Croeso, fáilte, dynnargh dhywgh, degemer mat.
This is where I share my resources regarding Celtic subjects.

This is a page I compiled during my time of my Medieval Studies degree. Literature I am extremely concerned with includes The Four Branches of the Mabinogion (White/Red/Black books), The Triads of the Island of Britain, Ystoria Taliesin, the Ulster Cycle, and select Arthurian stories and Breton lais. Other subjects of particular interest to me include the fairy faiths, Bronze and Iron Age archaeology, and the etymology of the Brythonic and Gaelic languages. There's a little of everything here.

Celtic Reconstructionist (CR) paganism is the closest description to my personal practice. I am NOT a Neopagan or Wicca practicioner, nor am I a "bard" or "druid" as those groups define these terms (Especially Christian applications). As such, what is presented here may appear contradictory to standard new-age thinking. Refer to my recommended reading instead section(s) for your own research and citations.


Here are my essential reading resources, because they should be shared:

• The Mabinogion - Lady Charlotte Guest. The original and only translation of The Mabinogion I trust. Don't let it's age fool you, as it retains archaeological notes and a familiarity with the Welsh countryside by virtue of age that others do not. Sioned Davies' translation is most widely available, and is a begrudging second choice in a pinch.
• Trioedd Ynys Prydein - Rachel Bromwich. Notoriously difficult to get, Bromwich's translation and transcription of Welsh triads and laws from the 5th century is like a geneaology, topography, and history all in one. A close companion to Guest's Mabinogion. I will update ASAP if I find a legal public and digitized link.
• Ystoria Taliesin - W.F. Skene. Also known as 'The Book of Taliesin', this manuscript contains some of the most artful Old Welsh poetry ever written. Best known for the death songs and Preiddeu Annwn.
• The Spoils of Annwn - Sarah Higley. Preiddeu Annwn is an Arthurian poem describing Arthur, Taliesin, and company visiting the Otherworld. A reading by the translator Sarah Higley can be found here.
• Index of Welsh Texts - Mary Jones. Jones graciously hosts her digital archive of hundreds upon hundreds of Celtic texts, including Ystoria Taliesin and some of the Triads, for anyone to browse for free; many with the original language versions next to a translation, and an extensive encyclopedia with notes to reference.
• The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries - W.Y. Evan-Wentz. This turn-of-the-century ethnography contains accounts by 18th and 19th century individuals on local beliefs in the Fair Folk and their counterparts. Extremely useful in getting a true understanding of the Folk from a rural, Welsh-monolingual perspective.
• Reading Middle Welsh - Gareth Morgan. Morgan's guide on Middle Welsh is a phenomenal resource that I used myself while translating Dylan's eulogy. Free to view by independent scholars and also available for teachers on request.
• The Camelot Project. The University of Rochester in New York hosts a database of countless Arthurian manuscripts poems, bibliographies, and images, all available to browse free of charge. If it's Arthurian, you probably can at least find a reference to it here.
• Sir Gawain: Eleven Romances and Tales - Thomas Hahn. A compendium of the Gawain romances, previously not available for free, digitally. Written in Middle English. My favorite is Dame Ragnelle.
• Prose Merlin - John Conlee. Like Hahn's Gawain compendium, this is a set of prose concerning the figure Merlin, now easily accessible. In Middle English again, and includes tales like The Sword in the Stone and Merlin and Nimiane.

This is simply an introductory list. Further worthwhile readings can be found at the resources provided and on the Paganachd Reading List page. I highly encourage native and fluent English speakers to read Middle English texts as originals with a glossary/dictionary, such as the University of Michigan's.


The People's Collection of Wales has kindly photographed and described the grave goods located at the archaeological site of Bedd Branwen, a Bronze Age burial site at Anglesey on the shores of Aber Alaw. They are... fascinating, to say the least.

Nearly all of the Peniarth manuscripts- Ystoria Taliesin, The Black Book of Camarthen, The White Book of Rhydderch, and more- can be seen in their fully digitized glory here, thanks to the National Library of Wales.

Rhyddiaith Gymraeg is a similar database that contains the transcribed versions of various Middle Welsh texts, including the Peniarth manuscripts, The Red Book of Hergest, and more. Thank them for the lovely scan of Ystoria Taliesin's scribe who drew the lion at the bottom of this page.

Finally, For users of Second Life, I highly recommend visiting the in-world location of 'Preiddeu Annwn', developed by Professor Hypatia Pickens at the University of Rochester. It is an extremely immersive and fun way to read this poem without belittling it's own significance.