Dyma’r gyntaf mewn cyfres o benodau sy’n archwilio gwahanol agweddau ar draddodiad yr anterliwt. Mae Jerry Hunter newydd orffen ysgrifennu llyfr am y pwnc ac “yn llosgi am y stwff `ma”, chwedl ei gyd-gyflwynydd, ac erbyn diwedd y bennod hon mae Richard Wyn Jones yntau’n “ysgwyd ei gynffon” gyda chyffro. Awn ati i ddiffinio’r anterliwt yn fras, gan egluro’i bod hi’n ddrama fydryddol gyda cherddoriaeth, canu, dawnsio a chwffio slap-stic yn greiddiol i berfformiadau a oedd yn debygol o barhau am ddwy neu dair awr. Pwysleisiwn fod agweddau traddodiadol iawn ar y testunau anterliwt niferus sydd wedi goroesi yn ogystal â’r straeon gwreiddiol a ddewiswyd gan y beirdd a’u lluniodd. Gan ystyried yr hiwmor masweddus sy’n ganolog i’r rhan fwyaf ohonynt, cyfeiriwn at ymosodiadau’r diwygwyr crefyddol ar yr anterliwt a’r wylmabsant a oedd yn gyd-destun ar gyfer y fath sioe.

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Dirty Jokes and Moral Lessons: The Anterliwt (part 1)

This is the first in a series of episodes which examine various aspects of the anterliwt tradition. Jerry Hunter has just finished writing a book about the subject and “is on fire to discuss this stuff”, as his co-presented says, and by the end of this episode Richard Wyn Jones is “shaking his tail” with excitement as well. We provide a basic definition of the anterliwt, explaining that it was a metrical play with music, singing, dancing and slap-stick fighting central to performances which likely lasted for two or three hours. We stress that the numerous anterliwt texts which have survived are characterized by very traditional aspects as well as the original stories chosen by the poets who fashioned them. While considering the bawdy humour which is central to most of them, we refer to the attacks of the religious reformers on the anterliwt and the gwylmabsant festival which provided a context for this kind of show.

Cyflwynwyd gan: Yr Athro Jerry Hunter a'r Athro Richard Wyn Jones

Cynhyrchwyd gan: Richard Martin

Cerddoriaeth: 'Might Have Done' gan The Molenes

Darllen Pellach/Further Reading:

- E. G. Evans, ‘Er Mwyniant i’r Cwmpeini Mwynion’ [:] Sylwadau ar yr Anterliwtiau’, Taliesin 51 (1985), 31-43.

- G. G. Evans, Elis y Cowper (Caernarfon: Gwasg Pantycelyn, 1995)

- A. Cynfael Lake, Huw Jones o Langwm (Caernarfon: Gwasg Pantycleyn, 2009).

- Dafydd Glyn Jones, ‘The Interludes’, yn Branwen Jarvis (gol.), A guide to Welsh literature c.1700-1800 (Caerdydd: Gwasg Prifsygol Cymru, 2000), 210-55.

- Anterliwtiau Huw Jones o Langwm, wedi’u golygu gan A. Cynfael Lake, ar wefan Prifysgol Abertawe: baledihuwjones.swan.ac.uk.