Title: Dafydd ap Gwilym
First published: 1996
Description: One of the great innovators of medieval literature, Dafydd ap Gwilym's poetic voice is as distinctive and resonant as those of his more celebrated contemporaries Chaucer and Boccaccio.

This book - the first major study of the largely submerged popular verse tradition of medieval Wales, and its likely enriching effect on the repertoire of the professional poets - examines Dafydd's use both of the native popular verse tradition and of the pervasive conventions of northern French verse to forge a new kind of poetry for a new age.

Composing in the wake of the Edwardian conquest of Wales, Dafydd (fl. c. 1330-70) and a few kindred spirits sought to adapt and revitalize an already sophisticated bardic culture by expanding its subject-matter to include a surprising variety of entertainment as well as formal praise.

Huw M. Edwards sets out the first detailed comparison of Dafydd's verse with the highly influential poetry of northern France, in terms of themes, motifs, and poetic genres, since the publication of the authentic canon in 1952. The poet's bold and often playful handling of borrowed conventions will be of interest to all students of medieval poetry.
Subjects: French influences, History and criticism, In literature, Intellectual life, Knowledge, Literature, Love poetry, Welsh, Medieval Poetry, Nature in literature, Poetry, Medieval, Welsh Love poetry, Welsh poetry, Poetry, medieval, history and criticism, Wales, in literature, Knowledge and learning
Places: Wales
People: Dafydd ap Gwilym (14th cent)
Time periods: 1100-1400, To 1500
LC classification: PB2273.D3 E28 1996