At a meeting on 9 September, Cardiff Council decided to place the Book of Aneirin, one of the oldest and most important of Welsh manuscripts, on permanent loan at the National Library.
The manuscript was written in the second half of the 13th century, and contains eulogies for soldiers of the Gododdin tribe who died in a battle at Catterick, Yorkshire, around the year 600. The stanzas are believed to be the work of a poet called Aneirin.
Following a long journey, the volume returns to the company of old friends at Aberystwyth: until the second half of the 18th century, the Book of Aneirin was kept with the Book of Taliesin and the Black Book of Carmarthen at Hengwrt, Merioneth. Together with the Hendregadredd Manuscript, it vanished from Hengwrt before the end of that century, and wandered far and wide before finally settling at Cardiff Library in 1896.
There have been two important developments in the story of the Book of Aneirin during the last 25 years. Firstly, it was repaired and re-bound by Julian Thomas of our Conservation Treatment Unit in 1986, when the opportunity was taken to produce a facsimile (a bargain in our Shop at £20!), with a fine introduction by Daniel Huws.
Secondly, in 1999, German scholar Ingo Mittendorf noticed that the handwriting of one of the two monks who wrote the Book of Aneirin is also in two manuscripts at the National Library, namely Peniarth MSS 14 and 17. Based on this identification, it is likely that the Book of Aneirin was written in north Wales, possibly at the Cistercian abbey of Aberconwy.
Until the Book of Aneirin comes to Aberystwyth, we must be content to view the work of that monk in Peniarth MS 17, which can be seen for the next 6 months in the Hengwrt display area as part of the ‘Small World – Travel in Wales and Beyond’ exhibition.
Maredudd ap Huw