A Cyfarwydd's pilgrimage from the lands of Rhys ap Gruffydd to Stata Florida, the Cistercian monastery he founded. There, in around 1350, up to five different scribes contributed old stories and poetry to a manuscript that has become known as The White Book of Rhydderch, one of the literary treasures of Britain. One of these, to my mind, was trained as a Cyfarwydd before he donned the white robe of a Cistercian monk and darkened his fingers with ink to set a masterfully crafted retelling of the Four Branches of the Mabinogi on vellum. This is the earliest copy of the Fourth Branch, and alongside it are included 'Culhwch and Olwen', 'The Dream of Macsen Wledig', 'Lludd and Llefelys', 'Peredur', 'Owain' (also known as 'The Lady of the Fountain'), and 'Geraint and Enid'.

Brut y Tywysogion (Chronicle of the Princes) one of the most important primary sources for Welsh history,…