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"Mabinogi" redirects here. For other uses, see Mabinogi (disambiguation).
The Two Kings (sculptor Ivor Robert-Jones, 1984) near Harlech Castle, Wales. Bendigeidfran carries the body of his nephew Gwern
The Two Kings (sculptor Ivor Robert-Jones, 1984) near Harlech Castle, Wales. Bendigeidfran carries the body of his nephew Gwern

The Mabinogion (pronounced /mabɪ'nɔɡjɔn/) is a collection of prose stories from medieval Welsh manuscripts. For the Wikipedia guideline regarding editing articles see WikipediaManual of Style. Welsh ( cy Cymraeg or cy y Gymraeg, kəmˈrɑːɨɡ and {{IPA|[ə ɡəmˈrɑːɨɡ]}}, is a member of the Brythonic branch of Celtic A manuscript is any Document that is Written by hand as opposed to being printed or reproduced in some other way They draw on pre-Christian Celtic mythology, international folktale motifs, and on early medieval historical traditions. While some details may hark back to older Iron Age traditions, each of these tales is the product of a highly developed Welsh narrative tradition, both oral and written. This article is about the archaeological period known as the Iron Age for the mythological Iron Age see Ages of Man.

Contents

Name

The name first appears in 1795 in William Owen Pughe's Cambrian Register: "The Mabinogion, or Juvenile Amusements, being Ancient Welsh Romances. " It was then adopted as the title by first English translator of the complete tales, Lady Charlotte Guest. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States Lady Charlotte Elizabeth Guest, (née Bertie ( May 19, 1812 – January 15, 1895) later Lady Charlotte Schreiber, was an English The form mabynnogyon does indeed occur at the end of the first tale, but it is now generally agreed that this is a scribal error that was assumed to be the plural of the Welsh word mabinogi, which occurs correctly at the end of the remaining three of the Four Branches. Welsh ( cy Cymraeg or cy y Gymraeg, kəmˈrɑːɨɡ and {{IPA|[ə ɡəmˈrɑːɨɡ]}}, is a member of the Brythonic branch of Celtic The word mabinogi itself is something of a puzzle, although it is ultimately related to the Welsh mab, which means "son, boy". Professor Eric P. Hamp, however, suggests that mabinogi derives from the name of the Celtic deity Maponos ("the Divine Son"), and originally referred to materials pertaining to that god. Eric Pratt Hamp is an American linguist Born November 16 1920 he received his PhD from Harvard University in 1950s and since then he taught at the University In ancient Celtic religion, Maponos or Maponus ("divine son" was a god of youth known mainly in northern Britain but also in Gaul. Strictly speaking, "Mabinogi" applies only to the Four Branches (see below), which are speculated to have derived from older tradition. Each of these four tales ends with a colophon meaning "thus ends this branch of the Mabinogi" (in various spellings), hence the name.

Date

The stories of the Mabinogion appear in either or both of two Medieval Welsh manuscripts, the White Book of Rhydderch (Llyfr Gwyn Rhydderch) written ca. The White Book of Rhydderch (Welsh Llyfr Gwyn Rhydderch) is one of the most notable and celebrated Manuscripts in Welsh. 1350, and the Red Book of Hergest (Llyfr Coch Hergest) written about 1382–1410, although texts or fragments of some of the tales have been preserved in earlier 13th century and later manuscripts. The Red Book of Hergest ( Welsh: Llyfr Coch Hergest) is one of the most important Medieval Welsh language 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 the Mabinogion originated at different times. Debate has focused on the dating of the Four Branches of the Mabinogi. Sir Ifor Williams offered a date prior to 1100, based on linguistic and historical arguments, while later Saunders Lewis set forth a number of arguments for a date between 1170 and 1190; T. Sir Ifor Williams ( April 16 1881 - November 4 1965) was a Welsh scholar who laid the foundations for the academic study of Old Welsh particularly Saunders Lewis (John Saunders Lewis ( October 15, 1893 - September 1, 1985) was a Welsh Poet, Dramatist, M. 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 period between 1000 and 1100, although much more work is needed. More recently, Patrick Sims-Williams argued for a plausible range of about 1060 to 1200, and this seems to be the current scholarly consensus.

The question of the dates of the tales in the Mabinogion is important because if they can be shown to have been written before Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae and the romances of Chrétien de Troyes, then some of the tales, especially those dealing with Arthur, provide important evidence for the development of Arthurian legend. Geoffrey of Monmouth ( Gruffudd ap Arthur or Sieffre o Fynwy) (c Chrétien de Troyes was a French poet and Trouvère who flourished in the late 12th century. Their importance as records of early myth, legend, folklore, culture, and language of Wales is immense.

The stories

Series on
Celtic mythology
Coventina

Celtic polytheism
Celtic deities
Ancient Celtic religion

Druids · Bards · Vates
British Iron Age religion
Celtic religious patterns
Gallo-Roman religion
Romano-British religion
Brythonic mythology

Welsh mythology
Breton mythology
Mabinogion · Taliesin
Cad Goddeu
Trioedd Ynys Prydein
Matter of Britain · King Arthur
Gaelic mythology

Irish mythology
Scottish mythology
Hebridean mythology
Tuatha Dé Danann
Mythological Cycle
Ulster Cycle
Fenian Cycle
Immrama · Echtrae
See also

Celts · Gaul
Galatia · Celtiberians
Early history of Ireland
Prehistoric Scotland
Prehistoric Wales

Index of related articles
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The Four Branches of the Mabinogi

The Four Branches of the Mabinogi (Pedair Cainc y Mabinogi) are the most mythological stories contained in the Mabinogion collection. Celtic mythology is the Mythology of Celtic polytheism, apparently the Religion of the Iron Age Celts Like other Iron Age Celtic polytheism refers to the religious beliefs and practices of ancient Celts, prior to the Christianization of the Celtic-speaking lands The Gods and Goddesses or deities of the Celts are known from a variety of sources these include written Celtic mythology, ancient A druid was a member of the priestly and learned class in the ancient Celtic societies Etymology The word is a Loanword from descendant languages of Proto-Celtic *bardos, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gwerh2 The earliest Latin writers used vates to denote "prophets" and soothsayers in general the word fell into disuse in Latin until it was revived by Virgil In Britain and Ireland the Iron Age lasted from about the 7th century BC until the Roman conquest and until the 5th century in non- Romanised Celts (ˈkɛlts or /ˈsɛlts/, see Names of the Celts Gallo-Roman religion was a fusion of Roman religious forms and modes of worship with Gaulish deities from Celtic polytheism. Roman Britain refers to those parts of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire between AD 43 and 410 Welsh mythology, the remnants of the Mythology of the pre Christian Britons, has come down to us in much altered form in medieval Welsh manuscripts Breton mythology is the Mythology or corpus of explanatory and herioc tales originating in Brittany, now in France. Taliesin (c 534 – c 599 (spelled as Taliessin in Alfred Lord Tennyson 's Idylls of the King and in some subsequent works was a Brythonic Cad Goddeu ( English: The Battle of the Trees) is a poem from the Book of Taliesin in which the legendary enchanter Gwydion The Welsh Triads ( Welsh Trioedd Ynys Prydein, literally "Triads of the Island of Britain " are a group of related texts in Medieval The Matter of Britain is a name given collectively to the Legends that concern the Celtic and legendary History of Great Britain, especially those King Arthur is a legendary British leader who according to medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against the Saxon invaders The Mythology of pre-Christian Ireland did not entirely survive the conversion to Christianity, but much of it was preserved shorn of its religious meanings Scottish mythology may refer to any of the mythologies of Scotland. The Inner and Outer Hebrides off the western coast of Scotland are made up of a great number of large and small islands The Tuatha Dé Danann ("peoples of the Goddess Danu " Modern Irish pronunciation /t̪ˠuːəhə dʲeː d̪ˠan̪ˠən̪ˠ/ Old Irish /tuːaθa ðʲeː The Mythological Cycle is one of the four major cycles of Irish mythology, and is so called because it represents the remains of the pagan Mythology of Texts in translation Most of the important Ulster Cycle tales can be found in the following publications Thomas Kinsella, The Táin, Oxford University The Fenian Cycle or Fiannaidheacht (modern Irish Fiannaíocht) also known as the Fionn Cycle, Finn Cycle, Fianna Cycle, Finnian An Immram (plural Immrama; Modern Irish: iomramh) is one of a class of Old Irish tales concerning a hero's sea journey to the Otherworld An Echtra or Echtrae (pl Echtrai) is one of a category of Old Irish literature about a hero's adventures in the Otherworld (see Tír na Celts (ˈkɛlts or /ˈsɛlts/, see Names of the Celts Gaul (Gallia was the Roman name for the region of Western Europe comprising present day northern Italy, France, Belgium, western Ancient Galatia was an area in the highlands of central Anatolia in modern Turkey. The Celtiberians (or Celt-Iberians were a Celtic people of Hallstatt culture Prehistory Mesolithic (8000 BC - 4500 BC What little is known of pre- Christian Ireland comes from a few references in Roman writings Archaeology and Geology continue to reveal the secrets of prehistoric Scotland, uncovering a complex and dramatic past before the Romans brought Scotland Prehistoric Wales in terms of human settlements covers the period from about 230000 years ago the date attributed to the earliest human remains found in what is now Wales The Four Branches of the Mabinogi are the best known tales from the medieval Welsh prose collection known as the Mabinogion. Pryderi appears in all four, though not always as the central character. Pryderi is the son of Pwyll and Rhiannon in Welsh mythology, and a king of Dyfed.

The native tales

Also included in Lady Guest's compilation are five stories 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. Magnus Maximus (ca 335&ndash August 28, 388) also known as Maximianus, was an Hispanic usurper of the Western Roman Empire Culhwch and Olwen ( Culhwch ac Olwen) is a Welsh tale about a hero connected with Arthur and his warriors that survives in only two manuscripts The Dream of Rhonabwy ( Breuddwyd Rhonabwy) is a Middle Welsh prose tale Taliesin (c 534 – c 599 (spelled as Taliessin in Alfred Lord Tennyson 's Idylls of the King and in some subsequent works was a Brythonic King Arthur is a legendary British leader who according to medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against the Saxon invaders The tale The Dream of Macsen Wledig is a romanticized story about the Roman Emperor Magnus Maximus. Magnus Maximus (ca 335&ndash August 28, 388) also known as Maximianus, was an Hispanic usurper of the Western Roman Empire The story of Taliesin is a later piece, not included in the Red or White Books, which more recent translations omit. Taliesin (c 534 – c 599 (spelled as Taliessin in Alfred Lord Tennyson 's Idylls of the King and in some subsequent works was a Brythonic

The Romances

The three tales called The Three Romances (Y Tair Rhamant) are Welsh versions of Arthurian tales that also appear in the work of Chrétien de Troyes. The Three Welsh Romances ( Y Tair Rhamant in Welsh) are three tales associated with the Mabinogion. Chrétien de Troyes was a French poet and Trouvère who flourished in the late 12th century. Critics have debated whether the Welsh Romances are based on Chrétien's poems or if they derive from a shared original. Though it seems probable the surviving Romances derive, directly or indirectly, from Chrétien, it is probable he in turn based his tales on older, Celtic sources. Celts (ˈkɛlts or /ˈsɛlts/, see Names of the Celts The Welsh stories are not direct translations and include material not found in Chrétien's work.

See also

Bibliography

Translations


Welsh text and editions

Secondary sources

Adaptations

External links

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

The Guest translation can be found with all original notes and illustrations at:

The original Welsh texts can be found at:

Versions without the notes, presumably mostly from the Project Gutenberg edition, can be found on numerous sites, including:

A discussion of the words Mabinogi and Mabinogion can be found at

Audio extracts from the Sioned Davies translation, read by the author, are available from the publisher's site:

Project Gutenberg, abbreviated as PG, is a volunteer effort to Digitize, archive and distribute Cultural works
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