Book of Taliesin

The Book of Taliesin is a medieval Welsh manuscript copied around 1300. It preserves poems attributed to the sixth-century poet Taliesin alongside religious, legendary, and learned works.

Connect

Middle Welsh: The stage of the Welsh language used from roughly the twelfth through the fourteenth centuries. The manuscript’s language places its copying and many of its texts in medieval Wales.
Canu Taliesin: A body of Welsh poems attributed to Taliesin, including praise poetry and works of legendary learning. Several poems in the manuscript belong to this attributed corpus.
Book of Aneirin: A medieval Welsh manuscript preserving poems attributed to the early poet Aneirin. It is a close manuscript parallel for the transmission of early Welsh poetry.
Cad Goddeu: A Welsh poem, often called the Battle of the Trees, describing a magical conflict through enigmatic verses. It is among the manuscript’s most striking works of mythic and obscure poetry.
Welsh poetry: Poetry composed in the Welsh language across historical periods and literary traditions. The manuscript preserves works within a long Welsh poetic tradition.
Welsh mythology: The traditional stories and supernatural figures of Wales and its literary culture. Some poems preserve mythic figures and narratives otherwise known through Welsh texts.
Robert Vaughan of Hengwrt: A seventeenth-century Welsh antiquary and collector of manuscripts. His collection preserved the manuscript within the Hengwrt library.
Preiddeu Annwfn: A Welsh poem narrating a perilous expedition to Annwn, the otherworld in Welsh tradition. Its otherworld voyage exemplifies the collection’s legendary and visionary material.
Medieval manuscript: A handwritten book or document produced in Europe during the Middle Ages. The Book of Taliesin is a bound collection copied by hand, not a single authored work.
Arthurian literature: Literature about King Arthur and the people, conflicts, and marvels associated with him. The manuscript’s Welsh legendary material helps illuminate traditions surrounding Arthur.