View source for Red Book of Hergest

{{Short description|14th century Welsh manuscript collection}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{italic title}}
{{Infobox manuscript
<!----------Name---------->| name = ''Red Book of Hergest''<br />''Llyfr Coch Hergest''
| location = Oxford, Jesus College, MS 111
<!----------Image---------->| image = Image:Red.Book.of.Hergest.facsimile.png
| width = 180px
| caption = Facsimile of part of column 579 from the ''Red Book of Hergest''
<!----------General---------->| Also known as = 
| Type = 
| Date = shortly after 1382
| Place of origin = 
| Language(s) = [[Middle Welsh]]
| Scribe(s) = Hywel Fychan and two other scribes
| Author(s) = 
| Compiled by = 
| Illuminated by = 
| Patron = [[Hopcyn ap Tomas]]
| Dedicated to = <!----------Form and content---------->
| Material = [[vellum]] and [[leather]]
| Size = 34 × 21 cm; 362 leaves
| Format = 
| Condition = leaves missing at the end; no original binding
| Script = 
| Contents = early Welsh poetry of the ''Cynfeirdd'' and especially, that of the ''Gogynfeirdd''; the [[Mabinogion]]; ''[[Brut y Brenhinedd]]''; remedies associated with Rhiwallon Feddyg; etc.
| Illumination(s) = 
| Additions = 
| Exemplar(s) = 
| Previously kept = 
| Discovered = 
| Other = 
| below = 
}}

The '''''Red Book of Hergest''''' ({{langx|cy|'''Llyfr Coch Hergest'''}}), [[Oxford, Jesus College]], MS 111, is a large [[vellum]] manuscript written shortly after 1382, which ranks as one of the most important medieval manuscripts written in the [[Welsh language]]. It preserves a collection of Welsh prose and poetry, notably the tales of the ''[[Mabinogion]]'' and [[Gogynfeirdd]] poetry. The manuscript derives its name from the colour of its leather binding and from its association with Hergest Court between the late 15th and early 17th century.

== Compilation ==
The manuscript was written between about 1382 and 1410. One of the several [[copyist]]s responsible for the manuscript has been identified as Hywel Fychan fab Hywel Goch of [[Buellt]]. He is known to have worked for [[w:Cy:Hopcyn ap Tomas|Hopcyn ap Tomas ab Einion]] ({{Circa|}} 1330–1403) of [[Ynysforgan]], [[Swansea]], and it is possible that the manuscript was compiled for Hopcyn.

According to scholar [[Daniel Huws]], it is "by far the heaviest of the medieval books in Welsh, the largest in its dimensions...and the thickest".<ref>Cited in "Oxford Jesus College 111: An Electronic Edition", ''Welsh Prose 1350–1425''</ref>

== History ==
The manuscript appears to have been retained by Hopcyn's family until the end of the 15th&nbsp;century, when Hopcyn's grandson [[Hopcyn ap Rhys]] was held complicit in the rebellion against King [[Edward IV]] and consequently saw much of his property forfeited. The Vaughans of [[Tretower]] ({{Lang|cy|Tretŵr}}), then in [[Breconshire]], obtained it, probably in 1465 on receiving Hopcyn's forfeited possessions.<ref name=OJC111>"Oxford Jesus College 111: An Electronic Edition", ''Welsh Prose 1350&ndash;1425''.</ref> Ownership is suggested by two odes (''[[awdl]]au''), dedicated to [[Sir Thomas Vaughan]] ({{Abbr|d.|died}}&nbsp;1483) and his sons, which were written into the manuscript by Welsh poet [[Lewys Glyn Cothi]] at Tretower.<ref name=CC>Thomas, "Llyfr Coch Hergest", pp.&nbsp;1172&ndash;1173.</ref> The ''Red Book'' soon passed into the possession of the Vaughans of Hergest Court, near [[Kington, Herefordshire|Kington]] in the [[Welsh Marches]]. Sir [[John Prise|John Price]] of Brecon reports to have seen the manuscript in 1550, presumably at Hergest.<ref name=CC /> In the late 1560s, [[William Salesbury]] found the manuscript in the possession of [[Sir Henry Sidney]] at [[Ludlow]], when [[Siancyn Gwyn]] of [[Llanidloes]] held it on loan from him.<ref name=OJC111 />

By the early 17th&nbsp;century, the ''Red Book'' had passed to the [[Mansel family|Mansels of Margam]], hence back in [[Glamorgan]]. It was possibly brought into the marriage between Henry's granddaughter [[Catherine Sidney]] and [[Sir Lewis Mansel]], who is reported to have owned it in 1634.<ref name=OJC111 /> The manuscript was later found in the collection of [[Thomas Wilkins (antiquarian)|Thomas Wilkins]] (d.&nbsp;1699), a Welsh clergyman and antiquarian, who may have borrowed it from the Mansels without ever returning it. In 1697, Wilkins was visited by [[Edward Lhuyd]] who spent some time copying a manuscript which might well have been the ''Red Book''.

In 1701, two years after Wilkins' death, his son Thomas Wilkins the Younger donated the manuscript to [[Jesus College, Oxford]].<ref name=OJC111 /> Internal evidence, a note by the latter Wilkins, suggests that Edward Lhuyd then held the manuscript on loan, but that the college was able to retrieve it only 13&nbsp;years later, after Lhuyd's death.<ref name=OJC111 /><ref name=CC /> The book was given on 17 February 1701 to Jesus College by Reverend Thomas Wilkins the younger of [[Llanblethian]]. The college keeps the manuscript on deposit at the [[Bodleian Library]].<ref>[https://www.jesus.ox.ac.uk/news/2012/january/red-book-of-hergest Red Book of Hergest]</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2016-04-03 |title=Yn ôl i Gymru? |trans-title=Back to Wales? |language=cy |work=BBC Cymru Fyw |url=https://www.bbc.com/cymrufyw/35919530 |access-date=2023-01-17}}</ref>

== Content ==
[[Image:Llyfr Coch Hergest 240-241.JPG|thumb|''The Red Book of Hergest'', columns 240–241.]]

The first part of the manuscript contains prose, including the ''[[Mabinogion]]'', for which this is one of the manuscript sources, other tales, historical texts (including a [[Welsh language|Welsh]] translation of [[Geoffrey of Monmouth]]'s {{lang|la|[[Historia Regum Britanniae]]}}), and various other texts including a series of [[Welsh Triads|Triads]]. The rest of the manuscript contains poetry, especially from the period of court poetry known as [[Medieval Welsh literature#Poets of the Princes (c. 1100 – c. 1300)|Poetry of the Princes]] ({{langx|cy|Gogynfeirdd}} or {{lang|cy|Beirdd y Tywysogion}}), including the cycles {{lang|cy|[[Canu Llywarch Hen]]}}, {{lang|cy|[[Canu Urien]]}}, and {{lang|cy|[[Canu Heledd]]}}. It contains also poems by [[Myrddin Wyllt]]. The Red Book is similar in content to the [[White Book of Rhydderch]], of which it has at times been supposed to be a copy. Both are now thought, however, to descend from a lost common ancestor or ancestors.<ref>{{cite book |first=Jenny |last=Rowland |title=Early Welsh Saga Poetry: A Study and Edition of the Englynion |location=Cambridge |publisher=Brewer |date=1990 |page=393}}</ref>

The manuscript also contains a collection of herbal remedies associated with Rhiwallon Feddyg, founder of a medical dynasty that lasted over 500 years – 'The Physicians of Myddfai' from the village of [[Myddfai]] just outside [[Llandovery]].

== Influence ==
Some researchers believe that [[J. R. R. Tolkien]] borrowed the title for the ''[[Red Book of Westmarch]]'', the imagined legendary source of Tolkien's tales.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hooker |first=Mark T. |date=2006 |title=Tolkienian mathomium: a collection of articles on J. R. R. Tolkien and his legendarium |chapter=The Feigned-manuscript Topos |publisher=Llyfrawr |pages=176{{ndash}}177 |isbn=9781438246314 |quote=Tolkien’s well-known love of Welsh suggests that he would have likewise been well-acquainted with [the Red Book of Hergest]. For the Tolkiennymist, the coincidence of the names… is striking: ''The Red Book of Hergest'' and the ''Red Book of Westmarch''. Tolkien wanted to write (translate) a mythology for England, and [[Lady Charlotte Guest]]’s work can easily be said to be a ‘mythology for Wales’.}}</ref>
{{Clear}}

== See also ==
* [[Welsh artefacts in museums outside Wales]]
* [[White Book of Hergest]]
* [[White Book of Rhydderch]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Sources ==
* 'Red book of Hergest'. In [[Meic Stephens]] (Ed.) (1998), ''The new companion to the literature of Wales''. Cardiff : University of Wales Press. {{ISBN|0-7083-1383-3}}.
* {{cite book |last1=Parry |first1=Thomas |author1-link=Thomas Parry (author) |last2=Bell |first2=H. Idris |author2-link=Idris Bell |year=1955 |title=A History of Welsh Literature |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-815208-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofwelshli0000parr |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}
* Thomas, Richard [http://wbo.llgc.org.uk/en/s-WILK-INS-1350.html Biography of Thomas Wilkins], Welsh Biography Online ([[National Library of Wales]])
* {{Cite Celtic Culture |last=Thomas |first=Graham C. G. |title=Llyfr Coch Hergest |pages=1172–3 |volume=3 }}
* {{Cite web |title=Oxford Jesus College 111: An Electronic Edition |work=Welsh Prose 1350–1425 |year=2007 |url=http://www.rhyddiaithganoloesol.caerdydd.ac.uk/en/tei-header.php?ms=Jesus111 }}

== Further reading ==
* {{Cite journal |last=Charles-Edwards |first=G. |title=The Scribes of the Red Book of Hergest |journal=[[National Library of Wales Journal]] |volume=21 |year=1989–90 |pages=246–56}}
* {{Cite book |last=Evans |first=J. Gwenogvryn |author-link=John Gwenogvryn Evans |title=Report on Manuscripts in the Welsh Language |series=2 vols |volume=2 |year=1902 |location=London |pages=[https://archive.org/details/repmanuscwelsh02greauoft/page/1 1]–29 |url=https://archive.org/details/repmanuscwelsh02greauoft}}
* {{Cite book |last=Evans |first=J. Gwenogvryn |title=The Poetry in the Red Book of Hergest |location=Llanbedrog |year=1911 |url=https://archive.org/details/poetryinredbooko00evanuoft}}
* {{Cite encyclopedia |language=Welsh |last=Huws |first=Daniel |title=Llyfr Coch Hergest |trans-title=The Red Book of Hergest |encyclopedia=Cyfoeth y Testun: Ysgrifau ar Lenyddiaeth Gymraeg yr Oesoedd Canol |editor-first=R. Iestyn |editor-last=Daniel |location=Cardiff |publisher=Gwasg Prifysgol Cymru |year=2003 |pages=1–30 |display-editors=etal}}
* {{Cite book |last=Huws |first=Daniel |title=Medieval Welsh Manuscripts |location=Cardiff |publisher=[[University of Wales Press]] |year=2000 |isbn=0-7083-1602-6}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Morgan |first=Prys |title=Glamorgan and the Red Book |journal=[[Morgannwg (journal)|Morgannwg]] |volume=22 |year=1978 |pages=42–60}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Rowlands |first=Eurys I. |title=Nodiadau ar y traddodiad moliant a'r cywydd |trans-title=Notes on the praise tradition and the cywydd |journal=[[Llên Cymru]] |volume=7 |year=1962–1963 |pages=217–43 |language=Welsh}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Red Book of Hergest}}

* [https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/inquire/p/9bf187bf-f862-4453-bc4f-851f6d3948af Red Book of Hergest], or Jesus College MS. 111. Full colour images available on Digital Bodleian.
* [https://medieval.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/catalog/manuscript_10635 Catalogue record for Jesus College MS. 111]
*[http://www.maryjones.us/jce/hergest1.html Mary Jones, ''Celtic Encyclopedia'']: Llyfr Coch Hergest (entry on manuscript)
*[http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/hindex.html Mary Jones, ''Celtic Literature Collective'']: Llyfr Coch Hergest (contents & translations)
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070926234725/http://ovid.bma.org.uk/ap.nsf/Content/The+Physicians+of+Myddfai ''British Medical Association – Wales & Medicine'']

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:14th-century books]]
[[Category:Welsh-language manuscripts]]
[[Category:Mabinogion]]
[[Category:Medieval Welsh literature]]
[[Category:Welsh-language literature]]
[[Category:Welsh mythology]]
[[Category:Jesus College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Bodleian Library collection]]