Ystoria Taliesin

By Patrick K. Ford  1992 First Edition Hardback 8vo 175pp 1 monochrome facsimile frontispiece plate (“Part of NLW 5276D – Elis Gruffydd’s ‘Chronicle of the Six Ages of the World'”).  Original publisher’s dark green cloth with bright gilt-stamped title and editor to the spine.  In very good dustwrapper, spine slightly faded. Book and Dustwrapper Condition: Very Good.

Published on behalf of the Language and Literature Committee of the Board of Celtic Studies, this volume is the definitive scholarly edition of the primary Welsh prose legend of the legendary bard Taliesin. Renowned Celticist Patrick K. Ford edits the narrative text directly from its principal primary source: the mid-16th-century manuscript compiled by the soldier-chronicler Elis Gruffydd. The volume provides the complete Middle Welsh text with critical orthographic notes, variant readings, and a extensive literary introduction investigating the mythological roots of the Gwion Bach transformation, Ceridwen’s cauldron, and the shamanic themes of prophetic poetry.

This edition of the text is accompanied by notes, an introduction, and glossary. The work concludes with a comprehensive, double-column “Index of Personal and Place Names” from page 171 to page 175.

A 1992 first edition critical textual edition of the primary legendary prose narrative of Taliesin, edited from Elis Gruffydd’s 16th-century manuscript. Features the full Middle Welsh text, detailed linguistic commentary, and an onomastic index.