Angharad (/əŋˈhɑːrəd/; [aˈŋ̊arad]) is a Welsh name, having a long association with Welsh royalty, history and myth. It translates to English as much loved one.
Contents
Mythology
Angharad, also sometimes known as Angharad Golden-Hand, is the lover of Peredur in the Welsh myth cycle The Mabinogion. In some versions of the story, Peredur meets her at King Arthur's court at Caerleon.
History
There have been a number of historical (or semi-historical) Angharads, most notably the daughter of Owain Gwynedd, King of Gwynedd, who married Gruffydd Maelor. Other historical Angharads include:
Literature
Angharad is the daughter of Rhydderch Hael, a king in the Middle Ages in the Welsh Triads. Rhydderch was one of the "Three Generous Men of the Island of Britain", and his daughter Angharad Ton Felen (Angharad "Yellow Wave") appears as one of the Three Lively Maidens.
One recent Angharad is the mother of Princess Eilonwy in Lloyd Alexander's fictional land of Prydain, inspired by Wales and Welsh mythology. In the five-volume The Chronicles of Prydain she is deceased and peripheral: her daughter is "Eilonwy, daughter of Angharad, daughter of Regat, Princess of Llŷr", and some of Angharad's magical implements survive importantly. A later short story, "The True Enchanter" (1973), explains how Geraint won the hand of Princess Angharad in marriage, and they departed her home (namely, the Castle of Llyr).
The name Angharad has been used for women in modern popular fiction including the protagonists of Anne McCaffrey's The Rowan, Robin McKinley's The Blue Sword, Charles de Lint's Into the Green and Monica Furlong's Juniper.
In the novel How Green Was My Valley by Richard Llewellyn, the daughter of the Morgan family is named Angharad.