Although the _compilation_ is so modern, most of the triads date from the
sixth century.


THE MABINOGION.--Next in order of importance of the Celtic remains must be
mentioned the Mabinogion, or _Tales for Youth_, a series of romantic
tales, illustrative of early British life, some of which have been
translated from the Celtic into English. Among these the most elaborate is
the _Tale of Peredur_, a regular Romance of Arthur, entirely Welsh in
costume and character.


BRITISH BARDS.--A controversy has been fiercely carried on respecting the
authenticity of poems ascribed to _Aneurin_, _Taliesin_, _Llywarch Hen_,
and _Merdhin_, or _Merlin_, four famous British bards of the fifth and
sixth centuries, who give us the original stories respecting Arthur,
representing him not as a "miraculous character," as the later histories
do, but as a courageous warrior worthy of respect but not of wonder. The
burden of the evidence, carefully collected and sifted by Sharon
Turner,[5] seems to be in favor of the authenticity of these poems.

These works are fragmentary and legendary: they have given few elements to
the English language, but they show us the condition and culture of the
British mind in that period, and the nature of the people upon whom the
Saxons imposed their yoke. "The general spirit [of the early British
poetry] is much more Druidical than Christian,"[6] and in its mysterious
and legendary nature, while it has been not without value as a historical
representation of that early period, it has offered rare material for
romantic poetry from that day to the present time. It is on this account
especially that these works should be studied.