This episode prefaces the episodes which discuss two of Canu Aneirin’s awdlau. Here we are in the National Library of Wales, looking at the Book of Aneirin itself!
This manuscript was written between about 1250 and 1300. As it’s likely that it was written during the final years of ‘the independent Wales, we wonder if there’s a connection between that political context and the contents of the manuscript?! We discuss the Gododdin and ask a complicated question about the journey of this old poetry from the ‘Old North’ to medieval Wales. We also look at interesting notes in the manuscript which suggest how some later poets viewed the importance and value of the Book of Aneirin.