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These are the oldest written tales concerning King Arthur. “On the evidence of the orthography and certain linguistic features of the text, it has been estimated that the tale took more or less its present shape sometime shortly before the eleventh century. It is therefore perhaps the earliest extant vernacular prose text from Wales.” Arthurian legend is very primitive in the triads. Further, he is glossed as a lesser hero. For example, it is suggested that rather than chivalrous battles Arthur engaged in guerilla warfare or solo missions against adversaries. “He is seldom portrayed as a mighty war leader against the Saxons”.That fact aside, the heroic age is still prevalent and well-connected with its’ pre-Roman roots. In one legend, Julius Caesar’s opponent Cassivellaunus surfaces as does the god Beli – the purported father of Arthur.The round table knight Tristan (dubbed Drystan), is introduced as a noble pig-herder in the Arthurian tales.

The Dream of Rhonabwy is considered another great source of Arthurian legend. Culwch and Olwen and Rhonabwy date back earlier than the 11th century but were not added to the White Book of Rhydderch until the 14th century. Culhwch and Olwen, is an important Welsh Arthurian tale, is extant in two manuscripts: a complete copy in the Red Book of Hergest, ca. 1400, and an incomplete one in the White Book of Rhydderch, ca. 1325.

“Stanzas of the Graves” (aka The Graves of the Warriors of Britain) are found in a number of Welsh manuscripts. The earliest and most important collection is in the”Black Book of Carmarthen” containing seventy-three stanzas; sixty-nine of which were copied in the second quarter of the thirteenth century and the other four (numbers 70 to 73) in the second half of the same century. Five such stanzas occur amongst the Llywarch verses in the “Red Book of Hergest” and it is known that these five were once in the earlier (fourteenth century) “White Book of Rhydderch.”

The stanzas themselves may well date to the ninth or tenth century. Certainly later court poets of the princes appear to have drawn on this information.

Literally “I have been,” is found in the Black Book of Carmarthen (Llyfr Du Caerfyrddin) which dates to 1250 but the poem itself is earlier, dating to the tenth or eleventh century. Four of the stanza commence: “I have been where ___ was slain”

This is an incomplete poem, usually dated to the eleventh century. It begins as a dialogue between Arthur and Glewlwyd, the porter or gate-keeper, but develops into a list of Arthur’s men and their exploits. Many of the names and references are similar to those in Culhwch ac Olwen.

The Battle of the Trees, from Preidu Annwn, is one of the transformation/prophecy poems of the legendary Taliesin.

Preserved in the thirteenth century, Llyfr Aneirin, Y Gododdin has a claim to be one of the earliest Welsh poems (or sequence of poems). It contains one reference to Arthur, which may or may not be a later interpolation; if it is original it is the earliest of all references to Arthur:

These are “The Triads of the Island of Britain” previously discussed on latter posts. It is believed that the triads evolved as mnemonic devices to assist the recollection of narrative material and that they were used in the bardic schools, with pupil bards learning triad sequences by heart. In all there are some 96 Triads contained in various Welsh manuscripts. Many of the Triads have Arthurian references (particularly in the later versions):

Three Red Ravagers of the Island of Britain:

Arthur,
and Rhun son of Beli,
and Morgant the Wealthy.

Three Generous Men of the Island of Britain:

Nudd the Generous, son of Senyllt,
Mordaf the Generous, son of Serwan,
Rhydderch the Generous, son of Tudwal Tudglyd.
And Arthur himself was more generous than the three.

Three Well-Endowed Men of the Island of Britain:

Gwalchmai son of Gwyar,
and Llachau son of Arthur,
and Rhiwallawn Broom-Hair.

Three Chieftains of Arthur’s Court:

Gobrwy son of Echel Mighty-Thigh,
Cadr(i)eth (‘Fine-Speech’) son of Porthawr Gadw,
and Fleudur Fflam (‘Flame’).

Three Frivolous (some say “scurrilous”) Bards of the Island of Britain:

Arthur,
and Cadwallawn son of Cadfan,
and Rahawd son of Morgant.

Three Powerful Swineherds of the Island of Britain:

Drystan son of Tallwch, who guarded the swine of March son of Meirchiawn, while the swineherd went to ask Essyllt to come to a meeting with him. And Arthur was seeking (to obtain)one pig from among them, either by deceit or by force, but he did not get it;

And Pryderi son of Pwyll, Lord of Annwfn, who guarded the swine of Pendaran Dyfed in Glyn Cuch in Emlyn;

And Coll son of Collfrewy, who guarded Henwen, the sow of Dallwyr Dallben, who went (when) about to bring forth(?), to Penrhyn Awstin in Cornwall, (and there she went into the sea). And at Aber Tarogi in Gwent Is Coed she came to land. And Coll son of Collfrewy with his hand on her bristles wherever she went, whether by sea or by land. And in the Wheat Field in Gwent she brought forth a grain of wheat and a bee; and therefore that place is the best for wheat and bees. And from there she went to Llonion in Pembroke, and there she brought forth a grain of barley and a bee. From thence she made for the Hill of Cyferthwch in Eryri; there she brought forth a wolf-cub and a young eagle. And Coll son of Collfrewy gave the eagle to Bre(r)nnach the Irishman of the North, and the wolf he gave to Me(n)waedd son of … Arllechwedd; and these were (the Wolf of) Me(n)waedd and the Eagle of Brennach. And from thence she went to the Black Stone in Llanfair in Arfon, and there she brought forth a kitten; and Coll son of Collfrewy threw that kitten into Menai. And she was afterwards Palug’s Cat.

Three Unfortuate Counsels of the Island of Britain:

To give place for their horse’s fore-feet on the land to Julius Caesar and the men of Rome, in requital for Meinlas;

and the second: to allow Horse and Hengist and Rhonwen into this Island;

and the third: the three-fold dividing by Arthur of his men with Medrawd at Camlann.

Three Unrestricted Guests of the Arthur’s Court, and Three Wanderers:

Llywarch the Old,
and Llemenig,
and Heledd.

Arthur’s Three Great Queens:

Gwenhwyfar daughter of (Cywryd) Gwent,
and Gwenhwyfar daughter of (Gwythyr) son of Greidiawl,
and Gwenhwyfar daughter of (G)ogfran the Giant.

And his Three Mistresses were these:

Indeg daughter of Garwy the Tall,
and Garwen (“Fair Leg”) daughter of Henin the Old,
and Gwyl (“Modest”) daughter of Gendawd (“Big Chin”).

Sources:

• http://www.britannia.com/history/

• http://www.mysticrealms.org.uk/

• The Arthur of the Welsh: Arthurian Legend in Mediaeval Welsh Literature (University of Wales Press – Writers of Wales) (Arthurian Literature in the Middle Ages) by Rachel Bromwich

“The Triads of the Island of Britain” also known as the “Welsh Triads” can be found on The Peniarth Manuscript Collection. The collection was established by Robert Vaughan (c.1592-1667), Hengwrt, Meirioneth, who gathered for his library manuscripts in the following languages:

Number 3 has gained a very important place within celtic symbolism, most of which I have already spoken on the previous blog post “The Trinity of Number 3” , and for sure has always alured celtic scholars and traditions. According to Celtic myth, the number connoted three goddesses; there were many different groups of three goddesses for varying situations represented differing deities. I have already discussed it’s relevance on “The Triads of Ireland”,

The Welsh Triads (Welsh: Trioedd Ynys Prydein, literally “Triads of the Island of Britain”) are a series of sayings written in three consecutive lines. The phrases serve to depict people, events, and places from Medieval Britain.

The triads are both a source of pride for the British people and are a semi-reliable source of historical information on the British Isles. The three-line writing form is thought to have been a mnemonic device for Bards; the prevalent heraldic tradition required a better method for recall.

The earliest triads date from pre-Saxon invasion literature.

The earliest surviving collection of the Welsh Triads is bound in the manuscript Peniarth 16, now at the National Library of Wales, which has been dated to the third quarter of the 13th century and containing 46 of the 86 triads edited by Rachel Bromwich.

Other important manuscripts include Peniarth 45 (written about 1275), and the pair White Book of Rhydderch (Welsh: Llyfr Gwyn Rhydderch) and Red Book of Hergest (Llyfr Coch Hergest), which share a common version of the Mabinogion clearly different from the version behind the collections in the Peniarth manuscripts.

The White Book of Rhydderch (Llyfr Gwyn Rhydderch) and the Red Book of Hergest hold the most complete and elaborate selection of the Welsh Triads. Further, it is widely held to be the earliest grouping of Welsh prose texts. The text today is divided into three texts: Peniarth MS 4- known as The Mabinogion,[11] and an incomplete one in the White Book of Rhydderch, ca. 1325. The Red Book of Hergest (Llyfr Coch Hergest) Paramount Welsh manuscript that dates from about 1382-1410. The work currently resides in the Bodleian Library. The manuscript is ultimately divided in twain: The initial is dominated by prose (which includes the Mabinogion and other myths) and the ever-present triads, and the latter portion is poetic. Also, the story of Culhwch and Olwen exists in its entirety in the manuscript. I will discuss about these books on detailed further posts

A range of characters, mythic and historical, appear in the Triads:
Mythic figures such as Bran the Blessed, undeniably historical personages such as Alan IV, Duke of Brittany (who is called Alan Fyrgan) and even Iron Age characters like Caswallawn (Cassivellaunus) and Caradoc (Caratacus). The Medieval Welsh tale Culhwch and Olwen, see below, has many triads embedded in its narrative.

These are the oldest written tales concerning King Arthur. “On the evidence of the orthography and certain linguistic features of the text, it has been estimated that the tale took more or less its present shape sometime shortly before the eleventh century. It is therefore perhaps the earliest extant vernacular prose text from Wales.” Arthurian legend is very primitive in the triads. Further, he is glossed as a lesser hero. For example, it is suggested that rather than chivalrous battles Arthur engaged in guerilla warfare or solo missions against adversaries. “He is seldom portrayed as a mighty war leader against the Saxons”.That fact aside, the heroic age is still prevalent and well-connected with its’ pre-Roman roots. In one legend, Julius Caesar’s opponent Cassivellaunus surfaces as does the god Beli – the purported father of Arthur.The round table knight Tristan (dubbed Drystan), is introduced as a noble pig-herder in the Arthurian tales.

The Dream of Rhonabwy is considered another great source of Arthurian legend. Culwch and Olwen and Rhonabwy date back earlier than the 11th century but were not added to the White Book of Rhydderch until the 14th century.

Culhwch and Olwen, an important Welsh Arthurian tale, is extant in two manuscripts: a complete copy in the Red Book of Hergest, ca. 1400, and an incomplete one in the White Book of Rhydderch, ca. 1325. On the evidence of the orthography and certain linguistic features of the text, it has been estimated that the tale took more or less its present shape sometime shortly before the eleventh century. It is therefore perhaps the earliest extant vernacular prose text from Wales. It contains the oldest written form of Arthur. Culhwch and Olwen, an important Welsh Arthurian tale extant in two manuscripts: a complete copy in the red book of hergest, ca. 1400 Culhwch and Olwen is the oldest Welsh literature and shows the most primal form of Arthurian legend. The story is about the knight Culhwch who is cursed by his step mother to woo Olwen, the daughter of a giant. Culhwch finds his way to the court of Arthur and we get the first view of the classic Arthurian court hospitality. There Arthur and his knights set out on a series of adventures. There is a huge separation between the language used in Culhwch and Olwen and the language found in the more formal Mabinogion. Culhwch and Olwen is a prime example of Old Welsh language while the Mabinogion displaces Middle Welsh.

The Mabinogion: ‘The Four Branches of the Mabinogi’, ‘Culhwch and Olwen’, ‘The Dream of Macsen Wledig’, ‘Lludd and Llefelys’, ‘Peredur’, ‘Owain’, and ‘Geraint and Enid’. The Mabinogion is a collection of eleven Welsh “tales of youth”. It was translated by Lady Charlotte Guest (1838–1839) and contains four tales from The Red Book of Hergest as well as fragments from the White Book of Rydderch. The tales were composed during the 11th and 12th centuries, and began full compilation by 1200. () Mabinogi refers to a group of four of the tales known as “Pedair Cainc y Mabinogoni”. The word is derived from the Welsh mab meaning ‘boy’ or ‘youth’. In addition to these four tales, the Mabinogion contains the texts of Culhwch and Olwen, the Dream of Maxen, Lludd and Llevelys, The Dream of Rhonabwy, The Lady of the Fountain, Son of Evrawg, and Gereint and Enid. Arthur appears in many of these tales. The four main branches of the tale include the tales of Pwyll, Branwen, Manawydan, and Math. All of these are stories on Celtic myths. The tales take place in a pre-Norman past, creating a strong sense of 11th century Welsh society and early Norman influence on the material life of the nobility. Within these four branches are other loosely-related stories, which adhere to Norman history. These serve as important histories as they were written before Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia Regum Britanniae, thus they are novus originae of Arthurian Legend tradition. For example, Culhwch ac Olwen, antedates the Norman Conquest. This story takes place in King Arthur’s court, and it describes a sequence of challenges in which Culhwch must accomplish to win the daughter of the gaint Ysbaddaden. These Welsh romances correspond to 12th century French Romances of Yvain, Perceval, Erec and Enide leading scholars to believe that these French or Breton tales derive from Welsh materials. The Mabinogion also inspired several modern English texts such as The Virgin and the Swine by Evangaline Walton.

Iolo Morganwg (Edward Williams), the 18th century Welsh antiquarian, compiled a collection of triads, which he claimed to have taken from his own collection of manuscripts. Some of his triads are similar to those found in the medieval manuscripts, but some are unique to Morganwg, and are widely believed to have been of his own invention. “Writers like Morganwg in the late 18th and early 19th centuries created a ‘pedigree’ of bardic activity”. One example of Morganwg’s contributions is the story of Dwynwen: the 5th or 6th century Welsh patron saint of lovers. Her story is depicted in three Latin prayers originally though, Morganwg conjured a fanciful tale to enrich the triad and make the story more mystical. Among his many contributions to Welsh culture, he also founded the Gorsedd Beirdd Ynys Prydain, “The Gorsedd of Bards of the Island of Britain”. A group that celebrates Welsh culture and still exists today.

For a complete edition, translation and commentary, see Rachel Bromwich, Trioedd Ynys Prydein. The Welsh Triads. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1961. A second edition appeared in 1978, and the third edition has just appeared; click here to read about this new edition on the University of Wales Press site.

See Llyfr Gwyn Rhydderch (the White Book of Rhydderch) online at the National Library of Wales

See Llyfr Coch Hergest (the Red Book of Hergest) online from the Early Manuscripts at Oxford project

See Mary Jones’s Welsh Texts site, with translations of the Triads from both the White and Red books