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Rowland, J.: A selection of early Welsh saga poems

The fifth contribution to the series ‘Library of Medieval Welsh Literature’, the edition of selected early Welsh saga poems by Jenny Rowland, is another step of introducing the wide spectrum of the early literature of Wales to readers who are only beginning to make its acquaintance. In the case of prose texts, especially native ones, the proportion of beginner-friendly editions, provided with glossaries and extensive notes, had been quite high already by the end of the 20th century (cf., e.g. Thomson 1957 or Evans 1988). However, the number of such publications in the field of poetry was until recently much smaller. The ‘Library of Medieval Welsh Literature’ preserves a nice balance between prose and poetry texts, and makes it much easier for students of the language to learn about the complicated poetic tradition, taking guidance from the authors of the books, which are equally suitable for use in Middle Welsh courses at the universities and for self-study. All five books of the series combine the original research of their authors with a long-term didactic experience, which makes the whole series a success. The edition here reviewed consists of the following sections: Acknowledgments, Abbreviations and Bibliography at the beginning of the volume, a rather long Introduction (pp. xv–xxxii), Texts, divided in four parts: I. ‘Gwên a Llywarch’ and ‘Marwnad Gwên’; II. ‘Cân yr Henwr’; III. Canu Heledd; IV. ‘Llym Awel’ (edited also in another volume of the series, Jacobs 2014: 1–4); Notes (pp. 21–74) and Glossary (pp. 75–112). In the introduction J. Rowland suggests that the saga englynion are ideally suited to begin the study of early medieval Welsh poetry. Their texts ‘are generally well-preserved and their dating and origin are less controversial’ [than that of the earliest praise poetry]; moreover, their ‘style is relatively direct and unelaborate’ [compared to the poetry from the period of the Poets of the Princes]. They also have a ‘wider appeal for modern readers than praise poetry or other genres such as gnomic and religious verse’ (p. xv). Recognising the need for an understanding of the context of these poems, Rowland discusses the most important points. She covers several questions with a long academic discussion of the history of scholarship, starting with the issue of ‘Prose-verse Composition’ (pp. xv–xviii). In the ‘Interpretation’ section she notes, ‘Poems I, II and IV all explore the limits of heroism in a way not appropriate to bardic praise poetry, giving a more balanced picture of the warrior ethos’ (p. xviii), discussing the role of fate in the poems and a different set of themes in Canu Heledd. A further section helps to understand the role of ‘Nature Imagery, Gnomes and Proverbs’ (pp. xxi–xxii) in the texts, which require additional explanation for an adequate understanding of the poems by a modern reader. A short, but informative section on metrics follows (pp. xxii–xxvi), covering the varieties of