The grammatical sources of the Dwned

Abstract

The fifteenth-century Welsh grammatical tract in NLW Llanstephan 28, known as the Dwned, has long been recognised as a realignment of the earlier bardic grammars with Donatus’ Ars Minor. However, the use of the Ars Minor alone does not account for all of the revisions that occur in the Dwned, nor does it explain the impetus behind the rewrite. By examining some of the terminological adaptations in the Dwned in greater detail, and by situating its creation in both a local and a more international context, this paper identifies a Middle English grammatical tract as a probable source for the Welsh text. A deeper consideration of this Middle English tract, the Accedence, in conjunction with the Dwned, both illuminates the possible purpose of the Dwned revision, and points towards a multilingual, cosmopolitan culture of scholarship in fifteenth-century north-east Wales.