Arthur in Medieval Welsh Literature by O. J. Padel (review)

The new edition of O. J. Padel’s Arthur in Medieval Welsh Literature is a welcome reprint of a standard introductory book for those beginning, or returning to, work in medieval Welsh literature. Published in the Writers of Wales series from the University of Wales Press, Padel’s volume is unique for not focusing on a single writer; instead examining the many, often anonymous, Arthurian texts that were so common in medieval Wales. Given the ample scholarship devoted to this topic, Padel’s approach focuses less on the extensive interpretations of the texts in question and more on “nature and purpose” of said texts (1). By doing so, Arthur in Medieval Welsh Literature skillfully weaves together a narrative of varied genres, themes and languages that contribute to the Arthurian tradition in Wales. To the first edition, Padel has helpfully appended a supplementary bibliography (organized by chapter) and index that will quell some frustrations with that earlier text. Despite the thirteen years between the first and second editions, as the preface notes, there have been no alterations to the text itself because further work. Some students may continue to find the lack of footnotes particularly frustrating; however their absence does ensure a much cleaner and uncomplicated survey of what might otherwise seem an overwhelmingly complex tradition.

Chapters 2, “The Earliest Texts,” and 3, “Arthur’s World,” focus on relatively early and varied canonical texts such as the Historia Brittonum, Annales Cambriae, Mal y Kauas Kulhwch Olwen, and “Pa ŵr yw’r porthor?” with a concern for situating the character in either historical/militaristic or mythical contexts. Ultimately Padel comes down largely on the side of the latter, at least for the early texts, but notes that both are “complementary aspects of the hero” (10). Chapter 4, “Other Texts of the Central Middle Ages,” is the longest and most varied discussion of Arthur’s evolution in Welsh literature in the book. Beginning with “Preiddiau Annwn” and ending with a discussion of the prophetic poetry concerning Arthur, Padel brings together disparate texts such as Englynion Beddau, the twelfth-century Gogynfardd Poets, and Gerald of Wales, while also connecting these strands of inquiry to previous discussions of Mal y Kauas Kulhwch Olwen and the chronicles. No genre or style seems to be left unexamined, or, even more impressively, unconnected in the web of Arthurian material, including Padel’s thorough and engrossing examination of Arthur in several Welsh-Latin Lives of saints.

Chapter 5 focuses on a single genre, the dialogue poems, and, with such a narrowed focus, is the most chronologically diverse (though quite short) chapter; ranging from the mid-twelfth century to the end of the fourteenth. Chapter 6, “The Matter of Britain,” finally addresses in detail the shade that lurks throughout the first five chapters by investigating at length the role of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s highly influential text, the Historia Regum Britanniae. The second longest chapter of the book, “The Matter of Britain” feels slightly belated given the prominence of the HRB in the discussions of so much of the early texts. This is likely due to Padel’s consistent focus throughout those first chapters on the lateness of the manuscripts—a possible point of contamination from HRB for many of the early texts—yet in comparing the HRB with its Welsh translation, the Brut y Brenhinedd, Padel is able to offer an additional perspective on Geoffrey’s work that gives that chapter a bit of freshness.

Chapter 7, “The Continuing Tradition,” moves us forward chronologically, beginning with the fourteenth-century Breudwyt Rhonabwy, while the last half of the chapter considers influences from the international Arthurian tradition on these later Welsh texts. Chapter 8, “Some Arthurian Characters,” explores Arthur, not through his own representation, but through the development of two of his companions, Cai and Bedwyr, his sometimes archenemy, Medrawd, and his wife, Gwenhwyfar, doing so not only through the centuries but also in relation to their international depictions. Finally, Padel’s text is most clever, and for new...