Project Britannia: Reclaiming a Lost Voice

From the whispers of the past, a language awakens.

Project Britannia is a revolutionary movement ignited by the unwavering hope of a few, the unwavering spirit of many, and the unwavering power of a forgotten tongue. We are a collective of scholars, inmates, and passionate individuals united by a common mission: to revive and reconstruct the ancient language of Brittonic.

Why Brittonic?

Brittonic, the ancestor of Welsh, Cornish, Cumbric, and Breton, once resonated across the British Isles. It echoed in the halls of chieftains, the chants of druids, and the lullabies of mothers. But with the Roman invasion and the rise of English, Brittonic was relegated to the shadows, its words fading into whispers, its grammar a fading memory.

But a voice, once silenced, can never be truly extinguished.

Within the walls of a prison, a group of inmates found solace in the forgotten beauty of Brittonic. 

One enthusiastic group of inmates, located at Barchey Unit in Buckeye, Arizona, are designing a beginners course for learning Brittonic. 

Guided by dedicated Celtic language scholars, they embarked on a remarkable journey – to piece together the scattered fragments of a lost language.

Their desire to revive the Brittonic language was inspired by a statement in Edward Hatfield's excellent book 'Pritanica: A Dictionary of the Ancient British Language', where Mr. Hatfield proposed that the book could serve as the foundation for an eventual revival of Brittonic. 

This is not just about linguistics.

This is about identity. This is about heritage. This is about reclaiming a vital part of who we are as Britons.

Join us on this extraordinary quest.

Help us reconstruct the language: Contribute your knowledge, no matter how small. Every word, every grammatical rule, is a precious piece of the puzzle.

Spread the word: Share our story, ignite the conversation, and let the spirit of Brittonic reverberate once more.

Support our mission: We rely on your donations to fuel our research, organize workshops, and bring Brittonic back to life.

Together, we can rewrite a silenced chapter in history. Together, we can give voice to a language whose legacy refused to die. 

Let the words of our ancestors dance on our tongues once more.

This is Project Britannia. This is our legacy.

Take the first step. Visit our pages, explore our resources, and join the movement.

Learn Brittonic: Access our free language courses, pronunciation guides, and vocabulary lists.

Get involved: Volunteer your time, share your skills, and be a part of something bigger than yourself.

Donate: Your contribution, big or small, will fuel our mission and empower the voice of Brittonic.

The time to reclaim our lost voice is now. The time to rewrite our story is now.

Let us rise together, Project Britannia.

We are the echoes of the past.

We are the voice of the present.

We are the future of Brittonic.

Meet the Members of Project Britannia!

On the Outside:

Yówán Drúwísacós - Born and Bred Welshman, fluent Welsh speaker, he is the editor and expert of Celtic languages who has so far guided the inmates in their journey to not only reconstructing Brittonic but speaking it as well.

Talin Hansen (Lówernácó) - Talin is the President of RDA and an enthusiastic supporter of Project Britannia. A veteran of the US Navy and a currently serving member of the Utah National Guard, Talin works as a Cryptologic Linguist for the military. He's a fluent speaker of Spanish and Russian, with partial knowledge of Welsh. He joined this project to help fulfill its most core purpose - Linguistic Sustainability. He feels strongly that Brittonic, if revived, could very successfully serve as a common language of Celtic nations and therefore, stand the best chance of continued survival for the future.  

Kevin Jenkyns (Mathus Retetic) - Kevin is a proud beacon of Welsh culture, language and spirituality. He is a devout Druid and a leading member of the Druid organization, ADF (Ar nDraiocht Fein). Druwisia isn't all that inspired his interest in the project. He believes in helping felons move forward from their pasts and Project Britannia helps focus them on a positive path for the future. Kevin also holds tremendous respect for Native American cultures and it was his idea to expand RDA's involvement by also supporting the Yearning For Yaqui program in conjunction with Project Britannia. To Kevin, helping revive the Yaqui language as well as others is just as important as reviving Brittonic. 

On the Inside:

Thomas Steres (Tomos Tarwoi, Br.) - American-born Welsh speaker who taught himself Welsh while in prison and who is steadily  perfecting it with the help of Yowan as his tutor. Already a producer of a novice podcast about his journey learning Welsh in prison, Thomas now hopes to share his journey of learning a dead language while in prison and to be a Leader in its Revival Movement. Druwisia ('Druidism', Br.) is his religion and one of the main reasons that inspired his interest in the Brittonic Revival, aside from his love of languages. However, he is absolutely determined to revive the language in a cultural sense as well, seeing it as the true language of Modern Britons and particularly for those of the Welsh, Breton and Cornish nations. Language is the key to a culture and Thomas wants to bring the SenóYextís (Old Language) back but make it modern, vibrant and popular.

Anawíonos (Tyson Curtis) - Anawíonos has taught himself some Cymraeg(Welsh) while in prison, motivated by his pride in his Welsh ancestry. It didn't take much more of a nudge to get him interested in Brythonic and he's began picking it up at an incredible rate. He'd like to one day be able to write sports articles in Welsh AND Brittonic.  

Wólcóyówáncos (Adam) - Adam's the newest to the Brittonic world but like many others was acquainted with it by a mutual friend, Cymraeg(the Welsh language). He wants to compete with Cúnówelis for the title of who can create the most new Brittonic words. It's gonna be quite the contest, considering the Brittonic language is from 1,500 years ago and is being learned by people in the 2020s, where there's an endless amount of new things that the Ancient Brythons didn't have words for! 

Alexander J. Griffore (Anamerir, Br.) - A.J. was born in 1988, but has a soul much older. When he speaks Brittonic, he feels like its 88 B.C. again. When he was growing up, he spent most of his days shooting the breeze outside of school when a couple of guys were up to no good and asked what his heritage was. He replied Welsh, English and French and so they called him British from there onward. 25 years later, he found himself in prison and converted to Druidism, his newfound passion in life. After discovering that it was the old religion of Britain, he brought up to Thomas, 'Why not speak the original language of our religion?' and so their Brittonic journey began. Druwiacon, Heritage and Boredom is what drove him to Brittonic and now he says the language has changed his life. It's given him something positive to focus on and to connect him to an ancient past.

Jason Ewing (Cunowelis, Br.) - 'Estí Cunówelis anwan mon, súcomróanc!' This was Jason's first phrase that he learned in Brittonic and he spent a week reciting it to anyone in the prison who'd listen! What does the phrase mean? 'My name's Cunowelis, nice to meet ya!', something Jason wanted to learn so that his first speaking in the language would be something polite. He's the one that came up with the word 'Mapóbówí' (Cowboys) of the Brittonic learning group in prison and he hopes to set the record for most newly created Brittonic words in a month long timeframe! 

James Sweeney (Tórcíwernós) - James Dean Sweeney was born in 1976. He is from Alabama but has lived all over the world because his tatós (father) was in the Air Force. Sweeney is a self-taught Irish speaker and has been to Ireland 3 times, connecting both with the land AND language of his ancestors. His stubborn Irish Pride is what caused the others to name him Tórcíwernós (Irish Boar). He joined Project Britannia to bring something positive into the world and also to give him a better understanding of the roots of the Irish language. He has a mathematics degree from the University of Alabama and enjoys teaching both math and Irish while in prison, with an entertaining way of mixing the two. He dreams of one day writing a book on mathematics in both Irish and Brittonic. His favorite Brittonic phrase? 'Iweryú áré aíton!' (Long Live Ireland!)