Pennod 11 – Y Traddodiad Arthuraidd: Rhodd fwyaf Cymru i’r Byd?

The Arthurian Tradition: Wales’s Greatest Gift to the World?

Considering all of the culture produce of the Welsh language through the centuries, what has had the greatest influence on the cultures of other languages and other nations? We suggest in this episode that stories about the heroic king Arthur is the answer to that question.

By the end of the Middle Ages, this legendry would travel across Europe and give birth to Arthurian literature in many different languages, and this wondrous journey continues today, considering all of the Holywood films, fantasy novels and computer games which display the influence of this rich tradition. But all of it started here in Wales – or, rather, it started in the Welsh language (remembering that the present borders of Wales were not the borders of the Welsh language in the early Middle Ages).

Was Arthur a real historical figure to begin with? What are the earliest examples of Welsh Arthurian literature which have survived? We discuss these questions, and while getting to grips with the roots of the Arthurian tradition we look at some of our favourite triads, including ‘Tri Gwrfeichiad Ynys Prydain’, translated by Rachel Bromwich as ‘The Three Powerful Swineherds of the Island of Britain’!