Tudur Penllyn

Who is 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 bought 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.