Texts

An dialog etre Arzur Roe d’an Bretounet ha Guynglaff ‘The dialogue between Arthur king of the Bretons/Britons and Guynglaff’

  • Middle Breton
  • verse

Middle Breton poem (247 lines) of political prophecy written c.1450. The poem is framed as a dialogue between King Arthur, who asks the questions, and Guynglaff (Gwenc'hlan), a wild man of the woods who is able to prophesy future events of a calamitous nature.

Manuscripts
(Unidentified)
Le Pelletier (below) used two versions both of which are now lost.
Language
  • Middle Breton
Date
Middle of the 15th century.
Form
verse (primary)
Length
Number of lines: 247

Classification

Subjects

King ArthurKing Arthur
Entry reserved for but not yet available from the subject index.

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GuynglaffGuynglaff
Entry reserved for but not yet available from the subject index.

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Keywords

Wild menWild men
...

PropheciesProphecies
...

Sources

Primary sources Text editions and/or modern translations – in whole or in part – along with publications containing additions and corrections, if known. Diplomatic editions, facsimiles and digital image reproductions of the manuscripts are not always listed here but may be found in entries for the relevant manuscripts. For historical purposes, early editions, transcriptions and translations are not excluded, even if their reliability does not meet modern standards.

[ed.] [tr.] Le Bihan, Hervé, An dialog etre Arzur Roe d'an Bretounet ha Guynglaff = Le dialogue entre Arthur roi des Bretons et Guynglaff: texte prophétique breton en vers (1450), Rennes: TIR, 2013.
Edition with translation into French, introduction and notes.
[tr.] Minard, Antone, “‘The dialogue between King Arthur and Gwenc'hlan’: a translation”, Comitatus: A Journal of Medieval and Renaissance Studies 30 (1999): 167–179.
– eprint: <link>

Secondary sources (select)

Le Bihan, Herve, “An dialog etre Arzur Roe d’an Bretounet ha Guynglaff and its connections with Arthurian tradition”, Proceedings of the Harvard Celtic Colloquium 29 (2009, 2011): 115–126.
Le Bihan, Hervé, “Arthur in earlier Breton traditions”, in: Ceridwen Lloyd-Morgan, and Erich Poppe (eds), Arthur in the Celtic languages: the Arthurian legend in Celtic literatures and traditions, 9, Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2019. 281–303.
Contributors
C. A., Dennis Groenewegen
Page created
April 2020, last updated: June 2023