The stories were created and amended by various narrators over a very long period of time, and scholars beginning from the 18th century predominantly viewed the tales as fragmentary pre-ChristianCeltic mythology,[1] orfolklore.[2] Since the 1970s,[3] an investigation of the[4] common plot structures, characterisation, and language styles, especially in theFour Branches of the Mabinogi, has led to an understanding of the integrity of the tales, and they are now seen as a sophisticated narrative tradition, both oral and written, with ancestral construction from oral storytelling,[5][6] and overlay from Anglo-French influences.[7]
The first modern publications of the stories were English translations byWilliam Owen Pughe of several tales in journals in 1795, 1821, and 1829, which introduced usage of the name "Mabinogion".[8] In 1838–45,Lady Charlotte Guest first published the full collection we know today,[9] bilingually in Welsh and English, which popularised the name.[10] The later Guest translation of 1877 in one volume has been widely influential and remains actively read today.[11]
The opening few lines of the Mabinogi, from theRed Book of Hergest, scanned by the Bodleian Library
The most recent translation is a compact version by Sioned Davies.[12] John Bollard has published a series of volumes with his own translation, with copious photography of the sites in the stories.[13] The tales continue to inspire new fiction, dramatic retellings,[14] visual artwork, music and research,[15] from early reinterpretations byEvangeline Walton in 1936, toJ.R.R. Tolkien'sThe Silmarillion, to the 1975 song "Rhiannon" byFleetwood Mac, to the 2009–2014 series of books commissioned by Welsh independent publisherSeren Books.
The name first appears in 1795 inWilliam Owen Pughe's translation ofPwyll in the journalCambrian Register under the title "The Mabinogion, or Juvenile Amusements, being Ancient Welsh Romances".[16] The name appears to have been current among Welsh scholars of the London-Welsh Societies and the regionaleisteddfodau in Wales. It was inherited as the title by the first publisher of the complete collection,Lady Charlotte Guest.
The formmabynnogyon occurs once at the end of the first of theFour Branches of the Mabinogi in one manuscript. It is now generally agreed that this one instance was a mediaeval scribal error which assumed 'mabinogion' was the plural of 'mabinogi', which is already aWelsh plural occurring correctly at the end of the remaining three branches.[17]
The wordmabinogi itself is something of a puzzle, although clearly derived from the Welshmab, which means "son, boy, young person".[18] As early as 1632 the lexicographerJohn Davies quotes a sentence fromMath fab Mathonwy with the notation "Mabin" in hisAntiquae linguae Britannicae ... dictionarium duplex, article "Hob".Eric P. Hamp, of the earlier school traditions in mythology, found a suggestive connection withMaponos, "the Divine Son", aGaulish deity.
Sioned Davies suggests the titleMabinogi properly applies only to the Four Branches,[19] which is a tightly organised quartet very likely by one author, where the other seven stories are very diverse. Each of these four tales ends with thecolophon "thus ends this branch of the Mabinogi" (in various spellings), hence the name.[20]
Lady Charlotte Guest's work was helped by the earlier research and translation work of William Owen Pughe.[21] The first part of Charlotte Guest's translation of the Mabinogion appeared in 1838, and it was completed in seven parts in 1845.[22] A three-volume edition followed in 1846,[23] and a revised edition in 1877. Her version of theMabinogion was the most frequently used English version until the 1948 translation byGwyn Jones and Thomas Jones, which has been widely praised for its combination of literal accuracy and elegant literary style.[24][25] Several more, listed below, have since appeared.
The Panel of the Mabinogi (watercolour and gouache on silk) byGeorge Sheringham (1884–1937)
Dates for the tales in theMabinogion have been much debated, a range from 1050 to 1225 being proposed,[26] with the consensus being that they are to be dated to the late 11th and 12th centuries.[27] The stories of theMabinogion appear in either or both of two medieval Welsh manuscripts, theWhite Book of Rhydderch orLlyfr Gwyn Rhydderch, writtenc. 1350, and theRed Book of Hergest orLlyfr Coch Hergest, written about 1382–1410, though texts or fragments of some of the tales have been preserved in earlier 13th century and later manuscripts. Scholars agree that the tales are older than the existing manuscripts, but disagree over just how much older. It is clear that the different texts included in theMabinogion originated at different times (though regardless their importance as records of early myth, legend, folklore, culture, and language of Wales remains immense).
Thus the tale of Culhwch ac Olwen, with its primitive warlord Arthur and his court based atCelliwig, is generally accepted to precede the Arthurian romances, which themselves show the influence ofGeoffrey of Monmouth'sHistoria Regum Britanniae (1134–36) and the romances ofChrétien de Troyes.[28] Those followingR. S. Loomis would date it before 1100, and see it as providing important evidence for the development of Arthurian legend, with links toNennius and early Welsh poetry.[29] By contrast,The Dream of Rhonabwy is set in the reign of the historicalMadog ap Maredudd (1130–60), and must therefore either be contemporary with or postdate his reign, being perhaps early 13th century.[30]
Much debate has been focused on the dating of theFour Branches of the Mabinogi.Ifor Williams offered a date prior to 1100, based on linguistic and historical arguments,[31] while laterSaunders Lewis set forth a number of arguments for a date between 1170 and 1190;Thomas Charles-Edwards, in a paper published in 1970, discussed the strengths and weaknesses of both viewpoints, and while critical of the arguments of both scholars, noted that the language of the stories best fits the 11th century, (specifically 1050–1120),[32] although much more work is needed. In 1991,Patrick Sims-Williams argued for a plausible range of about 1060 to 1200, which seems to be the current scholarly consensus (fitting all the previously suggested date ranges).[33]
The collection represents the vast majority of prose found in medieval Welsh manuscripts which is not translated from other languages. Notable exceptions are theAreithiau Pros. None of the titles are contemporary with the earliest extant versions of the stories, but are on the whole modern ascriptions. The eleven tales are not adjacent in either of the main early manuscript sources, theWhite Book of Rhydderch (c. 1375) and theRed Book of Hergest (c. 1400), and indeedBreuddwyd Rhonabwy is absent from the White Book.
TheFour Branches of theMabinogi (Pedair Cainc y Mabinogi) are the most clearly mythological stories contained in theMabinogion collection.Pryderi appears in all four, though not always as the central character.
Pwyll Pendefig Dyfed (Pwyll, Prince of Dyfed) tells of Pryderi's parents and his birth, loss and recovery.
Branwen ferch Llŷr (Branwen, daughter of Llŷr) is mostly aboutBranwen's marriage to the King of Ireland. Pryderi appears but does not play a major part.
Manawydan fab Llŷr (Manawydan, son of Llŷr) has Pryderi return home withManawydan, brother of Branwen, and describes the misfortunes that follow them there.
Math fab Mathonwy (Math, son of Mathonwy) is mostly about the eponymous Math andGwydion, who come into conflict with Pryderi.
The talesCulhwch and Olwen andThe Dream of Rhonabwy have interested scholars because they preserve older traditions of King Arthur. The subject matter and the characters described events that happened long before medieval times. After the departure of the Roman Legions, the later half of the 5th century was a difficult time in Britain. King Arthur's twelve battles and defeat of invaders and raiders are said to have culminated in theBattle of Badon.
There is no consensus about the ultimate meaning ofThe Dream of Rhonabwy. On one hand it deridesMadoc's time, which is critically compared to the illustrious Arthurian age. However, Arthur's time is portrayed as illogical and silly, leading to suggestions that this is a satire on both contemporary times and the myth of a heroic age.[34]
Rhonabwy is the most literary of the medieval Welsh prose tales. It may have also been the last written. Acolophon at the end declares that no one is able to recite the work in full without a book, the level of detail being too much for the memory to handle. The comment suggests it was not popular with storytellers, though this was more likely due to its position as a literary tale rather than a traditional one.[35]
The taleThe Dream of Macsen Wledig is a romanticised story about the Roman emperorMagnus Maximus, calledMacsen Wledig in Welsh. Born inHispania, he became a legionary commander in Britain, assembled a Celtic army and assumed the title of Roman Emperor in 383. He was defeated in battle in 385 and beheaded at the direction of theEastern Roman emperor.
The story ofTaliesin is a later survival, not present in the Red or White Books, and is omitted from many of the more recent translations.
The tales called theThree Welsh Romances (Y Tair Rhamant) are Welsh-language versions of Arthurian tales that also appear in the work ofChrétien de Troyes.[36] Critics have debated whether the Welsh Romances are based on Chrétien's poems or if they derive from a shared original.[37] Though it is arguable that the surviving Romances might derive, directly or indirectly, from Chrétien, it is probable that he in turn based his tales on older,Celtic sources.[38] The Welsh stories are not direct translations and include material not found in Chrétien's work.
Owain, neu Iarlles y Ffynnon (Owain, or the Countess (orLady)of the Fountain)
Y Mabinogi is a film version, produced in 2003. It starts with live action among Welsh people in the modern world. They then 'fall into' the legend, which is shown through animated characters. It conflates some elements of the myths and omits others.[citation needed]
Lloyd Alexander's award-winningThe Chronicles of Prydain fantasy novels for younger readers are loosely based on Welsh legends found in theMabinogion. Specific elements incorporated within Alexander's books include the Cauldron of the Undead, as well as adapted versions of important figures in theMabinogion such as Prince Gwydion and Arawn, Lord of the Dead.[citation needed]
Alan Garner's novelThe Owl Service (Collins, 1967; first US edition Henry Z. Walck, 1968) alludes to the mythicalBlodeuwedd featured in the Fourth Branch of theMabinogi. In Garner's tale three teenagers find themselves re-enacting the story. They awaken the legend by finding a set of dinner plates (a "dinner service") with an owl pattern, which gives the novel its title.[citation needed]
TheWelsh mythology ofThe Mabinogion, especially theFour Branches of the Mabinogi, is important inJohn Cowper Powys's novelsOwen Glendower (1941), andPorius (1951).[39]Jeremy Hooker seesThe Mabinogion as having "a significant presence […] through character's knowledge of its stories and identification of themselves or others with figures or incidents in the stories".[40] Indeed, there are "almost fifty allusions to these four […] tales"' (TheFour Branches of the Mabinogi) in the novel, though "some ... are fairly obscure and inconspicuous".[41] Also inPorius Powys creates the character Sylvannus Bleheris, Henog ofDyfed, author ofthe Four Pre-Arthurian Branches of the Mabinogi concerned withPryderi, as a way linking the mythological background ofPorius with this aspect of theMabinogion.[42]
^Sioned Davies. 1998. "Written Text as Performance: The Implications for Middle Welsh Prose Narratives", in:Literacy in Medieval Celtic Societies, 133–148
^Sioned Davies. 2005. "'He Was the Best Teller of Tales in the World': Performing Medieval Welsh Narrative", in:Performing Medieval Narrative, 15–26. Cambridge: Brewer.
^Lady Charlotte Guest.The Mabinogion. A Facsimile Reproduction of the Complete 1877 Edition, Academy Press Limited Edition 1978, Chicago, Ill. p. xiii.
^1. William Owen Pughe. 1795. "The Mabinogion, or Juvenile Amusements, Being Ancient Welsh Romances".Cambrian Register, 177–187. 2. William Owen Pughe. 1821. "The Tale of Pwyll".Cambro-Briton Journal 2 (18): 271–275. 3. William Owen Pughe. 1829. "The Mabinogi: Or, the Romance of Math Ab Mathonwy".The Cambrian Quarterly Magazine and Celtic Repository 1: 170–179.
^Sioned Davies. 2007.The Mabinogion. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
^1. John Kenneth Bollard. 2006.Legend and Landscape of Wales: The Mabinogi. Llandysul, Wales: Gomer Press. 2. John Kenneth Bollard. 2007.Companion Tales to The Mabinogi. Llandysul, Wales: Gomer Press. 3. John Kenneth Bollard. 2010.Tales of Arthur: Legend and Landscape of Wales. Llandysul, Wales: Gomer Press. Photography by Anthony Griffiths.
^Andrew Breeze,The Origins of the Four Branches of the Mabinogion (Leominster 2009), p. 72, 137.
^I. Ousby (ed.),The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English (Cambridge 1995), p. 579
^Sioned Davies (translator),The Mabinogion (Oxford 2007), p. xxiii, 279.
^H. Mustard (translator),Parzival (New York 1961) pp. xxxi, xlii
^Sioned Davies (translator),The Mabinogion (Oxford 2007), p. xxi.
^Andrew Breeze,The Origins of the Four Branches of the Mabinogion (Leominster 2009), p. 69.
^Andrew Breeze,The Origins of the Four Branches of the Mabinogion (Leominster 2009), p. 72.
^Sims-Williams, Patrick, 'The Submission of Irish Kings in Fact and Fiction: Henry II, Bendigeidfran, and the dating of the Four Branches of the Mabinogi',Cambridge Medieval Celtic Studies, 22 (Winter 1991), 31–61.
^Brynley F. Roberts (1991). "The Dream of Rhonabwy", in: Norris J. Lacy,The New Arthurian Encyclopedia, pp. 120–121. New York: Garland.ISBN0-8240-4377-4.
^Ceridwen Lloyd-Morgan (1991). "'Breuddwyd Rhonabwy' and Later Arthurian Literature", in: Rachel Bromwich et al., "The Arthur of the Welsh", p. 183. Cardiff: University of Wales.ISBN0-7083-1107-5.
^David Staines (Translator)The Complete Romances of Chrétien de Troyes. Indiana University Press, Bloomington & Indianapolis, 1990, p. 1, 257, 339.
^Jessie L. Weston (1993; originally published 1920).From Ritual To Romance. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, p. 107.
^Roger Sherman Loomis (1991).The Grail: From Celtic Myth to Christian Symbol, Princeton, p. 8.ISBN0-691-02075-2
^John Brebner describesThe Mabinogion as "indispensable for understanding Powys's later novels", by which he meansOwen Glendower andPorius (fn, p. 191).
^"John Cowper Powys: 'Figure of the Marches'", in hisImagining Wales (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2001), p. 106.
^John Cowper Powys, "The Characters of the Book",Porius, p. 18.
^Carl Phelpstead,Tolkien and Wales: Language, Literature and Identity, p. 60
^Tom Shippey,The Road to Middle Earth, pp. 193–194: "The hunting of the great wolf recalls the chase of the boarTwrch Trwyth in the WelshMabinogion, while the motif of 'the hand in the wolf's mouth' is one of the most famous parts of theProse Edda, told ofFenris Wolf and the godTyr; Huan recalls several faithful hounds of legend,Garm, Gelert, Cafall".
^Hooker, Mark T. (2006). "The Feigned-manuscript Topos".Tolkienian mathomium: a collection of articles on J. R. R. Tolkien and his legendarium. Llyfrawr. pp. 176–177.ISBN978-1-4116-9370-8.The 1849 translation of The Red Book of Hergest by Lady Charlotte Guest (1812–1895), which is more widely known as The Mabinogion, is likewise of undoubted authenticity (...) It is now housed in the library at Jesus College, Oxford. Tolkien's well-known love of Welsh suggests that he would have likewise been well-acquainted with the source of Lady Guest's translation. For the Tolkiennymist, the coincidence of the names of the sources of Lady Charlotte Guest's and Tolkien's translations is striking:The Red Book of Hergest andThe Red Book of Westmarch. Tolkien wanted to write (translate) a mythology for England, and Lady Charlotte Guest's work can easily be said to be a 'mythology for Wales.' The implication of this coincidence is intriguing.
Bollard, John K. (translator), and Anthony Griffiths (photographer).Tales of Arthur: Legend and Landscape of Wales. Gomer Press, Llandysul, 2010.ISBN978-1-84851-112-5. (Contains "The History of Peredur or The Fortress of Wonders", "The Tale of the Countess of the Spring", and "The History of Geraint son of Erbin", with textual notes.)
Bollard, John K. (translator), and Anthony Griffiths (photographer).Companion Tales to The Mabinogi: Legend and Landscape of Wales. Gomer Press, Llandysul, 2007.ISBN1-84323-825-X. (Contains "How Culhwch Got Olwen", "The Dream of Maxen Wledig", "The Story of Lludd and Llefelys", and "The Dream of Rhonabwy", with textual notes.)
Bollard, John K. (translator), and Anthony Griffiths (photographer).The Mabinogi: Legend and Landscape of Wales. Gomer Press, Llandysul, 2006.ISBN1-84323-348-7. (Contains the Four Branches, with textual notes.)
Caldecott, Moyra (retold by), and Lynette Gussman (illustrator).Three Celtic Tales. Bladud Books, Bath, 2002.ISBN1-84319-548-8. (Contains "The Twins of the Tylwyth Teg", "Taliesin and Avagddu" and "Bran, Branwen and Evnissyen")
Ellis, T. P., and John Lloyd.The Mabinogion: a New Translation. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1929. (Omits "Taliesin"; only English translation to list manuscript variants.)
Ford, Patrick K.The Mabinogi and Other Medieval Welsh Tales. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1977.ISBN0-520-03414-7. (Includes "Taliesin" but omits "The Dream of Rhonabwy", "The Dream of Macsen Wledig" and the three Arthurian romances.)
Gantz, Jeffrey. Trans.The Mabinogion. London and New York: Penguin Books, 1976.ISBN0-14-044322-3. (Omits "Taliesin".)
Guest, Lady Charlotte.The Mabinogion. Dover Publications, 1997.ISBN0-486-29541-9. (Guest omits passages which only a Victorian would find at all risqué. This particular edition omits all Guest's notes.)
Jones, Gwyn and Jones, Thomas.The Mabinogion. Golden Cockerel Press, 1948. (Omits "Taliesin".)
Everyman's Library edition, 1949; revised in 1989, 1991.
Knill, Stanley.The Mabinogion Brought To Life. Capel-y-ffin Publishing, 2013.ISBN978-1-4895-1528-5. (OmitsTaliesin. A retelling with General Explanatory Notes.) Presented as prose but comprising 10,000+ lines of hidden decasyllabic verse.
Breudwyt Maxen Wledig. Ed. Brynley F. Roberts. Medieval and Modern Welsh Series Vol. XI. Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 2005.
Breudwyt Ronabwy. Ed. Melville Richards. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1948.
Culhwch and Olwen: An Edition and Study of the Oldest Arthurian Tale. Rachel, Bromwich and D. Simon Evans. Eds. and trans. Aberystwyth: University of Wales, 1988; Second edition, 1992.
Cyfranc Lludd a Llefelys. Ed. Brynley F. Roberts. Medieval and Modern Welsh Series Vol. VII. Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1975.
Historia Peredur vab Efrawc. Ed. Glenys Witchard Goetinck. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. 1976.
Llyfr Gwyn Rhydderch. Ed.J. Gwenogvryn Evans. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1973.
Math Uab Mathonwy. Ed. Ian Hughes. Aberystwyth: Prifysgol Cymru, 2000.
Owein or Chwedyl Iarlles y Ffynnawn. Ed. R.L. Thomson. Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1986.
Pedeir Keinc y Mabinogi. Ed. Ifor Williams. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1951.ISBN0-7083-1407-4
Pwyll Pendeuic Dyuet. Ed. R. L. Thomson. Medieval and Modern Welsh Series Vol. I. Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1986.ISBN1-85500-051-2
Ystorya Gereint uab Erbin. Ed. R. L. Thomson. Medieval and Modern Welsh Series Vol. X. Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1997.
Ystoria Taliesin. Ed. Patrick K. Ford. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1992.ISBN0-7083-1092-3
Sims-Williams, Patrick. "The Submission of Irish Kings in Fact and Fiction: Henry II, Bendigeidfran, and the dating of theFour Branches of the Mabinogi",Cambridge Medieval Celtic Studies,22 (Winter 1991): 31–61.
Sullivan, C. W. III (editor).The Mabinogi, A Books of Essays. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1996.ISBN0-8153-1482-5
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Mabinogion".Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Mabinogion".Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
The Mabinogion public domain audiobook atLibriVox
