Arthur in the Celtic Languages: The Arthurian Legend in Celtic Literatures and Traditions ed. by Ceridwen Lloyd-Morgan and Erich Poppe

Abstract

Reviewed by: Arthur in the Celtic Languages: The Arthurian Legend in Celtic Literatures and Traditions ed. by Ceridwen Lloyd-Morgan and Erich Poppe Georgia Henley Ceridwen Lloyd-Morgan and Erich Poppe, eds., Arthur in the Celtic Languages: The Arthurian Legend in Celtic Literatures and Traditions. Arthurian Literature in the Middle Ages, 9. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2019. Pp. 408. isbn: 9781786833433. $100. Arthur in the Celtic Languages provides an expansive update of The Arthur of the Welsh: The Arthurian Legend in Medieval Welsh Literature, edited by Rachel Bromwich, A.O.H. Jarman, and Brynley F. Roberts (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1991), a set of influential essays on medieval Brythonic Arthurian literature that constituted the first volume of the now long-running series Arthurian Literature in the Middle Ages. The new volume will be immensely useful to researchers in Celtic and Arthurian studies and of great benefit to instructors preparing Arthurian literature or British literature courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels. The volume provides an update on scholarly assessment of Arthurian literature in the Brythonic languages and expands on its predecessor's remit by discussing Arthurian literature in modern Brythonic languages and in Irish and Scottish Gaelic. The Arthur of the Welsh was itself an update of R.S. Loomis, ed., Arthurian Literature in the Middle Ages: A Collaborative History (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1959), and Arthur in the Celtic Languages can be thought of as the third item in an unofficial sequence. In 1991, The Arthur of the Welsh established the parameters of the field, considering Welsh Arthurian literature in its own historical and cultural context and as the product of authorial intentions rather than as sources to be mined for events. Its methodological influence is felt in the present volume, which is interested in setting literature in its proper context (manuscript, historical, and authorial), shifting focus from Brythonic texts as sources for other vernacular literatures to an interest in the texts themselves (p. 2), and teasing out the distinctions where possible between local origins and international influences. The bid for comprehensive coverage of this topic represents a remarkable achievement. The volume is arranged as a handbook. The editors' introduction provides a valuable overview aimed at an audience new to the subject. The contents consist of twenty-four tightly argued, concise chapters organized under three headings: 'Wales,' 'Cornish and Breton Traditions,' and 'The Gaelic World.' Each chapter focuses on a single text, literary tradition defined by language, or genre, and the editors provide short contextual introductions when required. Nearly half of the chapters are necessarily dedicated to Arthurian literature from Wales, providing the essential details about the extant texts: manuscript context, evidence for composition date, plot, and debates in scholarship. Beyond that, the scope of an individual chapter depends on the interests of the contributor and the nature of the recent scholarship that needs summarizing, with the result that some chapters are more interested in textual variants, others in manuscripts, and others still in scholarly debates and/or in evaluating Welsh connections to the continent. The first section of the book ('Wales') updates The Arthur of the Welsh's coverage of the canon of Welsh Arthurian literature: chapters on the Welsh Arthurian poems (Nerys Ann Jones), the Merlin poems (John Bollard), Culhwch ac Olwen (Simon Rodway), Brut y Brenhinedd [End Page 126] (Katherine Himsworth), Geraint (Erich Poppe), Owain (Regine Reck), Peredur (Lloyd-Morgan), Breuddwyd Rhonabwy (Catherine McKenna), and Tristan (Jenny Rowland) bring scholarly discussion up to date, particularly on authorship, evidence for date of composition, and transmission. Similarly, Hervé Le Bihan's discussion of Arthurian references in medieval Breton texts introduces readers to the extant evidence for Arthurian tradition in Brittany, offering translations of a number of excerpts alongside scholarly synthesis. The 'Influences and Re-compositions' section supersedes The Arthur of the Welsh with discussions of the Triads (Rebecca Shercliff), Y Seint Greal (Lloyd-Morgan), references to Arthur in medieval Welsh poetry (Barry Lewis), folklore and popular tradition (Elissa Henken), place-names (Scott Lloyd), modern Welsh literature (Llŷr Gwyn Lewis), and a set of 'hybrid narrative texts' (The Birth of Arthur, Claddedigaeth Arthur, and Darogan yr Olew Bendigaid, discussed by Lloyd-Morgan). These chapters have a strong...