Bulfinch’s Mythology · Chapter
Introductory Note explained
This introductory note discusses the historical neglect of Welsh manuscripts known as the Mabinogeon, the efforts of scholars like Southey and Scott to see them published, and the eventual successful translation and publication by Lady Char
What happens
This introductory note discusses the historical neglect of Welsh manuscripts known as the Mabinogeon, the efforts of scholars like Southey and Scott to see them published, and the eventual successful translation and publication by Lady Charlotte Guest, who made these ancient tales accessible to English readers.
Themes in this chapter
Cultural Transmission and Education
The chapter emphasizes the importance of preserving and transmitting Welsh literary heritage through translation and publication.
Key passages
“It has been well known to the literati and antiquarians of Europe that there exist in the great public libraries voluminous manuscripts of romances and tales once popular, but which on the invention of printing had already become antiquated, and fallen into neglect.”
Scholars across Europe were aware of large manuscript collections of once-popular stories that had become outdated and forgotten after the invention of printing.
Describes the obscurity of medieval Welsh tales before modern revival.
“The Welsh is a spoken language among the peasantry of Wales, but is entirely neglected by the learned, unless they are natives of the principality.”
Welsh was still spoken by common people in Wales but was largely ignored by scholars who were not themselves Welsh.
Highlights the linguistic barrier to publishing Welsh literature.
“Such an individual has, since Southey's day and Scott's, appeared in the person of Lady Charlotte Guest, an English lady united to a gentleman of property in Wales, who, having acquired the language of the principality, and become enthusiastically fond of its literary treasures, has given them to the English reader.”
Lady Charlotte Guest, an Englishwoman married to a Welsh landowner, learned Welsh, grew passionate about its literature, and finally brought these stories to English readers.
Introduces the translator who made the Mabinogeon accessible.