Blodeuwedd - Welsh Berries

General Name Discussion
1

No, I don’t plan on using this so stop with the evil eye. :slight_smile: I need some clarification on pronunciation.

I first encountered the name and myth when I was about 12 in [name_m]Garner[/name_m]'s The Owl Service, which started me on my love of Welsh mythology (well, that and [name_m]Lloyd[/name_m] [name_m]Alexander[/name_m]). I’d always understood the name to be pronounced blod-AY-with. Yesterday I discovered there was a movie for the book and so of course made a mad dash to watch it. In the movie, they say it more like blaw-DEW-ith. So which is it? Are both correct?

The movie was fantastic, by the way, if anyone likes that sort of thing. I found it on YT.

2

I find Welsh incredibly difficult but I think that Blodeuwedd is pronounced more like [name_u]Bleu[/name_u]-[name_m]DAYE[/name_m]-yeth to me.

Have you checked out how it is pronounced on forvo? I find this always helpful.
blodeuwedd pronunciation: How to pronounce blodeuwedd in Welsh.

If you look at http://www.omniglot.com/writing/welsh.htm the Welsh alphabet it looks like it might be this:Bèlodieuwèdd (though I’m not sure that’s really helpful…lol)

I’ve also found: b l uh d EH w eh th at How to pronounce Blodeuwedd? (RECOMMENDED) - PronounceNames.com

blod-EH-yeth (the 'th" is a long hard sound like in “this” but NOT like in "theater”)
http://www.mabinogistudy.co.uk/pronunciation.html

('blɔd-oi;u-eðð) - which I can never make heads or tails of - maybe you can

[name_f]Hope[/name_f] that helps some.

3

I honestly have no clue, but I googled it and found the story fascinating.

I was expecting something related to blood and fierce warriors and swords (don’t judge - I am a complete n00b in welsh myths and names), so I was very pleased to find out that it actually means flower-faced.

Anyway, this may be completely useless, but as I said, I’m a complete layman:

As it is a composition from blodeu ‘flowers’ and gwedd ‘face’, maybe if you could see how each one of them is pronounced and them add them, you could figure out its original pronunciation, even if it is not the one that is widely used today.

but more usefully, I found this in this (http://www.mabinogistudy.co.uk/pronunciation.html) website focused on welsh legends:

Blodeuwedd > blod-EYE-weth (the “eye” like your eyes; the “th” like in “the”)

and in this site (1265e Gwefan Cymru-Catalonia: Enwau Bedydd Cymráeg. Welsh forenames - Ifan, Gwenno, Siôn, Siân, etc), you could get [blɔdˈgwe”ð] adding Blod (flowers) and Gwedd (face). Not sure if this is helpful, but it is an interesting site.

[name_f]Hope[/name_f] it could help.
If not, just to say I like the name and liked the myths surrounding it. =)

4

[name_u]Lexie[/name_u]: I find Welsh difficult as well, but I’m very intrigued by it. Thanks for the links. I usually use forvo for pronunciation questions. The movie pronunciation just sounded so different. I just gave it another listen, and even the movie has different pronunciations! I may have to chalk this one up as a mystery, or tomAYto toMAHto.

T|-|E 0 \/\/ |_ SER\/ ICE EPISODE 4 PART 1 - YouTube = bluh-DOY-eth

T|-|E 0 \/\/ |_ SER \/ ICE EPISODE 6 PART 1 - YouTube = blu-DEW-eth

[name_f]Caroline[/name_f]: Oh yes, it’s one of my favorite stories. If you like it, you should check out more stories from Welsh mythology. Giants and birds and wizards and potions that turn you into poets. Very cool stuff. :slight_smile: Thanks for the idea to break the name down.

Thank you both for chiming in. Much appreciated.

5

This was my (Welsh) grandpa’s aunt’s name, and needless to say, when I added her to the family tree, I had to ask my grandpa how it was pronounced. I have built up a basic understanding of Welsh, but when I saw that one, I knew there was no way I could work out the pronunciation!

NB: He pronounces it as blod-EYE-weth.

6

I’m fairly certain it’s “blod-EYE-weth.” Those of you who are fans of extreme Welsh names like this might enjoy this link: x.

7

[name_f]Maggie[/name_f] and [name_f]Maple[/name_f], yes, I think they EYE sound is what it’s meant to be.

[name_f]Maple[/name_f] I checked out your link. Thanks for sharing, I hadn’t read it, so I’ll look through it right now. I have her book though and it is BY FAR my favorite baby name book. Highly recommended to anyone that likes the weird obscure ones.

Closing!