The Triads of the Island of Britain
For this brief discussion on Triads, I will be referencing The 4th ed. of Trioedd Ynys Prydein (The Triads of the Island of Britain) edited by Rachel Bromwich. This is a very scholarly edition and each Triad is intensively researched word for word by her. This has become a standard reference in the field of Arthurian studies (and others) with copious translation notes and personal name references.
Before I discuss the Triads themselves, I should talk about what the Triads are...and are not. The Triads are bardic strategy for memorizing a large amount of data, a mnemonic device in other words. In this case bards would memorize stories, history, characters, items, etc. by ordering them in groups of three. They may be three sons of a particular person, or three items stolen in different tales, or three incidents with a common theme. Their original purpose was to be memorized and used as a means to remember details while telling a tale. Who were the 3 exalted prisoners of the Island of Britain? Oh yes, they were Llyr Half-Speech, imprisoned by Euroswydd, Mabon son of Modron, and Gwair son of Gweirioedd.
Now let's see what the Triads aren't. These are not poems and they are not read aloud as entertainment. They are not from any particular work. Twenty may be found in one welsh text while another may only have two. One manuscript may be from 1400 and another from a hundred years later. The triads within even one manuscript may have been "composed" in different centuries from each other and were not even written down until much later. Many of them can be dated based on stories they reference such as some of the later french romances. Others may have names and references that cannot be linked to anything still surviving. Like "Three who could not be exiled from Arthur's court: Uchei son of Gwryon, and Coledawg son of Gwynn, and Cerenhyr son of Gereinyawn the Old." Nobody knows who these people are or what story they are from. They cannot be matched to any name or story, even obscure ones. As you can see above, some of the Triads mention Arthur or one of his knights. Others may mention characters from some of the stories we have or will cover. Some mention characters from more obscure welsh tradition, and, like above, some clearly reference tales lost to time. The triads we have are a mere hint of a larger tradition. These just happened to survive because they were written down by someone who thought to do so and, sometimes, survive on only a single manuscript. These were memorized by bards who recited tales verbally and learned them verbally and passed them by word of mouth for generations. It is doubtful that the bard or the listeners were literate. So, imagine all of the tales that vanished before they were written down. Of the ones that were, consider how few manuscripts survived the ravages of time. So as weird and dry as some of these triads seem, consider them for what they are, a peek into a world long dead.
Reading the Triads can tell us all sorts of interesting things about Arthur and his knights. That Arthur was a tribal king, an amateur bard, a prisoner, and a pig thief. He had a son, Llacheu, and three wives named Gwenhwyfar all from different fathers (including a giant!) The war at Camlann was started when Gwenhwyfar was slapped by her sister Gwenhwyfach and another (or the same war) was started when Medraut (Mordred) also slapped her. (Poor Gwenhwyfar, ouch!) We learn that some prisoners are exalted and some swineherds are powerful. We learn that Arthur's court has wanderers, licensed guests, peers, famous maidens, and people who cannot be exiled. Cai and Bedwyr are "diademed battle-leaders" and horses get their own series of triads. Most of the triads referenced above relate to no surviving story. But that's not true for all of them. Some clearly relate to Culhwch and Olwen, Geoffrey of Monmouth's work The HRB, and Chretien de Troyes' french romances. Unfortunately, it is not always easy to determine which direction the influence goes. It is clear that Geoffrey of monmouth was familiar with and may have even used triads as a reference in his HRB, and there are triads that clearly reference the HRB itself, or a later manuscript even.
The important thing to take away from this article is that although the Triads are not literature in the conventional sense, they are important to the study of Arthurian literature and history. They harken back to a time when bards were the source of tales and the compendiums of history, and they are a peek inside their profession. They show us hints of tales that may have been very common then but are now lost forever, and we can sometimes glean tantalizing clues about the formation of the Arthur legend.
Thanks for reading and I will be back soon to discuss Wace and his Roman de Brut.
Joe
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