Dafydd ab Edmwnd facts for kids
Dafydd ap Edmwnd (who lived around 1450 to 1497) was one of the most important Welsh language poets during the Later Middle Ages. He was known for his amazing poems and for helping to shape Welsh poetry.
Dafydd's Life Story
Dafydd was born in a place called Hanmer, which is in Flintshire (now part of Wrexham County Borough) in north-east Wales. His family had Norman roots, but they were part of Welsh society. He was a freeman and owned land, which meant he didn't have to rely on rich people to support him, unlike many other poets at the time.
Dafydd learned a lot about poetry from his teacher, Maredudd ap Rhys. Later, Dafydd himself became a teacher to other famous poets like Tudur Aled and Gutun Owain.
Dafydd's Poetry
Dafydd's poems often focused on themes of love and nature. He followed the style of another famous Welsh poet, Dafydd ap Gwilym. Some of his most well-known poems, called cywyddau, include:
- Cywydd Merch ("To a Girl")
- I Wallt Merch ("A Lady's Hair")
- Naming the Girl
Unlike many poets of his time, such as Guto'r Glyn or Lewys Glyn Cothi, Dafydd usually stayed away from writing about big political events like the Wars of the Roses.
However, Dafydd did write a very sad poem when his friend, a harp player named Siôn Eos, faced a difficult situation and was given a very harsh punishment. In this poem, Dafydd showed his sadness and wished that Siôn Eos could have been judged under the kinder Welsh Laws of Hywel Dda. These old Welsh laws often allowed families to receive payment for harm done, instead of the severe punishments given under "London's law."
- Marwnad Siôn Eos ("The Death of Sion Eos")
The 1450 Eisteddfod and Its Impact
In 1450, Dafydd won a special prize, the silver chair, at an event called an eisteddfod in Carmarthen. An eisteddfod is a festival where poets and musicians compete.
Dafydd won with a cywydd (a type of poem) that praised the Trinity. This poem showed off the 24 special rules, or "metres," of Welsh poetry that Dafydd had improved. These rules had been set down earlier by poets like Einion Offeiriad and Dafydd Ddu o Hiraddug. Dafydd changed two of the old metres and added two new, more complex ones called Gorchest y Beirdd and Cadwynfyr.
The 24 metres that Dafydd presented at the eisteddfod became very popular across Wales. Poetry skills had always been taught from teacher to student within special groups of poets. Dafydd's changes made a bigger difference between "professional" poets, who followed the strict rules, and amateur poets. This meant that poets started to focus more on following the exact rules of poetry rather than on the feelings or stories in their poems. Because of this, some of the strong emotions and passion found in the poems of earlier writers like Dafydd ap Gwilym and Llywelyn Goch ap Meurig Hen were sometimes lost.
