[2] The earliest manuscript witnesses are Jesus College MS 3 (c. 1350) and NLW Llanstephan MS 27, the Red Book of Talgarth (c. 1400), the latter almost exclusively in the hand of Hywel Fychan, main scribe of the Red Book of Hergest).
The poems are melodic, with each englyn beginning with the opening phrase "A glyweist-di a gant...?"
The poem is a reflection of the antiquarian interest of the 13th and 14th centuries when there was a great deal of collecting, composing and recording of proverbial material by learned Welshmen in a spirit which is compared by Kenneth H. Jackson to the antiquarian mindset that later spurred on the editors of The Myvyrian Archaiology of Wales in the early 19th century.
"[3]Other heroes include Llywarch Hen, Heledd, Urien Rheged, Gwenddolau and Geraint fab Erbin.
From the world of legends there are characters such as Culhwch, Drystan, and Cadriaith mab Seidi .