Llyfr Taliesin
Llyfr Taliesin (the
Book of
Taliesin) is probably a copy of a collection of poems originally compiled around 1275 CE. It may have been intended
as a compendium of purported Taliesin poems. It contains 57 poems, including the twelve poems attributed to Taliesin by
Sir Ifor Williams, Armes Prydein Vawr and Cad Goddau. The latest poems are some twelfth-century religious poems. It has
76 folios numbered 3 to 80 (49 and 50 are lost).
It is one of a number of manuscripts (including MS Mostyn 117, MS Peniarth 6, MS Harley 4353, and Cotton
Cleopatra A.xiv) believed copied by a scribe based in south or mid-Wales not long before 1334. The manuscript was part of
Robert Vaughan's library at Henwrt before 1655 and later became part of the library at Peniarth. It is now at the National
Library of Wales (Peniarth MS 2).
The twelve poems attributed to Taliesin are published as 'Canu Taliesin' by the University of Wales
Press with extensive notes and introduction by Sir Ifor Williams. An edition of the poems in the original orthography, with
accompanying verse translations into English by Meirion Pennar, is published by Llanerch Press.
Taliesin Taliesin Poetry
|
 |