Blog: Launch of 'Arthur in the Celtic Languages'

A very successful and well-attended event was held on 28 February 2019 in the Council Chamber, Bangor University, to celebrate the recent publication of Arthur in the Celtic Languages. The Arthurian Legend in Celtic Literature and Traditions (University of Wales Press), co-edited by Dr Ceridwen Lloyd-Morgan FLSW, Honorary Research Fellow and member of the Centre for Arthurian Studies at Bangor University, and Professor Erich Poppe, recently retired from the Chair of Celtic Studies at Philipps-Universität, Marburg, Germany. The event was held under the aegis of Bangor University’s Centre for Arthurian Studies, at the kind invitation of its Founding Director, Professor Raluca L. Radulescu FLSW. It highlighted the long tradition in Arthurian and Celtic studies at Bangor since the inception of the University and its library in 1884, and, more recently, the ‘Arthurian Legends in Wales and Beyond’ symposium held in June 2018, and the forthcoming XVI International Congress of Celtic Studies, to be held 22–26 July 2019.

After words of welcome, in English and Welsh, from Professor Radulescu and the Centre’s Deputy Director, Dr Aled Llion Jones, Dr Lloyd-Morgan introduced the two guest speakers. Professor Poppe’s groundbreaking paper focused on emotion in the the Middle Welsh Arthurian tale of Owain and its counterparts in French, English and the Scandinavian languages, while Professor Sioned M. Davies FLSW, of the School of Welsh, Cardiff University, drawing on the empirical research of a distinguished Bangor scholar, the late Dr Constance Bullock-Davies, outlined a completely new approach to another mediaeval Welsh text, Breuddwyd Rhonabwy.

Covering texts and traditions in all the Celtic languages from the Middle Ages to the 20th century, and with contributors from Wales, Scotland, Ireland, England, Germany, Brittany and the USA, Arthur in the Celtic Languages exemplifies the essentially international, multilingual and co-operative nature of scholarly endeavour; this was further underlined by the number of languages spoken by attendees networking over refreshments. The event was attended by many Fellows of the Society, a number of them from other disciplines, including Professor Alan Shore FLSW, Professor of Electrical Engineering at Bangor University and General Secretary of the LSW. We are most grateful to them and to the Society for supporting this events.

Live streaming of the talks led to an international audience through online broadcast, and the recordings are now available on the Centre’s website.

Publication date: 27 June 2019