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Taliesin

"Gwion" redirects here. For other uses, see Gwion (disambiguation).
For other uses, see Taliesin (disambiguation).

Taliesin
An illustration of a baby being discovered by an adult female in a basket floating upon some open water. An adult male watches the discovery.
The finding of Taliesin by Elphin and Angharad, F. H. Townsend's illustration for Thomas Love Peacock's The Misfortunes of Elphin (1897)
NationalityBriton
Other namesGwion Bach ap Gwreang
Years active6th century CE
Notable workLlyfr Taliesin

Taliesin (/ˌtælˈjɛsɪn/ tal-YES-in, Welsh: [talˈjɛsɪn]; fl. 6th century AD) was an early Brittonic poet of Sub-Roman Britain whose work has possibly survived in a Middle Welsh manuscript, the Book of Taliesin. Taliesin was a renowned bard who is believed to have sung at the courts of at least three kings.

In 1960, Ifor Williams identified eleven of the medieval poems ascribed to Taliesin as possibly originating as early as the sixth century, and so possibly being composed by a historical Taliesin.[1] The bulk of this work praises King Urien of Rheged and his son Owain mab Urien, although several of the poems indicate that Taliesin also served as court bard to King Brochfael Ysgithrog of Powys and his successor Cynan Garwyn, either before or during his time at Urien's court. Some of the events to which the poems refer, such as the Battle of Arfderydd (c. 573), are referred to in other sources. John T. Koch argues that the description of Easter in the praise poem Yspeil Taliesin ('The Spoils of Taliesin') indicates that Urien and Taliesin were Christians who adhered to the Latin rather than the Insular observance of Easter.[citation needed] He also suggests that the figure of Taliesin served as a bridge between the worlds of Brittonic Christian Latin literature and the Heroic Age court poets, allowing monastic scribes to cultivate vernacular poetry.[2]

In legend and medieval Welsh poetry, he is often referred to as Taliesin Ben Beirdd ("Taliesin, Chief of Bards" or chief of poets). He is mentioned as one of the five British poets of renown, along with Talhaearn Tad Awen ("Talhaearn Father of the Muse"), Aneirin, Blwchfardd, and Cian Gwenith Gwawd ("Cian Wheat of Song"), in the Historia Brittonum, and is also mentioned in the collection of poems known as Y Gododdin. Taliesin was highly regarded in the mid-12th century as the supposed author of a great number of romantic legends.[3]

According to legend Taliesin was adopted as a child by Elffin, the son of Gwyddno Garanhir, and prophesied the death of Maelgwn Gwynedd from the Yellow Plague. In later stories he became a mythic hero, companion of Bran the Blessed and King Arthur. His legendary biography is found in several late renderings (see below), the earliest surviving narrative being found in a manuscript chronicle of world history written by Elis Gruffydd in the 16th century.

  1. ^ The Poems of Taliesin, ed. by Ifor Williams, trans. by J. E. Caerwyn Williams, Mediaeval and Modern Welsh Series, 3 (Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1987 [repr. from 1968; first publ. Canu Taliesin 1960]).
  2. ^ Koch, John T., "Waiting for Gododdin: Thoughts on Taliesin and Iudic-Hael, Catreath, and unripe time in Celtic studies" in Woolf, Alex (ed.)(2013), Beyond the Gododdin: Dark Age Scotland in Medieval Wales, University of St. Andrews, pp. 177 - 204, ISBN 9780951257388
  3. ^ Griffin (1887)[page needed]

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