Edited by Rachel Bromwich
Published by University of Wales Press, Cardiff (2006)
Description
Rachel Bromwich's magisterial edition of "Trioedd Ynys Prydein"
has long won its place as a classic of Celtic studies. This substantially
revised edition shows the author's continued mastery of the subject, and will
be essential reading for Celticists, and for those interested in early British
history and literature and in Arthurian studies. Early Welsh literature shows
a predilection for classifying names, facts and precepts into triple groups,
or triads. "The Triads of the Isle of Britain" form a series of
texts which commemorate the names of traditional heroes and heroines, and
which would have served as a catalogue of the names of these heroic figures.
The names are grouped under various imprecise but complimentary epithets,
which are often paralleled in the esoteric language of the medieval bards,
who would have used the triads as an index of past history and legend. This
edition is based upon a full collation of the most important manuscripts,
the earliest of which go back to the thirteenth century. The Welsh text is
accompanied by English translations of each triad and extensive notes, and
the volume includes four appendices, which are also an important source of
personal names. The Introduction discusses the significance of "Trioedd
Ynys Prydein" in the history of Welsh literature, and examines the traditional
basis of the triads.
Review
Three Sinister (Ill-omened) Hard Slaps of the Island of Britain:
One of them Matholwch the Irishman struck upon Branwen daughter of Llyr;
The second Gwenhwyfach struck upon Gwenhwyfar: and because of that there took
place afterwards the conflict of the Battle of Camlan;
And the third Golydan the Poet struck upon Cadwaladr the Blessed.
The above is Triad No.53 recorded in the book and gives a flavour of the
text. It comes from the White Book of Rhydderch with the text partially restored
by reference to the Red Book of Hergest. These are two of the earliest manuscripts
we have in the Welsh language dating from the first quarter of the fourteenth
and first quarter of the fifteenth centuries respectively.
What are Triads? They are groupings of historical or legendary occurrences
into threes, it is thought possibly as mnemonics to help the Welsh Bards recall
the stories they had been taught. Some of them describe episodes from known
tales as the first listed above appears in the Second Branch of the Mabinogi,
but other are clearly from tales sadly lost to us.
Dr Rachael Bromwich gathered together all the Triads she could find from
manuscripts predating the eighteenth century revival (when many extra ones
were ‘found’ by such as Iolo Morganwg). These are the originals,
so far as they are known. This book represents a tour-de-force of scholarship
unequalled in its field since the first edition appeared in 1961. Indeed so
sought after has this book been that first and second (1978) editions have
been offered at well over £100 on the used book market. This is a unique
opportunity to purchase a classic of Welsh scholarship. I have it on the good
authority of the press themselves that only five hundred copies of the Third
Edition have been printed so I would advise anyone who wants it to buy a copy
quickly before the edition sells out. Dr Rachel Bromwich was ninety in July
2005. We have to be grateful to her for the effort she has put in to completely
revise the text of this book over a number of years. Her failing health meant
that others had to take over the final preparation of the book for the press
but it is virtually entirely her own work.
Each Triad is listed in the original Middle Welsh and in English and is fully
annotated with explanations of difficult words and cross-references to known
tales. Ninety-seven Triads are listed from a number of early manuscripts and
there are annotated appendices on the Names of the Island of Britain, the
Descent of the Men of the North, the Thirteen Treasures of the Island of Britain
and the Twenty-four Knights of Arthur’s Court. There are also notes
to personal names found in the Triads.
We have to applaud the University of Wales Press for producing a new edition
of this masterpiece.
Kestrel /|\
23 February 2006
Hardcover 768 pages (February 14, 2006)
Publisher: University of Wales Press
ISBN: 0708313868
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