Owen Morgan ✝

Owen Morgan, also known by his bardic name Morien (1836 – 16 December 1921) was a Welsh journalist, and a writer of books on the subject of neo-druidism. Morgan developed the mythology of both Iolo Morganwg and Myfyr Morganwg [cy], and his druidical writing is not taken seriously by historians. The exact date and place of Morgan's birth is unknown, as Morgan himself hid the details. Although the 1881 census states his year of birth as 1839, latter studies have placed it as 1836. Born to a Thomas T. Morgan, a coal miner, and his wife, Margaret, of Penygraig in the Rhondda, research in The Oxford Companion to the Literature of Wales states that an Owen Morgan was born to a Thomas Morgan and Margaret (née Owen) and christened in 1836. Although no explicit evidence is available, Morgan would later claim connection with the families of Morgan of Llantarnam and Thomas of Llanmihangel. In 1870 Morgan took on a job as a writer on the Western Mail, and around the same period he began to write his own books after taking an interest in local history. He made his name as a journalistic writer when he covered the Tynewydd Colliery rescue in Porth in 1877. Morgan closely associated himself with Myfyr Morganwg (Evan Davies), a self-proclaimed archdruid and Welsh writer in neo-druidry, who himself was a student of Iolo Morganwg (Edward Williams) one of the most important and controversial historians in Welsh affairs. In 1889 Morgan published Pabell Dafydd, a Welsh language book on druidism which he followed with Kimmerian Discoveries, covering Morgan's research and thinking on the alleged Chaldean origins of the Welsh people. In 1893 he wrote his magnum opus The Light of Britannia which again explored Druidism in Britain, but also included chapters on phallic worship, King Arthur and his twelve knights and Saint Paul's supposed journey to South Wales. In 1901 Morgan released, The Royal Winged Son of Stonehenge and Avebury a reprint of Kimmerian Discoveries under a different title. The Royal Winged Son was republished in 1984 under the title Mabin of the Mabinogion.