Origins |
Tarddiadau |
In 1587, the Puritan author John Penry (1563-1593) remarked on the ‘astonishing reverence’ with which fairies were held in Wales. Known as the Tylwyth Teg (‘the fair family’), or Bendith eu Mamau (‘Their Mother’s Blessing’) due to their habit of often bestowing favours, many believed that fairies were the souls of druids condemned to exist in limbo.
A Christian tradition claims that a woman with five beautiful and five ugly children, on observing Jesus approaching the house, hid those who were ugly. When he had left, the hidden children had disappeared, believed to have been taken as punishment for her shame at what God had given her. The missing children were believed to have started a race of mythical beings now commonly referred to as the fairies. Vertical Divider
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Yn 1587, cyfeiriodd yr awdur Piwritanaidd John Penry (1563-1593) at y 'parch rhyfeddol’ oedd at y tylwyth teg yng Nghymru. Fe’u gelwid wrth yr enw ‘Tylwyth Teg’ neu ‘Bendith eu Mamau’ oherwydd eu harfer o wneud cymwynas yn aml, a chredai llawer mai’r tylwyth teg oedd eneidiau derwyddon a gondemniwyd i fodoli mewn gwagle.
Mae traddodiad Cristnogol yn honni bod menyw oedd â phum plentyn hardd a phum plentyn hyll, wrth weld Iesu yn nesáu at y tŷ, wedi cuddio’r rhai hyll. Ar ôl iddo adael, roedd y plant a guddiwyd wedi diflannu, a’r gred oedd eu bod wedi cael eu cymryd yn gosb oherwydd cywilydd y wraig ynghylch yr hyn yr oedd Duw wedi’i roi iddi. Credid mai o’r plant coll y tarddodd llinach o fodau chwedlonol, y cyfeirir atynt fel arfer bellach wrth yr enw tylwyth teg. |
Peter Roberts, Cambrian popular antiquities: or, An account of some traditions, customs, and superstitions of Wales, (London, 1815)
Reportedly the author’s own copy, this edition contains several colour illustrations together with his handwritten notes and corrections. Here, the author explains the druidic origins of the fairies.
A Welsh version was published in Carmarthen in 1823, illustrated by Hugh Hughes (1790-1863). This work contains several illustrations by the author that were ‘coloured from nature’. The mischievous nature of fairies and their love of music is often evident in Welsh folklore. Their winged appearance is a modern artistic interpretation. |
Dywedir mai dyma gopi yr awdur ei hun, ac mae’r gyfrol hon yn cynnwys sawl darlun lliw, ynghyd â’i nodiadau a’i gywiriadau mewn llawysgrifen. Yma, mae'r awdur yn egluro tarddiad derwyddol y tylwyth teg. Cyhoeddwyd fersiwn Gymraeg yng Nghaerfyrddin yn 1823, gyda darluniau gan Hugh Hughes (1790-1863).
Mae'r gwaith hwn yn cynnwys sawl darlun gan yr awdur a 'liwiwyd o natur'. Mae natur ddireidus y tylwyth teg a'u cariad at gerddoriaeth yn aml yn amlwg yn llên werin Cymru. Dehongliad artistig modern yw eu hadenydd. |
The earliest fairy narrative
The earliest fairy narrative was recorded by Giraldus Cambrensis (Gerald of Wales; c.1146-c.1223) on his journey through Wales in 1188. As a young boy, Elidyr is a regular visitor to ‘fairyland’ where ‘all is playtime and pleasure’. However, while playing with the King’s son, he steals a golden ball, and can never again find his way back into fairyland. Years later, he is unable to recount the story without bursting into tears. The term ‘y Tylwyth Teg’ first appears in the poem The Mist, which some have attributed to the 14th century poet Dafydd ap Gwilym: ‘Hudol gwan yn ehedig Hir barthlwyth y Tylwyth Teg’ More modern editions of the The Mist have interpreted ‘y Tylwyth Teg’ as demons, witches and goblins, but it is more likely that the term was first coined during the 15th century. Vertical Divider
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Y naratif tylwyth teg cynharaf
Cofnodwyd y naratif tylwyth teg cynharaf gan Giraldus Cambrensis (Gerallt Gymro; c.1146-c.1223) ar ei daith trwy Gymru yn 1188. Yn fachgen ifanc, mae Elidyr yn ymwelydd rheolaidd â 'gwlad y tylwyth teg’ lle mae’n ‘amser chwarae a phleser o hyd’. Fodd bynnag, wrth chwarae gyda mab y Brenin, mae’n dwyn pelen aur, ac ni all byth wedyn gael hyd i’r ffordd yn ôl i wlad y tylwyth teg. Flynyddoedd yn ddiweddarach, mae’n methu adrodd y stori heb ddechrau llefain. Mae’r enw 'y Tylwyth Teg' yn ymddangos gyntaf yn y gerdd Y Niwl, y mae rhai wedi ei phriodoli i Ddafydd ap Gwilym, y bardd o’r 14eg ganrif: ‘Hudol gwan yn ehedig Hir barthlwyth y Tylwyth Teg' Mae argraffiadau mwy modern o Y Niwl wedi dehongli’r ‘Tylwyth Teg’ yn nhermau demoniaid, gwrachod ac ellyllod, ond mae’n fwy tebygol bod y term wedi’i fathu gyntaf yn ystod y 15fed ganrif. |
Rachel Bromwich, Houses of Leaves, Dafydd ap Gwilym, a selection of Poems (Llandago, 1993)
Recent scholarship has rejected The Mist as having been written by one of Wales’ most famous poets, Dafydd ap Gwilym. It is interesting that the term ‘y Tylwyth Teg’ has been translated by the author as ‘The family of Gwyn’. This is Tylwyth meaning family, with Gwyn a reference to Gwyn ap Nudd, a mythical and magical figure from medieval Welsh literature, often regarded in Welsh folklore as Annwn, King of the Fairies and ruler of the ‘otherworld’. This edition also refers to the ‘witches of Annwfn’, while others refer to the fairies as demonic beings or ‘wry-mouthed goblins’ – a reference to their ungodly and supernatural origin.
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Mae ysgoloriaeth ddiweddar wedi gwrthod yr honiad mai Dafydd ap Gwilym, un o feirdd enwocaf Cymru, ysgrifennodd Y Niwl. Mae'n ddiddorol bod y term 'y Tylwyth Teg' wedi'i gyfieithu gan yr awdur fel 'The family of Gwyn'. Defnyddir Tylwyth yn yr ystyr teulu, ac mae Gwyn yn cyfeirio at Gwyn ap Nudd, ffigwr chwedlonol a hudolus o lenyddiaeth ganoloesol Cymru, sy’n aml yn ymddangos yn llên werin Cymru ar ffurf Annwn, Brenin y Tylwyth Teg a rheolwr ‘yr arallfyd’. Mae'r argraffiad hwn hefyd yn cyfeirio at 'witches of Annwfn’, tra bod eraill yn cyfeirio at y tylwyth teg fel bodau demonaidd neu ‘wry-mouthed goblins' – cyfeiriad at eu tarddiad annuwiol a goruwchnaturiol.
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William Salesbury, A Dictionary in Englyshe and Welshe, [1547], facsimile reprint, (Menston, 1969)
The term ‘y Tylwyth Teg’ appears in print for the first time in Salesbury’s Dictionary, one of the earliest Welsh dictionaries and one of the first books printed in Welsh.
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Mae’r term 'y Tylwyth Teg' yn ymddangos mewn print am y tro cyntaf yng Ngeiriadur Salesbury, un o’r geiriaduron Cymraeg cynharaf ac un o'r llyfrau cyntaf a argraffwyd yn Gymraeg.
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Arthur James Johnes, Translations into English verse from the poems of Dafydd ap Gwilym, (London, 1834)
In Johnes' translation of Dafydd ap Gwilym's poems, fairies are described as a 'tribe' and 'goblins'. In Medieval Welsh, the original meaning of the term ‘tylwyth’ is ‘army’ or ‘tribe’.
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Yng nghyfieithiad Johnes o gerddi Dafydd ap Gwilym, disgrifir y tylwyth teg fel ‘tribe' a ‘goblins’. Mewn Cymraeg Canoloesol, ystyr wreiddiol y term ‘tylwyth’ yw ‘byddin’ neu ‘lwyth’.
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The origins of the name ‘y Tylwyth Teg’
Tylwyth Teg is the common Welsh name for the fairies, yet Salesbury’s Dictionary appears to be the first example of the term being used in this way. The word ‘teg’ in this instance means ‘fair’, as in beautiful or fair-haired. This is possibly a mistranslation of the English word 'fairy', which originates from the old French 'faerie': 'fae' coming from Latin for 'the fates'. Bendith eu Mamau (Their Mother’s Blessing) is the common term for the fairies in south Wales, named for their blessing, or bringing good luck to those they favoured, or who showed them kindness. When they were offended or mistreated they would inflict various punishments, some quite severe. Could it be that the ‘fair’ element of ‘y Tylwyth Teg’ reflects the fate of those who encountered them? Vertical Divider
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Tarddiadau’r enw 'y Tylwyth Teg'
'Tylwyth Teg' yw’r enw Cymraeg cyffredin a ddefnyddir am ‘fairies’, ac eto ymddengys mai geiriadur Salesbury yw’r enghraifft gyntaf o ddefnyddio’r term fel hyn. Ystyr y gair 'teg' yma yw hardd neu â gwallt golau. Mae hyn o bosibl yn gamgyfieithiad o’r gair Saesneg 'fairy’, sy’n tarddu o’r hen Ffrangeg ‘faerie’: gyda ‘fae’ yn dod o’r Lladin am 'y tynghedau'. 'Bendith eu Mamau' yw’r term cyffredin am y tylwyth teg yn ne Cymru, a defnyddir yr enw hwnnw oherwydd eu bod yn dwyn bendith, neu lwc dda i’r rhai roedden nhw’n eu ffafrio, neu’r rhai oedd yn garedig iddynt. Petaen nhw’n cael eu digio neu eu cam-drin, bydden nhw’n cyflwyno cosbau amrywiol, rhai ohonynt yn ddigon llym. Tybed ydy elfen 'deg' 'y Tylwyth Teg' yn adlewyrchu tynged y rhai sy’n dod ar eu traws? |