Awen is a Welsh, Cornish and Breton word for "inspiration" (and typically poetic inspiration). In Welsh mythology, is the inspiration of the poets, or bards; its personification, is the inspirational muse of creative artists in general. The inspired individual (often a poet or a soothsayer) is an .

In current usage, is sometimes ascribed to musicians and poets. also occurs as a female given name. The word appears in the third stanza of , the national anthem of Wales.

Etymology

Awen derives from the Indo-European root *-uel, meaning 'to blow', and has the same root as the word awel meaning 'breeze' in Welsh and 'wind' or 'gale' in Cornish.

Historical attestation

The first recorded attestation of the word occurs in Nennius's Historia Brittonum, a Latin text of c. 796, based in part on earlier writings by the monk, Gildas. It occurs in the phrase Tunc talhaern tat aguen in poemate claret [Talhaern the father of the muse was then renowned in poetry] where the Old Welsh word aguen (awen) occurs in the Latin text describing poets from the sixth century.

It is also recorded in its current form in Canu Llywarch Hen () where Llywarch says 'I know by my awen<nowiki/>' indicating it as a source of instinctive knowledge.

On connections between awen as poetic inspiration and as an infusion from the divine, The Book of Taliesin

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Perhaps more accurately “the three elements of inspiration that came, splendid, out of the cauldron”, but also implicitly “that came from God” as ‘peir’ (cauldron, poet) can also mean ‘sovereign’ often meaning ‘God’. It is the “three elements” that is cleverly worked in here as awen was sometimes characterised as consisting of three sub-divisions (<nowiki/>‘ogyrwen’<nowiki/>) so “the ogyrwen of triune inspiration”, perhaps suggesting the Trinity.

There are fifteen occurrences of the word awen in The Book of Taliesin begins with the phrase and it is repeated later in the poem. The link between poetic inspiration and divination is implicit in the description of the awenyddion [inspiration] given by Gerald of Wales in the 12th&nbsp;century and the link between bardic expression and prophecy is a common feature of much early verse in Wales and elsewhere.

A poem in The Black Book of Carmarthen by an unidentified bard, but addressed to Cuhelyn Fardd (1100-1130) asks God to allow the awen to flow so that ‘inspired song from Ceridwen will shape diverse and well-crafted verse’. This anticipates much poetry from identified bards of the Welsh princes between ; it juggles the competing claims of the Celtic Church as the source of awen, with the pair Ceridwen [the cauldron of Ceridwen<nowiki/>].

So Llywarch ap Llywelyn (1173-1220) – also known as <nowiki/>‘Prydydd y Moch’<nowiki/> [Poet of Pigs] – can address his patron Llywelyn ap Iorwerth like this:

: I greet my lord, bring awen’s great greeting

: Words from Ceridwen I compose

: Just like Taliesin when he freed Elffin.

ap Llywelyn also wrote

: The Lord God grant me sweet awen

: As from the Cauldron of Ceridwen

Elidr Sais (), ‘singing to Christ’, wrote

: Brilliant my poetry after Myrddin

: Shining forth from the cauldron of awen

A modern instance of the word is in the large inscription on the front of the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff, composed by the poet Gwyneth Lewis, which reads:

: "To create truth like glass from inspiration's furnace"

Modern Druidic symbol

thumb|right|150px|Awen of [[Iolo Morganwg.]]

In some forms of modern Druidism, the term is symbolized by an emblem showing three straight lines that spread apart as they move downward, drawn within a circle or a series of circles of varying thickness, often with a dot, or point, atop each line. The British Druid Order attributes the symbol to Iolo Morganwg; it has been adopted by some neo-Druids.

According to Jan Morris, Iolo Morganwg did in fact create what is now called "The Awen" as a symbol for the Gorsedd of Bards, the secret society of Welsh poets, writers, and musicians that he claimed to have rediscovered, but in fact created himself. explained the Awen symbol as follows, "And God vocalizing His Name said and with the Word all the world sprang into being, singing in ecstasy of joy and repeating the name of the Deity."

thumb|right|150px|The Neo-Druid symbol of awen

The Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids (OBOD) describe the three lines as rays emanating from three points of light, with those points representing the triple aspect of deity and, also, the points at which the sun rises on the equinoxes and solstices – known as the Triad of the Sunrises. The emblem as used by the OBOD is surrounded by three circles representing the three circles of creation.

Various modern Druidic groups and individuals have their own interpretation of the awen. The three lines relate to earth, sea and air; body, mind and spirit; or love, wisdom and truth. It is also said that the awen stands for not simply inspiration, but for inspiration of truth; without awen one cannot proclaim truth. The three foundations of awen are the understanding of truth, the love of truth, and the maintaining of truth.

A version of the awen was approved by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs in early 2017 as an emblem for veteran headstones.

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File:Banner of Gorsedh Kernow.svg|Banner of Gorsedh Kernow

File:Flag of the Welsh Patriotic Front.svg|Flag of the National Patriotic Front

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See also

  • Muse
  • Óðr
  • Vates
  • Welsh poetry

References

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Kenneth Jackson, Tradition in Early Irish Prophecy, Man, Vol. 34, (May 1934), pp. 67–70.

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Dan M. Wiley, et al. (2008) Essays on the Early Irish King Tales. Dublin, IE: Four Courts Press. ISBN 978-1-84682-045-8.

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An internet search for the title combined with the year 1934 does indeed find JSTOR=2790652, at the volume and page numbers originally cited. I used the information from JSTOR for replacement citation above. --- Anonymous editor, 2025-09-25

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Neo-Druidic Sites

  • Awen – "The Holy Spirit of Druidry" British Druid Order site
  • A Short History of the Awen The Druid Network site