Overview

Edition and translation of this important genre of Old Welsh poetry. The ""Stanzas of the Graves"" or ""Graves of the Warriors of the Island of Britain"", attributed to the legendary poet Taliesin, describe ancient heroes' burial places. Like the ""Triads of the Island of Britain"", they are an indispensable key to the narrative literature of medieval Wales. The heroes come from the whole of Britain, including Mercia and present-day Scotland, as well as many from Wales and a few from Ireland. Many characters known from the Mabinogion appear, often with additional information, as do some from romance and early Welsh saga, such as Arthur, Bedwyr, Gawain, Owain son of Urien, Merlin, and Vortigern. The seventh-century grave of Penda of Mercia, beneath the river Winwaed in Yorkshire, is the latest grave to be included. The poems testify to the interest aroused by megaliths, tumuli, and other apparently man-made monuments, some of which can be identified with known prehistoric remains. This volume offers a full edition and translation of the poems, mapped with reference to all the manuscripts, starting with the Black Book of Carmarthen, the oldest extant book of Welsh poetry. There is also a detailed commentary on their linguistic, literary, historical, and archaeological aspects.

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9781843847069

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Reviews

There is no question that this book is one of the most important studies of early Welsh literature published in this generation. The depth of scholarship is astounding, and we are led through potentially complex material by a highly expert guide who presents the fascinating material clearly. Patrick Sims-Williams's masterful study of this compelling poetry will doubtless stand as a model for future textual scholarship on early Welsh literature. * SPECULUM *

There is no question that this book is one of the most important studies of early Welsh literature published in this generation. The depth of scholarship is astounding, and we are led through potentially complex material by a highly expert guide who presents the fascinating material clearly. Patrick Sims-Williams's masterful study of this compelling poetry will doubtless stand as a model for future textual scholarship on early Welsh literature. * SPECULUM * Patrick Sims-Williams's The Medieval Welsh Englynion y Beddau is a monumental edition, translation, and maximalist commentary on the Middle Welsh poems known as Englynion y Beddau, 'The Stanzas of the Graves', which enumerate the burials of numerous (pseudo) historical figures from the Welsh past. * ARCHAEOLOGIA CAMBRENSIS * Elucidates an important piece of medieval Welsh literature that has received comparatively little scholarly attention in recent years. It is inarguable that Patrick Sims-Williams has produced a significant work of scholarship that substantially deepens our understanding of this opaque and highly referential sequence of poetry. * NORTH AMERICAN JOURNAL OF CELTIC STUDIES *

Author Information

Patrick Sims-Williams is a Fellow of the British Academy and an Honorary Member of the Royal Irish Academy; he was formerly Reader in Celtic and Anglo-Saxon in the University of Cambridge and Professor of Celtic Studies at Aberystwyth University.

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