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Home » Arts and Culture » Literature » Book of Aneirin, c. 1265

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  • The book of Aneirin dates from around 1265 and contains a long poem called 'Y Gododdin'. The poem is attributed to Aneirin, who was in his prime during the second half of the sixth century. The poem commemorates the heroic deeds of a war-band chosen from the Gododdin tribe and its allies who fell in a disastrous assault upon the strategic site of Catraeth (Catterick, Yorkshire), about the year 600. The language, metrical forms and general technique of the poem indicate that there lies behind it a long tradition of praise-poetry in the Brythonic language, that is to say the form of primitive Welsh which was current in Cumbria and southern Scotland. It is agreed that before the poem was ever committed to writing there must have been a long period during which it was transmitted orally. These photographs of the manuscript were taken before the volume was repaired and rebound. An edited version of the Gododdin, complete with introductory notes, was prepared by Ifor Williams in the volume 'Canu Aneirin' (1938). Source: Meic Stephens (ed.), 'The New Companion to the Literature of Wales' (Cardiff, 1998)
Llyfr Aneirin, c. 1265, front cover [image 1 of 44]
  • Photographed by Geoff Charles. Ifor Williams (1881-1965) was born in Tre-garth, Caernarfonshire. He enrolled as a student at the University of Wales, Bangor, and later joined the staff of the Welsh Department. He was given a personal Chair in 1920 and gained the position of Head of the Department in 1947. His scholarly interest lay mainly in the field of early Welsh poetry and he published numerous volumes of edited verse. Among his most well-known works are his edited versions of 'Canu Llywarch Hen' (1935), 'Canu Aneirin' (1938) and 'Canu Taliesin' (1960).
Sir Ifor Williams (1881-1965), 27 February 1958