This edition presents extracts from the medieval Welsh encyclopedia Delw y Byd. A medieval Welsh translation of the first book of the Latin encyclopedia known as Imago Mundi, written by Honorius Augustodunensis in the first quarter of the twelfth century, this text is a fine example of the ties between the intellectual world of Europe and Wales in the late-twelfth/early-thirteenth centuries, when the text was translated, ties that brought across the scientific knowledge based on Roman and late antique sources. Structured according to the four elements: earth, water, air and fire, the text presents geographical, anthropological, and astronomical information, often with historical and mythological contexts. The present edition follows that organizational principle, providing a glimpse into the medieval understanding of the overarching structure of the universe. The text is presented in its historical and literary context, with an updated account of its transmission. A commentary on the scientific context of the most interesting passages is provided, as well as a linguistic one. The edition also provides an overview of the variants by printing parallel texts based on all surviving medieval manuscript witnesses for a number of selected chapters. This includes sections of two previously unpublished medieval witnesses of the text. The accompanying glossary includes vocabulary from all extracts included in the edition.

This is Not a Grail Romance provides answers to some of the most important questions surrounding the medieval Welsh Arthurian tale Historia Peredur vab Efrawc, one of the few surviving medieval Welsh narrative compositions, and an important member of the ‘Grail’ family of medieval European narratives. The study demonstrates that Historia Peredur is an original Welsh composition, rather than (as previous theories have suggested) being an adaptation of the twelfth-century French grail romance. The new analysis of the structure of Historia Peredur presented here shows it to be as complex as it has always been thought – but also more formal, and the result of intentional and intricate design. The seeming inconsistencies or oddities in Historia Peredur can be understood by reading it in its medieval Welsh cultural context, allowing the modern reader a greater appreciation of both the narrative and the culture that produced it.

This volume includes "Nations in Tune: the Influence of Irish music on the Breton Musical Record" by Yann Bevant; "Ethnicity, Geography, and the Passage of Dominion in the Mabinogi and Brut Y Brenhinedd" by Christina Chance; "Rejecting Mother's Blessing: the Absence of the Fairy in the Welsh Search for National Identity" by Adam Coward; "Gwalarn: An Attempt to Renew Breton literature" by Gwendal Denez; "At the Crossroads: World War One and the Shifting Roles of Men and Women in Breton Ballad Song Practice" by Natalie Franz; "Apocryphal Sanctity in the Lives of Irish Saints" by Maire Johnson; " 'An Dialog wtre Arzur Roe d'an Bretounet ha Guynglaff' and Its Connections with the Arthurian tradition" by Herve Le Bihan; "A Walk on the Wild Side: Women, Men and Madness" by Edyta Lehmann; "The Early Establishment of Celtic Studies in North American Universities" by Michael Linkletter; " 'The Marshalled Fence of Battle of All the Men of Earth' A Reading of C Chulainn's First Recension r astrad" by Elizabeth Moore; "Dreams of Medieval Scottish Nationhood: The Epic Case of William Wallace" by Kylie Murray; " 'Some of You Will Curse Her' Women's Fiction During the Irish-language Revival" by Riona Nic Congail; "Dating Peredur: New Light on Old Problems" by Natalia I. Petrovskaia; " 'From the Shame You Have Done' Comparing the stories of Blodeuedd and Bl thnait" by Sarah Pfannenschmidt; " 'And There was a Fourth son Llefelys' Narrative Structure and Variation in Cyfranc Lludd a Llefelys" by Kelly Ann Randell; and "Fabricating Celts: How Iron Age Iberians became Indo-Europeanized during the Franco Regime" by Aaron Alzola Romero and Eduardo Sanchez-Moreno.