Saviour of the Language? The Role and Impact of the Welsh Bible

Although translation played a critical role in the survival of the Welsh language, Wales has been sorely underrepresented in the field of translation studies. The publication of the 1588 Welsh Bible, the result of a political gamble by Elizabeth I, was a turning point in the survival of the Welsh vernacular. At a time when Welsh was banned from use in public life, the Welsh Bible played a fundamental part in the development of Welsh language and culture. In assessing the cultural, political, and religious reverberations of the Welsh Bible, we espouse an approach similar to those of Delisle and Woodsworth, and Berman, taking into consideration the importance of the socio-political context in which a translation occurs. We touch briefly on Tudor language policy, and its rationale. We examine more specifically the results of Elizabeth I’s decision to prioritize religious uniformity over linguistic uniformity. In affording Welsh-speakers a crucial venue for the use of their own language, Elizabeth inadvertently ensured that Welsh would continue to play a role in daily life in Wales. Owing in no small part to the quality of the translation and the background of the translators, the Welsh Bible, and its ubiquity, were vital in securing the continued existence of the language, through normalization and codification, and, further, were key to redefining the Welsh literary system. Drawing on Jauss’s notion of the horizon of expectation and Toury’s work on polysystem theory, we evaluate the lasting impact of this translation on Wales