ThirdPrice

While reading "The Celtic Myths That Shape the Way We Think" by Mark Williams, he discusses the poet Taliesin, Chief of Poets, both the historical figure as well as the mythical figure who arose around him, particularly in Arthurian tales. Williams explains how this Taliesin was mostly the invention (or exaggeration) of court poets in the Middle Ages, rather than a truly ancient legend, but nevertheless this character still sounds very familiar to those who are familiar with the Cosmere. Williams describes him thusly: "Imagine if you will. a traveler through space and time. Little short of omniscient, he knows the shape of history at first hand, having consorted with the legendary figures of all eras, while his superior knowledge and insight are the product of his learning and of lifetimes' worth of experience. He has changed form many times, transmigrating from shape to shape and so knowing the secrets of the universe from the inside" (Pg. 15) "... Arthur and his men come off badly. Three boatloads of warriors went on the expedition, but 'save seven, none returned'. The survivors presumably include Taliesin himself, who seems to be the speaking voice of the poem... The motif of Taliesin as a survivor also occurs in the tale 'Branwen, Daughter of Llyr', from around 1100, where he is mentioned among the survivors of another disastrous expedition..." (Pg. 37) "... on the one hand, a kernel of historical praise poems by a flesh-and-blood Taliesin ... and, on the other, a slew of weird and wonderful poems in the voice of a shape-changing, time-travelling, all-knowing, rather insufferable 'Taliesin'..." "This Taliesin appears to have been a popular character. Much medieval poetry was all about performance, and the Taliesin persona afforded great scope for entertainment. Boastful and inflated, he was a poet, a warrior, a sage, a shape-shifter, a traveler in time and space who consorted with biblical figures and the characters known from the Four Branches of the Mabinogi, the greatest work of medieval Welsh prose." All of this strikes me as remarkably similar to Hoid as a character, if not as an archetype. I'm wondering if Sanderson intentionally wrote him in this fashion or was similarly influenced by the dramatization of 12th century poets. The only other discussion online on this topic is this reddit post from a decade ago, but I'd be curious to reignite this discussion!