MAKING THE MAES
Teams move in for August deadline plus chair + crown are revealed
TWO of the top prizes at this year’s National Eisteddfod were handed over to festival officials on Monday – the same day that workers officially moved into the festival site near Bodedern.
The Chair and the Crown will be awarded to the best poets at special ceremonies, presided by the Archdruid of the Gorsedd of Bards, in the main pavilion during the event which will be staged at Bodedern near Valley in August.
The Chair will be presented for a poem in more than one of the traditional poetic measures of no more than 250 lines. The subject is Arwr or Arwres (Hero or Heroine), a particularly poignant subject this year, as the festival commemorates World War I.
The Hero was the title of the poem for the Chair competition in 1917 when Ellis Humphrey Evans, or Hedd Wyn, won the Chair.
But the poet had been killed in action weeks before the ceremony, and a black shroud was placed on the Chair in his honour.
The Snowdonia National Park Authority has been restoring Yr Ysgwrn, the home of Hedd Wyn, and with the work now complete, the Authority has donated this year’s Eisteddfod Chair.
The Chair has a poignant link with the 1917 chair, having been partly crafted from ash and oak wood sawn from trees growing in the grounds of Yr Ysgwrn, trees which would have been growing there during Hedd Wyn’s lifetime.
Designer and maker Rhodri Owen, from Ysbyty Ifan, said: “The idea of reincarnation and moving forward is central to the concept of this year’s Chair.
“But the link with the past is also very important, and I considered the shapes of the tools and implements used daily in rural life a century ago when working on the design.
“The two back legs rise towards the ‘moon’, in the shape of scythes, with the bottom of the back in the shape of two marking irons, which would have been used to mark the turf before chopping the peat in agricultural areas.
“The two back-to-back shapes point towards the underworld, representing darkness and death, while the top of the Chair and the Nod Cyfrin represent light and a new life.
“The Park Authority and I wanted the Chair to convey its own message, and I hope I have achieved this, emphasising the need for the Welsh nation to confidently step forward to a new, better and peaceful future.”
The chairing ceremony is on Friday, August 11, at 4.30pm.
The Crown is sponsored by Merched y Wawr, during the year the organisation celebrates its 50th anniversary.
Created by Anglesey-born silversmith John Price, the Crown skilfully weaves the aims of Merched y Wawr and some of Anglesey’s most iconic locations.
The band represents the Menai Suspension Bridge and the concept of “bridging” in a wider context – the bridging between communities, and the fact the Eisteddfod is a link between Welsh speakers across the country, non-Welsh speakers and learners.
Every arch includes a small fresco, with each one representing different elements.
One of the island’s most attractive attractions, Melin Llynnon, is depicted within one arch, representing ‘Môn Mam Cymru’ – or Anglesey, the mother of Wales – the island which once produced food for the whole of Wales.
Mr Price said: “Although I’ve created a number of Eisteddfod crowns over the years, the thrill when you’re chosen for a project is still there, as is the enjoyment of working on the first concepts before creating the Crown itself.
“It’s been a great pleasure to have been invited to create a Crown sponsored by Merched y Wawr, an organisation which has been so important to our language and culture over the past half a century.
“Coupled with such inspiration in Anglesey’s landscape and cultural heritage, I hope this Crown manages to reflect the contribution of both Merched y Wawr and Anglesey to Wales.”
The Crown is presented for a free verse poem of no more than 250 lines, titled Trwy Ddrych (Through a Mirror) and will be presented on Monday, August 7, to the winning bard.
Accepting both prizes Derec Llwyd Morgan, chair of the local executive committee, said: “The ceremonies are two of the week’s highlights, and we sincerely hope we will have two worthy winners for the Crown and Chair in a few weeks’ time.”