Poet Guto Dafydd turns heads with the untold story of the Eisteddfod’s bardic crown

21.07.2015

Mathew Rees

Contact

Phone 029 20 741 214

Press Article 

Poet Guto Dafydd turns heads with the untold story of the Eisteddfod’s bardic crown

Ever since Hedd Wyn’s empty chair at the 1917 National Eisteddfod in Birkenhead, the chair has become an iconic symbol of the National Eisteddfod, and to many remains the top prize at the annual festival. In an attempt to redress the balance and tell the real story of the crown, last year’s winner Guto Dafydd will argue his case as he explores the history of the crown.

Pethe: Stori Coronau y ‘Steddfod will be shown on Monday, 3 August on S4C, on the day the crowning ceremony is held.

It’s been a year since the young poet from Pwllheli won the crown at the National Eisteddfod in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire but the competition’s history goes back to the 1860s. Guto reveals that the competition’s inception was marred by bitter public disputes and controversies. Two factions had emerged in the Welsh literary world – the ‘conservatives’ who favoured retaining the chair as the main prize for poets who adhered to the ancient strict metre of cynghanedd (metrical consonance) and the ‘radicalists’ who wanted an alternative prize to be awarded for those writing in free verse. Donning his crown, Guto travels to different parts of Wales to meet historians, poets and craftsmen, including crowned bard Mererid Hopwood and the controversial winner of the 1978 crown in Cardiff, Siôn Eirian, who was even younger than Guto when he won the competition.

This year, the National Eisteddfod will be held in Meifod for the second time, and John Price from Machynlleth was chosen to design this year’s crown. Guto will visit his workshop to see the design process in action.

“When I won the crown last year, I realised just how much it meant to people and the reaction in my area and beyond was incredible,” says 25-year-old Guto, who has recently published his first Welsh language novel for adults, Stad. “I always enjoy the Gorsedd ceremonies and it was great to be part of the crowning ceremony, but this programme was an opportunity to delve deeper into its history and find out more about this fascinating award.

“Unfortunately, I think that people still feel that crown is still somehow inferior to the chair, but I don’t understand why because I feel the standard is higher than works submitted for the chair. There still seems to be this idea that poetry written in strict verse is somehow more of an achievement than free verse poetry and I totally disagree, and this attitude actually goes back to the period when the crown was first introduced. They had to demand an alternative prize to the chair and fought tooth and nail for it and find a compromise by making both prizes equal.”

Pethe: Stori Coronau y ‘Steddfod Monday, 3 August, 9.30, S4C

Website: s4c.cymru

A Cwmni Da production for S4C