Arthur in Early Welsh Poetry

by Nerys Ann Jones

For over a thousand years, Arthur has had widespread appeal and influence like no other literary character or historical figure. Yet, despite the efforts of modern scholars, the earliest references to Arthurian characters are still shrouded in uncertainty. They are mostly found in poetic texts scattered throughout the four great compilations of early and medieval Welsh literature produced between 1250 and 1350. Whilst some are thought to predate their manuscript sources by several centuries, many of these poems are notoriously difficult to date. None of them are narrative in nature and very few focus solely on Arthurian material but they are characterised by an allusiveness which would have been appreciated by their intended audiences in the courts of princes and noblemen the length and breadth of Wales. They portray Arthur in a variety of roles: as a great leader of armies, a warrior with extraordinary powers, slayer of magical creatures, rescuer of prisoners from the Otherworld, a poet and the subject of prophecy. They also testify to the possibility of lost tales about him, his father, Uthr, his son, Llachau, his wife, Gwenhwyfar, and one of his companions, Cai, and associate him with a wide array of both legendary and historical figures.

Arthur in Early Welsh Poetry, the fourth volume in the MHRA Library of Medieval Welsh Literature series, provides discussion of each of the references to Arthurian characters in early Welsh poetic sources together with an image from the earliest manuscript, a transliteration, a comprehensive edition, a translation (where possible) and a word-list. The nine most significant texts are interpreted in more detail with commentary on metrical, linguistic and stylistic features.

Genres: Arthurian

225 pages, Hardcover

First published July 12, 2019

About the author

Nerys Ann Jones is NOT the author of the historical novel Godiva.

Reviews

[Liam Guilar · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is another excellent book in an excellent series making medieval Welsh literature accessible to students and other non-welsh speakers.

What you get in one place is all the 'early Welsh' poems which mention an Arthur. For most poems there is an introduction, an image of the text in the manuscript, which only goes to prove how skilful readers of early Welsh Manuscripts must be, transcription, followed by the Welsh set out as a poem followed by an English translation, with a glossary for each poem. Extensive notes are provided for nine of the poems.

Anyone who has done any reading about the early stages of the Arthurian legend, at least in its Pre-Geoffrey of Monmouth phase, will have encountered references to these poems. Having them all in one book means it is possible to see them in full, and to encounter the problems of translation and dating. What is surprising is how little there is.

None of the poems is a narrative, and Arthur's appearance in many of them is marginal at best. But overall the poems suggest a very different Arthur to Geoffrey's, more of a figure out of a folk tale than anything remotely historical.
It's good to have all the poems in one book.

[Acanthus Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

A discussion of twenty six references to Arthur scattered throughout manuscripts which post-date Monmouth's 'Historia regum Britanniae' but (mostly) hark back to an earlier tradition.

These manuscripts are: the Black Book of Carmarthen, with its gatekeeper challenge poem and descriptions of the burial places of heros (Gwain at the old river Peryddon, Bedivere on the hillside of Tryfan and Cynon at the church of Llanbadarn); the Book of Aneirin, treasured elegiac texts that had almost passed out of oral currency, here the puzzling hero Gwawrddur, "who fed black ravens on the rampart", is compared with Arthur; the Hendregadredd manuscript, with only a single mention of Arthur but multiple references to events and places from the legends; the Book of Taliesin and the Red Book of Hergest.

So how is Arthur portrayed throughout these early poems? Initially as the mighty warrior of a warband, with 'lightning boldness', a 'protector of merriment' and a 'bright benefactor' who 'distributes swift steeds'. He is compared to a bear - a pun on 'arth' (bear) - and he is also mentioned as being a member of the Triad of Three Generous Men. Finally, though, this image of a Dux Bellorum gives way to that of the true king of a unified Wales, a 'leader of many armies'.