Dr Jenny Day Research Seminar

In addition to the seven early Welsh poems that contain prophecies of Myrddin (Merlin) and allusions to his story, some two hundred later poems attributed to him are to be found in manuscripts dating from the fifteenth to the eighteenth century. A substantial proportion of these are dialogue poems and it is they that are discussed in this seminar, focussing on the portrayal of Myrddin himself and of his companions, especially his sister Gwenddydd, and the form and nature of the poems themselves. Though many were clearly inspired by the important early poem ‘Cyfoesi Myrddin a Gwenddydd ei chwaer’, the influence of the prophetic poetry of Taliesin can also be discerned, and one particularly striking feature is the multiple versions of the same poem that are often preserved, reflecting adaptation and reinterpretation in different historical periods. By contrast, Myrddin himself, in his woodland home, seems to have been envisaged as a timeless authority figure through the centuries.