Happy Owain Glyndwr Day!
September 16, 2011 8:09 PM   Subscribe

Not a lot of people know that today is Owain Glyndwr Day. "Welsh prince Owain Glyndwr led a successful people's rebellion against England's iron-fisted rule in the early 15th century and arguably became the most famous and highly regarded figure in Welsh history."

On September 16, 1400, Owain Glyndwr was proclaimed Prince of Wales. Some believe he deserves a national holiday.
posted by Yakuman (22 comments total) 11 users marked this as a favorite
 
I can't claim to know much about Welsh history beyond what a few quick visits can tell you, but the wiki page at least suggests that the rebellion left Wales devastated for generations. A day of remembrance might be more appropriate.
posted by Winnemac at 8:40 PM on September 16, 2011


Cymru am byth
posted by rube goldberg at 8:44 PM on September 16, 2011 [2 favorites]


Once again I am struck by the Welsh's love of words with no vowels. How do you pronounce the "dwr" portion of Glyndwr? Like "dwyer"?
posted by doctor_negative at 8:58 PM on September 16, 2011


Second most famous and highly regarded, surely.
posted by pompomtom at 8:59 PM on September 16, 2011 [2 favorites]


This does overlook Llywelyn ap Gruffydd the last actual native Welshman to legitimately be crowned as the of Prince of Wales (and led his own unsuccessful rebellion/fight for independence from Edward I).

But I'm up for any recognition of Medieval folks with crazy Welsh names!
posted by boubelium at 9:04 PM on September 16, 2011


Once again I am struck by the Welsh's love of words with no vowels. How do you pronounce the "dwr" portion of Glyndwr? Like "dwyer"?

In English his name is often written Owen Glendower, with the middle vowel the same as in "owe" and "mow". As for Welsh pronunciation, I don't know. But I do know that "w" is a vowel in Welsh orthography.
posted by Jehan at 9:18 PM on September 16, 2011 [2 favorites]


Remember, Cornwall was its own nation as well, with its own language that was widely spoken up until the 1700s.
posted by Slap*Happy at 9:31 PM on September 16, 2011 [1 favorite]


"Owen Glendower, the wizard of Wales
Is marshaling demons and devils with tails..."


Thanks for dragging that up from some distant corner of my brain. Wow.
posted by gingerbeer at 10:02 PM on September 16, 2011 [2 favorites]


Watch out for them Anglish.
posted by Goofyy at 10:44 PM on September 16, 2011


Ah, that great magician, damn'd Glendower...

GLENDOWER

Cousin, of many men
I do not bear these crossings. Give me leave
To tell you once again that at my birth
The front of heaven was full of fiery shapes,
The goats ran from the mountains, and the herds
Were strangely clamorous to the frighted fields.
These signs have mark'd me extraordinary;
And all the courses of my life do show
I am not in the roll of common men.
Where is he living, clipp'd in with the sea
That chides the banks of England, Scotland, Wales,
Which calls me pupil, or hath read to me?
And bring him out that is but woman's son
Can trace me in the tedious ways of art
And hold me pace in deep experiments.

HOTSPUR

I think there's no man speaks better Welsh.
I'll to dinner.
posted by Segundus at 12:21 AM on September 17, 2011 [3 favorites]


doctor_negative, try it as "O-wine Glin-dooer". Really go Paul McCartney with the pursed lips on the "oo", and have your tongue already rolling when you hit the final "r".
posted by Prince Lazy I at 12:41 AM on September 17, 2011


'w', 'y' and 'u' all carry vowel sounds in Welsh ('oo', 'uh' and 'ee', more or less, respectively). There might be a few more that I'm forgetting, as my Welsh is absolutely dire.

Following the news of the four miners killed out near Swansea this is...strangely poignant, actually.
posted by kalimac at 1:00 AM on September 17, 2011


This article about his early military career was one I featured in a post about medieval soldiering a while back.
I grew up just across the border in Cheshire and on Sundays as kids one of my mates' dads used to drive us out to visit various castles across north Wales, which often had associations with Glyndŵr's rising - Dolbardan stands out in the memory; he's supposed to have kept prisoners there.
posted by Abiezer at 1:42 AM on September 17, 2011 [1 favorite]


I can't claim to know much about Welsh history

Neither can I, beyond the fact that the country was once so poor they had to sell all their vowels to the Hawaiians.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 4:22 AM on September 17, 2011 [3 favorites]


Once again I am struck by the Welsh's love of words with no vowels. How do you pronounce the "dwr" portion of Glyndwr? Like "dwyer"?

From the second link: "Glyndwr (rhymes with endure)..."
posted by dreinn at 6:04 AM on September 17, 2011 [1 favorite]


Part Welsh way back and had No Idea. Knw bt St Dvd's Dy Thgh. ن
posted by Katjusa Roquette at 6:31 AM on September 17, 2011 [1 favorite]


N St. Dvd's Dy yu wr dfdls! ت
posted by Katjusa Roquette at 7:04 AM on September 17, 2011 [1 favorite]


Wales was left so poor that vowels are in short supply to this day
posted by Renoroc at 7:15 AM on September 17, 2011


The best line from Hotspur's exchange with Glendower is

Glendower:
I can call spirits from the vasty deep.

Hotspur:
Why, so can I, or so can any man;
But will they come when you do call for them?
posted by jrochest at 7:35 PM on September 17, 2011


I only know about this fellow from having a very hot ex with the middle name Glyndwr. But that's reason enough for me. I drink to both of them!
posted by mykescipark at 7:58 PM on September 17, 2011


Winnemac: "I can't claim to know much about Welsh history beyond what a few quick visits can tell you, but the wiki page at least suggests that the rebellion left Wales devastated for generations. A day of remembrance might be more appropriate."

It doesn't really seem correct to blame the Welsh for trying to restore their independence. I'm aware that modern notions of the nation-state are somewhat anachronistic, but still, it's clear that Edward I invaded Wales, and that English dominance was not particularly welcomed by the Welsh. Glyndwr's rebellion was broadly popular.
posted by Chrysostom at 8:00 AM on September 19, 2011


led a successful people's rebellion

Another way of saying this is that the Welsh nation rose up to support one side in an already three-year-old battle for dominance between competing groups of nobility.

The Glyndwrs were Welsh royalty, as were their cousins and comrades-in-arms, the Tewdrs, better known by their later-Anglicized name, the Tudors. This is also a sideshow to the struggle between competing groups of Plantagenets - sort of a prequel to the Wars of The Roses.

It was certainly a national rebellion towards the end, but hardly a people's rebellion.
posted by snottydick at 4:29 PM on September 19, 2011


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