The Book of Taliesin: Poems of Warfare and Praise in an Enchanted Britain

Product Information

Meic Stephens, ed. (1998). "Book of Taliesin". The New Companion to the Literature of Wales. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. ISBN 0-7083-1383-3.

a b c d e f g "Deep Purple Live Index – search for Mk I (68/69)". Deep Purple Live Index.com . Retrieved 25 January 2014. There is praise poetry from the ‘Old North’ attributed to the figure sometimes called ‘the historical Taliesin’ as well as a great deal of poetry associated with the poet’s legendary manifestation. Description based on data extracted from World Digital Library, which may be extracted from partner institutions.

References

The book is in English and has been translated from Welsh by two of Wales's foremost Gwyneth Lewis and Rowan Williams, the former Archbishop of Canterbury. The original book dates from the 13th Century and is an anthology of 700 years of anonymous poetry about battles, more battles, heroes, mystery, and Christian faith. 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, St. Andrews, 177 - 204 He is character in Traci Harding's Chosen series starting with The Ancient Future Trilogy where he is an immortal time traveler trying to help the human soul mind evolution advance.

It was created around the year 1250, most likely in the Augustinian priory of St. John and Teulyddog at Carmarthen, where it was found when that monastic house was dissolved by Henry VIII’s agents. According to the Hanes Taliesin, he was originally known as Gwion Bach ap Gwreang. He was a servant of Cerridwen and was made to stir the Cauldron of Inspiration for one year to allow for Cerridwen to complete her potion of inspiration. The potion was initially intended for her son, Morfran, who although was considered frightfully ugly, she loved nonetheless, and felt that if he would not grow in beauty then he should have the gift of the Awen to compensate. Upon completion of this potion, three drops sprang out and landed upon Gwion Bach's thumb. Gwion then placed his thumb in his mouth to soothe his burns resulting in Gwion's enlightenment. Out of fear of what Cerridwen would do to him, Gwion fled and eventually transformed into a piece of grain before being consumed by Cerridwen. However, this resulted in Cerridwen becoming impregnated with the seed and upon giving birth, she could not bring herself to kill the baby Gwion. She instead cast him into the ocean in a large leather bag, where he was found by Elffin, who named him Taliesin. [18] This book is an excellent and informative translation of the medieval poems that are attributed to the Taliesin persona. This translation was performed by two eminent Welsh poets, the first being Gwyneth Lewis, known in part for her words which are inscribed above the Wales Millennium Center in Cardiff. There are contemporary passing allusions to the Battle of Trees elsewhere in the medieval Welsh collections: The Welsh Triads record it as a "frivolous" battle, while in another poem of the Book of Taliesin the poet claims to have been present at the battle. Taliesin was primarily a historical figure about whom legendary stories have been told, thus obscuring reality with myth and magic. A poet and bard of great renown, his wit and inspiration came from his spectacular rebirth at the hands of the white witch Ceridwen. Affected with the power of Awan, Taliesin was supernaturally beautiful and able to give accurate prophecy from a young age.Another of the greatest poems in the book is in this section, called “The Great Prophesy of Britain”, which introduces a lot of ideas that would appear in the later prophetic poems, borrowed and repurposed through the ages to accommodate whatever contemporary medieval concerns were relevant to the Welsh. what was included, what wasn't. thoughts about the history of the manuscript and it's compilation. the physical manuscript and how it's laid out.