Inscribed stones and stone sculpture form the most prolific body of material evidence from early medieval Wales, c. AD 400 1100. Crucial to our understanding of the region s degree of continuity with the preceding Roman culture, Irish settlement, and the development of the early Welsh kingdoms, these Latin or Old Irish inscribed memorial stones instruct us on the language, literacy, and development of the church, among other areas. These two volumes allow us to identify a range of early medieval ecclesiastical sites within a wider landscape and the trace the church s patronage by the secular elite. Accompanied by more than 170 line drawings and elaborate illustrations, this corpus provides fresh new studies of these aspects, revised interpretations of the stones, and many previously unpublished and newly discovered examples."
This well illustrated new Corpus provides fresh new studies of these aspects, new interpreations of stones, and many previously unpublished newly discovered examples.
This volume, the final of three, focuses on the inscribed stones and stone sculpture of north Wales c. AD 400 - 1150. It provides fresh insights and new interpretations of over 150 monuments, many of which have been found since V.E. Nash-Williams's Early Christian Monuments of Wales was published in 1950. It includes an introductory discussion analysing the historical and archaeological context of the monuments, earlier research, geology, form and function, ornament and iconography and the language and lettering of the inscriptions, as well as cultural connections, dating and chronology. The well-illustrated catalogue provides more detailed descriptions and analyses of individual monuments.
Edition and translation of this important genre of Old Welsh poetry.The "Stanzas of the Graves" or "Graves of the Warriors of the Island of Britain", attributed to the legendary poet Taliesin, describe ancient heroes' burial places. Like the "Triads of the Island of Britain", they are an indispensable key to the narrative literature of medieval Wales. The heroes come from the whole of Britain, including Mercia and present-day Scotland, as well as many from Wales and a few from Ireland. Many characters known from the Mabinogion appear, often with additional information, as do some from romance and early Welsh saga, such as Arthur, Bedwyr, Gawain, Owain son of Urien, Merlin, and Vortigern. The seventh-century grave of Penda of Mercia, beneath the river Winwæd in Yorkshire, is the latest grave to be included. The poems testify to the interest aroused by megaliths, tumuli, and other apparently man-made monuments, some of which can be identified with known prehistoric remains.This volume offers a full edition and translation of the poems, mapped with reference to all the manuscripts, starting with the Black Book of Carmarthen, the oldest extant book of Welsh poetry. There is also a detailed commentary on their linguistic, literary, historical, and archaeological aspects. translation of the poems, mapped with reference to all the manuscripts, starting with the Black Book of Carmarthen, the oldest extant book of Welsh poetry. There is also a detailed commentary on their linguistic, literary, historical, and archaeological aspects. translation of the poems, mapped with reference to all the manuscripts, starting with the Black Book of Carmarthen, the oldest extant book of Welsh poetry. There is also a detailed commentary on their linguistic, literary, historical, and archaeological aspects. translation of the poems, mapped with reference to all the manuscripts, starting with the Black Book of Carmarthen, the oldest extant book of Welsh poetry. There is also a detailed commentary on their linguistic, literary, historical, and archaeological aspects.
This book collects and republishes 14 key academic works by Dai Morgan Evans FSA (1944–2017). Spanning early medieval studies, the management and conservation of ancient monuments, histories of antiquarianism, and the Welsh church of Llangar, the chapters have been freshly edited and published together for the first time with new illustrations.
In a Roman fort in Wales at the turn of the sixth century, Porius, the son of a reigning prince, is aided by Merlin the magician, Nineue, and Medrawd in a battle for cultural survival.
Research for and the writing of this book was funded by the award of a Leverhulme Trust Major Research Fellowship. The period c. AD300--1050, spanning the collapse of Roman rule to the coming of the Normans, was formative in the development of Wales. Life in Early Medieval Wales considers how people lived in late Roman and early medieval Wales, and how their lives and communities changed over the course of this period. It uses a multidisciplinary approach, focusing on the growing body of archaeological evidence set alongside the early medieval written sources together with place-names and personal names. It begins by analysing earlier research and the range of sources, the significance of the environment and climate change, and ways of calculating time. Discussion of the fourth, fifth, and sixth centuries focuses on the disintegration of the Roman market economy, fragmentation of power, and the emergence of new kingdoms and elites alongside evidence for changing identities, as well as important threads of continuity, notably Latin literacy, Christianity, and the continuation of small-scale farming communities. Early medieval Wales was an entirely rural society. Analysis of the settlement archaeology includes key sites such as hillforts, including Dinas Powys, the royal crannog at Llangorse, and the Viking Age and earlier estate centre at Llanbedrgoch alongside the development, from the seventh century onwards, of new farming and other rural settlements. Consideration is given to changes in the mixed farming economy reflecting climate deterioration and a need for food security, as well as craft working and the roles of exchange, display, and trade reflecting changing outside contacts. At the same time cemeteries and inscribed stones, stone sculpture and early church sites chart the course of conversion to Christianity, the rise of monasticism, and the increasing power of the Church. Finally, discussion of power and authority analyses emerging evidence for sites of assembly, the rise of Mercia, and increasing English infiltration, together with the significance of Offa's and Wat's Dykes, and the Viking impact. Throughout the evidence is placed within a wider context enabling comparison with other parts of Britain and Ireland and, where appropriate, with other parts of Europe to see broader trends, including the impacts of climate, economic, and religious change.
