Always of a fragile physical disposition, Jones was unable to take up a scholarship to Oxford University due to one of many bouts of ill health which were to plague him throughout his life.

In 1902 however he won the coveted chair at the National Eisteddfod in Bangor for his awdl Ymadawiad Arthur, though he had not expected to win, and indeed was not present at the ceremony.

In 1905 he became editor of the journal Papur Pawb, ushering in a period of intense productivity, producing, in the space of only a few years some five novels and over two hundred short stories, as well as a second Eisteddfod chair in 1908.

This led ultimately to a physical collapse, leading to a tour of the Mediterranean Sea and a period spent in Egypt to recuperate.

Though surrounded by books he disliked the work, however he was able to maintain a parallel career in public lectures and later was appointed as a lecturer in the Welsh department at the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, where he became a professor in 1919 - a remarkable achievement for a man without an undergraduate degree.

He was extremely highly respected within Celtic Studies and an attempt was made to nominate him for a Nobel Prize for Literature, though he refused to accept it, believing himself unworthy.

Gwynn's impact as a novelist is harder to measure; though he was extremely productive in this field, many of his novels were serialised anonymously and most were never published in book form.

[5] T. Gwynn Jones's writings had a significant influence on Robert Graves in his mythopoeic study The White Goddess.