Awen is aWelsh,[1]Cornish andBreton word for "inspiration" (and typically poetic inspiration).
InWelsh mythology,awen is the inspiration of the poets, orbards; its personification,Awen is the inspirationalmuse of creative artists in general. The inspired individual (often a poet or asoothsayer) is anawenydd.
In current usage,awen is sometimes ascribed to musicians and poets.Awen also occurs as a femalegiven name.
The word appears in the third stanza of"Hen Wlad fy Nhadau", thenational anthem ofWales.[2]
Awen derives from the Indo-European root*-uel, meaning 'to blow', and has the same root as the wordawel meaning 'breeze' in Welsh and 'wind' or 'gale' in Cornish.[3]
The first recorded attestation of the word occurs inNennius'sHistoria Brittonum, a Latin text of c. 796, based in part on earlier writings by the monk,Gildas. It occurs in the phraseTunc talhaern tat aguen in poemate claret [Talhaern the father of the muse was then renowned in poetry] where theOld Welsh wordaguen (awen) occurs in the Latin text describing poets from the sixth century.
It is also recorded in its current form inCanu Llywarch Hen (c. 9th~10th century) where Llywarch says 'I know by myawen' indicating it as a source of instinctive knowledge.[4]
On connections between awen as poetic inspiration and as an infusion from the divine,The Book of Taliesin[5] often implies this. A particularly striking example is contained in the lines:
Perhaps more accurately “the three elements of inspiration that came, splendid, out of the cauldron”, but also implicitly “that came from God” as‘peir’ (cauldron, poet) can also mean ‘sovereign’ often meaning ‘God’. It is the “three elements” that is cleverly worked in here asawen was sometimes characterised as consisting of three sub-divisions (‘ogyrwen’) so “theogyrwen of triune inspiration”, perhaps suggesting the Trinity.[5]
There are fifteen occurrences of the wordawen inThe Book of Taliesin[5] as well as several equivalent words or phrases, such asogyrven which is used both as a division of theawen (‘Seven scoreogyrven which are inawen, shaped inAnnwfn) as well as an alternative word forawen itself. The poemArmes Prydain [The Prophecies of Britain][7] begins with the phrase‘awen foretells ...’, and it is repeated later in the poem. The link between poetic inspiration and divination is implicit in the description of theawenyddion [inspiration] given byGerald of Wales in the 12th century and the link between bardic expression and prophecy is a common feature of much early verse in Wales and elsewhere.[8]
A poem inTheBlack Book of Carmarthen by an unidentified bard, but addressed to Cuhelyn Fardd (1100-1130) asks God to allow theawen to flow so that ‘inspired song fromCeridwen will shape diverse and well-crafted verse’.[9] This anticipates much poetry from identified bards of the Welsh princes betweenc. 1100-1300; it juggles the competing claims of theCeltic Church as the source ofawen, with thepair Ceridwen [the cauldron ofCeridwen].
SoLlywarch ap Llywelyn (1173-1220) – also known as‘Prydydd y Moch’ [Poet of Pigs] – can address his patronLlywelyn ap Iorwerth like this:
ap Llywelyn also wrote
Elidr Sais (c. 1195-1246), ‘singing to Christ’, wrote
Dafydd Benfras (1220-1258) included bothMyrddin andAneirin in his backward glance:
Later in theMiddle Ages the identification of the source of theawen begins to shift from Ceridwen to more orthodox Christian sources such as theVirgin Mary, thesaints, or directly from God. A full discussion can be found inBosco (1996).[11][full citation needed]
TheBardic Grammars of the later Middle Ages identify ‘TheHoly Spirit’ as the proper source of theawen.[12] The 15th century bardSiôn Cent argued that God is the only source and dismissed the “lyingawen” of bards who thought otherwise as in his dismissive lines
Such a focus on an unmediated source was picked up by the 18th centuryneo-druidIolo Morgannwg (pen name ofEdward Williams, 1747-1826) who invented theawen symbol /|\ , claiming that it was an ancient druidic sign of “the ineffable name of God, being the rays of the rising sun at the equinoxes and solstices, conveying into focus the eye of light”.[14]
Giraldus Cambrensis referred to those inspired by theawen collectively as"awenyddion" in hisDescription of Wales[15] (1194):
In 1694, the Welsh poetHenry Vaughan wrote[16] to his cousin, theantiquarianJohn Aubrey, in response to a request for some information about the remnants ofDruidry in existence inWales at that time, saying
... the ancient Bards ... communicated nothing of their knowledge, but by way of tradition: Which I suppose to be the reason that we have no account left nor any sort of remains, or other monuments of their learning of way of living. As to the later Bards, you shall have a most curious Account of them. This vein of poetrie they calledAwen, which in their language signifies rapture, or a poetic furor & (in truth) as many of them as I have conversed with are (as I may say) gifted or inspired with it. I was told by a very sober, knowing person (now dead) that in his time, there was a young lad fatherless & motherless, so very poor that he was forced to beg; but at last was taken up by a rich man, that kept a great stock of sheep upon the mountains (not far from the place where I now dwell) who cloathed him & sent him into the mountains to keep his sheep.
There in Summer time following the sheep & looking to their lambs, he fell into a deep sleep in which he dreamt, that he saw a beautiful young man with a garland of green leafs upon his head, & a hawk upon his fist: With a quiver full of Arrows at his back, coming towards him (whistling several measures or tunes all the way) at last let the hawk fly at him, which (he dreamt) got into his mouth & inward parts, & suddenly awaked in a great fear & consternation: But possessed with such a vein, or gift of poetry, that he left the sheep & went about the Country, making songs upon all occasions, and came to be the most famous Bard in all the Country in his time.
— Henry Vaughan, in a letter toJohn Aubrey, October 1694[16]
In some forms ofmodern Druidism, the term is symbolized by anemblem showing three straight lines that spread apart as they move downward, drawn within a circle or a series of circles of varying thickness, often with a dot, or point, atop each line. TheBritish Druid Order attributes the symbol toIolo Morganwg;[17] it has been adopted by someneo-Druids.
According toJan Morris,Iolo Morganwg did in fact create what is now called "The Awen" as a symbol for theGorsedd of Bards, thesecret society of Welsh poets, writers, and musicians that he claimed to have rediscovered, but in fact created himself.[18] Morganwg, whose own beliefs were, according to Marcus Tanner, "a compound ofChristianity andDruidism, Philosophy and Mysticism",[19] explained the Awen symbol as follows, "AndGod vocalizingHis Name said /|\ , and with the Word all the world sprang into being, singing in ecstasy of joy /|\ and repeating the name of the Deity."[18]
TheOrder of Bards, Ovates and Druids (OBOD) describe the three lines as rays emanating from three points of light, with those points representing the triple aspect of deity and, also, the points at which the sun rises on the equinoxes and solstices – known as the Triad of the Sunrises. The emblem as used by the OBOD is surrounded by three circles representing the three circles of creation.[20]
Various modern Druidic groups and individuals have their own interpretation of the awen. The three lines relate to earth, sea and air; body, mind and spirit; or love, wisdom and truth. It is also said that the awen stands for not simply inspiration, but for inspiration of truth; without awen one cannot proclaim truth. The three foundations of awen are the understanding of truth, the love of truth, and the maintaining of truth.[21]
A version of the awen was approved by theUnited States Department of Veterans Affairs in early 2017 as anemblem for veteran headstones.[22]
select "formal" output, input="ban pan doeth peir, ogyrwen awen teir
Original titleDescriptio Cambriae.
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