A Digital Transcription from the Manuscript (Pre-Publication Preview)
by Steve Sweeney-Turner (2008)
Manuscript Source: Llyfr Aneirin, Lyfrgell Ganolog Caerdydd (Cardiff Central Library) MS 2.81
Required Font: Junicode (click here to download)
The planned centre-piece of this collection is a new digital transcription of the entire manuscript initially based on close analysis of facsimiles, with my own readings then subjected to a process of iterative comparison with those in the established canon. The transcription is currently in preparation and should be completed before the end of 2008. However, in advance of final publication, the following (very) work-in-progress preview is being made available to illustrate the methods being developed. The text chosen for this illustration is the so-called "Strathclyde Fragment" found in both the A-Text and the B-Text of the manuscript, and commonly known by the modern title of "Dyfnwal Frych". Technical notes on the editorial process can be found at the foot of the page. Note that your computer must have the Junicode Font installed in order to render the transcriptions correctly!
"Dyfnwal Frych" — A-Version
Llyfr Aneirin (page 20, lines 2 to 5)
"Dyfnwal Frych" — B-Version
Llyfr Aneirin (page 23, lines 6 to 9)
These transcriptions are best understood within the context of the digital environment that frames both their creation and dissemination. Unfortunately, no computer font currently exists that can perfectly represent the scribal hands present in Llyfr Aneirin. Hence, any current attempt at an accurate digital transcription must necessarily accept a fair degree of pragmatic compromise.
Most computer fonts clearly omit a significant number of medieval characters. The Unicode standard on which robust fonts are based has made some headway in recent years, with the inclusion of some of the more common older characters, such as the "long s" ( ſ ) and even thorn ( þ ) and eth ( ð ), which are now available in the (Windows) Verdana font used in the text you are reading now. Nonetheless, only the first of these is used by the scribes of Llyfr Aneirin, and several of their commonest characters are not currently (2007) included in any Unicode character set.
However, in 2001 an international workgroup was formed to research "the encoding and display of special characters in Medieval texts written in the Latin alphabet" and so extend the capabilities of the Unicode standard. The new standard has come to be known as MUFI (Medieval Unicode Font Initiative), and several fonts for specific purposes are now available from their website. After much experimentation with the available MUFI-compatible fonts, I chose Prof. Peter Baker's excellent (and freeware) Junicode for the encoding of my Llyfr Aneirin transcriptions.
Problems still remain, however (and for the time being I will not list them all here). While Junicode includes characters such as the ubiquitous "dotted y", "insular d" and "rotunda r" of Llyfr Aneirin, as a font (like any other) designed to produce standardised forms, it is largely incapable of representing the specific forms found in the manuscript, let alone subtle but important differences between the scribal hands. Particular problems are presented in the rendering of Scribe A's form of "v". As such, the default and overly Times-like form has been adopted here, inadequate thought it is. A more global problem is in representing the forms of "Insular d" used by both scribes, which, as Huws comments, has a slightly proto-Gothic character (Huws 1989, 35).
Overall, then, the transcription currently aims to represent the scribe's characters in standardised forms, attempting to show the difference in hands where possible, and through much necessary compromise. Ultimately, the only satisfactory solution would be to design a custom font derived from the manuscript itself. I am, however, now working towards this solution!
This edition copyright © CyberScotia Books 2007.
Digital transcriptions, notes & additional materials copyright © Steve Sweeney-Turner 2007.
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