Tudur Penllyn


Tudur Penllyn was a Welsh language poet during the time of the Beirdd yr Uchelwyr, the professional poets of the late Middle Ages.
Tudur's place of birth is uncertain, but he was probably brought up in the Hundred of Penllyn, centred on Llandderfel, Merioneth. Little is known of his background although he did trace his ancestry from Meirion Goch, a nobleman of Edeirnion, and was of the minor gentry class. As an adult he lived in the parish of Llanuwchllyn at Caer-Gai, where the manor house he occupied still exists as a farm.
Tudur lived through the Wars of the Roses, in which his patrons mainly adhered to the Lancastrian party. As well as travelling throughout Wales as a poet, Tudur seems to have worked as a drover, grazier, and trader in wool. His fellow poet Guto'r Glyn chided him in humorous verse after he failed to assist Guto in a disastrous droving venture.
Tudur Penllyn's surviving poems illustrate a range of themes: poems in praise of noblemen who fought against the English; religious poems, including penitential poems and poems in praise of holy places; and meditations on life and suffering. However he would also take on humorous or amorous themes as the occasion arose: one cywydd attributed to him is written in alternate Welsh and English sections, and depicts the poet attempting to seduce an unwilling Englishwoman, exploiting their mutual incomprehension for comic effect.
Tudur was married to Gwerful Fychan, who was herself a poet. Their son, Ieuan ap Tudur Penllyn, also became a poet.