Old and Middle Breton Literature
Breton literature can be categorised into an Old Breton period, from the 5th to 11th century; and a Middle Breton period, up to the 17th century. The period break is marked by the Norman invasions of the 10th and 11th centuries which triggered an exodus out of Brittany. Many Old Breton extant words are glosses in Latin manuscripts from the 9th and 10th centuries, now scattered in libraries and collections throughout Europe. It is likely there was a highly developed oral tradition during the Old Breton period. And on the evidence of Breton names, it would appear that Old Breton literature inspired much of Arthurian literature, the story of Tristan and Iseult and the romances of Chrétien de Troyes.
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“We who are old, old and gay,
O so old!
Thousands of years, thousands of years,
If all were told:”
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“Never since the middle summer’s spring
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By pavèd fountain or by rushy brook,
Or in the beachèd margent of the sea
To dance our ringlets to the whistling wind,
But with thy brawls thou hast disturbed our sport.”
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“Dali is like a man who hesitates between talent and genius, or, as one might once have said, between vice and virtue.”
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“It is the nature of the artist to mind excessively what is said about him. Literature is strewn with the wreckage of men who have minded beyond reason the opinions of others.”
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