Mabinogion

The Mabinogion, passed down from storyteller, to storyteller was compiled around the 12th century as a set of tales. These tales were translated by Lady Charlotte Guest, who named the complete work, the Mabinogion. The name Mabinogion, a supposed plural for Mabinogi, is actually incorrect. Although there are eleven tales (twelve with Taliesin) there are four main branches of the ‘Mabinogion’, all of which end with the term ‘Ac y uelly teruyna y geing hon yma Mabinogi’, meaning ‘so ends this branch of the Mabinogi’. The word Mabinogi according to Lady Guest means ‘a story for children’, stemming from the Welsh word mab, meaning son. Ifor Williams suggested the word mabinogi means ‘youth, a tale of youth’ and others suggest it relates to a tale of the bardic profession.

Llyfr gwyn Rhydderch (The White Book of Rhydderch, c. 1325) was the earliest manuscript containing all these stories, however the tales of Lludd and Llevelys, Culhwch and Olwen, and Owain had large portions missing and The Dream of Rhonabwy was lost entirely. Some scholars say that there is no edivdence to suggest that the White Book ever contained The Dream of Rhonabwy. Llyfr Coch Hergest (The Red Book of Hergest, c. 1400) was the only manuscript to contain all eleven tales.

The Four Branches of the Mabinogi, sometimes known as the Cycle of Peredur, consist of Pwyll, Branwen, Manawydan, and Math. These tales follow a chronological order and relate to each other in content.

The Independent [Native] Tales are as the title suggests, independent of the other stories and each other but follow a similar mythological tone to the Four Branches of the Mabinogi. Two of these stories, Culhwch and Olwen and The Dream of Rhonabwy, mention Arthur and his men. A fifth tale, Hanes Taliesin, was included by Lady Guest but was not found in the earlier manuscripts.

The last three books are known as the Welsh Romances and, written after Chretien de Troyes’ similar work, follow the same romantic style. The Lady of the Fountain [Owain] and the Knight of the Lion [Yvain] seem to have much the same content, while Geraint Son of Erbin [Geraint and Enid] bears many similarities to Erec and Enide. Less obvious perhaps is the link between Peredur son of Evrawc and Conte du Graal [Perceval].

This version was translated by Lady Charlotte guest and is out of copyright. Please be aware that there are more accurate modern translations available to buy now.