Welsh Triads
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| Series on Celtic mythology  |
| Ancient Celtic religion |
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Druids · Bards · Vates |
| British mythology |
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Welsh mythology |
| Gaelic mythology |
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Irish mythology |
| See also |
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Celt · Gaul |
The Welsh Triads (Welsh Trioedd Ynys Prydein, literally "Triads of the Island of Britain") are a group of related texts in medieval manuscripts which preserve fragments of Welsh folklore, mythology and traditional history in groups of three.
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[edit] Contents
The texts include references to King Arthur and other semi-historical characters from Sub-Roman Britain, mythic figures such as Bran the Blessed, undeniably historical personages such as Alan IV, Duke of Brittany (who is called Alan Ffyrgan) and even Iron Age characters like Caswallawn (Cassivellaunus) and Caradog (Caratacus).
Some triads simply give a list of three characters with something in common (such as "the three frivolous bards of the island of Britain") while others include substantial narrative explanation. The triad form probably originated amongst the Welsh bards or poets as a mnemonic aid in composing their poems and stories, and later became a rhetorical device of Welsh literature. The Medieval Welsh tale Culhwch and Olwen has many triads embedded in its narrative.
[edit] Earliest surviving collection
The earliest surviving collection of the Welsh Triads is bound in the manuscript Peniarth 16, now at the National Library of Wales, which has been dated to the third quarter of the 13th century and containing 46 of the 86 triads edited by Rachel Bromwich. Other important manuscripts include Peniarth 45 (written about 1275), and the pair White book of Rhydderch (Welsh: Llyfr Gwyn Rhydderch) and Red Book of Hergest (Welsh: Llyfr Coch Hergest), which share a comment version clearly different from the version behind the collections in the Peniarth manuscripts.
[edit] Later collections
The 18th century Welsh antiquarian Iolo Morganwg compiled a collection of triads, which he claimed to have taken from his own collection of manuscripts. Some of his triads are similar to those found in the medieval manuscripts, but some are unique to Iolo, and are widely believed to have been of his own invention.
[edit] References
- Rachel Bromwich, editor and translator. Trioedd Ynys Prydein: The Welsh Triads. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1978. ISBN 0-7083-0690-X
- W. Probert (trans) (1977), Iolo Morganwg, The Triads of Britain
