How many Maen Llwyds is enough ?

Wales 38

Image by thesweetcheat

postman Sep 1, 2008 21:16:48

Just spent a tremendous weekend down in South Wales, exploring the
probable ancestral home of that breed of menhir known as Maen Llwyd.
Nearly all stones are called Maen Llwyd down here, on their own,in twos or threes.
Does anyone know what exactly Maen Llwyd means ?
Is it simply Lloyds stone ?
Why are they all called this ?
Lazy cartographers ?
Dont know please help

Thanks Postie

Rhiannon Sep 1, 2008 23:23:06

Replying to postman

Ah I've been learning a bit of Welsh lately so I know enough to tell you it means 'Grey Stone'.
Or maybe it's not quite that dull. The Welsh Lexicon says 'brown, fawn; grey (gray); pale; hoar, hoary, grizzly, grizzled' which adds up to something a bit more interesting.

Anyway you might find this really useful (though sometimes the beginnings of words have their letters 'mutated' which makes them a bit more complicated to find).
http://www.cs.cf.ac.uk/fun/welsh/LexiconForms.html

Keep up the good work, I love reading about all your hillfort visits and your trips to all these lesser-known stones

TMA Ed Sep 2, 2008 10:01:37

Replying to postman

Postman,
Since you have raised this I thought I would go through the 10 'maen llwyd's listed and give them a place name tagged on in brackets, to help when people are searching. Perhaps they're not all perfect but they might be some help. I will look at the 'maeni llwydion's etc as well.
Thanks,
TMA Ed.