One of the last of the older school of poets known as the Gogynfeirdd, he resisted the innovations in Welsh verse-form which took place in his lifetime.
He was described by the literary historian D. Myrddin Lloyd as "the finest of all the late Gogynfeirdd poets"[2] and by Saunders Lewis as "one of the greats".
[3] Gruffudd ap Maredudd came from a landowning family in Anglesey,[4] and is himself recorded to have been part-owner of the townships of Aberalaw, Carneddawr and Dronwy in the commote of Talybolion.
[10] His poems are remarkable for their great breadth of reference to older Welsh, and even Irish, literature and legend.
[15] The scholar Simon Rodway called it one of the best poems of the period;[8] D. Myrddin Lloyd wrote of it that "Seldom has the horror of early death been expressed with such skill and anguish combined, and this poem ranks high among the finest achievements of Welsh verse.