Gwyn Jones was born on 24 May 1907 in New Tredegar, Monmouthshire, the second child of George Henry Jones (1874–1970), a miner, and his second wife, Lily Florence, née Nethercott (1877–1960), a midwife. He was brought up in nearby Blackwood. He attended Tredegar county school and studied at University College, Cardiff as an undergraduate and a postgraduate.[1]
After six years he was a schoolteacher in Wigan and Manchester, in 1935 he returned to University College, Cardiff as a lecturer. In 1940 was appointed Professor of English of the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, where he taught until his appointment as Professor of English at University College, Cardiff in 1964, a position he held until his retirement in 1975.[2][3][4][1]
In 1939 Jones registered as a conscientious objector to military service, which temporarily caused him to lose his job. Jones was a socialist, although never a member of the Labour Party, and was sympathetic to the aims of Plaid Cymru. He was an active Christian and attended Minny Street Chapel in Cardiff, a Welsh-language congregational chapel.[4]
Jones married twice: in 1928 to Alice Rees (1906/7–1979), and 1979 to Mair Jones, née Sivell (1923/4–2000), the widow of Thomas Jones, his collaborator on The Mabinogion.[1]
Literary workedit
Jones' translations include Four Icelandic Sagas (1935), The Vatndalers' Saga (1944), The Mabinogion (1948, in collaboration with Thomas Jones), Egil's Saga (1960), Eirik the Red and Other Icelandic Sagas (1961) and The Norse Atlantic Saga (1964). He also wrote A History of the Vikings (1968) and Kings, Beasts, and Heroes (1972).[4]
In addition to his translations, he was an author in the Anglo-Welsh tradition. His novels and story collections include Richard Savage (1935), Times Like These (1936), The Nine Days' Wonder (1937) and Garland of Bays (1938), The Buttercup Field (1945), The Flowers beneath the Scythe (1952), Shepherd's Hey (1953) and The Walk Home (1962).
Jones also founded The Welsh Review in 1939, which he edited until 1948; this journal was important for raising discussion of Welsh issues and for attracting submissions from such authors as T. S. Eliot and J. R. R. Tolkien,[4] whose Breton lay, The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun, he published in 1945.[5] He continued to support Welsh literature by chairing both the Welsh Committee of the Arts Council of Great Britain and the first editorial board of The Oxford Companion to the Literature of Wales. In 1977 he edited the Oxford Book of Welsh Verse in English.[6] He also published three sets of lectures on Anglo-Welsh literature: The First Forty Years (1957), Being and Belonging (1977), and Babel and the Dragon's Tongue (1981).
Honours and commemorationsedit
In 1963 Jones was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of the Falcon by the President of Iceland, followed by the Commander's Cross in 1987.[2] He was appointed CBE in the 1965 New Year Honours in recognition of his chairmanship of the Welsh Arts Council. In 2008 a commemorative plaque to Jones was unveiled in the Hugh Owen library of Aberystwyth University.[3]
gwyn, jones, author, confused, with, glyn, jones, welsh, writer, gwynn, jones, gwyn, jones, 1907, december, 1999, welsh, novelist, story, writer, scholar, translator, nordic, literature, history, gwyn, jonesborn, 1907, 1907died6, december, 1999, 1999, aged, oc. Not to be confused with Glyn Jones Welsh writer or T Gwynn Jones Gwyn Jones CBE 24 May 1907 6 December 1999 was a Welsh novelist and story writer and a scholar and translator of Nordic literature and history Gwyn JonesBorn 1907 05 24 24 May 1907Died6 December 1999 1999 12 06 aged 92 OccupationWriter scholarNotable workstranslation of various Viking sagasA History of the Vikings Contents 1 Personal life and academic career 2 Literary work 3 Honours and commemorations 4 Selected publications 5 References 6 External linksPersonal life and academic career editGwyn Jones was born on 24 May 1907 in New Tredegar Monmouthshire the second child of George Henry Jones 1874 1970 a miner and his second wife Lily Florence nee Nethercott 1877 1960 a midwife He was brought up in nearby Blackwood He attended Tredegar county school and studied at University College Cardiff as an undergraduate and a postgraduate 1 After six years he was a schoolteacher in Wigan and Manchester in 1935 he returned to University College Cardiff as a lecturer In 1940 was appointed Professor of English of the University College of Wales Aberystwyth where he taught until his appointment as Professor of English at University College Cardiff in 1964 a position he held until his retirement in 1975 2 3 4 1 In 1939 Jones registered as a conscientious objector to military service which temporarily caused him to lose his job Jones was a socialist although never a member of the Labour Party and was sympathetic to the aims of Plaid Cymru He was an active Christian and attended Minny Street Chapel in Cardiff a Welsh language congregational chapel 4 Jones married twice in 1928 to Alice Rees 1906 7 1979 and 1979 to Mair Jones nee Sivell 1923 4 2000 the widow of Thomas Jones his collaborator on The Mabinogion 1 Literary work editJones translations include Four Icelandic Sagas 1935 The Vatndalers Saga 1944 The Mabinogion 1948 in collaboration with Thomas Jones Egil s Saga 1960 Eirik the Red and Other Icelandic Sagas 1961 and The Norse Atlantic Saga 1964 He also wrote A History of the Vikings 1968 and Kings Beasts and Heroes 1972 4 In addition to his translations he was an author in the Anglo Welsh tradition His novels and story collections include Richard Savage 1935 Times Like These 1936 The Nine Days Wonder 1937 and Garland of Bays 1938 The Buttercup Field 1945 The Flowers beneath the Scythe 1952 Shepherd s Hey 1953 and The Walk Home 1962 Jones also founded The Welsh Review in 1939 which he edited until 1948 this journal was important for raising discussion of Welsh issues and for attracting submissions from such authors as T S Eliot and J R R Tolkien 4 whose Breton lay The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun he published in 1945 5 He continued to support Welsh literature by chairing both the Welsh Committee of the Arts Council of Great Britain and the first editorial board of The Oxford Companion to the Literature of Wales In 1977 he edited the Oxford Book of Welsh Verse in English 6 He also published three sets of lectures on Anglo Welsh literature The First Forty Years 1957 Being and Belonging 1977 and Babel and the Dragon s Tongue 1981 Honours and commemorations editIn 1963 Jones was awarded the Knight s Cross of the Order of the Falcon by the President of Iceland followed by the Commander s Cross in 1987 2 He was appointed CBE in the 1965 New Year Honours in recognition of his chairmanship of the Welsh Arts Council In 2008 a commemorative plaque to Jones was unveiled in the Hugh Owen library of Aberystwyth University 3 Selected publications editWelsh Legends and Folk Tales 1955 Scandinavian Legends and Folk Tales 1961 The Oxford Book of Welsh Verse in English 1962 The Norse Atlantic Saga 1964 The Legendary History of Olaf Tryggvason 1968 A History of the Vikings 1968 Kings Beasts and Heroes 1972 Tales from Wales 2001 References edit a b c Stephens Meic Jones Gwyn Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online ed Oxford University Press doi 10 1093 ref odnb 73507 Subscription or UK public library membership required a b Slay Desmond 21 December 1999 Gwyn Jones The Guardian London Retrieved 11 May 2017 a b Professor Gwyn Jones Aberystwyth University 22 December 2008 Retrieved 11 May 2017 a b c d Stephens Meic 10 December 1999 Obituary Professor Gwyn Jones The Independent Retrieved 28 July 2010 dead link J D Rateliff Mr Baggins Pt 1 2007 p 281 2 Professor leaves literary legacy BBC 10 December 1999 Retrieved 11 May 2017 External links edit nbsp Wales portal nbsp Mythology portalBrown Tony Winter 2001 The Ex centric Voice The English Language Short Story in Wales PDF North American Journal of Welsh Studies Archived from the original PDF on 12 October 2013 Gwyn Jones at Library of Congress with 42 library catalogue records Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Gwyn Jones author amp oldid 1132238861, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
