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Oed Awgrymedig: 11+ /CA3
Suggested Age: 11+ / KS3
Nofel antur wedi'i lleoli ym merw'r chweched ganrif ym Mhrydain yn y flwyddyn 552. Ynys ranedig, llawn tensiwn, sy'n bygwth ffrwydro fel llosgfynydd. Ynys sy'n simsanu ar ôl i'r pla sgubo drwy'r tir. Y cleddyf sy'n rheoli bellach, ac mae'n rhaid i bawb ddilyn y drefn. Yn enwedig plant. Yn enwedig merched. Pawb heblaw merch deuddeg oed o'r enw Ina.
An adventure novel set amidst the turmoil of 6th century Britain. Its the year 552 and the island is divided, with tensions threatening to explode like a volcano. The island is unsteady after the plague that has swept the land; the sword rules and everyone has to bow to the law. Especially children. Especially women. Everyone, apart from 12 year old Ina.
ADOLYGIAD GAN REVIEW BY
BETHAN GWANAS
Merch fferm o ardal Dolgellau yw Bethan. Graddiodd mewn Ffrangeg yn Aberystwyth cyn gwneud amryfal swyddi, yn cynnwys gweithio gyda'r VSO yn Nigeria. Mae'n adnabyddus fel awdures boblogaidd, teithwraig, cyflwynydd rhaglenni teledu a mwy.
Bethan grew up on a farm near Dolgellau. She graduated in French in Aberystwyth before doing various jobs such as working with the VSO in Nigeria. She's well-known as a popular author, traveller, television presenter and more.
Mae Bethan yn blogio am lyfrau plant - Darllenwch fwy yma:
Bethan blogs about Welsh children's books - Read more here:
NOFEL ANTUR WEDI EI GOSOD MEWN CYFNOD O’N HANES NA WYDDWN I FAWR DDIM AMDANO.
Rydan ni’n gwybod cryn dipyn am gyfnod y Rhufeiniaid yng Nghymru, a rhywfaint am yr Oesoedd Canol cynnar o tua adeg Clawdd Offa, Rhodri Mawr a Hywel Dda ac ati. Ond mae’r cyfnod yn y canol yn ddiarth iawn – tan rŵan!
Mae’r awdur Gareth Evans wedi bod yn hynod ddewr yn dewis gosod nofel ar gyfer pobl ifanc yn y flwyddyn 552. ‘Mission Impossible’ o ran ymchwil. Ond efallai mai clyfar oedd o – achos pwy sydd i ddeud ei fod o’n anghywir?! Ac ro’n i wedi gwirioni efo’r ffaith bod ein hynafiaid wedi sefydlu gwladfa yng ngogledd Sbaen: Brythonia! Wir yr – ymhell bell, cyn bodolaeth Patagonia. A Haleliwia! - mae yma fapiau – dwi wrth fy modd efo mapiau mewn nofelau fel hyn.
Mae o wedi taro deuddeg o ran yr ochr ddychmygol hefyd, gan fod y cymeriadau i gyd yn dal yn fyw yn fy meddwl ddyddiau ar ôl gorffen ‘Y Pibgorn Hud.’ Mae Ina, ein harwres ddeuddeg oed yn apelio o’r cychwyn cyntaf: mae hi’n wahanol (a dydi hi ddim yn berffaith: roedd ’na adegau pan ro’n i isio’i hysgwyd hi!). Hi ydi’r unig un o’i theulu i fyw drwy’r pla. Mae’n ddewr a chlyfar, yn medru hela a thrin pastwn yn dda, yn medru darllen ac ysgrifennu – yn Lladin. Ond doedd bod yn wahanol bryd hynny ddim yn hawdd.
Mae pobl yn meddwl bod Ina’n rhyfedd. Ci mawr sy’n hanner blaidd yw ei hunig ffrind, ond nefi, am ffrind da ydi o. Ro’n i wrth fy modd efo Bleiddyn.
Taith Ina o’i chartref yng Ngwent trwy diroedd deheuol y Brythoniaid (de-orllewin Lloegr heddiw) a thros y môr i ogledd Sbaen yw’r nofel, ac ydi, mae’n cael sawl tro trwstan, ambell un yn gwbl annisgwyl – does gan yr awdur ddim ofn chwarae efo’n hemosiynau ni (cawsoch eich rhybuddio!). Mae hi’n cyfarfod bobl ddrwg, ond bobl dda hefyd, ac un o fy hoff gymeriadau yw Efa, sydd unai’n gwrthod neu’n methu siarad, a chawn ni ddim gwybod tan y diwedd un pwy’n union yw hi. Mae’r awdur yn giamstar am gadw cyfrinachau a’n cadw ni fel darllenwyr ar bigau’r drain o un bennod i’r llall.
Dydi’r iaith ddim yn hawdd bob tro; roedd Gareth am gyfleu’r ffaith bod y Frythoneg yn newid a datblygu yn ystod y cyfnod hwn, felly mae rhai’n defnyddio iaith ffurfiol fel ‘Paham’ a ‘Mi a’th glywaist’ ac mae rhai cymeriadau’n siarad yn wirioneddol od, fel yr hen jaden Morwenna: ‘Agor y drâs!’ a ‘Gwnewch foyd.’ Ond mae’r darllenydd yn dod i arfer o fewn dim, ac mae wir yn ychwanegu at y nofel.
Dyma nofel hanesyddol hynod o ddifyr a chyffrous, ddylai apelio at ddarllenwyr o tua 11 oed i fyny – ac at oedolion ifanc eu hysbryd. Ro’n i wrth fy modd efo’r themâu sy’n dal yn hynod o berthnasol heddiw: mewnfudo, ffoaduriaid, caethwasiaeth a diffyg cydraddoldeb cymdeithasol. Campwaith arall, Mr Evans – ac mae angen dilyniant.
*Ro’n i’n hoff iawn o’r Nodyn Hanesyddol gan yr awdur ar y diwedd. Ond byddai’r rhestr enwau llefydd wedi bod yn llawer mwy defnyddiol ar ddechrau’r llyfr yn hytrach nag ar t. 276!
AN ADVENTURE NOVEL SET IN A PERIOD OF OUR HISTORY THAT I KNEW VERY LITTLE ABOUT.
We know a great deal about the Roman period in Wales, and some about the early Middle Ages from around the time of Offa's Dyke, Rhodri Mawr and Hywel Dda etc. But the period in the middle is very unfamiliar – until now!
The author Gareth Evans has been extremely courageous in choosing to set a novel for young people in the year 552. 'Mission Impossible' in terms of research. But maybe it was clever – because who’s to say he’s wrong?! And I was thrilled with the fact that our ancestors had established a settlement in northern Spain: Brythonia! Honestly – long before the existence of Patagonia. And Haleliwia! - there are maps – I love maps in novels like this.
He's got it just right on the fictional side as well, as all the characters are still alive in my mind days after finishing ‘Y Pibgorn Hud.' Ina, our twelve-year-old hero appeals from the outset: she is different (and she’s not perfect: there were times when I wanted to shake her!). She is the only one of her family to live through the scourge. She is brave and clever, able to hunt, knows how to handle a club and can read and write – in Latin. But being different then wasn't easy.
People think Ina is strange. A large, half-wolf dog is her only friend, but my goodness, he’s a good one. I loved Bleiddyn.
The novel is Ina’s tour of her home in Gwent through the southern lands of the Britons (today's south-west of England) and over the sea to northern Spain, and yes, there are a few twists, a couple were completely unexpected – the author is not afraid to play with our emotions (you have been warned!). She meets bad people, but also good people, and one of my favourite characters is Efa, who either refuses to or cannot speak, and we don't know until the end exactly who she is. The author is a good one at keeping secrets and keeping us as readers on the edge of our seats form one chapter to another.
The language is not always easy; Gareth wanted to convey the fact that the Brythonic language is changing and developing during this period, so some use formal language such as ‘Paham’ and ‘Mi a’th glywaist’ and some characters speak really strangely, such as Morwenna: 'Agor y drâs!' and ‘Gwnewch foyd.' But the reader gets used to this in no time at all and it really adds to the novel.
This is an extremely entertaining and exciting historical novel, which should appeal to readers from about the age of 11 upwards – and to some adults. I was delighted with the themes that are still extremely relevant today: immigration, refugees, slavery and the lack of social equality. Another masterpiece, Mr Evans – and a follow-up is needed.
*I was very fond of the Historical Notes by the author at the end. But the list of place names would have been much more useful at the beginning of the book rather than at p. 276!
Cyhoeddwr/publisher: Gwasg Carreg Gwalch
Cyhoeddwyd/released: 2020
Pris: £8.50
AM YR AWDUR: GARETH EVANS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: GARETH EVANS
Nofel newydd awdur Gethin Nyth Brân, Gareth Evans. Addas ar gyfer ca3, 11+. Dyma yw ei ail nofel.
Daw Gareth Evans o Benparcau, Aberystwyth, ond mae wedi ymsefydlu yng Nghaerdydd ers blynyddoedd lawer bellach wedi degawd dramor yn Sbaen a'r Almaen. Cychwynnodd ei yrfa gyda Radio Cymru, cyn troi at ysgrifennu ar gyfer y teledu, yn bennaf ar gyfer Pobol y Cwm. Cyrhaeddodd ei nofel gyntaf, Gethin Nyth Brân, restr fer Gwobr Tir na n-Og 2018, ac yn un o destunau gosod gogyfer rownd derfynol y gystadleuaeth Darllen Dros Gymru 2018
This is his second novel. Gareth Evans comes from Penparcau, Aberystwyth, but has settled in Cardiff for many years now after a decade abroad in Spain and Germany. He began his career with Radio Cymru, before turning to writing for television, mainly for Pobol y Cwm. His first novel, Gethin Nyth Brân, reached the shortlist of the 2018 Tir na n-Og Award, and was one of the set texts for the final of the Reading for Wales 2018 competition.