Talk:Afanc

Afanc/Addanc
Two questions: (1) Why should Wikipedia go with the spelling addanc rather than afanc (which I, at any rate, have seen more often)? (2) What is the textual basis for the legend involving Dwyfan and Dwyfach? Solidarity, Q·L·1968 ☿ 23:03, 8 January 2008 (UTC)


 * Two pertinent questions. I'd forgotten about this after adding it to my watchlist. I added the etymology bit, and have tried to make it clear that afanc is the normal form with addanc as a variation. Even though afanc means 'beaver' in modern Welsh that doesn't cause any problems here on en. The "Dwyfan and Dwyfach" stuff is quite simply one of Iolo Morganwg's many laudanum-fuelled inventions and should be noted as such (this is a common problem - his invented traditions are unfortunately quoted uncritically by certain "Celticana" websites and then reproduced here). Shall we reword this a bit and rename it? Cordialement, Enaidmawr (talk) 23:56, 8 January 2008 (UTC)


 * I also see that the usual misleading use of medieval orthographical variations comes into the article. So we have "Addanc (also called adanc, addane, afanc, avanc, abhac, abac)". But adanc is simply Middle Welsh for addanc, adane is obviously a scribal error, and the rest are all examples of the sort of variant spellings of afanc you would expect in Middle Welsh! Enaidmawr (talk) 00:05, 9 January 2008 (UTC)


 * I've moved the page to Afanc and rearranged/wikified the text (genuine tradition, Iolo's inventions, fiction). I think the orthography section adequately deals with the name. Enaidmawr (talk) 19:38, 23 January 2008 (UTC)