Iolo Morgannwg

[megli]

Just to flag up the existence of this major project at the Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Sudies in Aberystwyth - they've been busily reassessing Iolo Morgannwg for several years and are publishing major new studies of his life, thought, and work.

There's a general assessment: 'A Rattleskull Genius: The Many Faces of IM'
and
'The truth Against the World: Iolo M. and Romantic Forgery'

and
'Bardic Circles: National, regional and Personal Idenity in the Bradic Vision of I. M.'

Here's the link:
www.wales.ac.uk/defaultpage.asp?page=E4006

see also
www.wales.ac.uk/defaultpage.asp?page=E4601

Although people here seem rightly suspicious of Iolo, to my mind, the idea still crops up, mainly on TDN/OBOD etc, that Iolo had access to mysterious material of druidic provenance which we no longer have, therefore we should treat him, carefully, as a potential resource for 'ancient druidry'. These major studies will undoubtedly show that this is vanishingly unlikely to be the case, and why. But he's nevertheless a fascinating figure - and the books look fun.

[littleraven]

megli said:

Just to flag up the existence of this major project at the Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Sudies in Aberystwyth - they've been busily reassessing Iolo Morgannwg for several years and are publishing major new studies of his life, thought, and work.

There's a general assessment: 'A Rattleskull Genius: The Many Faces of IM'
and
'The truth Against the World: Iolo M. and Romantic Forgery'

and
'Bardic Circles: National, regional and Personal Idenity in the Bradic Vision of I. M.'

Here's the link:
www.wales.ac.uk/defaultpage.asp?page=E4006

see also
www.wales.ac.uk/defaultpage.asp?page=E4601

Although people here seem rightly suspicious of Iolo, to my mind, the idea still crops up, mainly on TDN/OBOD etc, that Iolo had access to mysterious material of druidic provenance which we no longer have, therefore we should treat him, carefully, as a potential resource for 'ancient druidry'. These major studies will undoubtedly show that this is vanishingly unlikely to be the case, and why. But he's nevertheless a fascinating figure - and the books look fun.

I was told about the project a few years ago but had no idea how it was going. Apparently there are thousands of documents written by Iolo, it will be interesting to read.

[Craig]

Personally I like the old bugger, don't put much store by his veracity, but like him nonetheless. He is the Captain Jack Sparrow of modern druidry, always teasing, and delivering fantasy dressed up as fact.

[Heron]

'A Rattleskull Genius' hmm yes, I had the privilege of reviewing this for PLANET magazine ('The Welsh Internationalist'- follow link to the mag on my blog). There's not much in the volume that you could be left wanting to know about Iolo! Certainly he seems now to be respectable as opposed to being someone to be ashamed of. His poetry(in English & Welsh) is recognised as being of a quality that makes his reputation as a forger irrelevant. Except that ... didn't he do well! He was the first post-modernist - the Dafydd ap Gwilym of the mind and the Dafydd ap Gwilym on the page is one through the pen of Iolo!

A oes heddwch?

[megli]

oes!
Yes, I'm fond of him too, don't get me wrong, but the saw that he has something to tell us about ancient druidry needs to be (finally...) put to bed, once and for all! it's been dead in the water for decades and decades, apart from amongst OBODites etc.

I had great fun once comparing some of his fake dafydd poems to real ones. you could just tell, but it wasn't that easy. There was something faintly genteel and not strange enough about them.

[Blackbird]

Aye, I've always found him fascinating too.

I see him as actually being very close to the older bards in that he was writing his own stuff within the traditional idiom... how different is that to the medieval 'Taliesin', for example? I think he's a fine poet in his own right and although he was forging stuff, really helped to kindle interest in the genuine old literature, which has led to the preservation and study of those works.