Dafydd ap Gwilym caught in the net

Image of Dr Sara Elin Roberts Fifty-five years since publishing the first modern edition of Dafydd ap Gwilym’s poetry, the School of Welsh’s connection with the work of Wales’ leading medieval poet continues.

In 1952, Sir Thomas Parry, Professor of Welsh at Bangor at the time, published Gwaith Dafydd ap Gwilym which is considered to be an academic masterpiece; the new innovative digital edition of the work of the poet has recently been published and Dr Sara Elin Roberts, currently a lecturer in the School of Welsh at Bangor, was a member of the team of scholars who prepared the work.

The new website Dafyddapgwilym.net was launched in a conference in Swansea, 4-5 April this year. The website is the result of five years’ work by a team of editors and experts, and following the launch the website offers a new, full edition of the work of Dafydd ap Gwilym to the public, the most important development in the work of the poet since Thomas Parry published his volume Gwaith Dafydd ap Gwilym in 1952.

Almost every member of the project team offered a paper at the conference, focusing on their work and interests, so Dr Sara Elin Roberts presented a paper on the Bardic Debate between Dafydd ap Gwilym and Gruffudd Gryg, eight of the eleven poems she edited whilst working on the project.

In actual fact, the project is a crucial part of the history of editing academic texts, as the work has paved the way for more similar publications on the web. The benefits are substantial; it is possible to contain much more material in an electronic edition, as there is no limit on space, but at the same time, the users can concentrate on the aspects which appeal to them.

As well as the editions, paraphrases and translations of every poem, there are full notes available in Welsh and explanatory notes in English; it is possible to look at these elements side by side, something which is not possible in a printed volume. The editors were responsible for preparing this work, so Sara created the edition, paraphrase, translation and notes for her poems: the eight poems of the debate, the connected poem ‘Love’s Spears’, and two poems to Llywelyn ap Gwilym, Dafydd ap Gwilym’s uncle.

Rather than setting variant readings from different manuscripts in small print at the bottom of the page, it is possible to read them by clicking on any line of the edition, and it is possible to see transcripts of the most important manuscripts as well as digital images of the manuscripts. The manuscripts were Sara’s main interest on the project, and so Sara prepared the transcripts for most of the poems on the website.

Another brand new element is the readings of the poems as audio files available on the website, so that it is possible to hear the words as well as read them. Usually, the editors read the poems they edited, rather than employ an actor, but there are a few interesting examples where there is more than one voice within a poem – in the case of number 69, ‘Dawn’, you can hear a duet read by Sara Elin Roberts and Professor Dafydd Johnston!

Click below to visit the website for Dafydd ap Gwilym.net:

http://www.dafyddapgwilym.net/