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Writers of Wales
Arthur in Medieval Welsh Literature
Although the legends of Arthur have been popular throughout Europe from the middle ages onwards, the earliest references to Arthur are to be found in Welsh literature, starting with the Welsh-Latin Historia Brittonum which dates from the ninth century. By the twelfth century Arthur was a renowned figure wherever Welsh and its sister languages were spoken.
O.J. Padel proves an overall survey of medieval Welsh literary references to Arthur and emphasizes the importance of understanding the character and purpose of the texts in which allusions to Arthur occur. Texts from different genres are considered together and shed new light on the use which different authors make of the multifaceted figure of Arthur, from the folk legend associated with magic and animals to the literary hero, soldier and defender of country and faith. Other figures associated with Arthur, such as Cai, Bedwyr and Gwenhwyfar, are also discussed.
Arthur in Medieval Welsh Literature is an important and revealing contribution to Arthurian studies and will appeal to anyone interested in understanding more about the legends of Arthur and their sources in medieval Welsh tradition.
O.J. Padel proves an overall survey of medieval Welsh literary references to Arthur and emphasizes the importance of understanding the character and purpose of the texts in which allusions to Arthur occur. Texts from different genres are considered together and shed new light on the use which different authors make of the multifaceted figure of Arthur, from the folk legend associated with magic and animals to the literary hero, soldier and defender of country and faith. Other figures associated with Arthur, such as Cai, Bedwyr and Gwenhwyfar, are also discussed.
Arthur in Medieval Welsh Literature is an important and revealing contribution to Arthurian studies and will appeal to anyone interested in understanding more about the legends of Arthur and their sources in medieval Welsh tradition.
144 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
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About the author
O.J. Padel
11 books2 followersOliver James Padel is an English medievalist and toponymist specializing in Welsh and Cornish studies. He is currently Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse, and Celtic in the University of Cambridge, and Visiting Professor of Celtic at the University of the West of England.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 22, 2018
Very interesting. I felt like I learned a lot.
October 7, 2010
Padel's overview of the medieval Welsh Arthur is readable and covers quite a big range of texts. Knowledge of the texts isn't really necessary, but I would advise it.
I wouldn't say it goes particularly deeply into it, but it's a good starting point, and very readable.
I wouldn't say it goes particularly deeply into it, but it's a good starting point, and very readable.
February 4, 2025
This is a concise overview of the Welsh sources for 'King Arthur', which at the same time manages to acknowledge the variety of 'Arthurs' that existed both before Geoffrey of Monmouth made him into an Emperor with a vast empire and afterwards.
As an overview and introduction it does what it claims to do in 98 pages.
Having discussed the sources in chapters that move chronologically, and then tracked the 'careers' of a select few characters, the last chapter, 'Was there an Arthur of the Welsh' suggests; 'It is worth considering the idea that Arthur was often an intrinsically comic character, and that Arthurian tales within the range of literary and story telling material available in medieval Wales, occupied a humorous role, perhaps approximately comparable with comic-strip literature to day.'
He immediately qualifies this by giving example of stories that could not be considered comic by anyone and, acknowledging that is untenable to argue that Arthur invariably had an undignified, slow-witted side to his character, asserts that it may be useful to bear in mind the possibility of such an aspect.
If you put aside the issue of dating these texts, the central problem of using these sources, which he has outlined in his discussions of several of the texts, is the impossibility of knowing how these stories were 'used' by their original audiences and the sense that whatever/however that was, it wasn't the way modern scholars approach these texts.
'...certain assumptions have been made too easily about the figure of Arthur in the earliest Welsh sources, partly through an uncritical use of words such as 'heroic' and partly owing to uncertainty, which still exists, over how to approach certain crucial literary sources such as CULHWCH, RHONABWY and the saints' Lives. There is a danger of reading these texts too subtly, combing them for every last clue to ancient traditions, instead of reading them as works of authors who were putting their won interpretation upon the material, and perhaps intended them light heartedly for the most part, though with very serious aims.'
As an overview and introduction it does what it claims to do in 98 pages.
Having discussed the sources in chapters that move chronologically, and then tracked the 'careers' of a select few characters, the last chapter, 'Was there an Arthur of the Welsh' suggests; 'It is worth considering the idea that Arthur was often an intrinsically comic character, and that Arthurian tales within the range of literary and story telling material available in medieval Wales, occupied a humorous role, perhaps approximately comparable with comic-strip literature to day.'
He immediately qualifies this by giving example of stories that could not be considered comic by anyone and, acknowledging that is untenable to argue that Arthur invariably had an undignified, slow-witted side to his character, asserts that it may be useful to bear in mind the possibility of such an aspect.
If you put aside the issue of dating these texts, the central problem of using these sources, which he has outlined in his discussions of several of the texts, is the impossibility of knowing how these stories were 'used' by their original audiences and the sense that whatever/however that was, it wasn't the way modern scholars approach these texts.
'...certain assumptions have been made too easily about the figure of Arthur in the earliest Welsh sources, partly through an uncritical use of words such as 'heroic' and partly owing to uncertainty, which still exists, over how to approach certain crucial literary sources such as CULHWCH, RHONABWY and the saints' Lives. There is a danger of reading these texts too subtly, combing them for every last clue to ancient traditions, instead of reading them as works of authors who were putting their won interpretation upon the material, and perhaps intended them light heartedly for the most part, though with very serious aims.'
March 27, 2023
Decent rapid fire overview of the available texts across a variety of sources in both Welsh and Latin.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews