| Project start date: 2002-10 | Project end date: 2006-12 |
A digital edition of the work of Dafydd ap Gwilym (a Welsh poet of the 14th century). The work consists of 170 poems, almost all of which survive in manuscripts between 100 and 200 years later than their original composition, and bear signs of textual corruption deriving from oral transmission. The project aims to restore the original texts as far as possible (bearing in mind that the poet's compositions may not have had an entirely fixed form). The methodology of textual reconstruction will be explicit, in contrast to the somewhat arbitrary and subjective quality of the texts in Thomas Parry's Gwaith Dafydd ap Gwilym (1952). Critical texts will be accompanied by transcriptions and digital images of the earliest manuscripts, paraphrase in modern Welsh and English translation, textual and explanatory notes, and recordings of performances of the poems. At least 19 of the poems are of uncertain authorship, and the arguments for and against their authenticity will be set out, including a full account of the large body of apocrypha attributed to Dafydd ap Gwilym.
| Methods used | Category |
|---|---|
| 2d scanning and photography | Data capture |
| Collating | Data analysis |
| Indexing | Data analysis |
| Lemmatisation | Data structuring and enhancement |
| Manual input and transcription | Data capture |
| Searching and querying | Data analysis |
| Sound compression | Data structuring and enhancement |
| Sound editing | Data structuring and enhancement |
| Sound editing | Practice-led research |
| Sound encoding | Data structuring and enhancement |
| Sound recording | Data capture |
| Sound recording | Practice-led research |
| Text encoding - descriptive | Data structuring and enhancement |
| Text encoding - presentational | Data structuring and enhancement |
| Text encoding - referential | Data structuring and enhancement |
Manuscripts ranging in date from the 14th to the 17th century, held mainly at the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth, and also at the British Library, Cardiff City Library and Bangor University Library. The resource will contain both digital images of the manuscripts (derived from microfilm) and transcriptions of their texts.
Edited texts of 170 medieval Welsh poems, with digital images and transcriptions of manuscripts, Welsh paraphrase and English translation, textual and explanatory notes, and recordings of performances of the poems. The resource aims to make these complex poems accessible to both Welsh- and English-speaking readers
Generation of HTML files from XML data for web-delivery; Production of compressed JPEG files from uncompressed TIFF files for web dissemination
Johnston, Dafydd. 'Dafydd ap Gwilym and oral tradition'. Studia Celtica XXXVII (2003): 143–62.
| Principal staff member: | Dr Cynfael Lake; Dr Huw M Edwards; Dr Dylan F Evans; Professor Dafydd Johnston |
|---|---|
| Other staff: | Computing officer(s) / Technical supporter(s), Postdoctoral researcher(s) / Research assistant(s) |
| External expertise: | Steering committee of specialists in the field of medieval Welsh poetry |
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| This project description was developed as part of the ICT Guides project. |
| Metadata on this arts-humanities.net record | |
|---|---|
| Author(s) of record | Dafydd Johnston |
| Title | A critical edition of the poetry of Dafydd ap Gwilym |
| Record created | 2005-11-07 |
| Record updated | 2010-01-27 14:55 |
| URL of record | http://www.arts-humanities.net/node/2179 |
| Citation of record | Dafydd Johnston: A critical edition of the poetry of Dafydd ap Gwilym. <http://www.arts-humanities.net/node/2179> created: 2005-11-07, last updated 2010-01-27 14:55 |