04: Gwaith Gruffudd ap Dafydd ap Tudur, Gwilym Ddu o Arfon, Trahaearn Brydydd Mawr ac Iorwerth Beli

This volume contains an edition of 15 poems written by four important poets who sang during the years following the Edwardian Conquest at the beginning of the fourteenth century. Gruffudd ap Dafydd ap Tudur probably originated from Anglesey, and some of the love themes which were later developed by Dafydd ap Gwilym are to be seen in his work. Gwilym Ddu of Arfon sang some awdlau on the occasion of Sir Gruffudd Llwyd’s imprisonment, and also an awdl upon the death of his fellow poet Trahaearn Brydydd Mawr. Gwilym’s poetry is characterized especially by the depth of feeling and the strength of his expression. The poetry of Trahaearn Brydydd Mawr, who sang in Ystrad Tywi and Glamorgan, is more varied in nature – on the one hand are two odes composed in the tradition of the Poets of the Princes, and on the other hand are three satirical poems, including a sharply satirical yet artistic poem to his fellow poet Casnodyn. Iorwerth Beli has a single awdl which is a complaint to the Bishop of Bangor about the lack of respect the bishop showed towards poets in his court at Bangor.

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