Welsh Journals

represent non-British artefacts. However, some key European sites are given prominence, such as Entremont in Provence with evidence for a head-cult (and see now Arche'ologie d'Entremont au Musée Granet [Aix-en-Provence, 1987]). In spite of these issues, this book brings together a diverse body of archaeological and textual evidence. This reviewer was particularly struck by the final chapter (7: Symbolism and Imagery in Celtic Cult Expression) which rightly attempts to view the visual images of the European Iron Age in their original context, rather than against the tradition of classical art (see esp. p. 206). DAVID W. J. GILL Swansea YSTORIA TALIESIN. Edited by Patrick K. Ford. University of Wales Press, Cardiff, 1992. Pp. 175. £ 12.95 (paperback). The sixteenth-century text, Ystoria Taliesin, was one of the earliest of native Welsh tales to appear in print: it is presented (in part) in the Myvyrian Archaiology of 1801, and was included also (somewhat incongruously) in Lady Charlotte Guest's highly influential volume, The Mabinogion, in 1838-49. Most scholars, however, have given their attention to the contents of the fourteenth-century Book of Taliesin-a compilation of poetry which demands that we distinguish between the historical Taliesin (the sixth-century bard) and the Taliesin of legend (? ninth-century) whose exploits as a wonder-child in the sphere of poetry are depicted in the tale which bears his name. Professor Ford has long been interested in the story of Gwion Bach/Taliesin (with its detachable components) and the appearance of his complete edition of this neglected tale has been awaited with much anticipation. The present volume is structured in a wholly orthodox manner: a lengthy introduction which covers such aspects as historical scholarship, poetry/the source of the muse, the tale's folklore/religious content, MS. sources/the language of NLW MS. 5276 D (N); the text of the tale, consisting both of 'ysdoria Gwion Bach' and 'ysdori Taliesin', as presented by Elis Gruffydd (fl. c. 1500-52) in NLW MS. 5276 D (N); annotation of the text with an Appendix ('Hanes Taliessin' in P III), followed by a full glossary and an index of Personal and Place-names. The editor's introduction, seeking to set the tale in its appropriate background, is both wide-ranging and informative: much space is devoted to an account of the bard's sacred standing in Celtic (Irish) society (pp. 10-17), and to traditions relating to the acquisition of poetic inspiration (pp. 17-33). Here (as elsewhere) one has to express some slight concern at an over-reliance, perhaps, on Irish sources: in general, one would have much preferred the editor to have mined more thoroughly the rich seam of material available from the Book of Taliesin-material which might shed sdme light, for example, on the undiscussed matter of the tale's age in its present form. Similarly, one has doubts as to whether the survival of the tale in oral form in Wales (pp. 38-46) has been examined as closely as possible: a study of the many references to Gwion Bach, Ceridwen, Taliesin, Elffin etc. in the poetry of the cywyddwyr/ cwndidwyr up