The Awen Symbol: Meaning, Origin and Honest History

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The Awen turns up on pendants, tattoos and Druid robes all over the world. The Awen Celtic symbol is usually sold as ancient.

The truth is better than the sales copy. The word is old and Welsh. The three rays were devised by a Glamorgan stonemason who died in 1826.

I’m Irish, so I’ll also answer the question Irish readers ask. Is the Awen one of ours? No, but Ireland had its own idea of the poet’s inspiration.

Jump to:

• What is the Awen symbol? The word and the sign
• How to pronounce Awen
• The word awen in medieval Welsh
• Iolo Morganwg and the three rays
• How the Gorsedd made the symbol famous
• The Awen in modern Druidry
• Awen symbol meanings and where each one comes from
• Is the Awen an Irish symbol?
• Awen versus triskele, triquetra and imbas
• Awen jewellery and tattoos
• Awen FAQ
• More Celtic symbols

What is the Awen symbol? The word and the sign

There’s a word, and there’s a symbol, and people mix them up.

The word is Welsh. “Awen” means poetic inspiration, or the muse. Cornish and Breton have the same word.

The symbol is three dots above three rays of light, usually inside a circle: /|\. Modern Druids call it the Awen too.

The word is recorded from the 800s. The symbol was first seen in public in 1833. That gap of about a thousand years matters if you’re buying something labelled “ancient”.

How to pronounce Awen

In Welsh, awen has two syllables. Say it OW-en, with “ow” as in “cow” and the stress on the first syllable. AH-wen is close enough.

You may also hear a slow chant, “Ah-oo-wen”. That’s how the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids chants it in ceremony, not everyday Welsh.

Where the word comes from is uncertain. It may be related to Welsh “awel”, a breeze. The popular translation “flowing spirit” is modern.

Angela Grant of the Druid Network traces that translation to William Owen Pughe, who worked with Iolo. She says he got it by splitting awen into “aw” and “en”, and neither word existed.

The word awen in medieval Welsh

Historia Brittonum, early 9th century

This Latin history of the Britons names a poet called Talhaearn “Tat Aguen”, father of the muse. Aguen is the Old Welsh spelling of awen.

It’s the earliest recorded use. The surviving copy, made about 1100, is in the British Library (Harley MS 3859).

Gerald of Wales, 1194

In his Description of Wales, Gerald describes the awenyddion, the “inspired people”. When consulted, they went into a trance, answered in riddles and forgot what they’d said.

The Book of Taliesin

The National Library of Wales holds the Book of Taliesin as Peniarth MS 2. It was copied in the first half of the 14th century. Its poems are linked to Taliesin, a poet of the late 6th century.

Most of these poems were composed centuries after him. Ronald Hutton dates the best-known ones to 900 to 1250.

Awen is a running theme in them, as Marged Haycock’s 2007 edition, Legendary Poems from the Book of Taliesin, shows. In a 2023 Gresham College lecture, Hutton describes the “semi-divine status of the bard, inspired by awen”.

Ceridwen’s cauldron

In the Tale of Taliesin, Ceridwen brews a cauldron of inspiration. Three drops land on the boy Gwion Bach, who swallows them and gains all knowledge. After a long chase he is reborn as Taliesin.

The tale survives in versions from the 16th century on. Some now read the three drops as the three rays, but no old text makes that link.

The word is still everyday Welsh. The third verse of the national anthem, Hen Wlad fy Nhadau (Evan James, 1856), says “Ni luddiwyd yr awen”. Roughly, the muse was not held back by the cruel hand of treachery.

Iolo Morganwg and the three rays

The symbol comes from one man. Iolo Morganwg was the bardic name of Edward Williams (1747 to 1826), a stonemason from Glamorgan. The Dictionary of Welsh Biography notes he was a Unitarian and an anti-slavery campaigner.

He was also a forger, and a very good one. He passed off his own poems as the work of Dafydd ap Gwilym in 1789. He slipped invented Welsh Triads into the Myvyrian Archaiology (1801 to 1807).

Sir John Morris-Jones began exposing him in the late 19th century. G. J. Williams, working from Iolo’s own papers after 1917, mapped the forgeries in detail. Rachel Bromwich noted that some of his doctored texts are still better known than the originals.

What Iolo said the symbol meant

National Museum Wales says Iolo devised the /|\ to stand for love, justice and truth. In Welsh it is the Nod Cyfrin, the Mystic Mark.

Barddas, compiled from his papers and published in 1862, adds more. In his myth, a sage called Menw the Aged saw three columns of light when God spoke His name. The three strokes stand for the letters O, I and W, the name of God.

So Iolo’s meaning was Christian, not pagan. But he claimed it came from the ancient druids, and that claim is where the “ancient” label starts.

I couldn’t find a source for the year he drew it. It was before his death in 1826, and first recorded in public in 1833.

How the Gorsedd made the symbol famous

Iolo’s lasting invention was the Gorsedd, a ceremonial gathering of bards. He held the first on Primrose Hill in London on 21 June 1792. In 1819, at Carmarthen, he tied it to the eisteddfod.

The eisteddfod itself is old, with the first on record in 1176. Iolo’s Gorsedd ceremonies, including the crowning and the chairing, are still the high points of the National Eisteddfod.

National Museum Wales says Iolo made little use of the symbol himself. It took off after his death:

• 1833: first seen on the Proclamation Scroll in Cardiff.
• By 1850: on banners at Gorsedd gatherings.
• About 1860: on new members’ certificates.
• End of the 19th century: treated as the approved symbol.
• 1950s: required on every National Eisteddfod Chair and Crown.

Cornwall’s Gorsedh Kernow uses it too. It says the rays come from the rising sun and stand for love, justice and truth.

The Awen in modern Druidry

From Wales, the symbol passed to the modern Druid revival.

The Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids (OBOD) was founded in 1964 by Ross Nichols. OBOD uses the Awen as its emblem.

There’s no single Druid church, so it isn’t “official”. It’s simply the most widely shared Druid symbol.

OBOD’s version adds three rings, read as the three circles of creation. That idea comes from Iolo’s Barddas, which names three circles: Ceugant, Abred and Gwynfyd.

In the United States, the Department of Veterans Affairs lists a Druid Awen among the emblems allowed on veterans’ headstones. The Wild Hunt reported its approval in January 2017.

Awen symbol meanings and where each one comes from

You’ll find a dozen meanings online. None is wrong for the person who chooses it, but their sources differ.

Iolo and the Gorsedd: love, justice and truth. This is the documented meaning, still used by the Welsh and Cornish Gorsedd bodies.

OBOD: the dots stand for a threefold God. They also stand for where the sun rises at midsummer, midwinter and the equinoxes, which OBOD calls the triad of the sunrises. The circles are the three circles of creation.

Popular modern readings from recent decades, found in no old source:

• Earth, sea and sky
• Mind, body and spirit
• Love, wisdom and truth
• Bard, Ovate and Druid
• Male and female on the outer rays, balanced by the centre
• The three drops from Ceridwen’s cauldron

The one meaning everyone shares is in the name. Awen is inspiration, the spark behind a poem, a song or a good idea.

Is the Awen an Irish symbol?

No. The Awen is Welsh, from Iolo. There is no Irish /|\.

But the idea behind it was alive in Ireland. Old Irish had imbas. The Dictionary of the Irish Language gives “great knowledge; poetic talent, inspiration; fore-knowledge”.

Its fullest form, imbas forosnai, was a gift of prophecy said to belong to poets. Cormac’s Glossary, from about 900, describes a ritual for it.

In the Táin Bó Cúailnge, Queen Medb asks the poet Fedelm if she has imbas forosnai. She says she has, then foretells the slaughter Cú Chulainn will cause.

Imbas and awen are parallel ideas in two related cultures, not the same thing. No symbol for imbas is recorded.

Awen versus triskele, triquetra and imbas

All of these have a “three” in them, but their ages are wildly different.

Symbol	Earliest evidence	Where	Meaning on record
Awen /|\	Devised by Iolo before 1826; first public use 1833	Wales	Love, justice and truth (Iolo)
Triskele (Newgrange triple spiral)	About 3200 BC, a triple spiral carved at Newgrange	Co. Meath, Ireland	Unknown; older than the Celts
Triquetra	About 7th to 9th century, manuscripts and metalwork	Ireland and Britain, including the Book of Kells	Trinity reading is later; mostly modern
Imbas	By about 900 (Cormac’s Glossary)	Ireland	Poetic inspiration; an idea, not a symbol

For real age, the Newgrange spiral wins easily. For Irish roots, the triskele or triquetra fits better. For a sign of creativity, or a nod to Wales, the Awen suits.

Awen jewellery and tattoos

The Awen is simple and balanced, so it reads clearly at small sizes.

• The plain form has one circle, three dots and three rays. Most tattoos copy this one.
• The three-ring form is the OBOD version, for anyone drawn to modern Druidry.
• The bare rays drop the dots and circle for a minimal look.

The dots sit at the top and the rays spread down and out, like light falling. Check that before you sign off on a stencil.

You don’t need to be a Druid to wear it. Writers, musicians and artists wear it as a sign of creativity.

If it’s a gift, a small card helps. Say it means inspiration and is the emblem of the Welsh bards.

For an Irish heritage gift, I’d look elsewhere. Try the triskele, a Celtic cross or Book of Kells knotwork.

Awen FAQ

What does the Awen symbol mean?

The word awen means poetic inspiration in Welsh. Iolo Morganwg, who devised the symbol, said the rays stand for love, justice and truth. Modern Druids add their own readings, such as earth, sea and sky.

Is the Awen an ancient Celtic symbol?

The word is old, recorded from the 9th century, in a Latin history of the Britons. The /|\ symbol is not. Iolo Morganwg devised it before his death in 1826, and it was first seen in public in 1833.

How do you pronounce Awen?

Say OW-en, with “ow” as in “cow”, stress on the first syllable. Druids often chant it slowly as “Ah-oo-wen”, but that’s a ritual chant.

Is the Awen Irish?

No, it’s Welsh. Old Irish had a related idea, imbas, the inspired knowledge of poets. No symbol for imbas is recorded.

What do the three circles around the Awen mean?

OBOD reads them as the three circles of creation, an idea taken from Iolo’s writings.

Can I get an Awen tattoo if I’m not a Druid?

Yes. No single group owns it, and it’s widely worn as a symbol of creativity. It helps to know where it really comes from.

More Celtic symbols

• Druid Symbols and Their Meanings
• Celtic Symbols and Their Meanings
• The Triskele, or Triskelion
• The Triquetra, or Trinity Knot
• The Celtic Tree of Life
• Celtic Gods and Goddesses
• The Irish Harp

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