudd
Madog ap Maredudd
Madog ap Maredudd was the last Prince of the entire Kingdom of Powys, Wales and for a time held the Fitzalan Lordship of Oswestry.Madog was the son of Maredudd ap Bleddyn and grandson of Bleddyn ap Cynfyn. He followed his father on the throne of Powys in 1132...

, Owain Gwynedd
Owain Gwynedd
Owain Gwynedd ap Gruffydd , in English also known as Owen the Great, was King of Gwynedd from 1137 until his death in 1170. He is occasionally referred to as "Owain I of Gwynedd"; and as "Owain I of Wales" on account of his claim to be King of Wales. He is considered to be the most successful of...

 (Owen the Great), and Dafydd ab Owain Gwynedd
Dafydd ab Owain Gwynedd
Dafydd ab Owain Gwynedd was Prince of Gwynedd from 1170 to 1195. For a time he ruled jointly with his brothers Maelgwn ab Owain Gwynedd and Rhodri ab Owain Gwynedd....

, and one of the most prominent Welsh poets of the 12th century.

Cynddelw began his career as court poet to Madog ap Maredudd, Prince of Powys. At Madog's death in 1160, Cynddelw wrote the following elegy:

While Madog lived there was no man
Dared ravage his fair borders
Yet nought of all he held
Esteemed he his save by God's might…

If my noble lord were alive
Gwynedd would not now be encamped in the heart of Edeyrnion.


Cynddelw composed poems for a number of the later rulers of Powys, now divided into two parts, such as Owain Cyfeiliog
Owain Cyfeiliog
Owain ap Gruffydd was a prince of the southern part of Powys and a poet. He is usually known as Owain Cyfeiliog to distinguish him from other rulers named Owain, particularly his contemporary, Owain ap Gruffydd of Gwynedd, who is known as Owain Gwynedd.Owain was the son of Gruffydd ap Maredudd and...

 and Gwenwynwyn. He also composed poems addressed to the rulers of Gwynedd
Kingdom of Gwynedd
Gwynedd was one petty kingdom of several Welsh successor states which emerged in 5th-century post-Roman Britain in the Early Middle Ages, and later evolved into a principality during the High Middle Ages. It was based on the former Brythonic tribal lands of the Ordovices, Gangani, and the...

 and Deheubarth, and notably poems addressed to Owain Gwynedd
Owain Gwynedd
Owain Gwynedd ap Gruffydd , in English also known as Owen the Great, was King of Gwynedd from 1137 until his death in 1170. He is occasionally referred to as "Owain I of Gwynedd"; and as "Owain I of Wales" on account of his claim to be King of Wales. He is considered to be the most successful of...

 and to his son Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd
Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd
Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd Wales Prince of Gwynedd in 1170, a Welsh poet and military leader. Hywel was the son of Owain Gwynedd, prince of Gwynedd, and an Irishwoman named Pyfog. In recognition of this, he was also known as Hywel ap Gwyddeles...

 and later to Rhys ap Gruffudd of Deheubarth and to the young Llywelyn the Great
Llywelyn the Great
Llywelyn the Great , full name Llywelyn ab Iorwerth, was a Prince of Gwynedd in north Wales and eventually de facto ruler over most of Wales...

. There is also a eulogy for Cynddelw's own son, Dygynnelw, who was killed in battle. He gives a vivid picture of the aftermath of a battle in one of his poems:

I saw after battle intestines on the thorns
Left for the wolves to bury.


Cynddelw was known in his time for opposing superstition, and the monks of Strata Marcella
Strata Marcella
The Abbey of Strata Marcella , was a medieval Cistercian monastery situated at Ystrad Marchell on the west bank of the River Severn near Welshpool, Powys, Wales.- Founding :...

 in Powys sent "a deputation to him with a requisition that he should renounce his errors, and make satisfaction to the Church, threatening, in case of non-compliance, that he should be excommunicated and deprived of Christian burial." His answer was the following:

Cen ni bai ammod dyfod—i'm herbyn
A Duw gwyn yn gwybod
Oedd iawnach i fynach fod
Im gwrthefyn nag im gwrthod.


Which, translated, reads, "Since no covenenant would be produced against me, which the God of purity knows, it would have been more just of the monks to receive than to reject me."

Works

The traditional English names are not always direct translations of the Middle Welsh names.
  • "The First Panegyric on Owain Gwynedd
    Owain Gwynedd
    Owain Gwynedd ap Gruffydd , in English also known as Owen the Great, was King of Gwynedd from 1137 until his death in 1170. He is occasionally referred to as "Owain I of Gwynedd"; and as "Owain I of Wales" on account of his claim to be King of Wales. He is considered to be the most successful of...

    "
  • "The Second Panegyric on Owain Gwynedd"
  • "The Third Panegyric on Owain Gwynedd"
  • "Elegy on Owain Gwynedd"
  • "A Contention with Seisyll
    Seisyll
    Seisyll ap Clydog was King of Ceredigion in Wales some time in the late 7th or early 8th century. He gave his name to the later kingdom of Seisyllwg, which consisted of Ceredigion plus the region known as Ystrad Tywi; as such he was possibly the king responsible for the expansion...

     for the Chair of Madog
    Madog ap Maredudd
    Madog ap Maredudd was the last Prince of the entire Kingdom of Powys, Wales and for a time held the Fitzalan Lordship of Oswestry.Madog was the son of Maredudd ap Bleddyn and grandson of Bleddyn ap Cynfyn. He followed his father on the throne of Powys in 1132...

    "
  • "To Madog Prince of Powys"
  • "The First Verses to Madog Prince of Powys"
  • "The Second Verses to Madog Prince of Powys"
  • "Elegy on Madog Prince of Powys"
  • "An Address to Madog's Family on His Death"
  • "Verses to Owain
    Owain Brogyntyn
    Owain Brogyntyn ap Madog was the youngest and illegitimate son of king Madog ap Maredudd, the last king of a united kingdom of Powys. He was the son of Madog by the daughter of the Maer du or "black mayor" of Rûg in Edeyrnion. He was the brother of Gruffydd Maelor the ancestor of Owain Glyndŵr...

     Son of Madog"
  • "A Verse to Owain Son of Madog"
  • "A Panegyric on Owain Son of Madog"
  • "Elegy on Owain Son of Madog"
  • "A Virgin Eulogy to Efa Daughter of Madog"
  • "To Llywelyn Son of Madog"
  • "Elegy on Cadwallon
    Cadwallon ap Madog
    Cadwallon ap Madog was the son of Madog ab Idnerth who had died in 1140, while Idnerth was a grandson of Elystan Glodrydd who had died in around 1010 and had founded a dynasty in the Middle Marches of Wales, in the area known as Rhwng Gwy a Hafren .-Prince of Maelienydd:After the death of Madog ab...

     Son of Madog"
  • "An Ode to Owain Cyfeiliog
    Owain Cyfeiliog
    Owain ap Gruffydd was a prince of the southern part of Powys and a poet. He is usually known as Owain Cyfeiliog to distinguish him from other rulers named Owain, particularly his contemporary, Owain ap Gruffydd of Gwynedd, who is known as Owain Gwynedd.Owain was the son of Gruffydd ap Maredudd and...

    "
  • "Elegy on the Family of Owain Gwynedd"
  • "The Reconciliation of the Lord Rhys
    Rhys ap Gruffydd
    Rhys ap Gruffydd or ap Gruffudd was the ruler of the kingdom of Deheubarth in south Wales. He is commonly known as The Lord Rhys, in Welsh Yr Arglwydd Rhys, but this title may not have been used in his lifetime...

    "
  • "A Panegyric on the Lord Rhys"
  • "Elegiac Verses on Rhiryd
    Rhiryd ap Bleddyn
    Rhiryd ap Bleddyn was a Welsh king of Powys. He was a son of Bleddyn ap Cynfyn and Haer verch Cillin.He was killed in Powys in the same battle against Rhys ap Tewdwr that killed his brother, Madog ap Bleddyn....

    "
  • "Verses on Rhiryd"
  • "Elegy on Rhiryd"
  • "Elegy on Einion ab Madog ab Iddon"
  • "Verses to Owain Cyfeiliog"
  • "The Reconciliation of Rhys
    Rhys ap Gruffydd
    Rhys ap Gruffydd or ap Gruffudd was the ruler of the kingdom of Deheubarth in south Wales. He is commonly known as The Lord Rhys, in Welsh Yr Arglwydd Rhys, but this title may not have been used in his lifetime...

     Son of Gruffydd
    Gruffydd ap Rhys
    Gruffydd ap Rhys was Prince of Deheubarth, in Wales. His sister was the Princess Nest ferch Rhys.-Early life:Following the death of Gruffydd's father Rhys ap Tewdwr in 1093, Deheubarth was taken over by the Normans, and Gruffydd spent much of his early years in exile in Ireland.In 1113 Gruffydd...

    "
  • "Elegy on Ithel Son of Cadifor the Gwyddelian"
  • "Elegy on Iorwerth Son of Maredudd"
  • "The Circuit; or, Battles of Llywelyn"
  • "To Gwenwynwyn"
  • "Verses of Praise to Gwenwynwyn"
  • "Verses to Gwenwynwyn"
  • "An Ode to Tysilio
    Tysilio
    Saint Tysilio was a Welsh bishop, prince and scholar, son of the reigning King of Powys, Brochwel Ysgithrog, maternal nephew of the great Abbot Dunod of Bangor Iscoed and an ecclesiastic who took a prominent part in the affairs of Wales during the distressful period at the opening of the 7th...

    "
  • "To God"
  • "A Sonnet to a Damsel"
  • "Verses to Ednyfed"
  • "Elegy on the Sons of Dwywg"
  • "Verses to an Alien of Llansadwrn
    Llansadwrn
    Llansadwrn is a small village in Carmarthenshire, Wales.It is located in the countryside of the River Tywi river valley, about half way between Llanymddyfri to the north-east, and Llandeilo to the south-west, just off the A40 road....

    "
  • "A Verse"
  • "Verses to Hywel Son of Ieuaf"
  • "Elegy on Bleddyn the Bard"
  • "Verses to Dygynnelw Son of Cynddelw"
  • "The Tribes of Powys"
  • "The Privileges of the Men of Powys"
  • "An Ode to Hywel
    Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd
    Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd Wales Prince of Gwynedd in 1170, a Welsh poet and military leader. Hywel was the son of Owain Gwynedd, prince of Gwynedd, and an Irishwoman named Pyfog. In recognition of this, he was also known as Hywel ap Gwyddeles...

     Son of Owain"
  • "To Llywelyn"
  • "To the Monks of Strata
    Strata Marcella
    The Abbey of Strata Marcella , was a medieval Cistercian monastery situated at Ystrad Marchell on the west bank of the River Severn near Welshpool, Powys, Wales.- Founding :...

    Who Refused Cynddelw Burial"
  • "The Death-bed of Cynddelw"

See also

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