Source: National Library of Wales
Taliesin is, by far, the more famous of the two bards, with all sorts of legends-many of them cultivated and encouraged within his own poetry-and mythology associated with his life. In "The First Address of Taliesin," he claims: "I am old. I am young. I am Gwion,/I am universal, I am possessed of penetrating wit." There are legends of Taliesin's boyhood, when he was supposedly known as Gwion, and his selection by Ceridwen to become a famous bard and prophet; the ninth- or tenth-century Hanes Taliesin is a folk tale in which Taliesin is given the gift of prophecy (Williams, Go Britannia!).
However, the poems of Taliesin which remain are primarily homages to his ruler, Urien of Rheged, and his son, Owain ab Urien. His use of alliteration and rhyme were influential in the development of the Welsh metrical poetry known as cynghanedd. . Some of his poems contain references not only to heroic religious figures of previous times, but also to Christian imagery and the history of the Israelites. The Book of Taliesin also
"preserves the texts of famous poems such as 'Armes Prydein Fawr', 'Preiddeu Annwfn' (which refers to Arthur and his warriors sailing across the sea to win a spear and a cauldron), and elegies to Cunedda and Dylan eil Ton, as well as the earliest mention in any western vernacular of the feats of Hercules and Alexander" (LLGC).
Aneurin was a contemporary of Taliesin and the author of the famous Gododdin epic poem, in which he documented and commented on the defeat of a group of British warriors at the Battle of Catraeth (Catterick, Yorkshire), around 600 A.D. According to historian Peter Williams, this poem is remarkable for its unique and influential structure:
"Because the poem constantly circles around the main event of the battle, possessing no liner development, no regular beginning or end, it is seen as a prototype of Celtic design, an early, sophisticated literary expression of the circular motifs expressed so beautifully in other art forms."
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