Four branches of the Mabinogion: In a complete boxed set

Customer Reviews:

A good, readable translation of a mediocre collection.......2006-02-15

I'm a fan of tradtional Germanic epics such as Beowulf and hte Saga of Burnt Njal, as well as a fan of other medieval literature, including Wolfram von Eschenbach's "Parzifal," which tells the same story as some of the "branches" (stories) of the Mabinogion. So I had high expectations for the Mabinogion.

Unfortunately, the book failed to live up to them. Out of the eleven mostly unrelated stories included in this volume, only a few really held my interest. In a work like this you expect an episodic, somewhat repetitive story, but the Mabinogion takes this to the extreme. A few of the stories are practically parodies of Arthurian romance; for example, "How Culhwch Won Olwen." In this story, the hero meets the heroine and is told that he must complete thirty-nine tasks to win her. The rest of the story consists of an account of the completion of these tasks, most of which don't rate more than about a sentence; plus a five-page list of all the knights of Arthur's court who helped him. Expanded to full length, this might be interesting, but as it stands it's about as exciting as reading Cliff's Notes. In addition, the Mabinogion's humor often falls flat, especially when compared with the Icelandic epics.

The Penguin Classics edition seems to be well-translated and well-annotated, but the book itself didn't hold my interest. Unless you're an Arthurian completist or a Welsh history buff, I'd give this one a miss.

READ THIS BOOK FIRST!.......2005-12-15

Before you step into anything by Lawhead, Zimmer-Bradley, or yet another retelling of Arthurian legends, THIS is the book you should read first. This is also the edition that is used as a coursebook in Celtic Civilisation lectures at the University of Glasgow, so it is probably one of the better translations out there.

Aside from the fact that the best place to learn about Celtic mythology and folklore is from the myths themselves, (Why bother looking around for someone to 'speak for the Celts' when they are perfectly capable of speaking for themselves -- indeed, have centuries of tradition in doing so?) the Four Branches of the Mabinogi are entertaining in and of themselves. Rhiannon isn't a glitter-infested fairy queen nanny of New Age construction -- she's a snarky, quick-witted lady who oftentimes finds herself coming to the rescue of her dull-witted husband, Pwyll. Arthur invokes the anger of his closest knight, Cai, (Kay) by making up a parody song on the spot -- and Cai storms off in a huff.

Although removed from present culture by centuries, the tales within the Mabinogi touch on a chord of familiar human experiences through lively tales and engaging characters who are not at all so different from ourselves.

Modern words for classics from medieval Wales.......2005-08-30

Gantz has created a modern, readable translation of these eleven Welsh classics. Although they come from the same oral tradition and were captured on paper around the same time (1200s to 1400s), they are rarely related to each other. Each story has its unique character, like page after page of people named in 'How Culwch won Owen'. 'The Dream of Rohanbwy' likewise seems to be a listing of colored arms and costumes so detailed that the writer say, "no one ... knows The Dream without a book because of the many colors."

Others of these tales are much more interesting for their relatioships to other parts of the mythos of the British isles. 'Peredur son of Evrawg' is variant of the Parsival story, with close parallels in many of its particulars. The Mabingion also retells some of the earliest known tales in the Arthurian canon. 'Gerient and Enid,' for example, is founded in the Arthur mythology. It's founded on the notions of knightly honor and chivalry, but with a primitive and harsh interpretation of the ethos.

There are other glimpses of early Celtic times, as well. One that struck me, in two different passages, was a telling of some great feast, where the doors were closed to all comers once the feasting began. All comers, that is, except a "king of a lawful dominion or a craftsman who brings his craft." Later in that story (Culwch), the bouncer isn't told to let the kings in, only the craftsmen. This is a vivid display of their high regard for skilled work, something that sounds strange to a modern ear. I think less of the modern ear for thinking so little of such skills.

Not all translations of the Mabinogion are created equal. Reading another translation, I foundered on obsolete, Elizabethan language injected to make the stories seem archaic. This one uses contemporary language, as bards in a living oral tradition would have done, to create a smooth and readable collection.

//wiredweird

Worth Having - An Easy and Charming Read.......2005-02-27

Eleven Welsh tales written in the 13th century based on older oral versions which probably date back to pagan times. The quality and coherence of the tales varies. Some of them are well-told with good narrative flow and consisent, well-defined characters. Others are a confused jumble of seemingly random incidents which end abruptly with major conflicts still unresolved. Jeffrey Gatz's translation is plain and readable; nowhere near as murky or as dry as some translated "classics" I have struggled through. I noticed a slight change in tone from the gentle Celtic lilt in the first half of the book, to frequent use of Beowulf-like compounds ("ferocious-bold" "venomous-painful" "fierce-powerful" etc) in the Arthurian tales of the second half. Could it be that in the Arthurian romances, an intentionally archaic style was used by the writer? Dr. Gantz doesn't specifically mention this, though he does say that some of the vocabulary in the Mabinogion was obsolete even at the time it was written. An air of mystery and magic pervades all the stories.
The tales of the Mabinogion were paraphrased by T.W. Rolleston in his _Celtic Myths and Legends_, 1917 (still available from Dover,) so I was already somewhat familiar with them when I read them. The full versions are much better, and being already familiar with the plot did not diminish my enjoyment at all. The Mabinogion has many parallels with Irish myth and legend. It also contains some of the earliest versions of tales from the King Arthur mythos (even a primitive, very understated version of the Grail legend!) "The Dream of Rhonabwy" (placed by Gantz in the middle of the book to serve as a transition from the mythological tales to the Arthurian tales) contains one of the best contemporary descriptions of Medeival squalor I have ever read. You can almost smell the filth and feel the discomfort of Rhonabwy and his companions as you read the opening passages of this tale.
Gantz's introductory materials are brief and to the point. He provides a general introduction at the beginning which gives the historical background of the Mabinogion and puts it into its literary perspective alongside the French romances. There are a few paragraphs before each tale which provide background information pertinent to that particular story.

No Cerridwen.......2004-10-03

This translation leaves out the Story of Gwion Bach (Taliesin) which may be historically acurate--but no fun indeed. Otherwise exellent.

The Mabinogion (Oxford World's Classics)

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Speechlessly beautiful translation.

The Mabinogion (Oxford World's Classics)

Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0192832425

Book Description

Celtic mythology, Arthurian romance, and an intriguing interpretation of British history - these are just some of the themes embraced by the anonymous authors of the eleven tales that make up the Welsh medieval masterpiece known as the Mabinogion. They tell of Gwydion the shape-shifter, who can create a woman out of flowers; of Math the magician whose feet must lie in the lap of a virgin; of hanging a pregnant mouse and hunting a magical boar. Dragons, witches, and giants live alongside kings and heroes, and quests of honour, revenge, and love are set against the backdrop of a country struggling to retain its independence. This new translation, the first for thirty years, recreates the storytelling world of medieval Wales and re-invests the tales with the power of performance.

Customer Reviews:

Speechlessly beautiful translation........2007-06-15

Where can I begin? The newest translation of the Mabinogion, those famous medieval Welsh stories is more than expected. Sioned Davies, chair of Welsh at Cardiff University certainly is within her element in bringing these stories into English. Her prose is poetic and crisp, and a delight to read. Her endnotes are informative and the pronunciation guide one of the clearest I've ever come into contact with. And that's just the translation itself! The stories are, of course, classics of literature the equal of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, or even (in my not-so humble opinion) Shakespeare. If you choose to purchase a translation of the Mabinogion, you can't do much better than the sublimity of Sioned Davies'.

Island of the Mighty: The Fourth Branch of the Mabinogion (Collier Nucleus Fantasy Classics.)

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Island of the Mighty: The Fourth Branch of the Mabinogion (Collier Nucleus Fantasy Classics.)
Evangeline Walton
Manufacturer: Collier Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Prince of Annwn

ASIN: 0020264720

King Arthur and the Goddess of the Land: The Divine Feminine in the Mabinogion

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Indespensible Pair

King Arthur and the Goddess of the Land: The Divine Feminine in the Mabinogion
Caitlín Matthews
Manufacturer: Inner Traditions
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0892819219
Release Date: 2002-10-01

Book Description

Reveals how the ancient Celtic text of the Mabinogion was the mythical predecessor to the legends of King Arthur.

• Revised edition of Arthur and the Sovereignty of Britain (UK) that includes the author's latest research and insights.

• A comprehensive reader's companion with synopsis of stories and full commentary.

• Written by renowned scholar Caitlín Matthews, author of The Celtic Wisdom Tarot (15,000 sold).

The ancient Celtic stories of the Mabinogion have received universal recognition from scholars as both sources of the Arthurian legend and keys to insights into the ancient magic of the Celtic Otherworld. Now renowned Celtic scholar Caitlín Matthews, drawing on a full range of medieval texts and ancient Welsh writings, provides a fully revised and updated reader's guide to these rich and far-reaching tales.

In King Arthur and the Goddess of the Land, Matthews sheds particular light on Sovereignty, the Goddess of the sacred land of Britain, and the spiritual principle of the Divine Feminine. Clearly revealed are the many alternate forms taken by the Goddess of the Land--including her incarnation as Morgan of Avalon, who plays a dominant role in the Arthurian cycle. Also established are links between the legendary characters of the Mabinogion and their counterparts in other living myths of the Western world. Through the marriage of the Celtic kings to the Goddess of the Land, the sacred contract between political rulership and responsibility for the land's well-being is dramatically revealed. In King Arthur and the Goddess of the Land, Matthews once again articulates definitively the continuing relevance of ancient Celtic thought and belief as illustrated in the powerful myths and legends of ancient Britain.

Customer Reviews:

Indespensible Pair.......2006-06-01

Both this title and Mabon and the Guardians of Celtic Britain: Hero Myths in the Mabinogion are essential to a student's understanding of these wonderful Welsh classics; however the need to re-release them with different titles escapes me....

The Mabinogion (Everyman Paperback Classics)

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Great
This is my favorite.
tedious and difficult to read.....
Ian Myles Slater on: Beautiful and Puzzling Tales
Myth becomes legend and legend becomes romance

The Mabinogion (Everyman Paperback Classics)
Mair Jones
Manufacturer: J.M. Dent & Sons
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0460872974

Customer Reviews:

Great.......2007-08-31

The actual part of the book that is the Mabinogion is a wonderful translation/adaptation/etc. The only thing that might be hard to get by is the forward and introduction, both of which are very acedemic, so if you're looking for a quick and easy read I wouldn't suggest this book, but if you're looking to realy understand where it came from and the history behind it, its great!

This is my favorite........2007-01-02

This is not the most accessible translation of the Mabinogion, but it is the most literal, and most fully conveys the rhythmn and feel of the original language. Out of all the versions available (and I have over half a dozen - closer to a dozen if you count the retellings and those in the orginal Welsh) this is my favorite. However, for a first time reader not familiar with the Welsh language, I think I would recommend Patrick Ford's "The Mabinogi" as being an easier read.

tedious and difficult to read............2006-02-22

This edition reads like it was translated word-for-word from the original middle welsh. It is written in a stilted, "translationese", very difficult and tedious to read. I'm halfway through it ( just finishing up Culwuch and Olwen ) and I think I'll stop....simply can't stand it anymore. There has to be better translations out there than this!!!

Ian Myles Slater on: Beautiful and Puzzling Tales.......2005-01-21

The publishing history of this edition, and its relationship to other translations of what is commonly known as "The Mabinogion," is a little complicated, and I think that is worth clearing up, although it may be a little tedious. However, my explanation of it should serve as "buyer's guide" if you are hesitating over exactly what to order.

In 1948 the Golden Cockerel Press issued an "edition-de-luxe" of translations from Medieval Welsh prose tales, made by Gwyn Jones and Thomas Jones, under the title of "The Mabinogion." This was the direct ancestor of the present Everyman volume. The translators, besides sharing a common Welsh name, were both distinguished academics: Thomas Jones was Professor of Welsh at Aberystwyth, and Gwyn Jones was Professor of English at Aberystwyth and Cardiff.

This title of the book was, as the translators pointed out, an erroneous form, a mere scribal error turned into a comprehensive title for stories with quite diverse histories. It was established in the public mind in the nineteenth century by Lady Charlotte Guest, who issued the first complete English translation of the stories, with Welsh texts, published in seven volumes, 1838-1845. The English text and notes of the shorter 1848 edition of her version had been included in the "Everyman's Library" series since 1906. This fat (432 pages) little volume furthered its position with the literary public interested in Welsh matters, general Celtic literature, or Arthurian stories, despite enormous advances in Welsh studies in the intervening century before the Jones and Jones translation. (I have separately reviewed some of its recent editions, with more on the translator's remarkable life.)

A more accurate translation by T.P. Ellis and J. Lloyd, "The Mabinogion: A New Translation," had been published by Oxford University Press in 1929, and seems to have made little impact. (One wonders: did the Depression play a role?) It had some useful annotations, and I have often wondered why it has never been reprinted, while Guest has gone into a variety of fuller or shorter versions (including the stories-only Dover Thrift edition, and one, apparently with the notes, illustrated by Alan Lee) of her bowdlerized and otherwise truncated rendering. Ellis and Lloyd continued to use Guest's title, and omitted one story, "Taliesin," a practice which Jones and Jones followed with no clear explanation. (I will offer one below.)

Otherwise, the narrative contents of all three of these translations are the same. They contain stories in four categories. (Note that preferred spellings of proper names vary, and I have not tried to be fully consistent.)

First, "The Four Branches of the Mabinogi," from which the collective title was derived, consisting of "Pwyll, Prince of Dyved," Branwen Daughter of Llyr," "Manawydan Son of Llyr," and "Math Son of Mathonwy." These begin with a story about the conception and birth of Pwyll's son, Pryderi, whose death is one of the early events in the "Fourth Branch," and concern a variety of heroes, and what are clearly rationalized gods. (Evangeline Walton turned each of the "Four Branches" into a novel; and other writers have done versions of one or another of them.)

Second, there are two "native tales," "The Dream of Maxen Wledig" and "The Story of Lludd and Llevelys," about Roman ("historical") and pre-Roman ("mythical") Britain as imagined by the medieval Welsh. The 'Lludd" text, as we have it, actually belongs to the "Chronicle" tradition launched by Geoffrey of Monmouth's supposed translation from an "ancient British book." (Which, if any part of it ever had any existence, was NOT the "Mabinogion.") "Maxen" seems to reflect an even more garbled version of a story known to Geoffrey, compounding several real people.

Third are two Arthurian stories in native Welsh mode. "Culhwch and Olwen," is an elaborate quest, dragging in, at least by name, most of the gods and heroes traceable in Welsh material, and some of their Irish cousins into the bargain, mostly as part of Arthur's court. "The Dream of Rhonabwy" is a visionary encounter with Arthur and his warriors (and anything else I could say would probably be controversial); a fascinating text, which almost boasts of its authentically dreamlike obscurity.

Fourth are three "Romances," "Owain" (otherwise known as "The Lady of the Fountain"), "Peredur son of Evrawc," and "Gereint the Son of Erbin," the first and last of which are clearly versions of Chretien de Troyes' Old French Arthurian Romances, "Yvain" and "Erec," while the second is related in a more complex manner to his unfinished and problematic "Perceval le Gallois." These seem to illustrate Celtic materials going out into wider European society, and then flowing back into Wales to enrich (and confuse) the native heroic and mythic tradition with ideas of chivalry.

The story missing from these two later translations, as well as a third version from 1976, was published by Charlotte Guest as "The Tale of Taliesin," although it is also found in some manuscripts as two separate tales. Although attested rather late, there are Irish parallels, and its tradition would seem to belong very much with the "native tales" like the "Four Branches of the Mabinogi" and "Culhwch." There seems to have been a real Taliesin, an early medieval poet, to whom much later poems were also attributed, but this story-complex has more to do with the myths about the nature of poetry. (It is also behind Thomas Love Peacock's comic novel, "The Misfortunes of Elphin," and quite a bit of modern fantasy literature.)

Fortunately for those of us who do not read medieval Welsh, Everyman's Library retired the lovely, but unreliable (and textually dubious) Guest translation, replacing it with Jones and Jones in 1949 (J.M. Dent and Sons, Ltd., London, and E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc., New York). This was an inexpensive and readily-available edition, which included a set of textual notes. Confusingly, it kept the old series number (97), which can lead to problems when ordering used copies. It was frequently reprinted, sometimes with emendations including a reissue in 1974 with Supplementary Textual Notes. This preserved the old pagination, which was frequently cited in discussions of the stories, but made it necessary to check the Supplement to be sure of the translators' most recent conclusions. It appeared with more revisions, additions, and a welcome Index of Proper Names in 1989. There were paperback editions (No. 1097) with at least two different covers, one lovely, one, to my mind, merely garish.

Finally, in 1993, with Dent now part of the Orion Publishing Group, and Charles E. Tuttle as the American publisher, it was reset for the Everyman Paperback Classics, with the changes to the translation smoothly incorporated, and the Textual and Supplementary Textual Notes in what seem to be their final forms. Gwyn Jones was still alive to work on these revisions, now with the collaboration of his wife, Mair Jones. The new pagination makes it harder to locate older references to passages; I have held on to my copies of older printings for this reason. Why go flipping through pages when I can look up the reference directly, and then find the corresponding section in a few seconds?

There is also a hardcover edition with a Preface by John Updike, published under the Borzoi imprint in 2001 (not seen). However, as the 1993 / 2001 text is the translator's final, preferred, revision, it is important to know that there is a difference -- especially if you are ordering it used. The 1974 text still had, besides the 44-page introduction, 283 pages. The 1993 edition, and its reprintings, are in a slightly larger format, and have a 32-page introduction, and 240 pages of main text.

Jones-and-Jones is in almost every way superior to the Guest translation, and is readily available; the lack of the "Taliesin" material, and of comparable, but modern, annotations, are its only failings. It has two modern competitors. One is the Penguin Classics "Mabinogion," translated by Jeffrey Gantz. The English of this translation is more modern, and some prefer it. I find Gantz's decisions on spelling some of the Welsh names rather strange; and some students of Welsh think that some of them are hard to justify. Of more importance to most readers will be his decision to give many of the names, particularly in the long lists of champions, their wives, dogs, horses, and swords, in "Culhwch," in the original Welsh. That sounds normal enough, but they are often intended to be understood as nicknames, whose meaning should be transparent, not meaningless, and some are even funny ("Big-bone, daughter of Strength"). Gantz consistently translates them in footnotes, which is highly distracting. In many cases, putting the Welsh text there for those who need it would have kept the main text easier reading, and looking less like the "begats" in "Genesis" and "Numbers.".

The other alternative -- which I would suggest getting as a supplement to either, if not, indeed, as a first choice -- is Patrick K. Ford's "The Mabinogi and Other Medieval Welsh Tales." It drops the French-influence Romances, the enigmatic "Rhonabwy," and "The Dream of Maxen," but gives a clear and vigorous rendering of the Welsh material, with an excellent introduction and notes. Ford not only did away with the persistent "Mabinogion" mistake in the title, he also included "Taliesin," based on the text he had re-edited from manuscripts, and restored to its two-story version, as "The Tale of Gwion Bach" and "The Tale of Taliesin."

It seems that Ellis and Lloyd and Jones and Jones, knew that Charlotte Guest's text for the story (with poems) had passed through the hands of the notorious Iolo Morganwg. He was a pioneering scholar who didn't hesitate to *invent* the evidence to support his theories, and they had preferred not to plunge into that thicket. Nor had anyone else. Unfortunately, the Guest version had been worked over by Robert Graves for his brilliant, and absurd, "The White Goddess," and a reliable version for non-Celticists was more than overdue. Ford's text edition was of value for another reason; there are close parallels between the stories of Gwion and the boyhood of the Irish hero Fionn (Finn McCool), investigation of which certainly needed a proper edition of the Welsh version to work from.

As an added bonus, Ford included as an appendix a translation of the notoriously difficult "Cad Goddeu," or "Battle of the Trees," also found in Guest's notes. It too had been given a splendid, and absurd, interpretation in terms of the Irish Ogham script by Robert Graves, who demonstrated his profound lack of knowledge of Welsh, and equally deep understanding of Irish. (He actually "improved" and re-ordered the translation he was using, without reference to the original....) Ford doesn't claim to understand its "real meaning," if any, only what it actually says, and it is very nice to have it. (By the way, "The Battle of the Trees" seems likely to have been in Tolkien's mind, along with Birnam Wood coming to Dunsinane, when writing of the Siege of Orthanc.)

There is a growing secondary literature about the "Mabinogion" stories, ranging from the excellent but technical, to the trivial, to the seriously erroneous (Graves is not alone!). Gwyn Jones himself contributed an excellent, and readable, analysis of "Culhwch and Olwen," in his book "Kings, Beasts, and Heroes" (1972), where it joins "Beowulf" and "Hrolf Kraki's Saga" (Jones having also translated the latter).

Myth becomes legend and legend becomes romance.......2003-09-22

The contents are a translation of most of the longest surviving prose narratives in medieval Welsh. Its title is an erroneus one, a word invented by Lady Charlotte Guest who first translated all these tales into English but it has stuck to the collection.

Only the story of Taliesin is for some reason omitted from Gynn Jones and Thomas Jones' translation.

Chronologically, according to subject matter, the story of "Lludd and Llefelys" comes first, which explains in passing the dragons which were later to uncovered by Ambrosius in Nennius' _Historia Brittonum_ and by Merlin according to still later accounts.

But in order of presentation the book presents first the Mabinogi proper, _Mabinogi_ possible meaning 'Hero Tale'. The four tales of the Mabinogi supposedly take place in Britain just before the attempted invasion by Julius Caesar and Cassibelaunus who was historically Caesar's main opponent appears here as Caswallawn son of Beli. But we know from other sources that many of the characters presented here as great lords and chieftains and kings of that era were earlier gods worshipped in Gaul or Ireland or both.

Rhiannon (whom Pwyll gains as wife in the first branch) is the goddess known from Latin inscriptions in Gaul as Rigatona. Manawydan is the Irish god Manannan also known as the god of the Isle of Man. In the third branch the young and rather inactive prince Lleu is the Irish Lugh and Gaulish Lug, the most important god of the Celtic pantheon. What we are told of him here has very little relation to what is told of him in surviving Irish tales.

Who can know what these beings meant to the anynomous teller of these tales and how much is based on genuine pagan tradition and how much on inventive story telling based on stock motifs?

The second half of "Math son of Mathonwy" is easily recognizable as a variant of the second half of the ancient Egyptian "Tale of Two Brothers", commonly called the oldest extant fairy stale.

"The Dream of Macsen Wledig" is a legendary version of the career of the historical Magnus Maximus. But perhaps its connection of Magnus Maximus by marriage to a particular British noble family located at Carnarvon is historical.

"Culhwch and Olwen" is arguably the most unrestrained and wildest heroic tale preserved in any language. The legendary Arthur and his men must undertake twelve great tasks which themselves require numerous subtasks. Chief of these tasks is the hunting of the great boar Twrch Trywth to obtain the comb and shears that lie between his ears.

In style this tale is like wonder tales perserved in Gaelic about Finn Mac Cumahail and his warriors but it goes even beyond these, perhaps intended as a parody of that kind of tale, but a parody by one who loved what he was parodying.

"The Dream of Rhonabwy" tells of a mysterious vision by a medieval dreamer of Arthur and other heroes of the British heroic age of the fifth and sixth and early seventh centuries haunting still the British soil. The meaning of the violent board game between Arthur and Owein is unknown.

Last follow three knightly Arthurian romances influenced obviously by French material which tell tales already known through the French verse of Chrétien de Troyes, though "Peredur son of Efrawg" provides additional episodes and a conclusion not found in the French. It seems that the Welsh nobles for whom such tales would have been written were turning away from the native traditions of Arthur and their native heroes in favor of the more sophisticated French reworkings.

Customer Reviews:

Amazing.......2004-09-13

Being named after one of the principle characters in the Mabinogion, I recieved this book for my first Christmas, and I have been fascinated with the Welsh myths ever since. The authors do a marvelous job of joining together the disjointed translations, making the stories ok for children without disney-fying them beyond hope. The wonder and strangeness remains, and the magic. It is a shame that it is out of print, but I would still definitely reccommend this book to anyone, adult or child. Margaret Jones's watercolors add to it immesurably. (...)

Average customer rating:

Mythological Treasure
A masterpiece of literature
I loved it!
Breath Taking!
Matter is an A+; manner D-

Mabinogion Tetralogy
Evangeline Walton , and Betty Ballantine
Manufacturer: Overlook TP
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1585675040

Book Description

Evangeline Walton's The Mabinogion Tetralogy is one of the remarkable achievements of twentieth-century fantasy literature: a powerful work of the imagination, ranking with Tolkien's Lord of the Rings novels.

The author of the Mabinogion, the ancient tales based on medieval Welsh mythology and history, is unknown to us, but generations have thrilled to these magical adventures set at a time when men and gods mingled, and the gods had more than met their match. In the masterful hands of Evangeline Walton the twelve branches of the original legends were reworked into the four compelling narratives collected here: The Prince of Annwn, The Children of Llyr, The Song of Rhiannon, and The Island of the Mighty. It is Walton's triumph is to have constructed a vital and living world on the foundations of myth.

Customer Reviews:

Mythological Treasure.......2006-11-25

I bought the four books of Evangeline Walton's Mabinogeon in the 1970's, and have read them many times over the years. They are treasured by me, and so worn from use that I no longer lend them to friends. I recommend Ms. Walton's work to everyone I know who enjoys reading, especially if they enjoy mythology.

A masterpiece of literature.......2006-01-20

Don't read this book because you want to get closer to the wealth of Welsh myth. Read this book because it is stunning and beautiful. Reading this book you are in the hands of a competent bard aware of the complexities of human behavior. Walton takes you on an adventure complete with misplaced love, tragic deaths, and heroic splendor. She has taken the bare bones of myth and altered little by added a lot and crafted a masterpiece of literature.

I loved it!.......2004-07-07

I was very impressed with this book. Walton does a wonderful job of reworking the original Welsh legends into four stories. Naturally, she allows herself certain artistic freedoms, such as interpreting disputed aspects of the legends in a way that seems most plausible to her. However, her skill and her imagination make me gladly accept her interpretation.

The writing is probably the most beautiful I have read since Tolkien. It is rich in detail, vibrant, and poetic. A pleasure to read. The same is true for the characters, who really do come to life in Walton's book. She (re)creates gods and men, heroes and monsters, while at the same time exploring some of the recurring themes of humankind, such as love and loyalty, strength and courage, etc. The basis for all this is the same cultural background of the original Welsh mythologies, i.e. the fundamental conflict between the belief of the Old Tribes, in which women were quite independent and powerful, and the New Tribes, in which women are inferior to men and the role of women as 'creators of life' is slowly forgotten.

At the same time, I don't think this book is for everybody. If you enjoy contemporary fantasy with a Celtic background along the lines of Katherine Kerr, then you may be disappointed by this book. Not every subplot is pursued to completion, not every character is described fully. Walton implies as much as she tells us. The language is as much poetry as it is prose. Like I said, it's beautiful, but read it for what it is!

Anika Leithner

Breath Taking!.......2004-01-26

Ms. Walton does an incredible job of taking Welsh Mythology and breathing life into it making it a novel of unsurpassed proportions. You encounter hidden lessons that actually sent shivers through me. This book by no means should replace the Mabinogion's translation by Lady Charlotte, which is a more literal translation. However, Ms. Walton provides insight to the myths and is quite inspiring in doing so. This book just might change your life in some ways.

Matter is an A+; manner D-.......2003-09-08

This might very well be *most* poorly edited book I've ever purchased. Miss Walton's novels are wonderful, in every sense of that word; they rate 5 stars. The volume, though, merits no stars at all, thus my average of 2 stars. The book is utterly laden with distracting and misleading errors of all sorts. Words that make no sense in context substituted for what I know (having read the much better Ballantine paperback editions, years ago, and simply knowing the tales) should be there; whole passages repeated out of sequence. And I'm only some 50 pages into it! Overlook needs to fire whoever purported to edit this thing, and apologize to its customers...and to the memory of Evangeline Walton.

Arthur and the Sovereignty of Britain: King and Goddess in the Mabinogion (Arkana)

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Arthur and the Sovereignty of Britain: King and Goddess in the Mabinogion (Arkana)
Caitlin Matthews
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0140191976

Mabon and the Guardians of Celtic Britain: Hero Myths in the Mabinogion

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A Good Place to Start Thinking About Welsh Deities by a Great Scholar/Writer
Excellent research- but requires dedication
Further Discussion of the Mabinogian
Key to the Men's Mysteries of Celtic Tradition

Mabon and the Guardians of Celtic Britain: Hero Myths in the Mabinogion
Caitlín Matthews
Manufacturer: Inner Traditions
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Folklore & Mythology | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0892819200
Release Date: 2002-08-01

Book Description

The authoritative reader's companion to the ancient Celtic myths in the literary masterpiece, the Mabinogion.

• Thoroughly updated edition of Mabon and the Mysteries of Britain (UK).

• Illuminates the rich archetypal patterns and meanings in the Four Branches of the Welsh Mabinogion.

According to prophecy, a liberator will come to bring light, truth, and freedom to every generation. His mythic title is Mabon, but his identities are many-including Arthur the King, whose coming we await. So says the mythic Welsh text the Mabinogion, which includes some of the oldest magical stories from British mythology and which has been intriguing and beguiling readers for centuries.

In Mabon and the Guardians of Celtic Britain, Celtic scholar Caitlín Matthews unlocks the encoded meanings of the Mabinogion and establishes it firmly as a precursor to other living myths of the West. From her fascinating study of these stories emerge two of the major figures of the Celtic tradition: the archetypal Mabon, deliverer and liberator of the land, and Modron, his mother, the Great Goddess herself. The initiatory pattern of Britain's inner guardians is revealed through the succession of the Pendragons, as each rises through the ages from boy, hero, and king to the role of Mabon. As descendants of the ancient Celtic oral tradition, the rich themes and archetypal underpinnings of the Mabinogion are stories for all time.

Customer Reviews:

A Good Place to Start Thinking About Welsh Deities by a Great Scholar/Writer.......2007-07-06

I had to read this very dense and knowledge-packed book a couple of times. Rereading the Mabinogi on its own between times helped. One thing that has always impressed me about Cailtin Matthews is how she can write a dense historical text like this (with much of her own speculation) on an unfortunately obscure topic, while producing her more accessible books which are filled with exercises and meditations that help the reader create their own cosmology.

Anyone who is a serious student of the Mabinogi knows how little there is to read about it. Mentions of the main players in generic Witch or Druid books usually sound like they are third hand references by authors who never even read the Mabinogi! Matthews definitely has her own views that not every Pagan worshipping the old Welsh Goddesses and Gods will (or necessarily should) accept, but it is so refreshing to feel like someone else who cares as much as I do has put a lot of thought into the stories and is willing to discuss them. It can be very lonely to include the Welsh Shining Ones in your religious beliefs. Most people, even Celtic based Pagans, tend to glaze over when you mention the Mabinogi, maybe because it is harder to pronouce these Deities' names than the Irish ones!

Matthews obviously knows the facts and even if you don't agree with her opinions, it is great that SOMEONE cares enough to write about this topic. Let's hope more follow her lead.

Excellent research- but requires dedication.......2006-08-11

The book is nicely written and expertly researched, but without reading as a companion to the Mabinogion it gets a little hard to read. The author warns you of this in the beginning, so the responsibility is with the reader. It is wonderfully done, with excellent insights.

Further Discussion of the Mabinogian.......2002-12-15

This book is a re-release of "Mabon and the Mysteries of Britain", first published in 1987, which is now out of print. The author has revised and updated this new version.

We are mostly familiar with the stories and heroes of the Mabinogian. The stories are of Welsh origin. They are the stories of knights and ladies which have entertained us for many generations.

Ms. Matthews is a researcher into the Arthurian legends, Celtic traditions and has published many books in this vein. This is the first of her books that I have read, and I found it interesting as I am familiar with the Mabinogian.

The start of the book delves into Welsh pronunciation, in order to help the reader sound out some of the names from the book. There is also a section on Welsh story telling, helping the reader understand where and how these stories came about. Ms. Matthews then disassembles the stories of the Mabinogian for the reader, discussing the imagery, the language and the suggested meanings of the different parts of the story. She does a splendid job of making this easy for the reader to understand, and based on her research gives interesting insights into some possibilities of the inner meanings of the material that may have eluded the reader.

She also includes family trees, story progressions and various translations in order to help the reader come to a fuller understanding of what these stories represent. There is also a very complete bibliography in the back of the book as well as the book being indexed.

All in all, this is a fine book to explore the Mabinogian with, and I would recommend it to anyone who is looking to better understand some these wonderful stories. This would benefit the beginner as well as provide good discussion material for those who are familiar with the material presented here.

Key to the Men's Mysteries of Celtic Tradition.......2002-12-12

Celtic scholars and neopagans will find this a useful book - but those dedicated to reclaiming the ways of our ancient Celtic ancestors will find it an invaluable key to The Matter of Britain as it was known in the time before Arthur. Profound, revelatory, impeccably researched, "Mabon" and "Reclaiming the Gods" by Nicholas Mann are perhaps the two most important books on the ANCIENT Celtic masculine mysteries ever to be published.

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