Black Book of Carmarthen

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The Black Book of Carmarthen (Welsh: Llyfr Du Caerfyrddin) is one of the earliest surviving manuscripts written entirely in Welsh. Written in ca. 1250 it is so called because of its association with the Priory of St. John the Evangelist and Teulyddog at Carmarthen and because the colour of its binding. It is now part of the collection of the National Library of Wales, where it is also known as NLW Peniarth MS 1.

The book contains a collection of poetry falling into various categories. There are poems with religious subjects and odes of praise and mourning. But most remarkable are the poems, which have as their themes stories relating to heroes of Dark Age Britain, and especially those connected with the legend of Arthur and Myrddin, also known as Merlin.

[edit] Sources

• Jarman, A. O. H. (Ed.) (1982), Llyfr Du Caerfyrddin. Caerdydd : Gwasg Prifysgol Cymru. ISBN 0-7083-0629-2.

[edit] External links

• The black book of Carmarthen at the National Library of Wales. Gives access to colour images of Peniarth MS 1.

• The Black Book of Carmarthen at the Celtic Literature Collective. Uses Skene's incomplete translation from 1848.