![Llewelyn Hopwood](https://profiles-cardiff.imgix.net/attachments/3258?w=200&h=200&auto=format&crop=faces&fit=crop&q=90")
Dr Llewelyn Hopwood
(he/him)
Research Associate
- Welsh speaking
- Available for postgraduate supervision
Overview
I specialise in medieval history and literature, particularly in the Celtic languages, and especially Welsh poetry.
I am currently editing the early Welsh poetry attributed to Merlin – the wizard, poet, and prophet – as part of Prosiect Barddoniaeth Myrddin, a research project based here at the School of Welsh and at the Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies in Aberystwyth.
Before my current work, my PhD thesis, Sound and Control in Welsh Poetry, c.1300–c.1600, listened to the sounds of medieval Wales. It sought to recontextualise the way we engage with premodern cultures given the greater importance of sound in all periods before the printing revolution and the Enlightenment. The work unvocered new meanings by listening carefully to the sounds described and by untangling multilingual texts.
My interest in sound, language, and languages extends beyond medieval Wales since I also enjoy working on: dictionaries, grammars, and pronunciations guides; Middle English, Irish, and Spanish texts; and anything that involves music.
Publication
2023
- Hopwood, L. 2023. Cymraeg egsotig J R R Tolkien. O'r Pedwar Gwynt Haf(22), pp. 7-8.
- Hopwood, L. 2023. Looking for rare Welsh books in Los Angeles. [Online]. Nation.cymru: Nartion.cymru. Available at: https://nation.cymru/culture/looking-for-rare-welsh-books-in-los-angeles/
- Hopwood, L. 2023. Editor’s preface 'No Theme'. Oxford Research in English 15(Spring), pp. i-iii.
- Hopwood, L. 2023. Sain lo-fi. O'r Pedwar Gwynt(15), pp. 38-39.
2022
- Hopwood, L. 2022. Testament Newydd Los Angeles. Cwlwm: Papur Bro Caerfyrddin, pp. 8-8.
2021
- Hopwood, L. 2021. Creative bilingualism in Late-Medieval Welsh poetry. Studia Celtica 55(1), pp. 97-119. (10.16922/SC.55.5)
- Hopwood, L. 2021. Hanes dwyieithog Gruffudd ap Cynan a Dadeni’r Ddeuddegfed Ganrif. Llên Cymru 45(1), pp. 1-27. (10.16922/lc.45.1)
- Hopwood, L. 2021. Branwen Uerch Lyr. YouTube: CymraegCanol. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozQCUwofCXw&t=635s
- Hopwood, L. 2021. Medieval script in tourism. [Podlediad]. Medieval Roots 1 October 2021. Available at: https://open.spotify.com/show/2VbiFlLd7mYZuVZZj3DKkW
- Hopwood, L. 2021. Amser gwrando. O'r Pedwar Gwynt(16), pp. 33-35.
- Hopwood, L. 2021. Editor's Foreword: Trash. Oxford Research in English(12), pp. i-iii.
2020
- Hopwood, L. 2020. A Dictionary in English and Welsh (1547) : a digital edition. [Online]. Taylor Editions. Available at: https://editions.mml.ox.ac.uk/editions/dictengwel/
- Hopwood, L. 2020. Llangynnwr, Llundain a Syr Richard Steele. Cwlwm: Papur Bro Caerfyrddin, pp. 20-20.
Articles
- Hopwood, L. 2023. Cymraeg egsotig J R R Tolkien. O'r Pedwar Gwynt Haf(22), pp. 7-8.
- Hopwood, L. 2023. Editor’s preface 'No Theme'. Oxford Research in English 15(Spring), pp. i-iii.
- Hopwood, L. 2023. Sain lo-fi. O'r Pedwar Gwynt(15), pp. 38-39.
- Hopwood, L. 2022. Testament Newydd Los Angeles. Cwlwm: Papur Bro Caerfyrddin, pp. 8-8.
- Hopwood, L. 2021. Creative bilingualism in Late-Medieval Welsh poetry. Studia Celtica 55(1), pp. 97-119. (10.16922/SC.55.5)
- Hopwood, L. 2021. Hanes dwyieithog Gruffudd ap Cynan a Dadeni’r Ddeuddegfed Ganrif. Llên Cymru 45(1), pp. 1-27. (10.16922/lc.45.1)
- Hopwood, L. 2021. Amser gwrando. O'r Pedwar Gwynt(16), pp. 33-35.
- Hopwood, L. 2021. Editor's Foreword: Trash. Oxford Research in English(12), pp. i-iii.
- Hopwood, L. 2020. Llangynnwr, Llundain a Syr Richard Steele. Cwlwm: Papur Bro Caerfyrddin, pp. 20-20.
Audio
- Hopwood, L. 2021. Medieval script in tourism. [Podlediad]. Medieval Roots 1 October 2021. Available at: https://open.spotify.com/show/2VbiFlLd7mYZuVZZj3DKkW
Videos
- Hopwood, L. 2021. Branwen Uerch Lyr. YouTube: CymraegCanol. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozQCUwofCXw&t=635s
Websites
- Hopwood, L. 2023. Looking for rare Welsh books in Los Angeles. [Online]. Nation.cymru: Nartion.cymru. Available at: https://nation.cymru/culture/looking-for-rare-welsh-books-in-los-angeles/
- Hopwood, L. 2020. A Dictionary in English and Welsh (1547) : a digital edition. [Online]. Taylor Editions. Available at: https://editions.mml.ox.ac.uk/editions/dictengwel/
Research
My research interests are primarily in the field of medieval and early modern history and literature, including:
- Medieval Welsh poetry
- Middle English literature
- Multilingualism in Britain and Ireland
- Music in Britain and Ireland
- Early dictionaries and encyclopaedias
- Historical Sound Studies
- Translation Studies
I am also interested in the fields of:
- Sensory Studies
- Spanish language and literature
- Irish language and literature
- Manuscript studies
- Connections between Wales and the wider world
Teaching
I contribute to teaching on the following undergraduate modules:
- Sgiliau Academaidd Uwch
- Sgiliau Iaith
- Iaith ac Ystyr
- Sgiliau Astudio Llenyddiaeth
- Y Gymraeg Heddiw
- Trafod Ein Llên
I also teach exchange students from Colgate University, NY, and I contribute to the School's postgraduate programmes.
Biography
Born and raised in Llangynnwr, Carmarthenshire, I attended Ysgol Gyfun Bro Myrddin, before gaining three consecutive degrees from the University of Oxford:
2023: DPhil in English on sound studies and medieval Welsh literature, entitled Sound and Control in Welsh Poetry, c. 1300-͏c. 1600
2019: interdisciplinary MSt in Medieval Studies (Faculty of History), writing on Geoffrey Chaucer, Welsh legal manuscripts, twelfth-century European history, and multilingualism in fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Welsh poetry.
2018: BA in Spanish and Celtic (Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages) with a year spent in Argentina as a British Council Languages Assistant (Esquel, Patagonia) and in Spain as Research Assistant at the Universidad Valladolid (Soria), and as a translator at Traducciones Abroads (Córdoba).
Honours and awards
2022
- Short-Term Research Fellowship (Huntington Library, California)
- AHRC Additional Funding (Travel)
2021
- AHRC Additional Funding (Language Acquisition)
- Corpus Christi College Senior Scholarship
2019
- AHRC PhD Studentship (OOC AHRC DTP - Corpus Christi Cowley Scholarship) (2019–23)
- The Faculty of History MSt Dissertation Award
- AHRC Additional Funding (Language Acquisition)
2018
- Corpus Christi College MSt Studentship (Thomas Charles-Edwards Scholarship in Celtic Studies) (2018–19)
- Pen Cymru Translation Challenge
2017
- The Sir John Rhys Essay Prize in Celtic Language, Literature, History and Antiquities
2016
- The Heath Harrison Travel Scholarship
- Jesus College McKenna Travel Fund
2015
- Meyricke Exhibition (Jesus College)
Professional memberships
Co-chair and Welsh and Celtic Studies Represenative, University Council of Modern Languages (Early Career Academics)
Academic positions
2023–Present
- Research Associate (Prosiect Barddoniaeth Myrddin), School of Welsh, Cardiff University
2022–2023
- Lecturer in Celtic, Faculty of Linguistics, Philology, and Phonetics, University of Oxford
- Lecturer in Welsh, School of Welsh, Cardiff University
- September: Short-Term Research Fellow, The Huntington Library, California
2021–2022
- Research Assistant (The Human Remains: Digital Library of British Mortuary Science and Investigation), Department of Archaeology, Classics, and Egyptology, University of Liverpool
2016
- Research Assistant (Cultura, Literatura, y Traducción Ibero-Artúrica), Department of Translation and Interpretation, University of Valladolid.
Speaking engagements
2023
- ‘Encountering Irish in medieval Welsh poetry’, The International Congress of Celtic Studies (Utrecht University)
- ‘Sain ieithoedd “tramor” ym marddoniaeth Beirdd yr Uchelwyr: Lladin, Saesneg, Gwyddeleg a mwy’, Fforwm
Beirdd yr Uchelwyr (The Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies, Aberystwyth) - ‘Towards a Catalogue of Welsh items at The Huntington Library’, The Celtic Studies Association of North America Conference (Virginia Tech University) [online]
2022
- ‘Beth oedd “Cymraeg da” (1300–1600)?’, Seminar y Ganolfan Uwchefrydiau Cymreig a Cheltaidd (The Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies, Aberystwyth; [online])
- ‘The Othering Sounds of Medieval Wales, The Harvard Celtic Colloquium (Harvard University)
- ‘What was “good Welsh” (1300–1600)?’, Celtic Studies Program Seminar (University of California, Berkeley)
- ‘“Sounding Different” in Medieval Wales According to its Poets’, The International Medieval Congress (University of Leeds), The Oxford-Cambridge Celtic Colloquium (Jesus College, Oxford), a The Medieval English Research Seminar (University of Oxford)
- Sesiwn bedwar papur: ‘Corpus or Corpus? Exhuming bodies from texts and texts from exhumed bodies’, The International Medieval Congress (University of Leeds) [Co-organised with Dr Ruth Nugent, University of Liverpool]
- ‘English phonetics in medieval Welsh poetry’, Phonetics Lab Seminar (Lancaster University)
2021
- ‘Clychau Beirdd y Glêr a sain barddoniaeth wael yng Nghymru ganoloesol’, Cynhadledd Ymchwil y Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol (National Library of Wales, [online])
- and Ruth Nugent, ‘The Human Remains: a digital library of British mortuary science and investigation’, Digital Humanities Hangout (Lancaster University)
- ‘“Och i’r cloc”: Listening to time in late medieval Welsh poetry’, The Oxford-Cambridge Celtic Colloquium (University of Cambridge [online])
- ‘Creative Bilingualism in Late-Medieval Welsh Poetry: The Case of Ieuan ap Rhydderch’s Aureation’, Medieval Multilingual Manuscripts: Texts, Scribes, and Patrons (Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, Dublin [online]), The Oxford Medieval Graduate Conference (University of Oxford [online), and Liminality: Crossing Borders, Crossing Boundaries (The Late Antique and Medieval Postgraduate Society Conference, University of Edniburgh [online])
- ‘Beirdd y Glêr: Fly-Minstrels and the inhuman noise of humans in late medieval Welsh poetry’, The Senses in Medieval and Renaissance Europe: Hearing and Auditory Perception (Forum for Medieval and Renaissance Studies in Ireland; Trinity College, Dublin [online])
- ‘The inhuman noise of humans in the Middle Ages’, Jesus College Medievalists Forum (Jesus College, Oxford [online])
2020
- ‘Listening to the birds and beasts of Wales: Sound and Auditory Perception in Medieval Welsh Literature’, Jesus College Medievalists Forum (Jesus College, Oxford [online])
- ‘What did Medieval Wales Sound Like? Listening to medieval Welsh literature’, The University of Oxford Celtic Seminar (Jesus College, Oxford)
2019
- ‘Writing in English, Spelling in Welsh: What and Why? A brief analysis of English poetry in “Welsh orthography” in the late Middle Ages’, The Oxford-Cambridge Celtic Colloquium (Jesus College, Oxford) and at The University of Oxford Celtic Seminar (Jesus College, Oxford)
- ‘Barddoni yn Saesneg, sillafu yn Gymraeg: beth a pham? Cipolwg ar farddoniaeth Saesneg mewn “orgraff Gymraeg” o’r Oesoedd Canol diweddar’, Darllen, Ysgrifennu, a Chasglu: Llyfrau a Llawysgrifau yng Nghymru, 1450–1850 (Bangor University and the Learned Society of Wales; Brecon Cathedral)
- ‘Sir John Rhŷs: First Professor of Celtic at Jesus College’, Jesus College Medievalists Forum (Jesus College, Oxford)
2017
- ‘Pwy yw Tared? Chwilio am atebion yn El libro del Caballero Zifar a Culhwch ac Olwen’, Celtic Students Association: Fifth Annual Conference (University of Glasgow)
2016
- ‘¿Quien es ‘Tared’? En busca de una respuesta en El libro del Caballero Zifar y Culhwch ac Olwen’, Terceras Jornadas De Literatura, Cultura y Traducción Artúrica, (University of Valladolid; Soria, Spain)
Committees and reviewing
2023–Present
- Reviews editor, Llên Cymru
2020–2023
- Editor-in-chief, Oxford Research in English
