Iolo Morganwg

Mary-Ann Constantine (Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies, University of Wales)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.2: Welsh Writing and Culture, 400-present.
Vol. editors: Kirsti Bohata (Swansea University), Andrew Radford (University of Glasgow), Nicholas Seager (University of Keele), Rita Singer (Aberystwyth University)

Dates

Born 21 Mar 1747
Died 17 Dec 1826
Activity 1770-1826

Places

Born in Wales
Active in England; Wales

Genres and Modes

Folk Literature

Activities

Primary

Antiquarian/ Collector
Poet

Other

Artist

Resources

Morganwg's Works

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Edward Williams, better known by his bardic name Iolo Morganwg, was born in the parish of Llancarfan, Glamorgan, south Wales. He claimed, with poetic if not historical truth, to have arrived “on the 21st day of March 1747 (New Stile) at six o clock in the morning at the same instant as I have been told that the rising sun appeared” (Constantine, 2007, p. 2). Solstice and equinox, days of calendrical significance, and metaphors of light and dark, would pattern his thinking all his life. He is known today for his complex legacy to Welsh culture: an adept literary forger and visionary antiquarian, his ‘interference' with early Welsh texts frustrated advances in historical and literary research for most of the nineteenth century. And yet, paradoxically, his inventions also inspired a…

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2745 words

Citation: Constantine, Mary-Ann. "Iolo Morganwg". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 21 March 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=12058, accessed 23 November 2024.]