where did the welsh language originate from?
Celts
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 Wales can claim one of the oldest unbroken literary traditions in Europe . The literary tradition of Wales stretches back to the sixth century and includes Geoffrey of Monmouth and Gerald of Wales , regarded by historian John Davies as among the finest Latin authors of the Middle Ages . The earliest body of Welsh verse , by poets Taliesin and Aneirin , survive not in their original form , but in medieval versions and have undergone significant linguistic changes . Welsh poetry and native lore and learning survived the Dark Ages , through the era of the Poets of the Princes ( c . 1100 – 1280 ) and then the Poets of the Gentry ( c . 1350 – 1650 ) . The Poets of the Princes were professional poets who composed eulogies and elegies to the Welsh princes while the Poets of the Gentry were a school of poets that favoured the cywydd metre . The period is notable for producing one of Wales ' greatest poets , Dafydd ap Gwilym . After the Anglicisation of the gentry the tradition declined . 

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 Much of the earliest Welsh literature was actually composed in or near the country now called Scotland , in the Brythonic speech , from which Welsh would be derived , include The Gododdin and the Battle of Gwen Ystrad . There are also religious works in Gaelic including the Elegy for St Columba by Dallan Forgaill , c . 597 and " In Praise of St Columba " by Beccan mac Luigdech of Rum , c . 677 . In Latin they include a " Prayer for Protection " ( attributed to St Mugint ) , c. mid @-@ sixth century and Altus Prosator ( " The High Creator " , attributed to St Columba ) , c . 597 . In Old English there is The Dream of the Rood , from which lines are found on the Ruthwell Cross , making it the only surviving fragment of Northumbrian Old English from early Medieval Scotland . Before the reign of David I , the Scots possessed a flourishing literary elite that produced texts in both Gaelic and Latin , a tradition that survived in the Highlands into the thirteenth century . It is possible that more Middle Irish literature was written in Medieval Scotland than is often thought , but has not survived because the Gaelic literary establishment of eastern Scotland died out before the fourteenth century . In the thirteenth century , French flourished as a literary language , and produced the Roman de Fergus , the earliest piece of non @-@ Celtic vernacular literature to survive from Scotland . 

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 Much of the earliest Welsh literature was actually composed in or near the country now called Scotland , although only written down in Wales much later . These include The Gododdin , considered the earliest surviving verse from Scotland , which is attributed to the bard Aneirin , said to have been resident in Gododdin in the 6th century , and the Battle of Gwen Ystrad attributed to Taliesin , traditionally thought to be a bard at the court of Rheged in roughly the same period . There are also religious works in Gaelic including the Elegy for St Columba by Dallan Forgaill ( c . 597 ) and " In Praise of St Columba " by Beccan mac Luigdech of Rum ( c . 677 ) . In Latin they include a " Prayer for Protection " ( attributed to St Mugint ) ( c. mid @-@ 6th century ) and Altus Prosator ( " The High Creator " , attributed to St Columba ) ( c . 597 ) . In Old English there is The Dream of the Rood , from which lines are found on the Ruthwell Cross , making it the only surviving fragment of Northumbrian Old English from early Medieval Scotland . 

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 Although Wales closely shares its political and social history with the rest of Great Britain , and the vast majority of the population speaks English , the country has retained a distinct cultural identity and is officially bilingual . Over 560 @,@ 000 Welsh language speakers live in Wales , and the language is spoken by a majority of the population in parts of the north and west . From the late 19th century onwards , Wales acquired its popular image as the " land of song " , in part due to the eisteddfod tradition . At many international sporting events , such as the FIFA World Cup , Rugby World Cup and the Commonwealth Games , Wales has its own national teams , though at the Olympic Games , Welsh athletes compete as part of a Great Britain team . Rugby union is seen as a symbol of Welsh identity and an expression of national consciousness . 

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 Early historians , including the 6th century cleric Gildas , have noted 383 as a significant point in Welsh history , as it is stated in literature as the foundation point of several medieval royal dynasties . In that year the Roman general Magnus Maximus , or Macsen Wledig , stripped all of western and northern Britain of troops and senior administrators , to launch a successful bid for imperial power ; continuing to rule Britain from Gaul as emperor . Gildas , writing in about 540 , says that Maximus departed Britain , taking with him all of its Roman troops , armed bands , governors and the flower of its youth , never to return . Having left with the troops and Roman administrators , and planning to continue as the ruler of Britain in the future , his practical course was to transfer local authority to local rulers . The earliest Welsh genealogies give Maximus the role of founding father for several royal dynasties , including those of Powys and Gwent . It was this transfer of power that has given rise to the belief that he was the father of the Welsh Nation . He is given as the ancestor of a Welsh king on the Pillar of Eliseg , erected nearly 500 years after he left Britain , and he figures in lists of the Fifteen Tribes of Wales . 
