On the sources and transmission of the Early Vannetais noëls

Abstract

This paper investigates the background of the Early Vannetais noëls (NG; ed. Hemon 1956), our earliest specimen of Vannetais Breton of substantial length. Firstly, it is argued that the word grieff is the result of a miscopying of gries (vel sim.), the TK outcome of MBret. *grizyes ‘burning hot’. This may indicate that the noëls containing the word grieff were copied from an older TK source. Secondly, it is shown that two of the noëls in the NG recur in the later Vannetais printed collection Cantikeu Spirituel. However, the noëls in the NG and those in the Cantikeu Spirituel derive independently from an older lost version. Thirdly, two of the noëls in the NG are shown to be adaptations of French originals and the presumed occurrence of internal rhyme in these is argued to be accidental.

Keywords

• vannetais
• Breton (language)
• versification
• Middle Breton
• French noëls