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The Welsh Triads (Welsh
Welsh language

Welsh ]], is a member of the Brythonic branch of Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, in England by some along the Welsh Marches and in the Welsh settlement in Argentina in the Chubut Valley in Argentina Patagonia....
 Trioedd Ynys Prydein, literally "Triads of the Island of Britain
Great Britain

Great Britain is an island lying to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the List of islands by area, and the largest in Europe. With a population of 58.9 million people it is List of islands by population....
") are a group of related texts in medieval manuscripts which preserve fragments of Welsh folklore
Folklore

Folklore is the body of expressive culture, including tales, music, dance, legends, oral history, proverbs, jokes, superstitions, customs, and so forth within a particular population comprising the traditions of that culture, subculture, or group ....
, mythology
Welsh mythology

Welsh mythology, the remnants of the mythology of the pre-Christian Britons , has come down to us in much altered form in Medieval Welsh literature such as the Red Book of Hergest, the White Book of Rhydderch, the Book of Aneirin and the Book of Taliesin....
 and traditional history in groups of three.

texts include references to King Arthur
King Arthur

King Arthur is a legendary Britons leader who, according to medieval histories and Romance , led the defence of Britain against the Saxon invaders in the early 6th century....
 and other semi-historical characters from Sub-Roman Britain
Sub-Roman Britain

Sub-Roman Britain is a term derived from an archaeologists' label for the material culture of Great Britain in Late Antiquity. "Sub-Roman" was invented to describe the pottery sherds in sites of the 5th century and the 6th century, initially with an implication of decay of locally-made wares from a higher standard under the Roman Empire....
, mythic figures such as Bran the Blessed
Bran the Blessed

Bran the Blessed is a giant and king of Great Britain in Welsh mythology. He appears in several of the Welsh Triads, but his most significant role is in the Four Branches of the Mabinogi of the Mabinogion, Branwen, daughter of Llyr....
, undeniably historical personages such as Alan IV
Alan IV, Duke of Brittany

Alan IV Fergant was Duke of Brittany, from 1084 until his abdication in 1112. He was also Count of Nantes and Count of Rennes. He was son of Hawise, Duchess of Brittany and Duke Hoel II, Duke of Brittany....
, Duke of Brittany
Duke of Brittany

The Duchy of Brittany was a medieval tribal and feudal state covering the Armorican peninsula west of Mont-Saint-Michel and north of Nantes/Naoned, including Rennes/Roazhon and Vannes/Gwened....
 (who is called Alan Fyrgan) and even Iron Age
British Iron Age

The British Iron Age is a conventional name in the archaeology of Great Britain referring to the prehistoric and proto-historic phases of the Iron Age culture of the main island and the smaller islands, typically excluding Ireland....
 characters like Caswallawn (Cassivellaunus
Cassivellaunus

Cassivellaunus was a historical Brythonic chieftain who led the defence against Julius Caesar's second expedition to Great Britain in 54 BC. He also appears in British legend as Cassibelanus, one of Geoffrey of Monmouth's kings of Britain, and in the Mabinogion, Brut y Bryttaniait and Welsh Triads as Caswallawn, son of Beli Mawr....
) and Caradog (Caratacus
Caratacus

Caratacus was a historical British Iron Age chieftain of the Catuvellauni tribe, who led the British resistance to the Roman conquest. The legendary Welsh mythology character Caradoc and the legendary British king Arvirargus may be based upon Caratacus....
).

Some triads simply give a list of three characters with something in common (such as "the three frivolous bards of the island of Britain") while others include substantial narrative explanation.






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The Welsh Triads (Welsh
Welsh language

Welsh ]], is a member of the Brythonic branch of Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, in England by some along the Welsh Marches and in the Welsh settlement in Argentina in the Chubut Valley in Argentina Patagonia....
 Trioedd Ynys Prydein, literally "Triads of the Island of Britain
Great Britain

Great Britain is an island lying to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the List of islands by area, and the largest in Europe. With a population of 58.9 million people it is List of islands by population....
") are a group of related texts in medieval manuscripts which preserve fragments of Welsh folklore
Folklore

Folklore is the body of expressive culture, including tales, music, dance, legends, oral history, proverbs, jokes, superstitions, customs, and so forth within a particular population comprising the traditions of that culture, subculture, or group ....
, mythology
Welsh mythology

Welsh mythology, the remnants of the mythology of the pre-Christian Britons , has come down to us in much altered form in Medieval Welsh literature such as the Red Book of Hergest, the White Book of Rhydderch, the Book of Aneirin and the Book of Taliesin....
 and traditional history in groups of three.

Contents

The texts include references to King Arthur
King Arthur

King Arthur is a legendary Britons leader who, according to medieval histories and Romance , led the defence of Britain against the Saxon invaders in the early 6th century....
 and other semi-historical characters from Sub-Roman Britain
Sub-Roman Britain

Sub-Roman Britain is a term derived from an archaeologists' label for the material culture of Great Britain in Late Antiquity. "Sub-Roman" was invented to describe the pottery sherds in sites of the 5th century and the 6th century, initially with an implication of decay of locally-made wares from a higher standard under the Roman Empire....
, mythic figures such as Bran the Blessed
Bran the Blessed

Bran the Blessed is a giant and king of Great Britain in Welsh mythology. He appears in several of the Welsh Triads, but his most significant role is in the Four Branches of the Mabinogi of the Mabinogion, Branwen, daughter of Llyr....
, undeniably historical personages such as Alan IV
Alan IV, Duke of Brittany

Alan IV Fergant was Duke of Brittany, from 1084 until his abdication in 1112. He was also Count of Nantes and Count of Rennes. He was son of Hawise, Duchess of Brittany and Duke Hoel II, Duke of Brittany....
, Duke of Brittany
Duke of Brittany

The Duchy of Brittany was a medieval tribal and feudal state covering the Armorican peninsula west of Mont-Saint-Michel and north of Nantes/Naoned, including Rennes/Roazhon and Vannes/Gwened....
 (who is called Alan Fyrgan) and even Iron Age
British Iron Age

The British Iron Age is a conventional name in the archaeology of Great Britain referring to the prehistoric and proto-historic phases of the Iron Age culture of the main island and the smaller islands, typically excluding Ireland....
 characters like Caswallawn (Cassivellaunus
Cassivellaunus

Cassivellaunus was a historical Brythonic chieftain who led the defence against Julius Caesar's second expedition to Great Britain in 54 BC. He also appears in British legend as Cassibelanus, one of Geoffrey of Monmouth's kings of Britain, and in the Mabinogion, Brut y Bryttaniait and Welsh Triads as Caswallawn, son of Beli Mawr....
) and Caradog (Caratacus
Caratacus

Caratacus was a historical British Iron Age chieftain of the Catuvellauni tribe, who led the British resistance to the Roman conquest. The legendary Welsh mythology character Caradoc and the legendary British king Arvirargus may be based upon Caratacus....
).

Some triads simply give a list of three characters with something in common (such as "the three frivolous bards of the island of Britain") while others include substantial narrative explanation. The triad form probably originated amongst the Welsh bard
Bard

In Celts society, a bard was a professional poet, paid by a monarch to praise the sovereign's activities.The term acquired generic meanings of an epic author/singer/narrator or any poets, especially famous ones....
s or poets as a mnemonic
Mnemonic

A mnemonic device is a memory aid. Commonly met mnemonics are often verbal, something such as a very short poem or a special word used to help a person remember something, particularly lists, but may be visual, kinesthetic or auditory....
 aid in composing their poems and stories, and later became a rhetorical device of Welsh literature. The Medieval Welsh tale Culhwch and Olwen
Culhwch and Olwen

Culhwch and Olwen is a Welsh literature tale about a hero connected with King Arthur and his warriors that survives in only two manuscripts: a complete version in the Red Book of Hergest, ca....
 has many triads embedded in its narrative.

Earliest surviving collection

The earliest surviving collection of the Welsh Triads is bound in the manuscript Peniarth 16, now at the National Library of Wales
National Library of Wales

The National Library of Wales is the national legal deposit library of Wales, located in Aberystwyth. It is one of the Assembly Government Sponsored Bodies....
, which has been dated to the third quarter of the 13th century and containing 46 of the 86 triads edited by Rachel Bromwich
Rachel Bromwich

Rachel Bromwich is a United Kingdom scholar. Her focus is on medieval Welsh literature, which she taught at the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff....
. Other important manuscripts include Peniarth 45 (written about 1275), and the pair White book of Rhydderch
White Book of Rhydderch

The White Book of Rhydderch is one of the most notable and celebrated manuscripts in Welsh language. Written in the middle of the fourteenth century it is the earliest collection of Welsh prose texts, though it also contains some examples of early Welsh poetry....
 (Welsh: Llyfr Gwyn Rhydderch) and Red Book of Hergest
Red Book of Hergest

The Red Book of Hergest is one of the most important medieval Welsh language manuscripts....
 (Welsh: Llyfr Coch Hergest), which share a common version clearly different from the version behind the collections in the Peniarth manuscripts.

Later collections

The 18th century Welsh antiquarian Iolo Morganwg
Iolo Morganwg

Iolo Morganwg...
 compiled a collection of triads, which he claimed to have taken from his own collection of manuscripts. Some of his triads are similar to those found in the medieval manuscripts, but some are unique to Iolo, and are widely believed to have been of his own invention.

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