About the Book
Fersiwn Saesneg o Trysorfa Arwyr Cymru. Casgliad o straeon am rai o arwyr pennaf Cymru, yn cynnwys Dewi Sant, Owain Glyndŵr, Barti Ddu ac ati. Llyfr rhodd hardd a chwaethus.
About the Author :
If you want to find Brett Breckon from Roch near Haverfordwest, you could try looking for him in one of three places - on the beach with his surfboard, paddling his kayak or in his studio quietly painting. He says that "at a very young age, I loved to make pictures. They were often inspired by my dreams, wishes or fantasies. Ever since then, I've never really stopped drawing, painting and making things. Art has always been a passion."
Review :
A book to stir the blood and stimulate the imagination...
Wales undoubtedly has a rich history of both heroes and heroines who are hailed in the tales and legends of Wales. Ten of the most prominent characters are celebrated in the latest publication by Pont Books, A Treasury of Welsh Heroes.
Between the covers you will find saints and kings, lovers and lawmakers, poets and princes, rogues and warriors… but who will be your favourite? Will you be taken with Prince Llywelyn’s bravery? Will you be enchanted by Princess Nest’s beauty? Or will daring Twm Siôn Cati capture your imagination? Whoever is your favourite hero from the history of Wales, you’re sure to find a story to tempt you amongst the variety of heroes featured in this publication.
Based on Trysorfa Arwyr Cymru, an original work by Tudur Dylan Jones, the approach to each hero is different: some are reported from the viewpoint of a young bystander; some are ‘autobiographical’ and some are more poetic.
Not only does the book tell the tale of some of our most famous heroes, such as Llywelyn Our Last Prince and Owain Glyndŵr, but we also learn more about heroes such as Princess Nest, who are, perhaps, lesser known. The publication could also be regarded as a journey through the centuries and also a journey through Wales – beginning with the story of Saint David through to the legend of Guto Nyth Brân.
Between the covers of this lavish volume, Brett Breckon’s breathtaking artwork brings the characters to life in front of your eyes. His detailed artwork combines historical accuracy with his noted flare for drama and design. Art has always been a passion for Brett –“At a very young age, ‘art’ kind of grabbed me, and hasn’t really let go since. I somehow felt certain that I’d become an illustrator, and now it is almost impossible for me to imagine doing anything else.”
The illustrator from Roch near Haverfordwest, can often be found in one of three places - on the beach with his surfboard, paddling his kayak or in his studio quietly painting.
Do children and young people have coffee-table books? Do adults and parents purloin glossy children’s books to enjoy themselves? Whatever the answer, A Treasury of Welsh Heroes appears at first glance to be that kind of desirable, must-buy publication. It’s an attractive shape, with a dramatic, richly coloured front cover showing, on a classic white steed, a fearsome Welsh warrior (who turns out to be none other than Llywelyn the Last, one of the ten featured heroes and heroines of the book’s title). The theme of speed and movement continues on the back cover, with a subtler, yet perhaps more interesting blurred image of a young runner pursued by a mêlée of wild creatures – the hare, the hound, the hawk and the horse, so reminiscent of ancient tales of Welsh culture. The figure is in fact the much less well-known, but equally engaging hero of 18th century Porth, Guto Nyth Brân.
All then seems ready for a feast of tales of daring-do and wonderment. And that is indeed what the book provides. It’s crammed full of facts about the chosen heroes, and to some extent this is where some difficulties begin to appear. The author, or the translator – unacknowledged it would seem, for we are informed that ‘the book is based on Trysorfa Arwyr Cymru’, an original work by Tudor Dylan Jones – cleverly attempts to vary the portrayal of each character, often through the eyes of a minor fictional character. Some biographies are more successful than others.
I can’t help thinking that something of the spirit of the original has been lost in translation. The narrative poem detailing Princess Nest’s amours is at times clumsy in both its rhythms and its rhymes. Occasionally odd and inappropriate choices of dumb-down vocabulary stick out like sore thumbs ('Only bad kings do things like that') and young readers might find difficulty in puzzling out who exactly is telling the story and what is his or her relationship with the hero. It’s a great idea to vary the narrative voice (we have 1st and 3rd person accounts, and lots of examples of the writer addressing the reader directly) but the position of the story-teller in relation to his audience is sometimes rather contrived. Young readers might be confused too by this direct address, and by travel directions to the locations of battles and burial places, and might consequently find it difficult to relate to the hero himself. Often the individual texts leave more questions than answers. Is this fact or fiction? Will Owain Glyndŵr return to free the Welsh nation? Where did Dafydd ap Gwilym decide to be buried? Should we be fearful of the return of Twm Siôn Cati on a 21st-century stormy night? Should we indeed expect a narrative verdict in every case?
Despite these minor misgivings as to the narrative devices of the individual biographies, I cannot but enthuse about the quality of the publication itself. The choice of subjects, some well-known, some less so, and the full page images of each one of them by the highly creative illustrator Brett Breckon (I particularly liked the atmospheric death of Gwenllian and the pursuit of that 18th century Olympic-style sprinter), work well. Together with the ivy-clad chapter headings, the repeated page number cartouche, and the clear yet varied fonts, these presentational features add to the overall appeal of this real treasury of people from Wales’s past.
I’m sure that any young person, whether fond of history or not, of upper primary and lower secondary age, would be delighted to receive this book as a gift, and an equal number of parents and teachers will be grateful for the knowledge it contains about a half-remembered host of Welsh heroes, characters whom they can share with a new generation of readers and listeners.
