Vanishing Welsh Names: The Race to Save Welsh Heritage

Is Welsh heritage being erased? The fight to save Welsh names & reclaim Celtic heritage: Snowdon Vs Yr Wyddfa

In Snowdonia, North Wales, is the highest mountain in Wales. In English, it's called Snowdon, but it's Welsh name is Yr Wyddfa. Snowdonia itself also has a Welsh name: Eryri. Outside of Wales, they are known mostly by their English names which are easier for non-Welsh-speakers to pronounce. But there is a push in Wales to encourage people to refer to them by their original, Welsh names.

What does Snowdon mean? It's thought to have come from the Anglo-Saxon word for "Snow Dune" or "Snow Hill". So what's the meaning of Yr Wyddfa? The Welsh name means "Grave". Welsh folklore tells of a giant, Rhita Gawr, who roamed Wales, defeating armies and sewing the beards of vanquished kings into his cloak until he was defeated by the Legendary King Arthur. Welsh folklore lives on in Welsh names, and renaming them threatens to take Celtic heritage away from the landscape. This has ignited a debate over whether we should use the names Snowdon or Yr Wyddfa, Llyn Bochlwyd or Lake Australia, Porth Trecastell or Cable bay, to name just a few.

John Pughe Roberts pressured the Snowdonia national park authority to refer to Snowdon as Yr Wyddfa, and started a petition that received 5,000 signatures. We met with him learn why he thought it was important to reclaim Welsh place names.

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00:00-00:54 - Snowdon or Yr Wyddfa?
00:55-01:53 - Snowdonia is one of the most Welsh-Speaking parts of Wales
01:54-02:44 - Welsh names: Complicated to Pronounce but Part of History
02:45-04:17 - Llyn Bochlwyd & Porth Trecastell
04:18-05:04 - Welsh Folklore - The Story of Rhitta Gawr
05:05-07:08 - Protecting Welsh Names in Eryri (Snowdonia)
07:09-09:20 - Changing Attitudes to the Welsh Language
09:21-10:57 - Sacrificing Welsh Heritage for Names Easier to Pronounce

#wales #welshculture #Welshnames #welshlanguage #yrwyddfa #cymru #cymruambyth