Cadfan Stone

{{Short description|Stone cross with the earliest known Old Welsh inscriptions}}{{Infobox Artifact|name=Cadfan Stone|image=250px|image_caption=|material=Stone|created=|discovered=|location=St Cadfan's Church, Tywyn|native_name=Carreg Cadfan|size=|period=7th-9th centuries|height=2.3m originally (now 2.18m)|width=0.25m|depth=0.2m|native_name_lang=Welsh}}

The Cadfan Stone ({{langx|cy|Carreg Cadfan}}){{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5Gs-AAAAYAAJ&dq=carreg+cadfan&pg=PA221 |title=The Antiquary |date=1881 |publisher=E. Stock |pages=221 |language=en}} is a 7th-9th century stone that has the earliest known Welsh language inscription, specifically in Old Welsh. The stone is located inside St Cadfan's Church, Tywyn, Gwynedd.

History

The stone was once thought to mark the grave of both Saint Cadfan and Cyngen Glodrydd, late king of Powys, roughly dating it to the first half of the sixth century.{{cite book |editor1-last=Haddan |editor1-first=Arthur West |editor2-last=Stubbs |editor2-first=William |title=Councils and Ecclesiastical Documents Relating to Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. I |date=1869 |publisher=Clarendon Press |location=Oxford |pages=164-165 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8xGgAAAAMAAJ&q=Cyngen#v=onepage&q&f=false |access-date=31 March 2025 |language=la,en}} However more recent scholarship dates the inscriptions to far later: Ifor Williams dated them to the 8th century,William, Ifor. 1972. The Beginnings of Welsh Poetry. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, pp. 25-40. His opinion is reflected in John Davies, Menna Baines, Nigel Jenkins and Peredur Lynch (ed.), The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2008). and a late 7th century or early 8th century date was suggested by Kenneth H. Jackson.Jackson, K. H. 1953. Language and History in Early Britain. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, pp. 189 and 386. A date between the 7th century and the 9th century is suggested by Coflein, the website of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales.[http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/43861/details/ST+CADFAN%27S+CHURCH%2C+TYWYN%3BTOWYN/ St Cadfan's Church, Tywyn] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303223256/http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/43861/details/ST+CADFAN'S+CHURCH,+TYWYN;TOWYN/ |date=2016-03-03 }}. Nancy Edwards assigned the stone firmly to the ninth century.{{cite book |last1=Redknap |first1=Mark |last2=Edwards |first2=Nancy |title=A Corpus of Early Medieval Inscribed Stones and Stone Sculpture in Wales: North Wales |date=2013 |publisher=University of Wales Press |location=Cardiff |isbn=978-0-7083-2550-6 |page=430 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=byixcQAACAAJ |language=en}}

Despite its undoubted significance, the Cadfan Stone has been given relatively little attention from Welsh authors and poets. Exceptions include the poems 'Cofebion Tywyn' by Owain OwainOwain Owain, 'Cofebion Tywyn', Y Faner, 7 April 1972. and 'Y boen' by Myrddin ap Dafydd.Myrddin ap Dafydd, Clawdd Cam (Llanrwst, 2003), p. 32.

Originally the stone stood over 2.3 metres tall, but it now measures 2.18m tall by 0.25m and 0.2m.[http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/302689/details/CADFAN+STONE%2C+ST+CADFAN%27S+CHURCH%2C+TYWYN/ Coflein Website]