Grounds for Divorce? Applying Nau Kynywedi Teithiauc to Math uab Mathonwy

Nau Kynywedi Teithiauc is a Middle Welsh legal tract that depicts the nine types of sexual union a couple may enter into in medieval Wales. Thomas Charles-Edwards has suggested that this tract has been arranged in ‘declining legal status’, a view supported by the fact that the last two unions depicted constitute rape. This paper will demonstrate that the Middle Welsh tale, Math uab Mathonwy, may be viewed as an exploration of some of these dishonourable unions.