On the 16th of September, Owain Glyndwr Day, Y Lolfa will launch a special book to commemorate the six-hundredth anniversary of the death of one of our major national heroes – an occasion that Wales has not properly celebrated since 1915, when the five-hundredth anniversary of Glyndwr’s death was marked with extensive and deserving attention.

Owain Glyndwr’s last years are one of the biggest mysteries in Welsh history. In  Dyddiau Olaf Owain Glyndwr (Last Days of Owain Glyndŵr) Gruffydd Aled Williams explores the traditions concerning the place where he died. Amongst the locations that are discussed are some that have been discovered as a result of new and exciting research by the author into manuscripts and documents; locations that could be significant but have never been discussed in print before. To support the text and to bring the possible locations to life, this attractive book is full of striking photographs by photographer Iestyn Hughes.

Gruffydd Aled Williams says, “We don’t know where Owain died, but we have traditions – the oldest of which can be traced back to the sixteenth century – which connect his death with several places in Herefordshire (where some of his daughters lived) and in Wales. This volume examines the plausibility of these traditions by looking at historical evidence (and discussing, lightheartedly on occasion, some unlikely and unbelievable places that have been suggested). Although historians, antiquarians and romantics have discussed many traditions through the ages, there has never been such extended or thorough coverage of this subject before.

Gruffydd Aled Williams’ interest in the subject began during his upbringing in Glyndyfrdwy, the area that gave Owain his name. During his professional career, his main interest was the poetry of the late 13th to early 16th century bards, known as Beirdd yr Uchelwyr, and has published a number of papers on the poems that were composed for Glyndwr and their historical background. This book is an extention of that interest, although it is an historical study rather than a literary one.

Dyddiau Olaf Owain Glyndŵr (£9.99, Y Lolfa) will be launched on Wednesday the 16th of September, in the Seddon Room, the Old College, Aberystwyth at 7:30pm, with a visual introduction by the author. There will be a warm welcome to everyone.