Saint David

fl. 6th century
feast-day: 1 March
saints of Wales

bishop

See also references for related subjects.

Lewis, Barry J., “Ar drywydd Magna, ‘chwaer Dewi Sant’, ac eglwys ddiflanedig yn Nyffryn Teifi”, Studia Celtica 52 (2018): 33–52.

abstract:

Yn yr erthygl hon trafodir y dystiolaeth fratiog ar gyfer eglwys goll a elwid Llanfawr, neu Landa Magna yn Lladin, a safai gynt gerllaw afon Teifi yng Ngheredigion. Dadleuir bod enw Lladin yr eglwys wedi sbarduno storïau am gymeriad o'r enw Magna neu Magnus. Ymddengys y cymeriad ffuglennol hwn fel gwrthrych i wyrth a wnaeth Dewi Sant, ac yn Iwerddon fe'i trawsffurfiwyd yn chwaer i'r sant ei hun. Ymhlith y ffynonellau a drafodir y mae Bonedd y Saint, Progenies Keredic, buchedd Ladin Briog o Lydaw, buchedd Ladin Dewi gan Rhygyfarch, buchedd Ladin Maur gan Odo o Glanfeuil, a thraethawd Gwyddeleg am famau seintiau Iwerddon. Gofynnir pa le yn union yr oedd Llanfawr, ond erys yr ateb yn ansicr ac ni wyddys ychwaith a yw hi'n llercian y tu ôl i unrhyw un o'r eglwysi sy'n hysbys inni heddiw dan enwau eraill.

This article investigates the fragmentary evidence for a lost church called Llanfawr, or Landa Magna in Latin, which lay in the Teifi valley in Ceredigion. It is argued that the Latin name of this church gave rise to stories about a character called Magna or Magnus. This fictional personage appears as the subject of a miracle performed by St David, and in Ireland was even transformed into a sister of David. Sources discussed include Bonedd y Saint, Progenies Keredic, the Breton-Latin Life of St Brioc, Rhygyfarch's Life of St David, the Life of St Maur by Odo of Glanfeuil, and the tract on the Mothers of Irish Saints. Possible locations of Llanfawr are discussed, but it remains uncertain where precisely it was and whether it corresponds to any church known today.

Jacobs, Nicolas, “Non, Nonna, Nonnita: confusions of gender in Brythonic hagionymy”, Transactions of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion, New Series 23 (2017): 19–33.

abstract:

According to tradition the name of the mother of St David is Nonn, in Latin Nonna, but the name appears first in the Vita Sancti David by Rhygyfarch ap Sulien (1056/7-1099) as Nonnita. It is generally supposed that this is to be derived from the shorter form of the name, though this has so far not been explained. It has been suggested from time to time (1) that Nonn should be considered not as the origin of Nonnita but as an abbreviation of it, (2) that Nonn is not a female but a male name and designates not David’s mother but a companion of his, (3) that the name itself derives from a misunderstanding of a place-name. It is proposed to call all three of these suppositions in question, and in particular to demonstrate that Nonn/Nonna is a credible early Welsh personal name, and further to suggest how Nonnita may be derived from it. Though there is no conclusive proof that Nonn was the name of David’s mother, the claim that it could not have been is erroneous.

Evans, J. Wyn, and Jonathan M. Wooding (eds), St David of Wales: cult, church and nation, Studies in Celtic History, 24, Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 2007.

Curley, Michael J., “The miracles of Saint David: a new text and its context”, Traditio 62 (2007): 135–205.

Dumville, David N., Saint David of Wales, Kathleen Hughes Memorial Lectures, 1, Cambridge: ASNC, 2000.

Dumville, David N., “St Patrick, the Annales Cambriae, and St David”, in: David N. Dumville, and Lesley Abrams (eds), Saint Patrick, AD 493–1993, 13, Woodbridge: Boydell, 1993. 279–288.