Awen female given name. It appears in the third stanza of Hen Wlad fy Nhadau, the national anthem of Wales. "Awen" derives from the Indo-European root "*-uel", meaning 'to blow', and has the same root as the Welsh word "awel" meaning 'breeze'. The first recorded attestation of the word occurs in Nennius' "Historia Brittonum", a Latin text of c. 796, based in part on earlier writings by the Welsh monk, Gildas. It occurs in the phrase 'Tunc talhaern tat aguen in poemate claret' (Talhaern the father of the muse was then renowned in poetry) where the Old Welsh word "aguen" (awen)
Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau The land of my fathers is dear to me,<br> Old land where the minstrels are honoured and free;<br> Its warring defenders so gallant and brave,<br> For freedom their life's blood they gave. Old land of the mountains, the Eden of bards,<br> Each gorge and each valley a loveliness guards;<br> Through love of my country, charmed voices will be <br> Its streams, and its rivers, to me. Though foemen have trampled my land 'neath their feet, <br> The language of Cambria still knows no retreat;<br> The muse is not vanquished by traitor's fell hand,<br> Nor silenced the harp of my land.