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The Gododdin is one of the oldest surviving epic poems of Britain—a searing lament for a doomed war-band and a haunting celebration of courage, loyalty, and heroic loss.Composed in the early centuries after Rome’s withdrawal from Britain, and attributed to the bard Aneirin, The Gododdin recountsthe catastrophic Battle of Catraeth, in which three hundred elite warriors from the Old North rode out against overwhelming odds. All were slain—save, perhaps, the poet himself. What remains is not history alone, but a threnody: a poem of memory, grief, and fierce admiration for lives given in battle.
In this bold new poetic version, John Matthews approaches the text as a poet listening for the living voice of the original. Drawing on decades of study, deep familiarity with early British myth, and a lifetime spent working with Celtic source material, Matthews reshapes The Gododdin into a work that speaks with clarity, immediacy, and emotional force for modern readers—while remaining faithful to the spirit of the ancient song.
Accompanied by striking paintings by Meg Falconer, this edition restores The Gododdin as what it has always been: a poem of blood and mead, of fellowship and betrayal, of fame won at terrible cost—and of a bard’s duty to remember the fallen. A landmark work of early British literature, The Gododdin of Aneirin stands alongside Beowulf and The Iliad as one of the great heroic poems of the Western tradition. |
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| Prod. code: A33 |
Price: UK: £24 Eur: £33 World 1: £39 World 2: £42 World 3 (inc. USA): £44 |
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