author
Aneirin
A voice from the early medieval Brittonic world, this poet is best known for work linked to the warriors of Gododdin. Even through legend and uncertainty, the surviving poems still feel vivid, mournful, and full of history.
1 Audiobook
Y Gododin: A Poem of the Battle of Cattraeth
by Aneirin
About the author
Little is known for certain about this early medieval poet, who is usually placed in the late 6th century. Tradition connects him with the Brittonic-speaking north of Britain, sometimes called the Old North, and especially with the kingdom of Gododdin.
He is best known as the figure behind Y Gododdin, a famous cycle of elegies that remembers fallen warriors after a disastrous battle. The work is one of the most important surviving poems from the early Welsh tradition and gives modern readers a rare glimpse of a world of bards, war bands, and heroic memory.
Because the historical record is fragmentary, some details of his life remain uncertain. What has lasted clearly is the power of the poetry associated with his name, which helped preserve both a literary tradition and a sense of the lost Brittonic kingdoms of northern Britain.