Post by Senbecc on Feb 20, 2007 9:16:22 GMT -5
The Mabinogion was a collection of eleven (twelve) tales from the Welsh myths. The tales of the Mabinogion were preserved in two manuscripts, White Book of Rhydderch (c. 1325) and the Red Book of Hergest (c. 1400). Though the Rydderch manuscript was the earlier of the two, the tales of Lludd, Culhwch and Owein survived only in fragments, while the Dream of Rhonabwy was completely lost. Only the Hergest manuscript contained all eleven tales.
The Mabinogion was first translated into English by Lady Charlotte Guest. It was Lady Charlotte who gave the title of "Mabinogion" to this collection of tales. Also, Lady Charlotte had included a twelfth tale, called Hanes Taliesin ("Tale of Taliesin"), belonging to the Independent group. However, the Hanes Taliesin was not found in the two early manuscripts, so some of the later translations of the Mabinogion do not include the story of Taliesin.
The tales from the Mabinogion can be divided into three categories. The first four tales belonged to the Four Branches of the Mabinogi ("Pedair Cainc y Mabinogi"). The next four (or five, if including Taliesin) were the Independent tales, two tales of which Arthur appeared in the scene. While the last three tales falls into a category known as the Welsh romances, similar to those of the French romances written by Chretien de Troyes.
What were the four Branches of the Mabinogi? These four tales were told in the correct order, with Pryderi appearing in all four tales, but who only played minor role in each of the tale. It began in Pwyll Lord of Dyved, with his birth, and then it ended with Peredur's death in the fourth tale, Math Son of Mathonwy.
With the independent tales, The Dream of Maxen involved an emperor marrying a maiden he saw in his dream, while in Lludd and Llevelys, the story involved with Britain suffering three strange plagues. Two other tales involved Arthur and his companions (not from the Round Table). The most important of these two, was written in 1100, called Culhwch and Olwen. The other was called the Dream of Rhonabwy.
The Welsh romances were similar to the popular French Arthurian romances written by Chrétien de Troyes (fl. 1165-1190). Since these three romances belonged to the mainstream Arthurian literature, I have only briefly summarised Peredur, and used Chrétien's tales instead of Owein and Geraint from the Mabinogion.
www.timelessmyths.com/celtic/mabinogion.html
I had read the entire Mabinogion in the Penguin classics edition some 20 years ago, after having been introduced to it by Evangeline Walton's Mabinogion books issued in the Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series. The Gantz translation in the Penguin edition, more accurate than Guest's by the mere fact that it includes "the naughty bits" left out by Guest, doesn't capture for me the mood and in particular the diction of great fantasy (nor was it likely to be the intent). Now admittedly, most modern translations of Welsh or Irish mythological texts are done by academics for academics, with the accuracy of translation being of primary importance, not its readability for the mere fantasy aficionado. To me good fantasy prose is that of Lord Dunsany, E.R. Eddison, William Morris, or James Branch Cabell, authors largely ignored today. Similarly, for all its inaccuracies by current standards, the King James version of the Bible has the right "feel." For me, Guest's translation, which is only really flawed by its omissions, captures the mood of fantasy inherent in the source material, and the slightly antiquated diction enhances rather than detracts from the atmosphere. Somewhere I cannot recall, I saw Guest's translation compared with Edward William Lane contemporaneous (1838-1840) translation of the 1001 Nights, both were bowdlerized, but both fully captured the mood or aura of the original. A comparison of the four main translations of the Mabinogion currently available, including Guest's is presented below.
A glance at the links to the many electronic copies of Guest's translation online might suggest that you can do without this particular edition, but unlike those, this one has several bonuses going for it: (1) it contains all of Lady Charlotte Guest's original introduction and endnotes (some 120 pages of them) including what appear to be the original accompanying illustrations, (2) it is lavishly illustrated in a style that combines the Pre-Raphaelite style current in Guest's day, and Celtic symbolism and artistry: the gorgeous (yes I know I've said this before) paintings of Alan Lee, (3) you get some of the earliest Arthurian material with a minimum of Christian reinterpretation, and (4) you get a bonus tale, "Taliesin," not now considered part of the Mabinogion proper, but of ancient Welsh provenance nonetheless.
Saying that the Mabinogion has influenced or served as material for a number of fantasy authors is perhaps a bit overly obvious (see here for a fuller discussion). A concise summary of the nature of the texts making up the Mabinogion and their sources is presented here. Certainly fantasy works like Kenneth Morris's (a Welshman himself) The Fates of the Princes of Dyfed (1914) and Book of the Three Dragons (1930), Lloyd Alexander's Prydain Chronicles, and Evangeline Walton's Mabinogion Tetraology are the more direct and obvious offspring of the original Mabinogion. The former, is actually not a tetraology but a single book followed some 35 years later by a trilogy.
Walton's Mabinogion Tetraology, reprinted by Overlook Press, retells the four branches of the Mabinogion, the oldest and most strictly Welsh texts of the Mabinogion: "Pwyll Prince of Dyfed," "Branwen Daughter of Llyr," "Manawyddan Son of Llyr," and "Math Son of Mathonwy." as Prince of Annwn, The Children of Llyr, The Song of Rhiannon, and The Island of the Mighty, respectively. Walton fleshes out the characters, history and landscapes of the Mabinogion, gives the characters motivations and personalities, and writes what is certainly among the top 5 fantasy series of the 20th century -- it's not for nothing that, on the basis of only 6 genre books, she received both a lifetime achievement award from the World Fantasy Convention and the Mythopoeic Award. While the writing is more in the genre of earlier fantasists, the quality of the storytelling will make you forget any difficulties you might have with the prose. It is remarkable that, with a bit of psychoanalysis and the couching of a portion of the narratives in the context of the evolution of a matriarchical society into a patriarchical one, Walton updates these ancient texts in a very 20th century manner, without losing their sense of magic and otherworldliness. Whether you choose Lady Charlotte Guest's or Evangeline Walton's version of these ancient Welsh tales, or both, you'll have made an investment in some of the most distinctive and original mythology or fantasy in existence.
www.sfsite.com/08b/mab134.htm
The Mabinogion was first translated into English by Lady Charlotte Guest. It was Lady Charlotte who gave the title of "Mabinogion" to this collection of tales. Also, Lady Charlotte had included a twelfth tale, called Hanes Taliesin ("Tale of Taliesin"), belonging to the Independent group. However, the Hanes Taliesin was not found in the two early manuscripts, so some of the later translations of the Mabinogion do not include the story of Taliesin.
The tales from the Mabinogion can be divided into three categories. The first four tales belonged to the Four Branches of the Mabinogi ("Pedair Cainc y Mabinogi"). The next four (or five, if including Taliesin) were the Independent tales, two tales of which Arthur appeared in the scene. While the last three tales falls into a category known as the Welsh romances, similar to those of the French romances written by Chretien de Troyes.
What were the four Branches of the Mabinogi? These four tales were told in the correct order, with Pryderi appearing in all four tales, but who only played minor role in each of the tale. It began in Pwyll Lord of Dyved, with his birth, and then it ended with Peredur's death in the fourth tale, Math Son of Mathonwy.
With the independent tales, The Dream of Maxen involved an emperor marrying a maiden he saw in his dream, while in Lludd and Llevelys, the story involved with Britain suffering three strange plagues. Two other tales involved Arthur and his companions (not from the Round Table). The most important of these two, was written in 1100, called Culhwch and Olwen. The other was called the Dream of Rhonabwy.
The Welsh romances were similar to the popular French Arthurian romances written by Chrétien de Troyes (fl. 1165-1190). Since these three romances belonged to the mainstream Arthurian literature, I have only briefly summarised Peredur, and used Chrétien's tales instead of Owein and Geraint from the Mabinogion.
www.timelessmyths.com/celtic/mabinogion.html
I had read the entire Mabinogion in the Penguin classics edition some 20 years ago, after having been introduced to it by Evangeline Walton's Mabinogion books issued in the Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series. The Gantz translation in the Penguin edition, more accurate than Guest's by the mere fact that it includes "the naughty bits" left out by Guest, doesn't capture for me the mood and in particular the diction of great fantasy (nor was it likely to be the intent). Now admittedly, most modern translations of Welsh or Irish mythological texts are done by academics for academics, with the accuracy of translation being of primary importance, not its readability for the mere fantasy aficionado. To me good fantasy prose is that of Lord Dunsany, E.R. Eddison, William Morris, or James Branch Cabell, authors largely ignored today. Similarly, for all its inaccuracies by current standards, the King James version of the Bible has the right "feel." For me, Guest's translation, which is only really flawed by its omissions, captures the mood of fantasy inherent in the source material, and the slightly antiquated diction enhances rather than detracts from the atmosphere. Somewhere I cannot recall, I saw Guest's translation compared with Edward William Lane contemporaneous (1838-1840) translation of the 1001 Nights, both were bowdlerized, but both fully captured the mood or aura of the original. A comparison of the four main translations of the Mabinogion currently available, including Guest's is presented below.
A glance at the links to the many electronic copies of Guest's translation online might suggest that you can do without this particular edition, but unlike those, this one has several bonuses going for it: (1) it contains all of Lady Charlotte Guest's original introduction and endnotes (some 120 pages of them) including what appear to be the original accompanying illustrations, (2) it is lavishly illustrated in a style that combines the Pre-Raphaelite style current in Guest's day, and Celtic symbolism and artistry: the gorgeous (yes I know I've said this before) paintings of Alan Lee, (3) you get some of the earliest Arthurian material with a minimum of Christian reinterpretation, and (4) you get a bonus tale, "Taliesin," not now considered part of the Mabinogion proper, but of ancient Welsh provenance nonetheless.
Saying that the Mabinogion has influenced or served as material for a number of fantasy authors is perhaps a bit overly obvious (see here for a fuller discussion). A concise summary of the nature of the texts making up the Mabinogion and their sources is presented here. Certainly fantasy works like Kenneth Morris's (a Welshman himself) The Fates of the Princes of Dyfed (1914) and Book of the Three Dragons (1930), Lloyd Alexander's Prydain Chronicles, and Evangeline Walton's Mabinogion Tetraology are the more direct and obvious offspring of the original Mabinogion. The former, is actually not a tetraology but a single book followed some 35 years later by a trilogy.
Walton's Mabinogion Tetraology, reprinted by Overlook Press, retells the four branches of the Mabinogion, the oldest and most strictly Welsh texts of the Mabinogion: "Pwyll Prince of Dyfed," "Branwen Daughter of Llyr," "Manawyddan Son of Llyr," and "Math Son of Mathonwy." as Prince of Annwn, The Children of Llyr, The Song of Rhiannon, and The Island of the Mighty, respectively. Walton fleshes out the characters, history and landscapes of the Mabinogion, gives the characters motivations and personalities, and writes what is certainly among the top 5 fantasy series of the 20th century -- it's not for nothing that, on the basis of only 6 genre books, she received both a lifetime achievement award from the World Fantasy Convention and the Mythopoeic Award. While the writing is more in the genre of earlier fantasists, the quality of the storytelling will make you forget any difficulties you might have with the prose. It is remarkable that, with a bit of psychoanalysis and the couching of a portion of the narratives in the context of the evolution of a matriarchical society into a patriarchical one, Walton updates these ancient texts in a very 20th century manner, without losing their sense of magic and otherworldliness. Whether you choose Lady Charlotte Guest's or Evangeline Walton's version of these ancient Welsh tales, or both, you'll have made an investment in some of the most distinctive and original mythology or fantasy in existence.
www.sfsite.com/08b/mab134.htm