The Book of Taliesin: Poems of Warfare and Praise in an Enchanted Britain

Product Information

Koch, John T. "Waiting for Gododdin: Thoughts on Taliesin and Iudic-Hael, Catreath, and unripe time in Celtic studies" in Woolf, Alex (ed.) 2013, Beyond the Gododdin: Dark Age Scotland in Medieval Wales, St. Andrews, 177 - 204 a b c Robinson, Simon (2000). Shades of Deep Purple Remastered (CD Booklet). Deep Purple. London, UK: EMI 7243 4 98336 23. p.6.

Lewis and Williams present an excellent analysis of Taliesin as he appears over the course of the poems. As historical figure in the courts of warlords writing war poetry and praise poetry. Then as a persona that mutates over the generations into a riddling, charismatic, figure, taking on the role of an allusive Sage or Druid blessed with the gift of awen and conveying his elite knowledge of the craft of poetry to his successors. Taliesin was highly sought after by the Roman, Briton, and Saxon courts for his powers of poetry and prophecy. He advised three British kings, and served King Arthur in a similar capacity to Merlin. The similarities between Taliesin and Merlin have led to some confusion, with many later stories bestowed the former with the magical powers of the latter. While the two had become distinctive characters by the dawn of 12th century, certain authors continued to view them as interchangeable.Lesnie, Melissa. "Tori Amos: Classical Music Huntress". Limelight. Archived from the original on 28 September 2011 . Retrieved 3 August 2011. The band returned in England on 3 January 1969 and went straight into De Lane Lea Studios to record new songs. [65] The recording sessions were interspersed with gigs and lasted from January to March; most of the songs ended up in their eponymous album, which would be released by Tetragrammaton in the US only in June 1969. [66] After Ceridwen resumes her old shape she finds she is pregnant. She instinctively knows it is Gwion. After the birth, although she has plans to kill him, the child is so beautiful she is unable to. Instead she casts him into the ocean in a large leather bag. a b c d e Bowling, David (11 November 2011). "Music Review: Deep Purple - The Book of Taliesyn". Blogcritics . Retrieved 14 February 2014. Taliesin was primarily a historical figure about whom legendary stories have been told, thus obscuring reality with myth and magic. A poet and bard of great renown, his wit and inspiration came from his spectacular rebirth at the hands of the white witch Ceridwen. Affected with the power of Awan, Taliesin was supernaturally beautiful and able to give accurate prophecy from a young age.

David William Nash, Taliesin, Or, The Bards and Druids of Britain: A Translation of the Remains, J. R. Smith, 1848. The Tale of Taliesin revealed Taliesin’s mythical origin. Taliesin was originally a servant named Gwion Bach ap Gwreang who was meant to guard a special potion crafted by the white witch Ceridwen. The first three drops of the potion would make one beautiful, wise, and witty; the rest was a deadly poison. After the potion’s completion, an accident caused the three drops to land on this thumb and burn him. Gwion placed the thumb in his mouth and gained the gift of Awan, or poetic inspiration. Realizing that the three drops were now gone, Ceridwen gave chase to the fearful servant. The other poet that contributed to this translation is Rowan Williams, a former Archbishop of Canterbury. You really couldn’t hope for more qualified translators than the two who worked on this translation. All of these Old Welsh texts suggest that writing the language was already a well-developed skill. Scholars can tell by the way in which words are formed that these letters weren’t carved or written by people doing this for the first time. what was included, what wasn't. thoughts about the history of the manuscript and it's compilation. the physical manuscript and how it's laid out.The life of Taliesin was mythologised in the mid 16th century by Elis Gruffydd, whose account drew from Celtic folklore and existing oral tradition. The sixth century Welsh bard Taliesin took on mythical stature. Over the centuries that followed his career in the courts of kings and lords, his name was borrowed by a long line of anonymous poets seeking to call upon his spirit, to evoke the chief bard’s essence from ages past. At that time Talhaearn the Father of the Muse was famous in poetry, and Neirin, Taliesin, Blwchfardd and Cian who is called Gweinthgwawd, at one and the same time were renowned in British poetry." — Gildas et Nennius, ed. Mommsen, p. 205; Mon. Hist. Brit. p. 75), quoted in John Edward Lloyd, Dictionary of National Biography, 1885–1900, Volume 55 Then as a seer foretelling ruin, or predicting victories and liberation or downfalls and doom, writing obscure verses of history and the future and passages of esoteric knowledge. And finally, Taliesin as legendary figure, as a shape-shifter, as both a teller and subject of folklore, as a voice for others to speak through, and as an archetype of bardic might and an uninterrupted line of Welsh literary traditions. He is a cauldron of imagination and creative power overflowing. The gamut of the poetry in this book sees him in all these forms. Taliesin ( / ˌ t æ l ˈ j ɛ s ɪ n/ tal- YES-in, Welsh: [talˈjɛsɪn]; fl. 6th century AD) was an early Brittonic poet of Sub-Roman Britain whose work has possibly survived in a Middle Welsh manuscript, the Book of Taliesin. Taliesin was a renowned bard who is believed to have sung at the courts of at least three kings.

Deep Purple (1968). The Book of Taliesyn (LP sleeve). Los Angeles, California: Tetragrammaton Records. T107. There is praise poetry from the ‘Old North’ attributed to the figure sometimes called ‘the historical Taliesin’ as well as a great deal of poetry associated with the poet’s legendary manifestation. Meic Stephens, ed. (1998). "Book of Taliesin". The New Companion to the Literature of Wales. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. ISBN 0-7083-1383-3. Robinson, Simon (2000). The Book of Taliesyn Remastered (CD Booklet). Deep Purple. London, UK: EMI 7243 5 21608 22. The poem then breaks into a first-person account of the birth of the flower-maiden Blodeuwedd, and then the history of another one, a great warrior, once a herdsman, now a learned traveller, perhaps Arthur or Taliesin himself. After repeating an earlier reference to the Flood, the Crucifixion and the day of judgment, the poem closes with an obscure reference to metalwork.Facsimile version of the Ystoria Taliesin with modern English Translation taken from Elis Gruffudd's Cronicl y Chwe Oesoedd ( Chronicle of the Six Ages) Cover art and sleeve notes convey Tetragrammaton's decision to aim the album at the vast American hippie audience, which was very influential in the US at the time. [40] The notes in particular were written in a mystical tone, evoking the bard Taliesyn as a spiritual guide and comparing listening to the songs to an exploration in the band members' souls. [50] The original cover was drawn in pen, ink and color by the British illustrator and author John Vernon Lord, who coincidentally appears to share the same name as Deep Purple's keyboard player. The Book of Taliesyn was the only record cover John Vernon Lord ever designed and, according to the artist's recent retrospective book Drawing upon Drawing, the original artwork was never returned. [51] In his book, John Vernon Lord remembers the assignment received from his agency Saxon Artists: Details of Taliesin's life are sparse. The first mention of him occurs in the Saxon genealogies appended to four manuscripts of the Historia Brittonum from 828AD. The writer names five poets, among them Taliesin, who lived in the time of Ida of Bernicia (fl. mid-6th century) and a British chieftain, (O)utigirn ( Modern Welsh Eudeyrn). [4] This information is considered fairly credible, [5] since he is also mentioned by Aneirin, another of the five mentioned poets, who is famed as the author of Y Gododdin, a series of elegies to the men of the kingdom of Gododdin (now Lothian) who died fighting the Angles at the Battle of Catraeth around 600.