The Welsh Triads or
Trioedd Ynys Prydein are a mixed collection of
triadic sayings that recount personages, events, or
places in Welsh history. They were probably designed
as mnemonic structures for fast recollection of
stories by the bards. Unfortunately, there are also
numerous versions with differences in names, meaning,
and the order in which they are written down. There
are pieces and portions included in all of the early
manuscripts including the Peniarth Manuscript, the Llfyr
Gwyn Rhydderch (White Book of Rhyderrch), the
Llyfr Coch Hergest (Red Book of Hergest), and
also the Black Book of Caermarthon. The White Book is
generally dated to the early 1300's and the Red Book
to about a century later. Thirteen Triads are missing
from the beginning of the White Book text which
begins in the middle of Triad 53 but the order and
grouping of the remainder is identical with that in
the Red Book. Either the red Book is a direct copy or
both stem from a common source which is not the Early
Version.
They have been
collected on numerous occasions and all versions I
have found differ. This grouping is based on a
combination of several extant on the web that include
the Peniarth manuscript 16, the White Book, and
information from Lady Charlotte Guest's Mabinogion
notes. Triads 38 to 46 are referred to as Trioed y
Meirch (the Triads of the Horses). As four of
these are found in the Black Book of Caermarthen the
authority for these is older than for any other of
the Triads. The Book of Taliesin also contains a poem
Canu y Meirch which is similar in meter and
has a triadic arrangement and references to some of
the same horses. Triads 50, 56 to 58, and 66 together
with several triads I do not have are grouped
together in Peniarth MS. 47 as Trioedd y Gwragedd
(The Triads of the Women). Some of the later triads
in my list are not numbered which I hope to rectify
as soon as I can determine where they are generally
placed in the list.
A transcript of the relevant
passages can be found here
