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Astudiaethau ar yr Hengerdd = Studies in Old Welsh Poetry
English, Welsh
390 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1978
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 24, 2011
Book of essays, half in Welsh half in English. Pretty good for scholarship on the Cynfeirdd. I'd definitely join the Cylch yr hengerdd if i got the chance. Three quotes:
Behind the work of Aneirin and Taliesin lies a centuries-old poetic tradition, whose conventions in rhythm, alliteration , and rhyme, and probably even in certain formulaic patterns, were resistant to the major changes which marked the development of Welsh out of Brittonic, and successfully spanned the ‘great divide’ which this implied. The Cynfeirdd therefore deserve more properly to be regarded as forming a link in a continuous chain of Celtic eulogistic poets…
An incipient legend about Aneirin is discernible in the Gododdin. This legend does not seem to have developed, and between the thirteenth and sixteenth century Welsh tradition is strangely silent about Aneirin. Yet, from the early sixteenth century onwards it is Aneirin the philosopher and moralist, the composer of the Iry Mynydd stanzas whose name is preserved in popular tradition… The gnomic text in the book of Aneirin might be cited to confirm the view that Aneirin was considered at an early date to have composed wisdom literature of this kind. Conversely, the inclusion of a gnomic text in the Book of Aneirin perhaps by accident, might have ggiven subsequent generations the idea that this kind of verse was Aneirin’s forte. Perhaps indeed Gorchan Addefon was the only part of the Book of Aneirin which was at all intelligible for many generations..
I should very tentatively suggest that we do owe Canu Llywarch Hen to Merfyn, but only in an indirect sense. I would suggest that far from trying to promote the existing traditions about Llywarch, Merfyn or his successors did their best to surpress them. It may have been this official disapproval that induced one or more people to write down the surviving oral traditions about Llywarch in order to rescue them from disappearance. An attempt was made to create from the rather fragmentary and contradictory materials some kind of whole. Certainly the englynion in the Red Book and, more so, those in the Black Book, have every appearance of having been written up as ad hoc collections rescued from numerous, perhaps un-reliable, sources. If this surmise is at all correct, the process might be considered analogous with the final writing of the Pedeir Keinc; for the latter may have been written down just at the time when they were going out of currency. The compilers of Canu Llywarch, like those of the Pedeir Keincm seem to be drawing on a tradition of which they ‘did not fully possess the secret’.
Behind the work of Aneirin and Taliesin lies a centuries-old poetic tradition, whose conventions in rhythm, alliteration , and rhyme, and probably even in certain formulaic patterns, were resistant to the major changes which marked the development of Welsh out of Brittonic, and successfully spanned the ‘great divide’ which this implied. The Cynfeirdd therefore deserve more properly to be regarded as forming a link in a continuous chain of Celtic eulogistic poets…
An incipient legend about Aneirin is discernible in the Gododdin. This legend does not seem to have developed, and between the thirteenth and sixteenth century Welsh tradition is strangely silent about Aneirin. Yet, from the early sixteenth century onwards it is Aneirin the philosopher and moralist, the composer of the Iry Mynydd stanzas whose name is preserved in popular tradition… The gnomic text in the book of Aneirin might be cited to confirm the view that Aneirin was considered at an early date to have composed wisdom literature of this kind. Conversely, the inclusion of a gnomic text in the Book of Aneirin perhaps by accident, might have ggiven subsequent generations the idea that this kind of verse was Aneirin’s forte. Perhaps indeed Gorchan Addefon was the only part of the Book of Aneirin which was at all intelligible for many generations..
I should very tentatively suggest that we do owe Canu Llywarch Hen to Merfyn, but only in an indirect sense. I would suggest that far from trying to promote the existing traditions about Llywarch, Merfyn or his successors did their best to surpress them. It may have been this official disapproval that induced one or more people to write down the surviving oral traditions about Llywarch in order to rescue them from disappearance. An attempt was made to create from the rather fragmentary and contradictory materials some kind of whole. Certainly the englynion in the Red Book and, more so, those in the Black Book, have every appearance of having been written up as ad hoc collections rescued from numerous, perhaps un-reliable, sources. If this surmise is at all correct, the process might be considered analogous with the final writing of the Pedeir Keinc; for the latter may have been written down just at the time when they were going out of currency. The compilers of Canu Llywarch, like those of the Pedeir Keincm seem to be drawing on a tradition of which they ‘did not fully possess the secret’.
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December 2, 2010Table of Contents:
Gruffydd, R. G. "Canu Cadwallon ap Cadfan."
Charles-Edwards, T. M. "The authenticity of the Gododdin."
Evans, D. S. "Iaith y Gododdin."
Evans, D. E. "Rhagarweiniad i astudiaeth o fydryddiaeth y Gododdin."
Owen, M. E. "Hwn yw e Gododin. Aneirin ae cant."
Bromwich, R. "Cynon fab Clydno."
Jacobs, N. Y "traddodiad arwrol hen Saesneg o'i gymharu a'r dystiolaeth Gymraeg."
Thomson, R. L. "Amser ac agwedd yn y cynfeirdd."
Williams, J. E. C. "'Marwnad Cunedda' o Lyfr Taliesin."
Williams, N. J. A. "'Canu Llywarch Hen' and the Finn cycle."
Thomas, G. "Cân yr henwr (Llywarch Hen)."
Roberts, B. F. "Rhai o gerddi ymddiddan Llyfr Du Caerfyrddin."
Jarman, A. O. H. "Early stages in the development of the Myrddin legend."
White, R. "New light on the origins of the kingdom of Gwynedd."
Ashton, G. M. "Geirfa The heroic elegies of Llywarch Hen."
Gruffydd, R. G. "Canu Cadwallon ap Cadfan."
Charles-Edwards, T. M. "The authenticity of the Gododdin."
Evans, D. S. "Iaith y Gododdin."
Evans, D. E. "Rhagarweiniad i astudiaeth o fydryddiaeth y Gododdin."
Owen, M. E. "Hwn yw e Gododin. Aneirin ae cant."
Bromwich, R. "Cynon fab Clydno."
Jacobs, N. Y "traddodiad arwrol hen Saesneg o'i gymharu a'r dystiolaeth Gymraeg."
Thomson, R. L. "Amser ac agwedd yn y cynfeirdd."
Williams, J. E. C. "'Marwnad Cunedda' o Lyfr Taliesin."
Williams, N. J. A. "'Canu Llywarch Hen' and the Finn cycle."
Thomas, G. "Cân yr henwr (Llywarch Hen)."
Roberts, B. F. "Rhai o gerddi ymddiddan Llyfr Du Caerfyrddin."
Jarman, A. O. H. "Early stages in the development of the Myrddin legend."
White, R. "New light on the origins of the kingdom of Gwynedd."
Ashton, G. M. "Geirfa The heroic elegies of Llywarch Hen."
August 8, 2013
Most of this book was written in Welsh. That may serve as a roadblock to some and a hindrance to those who are not fluent (I count myself among the hindered), but it has a purpose. There is a fear in Welsh studies that writing cultural books in another language may help to extinguish the culture. I applaud the steps being taken.
That said, this book was a gathering of the great scholars writing on their best subjects. And, though it was twenty years old at the time, it was still necessary reading when I went to school. That truth holds to this day. Whichever group of the older stratum of poems you are studying, this book still has some thoughts that you should read.
That said, this book was a gathering of the great scholars writing on their best subjects. And, though it was twenty years old at the time, it was still necessary reading when I went to school. That truth holds to this day. Whichever group of the older stratum of poems you are studying, this book still has some thoughts that you should read.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews