Mynyddog Mwynfawr
Encyclopedia
Mynyddog Mwynfawr was, according to Welsh tradition founded on the early Welsh language
poem Y Gododdin
(attributed to Aneirin
) a Brython
ic ruler of the kingdom of Gododdin
in the Hen Ogledd
(southern Scotland
).
The traditional reading of Y Gododdin, accepted by most scholars, is that Mynyddog is king of Gododdin, perhaps with his court at Din Eidyn, modern Edinburgh
. He appears as the sponsor of the renowned warband that fought at the battle of Catraeth in the early Welsh poem.
The name Mynyddog Mwynfawr, if translated as a personal name, means Mynyddog the Wealthy. The name Mynyddog is the adjectival form of mynydd "mountain" (i.e. "mountainous"). John T. Koch
considers Mynyddog Mwynfawr to be a place (meaning approximately "Wealthy Mountain"). Koch argues that Mynyddog Mwynfawr is a kenning
or personification which represents Din Eidyn, Gododdin, or perhaps the entire Old North, and that Gwlyget, described as Mynyddog's steward, is the ruler of Gododdin.
The popular Welsh poet Richard Davies
(1833–1877) adopted the name Mynyddog as his pen name. Use of an adopted Welsh-language pen name was common among Welsh poets of his era.
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
poem Y Gododdin
Y Gododdin
Y Gododdin is a medieval Welsh poem consisting of a series of elegies to the men of the Britonnic 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...
(attributed to Aneirin
Aneirin
Aneirin or Neirin was a Dark Age Brythonic poet. He is believed to have been a bard or 'court poet' in one of the Cumbric kingdoms of the Old North or Hen Ogledd, probably that of Gododdin at Edinburgh, in modern Scotland...
) a Brython
Brython
The Britons were the Celtic people culturally dominating Great Britain from the Iron Age through the Early Middle Ages. They spoke the Insular Celtic language known as British or Brythonic...
ic ruler of the kingdom of Gododdin
Gododdin
The Gododdin were a Brittonic people of north-eastern Britain in the sub-Roman period, the area known as the Hen Ogledd or Old North...
in the Hen Ogledd
Hen Ogledd
Yr Hen Ogledd is a Welsh term used by scholars to refer to those parts of what is now northern England and southern Scotland in the years between 500 and the Viking invasions of c. 800, with particular interest in the Brythonic-speaking peoples who lived there.The term is derived from heroic...
(southern Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
).
The traditional reading of Y Gododdin, accepted by most scholars, is that Mynyddog is king of Gododdin, perhaps with his court at Din Eidyn, modern Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
. He appears as the sponsor of the renowned warband that fought at the battle of Catraeth in the early Welsh poem.
The name Mynyddog Mwynfawr, if translated as a personal name, means Mynyddog the Wealthy. The name Mynyddog is the adjectival form of mynydd "mountain" (i.e. "mountainous"). John T. Koch
John T. Koch
Professor John T. Koch is an American academic, historian and linguist who specializes in Celtic studies, especially prehistory and the early Middle Ages....
considers Mynyddog Mwynfawr to be a place (meaning approximately "Wealthy Mountain"). Koch argues that Mynyddog Mwynfawr is a kenning
Kenning
A kenning is a type of literary trope, specifically circumlocution, in the form of a compound that employs figurative language in place of a more concrete single-word noun. Kennings are strongly associated with Old Norse and later Icelandic and Anglo-Saxon poetry...
or personification which represents Din Eidyn, Gododdin, or perhaps the entire Old North, and that Gwlyget, described as Mynyddog's steward, is the ruler of Gododdin.
The popular Welsh poet Richard Davies
Richard Davies (Mynyddog)
Richard Davies was a popular Welsh language poet.He was born in Llanbrynmair, Montgomeryshire, in a house called "Y Fron"....
(1833–1877) adopted the name Mynyddog as his pen name. Use of an adopted Welsh-language pen name was common among Welsh poets of his era.
Sources
- Rachel BromwichRachel BromwichRachel Bromwich was a British scholar. Her focus was on medieval Welsh literature, and was Emeritus Reader in Celtic Languages and Literature at the Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic at Cambridge until her death...
(ed.), Trioedd Ynys Prydein (University of Wales Press, 1978; new edition, 1991) - Chris Lowe, Angels, Fools and Tyrants: Britons and Saxons in Southern Scotland (Canongate Books and Historic ScotlandHistoric ScotlandHistoric Scotland is an executive agency of the Scottish Government, responsible for historic monuments in Scotland.-Role:As its website states:...
, 1999) - Ifor WilliamsIfor WilliamsSir Ifor Williams was a Welsh scholar who laid the foundations for the academic study of Old Welsh, particularly early Welsh poetry....
(ed.), Canu Aneirin (University of Wales Press, 1958). The standard edition of Y Gododdin.