Middle Welsh, the native Celtic language of medieval Wales, was for centuries the language in which the Welsh celebrated their medieval princes and ancestral heroes, was the medium for the preservation of native British legend and Welsh law, and was the vehicle for the earliest narratives of Arthur. Students will be introduced to reading and translating Middle Welsh, and by the course’s end will have read one complete text of Middle Welsh literature in the original. Students will learn Welsh specifically but will also learn the characteristic linguistic features of a Celtic language. No prior knowledge of Welsh or any other Celtic language is assumed.