DOCSLIB.ORG

The Mabinogion Free Ebook

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Mabinogion Free Ebook FREETHE MABINOGION EBOOK Sioned Davies | 336 pages | 11 May 2008 | Oxford University Press | 9780199218783 | English | Oxford, United Kingdom The Mabinogion - Ancient Welsh tales of myths and legend T hose interested The Mabinogion Celtic mythology, historians of the Welsh nation and students of the Arthurian tradition will all, at one time or another, have found themselves directed to a collection of Middle Welsh prose known by the curious name of the Mabinogion pronounced Mabin- OGion. Compiled from texts found The Mabinogion two late-medieval manuscripts — the Red Book of Hergest and the White Book of Rhydderch — The Mabinogion collection was initially edited and translated by antiquarians The Mabinogion Pughe and Lady Charlotte Guest in the early nineteenth The Mabinogion. Guest and Pughe applied the term 'Mabinogion' based on The Mabinogion spurious plural of mabinogi to their translated The Mabinogion. While the Mabinogion collection itself The Mabinogion thus be regarded as a nineteenth century editorial creation, its constituent texts are authentic medieval productions, deriving from originals composed between the eleventh and the fourteenth centuries. They represent a golden age of narrative prose that flourished in Wales over the course of the central middle ages. This distinctive and evolving literary culture forms the context of the Mabinogion, and the focus of our interest in this introductory study. Eleven separate tales are normally included within the Mabinogion corpus. Within these, two subgroupings - 'the Four Branches of the Mabinogi' and the 'Three Romances' - are traditionally recognised. In chronological order, the texts are as follows:. The Mabinogion texts are concerned with the heroic age or mythological past of the British Isles. They were not original compositions, drawing as they did on pre-existing traditional material, whether from oral or written sources. But these traditions were reworked, often to reflect contemporary concerns. We might read the The Mabinogion as both an interpretation of a mythological past and a commentary on the medieval present. The two and half centuries during which the Mabinogion texts were being composed represent a threshold of critical transition in Welsh history and literature. Here, in this little-known corner of the European Middle Ages, we find the thought-worlds of oral The Mabinogion and literate proto-modernity face-to-face in curious The Mabinogion. The transition between the two can be traced as a literary process - which we can observe unfolding on the very pages of the Mabinogion. By the end of the twelfth century, Middle Welsh narrative prose was in The Mabinogion second or third generation, and along with poetical and triadic material formed part of an expanding, self-referencing literary tradition. Vernacular literary self-confidence, as well as foreign influence, accounts for the gilded splendour of thirteenth-century works such as the Three Romances and the Dream of Macsen Wledig. The conclusion of this tradition is marked by the Dream of Rhonabwywhere literary self-consciousness has come full-circle and finally turned in on itself — anticipating the sloughing of the medieval spirit that took place throughout Europe in the following centuries. Far from being 'a ruin of antiquity' — as Matthew Arnold misunderstood the Mabinogion i — these texts are better understood as constituent parts of a complex and ongoing literary conversation. Within this unfolding tradition, each name, motif and reiterated incident would have formed part of a cumulative constellation of meaning. To understand this intertextual culture, we need to taken in The Mabinogion of the broader historical development of Medieval Welsh literary prose: from the laconic marginalia of the Early British church; to the narrative interlacing of the Four Branches; to the florid fantasy of thirteenth-century Romance. This introduction will consider a number of themes The Mabinogion on the early development of Medieval Welsh literature. We will be looking at the role of the oral tradition — known as The Mabinogion cyfarwyddyd in Medieval Wales — which is especially relevant to the earlier Mabinogion texts. A clarification of the overlapping but distinct concepts of myth and storytelling will also be necessary to help us understand the primary elements of this prose ensemble. The social The Mabinogion of literacy as a general phenomenon, and the specifics of the vernacular literary culture in Wales will also need to be considered, in particular the so-called Triads of Britain, and works of the mythical Taliesinboth of which have close links to the Four Branches and Llud a Llefyls. It will be necessary for us to understand the The Mabinogion changes that were The Mabinogion place in Wales in the thirteenth century — an infusing of Romance and other Continental influences within and beyond the literary world which did so much to define the quality and content of the later Mabinogion texts. Finally, we will be looking at the manuscript tradition in thirteenth- and fourteenth-century Wales: a tradition which culminated in the Red and White Books in which the Mabinogion along with much of the rest of medieval Welsh literature has survived to The Mabinogion day. Professor D. Binchy once described medieval Irish society as 'rural, tribal, hierarchical and familiar'. The same might well be said to apply to much of western Britain in the early middle ages. Medieval Welsh The Mabinogion was organised around a network of tribal courts, each of which supported a 'household retinue' teulu of spear- carrying youths. Cattle-raiding and other forms of low-level conflict between and within these agnatic court communities were the norm rather than the exception. Tribal aristocracies The Mabinogion this type have thrived in a variety of contexts throughout the temperate world: from the Teutonic forests to the plains of the Masai Mara. It might be regarded as the characteristic social form of cattle-based economies at the 'Heroic Age' level of techno-cultural development. In pre- modern societies such as these, the oral tradition is the medium of collective memory: fluid in its details, but essentially static and conservative in its overall ethos. Its constituent elements might take the form of genealogies, origin legends, hero-tales, topographic lore, wisdom The Mabinogion proverbs and gnomic statementsanecdotes The Mabinogion agreements bearing on local law and custom. Early Welsh literature contains examples of all of these genres, and we might assume that much of this material was informed, directly or otherwise, by the ambiant oral tradition. A Welsh term for this body of recitational learning was the cyfarwyddyd cer-var-with-ida word which in the modern language simply means 'information' or 'instructions', but in the medieval period probably had a The Mabinogion closer to 'lore' or 'testimony'. Occasionally we find examples of the cyfarwyddyd recorded in writing in a more or less unprocessed The Mabinogion. Some interesting early examples, dateable back to the eighth or ninth centuries, are to be found inscribed onto the margins of an illuminated manuscript known as the Lichfield gospels, also known as the Book of Chad. Despite The Mabinogion association with the West Midlands, this holy book seems to have resided in a Welsh-speaking context at some stage in its history, as indicated by the presence of a number of scrawled notes written into its margins in the Old Welsh language. These marginal notices cover a variety of subjects, but one of the longer examples — the so-called Surexit memorandum — records what would appear to be resolution of a local land dispute:. Tudvwlch, the son of Liwid and son-in-law of Tudri, arose to claim the land of Telich, which was in the possession of Elcu, the son of Gelhi, and the tribe of Judgored : he complained long about it : at last they dispossess the son-in-law of Tudri of his right : the nobles said to one another 'let us make peace' : Elcu gave afterwards a horse, three cows, three newly The Mabinogion cows, provided only there be no hostility between them from this reconciliation thenceforth till the day of doom : Tudvwlch The Mabinogion his people will require aftewards no title for ever and ever. Witness Teilo, etc. Whoever observes it will be blessed, whoever breaks it will be cursed ii. A similar note further on in the manuscript records a list of rents due from various tenants on a local monastic estate. The informants responsible for The Mabinogion summary of rental dues are described as the cimguareitthe Old Welsh form of the word cyfarwyddiad'guides' or 'storytellers' i. Interestingly, we find the term used in The Mabinogion or less exactly the same context in the First Branch of the Mabinogi, when, after his defeat of Hafgan, Pwyll instructs the vanquished king's subjects to 'take a reckoning [ kyvarwyd ] and find out those who The Mabinogion me allegiance'. That such The Mabinogion should be recorded in the blank The Mabinogion of a holy book such as the Lichfield Gospels should not surprise us. The book, as a sacred object, The Mabinogion have been an appropriately august repository for the solemn agreement between the two feuding families — bound as it was by the holy and dread names of the local saints — as well as a natural enough place to record the rental dues from the monastic estate. The Mabinogion marginalia form part of a general trend which saw the Early Medieval Church with its privileged access The Mabinogion writing technologies employed by local elites as the guarantor of its legal and economic arrangements and a custodian of its communal records. What was originally entrusted to the memory of the cyfarwyddiad became increasingly committed to the The Mabinogion archives of the local monastery. An important branch of medieval Welsh literature owes its origins to this process. Among the most significant components of the cyfarwyddyd was genealogy. Who is related to whom is always the central question in tribal societies.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • A Lost Medieval Manuscript from North Wales: Hengwrt 33, the Hanesyn Hên
    04 Guy_Studia Celtica 50 06/12/2016 09:34 Page 69 STUDIA CELTICA, L (2016), 69 –105, 10.16922/SC.50.4 A Lost Medieval Manuscript from North Wales: Hengwrt 33, The Hanesyn Hên BEN GUY Cambridge University In 1658, William Maurice made a catalogue of the most important manuscripts in the library of Robert Vaughan of Hengwrt, in which 158 items were listed. 1 Many copies of Maurice’s catalogue exist, deriving from two variant versions, best represented respec - tively by the copies in Aberystwyth, National Library of Wales [= NLW], Wynnstay 10, written by Maurice’s amanuenses in 1671 and annotated by Maurice himself, and in NLW Peniarth 119, written by Edward Lhwyd and his collaborators around 1700. 2 In 1843, Aneirin Owen created a list of those manuscripts in Maurice’s catalogue which he was able to find still present in the Hengwrt (later Peniarth) collection. 3 W. W. E. Wynne later responded by publishing a list, based on Maurice’s catalogue, of the manuscripts which Owen believed to be missing, some of which Wynne was able to identify as extant. 4 Among the manuscripts remaining unidentified was item 33, the manuscript which Edward Lhwyd had called the ‘ Hanesyn Hên ’. 5 The contents list provided by Maurice in his catalogue shows that this manuscript was of considerable interest. 6 The entries for Hengwrt 33 in both Wynnstay 10 and Peniarth 119 are identical in all significant respects. These lists are supplemented by a briefer list compiled by Lhwyd and included elsewhere in Peniarth 119 as part of a document entitled ‘A Catalogue of some MSS.
    [Show full text]
  • The Fates of the Princes of Dyfed Cenydd Morus (Kenneth Morris) Illustrations by Reginald Machell
    Theosophical University Press Online Edition The Fates of the Princes of Dyfed Cenydd Morus (Kenneth Morris) Illustrations by Reginald Machell Copyright © 1914 by Katherine Tingley; originally published at Point Loma, California. Electronic edition 2000 by Theosophical University Press ISBN 1- 55700-157-x. This edition may be downloaded for off-line viewing without charge. For ease of searching, no diacritical marks appear in the electronic version of the text. To Katherine Tingley: Leader and Official Head of the Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society, whose whole life has been devoted to the cause of Peace and Universal Brotherhood, this book is respectfully dedicated Contents Preface The Three Branches of the Bringing-in of it, namely: The Sovereignty of Annwn I. The Council of the Immortals II. The Hunt in Glyn Cuch III. The Slaying of Hafgan The Story of Pwyll and Rhianon, or The Book of the Three Trials The First Branch of it, called: The Coming of Rhianon Ren Ferch Hefeydd I. The Making-known of Gorsedd Arberth, and the Wonderful Riding of Rhianon II. The First of the Wedding-Feasts at the Court of Hefeydd, and the Coming of Gwawl ab Clud The Second Branch of it, namely: The Basket of Gwaeddfyd Newynog, and Gwaeddfyd Newynog Himself I. The Anger of Pendaran Dyfed, and the Putting of Firing in the Basket II. The Over-Eagerness of Ceredig Cwmteifi after Knowledge, and the Putting of Bulrush-Heads in the Basket III. The Circumspection of Pwyll Pen Annwn, and the Filling of the Basket at Last The First Branch of it again: III.
    [Show full text]
  • Storytelling in Medieval Wales
    Oral Tradition, 7/2 (1992):231-57 Storytelling in Medieval Wales Sioned Davies The Storyteller Very little is known of the storyteller and his functions in medieval Welsh society. Welsh sources imply that tales were recited in prose by professional storytellers—the cyfarwyddiaid (singular cyfarwydd). In medieval Ireland, there is evidence to suggest that the composition of both prose and poetry was linked to the fili, the poet, although storytelling was not one of his main functions.1 In Wales, however, there is no direct evidence regarding the relationship between the bardd (poet) and cyfarwydd (storyteller). One much quoted passage in an eleventh-century tale tells of Gwydion and his companions visiting the court of Pryderi in the guise of poets2— They were made welcome. Gwydion was placed beside Pryderi that night. “Why,” said Pryderi, “gladly would we have a tale [cyfarwyddyd] from some of the young men yonder.” “Lord,” said Gwydion, “it is a custom with us that the first night after one comes to a great man, the chief bard [pencerdd] shall have the say. I will tell a tale gladly.” Gwydion was the best teller of tales [cyfarwydd] in the world. And that night he entertained the court with pleasant tales and storytelling [cyfarwyddyd] till he was praised by everyone in the court. —while on another occasion Gwydion, in the guise of a poet from Glamorgan (in South Wales) is made welcome at a North Wales court and narrates cyfarwyddyd (stories) after feasting (Jones and Jones 1949:67). Both passages are open to interpretation regarding the role and significance 1 Mac Cana 1980; see also Bromwich 1978:lxxxiii-lxxxvi.
    [Show full text]
  • A Welsh Classical Dictionary
    A WELSH CLASSICAL DICTIONARY DACHUN, saint of Bodmin. See s.n. Credan. He has been wrongly identified with an Irish saint Dagan in LBS II.281, 285. G.H.Doble seems to have been misled in the same way (The Saints of Cornwall, IV. 156). DAGAN or DANOG, abbot of Llancarfan. He appears as Danoc in one of the ‘Llancarfan Charters’ appended to the Life of St.Cadog (§62 in VSB p.130). Here he is a clerical witness with Sulien (presumably abbot) and king Morgan [ab Athrwys]. He appears as abbot of Llancarfan in five charters in the Book of Llandaf, where he is called Danoc abbas Carbani Uallis (BLD 179c), and Dagan(us) abbas Carbani Uallis (BLD 158, 175, 186b, 195). In these five charters he is contemporary with bishop Berthwyn and Ithel ap Morgan, king of Glywysing. He succeeded Sulien as abbot and was succeeded by Paul. See Trans.Cym., 1948 pp.291-2, (but ignore the dates), and compare Wendy Davies, LlCh p.55 where Danog and Dagan are distinguished. Wendy Davies dates the BLD charters c.A.D.722 to 740 (ibid., pp.102 - 114). DALLDAF ail CUNIN COF. (Legendary). He is included in the tale of ‘Culhwch and Olwen’ as one of the warriors of Arthur's Court: Dalldaf eil Kimin Cof (WM 460, RM 106). In a triad (TYP no.73) he is called Dalldaf eil Cunyn Cof, one of the ‘Three Peers’ of Arthur's Court. In another triad (TYP no.41) we are told that Fferlas (Grey Fetlock), the horse of Dalldaf eil Cunin Cof, was one of the ‘Three Lovers' Horses’ (or perhaps ‘Beloved Horses’).
    [Show full text]
  • An Unhappy Knight: the Diffusion and Bastardization of Mordred in Arthurian Legends from Select Works of the Sixth Through the Fifteenth Centuries
    An Unhappy Knight: The Diffusion and Bastardization of Mordred in Arthurian Legends from Select Works of the Sixth through the Fifteenth Centuries by Emerson Storm Fillman Richards University of Florida Center for Medieval and Early Modern Studies Department of English Department of Geography 16 June, 2010 Richards 1 Table of Contents: I. Introduction to Thesis 2 II. Geographical Diffusion 6 i. Geographic Effect on Interpretation of Arthurian Literature 15 III. Temporal Diffusion 18 i. Historia Regum Britanniae, A Starting Point 20 ii. Diffusion between Geoffrey of Monmouth & Gervase of Tilbury 22 iii. Otia imperialia 24 IV. Conclusion: Redemption of Mordred 27 Appendix 31 Bibliography 34 Richards 2 I. Introduction To Thesis Every nation has endemic legends, yet some “endemic” legends are paradoxically transnational; one such multinational “endemic” story is the set of legends forming the narrative of King Arthur and his knights of the Round Table. Despite a specific hearth in Wales, Arthurian legend has permeated European literature and culture. In order to further the understanding of the evolution of a medieval narrative tradition, specifically the Arthurian legend and the significance of the character Mordred to this series of legends, scholars must locate the different concerns, values and interests of the peoples that created the literature. The geographical movements, reasons for movement and subsequent locations of the authors, or performers, of Arthurian legend (as well as, any written and orally transmitted cultural artifact) are not only of interest, but necessary, to a complete scholarly understanding of the different Arthurian works and the contemporaneous time periods in which they were created.
    [Show full text]
  • CELTIC MYTHOLOGY Ii
    i CELTIC MYTHOLOGY ii OTHER TITLES BY PHILIP FREEMAN The World of Saint Patrick iii ✦ CELTIC MYTHOLOGY Tales of Gods, Goddesses, and Heroes PHILIP FREEMAN 1 iv 1 Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and certain other countries. Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, United States of America. © Philip Freeman 2017 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, by license, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reproduction rights organization. Inquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above. You must not circulate this work in any other form and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer. CIP data is on file at the Library of Congress ISBN 978–0–19–046047–1 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed by Sheridan Books, Inc., United States of America v CONTENTS Introduction: Who Were the Celts? ix Pronunciation Guide xvii 1. The Earliest Celtic Gods 1 2. The Book of Invasions 14 3. The Wooing of Étaín 29 4. Cú Chulainn and the Táin Bó Cuailnge 46 The Discovery of the Táin 47 The Conception of Conchobar 48 The Curse of Macha 50 The Exile of the Sons of Uisliu 52 The Birth of Cú Chulainn 57 The Boyhood Deeds of Cú Chulainn 61 The Wooing of Emer 71 The Death of Aife’s Only Son 75 The Táin Begins 77 Single Combat 82 Cú Chulainn and Ferdia 86 The Final Battle 89 vi vi | Contents 5.
    [Show full text]
  • UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations
    UCLA UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Birth Narratives in Indo-European Mythology Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/71m1f09s Author Pagé, Anna June Publication Date 2014 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Birth Narratives in Indo-European Mythology A dissertation submied in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Indo-European Studies by Anna June Pagé 2014 © Copyright by Anna June Pagé 2014 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Birth Narratives in Indo-European Mythology by Anna June Pagé Doctor of Philosopy in Indo-European Studies University of California, Los Angeles, 2014 Professor Joseph F. Nagy, Chair is dissertation presents a study of the shared themes and parallel narrative structures of a set of stories about extraordinary birth. Stories about extraordinary birth form a universal story-type that displays widespread and striking similarities in narrative traditions throughout the world. Stories of this nature are typically told about various types of important persons, such as heroes, kings, gods, and saints, and have most frequently been treated within the context of the “heroic biography’’ paern. Because of how well-aested this type of story is in all narrative traditions, a comparison of birth narratives from different Indo-European mythologies offers an ideal case study in the comparison and reconstruction of aspects of the Proto-Indo-European mythological system. While my primary focus is on stories from Indo-European sources, and particularly from Celtic, Greek, and Indic myth, several non-Indo-European examples of this type of narrative are also included in my discussion.
    [Show full text]
  • Introduction: to Be a Shapeshifter 1
    NOTES Introduction: To Be a Shapeshifter 1 . Sir Thomas Malory, Malory: Works , ed. Eugene Vinaver (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1978 ), 716. 2 . Carolyne Larrington, for example, points out that “Enchantresses . sometimes . support the aims of Arthurian chivalry, at other times they can be hostile and petty-minded.” See King Arthur’s Enchantresses: Morgan and Her Sisters in Arthurian Tradition (New York: I. B. Taurus, 2007), 2. While Larrington’s book provides a review of many of Morgan’s literary appearances, my study focuses on close reading, attention to translation issues, and discussion of social concerns. In her review of Larrington’s King Arthur’s Enchantresses: Morgan and Her Sisters in Arthurian Tradition , Elizabeth Archibald laments that “it would have been interesting to hear more about the ways in which Arthurian enchantresses do or do not resemble their Classical precursors, or indeed Celtic ones, in their use of magic and in their challenges to male heroic norms.” See Elizabeth Archibald, “Magic School,” Times Literary Supplement (February 2, 2007), 9. My study answers this cri- tique by reexamining pivotal scenes in critical texts and by dismantling the archetypal approach that Larrington follows. 3 . Norris J. Lacy, ed., The Fortunes of King Arthur (New York: D. S. Brewer, 2005 ), 94–95. 4 . Helaine Newstead, Bran the Blessed in Arthurian Romance (New York: AMS Press, 1966 ), 149. 5 . Elisa Marie Narin, “‘Þat on . Þat oÞer’: Rhetorical Descriptio and Morgan La Fay in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight ,” Pacific Coast Philology 23 (1988): 60–66. Morgan only partly fits the description of a supernatural ‘enemy’ provided by Hilda Ellis Davidson and Anna Chaudri; see n.
    [Show full text]
  • Arthurian Personal Names in Medieval Welsh Poetry
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Aberystwyth Research Portal ʹͲͳͷ Summary The aim of this work is to provide an extensive survey of the Arthurian personal names in the works of Beirdd y Tywysogion (the Poets of the Princes) and Beirdd yr Uchelwyr (the Poets of the Nobility) from c.1100 to c.1525. This work explores how the images of Arthur and other Arthurian characters (Gwenhwyfar, Llachau, Uthr, Eigr, Cai, Bedwyr, Gwalchmai, Melwas, Medrawd, Peredur, Owain, Luned, Geraint, Enid, and finally, Twrch Trwyth) depicted mainly in medieval Welsh prose tales are reflected in the works of poets during that period, traces their developments and changes over time, and, occasionally, has a peep into reminiscences of possible Arthurian tales that are now lost to us, so that readers will see the interaction between the two aspects of middle Welsh literary tradition. Table of Contents Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................... 3 Bibliographical Abbreviations and Short Titles ....................................................... 4 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 9 Chapter 1: Possible Sources in Welsh and Latin for the References to Arthur in Medieval Welsh Poetry .............................................................................................. 17 1.1. Arthur in the White Book of Rhydderch and the
    [Show full text]
  • John Cowper Powys's Porius: a Reader's Companion
    John Cowper Powys: Porius A Reader’s Companion Updated and Expanded Edition W. J. Keith April 2009 “Reader’s Companions” by Prof. W.J. Keith to other Powys works are available at: https://www.powys-society.org/Articles.html Preface The aim of this “Companion” is to provide background information that will enrich a reading of Powys’s novel/romance. It glosses Welsh, classical, biblical, and other allusions, identifies quotations, explains geographical and historical references, and offers any commentary that may throw light on the more complex aspects of the text. (When a quotation is involved, the passage is listed under the first word even if it is “a” or “the.”) It was first made available on the Internet and in booklet form in 2004, and has subsequently been updated and revised from time to time. The present version has been thoroughly reset and expanded. Numerous errors discovered in the intervening years have been corrected. All page-references are to Judith Bond and Morine Krissdóttir’s edition published by Overlook Duckworth in 2007, with those to Wilbur T. Albrecht’s 1994 edition from Colgate University Press following in square brackets. Since the latter contained many errors and inconsistencies, the words listed often appear there in somewhat different form. Moreover, because the editions are based on different copy-texts, some references appear only in one of the editions; when those occurring in only one version require separate annotation, they have been identified and glossed. References to other JCP books published during his lifetime will be either to the first editions or to reprints that reproduce the original pagination, with the following exceptions: Wolf Solent (London: Macdonald, 1961), Weymouth Sands (London: Macdonald, 1963), Maiden Castle (ed.
    [Show full text]
  • A Lost Medieval Manuscript from North Wales: Hengwrt 33, the Hanesyn Hên
    04 Guy_Studia Celtica 50 06/12/2016 09:34 Page 69 STUDIA CELTICA, L (2016), 69 –105, 10.16922/SC.50.4 A Lost Medieval Manuscript from North Wales: Hengwrt 33, The Hanesyn Hên BEN GUY Cambridge University In 1658, William Maurice made a catalogue of the most important manuscripts in the library of Robert Vaughan of Hengwrt, in which 158 items were listed. 1 Many copies of Maurice’s catalogue exist, deriving from two variant versions, best represented respec - tively by the copies in Aberystwyth, National Library of Wales [= NLW], Wynnstay 10, written by Maurice’s amanuenses in 1671 and annotated by Maurice himself, and in NLW Peniarth 119, written by Edward Lhwyd and his collaborators around 1700. 2 In 1843, Aneirin Owen created a list of those manuscripts in Maurice’s catalogue which he was able to find still present in the Hengwrt (later Peniarth) collection. 3 W. W. E. Wynne later responded by publishing a list, based on Maurice’s catalogue, of the manuscripts which Owen believed to be missing, some of which Wynne was able to identify as extant. 4 Among the manuscripts remaining unidentified was item 33, the manuscript which Edward Lhwyd had called the ‘ Hanesyn Hên ’. 5 The contents list provided by Maurice in his catalogue shows that this manuscript was of considerable interest. 6 The entries for Hengwrt 33 in both Wynnstay 10 and Peniarth 119 are identical in all significant respects. These lists are supplemented by a briefer list compiled by Lhwyd and included elsewhere in Peniarth 119 as part of a document entitled ‘A Catalogue of some MSS.
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter on History of the Otherworld
    PERCEPTIONS OF ANNWN: THE OTHERWORLD IN THE FOUR BRANCHES OF THE MABINOGI Rhian Rees MA Celtic Studies Dissertation Department of Welsh and Bilingual Studies Supervisor: Dr Jane Cartwright University of Wales Trinity Saint David, Lampeter 2012 2 ABSTRACT There is little description or positive information about the realm of Annwn in the Four Branches, and relatively few publications have explored the Otherworld in the Mabinogi in any depth. The redactor presumably did not deem such detail necessary since in his time the Otherworld was a place familiar to his audience from many other stories and folk-tales which have not survived to inform our own times. The objective of this thesis, therefore, is to establish the perceived location of the Celtic Otherworld, its nature and topography, and to obtain descriptions of its people, buildings and animals and any distinctive objects or characteristics pertaining to it. The ways in which Annwn influences each of the Four Branches are also considered. Some sketchy evidence is available in Welsh poetry, mostly various descriptive names reflecting different aspects of Annwn, but for more detailed information it is necessary to trawl the waters of early Irish literature. The Irish poems and stories give much fuller particulars of all characteristics of the Celtic Otherworld, though they do suggest that there was more than one such other world. Some parallels from Norse literature and the Lais of Marie de France also reinforce certain themes of this thesis, such as magical tumuli and magical bags and
    [Show full text]