Gaelic Version A
The Gaelic version of the Seven Sages, surviving in only one manuscript in the National Library of Scotland, is incomplete. Only the final four stories remain - but according to Greene (1944), they accord closely with the details and pattern expected of the Version A tradition. This prose text differs sufficiently in style and detail from the Middle English Version A (which is a verse redaction) to preclude the English from being its source. Greene has instead proposed a Latin text of Version A, found in an Irish manuscript (Dublin Trinity College Library Ms 667), as a possible source text.
The National Library of Scotland's catalogue indicates that this text may be associated with an 'Alexander MacDonald' - who may potentially be identified as the famous Jacobite Gaelic poet Alasdair MacDhòmhnaill, also known as Alasdair Mac Mhaighstir Alasdair.
Recorded Branch of This Secondary Version
- A (Seven Sages)
- Dutch Version A
- French Version A: Roman des Sept Sages
- Gaelic Version A
- German Version A: Allegatio/Libellus
- Italian Version A
- Latin Version A
- Middle English Version A
- Old Swedish Version A: Sju vise mästare
- Older Scots Version A: Buke of the Sevyne Sagis
- Welsh Version A: Chwedleu Seith Doethon Rufein
Pattern of Embedded Stories in This Version
| Has Short Title | Has Sequence Number | Has Narrator | Has Name Variation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vidua – The Widow | 12 | Sixth Master | |
| Roma – Rome Besieged | 13 | Empress | |
| Inclusa – The Imprisoned Wife | 14 | Seventh Master |