Speaking of dialogue: Ymddiddan Myrddin a Thaliesin reconsidered

Abstract

abstract: The first poem in the Black Book of Carmarthen (NLW Peniarth MS 1) is known as Ymddiddan Myrddin a Thaliesin 'The dialogue between Merlin and Taliesin'; YMTh), a title which appears neither in the manuscript nor in later medieval copies of the poem. Nevertheless, YMTh is consistently treated as a dialogue poem and is frequently invoked as exemplifying the genre of medieval Welsh dialogue poetry. Resting on an analysis of that poetry presented in a sister article, this paper re-evaluates YMTh and argues that it is not a dialogue poem at all. The rubrication of YMTh in the manuscript gives the work the façade of a dialogue which, once dismantled, reveals the text to be a composite comprised of two distinct poems. These are edited separately at the end of the paper, following a diplomatic text. Neither poem was a dialogue, but the naming of Myrddin and Taliesin in the final lines of the second either inspired the conversion of the composite text into a dialogue or reinforced the belief that it was one, probably under the influence of the conversation between these characters in the Vita Merlini . The evidence of a composite poem converted into an ymryson in the Hendregadredd Manuscript (NLW MS 6680B) supports the argument presented here, demonstrating that this type of scribal editorial activity is not unique to YMTh. The later copies and afterlife of YMTh are briefly discussed in an .