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{{Short description|Welsh term for the island of Britain}}
{{about|the Welsh name for Great Britain|Lloyd Alexander's fantasy series|The Chronicles of Prydain}}
{{redirect|Prydein|the band|Prydein (band)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{wiktionarypar|Prydain}}
[[File:Map Gaels Brythons Picts GB.png|thumb|right|[[Great Britain]] and adjacent islands in the 5th century AD, before the invasion and subsequent [[Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain|founding of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms]].
{{legend|#de3333|outline=#aaaaaa|Mainly (non-Pictish) [[Brittonic languages|Brittonic]] areas}}
{{legend|#2272c4|outline=#aaaaaa|Mainly [[Pictish language|Pictish]] areas}}
{{legend|#548654|outline=#aaaaaa|Mainly [[Goidelic languages|Goidelic]] areas}}]]
'''Prydain''' ({{IPA|cy|ˈprədai̯n|}}, {{respell|PRUH|dine}}; [[Middle Welsh]]: '''''Prydein''''') is the modern [[Welsh language|Welsh]] name for [[Great Britain]].

==Medieval==
[[File:Geiriadur y Bardd - Cyfrinach y Beirdd 000.JPG|thumb|1870s book containing ''Cyfrinach Beirdd Ynys Prydain'' ("Mystery of the Bards of the Island of Britain", [[Iolo Morganwg]])]]
''Prydain'' is the medieval Welsh term for the island of Britain. The Latin name [[Albion]] was not used by the Welsh. More specifically, Prydain may refer to the [[Britons (historical)|Brittonic]] parts of the island; that is, the parts south of [[Caledonia]]. This distinction appears to derive from [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] times, when the island was divided into [[Roman Britain]] to the south and the land of the [[Caledonians]] to the North. The peoples north of the Roman borders eventually came to be known as the [[Picts]] (Welsh: ''Brithwyr''); the Welsh term for Pictland was ''Prydyn'', which caused some confusion in the texts with ''Prydain''.

In Middle Welsh texts, the related term ''Ynys Prydein'' (Island of Britain), or ''Ynys Brydein'', can also refer to the island (''ynys'') itself but more often is a name for the Brittonic territories south of Caledonia. It is in this context that the name of the collection of traditional material arranged in triads known as ''[[Welsh Triads|Trioedd Ynys Prydein]]'' should be understood. In modern Welsh ''ynys'' means 'island', but in Middle Welsh it can also mean 'land' or 'realm' (cf. [[Latin language|Latin]] ''insula'').<ref>''[[Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru]]'', vol. IV, p. 3819.</ref>

There are numerous other instances of the term ''Prydain'' in medieval Welsh texts. One of the best known is found in the title of the 10th-century vaticinatory poem ''[[Armes Prydein]]'' ('The Prophecy of Britain').<ref>Ifor Williams (ed.), ''Armes Prydein'' (University of Wales Press, 1955).</ref>

==In popular culture==
Prydain is also used by [[Lloyd Alexander]] as the name for the realm in which his [[fantasy]] book series ''[[The Chronicles of Prydain]]'' takes place.

==See also==
* [[History of Wales]]
* [[Lloegyr]]
* [[Britain (place name)]]
* ''[[Welsh Triads|Trioedd Ynys Prydein]]''

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:History of Wales]]
[[Category:Welsh mythology]]
[[Category:Medieval history of Wales]]
[[Category:Terminology of the British Isles]]


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