Taliesin: The Last Celtic Shaman

Rating:
Summary: Mythic view of the universe.....
Review: I've been fascinated with myths and dreams and prophecy for some time, so I found John Matthews book TALIESIN THE LAST SHAMAN quite intriguing. The book has two parts: 1) an exploration of what is known or thought to be known about Taliesin who was probably a real person who lived in the 5th - 6th centuries in Britain as well as an interpretation of what Taliesin's works represent; 2) a collection of Taliesin's poetry translated by Matthews and his wife Caitlin.

Taliesin was probably British or Welsh although he might have considered himself something else-perhaps Cymry. The Romans described the inhabitants of what is today the United Kingdom as British, while the English referred to them as Welsh-their word for foreigner. Matthews refers to Taliesin as Celtic (Keltoi), a word the Greeks used to describe the people of northern Europe. Matthews describes the Celtic society that probably produced Taliesin and links his poetry to the Celtic view of the cosmos. He sees Taliesin as a "wise" man who penetrated the secrets of the universe and then attempted to share his vision via words.

Since I don't speak or read ancient Welsh or Irish, I can't pretend to know whether or not Matthews' interpretation of the Taliesin poetry is good or bad or even accurate. Although the book is not from a mainstream academic source, Matthews appears to be relatively scholarly, frequently citing from respected works and noting where his perspective differs from that of others. He also uses contextual material to locate Taliesin in time and space as an historical person. This secondary material seems to be consistent with various academic interpretations.

Rating:
Summary: I feel dreadful, but...
Review: I've long respected John and Caitlin Matthews for their elegance of expression and willingness to turn to actual Celtic sources. In fact, it's partly thanks to them that I'm studying Celtic language and literature at a graduate level. But...there's no getting around it: the evidence just doesn't support John Matthew's conclusions in this book. The translations are...imaginative, shall we say, (and yes, I do know Old Welsh) The [probably] historical Taliesin's poems are available edited by the great Sir Ifor Williams and his edition is available in English as 'The Poems of Taliesin' trans. by J Caerwyn Williams. They are a) much earlier than the material presented here, and b) not mystical or pagan. In fact, one of the best ones, the 'Marnawd Owain' begins and ends: 'The soul of Owain son of Urien, /may the Lord consider its need...' and is thoroughly Christian. Full stop.
The 'druidic/shamanic' poems Matthews presents as being earlier are AT LEAST THREE HUNDRED YEARS LATER than the poems of the historical Taliesin, and whilst it's true that they draw on common Celtic tradition about the role and power of the poet, we CANNOT draw conclusions about pre-Christian shamanic practice [if there was such a thing] from poems written between 900 and 1200. Do the maths. It's the same with the Sovereignty figure. In what sense is She the 'Goddess'? Yup, the pre-Christian Celts probably worshipped their bit of earth as a goddess. Fine. But this descends through three to four hundred years of Christianity before it appears in writing. It's a LITERARY motif, not a pagan one. To give another example, when medieval German poets referred to 'Frau Minne', Lady Love, the tradition they were drawing on could be traced back through European culture to the goddess Venus/Aphrodite. But in no meaningful sense were they worshipping a pagan Goddess! It's the same with early medieval Irish writers invoking the figure of Sovereignty, and with medieval Welsh poets concocting poems - drawing on old tradition - in the voice of a prophetic superbard, identified with a historical poet who died three hundred years or more before thy were born. such a strategy boosts their own prestige.

The saddest thing in the whole book is the introduction, in which John looks forward to the publication of Professor Patrick Ford's work on the same material. This is now out as 'Ystoria Taliesin'. It's brilliant. Get them both, compare and contrast...you'll see what i mean.

Rating:
Summary: At Last, From the Bard's Own Lips...
Review: There is no true study of the Celts or of Druidry that omits the work of the Bards themselves. While we may all await with baited breath an English translation of the Four Ancient Books of Wales, Matthews has provided us with substantial, fresh, sensitive translations of much of Taliesin's work. An indispensible volume.