Imagination and Innovation in Medieval Celtic Literatures
Published on 15. August 2025
Book
Hardback
376 pages
978-1-83772-294-5 (ISBN)
Description
The literatures of medieval Wales and Ireland are among the richest vernacular traditions of medieval Europe. From a large corpus of poetry and prose, key texts such as the Welsh Mabinogion, the Irish sagas, Celtic Latin literature, chronicles, saints' lives and court poetry have established their place within the written legacy of medieval Europe. This collection of original essays by leading Celtic scholars, writing in honour of Catherine McKenna, Professor of Celtic at Harvard University, goes beyond the familiar canon of medieval Celtic literatures to showcase a wide range of Welsh and Irish texts that are compelling in their literary imagination and technical innovation.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Wales
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
College/higher education
Illustrations
Not illustrated
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-83772-294-5 (9781837722945)
DOI
10.1234/b12043
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Helen Fulton | Georgia Henley
Imagination and Innovation in Medieval Celtic Literatures
E-Book
08/2025
1st Edition
University of Wales Press
€98.49
Available for download
Content
List of Contributors
List of Images
List of Abbreviations
Foreword
Catherine McKenna, Scholar, Mentor and Friend: An Informal Biography
Annalee C. Rejhon
Section 1: Welsh Literature
1. Undated Medieval Welsh Texts and the Literary Critic
Patrick Sims-Williams
2. 'Ys celuit ae dehoglho': Interpreting?Breuddwyd Rhonabwy
Sioned Davies
3. Prophesying with Peredur: Fate,?Cyfarwyddyd?and the Nine Witches of Caerloyw
Joseph Shack and A. Joseph McMullen
4. Llygad i Weld a Chlust i Wrando?: Saerniaeth Anghyffredin Awdlau Llygad Gwr
Aled Llion Jones
5. Animate Landscape and Noise in?Etmic Dinbych
Jessica Hemming
6. The Story of Ysgan ap Asgo
Elissa R. Henken
7. The?Cwrrach?and its Use(fulness/lessness): Poetics, Prophecy and (De)valuing the Book in Late Medieval Wales
Jerry Hunter
8. The Bells of Osney, the Mariner's Compass and Monogrammed Swans: Novelty and Poetic Imagination in Fifteenth-Century Wales
Marged Haycock
9. Henry Tudor and Welsh Poetry of the Wars of the Roses
Helen?Fulton
10. 'Gammawash, comrade, Gammawash!': Some Welsh Words and Phrases in Elizabethan and Jacobean Drama
Geraint Evans
Section 2: Irish Literature
11. Seeing and Being Seen in?Aithbe Damsa Bes Mara
Tomas O Cathasaigh
12. History Lessons in Neverland: A Preliminary Enquiry
John Carey
13. Close Encounters of the Traditional Kind in?Aislinge Meic Conglinne
Joseph Falaky Nagy
14. Two 'Hags' Slinging 'Crooked Quatrains': Evidentiary Verse and Women's Folklore in?Aislinge Meic Conglinne
Matthieu Boyd
15. Fionn among the Women: A Re-evaluation of Irish Women's Fenian Tales
Natasha Sumner
Section 3: Celtic and Latin
16. 432 and All That
Daniel F. Melia
17. Practices of Translation and Adaptation in the Welsh Chronicle?Brut y Tywysogion
Georgia Henley
18. Performing the Word: A Note on Two Welsh Healing Charms in Latin
Michaela Jacques and Katherine Leach
19. Keli Culwyt: Pronouncing Latin in Medieval Welsh Verse
Paul Russell
20. A Note on the Dating of the Latin Poem 'Trucidare Saxones'
Sarah Zeiser
Section 4: Religious Imagination
21. 'Sicut Vis': Faith, Miracles and Abortion in the Irish Hagiographer's Craft
Dorothy C. Africa
22. The Daughters of the Dagda
Dorothy Ann Bray
23. Brig/Brigit and Eochaid Ollathair: Like Father Like Daughter?
Afterword
Catherines: A Personal Tribute
Patrick K. Ford
Bibliography of Catherine A. McKenna
Georgia Henley
Index
List of Images
List of Abbreviations
Foreword
Catherine McKenna, Scholar, Mentor and Friend: An Informal Biography
Annalee C. Rejhon
Section 1: Welsh Literature
1. Undated Medieval Welsh Texts and the Literary Critic
Patrick Sims-Williams
2. 'Ys celuit ae dehoglho': Interpreting?Breuddwyd Rhonabwy
Sioned Davies
3. Prophesying with Peredur: Fate,?Cyfarwyddyd?and the Nine Witches of Caerloyw
Joseph Shack and A. Joseph McMullen
4. Llygad i Weld a Chlust i Wrando?: Saerniaeth Anghyffredin Awdlau Llygad Gwr
Aled Llion Jones
5. Animate Landscape and Noise in?Etmic Dinbych
Jessica Hemming
6. The Story of Ysgan ap Asgo
Elissa R. Henken
7. The?Cwrrach?and its Use(fulness/lessness): Poetics, Prophecy and (De)valuing the Book in Late Medieval Wales
Jerry Hunter
8. The Bells of Osney, the Mariner's Compass and Monogrammed Swans: Novelty and Poetic Imagination in Fifteenth-Century Wales
Marged Haycock
9. Henry Tudor and Welsh Poetry of the Wars of the Roses
Helen?Fulton
10. 'Gammawash, comrade, Gammawash!': Some Welsh Words and Phrases in Elizabethan and Jacobean Drama
Geraint Evans
Section 2: Irish Literature
11. Seeing and Being Seen in?Aithbe Damsa Bes Mara
Tomas O Cathasaigh
12. History Lessons in Neverland: A Preliminary Enquiry
John Carey
13. Close Encounters of the Traditional Kind in?Aislinge Meic Conglinne
Joseph Falaky Nagy
14. Two 'Hags' Slinging 'Crooked Quatrains': Evidentiary Verse and Women's Folklore in?Aislinge Meic Conglinne
Matthieu Boyd
15. Fionn among the Women: A Re-evaluation of Irish Women's Fenian Tales
Natasha Sumner
Section 3: Celtic and Latin
16. 432 and All That
Daniel F. Melia
17. Practices of Translation and Adaptation in the Welsh Chronicle?Brut y Tywysogion
Georgia Henley
18. Performing the Word: A Note on Two Welsh Healing Charms in Latin
Michaela Jacques and Katherine Leach
19. Keli Culwyt: Pronouncing Latin in Medieval Welsh Verse
Paul Russell
20. A Note on the Dating of the Latin Poem 'Trucidare Saxones'
Sarah Zeiser
Section 4: Religious Imagination
21. 'Sicut Vis': Faith, Miracles and Abortion in the Irish Hagiographer's Craft
Dorothy C. Africa
22. The Daughters of the Dagda
Dorothy Ann Bray
23. Brig/Brigit and Eochaid Ollathair: Like Father Like Daughter?
Afterword
Catherines: A Personal Tribute
Patrick K. Ford
Bibliography of Catherine A. McKenna
Georgia Henley
Index