Iolo Morganwg (or Morgannwg in modern spelling; pronounced /ˈjo.lo mor.ˈgan.nug/)
was the bardic name of Edward Williams (Llancarfan, Glamorgan, Wales 1747-1826), an influential antiquarian, poet, collector and literary
forger.[citation
needed] The name is Welsh for "Ned of Glamorgan".
Edward Williams spent his working life as a stonemason. It is as Iolo Morganwg that he
is remembered, chiefly for his role in (re)creating modern bardic ritual and philosophy. His bardic teacher was Siôn Bradford of Tir Iarll. Iolo first came to public notice by revealing some previously undiscovered poetry by
Dafydd ap Gwilym, generally considered to be the greatest Welsh poet, in
1789. These poems were in fact forgeries, but survived critical attention for over a hundred years.
His success lead Iolo to move to London, where he become a significant figure in the Welsh community and he held the first
Gorsedd, Gorsedd Beirdd Ynys Prydain, at a ceremony in 1792
at Primrose Hill, London. He went on to author
fairly substantial works (most of which are now considered forgeries) claiming that the ancient druidic tradition had survived intact in Wales, despite the Roman conquest,
Christianity, the persecution of the bards under King
Edward I, and other adversities.
Iolo's philosophy represented a fusion of Christian and Arthurian influences, a proto-romanticism comparable to that of
William Blake and the Scottish poet and forger James
MacPherson, the revived antiquarian enthusiasm for all things "Celtic", and such elements of bardic heritage as had genuinely survived among
Welsh-language poets. Part of his aim was to assert the Welshness of the South, particularly
his home region of Glamorgan, against the prevalent idea that North Wales represented the
purest survival of Welsh traditions.
Like many Romantic poets he was addicted to laudanum for most of his life, which may have
affected his mental condition.
Iolo was the author of the "Druid's Prayer" or "Gorsedd prayer" (Gweddi'r
Derwydd or Gweddi'r Orsedd in Welsh), which is still a staple of the ritual of both
gorseddau and Neo-Druidism. His metaphysics outlined a
theory of concentric 'rings of existence', proceeding outward from Annwn (the Otherworld) through
Abred and Ceugant to Gwynfyd
(purity or Heaven).
Among his writings was Cyfrinach Beirdd Ynys Prydain, or "The Mystery of the Bards of
the Isle of Britain" (1829), a treatise on Welsh metrics. He also forged an extra set of
Welsh Triads.
A Welsh language school in Cowbridge, Ysgol Iolo Morgannwg,
is named after him.
Further reading
Wikisource has original works written by or about:
- Geraint Jenkins (ed.), A Rattleskull Genius. The Many Faces of Iolo Morganwg, Cardiff: University of Wales Press
(2005)
- Prys Morgan, Iolo Morganwg, Writers of Wales series, Cardiff: University of Wales Press (1975)
- G J Williams, Iolo Morganwg. Y Gyfrol Gyntaf, Cardiff: University of Wales Press (1956)
- G J Williams, Iolo Morganwg a Chywyddau'r Ychwanegiad, Cardiff: University of Wales Press (1926)
External links
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