{{Short description|Fifth- or sixth-century Christian saint}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} '''Tyfrydog''' (sometimes given as '''Tyvrydog''')<ref name=Enwog5034/> was a Christian from north-west Wales in the fifth or sixth century, who was later venerated as a saint. He is said to have established a church in Anglesey, and although no part of the original structure remains, the current church is still dedicated to him. A nearby standing stone is said to be the remains of a man who he punished for stealing a bible from the church.
== Life and family == thumb|The remains of a man turned to stone by St Tyfrydog for stealing a bible, according to legend
Little is known for certain about Tyfrydog's life, and his dates of birth and death are unknown. He is said to have lived towards the end of the sixth century, although another account has him as active during the middle of the fifth century.<ref name=Enwog5034>Williams, pp. 503–504.</ref><ref name=Llwyd/> His father is recorded as being Arwystli Glof ab Seithenyn, active in the middle of the sixth century. Both he and his father are said to have been part of the Christian community on Bardsey Island, at the tip of the Llŷn Peninsula in north-west Wales.<ref name=Enwog5034/><ref>Williams, p. 26</ref> Some of his siblings are also venerated as saints. Twrnog is commemorated at the church in Llandyrnog, Denbighshire, in north-east Wales, while his brother Tudur (or Tudyr) was recorded as a saint from Darowen, Powys, in west Wales.<ref name=Rees276>{{cite book|title= An essay on the Welsh saints or the primitive Christians, usually considered to have been the founders of the churches in Wales|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=H8IclDShLSYC|last=Rees|first=Rice|author-link=Rice Rees|publisher=Longman|year=1836|page=276}} </ref><ref>Baring-Gould, p. 269</ref> His sister, Marchell, is reported to have established Ystrad Marchell, near Welshpool in mid-Wales, where an abbey (Strata Marcella) was later built.<ref name=Rees276/>
== Commemoration == Tyfrydog is the patron saint and the reputed founder of St Tyfrydog's Church, Llandyfrydog, a small village in Anglesey, north Wales. The tradition is that he established the church in about 450.<ref name=Llwyd>{{cite book|last=Llwyd|first=Angharad|author-link=Angharad Llwyd |page=112|title=A History of the Island of Mona|orig-date=1833|year=2007|publisher=Llyfrau Magma|isbn=978-1-872773-73-5}}</ref><ref name=Lewis/> No part of a building from that period survives; the earliest parts of the present structure date from about 1400.<ref>{{Cadw|num=5360|desc=Church of St Tyfrydog|accessdate=19 January 2011}}</ref> Llandyfrydog takes its name from the church and the saint: the Welsh word ''{{lang|cy|llan}}'' originally meant "enclosure" and then "church", and "-dyfrydog" is a modified form of his name.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/whatsinaname/sites/themes/pages/religion.shtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071017154001/http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/whatsinaname/sites/themes/pages/religion.shtml|url-status=dead|archive-date=17 October 2007|title=Religion and creed in place names|publisher=BBC Wales|accessdate=24 June 2010}}</ref>
He is venerated as a saint, although he was never canonized by a pope: as the historian Jane Cartwright notes, "In Wales sanctity was locally conferred and none of the medieval Welsh saints appears to have been canonized by the Roman Catholic Church".<ref>{{cite journal|journal=Medium Aevum |title=Dead virgins: feminine sanctity in medieval Wales|date=Spring 2002|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb6408/is_1_71/ai_n28930393/?tag=content;col1|accessdate=26 August 2011|last=Cartwright|first=Jane|publisher=The Society for the Study of Medieval Languages and Literature}}</ref> The feast day of St Tyfrydog is 1 January.<ref name=Rees276/>
About {{convert|1|mi}} from the church, there is a field with an upright stone about {{convert|4|ft}} high. The stone is known as "the thief of Dyfrydog". It is said to be a man turned into stone by St Tyfyrdog for stealing the church's bible; the lump near the top of the stone is said to be the sack on the man's shoulder.<ref name=Lewis>{{cite book|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=47847#s23|title=A Topographical Dictionary of Wales |year=1849|chapter=Llandyvrydog (Llan-Dyfrydog)|accessdate=January 25, 2011|last=Lewis|first=Samuel|author-link=Samuel Lewis (publisher)}}</ref><ref name=Sabine292>Baring-Gould, pp. 292–293</ref> It is also said that the man's soul is periodically chased around the field during the night, chased by "demons with red-hot pitchforks."<ref name=Sabine292/>
== See also == Other Anglesey saints commemorated in local churches include: * St Caffo at St Caffo's Church, Llangaffo * St Cwyllog at St Cwyllog's Church, Llangwyllog * St Eleth at St Eleth's Church, Amlwch * St Iestyn at St Iestyn's Church, Llaniestyn * St Peulan at St Peulan's Church, Llanbeulan
== References == ; Notes {{Reflist|2}} ; Bibliography * {{cite book|url=https://archive.org/stream/livesofbritishsa04bariuoft#page/292/mode/2up|title=The lives of the British Saints: the Saints of Wales and Cornwall and such Irish Saints as have dedications in Britain|author-link=Sabine Baring-Gould|first=Sabine |last=Baring-Gould|year=1907|publisher=Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion}} * {{cite book|title=Enwogion Cymru: A biographical dictionary of eminent Welshmen, from the earliest times to the present, and including every name connected with the ancient history of Wales |last=Williams|first=Robert|year=1852|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_wMGAAAAQAAJ|publisher=W. Rees}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Tyfrydog}} Category:5th-century Welsh people Category:6th-century Welsh people Category:Medieval Welsh saints