Chwedleu seith doethon Rufein
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Middle Welsh version of a popular narrative collection known as the ‘Seven sages of Rome’, versions of which circulated in Latin, Old French and other languages.
Manuscript witnesses
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.
This is a new edition and translation of Chwedleu Seith Doethon Rufein, the Middle Welsh version of the popular medieval tales known as ‘The Seven Sages of Rome’. The text found in J MS 111 has already been published in modern Welsh, which limits its usefulness for those who are not fluent in that language. The only English translation available is an archaic, nineteenth century version which needs updating. This has been addressed here. Certain concepts are questioned, such as Lewis’s suggestion that the tales were the original work of a Welsh cleric and therefore constitute the first Welsh novel His opinion that J MS 20 is the oldest extant Welsh version of the tale is also investigated. The Welsh redaction itself is characterised by the usual medieval Welsh practice of abbreviation and concision. Here the translation of French Sept Sages is curtailed by the omission of direct speech and extraneous detail. Any deviation, such as borrowings from traditional Welsh tales, is therefore the more noteworthy. The pointed use of native literary tradition suggests that the author was an educated man, one not only fluent in French, as evidenced from his adaptation of the Sept Sages, but one well-versed in his own literary heritage. His exclusion of the scatological elements present in the French parent version may point to his religious calling but could also indicate that he was writing for a mixed audience: not only for men but also for women and children. The base text used here is the one found in Jesus MS 20, housed at the Bodleian Library, Oxford, though the two other manuscript witnesses, Jesus MS 111 (Llyfr Coch Hergest) and NLW Llanstephan MS 2, are also discussed. This present edition includes a brief history of the transmission of the tales from their Eastern origins to the West: to France and then on to Wales. This is followed by an overview of the cultural and historical background of the period, placing the tales in context. The conclusion drawn is that, though Chwedleu Seith Doethon Rufein, the Welsh redaction of the Sept Sages Romae, is but one small part of the international corpus of this literary tradition, it is a highly individual and therefore invaluable member of the genre.
Version from Cardiff, MS 3.4 (olim Cardiff 5), with variants from Cardiff MS 2.83 (olim Cardiff MS 5) in end notes.
Secondary sources (select)
This article sets out to explore some of the diffferences between Chwedlau Saith Doethion Rhufain, the Welsh version of Seven Sages of Rome, and its parent, the Old French Sept Sages de Rome, and suggest some reasons for these. The most obvious diffference is that the Welsh redaction is far shorter than the French, being about a third of its length. Another is that some of the tales appear in a diffferent position within the frame story, with one even changing sides in the argument, a most unusual feature. We also fijind that one tale which is present in all other versions of the Sept Sages is completely omitted from the Welsh, being replaced by a new story of the writer's own invention. Therefore, should we dismiss the Welsh version as a pale imitation of the French Sept Sages, an inferior, flawed product of an imperfect memory? Or is it a deliberately crafted work, refashioned to appeal to the native Welsh literary audience and having its own individual agenda? On closer examination it is possible to discern a defijinite programme on the part of the redactor, named in one manuscript (Oxford, Jesus MS 20) as Llewelyn Offfeiriad, Llewelyn the Priest. He brings a fresh approach to the traditional rendering of the Sept Sages tradition; tempering the out and out misogyny usually associated with the tales by the use of traditional Welsh literature, thereby adding an extra dimension to the narrative.
