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Pridwen

April 01, 2023

This article is about the shield of King Arthur. For the ship of King Arthur, see Prydwen.

Pridwen was, according to the 12th-century writer Geoffrey of Monmouth, King Arthur's shield; it was adorned with an image of the Virgin Mary. Geoffrey's description of it draws on earlier Welsh traditions found in Preiddeu Annwfn, Culhwch and Olwen, and the Historia Brittonum. The shield is also named and described by Wace, Layamon, Roger of Wendover and Robert of Gloucester among other medieval writers, and it directly inspired the description of Sir Gawain's shield in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

Geoffrey of Monmouth

King Arthur's shield Pridwen appears in the 1130s in Geoffrey of Monmouth's largely fictitious Historia Regum Britanniae. Before fighting a battle near Bath, in Somerset, Arthur

Pridwen has been interpreted as meaning "white face", "fair face", "blessed form" or "precious and white". The name was taken from Welsh tradition, Arthur's ship in Preiddeu Annwfn and Culhwch and Olwen being called Prydwen; it was perhaps borrowed by Geoffrey because of its appropriateness to a picture of the Virgin Mary.[2][3][4] The list of weapons finds a parallel in Culhwch and Olwen, where Arthur swears by his shield Wynebgwrthucher (perhaps meaning "face of evening"), his spear Rhongomiant, his knife Carnwennan, and his sword Caledfwlch.[5][6] The motif of the Virgin Mary's image was taken by Geoffrey from the 9th-century Historia Brittonum,[7] which describes a battle "in the castle of Guinnion, in which Arthur carried the image of saint Mary the perpetual virgin on his shoulders".[8] In transferring it to Arthur's shield Geoffrey created the first example in all literature of religious symbolism on a shield.[9]

The Brut tradition

In the Roman de Brut, the Norman poet Wace's expanded translation of Geoffrey's Historia, the shield's name is given as Priven.[10] He interprets Geoffrey's words as meaning that the representation of the Virgin was inside the shield, not outside as a heraldic device,[11] and he assures us that bearing the shield Arthur ne sembla pas cuart ne fol, "didn't seem cowardly or crazy".[12]

In Layamon's Brut the shield's name is again Pridwen, and he tells us that inside it the image of the Virgin Mary was igrauen mid rede golde stauen, "engraved with red gold stencilling".[13][14] Elsewhere he adds the detail that Arthur's shield was made of olifantes bane, "elephant ivory".[15][16]

The Gesta Regum Britanniae, a 13th-century Latin versification of Geoffrey's Historia attributed to William of Rennes, differs from earlier versions in representing the picture of the Virgin Mary as being on the outside of the shield after the manner of a heraldic blazon.[11]

In the later 13th century the Chronicle of Robert of Gloucester, another heir of the Brut tradition, mentioned Arthur's shield (under the name þridwen) along with its Marian image.[17][18]

Other medieval literature

In the 1190s the churchman Gerald of Wales, mentioning Arthur's shield without naming it in his De principis instructione, added the detail that Arthur would kiss the feet of the image of the Virgin Mary before going into battle.[19][20]

Pridwen was named as the shield of King Arthur in the chronicle called Flores Historiarum, both in the original version written by Roger of Wendover and in the adaptation by Matthew Paris.[21][22][23]

13th century elaborations on the tradition of Arthur's shield recorded in the Vatican recension of the Historia Brittonum tell us that this image was brought back from Jerusalem by Arthur.[11]

In imitation of King Arthur's Pridwen the 14th-century Middle English poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight has its hero Gawain paint the Virgin Mary inside his shield, so that quen he blusched þerto, his belde neuer payred, "when he looked thereto, his heart never lessened".[24][25]

References

  1. ^ Geoffrey of Monmouth (2007). Reeve, Michael D. (ed.). The History of the Kings of Britain: An Edition and Translation of De Gestis Britonum [Historia Regum Britanniae]. Arthurian Studies LXIX. Translated by Wright, Neil. Woodbridge: Boydell Press. pp. 198–199. ISBN 9781843834410. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  2. ^ Parry, John J.; Caldwell, Robert A. (1959). "Geoffrey of Monmouth". In Loomis, Roger Sherman (ed.). Arthurian Literature in the Middle Ages: A Collaborative History. Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 84. ISBN 0198115881. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  3. ^ Lacy, Norris J.; Ashe, Geoffrey; Mancoff, Debra N. (1997). The Arthurian Handbook (2nd ed.). New York: Garland. p. 345. ISBN 9780815320814. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  4. ^ Tatlock, J. S. P. (1950). The Legendary History of Britain: Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae and Its Early Vernacular Versions. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 202. ISBN 9780877521686. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  5. ^ Curley 1994, p. 79.
  6. ^ Ford, Patrick K. (1983). "On the Significance of Some Arthurian Names in Welsh". Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies. 30: 270. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
  7. ^ Curley 1994, p. 80.
  8. ^ Higham, N. J. (2002). King Arthur: Myth-Making and History. London: Routledge. p. 144. ISBN 0415213053. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
  9. ^ Brault, Gerard J. (1997) [1972]. Early Blazon: Heraldic Terminology in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries with Special Reference to Arthurian Heraldry. Woodbridge: Boydell Press. p. 24. ISBN 9780851157115. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
  10. ^ Arnold, I. D. O.; Pelan, M. M., eds. (1962). La partie arthurienne du Roman de Brut. Bibliothèque française et romane. Série B: Textes et documents, 1. Paris: C. Klincksieck. p. 63. ISBN 2252001305. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
  11. ^ a b c Morris 1982, p. 127.
  12. ^ Warren, Michelle R. (2000). History on the Edge: Excalibur and the Borders of Britain, 1100–1300. Medieval Cultures, Volume 22. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. p. 162. ISBN 0816634920. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
  13. ^ Brook, G. L.; Leslie, R. F., eds. (n.d.). Lines 10501 through 10600. Layamon's Brut. University of Michigan Library. Lines 10554–10557. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
  14. ^ Lawman 1992, p. 270.
  15. ^ Brook, G. L.; Leslie, R. F., eds. (n.d.). Lines 11801 through 11900. Layamon's Brut. University of Michigan Library. Lines 11866–11867. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
  16. ^ Lawman 1992, pp. 304, 447.
  17. ^ Wright, William Aldis, ed. (2012) [1887]. The Metrical Chronicle of Robert of Gloucester. Volume 1. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 254. ISBN 9781108052375. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  18. ^ "Gloucester, Robert of". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/23736. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  19. ^ Fletcher, Robert Huntington (1965) [1906]. The Arthurian Material in the Chronicles, Especially Those of Great Britain and France. New York: Haskell House. p. 34. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  20. ^ Gerald of Wales (1978). The Journey Through Wales and The Description of Wales. Translated by Thorpe, Lewis. Harmondsworth: Penguin. p. 281. ISBN 9780141915555. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  21. ^ Davies, J. D. (1877). A History of West Gower, Glamorganshire. Part I. Swansea: H. W. Williams. p. 14. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  22. ^ Roger of Wendover's Flowers of History, Comprising the History of England from the Descent of the Saxons to A.D. 1237, Formerly Ascribed to Matthew Paris. Vol. 1. Translated by Giles, J. A. London: Henry G. Bohn. 1849. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  23. ^ Luard, Henry Richards, ed. (2012) [1890]. Flores Historiarum. Volume 1: The Creation to A.D. 1066. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 260. ISBN 9781139382960. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  24. ^ Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Translated by Wayne, Thomas. New York: Algora. 2020. p. 24. ISBN 9781628944105. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  25. ^ Vantuono, William, ed. (1984). The Pearl Poems: An Omnibus Edition. Vol. 2. New York: Garland. pp. 82, 274. ISBN 9780824054519. Retrieved 4 October 2020.

Sources

  • Curley, Michael J. (1994). Geoffrey of Monmouth. Twayne's English Authors Series No. 509. New York: Twayne. ISBN 0805770550. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  • Lawman (1992). Brut. Translated by Allen, Rosamund. London: J. M. Dent. ISBN 0460860720. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  • Morris, Rosemary (1982). The Character of King Arthur in Medieval Literature. Arthurian Studies IV. Woodbridge: D. S. Brewer. ISBN 9780859910880. Retrieved 1 October 2020.

April 01, 2023
pridwen, this, article, about, shield, king, arthur, ship, king, arthur, prydwen, according, 12th, century, writer, geoffrey, monmouth, king, arthur, shield, adorned, with, image, virgin, mary, geoffrey, description, draws, earlier, welsh, traditions, found, p. This article is about the shield of King Arthur For the ship of King Arthur see Prydwen Pridwen was according to the 12th century writer Geoffrey of Monmouth King Arthur s shield it was adorned with an image of the Virgin Mary Geoffrey s description of it draws on earlier Welsh traditions found in Preiddeu Annwfn Culhwch and Olwen and the Historia Brittonum The shield is also named and described by Wace Layamon Roger of Wendover and Robert of Gloucester among other medieval writers and it directly inspired the description of Sir Gawain s shield in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Contents 1 Geoffrey of Monmouth 2 The Brut tradition 3 Other medieval literature 4 References 5 SourcesGeoffrey of Monmouth EditKing Arthur s shield Pridwen appears in the 1130s in Geoffrey of Monmouth s largely fictitious Historia Regum Britanniae Before fighting a battle near Bath in Somerset Arthur lorica tanto rege digna indutus auream galeam simulacro draconis insculptam capiti adaptat humeris quoque suis clipeum uocabulo Pridwen in quo imago sanctae Mariae Dei genitricis inpicta ipsum in memoriam ipsius saepissime reuocabat Accinctus etiam Caliburno gladio optimo et in insula Auallonis fabricato lancea dextram suam decorat quae nomine Ron uocabatur donned a hauberk worthy of a mighty king placed on his head a golden helmet engraved with the image of a dragon and shouldered his shield called Pridwen on which was depicted Mary the Holy Mother of God to keep her memory always before his eyes He also buckled on Caliburnus an excellent blade forged on the isle of Avallon and graced his hand with his spear called Ron 1 Pridwen has been interpreted as meaning white face fair face blessed form or precious and white The name was taken from Welsh tradition Arthur s ship in Preiddeu Annwfn and Culhwch and Olwen being called Prydwen it was perhaps borrowed by Geoffrey because of its appropriateness to a picture of the Virgin Mary 2 3 4 The list of weapons finds a parallel in Culhwch and Olwen where Arthur swears by his shield Wynebgwrthucher perhaps meaning face of evening his spear Rhongomiant his knife Carnwennan and his sword Caledfwlch 5 6 The motif of the Virgin Mary s image was taken by Geoffrey from the 9th century Historia Brittonum 7 which describes a battle in the castle of Guinnion in which Arthur carried the image of saint Mary the perpetual virgin on his shoulders 8 In transferring it to Arthur s shield Geoffrey created the first example in all literature of religious symbolism on a shield 9 The Brut tradition EditIn the Roman de Brut the Norman poet Wace s expanded translation of Geoffrey s Historia the shield s name is given as Priven 10 He interprets Geoffrey s words as meaning that the representation of the Virgin was inside the shield not outside as a heraldic device 11 and he assures us that bearing the shield Arthur ne sembla pas cuart ne fol didn t seem cowardly or crazy 12 In Layamon s Brut the shield s name is again Pridwen and he tells us that inside it the image of the Virgin Mary was igrauen mid rede golde stauen engraved with red gold stencilling 13 14 Elsewhere he adds the detail that Arthur s shield was made of olifantes bane elephant ivory 15 16 The Gesta Regum Britanniae a 13th century Latin versification of Geoffrey s Historia attributed to William of Rennes differs from earlier versions in representing the picture of the Virgin Mary as being on the outside of the shield after the manner of a heraldic blazon 11 In the later 13th century the Chronicle of Robert of Gloucester another heir of the Brut tradition mentioned Arthur s shield under the name thridwen along with its Marian image 17 18 Other medieval literature EditIn the 1190s the churchman Gerald of Wales mentioning Arthur s shield without naming it in his De principis instructione added the detail that Arthur would kiss the feet of the image of the Virgin Mary before going into battle 19 20 Pridwen was named as the shield of King Arthur in the chronicle called Flores Historiarum both in the original version written by Roger of Wendover and in the adaptation by Matthew Paris 21 22 23 13th century elaborations on the tradition of Arthur s shield recorded in the Vatican recension of the Historia Brittonum tell us that this image was brought back from Jerusalem by Arthur 11 In imitation of King Arthur s Pridwen the 14th century Middle English poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight has its hero Gawain paint the Virgin Mary inside his shield so that quen he blusched therto his belde neuer payred when he looked thereto his heart never lessened 24 25 References Edit Geoffrey of Monmouth 2007 Reeve Michael D ed The History of the Kings of Britain An Edition and Translation of De Gestis Britonum Historia Regum Britanniae Arthurian Studies LXIX Translated by Wright Neil Woodbridge Boydell Press pp 198 199 ISBN 9781843834410 Retrieved 2 October 2020 Parry John J Caldwell Robert A 1959 Geoffrey of Monmouth In Loomis Roger Sherman ed Arthurian Literature in the Middle Ages A Collaborative History Oxford Clarendon Press p 84 ISBN 0198115881 Retrieved 2 October 2020 Lacy Norris J Ashe Geoffrey Mancoff Debra N 1997 The Arthurian Handbook 2nd ed New York Garland p 345 ISBN 9780815320814 Retrieved 2 October 2020 Tatlock J S P 1950 The Legendary History of Britain Geoffrey of Monmouth sHistoria Regum Britanniaeand Its Early Vernacular Versions Berkeley University of California Press p 202 ISBN 9780877521686 Retrieved 2 October 2020 Curley 1994 p 79 Ford Patrick K 1983 On the Significance of Some Arthurian Names in Welsh Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies 30 270 Retrieved 3 October 2020 Curley 1994 p 80 Higham N J 2002 King Arthur Myth Making and History London Routledge p 144 ISBN 0415213053 Retrieved 3 October 2020 Brault Gerard J 1997 1972 Early Blazon Heraldic Terminology in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries with Special Reference to Arthurian Heraldry Woodbridge Boydell Press p 24 ISBN 9780851157115 Retrieved 3 October 2020 Arnold I D O Pelan M M eds 1962 La partie arthurienne du Roman de Brut Bibliotheque francaise et romane Serie B Textes et documents 1 Paris C Klincksieck p 63 ISBN 2252001305 Retrieved 3 October 2020 a b c Morris 1982 p 127 Warren Michelle R 2000 History on the Edge Excalibur and the Borders of Britain 1100 1300 Medieval Cultures Volume 22 Minneapolis University of Minnesota Press p 162 ISBN 0816634920 Retrieved 3 October 2020 Brook G L Leslie R F eds n d Lines 10501 through 10600 Layamon s Brut University of Michigan Library Lines 10554 10557 Retrieved 3 October 2020 Lawman 1992 p 270 Brook G L Leslie R F eds n d Lines 11801 through 11900 Layamon s Brut University of Michigan Library Lines 11866 11867 Retrieved 3 October 2020 Lawman 1992 pp 304 447 Wright William Aldis ed 2012 1887 The Metrical Chronicle of Robert of Gloucester Volume 1 Cambridge Cambridge University Press p 254 ISBN 9781108052375 Retrieved 4 October 2020 Gloucester Robert of Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online ed Oxford University Press doi 10 1093 ref odnb 23736 Subscription or UK public library membership required Fletcher Robert Huntington 1965 1906 The Arthurian Material in the Chronicles Especially Those of Great Britain and France New York Haskell House p 34 Retrieved 4 October 2020 Gerald of Wales 1978 The Journey Through Wales and The Description of Wales Translated by Thorpe Lewis Harmondsworth Penguin p 281 ISBN 9780141915555 Retrieved 4 October 2020 Davies J D 1877 A History of West Gower Glamorganshire Part I Swansea H W Williams p 14 Retrieved 4 October 2020 Roger of Wendover s Flowers of History Comprising the History of England from the Descent of the Saxons to A D 1237 Formerly Ascribed to Matthew Paris Vol 1 Translated by Giles J A London Henry G Bohn 1849 Retrieved 4 October 2020 Luard Henry Richards ed 2012 1890 Flores Historiarum Volume 1 The Creation to A D 1066 Cambridge Cambridge University Press p 260 ISBN 9781139382960 Retrieved 4 October 2020 Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Translated by Wayne Thomas New York Algora 2020 p 24 ISBN 9781628944105 Retrieved 4 October 2020 Vantuono William ed 1984 The Pearl Poems An Omnibus Edition Vol 2 New York Garland pp 82 274 ISBN 9780824054519 Retrieved 4 October 2020 Sources EditCurley Michael J 1994 Geoffrey of Monmouth Twayne s English Authors Series No 509 New York Twayne ISBN 0805770550 Retrieved 29 September 2020 Lawman 1992 Brut Translated by Allen Rosamund London J M Dent ISBN 0460860720 Retrieved 1 October 2020 Morris Rosemary 1982 The Character of King Arthur in Medieval Literature Arthurian Studies IV Woodbridge D S Brewer ISBN 9780859910880 Retrieved 1 October 2020 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Pridwen amp oldid 1128530401, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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