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More on the Bristol Vulgate Cycle fragments about Merlin
Fragments of a medieval Merlin manuscript in Old French discovered two years ago in a Bristol’s central library have been more thoroughly examined. The fragments, found in a binding, are from the Old French Vulgate Cycle or Lancelot-Grail Cycle. While the Vulgate Cycle was composed circa 1220-1225, the fragments are dated to 1250–1275 via paleographic analysis, with a provenance in northern, possibly north-eastern, France. Professor Leah Tether, medieval historian and manuscript specialist Dr Benjamin Pohl and medievalist Dr Laura Chuhan Campbell, after digital processing images of the fragments, realized that the Bristol fragments offer previously unknown variants of the texts. Dr Laura Chuhan Campbell: “In most manuscripts of the better known [version],…
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Merlin Tale MS. Fragments Discovered
Seven fragments of parchment written in Old French have been discovered inside an unrelated 15th century work, in the archives of the Bristol Central Library in the UK. The fragments seem to be from a version of the Estoire de Merlin, one that is slightly different from the standard text. The fragments are from a section about the Battle of Trèbes, and include Merlin addressing Arthur’s troops with a stirring speech and, oddly, leading the attack carrying Sir Kay’s dragon standard, which includes a dragon that breathes actual fire. There are some images of the text in the Guardian.
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Beunans Ke Update
If Sara Zettle sent you, I’m especially pleased that I can tell you there’s more news about the medieval Cornish mystery play fragment rediscovered in 2000. Thanks to Alan Hawke, I can tell you that the National Library of Wales has added high quality digital images of both the Beunans Ke manuscript NLW MS 23849D and the Beunans Meriasek manuscript Peniarth 105B, to their Digital Mirror collection. Andrew Hawke adds that Michael Polkinhorn has provided a collaborative translation online here.
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Cornish Medieval Drama Bewnans Ke Translation
I posted before about the Medieval Cornish drama Bewnans Ke. I’ve recently discovered a .pdf file of a translation draft, by Michael Polkinghorn. It’s well worth taking a look at.
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Padel Arthur in Medieval Welsh Literature
The Green Man Review has posted my review of O. J. Padel’s Arthur in Medieval Welsh Literature.
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Cornish Medieval Drama Bewnans Ke
Two years ago I posted about a newly discovered medieval Cornish Saint’s Play. Dr. O. J. Padel of Cambridge University has kindly made available a .pdf file of his transcript of National Library of Wales MS. 23,849D here. Dr. Padel points out that initial assumptions that the manuscript contained fragments of two plays, one about Saint Ke, and one on an Arthurian subject, was inaccurate; it is a single play about St. Ke which contains a section referring to Arthur, present now only as a fragment. Scholars have adopted the name Bewnans Ke for the play, much as the only other extant medieval Cornish saint’s play, Bewnans Meriasek, the Life…
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Yes, there is New Medieval Celtic Literature
Thanks to a newly discovered medieval Cornish manuscript fragment Beunans Ke (The Life Of St Ke) the amount of Medieval Cornish literature has increased by about twenty percent. The fragment was discovered among the papers of the recently deceased Celticist, J. E. Caerwyn Williams, whose papers were donated to the National Library of Wales. The manuscript, NLW MS 23849D, consists of ten pairs of leaves (20 folios), foliated, 7, [8, 9], 10-13, 16-19, 22-9. As you can see, there are a number of missing pages. It is written in a secretary hand of the mid sixteenth century, by a professional scribe, copying an earlier manuscript which he refers to as…
