Gweddi'r derwydd from Aden by Gwilym Bowen Rhys

Gweddi’r derwydd
The druid’s prayer

Mae’r alaw hon yn cael ei chanu fel rhan o ddefod y cadeirio yn yr Eisteddfod Genedlaethol. Yn y ddefod mae’r canwr yn holi a’r gynulleidfa’n ateb drwy ganu geiriau Iolo Morgannwg: ‘dyro Dduw dy nawdd, ac yn nawdd nerth, ac yn nerth deall, ac yn neall gwybod...’ Roedd cyfansoddwr y gerddoriaeth wedi gweithio’n ddiwyd ym maes cerddoriaeth werin yng Nghymru gan gyhoeddi sawl llyfryn o alawon a sefydlu cwmni cyhoeddi Gwynn, sydd yn dal i gyhoeddi llyfrau o gerddoriaeth traddodiadol hyd heddiw.

This melody is sung during the chairing of the bard ceremony at the annual National Eisteddfod of Wales. The rituals of the druidic ceremony were first thought up by one of 18th century Wales’ most colourful characters, Iolo Morganwg. Claiming to have rediscovered an unbroken druidic tradition that had persisted in the forests of his native south-east Wales, he bought it back to the public eye. Although we’ve known for a while that it was mostly the product of his opium fuelled romantic imagination, the bardic tradition that it surrounds truly is one that’s continued unbroken since the 6th century. This melody was composed to accompany Iolo Morganwg’s ritual druidic prayer.