The Mabinogion reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004
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Mabinogion

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The Mabinogion is a collection of stories based on the oral tradition of the Welsh bards. They are partly based on early medieval historical events, but may hark back to older iron age traditions.

Table of contents
1 Name
2 Bibliography

Name

Its name comes from a misunderstanding made by the Mabinogion's first English translator, Lady Charlotte Guest: she found in one story the Welsh word mabynogyon and assumed it was the plural form of the Welsh mabinogi. The word mabinogi itself is something of a puzzle, although it is clearly related to the Welsh mab or "son, boy". Professor Eric P. Hamp suggests that mabinogi derives from the name of the Celtic deity Maponos, and refers to the materials pertaining to the god Maponos.

The Stories

The Mabinogi proper consists of four stories, also called "The Four Branches of the Mabinogi." These stories are:

These tales were first written down in manuscripts of the fourteenth century -- The White Book of Rhydderich and The Red Book of Hergest --earlier fragments of these tales have been preserved in thirteenth century manuscripts.

Since the Mabinogion's first compilation and translation by Lady Guest, seven other tales have been associated with the Four Branches. There are four stories that retell material from Welsh tradition and legend:

The tales Culhwch and Olwen and The Dream of Rhonabwy have interested scholars because they preserve older traditions of King Arthur. The tale The Dream of Macsen Wledig is a romanticized story about the Roman Emperor Magnus Maximus.

Three tales are Welsh versions of Arthurian Romances that also appear in the work of Chrétien de Troyes. While nineteenth century critics believed that these works were based on Chretien's own poems, some more recent critics have leaned towards believing that these two collections are based independently on a common ancestor.

Also included by Lady Guest but dropped from later English translations which yet continue to use Guest's term Mabinogion is an eighth tale not found in the Red Book or White Book:

Bibliography

Translations

Hardcopy

Web

There is a new, extensively annotated translation of the four branches of the Mabinogi proper by Will Paker at

The Guest translation can be found with all original notes and illustrations at: Versions without the notes, presumably mostly from the Project Gutenberg edition, can be found on numerous sites, including:

Welsh Text and Editions

Secondary Sources