Mythology of Ancient Britain
MSS., while Irish legend asserts that the Táin Bó Chuailgne was first reduced to writing in the seventh—Gradual accumulation of Irish and Welsh mythical sagas, including the Four Branches of the Mabinogi, eighth—eleventh—The Irish Book of the Dun Cow and Book of Leinster and the Welsh Black Book of Carmarthen, compiled during the twelfth; the Welsh Books of Aneurin and of Taliesin during the thirteenth; and the Irish Book of Ballymote and the Yellow Book of Lecan and the Welsh Red Book of Hergest during the fourteenth—About 1136 Geoffrey of Monmouth finished his Historia Britonum, and during this century and the one following British mythical and heroic legend was moulded into the Continental Arthurian romances—About 1470 Sir Thomas Malory composed his Morte Darthur from French sources—The working—up of Gaelic traditional material ended probably in the middle of the eighteenth century—James MacPherson produced his pseudo-Ossianic 'epics,' 1760–63—In 1838—49 Lady Charlotte Guest published her Mabinogion, and from this date the renaissance of Celtic study and inspiration may be said to have commenced.
78
