Hanes Taliesin
The catalogue entry for this text has not been published as yet. Until then, a selection of data is made available below.
Manuscript witnesses
The second story.
First story of the version incorporated by Elis Gruffydd into his chronicle. The portion corresponding to ll. 31-85 of Ford's edition (Ystoria Taliesin) is wanting here.
Olim Llanover C 13. According to Ford, copied from H.
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.
Parts 5 (2nd part, continued from vol. 2): Pwyll -- 6. Branwen ... Manawydan ... Math, with title page dated 1845 -- 7. The dream of Maxen Wledig ... Lludd and Llevelys ... History of Taliesin, with title page dated 1849.
According to Ford, Guest used MS H (BL Add. 14873) for the first part of the text and MS M (NLW 13131A, by Iolo Morganwg) for the second part.
The stories in Tales of Merlin, Arthur, and the Magic Arts deal with well-known figures from medieval Britain who will be familiar to many readers—though not from the versions presented here. These freshly translated tales emerge from the remarkable and enormous sixteenth-century Chronicle of the Six Ages of the World by the Welshman Elis Gruffydd.
Tales of Merlin, Arthur, and the Magic Arts revives the original legends of these Welsh heroes alongside stories of the continued survival of the magical arts, from antiquity to the Renaissance, and the broader cultural world of the Welsh. These stories provide a vivid and faithful rendering of Merlin, Arthur, and the many original folktales left out of the widespread accounts of their exploits.
Edition based on NLW MS 5276iiD, with the missing portion supplied from David Parry's copy in NLW MS 6209E. The version from Pen. 111 is found in the appendix.