at he reorganized the bards and improved the music, and
in many other ways gave a great and beneficial impulse to Welsh
literature. He may have brought over some of the later Irish legends
which have had such a powerful effect on the literature of Wales.

Geoffrey of Montmouth.

Rhys ab Tewdwr, too, brought with him from Brittany an enthusiasm for
the old Celtic tales, and perhaps some of the tales themselves which had
been by that time forgotten in Wales, tales of the Round Table, and
Arthur "begirt with British and Armoric knights," of knightly deeds and
magical metamorphoses, which were destined to influence profoundly all
the literatures of the West. We find, therefore, in this period that
poetry flourished mostly in the North under Gruffydd ab Cynan, and prose
in the south under Rhys ab Tewdwr, where the new enthusiasm for the old
Welsh legends resulted in the _History of Britain_ of Geoffrey of
Monmouth, which is an expansion of the books attributed to Gildas and
Nennius. It was written in Latin sometime before 1147, and is dedicated
to Robert, earl of Gloucester, the grandson of Rhys ab Tewdwr. In the
introductory epistle, Geoffrey states that Walter, archdeacon of Oxford,
had given him a very ancient book in the British tongue, giving an
account of the kings of Britain from Brutus to Cadwaladr, and that he
had translated it into Latin at the archdeacon's request. The book,
however, is a compilation and not a translation, but the materials were
probably drawn from British sources. In this history Geoffrey asserts
that the deeds of Arthur "were commonly related in a pleasing manner."
He was perhaps originally but the hero of some popular ballad, or of a
forgotten stanza of the _Gododin_, and the importance of his name in the
literature of the world seems to be due to an accident. We cannot,
however, in this article consider the Arthurian Legend (q.v.) as a
whole; we must be content with dealing with the most important of the
romantic tales which are contained in the _Red Book of Hergest_. They
may be divided into four classes:--

(i.) The _Mabinogi_ proper, containing (1) _Pwyll_, prince of Dyvet; (2)
_Branwen_, daughter of Llyr; (3) _Manawyddan_, son of _Llyr_; (4)
_Math_, son of Mathonwy.

(ii.) Old British tales referring to Roman times, viz. (1) _Lludd_ and
_Llevelys_; (2) The Dream of _Macsen Wledic_.

(iii.) British Arthurian tales, viz. (1) _Kilhwch_ and _Olwen_; (2) The
Dream of _Rhonabwy_.

(iv