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.
“Elis Gruffydd was one of the great characters of the Tudor age—ravenous for knowledge of an expanding world, critical, skeptical, and, improbable though it may seem, our best source for some of the most marvelous stories of poetry and magic to have survived from his homeland. Patrick Ford’s idiomatic but faithful translations capture the flavor of the Chronicle beautifully.”—Catherine McKenna, Margaret Brooks Robinson Professor of Celtic Languages and Literatures, Harvard University
“For anyone interested in the Arthurian tradition, this is a must-read. In these wide-ranging selections from Elis Gruffydd’s Chronicle, we encounter tales of King Arthur and Merlin, saints and sinners, witches and wise men, dragons and maidens, presented here in lively and vivid translations for the first time.”—Charlene M. Eska, Professor of Linguistics, Virginia Tech
“Elis Gruffydd’s exuberant chronicle brings to life the characters of Arthur, Merlin, and a host of other historical and legendary figures. Through Patrick Ford’s lively translation, we learn how a Welshman serving the English king in France reframed the narratives that shaped both his past and his present.”—Dylan Foster Evans, Head of the School of Welsh, Cardiff University
“Ford’s elegant translations bring alive the mental world of this important early modern Welsh author and the stories he told of matters both ancient and contemporary. Jerry Hunter’s ranging introduction expertly sets those stories in their literary, historical, and scholarly contexts. An ideal collection for the casual and expert reader alike.”—Brendan Kane, Professor of History, University of Connecticut
