THE MABINOGION embraces much of ancient and early British culture, combining the numinous world of Celtic mythology, Arthurian legend and feudal Europe’s Age of Chivalry. Indeed scholars have identified that it was out of THE MABINOGION that the Arthurian legends were born. The Mabinogion “proper” (its four branches, Pwyll, Branwen, Manawydan, and Math), The Dream of Macsen Wledig, Lludd and Llefelys, Culhwch and Olwen, The Dream of Rhonabwy, The Lady of the Fountain, Peredur, and Gereint, Son of Ervin. This is the book that has Peredur, Son of Efrawg (Efrawg is York, and also Eouerwic, from the Old English Eoforwicceastre), which is the Welsh version of Perceval, the Grail Romance. There’s also Wolfram von Eschenbach’s Parzival, which fleshes out extra detail that the German bard added. Pwyll isn’t mentioned anywhere else in later Arthurian stories. His story is just a starting point for oral stories being written down for the beginnings of the literature tradition. There’s usually a difference between oral and written communication. This translation is the most comprehensive that I've read so far. But , translated by Gwyn Jones and Thomas Jones was first edition that was quite understandable for me, for at first I read translation by Lady Charlotte Guest which was very confusing and unsorted, and those translators organized stories into three parts, when all pieces of understanding came together.

a.) a literal translation: in that case, go with the Jones and Jones translation of the 1950s (IIRC), offered by EverymanAnyway. Here’s a list of some of my favorite dream imagery from the book, mostly from the four branches: In artworks, Rhiannon has inspired some entrancing images. A notable example is Alan Lee 1987, and 2001, who illustrated two major translations of the Mabinogi, and his pictures have attracted their own following. In the fantasy world of Poul Anderson's Three Hearts and Three Lions, there is a "University of Rhiannon", where Magic is taught.

It's important to note that the following list is not a comprehensive bibliography of Alan Lee's work. I haven't been able to find an accurate one, which is surprising considering what a talented artist he is. There should be a complete catalog of his work available. The Mabinogion is a collection of Welsh stories preserved in manuscripts from the fourteenth century, but it's assumed that the stories are older than that, they have been translated into English since the eighteenth century and this collection is in that tradition. The last chapter reflects upon castles from fantasy literature - the Castle of Earthly Paradise, Oberon's Castle of Gold, Dracula's Castle, Poe's Castle of the Red Death, Barad-Dur, the Dark Tower of Mordor and Minas Tirith from Lord of the Rings, and even Gormenghast from Mervyn Peake's the Gormenghast Trilogy. That said, it’s a very uneven book. The first four “branches” are really where the sauce is. The tales that follow, mostly chivalric Arthurian adventures, can be dry (though interesting for predating any round tables or swanky grails). I’ll make an exception for the tale of Cuhlwch whose mad crush on Olwen leads uncle Arthur into an epically misguided hunt for a divine boar, which, for some reason, has a comb and a razor and a pair of sheers all caught in the tuft of hair between its ears. The hunt is such an ordeal it kills off nearly every last Briton (which is a shame since the author went to such great lengths to name all of them [phew!]). But Cuhlwch gets the girl in the end, so . . . alls well that ends well?This Penguin Classic translated by Jeffrey Gantz (not the same illustration as pictured here) is the third translation of The Mabinogion I have read, and it’s by far the best. The title is misleading, stemming from Lady Charlotte Guest’s use of it in her nineteenth century translation, but it’s now ”established and convenient”. In his introduction Gantz explains the misuse in detail. Among the numerous works by J. R. R. Tolkien that he has illustrated are the 1992 centenary edition of The Lord of the Rings, a 1999 edition of The Hobbit, the 2007 The Children of Húrin, the 2017 Beren and Lúthien, the 2018 The Fall of Gondolin, and the 2022 The Fall of Númenor. [2] [3] Sullivan, Charles William III. "Conscientious Use: Welsh Celtic Myth and Legend in Fantastic Fiction.” Celtic Cultural Studies, 2004. See here

bw): Cedric Gibbons, Edward Carfagno, Edwin B. Willis, Hugh Hunt / (c): Lyle R. Wheeler, George Davis, Walter M. Scott, Paul S. Fox Guillermo del Toro Chats with TORN About The Hobbit Films!". TheOneRing.net. 25 April 2008 . Retrieved 26 April 2008. Parker, Will. "Mabinogi Translations." Mabinogi Translations, 2003. Reliable online text extremely useful for fast lookup, or copying quotes. See here

Alan Lee

Lee worked as a conceptual designer on the films Legend, Erik the Viking, King Kong and the television mini-series Merlin. [5] The art book Faeries, produced in collaboration with Brian Froud, was the basis of a 1981 animated feature of the same name. [9] [10]

World Fantasy Award Winners and Nominees". World Fantasy Convention. Archived from the original on 22 September 2008. Yet, they are sufficiently grounded in a world of folklore, history, and shared traditions and culture that they also exhibit unexpected emotional realism, behavioral depth, and personal insight. None of the book can be summarized in a way that does it justice, or can be explained easily. I used this collection of Welsh tales to gain key insight into connections with the English language by comparing the names of characters and locations to their English counterparts. Reunited with Rhiannon the child is formally named in the traditional way via his mother's first direct words to him Pryderi a wordplay on "delivered" and "worry", "care", or "loss". In due course Pwyll dies, and Pryderi rules Dyfed, marrying Cigfa of Gloucester, and amalgamating the seven cantrefs of Morgannwg to his kingdom.On the bank of the river he saw a tall tree: from roots to crown one half was aflame and the other green with leaves." Rhiannon appears in many retellings and performances of the Mabinogi (Mabinogion) today. There is also a vigorous culture of modern fantasy novels. [10] These include Not For All The Gold In Ireland (1968) by John James, where Rhiannon marries the Irish god Manannan. [11] Rhiannon also appears in The Song of Rhiannon (1972) by Evangeline Walton, which retells the Third Branch of the Mabinogion. [12] I'm splitting the difference between my love of the medieval collection (i.e. Y Mabinogi and other Welsh tales) and Lady Charlotte Guest's sometimes-bowdlerized, romanticized, nineteenth-century (and I mean that in the worst possible way) translation (which would garner at best two stars, because I'm feeling generous). The real advantage of this book is if you're interested in the history of how the Mabinogion has been treated in the English language; otherwise, you should decide if you want THE MABINOGION embraces much of ancient and early British culture, combining the numinous world of Celtic mythology, Arthurian legend and feudal Europe's Age of Chivalry. Indeed scholars have identified that it was out of THE MABINOGION that the Arthurian legends were born. No attempt at characterizing these stories together or individually would do them justice. There is a marvelous, epic atmosphere to each of them, a feel of adventure and magic and peculiarity. They often span a huge geography, taking place not only all across Wales, but in England, Cornwall, Ireland, Rome, and the Otherworld.