Red Book of Hergest

• 1. Manuscript Origins And Scribes

  ›

  The Red Book of Hergest emerged from the scribe's hand between 1382 and 1410. One copyist responsible for this massive volume was Hywel Fychan fab Hywel Goch of Buellt. He worked for Hopcyn ap Tomas ab Einion, a man based in Ynysforgan near Swansea. Scholars describe the book as by far the heaviest of medieval Welsh books. It stands as the largest in its dimensions and the thickest among its peers. The vellum pages hold a collection of prose and poetry that would define Welsh literary history.

  1

• 2. Provenance Through Welsh Families

  ›

  Hopcyn ap Rhys held the manuscript until the end of the 15th century. His family lost property after being complicit in rebellion against King Edward IV. The Vaughans of Tretower obtained the book around 1465 when they received Hopcyn's forfeited possessions. Sir Thomas Vaughan owned it during his lifetime ending in 1483. Lewys Glyn Cothi wrote two odes dedicated to him directly into the manuscript at Tretower. By 1550 Sir John Price of Brecon saw the book at Hergest Court. William Salesbury found it with Sir Henry Sidney at Ludlow in the late 1560s while Siancyn Gwyn held it on loan from him.

  23

• 3. Acquisition By Jesus College Oxford

  ›

  Thomas Wilkins died in 1699 having kept the manuscript for decades. He may have borrowed it from the Mansels of Margam without returning it. Edward Lhuyd visited Wilkins in 1697 to copy parts of the text. On the 17th of February 1701, Thomas Wilkins the Younger donated the volume to Jesus College. Internal notes suggest Edward Lhuyd held the manuscript on loan for thirteen years after the donation. The college retrieved it only after Lhuyd's death. Today the institution keeps the manuscript on deposit at the Bodleian Library.

  4

• 4. Mabinogion And Medieval Poetry

  ›

  The first part of the manuscript contains prose including the Mabinogion tales. It also holds historical texts like a Welsh translation of Geoffrey of Monmouth's work. A series of Triads appears within these early pages. The rest of the volume features poetry from the period known as Poetry of the Princes. Cycles of court poetry fill the vellum alongside poems by Myrddin Wyllt. Scholars once thought this book was a copy of the White Book of Rhydderch. They now believe both descend from a lost common ancestor or ancestors.

  3

• 5. Medical Texts Of Myddfai

  ›

  A collection of herbal remedies fills specific sections of the Red Book. These texts are associated with Rhiwallon Feddyg who founded a medical dynasty. The Physicians of Myddfai practiced in the village just outside Llandovery for over 500 years. Their knowledge survives within the vellum pages of this medieval manuscript. The remedies represent centuries of accumulated wisdom from that region.

• 6. Tolkien And The Red Book Westmarch

  ›

  Some researchers believe J. R. R. Tolkien borrowed the title for his fictional work. He created the Red Book of Westmarch as an imagined legendary source for his own tales. This connection links the real-world manuscript to modern fantasy literature. The theory suggests a direct line between the Welsh scribe's work and Tolkien's invented history.

  4