Adwen or Adwenna is purported to have been a 5th-century Christian virgin and saint.Baring-Gould, Sabine & al. The Lives of the British Saints: The Saints of Wales and Cornwall and Such Irish Saints as Have Dedications in Britain, Vol. II, pp. 107 ff. Chas. Clark (London), 1908. Hosted at Archive.org. Accessed 18 Nov 2014. According to historian Nicholas Orme, Adwen was identified in the original tradition as a brother of Nectan of Hartland, but subsequently misclassified by Charles Henderson in the 18th century as female.Orme, Nicholas. "The Saints of Cornwall", OUP, 2000, p. 59
Adwen is therefore recorded as a daughter of Brychan, king of Brycheiniog in south Wales, in Doble's Life of Saint NectanDoble, G. H. (translator). The Life of Saint Nectan. 1941, reprinted at Bideford, 1964. and in Robert Hunt's collection of Cornish legends.Hunt, Robert. Popular Romances of the West of England: The Drolls, Traditions, and Superstitions of Old Cornwall, 3d ed.: "Saint Keyne". Chatto & Windus (London), 1903. Accessed 18 Nov 2014. These sources associate her with the establishment of the parish of Advent in Cornwall.
The saint's feast day is unknown. In Cornwall Adwen was traditionally the patron saint of sweethearts.Ellis, P. B. (1992) The Cornish Saints. Penryn: Tor Mark Press, p. 5
See also Saint Dwynwen, the related Welsh saint St Adwen's Church, Advent
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