Triads

triads, a prominent genre in early Irish literature. Trecheng Breth Féne (Triad of Judgements of the Irish), the most extensive collection, probably dates from the 9th cent. Some triads are based on observations of natural phenomena (‘three cold things which bubble: a well, the sea, new ale’).

The Celtic zest for triple groupings united with the need for mnemonic devices produced a pattern of versification to order learned traditions, precepts, and lore in both Ireland and Wales. In most instances a reference to the Triads implies the great Trioedd Ynys Prydain [Triads of the Isle of Britain] brought together during the 12th century and preserved in manuscripts from the 13th and 14th centuries. Perhaps because of the Welsh triadic verse form englyn, known since the 9th century, the volume of Welsh Triads is much greater than that of the Irish. Collections of Triads from different manuscripts deal with subjects as diverse as native learning, poetry, law, and medicine. The pervasiveness of both the triadic form and the knowledge recorded in its verses can be seen in the frequent citations found in the four branches of the Mabinogi.

Bibliography

• Trioedd Ynys Prydain, ed. Rachel Bromwich, 2nd edn. (Cardiff, 1978)
• see also the editor's commentary, Trioedd Ynys Prydain in Welsh Literature and Scholarship (Cardiff, 1969)
• The Triads of Ireland, ed. Kuno Meyer (Dublin, 1906)