Y Gododdin

work by Aneirin

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July 15, 2026

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Y Gododdin is an Old Welsh poem attributed to the 6th-century poet Aneirin. It is preserved in a manuscript dating to around 1265, known as The Book of Aneirin. The poem praises the bravery of warriors from the army of Mynyddawg Mwynfawr, who embarked on an unsuccessful expedition around 600 AD to recapture Catraeth (modern Catterick, North Yorkshire) from the Saxons. The poem is characterized by its direct language, skillful use of metaphor and simile, and abundant alliteration and internal rhyme. It is considered a foundational work in Welsh literature, setting standards for later poetic traditions.12

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Aneirin
…rests on a single work, Y Gododdin, preserved in a manuscript known as The Book of Aneirin, which dates from about 1265. The language of the poem is direct for the most part, although simile and metaphor are skillfully used, and alliteration and internal rhyme abound. The poem praises the…
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…rests on a single work, Y Gododdin, preserved in a manuscript known as The Book of Aneirin, which dates from about 1265. The language of the poem is direct for the most part, although simile and metaphor are skillfully used, and alliteration and internal rhyme abound. The poem praises the…
Read More

Celtic literature
The Middle Ages
…is attributed a long poem, Y Gododdin, commemorating in elegies an ill-starred expedition sent from Gododdin, the region where Edinburgh stands today, to take Catraeth (Catterick, North Yorkshire) from the invading Saxons. The background, inspiration, and social conventions of the poems of Taliesin and Aneirin are typically heroic, the language…
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…is attributed a long poem, Y Gododdin, commemorating in elegies an ill-starred expedition sent from Gododdin, the region where Edinburgh stands today, to take Catraeth (Catterick, North Yorkshire) from the invading Saxons. The background, inspiration, and social conventions of the poems of Taliesin and Aneirin are typically heroic, the language…
Read More