Aneirin: an early Cymric bard, also known as Neirin (The Noble One)

Synonyms: Neirin, Enaerin
Cym: The Noble One

Aneirin is first mentioned in Nennius' Historia Brittonum compiled around 800CE where he gives a list of the cynfeirdd (the earliest bards working in Old Cymric) and names them all as Talhaearn Tad Awen, Neirin, Taliesin, Bluchfardd and Cian Gweinth Gwawd (Cian Servant of Satire). This is the oldest reference to the bard and indicates that Aneirin's original name was probably Neirin (the prosthetic 'A' having developed later). If this is the case then Neirin/Aneirin's name can be derived from the reconstructed proto-Celtic element *nƒro- (noble, great-hearted which yields the Irish nár). Thus Neirin can be interpreted as 'The Noble One'.

Aneirin's true fame, however, comes from the poem attributed to him, Y Gododdin. Though it is contained in a thirteenth-century volume, the Llyfr Aneirin the poem itself contains language that is much older and the verse may well be contemporary with its subject matter (a battle taking place circa 600 CE). The poem in the Llyfr Aneirin is introduced by the following statement Hwn yw e Gododdin. aneirin ae cant. (This is the Gododdin. Aneirin sang it.). The prosthetic 'A' would suggest that the name was written rather late and might not be connected to the Gododdin at all. This might be where the situation lay were it not for two mentions of Aneirin within the poem itself. The first of these er pan aeth daear ar aneirin. (Since the sod covered Aneirin) obviously refers to Aneirin's grave and must have been added after the bard's death. However, the same passage also mentions guarchan mab Dwywei (the poem of the son of Dwywei) and from the context it is clear that Dwywei refers to Aneirin's own mother. Thus Aneirin was the son of Dwywei.

Looking at the genealogies, the only Dwywei recorded in the genealogies who would both have lived at the correct time and in the correct region is noted in the Vitae Sanctorum Britanniae et Genealogiae as Dwywei uerch Llennauc. This Lleenawg is the father of Gwallawg one of the heroes of the 'Old North' and a descendant of Coel Hen whom Nennius ames as a member of the confederation of Brythonic kings led by Urien Rheged in his opposition to the Berenician king Hussa as well as a number of other Saxon leaders. If the genealogical link is correct then Aneirin would have been a cousin to and a contemporary of Gwallawg and undoubtedly would have been embroiled in the battles fought during the times. Indeed, the Gododdin itself is a sequence of elegies to the warriors who fought and fell at the battle of Cattraeth (modern Catterick) circa 600CE. It is generally accepted today that the nucleus of this poem represents the true work of the gogynfardd [A]neirin; though the processes of oral transmission and later copying by scribes the poem has undergone accretion and changes making it almost impossible to divine Aneirin's original from the later additions.

Within the Gododdin Aneirin's name is also mentioned in the following passage:

Mi na vi aneirin
ys gwyr talyessin
ovec kywrenhin
neu chein(t) e ododin

I – not I, Aneirin –
as is known by Taliesin
of the powerful inspiration
I sang the Gododdin

Again it is difficult to known whether Aneirin composed this or whether it was a later addition. It compares Aneirin to that other great early bard, Taliesin and Aneirin also seems to disavow ownership of the poem, attributing its composition to the Awen instead. This is certainly compatible with the things that the early bards would write. It also hints at the fame of Aneirin by his comparison to and with Taliesin.

Aneirin is also mentioned in two triads of the Trioedd Ynys Prydein which link Aneirin with the other cynfardd Talhaearn. Firstly the Llyfr Gwyn Rhydderch version of Triad 33 names 'The Three Savage men of the Island of Britain'; they who 'Performed the Three Unfortunate Assassinations'. One of these was Heiden son of Efengad who, according to the triad slew Aneirin of the Flowing Verse, daughter of Teyrnfardd, the man who gave a hundred swine every Saturday in a bathing tub to Talhaearn. The same theme is picked-up in Triad 34 (the Peniarth 51 version) which maes the 'Three Unfortunate Hatchet-blows of the Island of Britain'. Thematically, this is identical in subject matter to Triad 34 and tells us of 'Talhaearn who struck Aneirin in her Head'. It may well be that the variant form of Triad 34 is derived from Triad 33 and the feminization of Anairin in both verses is striking. However, the Aneirin of the poem must be the same as Aneirin the poet and we do appear to gain a hint here of a lost tale about the enmity between Aneirin and Talhaearn. It would seem that Heiden was in the debt of Talhaearn and that this debt was possibly repaid by the assassination of Aneirin by Heiden.

In the poem Anrec Uryen from the Llyfr Coch Rhydderch a reference is made to Aneirin as Aneirin Gwawtryd Awenydd (Aneirin of the Flowing Verse) which is a reference to Aneirin's most enduring epithet: Aneirin Gwawtryd Awenydd Mechdeyrn Beirdd (Aneirin of the Flowing Verse, Prince of Poets). There may also be a reference to Aneirin in the Llyfr Taliesin. This is generally interpreted as:

Ef ae rin rodes
A wen aghymes.

He and his virtue dwelt
with measureless blessing.

But a close look at the manuscript also makes this interpretation possible:

Enaerin rodes
Awen aghymes

Aneirin gave
measureless inspiration

This observation was first made by Ifor Williams and if his interpretation is correct then this gives us a second older form of [A]neirin as [E]naerin which gives more support to the supposition that Neirin's name is derived from a Brythonic word *naer related to the Irish nér and meaning 'Noble'.

That Aneirin was considered the epitome of poetic inspiration is made clear by the references made to the bard by the gogynfeirdd (the later than early bards) and indicates that Anerin's mythos and reputation were alive and well during the early Middle Ages, suggesting a continuity of knowledge about him.

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