Taliesin and Aneirin. A master and a student? Friends? Creators? Lovers? Who knows? But those two created King Arthur, and that's for sure. For those who choose poetry as their creative major, these bards are everything, for without them no poetry would exist.
This has such an ancient, almost chanting vibe to it. I kept hearing it in my head after I read it, especially the 'I am Taliesin' part, like a drumbeat. 💜
Well, he lived in 6th century. That's an established fact. The poems date back to this time. Taliesin was always revered culturally and mythologically his fame surpassed his real story, of course. Gwilym Morus Baird has an excellent series on him. Also, He is mentioned as one of the five British poets of renown, along with Talhaearn Tad Awen ("Talhaearn Father of the Muse"), Aneirin, Blwchfardd, and Cian Gwenith Gwawd ("Cian Wheat of Song"), in the Historia Brittonum, and is also mentioned in the collection of poems known as Y Gododdin. Taliesin was highly regarded in the mid-12th century as the supposed author of a great number of romantic legends. He also might've been Aneirin's teacher as the latter grew up in the household of his uncle, Urien of Rheged, where Taliesin lived then, and was known to be a tutor to Urien's own son, Owain, and Aneirin too. Later on they developed quite a fond friendship, and you can see the references to each of them in each other's works. And that doesn't happen often with the bards. Taliesin is the King of the Bards, whereas Aneirin is often called the Prince.
This has such an ancient, almost chanting vibe to it. I kept hearing it in my head after I read it, especially the 'I am Taliesin' part, like a drumbeat. 💜
Thank you so much, Diana!
Where do we first hear about Taliesin and when was that written?
Well, he lived in 6th century. That's an established fact. The poems date back to this time. Taliesin was always revered culturally and mythologically his fame surpassed his real story, of course. Gwilym Morus Baird has an excellent series on him. Also, He is mentioned as one of the five British poets of renown, along with Talhaearn Tad Awen ("Talhaearn Father of the Muse"), Aneirin, Blwchfardd, and Cian Gwenith Gwawd ("Cian Wheat of Song"), in the Historia Brittonum, and is also mentioned in the collection of poems known as Y Gododdin. Taliesin was highly regarded in the mid-12th century as the supposed author of a great number of romantic legends. He also might've been Aneirin's teacher as the latter grew up in the household of his uncle, Urien of Rheged, where Taliesin lived then, and was known to be a tutor to Urien's own son, Owain, and Aneirin too. Later on they developed quite a fond friendship, and you can see the references to each of them in each other's works. And that doesn't happen often with the bards. Taliesin is the King of the Bards, whereas Aneirin is often called the Prince.