Module Identifier WEM0430  
Module Title THE EARLIEST WELSH POETRY  
Academic Year 2001/2002  
Co-ordinator Dr Marged Haycock  
Semester Semester 2 (Taught over 2 semesters)  

Brief description


An introduction to the heroic poetry attributed to the sixth-century poets, Taliesin and Aneirin, and the anonymous praise-poetry of the seventh-century. The texts will be studied mainly in translation, but some detailed work on short extracts in the original will be an important part of the training, enabling a fuller understanding of metrical and stylistic features.

Learning outcomes


1. You will have gained an understanding of the nature and purpose of the early Welsh heroic poetry, and you will be able to relate it in broad terms to other heroic literatures, especially in Anglo-Saxon England and Ireland, and the Classical tradition.


2. You will have a basic grasp of the political and cultural framework of early Wales and North Britain.


3. You will have been introduced to the texts (mainly in translation), and will be able to recognize and analyse their main literary, stylistic and metrical features.


4. You will have been introduced to the current debates concerning the poetry, especially those turning on problems of text transmission, and dating.