The original Welsh stories of these beloved characters and their world for the first time in English
The stories in Tales of Merlin, Arthur, and the Magic Arts deal with well-known figures from medieval Britain who will be familiar to many readers—though not from the versions presented here. These freshly translated tales emerge from the remarkable and enormous sixteenth-century Chronicle of the Six Ages of the World by the Welshman Elis Gruffydd.
Tales of Merlin, Arthur, and the Magic Arts revives the original legends of these Welsh heroes alongside stories of the continued survival of the magical arts, from antiquity to the Renaissance, and the broader cultural world of the Welsh. These stories provide a vivid and faithful rendering of Merlin, Arthur, and the many original folktales left out of the widespread accounts of their exploits.
Author(s): Elis Gruffydd
Series: World Literature in Translation
Publisher: University of California Press
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 169
City: Oakland
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Contents
Introduction: Elis Gruffydd and His Chronicle, Jerry Hunter
Translator’s Note, Patrick K. Ford
The Texts
I. Earliest Times, Biblical and Ancient
The Birth of Hercules
The Birth of Alexander
The Story of the Rood
The Tower of Babel
The Origins of Britain
II. Merlin and Arthur
The Birth of Merlin the Prophet
Merlin and the Threefold Death
Merlin and the Dreams of Gwenddydd
Merlin’s Prophecy and the Reign of Caswalldan
Custennin and the Rise of Gwrtheyrn/Vortigern
Gwrtheyrn and Saint Germain
Gwrtheyrn and the Falling Castle
Gwrtheyrn’s Reign, Hengist, and Horsa
Merlin and Stonehenge
Merlin Explains the Dragon Image
Uthyr Defeats the Saxons, Arthur Is Born
The Death of Uthyr Pendragon
Merlin Helps Arthur in His Earliest Battles
Arthur and the Sword in the Stone
The Death of Merlin
Huail Son of Caw and Arthur
Arthur Dreams of the Loss of Kingship
Arthur and the Round Table
The Final Battle, Arthur Dies
Arthur’s Cave Found
Charlemagne and Arthur
III. Tales of Magic, Prophecy, and the Supernatural
Maelgwn Gwynedd, His Wife, and the Ring
The Story of Gwion Bach
The Epiphany of Taliesin
An Unfortunate Witch
The Ring and the Necromancer
Two Women and a Dead Husband
A Sorcerer Who Fared Less Well
Henry II: Piggyback Follies and an Ugly Priest
The Prophesied Death of Edward I (the Confessor)
Swearing on Bread in the Time of King Edward the Confessor
The Reign of William II and His Death
The Dream of Henry I and Matilda
The Earl of Anjou Who Married a She-Devil
Edward III and the Garter
The Plague in the Time of Edward III
Henry VI and His Gloves
The Death of Edward IV
Llywelyn, Prince of Wales, and the Fool
Richard I, the Lion, and the Heart
Owain Tudur and Catherine de Valois and the Rise of the Tudors
Henry VII and Necromancy
Thomas More and the Garden of Pain
Sir Thomas More and the Necromancer
A Ghost Story for Henry VIII
Rhobin Ddu
Charles V and the Astronomer
Glossary
