Llanerch Press

The poetry of Taliesin is of enduring interest. Taliesin is best-known for a number of poems reflecting the ancient lore and belief of the Cymric Celts; but he did not write them. Here we present the poems of the real Taliesin, a sixth-century bard who sang the praises of a number of kings from Wales to the North of England, and Scotland. He probably originated from the Welsh kingdom of Powys, but then went North and found there a king fitting to his dynamic muse, Urien of Rheged. Dunragit on t.......

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by William of Malmesbury and translated by Frank Lomax.
W. of M. is generally regarded as one of the most astute and reliable of the medieaval historians. His book covers the period from AD 63 to 1126, and takes the form of a treatise on "The Antiquities of Glastonbury" beginning with the legends of Joseph of Arimathea. It was probably written towards 1135.

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A facsimile reprint of the 1866 edition.
The Abbey of Glastonbury is one of those to which a peculiar interest has always been attached. The boldness of its legendary history, which claims for its site the privileges of being that on which the first Christian church was erected in our island, and the burial-place of King Arthur and Joseph of Arimathea.

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Set down in the 12th century but drawing on sources of much greater antiquity, these two linked stories are cast in the mould of the early Irish myths and sagas and yet bear impressively on real historical events of the early 7th century.

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A product of St. John's Priory, Carmarthen, the famous Black Book includes a mixture of thirteenth-century secular and religious items penned by a Welsh monk, but there are also passages purporting to come from more ancient times. Meirion Pennar's selected translations include the dialogue between Myrddin (Merlin) and Taliesin, and the verses said to have been written by Merlin after the Battle of Arderydd, when he was hiding in the Caledonian Forest.

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Thomas Taylor's book includes chapters on the Celts, Cornwall and Brittany, the Celtic community of Cornwall, the monastery-bishoprics of Cornwall, the evolution of the diocesan bishopric, Cornish saints, ancient religious houses, Cornish hermits, and St. Michael's Mount. The Author was vicar of St. Just-in-Penwith from 1900. He died in 1938 at the age of eighty. The present paperback is a facsimile reprint of the edition of 1916.

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The Dragon Myth occurs in many lands; it seems to have originated from the region of the Eastern Mediterranean. Here it is presented in the forms in which J. F. Campbell found it in the Highlands and Islands. In his own words "it treats of water, egg, mermaid, sea-dragon, tree, beasts, birds, fish, metals, weapons, and men mysteriously produced from sea-gifts; they are all water myths, and relate to the slaying of water-monsters".

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John Davies wrote a number of papers on the Celtic element of the English people that were published in the latter part of the nineteenth century in the pages of Archaeologia Cambrensis, viz:
The Celtic Element of the English People, fourth series vol.x, 1879, part I Historical, vol.xi, 1880, part II The philological argument.
The Celtic Element in the Lancashire Dialect, fourth series vol,xiii, 1882, and vol.xiv, 1883.
The Celtic Element in the Dialects of the Counties adjoining Lancashire, fif.......

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The county of Glamorgan is rich with the remains of its Celtic past. This book looks at the little-known legends and folklore that enrich Glamorgan's landscape, and includes tales from Cardiff, Neath Pontypridd and Kenfig. The stories tell of King Arthur, Glamorgan's Merlin, knights, fairies and ancient gods. The book is illustrated throughout by a Welsh Celtic artist, and the meanings of the tales are also discussed to show their deeper roots and ancient origins

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The Welsh have been celebrating the exploits of King Arthur in poetry and prose since the early Dark Ages, and there is much to suggest that their fellow Celts, Cornishmen, Bretons and Gaels, were also familiar with his shadowy figure. The debate over Arthur's origins is re-opening; could he have been an Irishman? - Indeed, did he exist at all?

Jon Coe has kindly transcribed a Names Index for The Celtic Sources of the Arthurian Legend. The website can be found at ISBN: 1897853831

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