For anyone interested in unique stories of historical myth, this book is worth it for the introduction alone. Tales Of Merlin, Arthur And The Magic Art’s introduction, written by Professor Jerry Hunter, recounts the near-unbelievable saga of our author, Ellis Gruffydd. The soldier and scholar, stationed in London and Calais in the 16th century, hastily wrote a 2,000-page chronicle of the world – from its creation to the time of his contemporary king, Henry VIII – in Welsh, during his downtime.
This translation by Patrick K Ford marks the first time some of this huge body of work has been published in English – a feat in itself if you look at the original manuscripts, scribbled by Gruffydd and mainly devoid of punctuation. The stories themselves are written in the factual style of most folk tales, with Gruffydd drawing from many different sources, in many different languages, for his text.
And this, assert Hunter and Ford, is what marks Gruffydd out as exceptional. He is telling the tales of Adam and Eve, King Arthur and Merlin, Charles V and Cortez from a unique perspective: a Welshman drawing on contemporary narratives and oral history, and, refreshingly, often offering his own opinion or that of ‘intelligent men’ of the time. Fantastic work has been done to bring this astounding historical epic to a wider 21st-century audience.
Tales Of Merlin, Arthur And The Magic Arts, Elis Gruffydd (University Of California Press)
Price: £15.99. Info: here
words JOHN-PAUL DAVIES
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