Distributed for University of Wales Press
Imagination and Innovation in Medieval Celtic Literatures
New perspectives on the rich and inventive storytelling of medieval Wales and Ireland.
The literary traditions of medieval Wales and Ireland are among the richest in Europe, spanning heroic sagas, mythic tales, chronicles, saints’ lives, and court poetry. Imagination and Innovation in Medieval Celtic Literatures brings together leading scholars to explore these vibrant traditions, offering unique perspectives on well-known works like The Mabinogion and the Irish sagas while also uncovering lesser-known texts that push the boundaries of medieval storytelling.
Honoring the scholarship of Celtic expert Catherine McKenna, this collection moves beyond the familiar canon to examine the historical significance and evolving interpretations of medieval Celtic literature. Through close readings of individual texts, this volume reveals how Welsh and Irish writers blended imagination with innovation to produce works of lasting cultural impact. Essential reading for scholars and enthusiasts of Celtic studies, this book deepens our understanding of one of medieval Europe’s most dynamic literary traditions.
The literary traditions of medieval Wales and Ireland are among the richest in Europe, spanning heroic sagas, mythic tales, chronicles, saints’ lives, and court poetry. Imagination and Innovation in Medieval Celtic Literatures brings together leading scholars to explore these vibrant traditions, offering unique perspectives on well-known works like The Mabinogion and the Irish sagas while also uncovering lesser-known texts that push the boundaries of medieval storytelling.
Honoring the scholarship of Celtic expert Catherine McKenna, this collection moves beyond the familiar canon to examine the historical significance and evolving interpretations of medieval Celtic literature. Through close readings of individual texts, this volume reveals how Welsh and Irish writers blended imagination with innovation to produce works of lasting cultural impact. Essential reading for scholars and enthusiasts of Celtic studies, this book deepens our understanding of one of medieval Europe’s most dynamic literary traditions.
376 pages | 3 halftones, 1 map | 6.14 x 9.21 | © 2025
Literature and Literary Criticism: British and Irish Literature
Table of Contents
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?: Saernïaeth 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 Bés Mara
Tomás Ó 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. Bríg/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?: Saernïaeth 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 Bés Mara
Tomás Ó 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. Bríg/Brigit and Eochaid Ollathair: Like Father Like Daughter?
Afterword
Catherines: A Personal Tribute
Patrick K. Ford
Bibliography of Catherine A. McKenna
Georgia Henley
Index