National Redeemer: Owain Glyndwr in Welsh Tradition

National Redeemer: Owain Glyndwr in Welsh Tradition. By Elissa R. Henken. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1996. pbk. 19.95 [pounds sterling] 250pp. ISBN 0 7083 1290 X

It is a rare hero who can continue to captivate a people for over six hundred years. Owain Glyndwr is one such hero. From 1400 to 1410, Owain Glyndwr spearheaded the longest war for independence in Welsh history. He organised a Welsh parliament and campaigned for a Welsh university system. However, as historian Gwyn Williams states: "No poet sang Owain's marwnad, his elegy. He could not die. Like Arthur, he would come again" (When Was Wales? London: Penguin Books 1985, p 112).

In National Redeemer Elissa Henken provides copious examples of Glendwr legendry from a variety of sources--poetry, prose, prophecy and popular culture--from the period just after his uprising in the early fifteenth-century to the present. She situates Glyndwr in a continuum of Welsh (possibly even Brythonic) redeemer heroes including King Arthur, who the Welsh believed would return to save their country and people at their time of greatest need. In this way Henken addresses the complex interplay between history and legend, and demonstrates not only how history creates legend, but how significant legend complexes and motifs can shape and inform historical events.

She first explores the pattern of the redeemer hero in Welsh culture from the early-medieval period, which includes such legendary leaders as Hiriell, Cynan, Cadwaladr, King Arthur and Henry Tudor. She provides copious examples of how this motif is developed through poetry of the medieval period, thus establishing the redeemer/hero as a central figure in early WeIsh society. Henken continues by focusing specifically on the development of Glyndwr legends and their defining motifs. She then concentrates on how Glyndwr takes on many roles including prince, avenger, trickster, and magician. The final chapter, which is based on fieldwork, concentrates on contemporary attitudes toward Glyndwr, his role as a local as well as national hero, and how the rise of Welsh nationalism in this century has contributed to a renewed interest in him.

A particularly compelling section is Henken's discussion of revised opinions of Glyndwr from early in this century, and the transition from seeing him as a Welsh thug with good intentions to conceptualisations of him as the national hero who embodies the Welsh character. This historical account, combined with fieldwork data, reflects an ambivalence toward Glyndwr and the rebellious, even anti-English, spirit he has come to symbolise.

The largest drawback to this study is that Henken projects some rather dated and uncritical assumptions on to her material and the people she works with, the result being that the complexities of Welsh identity formation are not as apparent as they could be. She privileges Welsh-speaking informants without explaining why. Clearly the assumption is that Welsh-speaking people are somehow more "Welsh" and that Glyndwr would have more meaning to them. She says she concentrates on "less Anglicized areas" (p. 18), but she fails to acknowledge that using English does not mean that a person is actually any less Welsh or affiliates with England in any way. The project of Anglicisation is a difficult one with many facets, and Henken does not make clear what she means by the concept. What also would have been helpful is an updated account of her fieldwork. Welsh nationalism in the 1990s is probably quite different from what it was in 1982. Some historical context would be useful here.

Henken also seems to regard certain sources as being more legitimate than others; most notably she privileges oral sources over those which are mass-produced or commercial in intent. For instance, in her discussion of Welsh pubs bearing Glyndwr's name she expresses regret that she is relying on "commercial" sources and "popular culture," though these pubs are nevertheless indicative of the importance of Glyndwr to Welsh culture (p. 199). Furthermore, Henken's treatment of the contribution of Iolo Morganwg (Edward Williams) and other Welsh antiquarians to Welsh identity is rather simplistic. Morganwg in particular is a complex individual and should be treated as an interlocutor in his own right. Henken implies that because Morganwg "invented" Glyndwr stories they are suspect (although she notes their influence), as though other stories about Glyndwr had no original teller and are somehow more organic. Medieval-authored sources are presented as legitimate, but eighteenth-century ones are somehow corrupt.

Despite a lack of critical perspective on the material, this is an important source work. It is a welcome addition to studies of Welsh folklore and underscores the importance of legend and myth in establishing contemporary nationalism.

Amy Hale, Institute of Cornish Studies, University of Exeter

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