My rating:
add to my books
Loading...
The Mabinogian
The stories of the Mabinogion appear in two Medieval Welsh manuscripts, the White book of Rhydderch (Llyfr Gwyn Rhydderch) written about 1350, and the Red Book of Hergest (Llyfr Coch Hergest) written about 1382. Although fragments of these tales have been preserved in earlier thirteenth-century manuscripts, scholars agree that the tales are much older. The tales have had a...more
Paperback, 252 pages
Published
February 23rd 2007
by Classic Books Library
(first published 1410)
There is a good chance some of your friends read this book. Sign in to see!
sign in »
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
This book is currently not featured on any Listopia lists.
Add this book to your favorite list »
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
2,660)
The Mabinogi are four linked medieval Welsh tales; Pwyll, Prince of Dyfed, Branwen daughter of Llyr, Manawydan son of Llyr, and Math son of Mathonwy. Other tales are included in this volume, which represents the core of Welsh mythology. Each story is prefaced with a plain-English summary, then the story is presented as originaly written (the editor, Patrick K. Ford, did the translating). There is a handy glossary of names, a pronunciation guide, and an index of names at the back of the book.
...more
...more
I'm reading the Mabinogion after a childhood spent reading books that were based on these Welsh myths: The Chronicles of Prydain, The Dark is Rising, The Owl Service... I recall that those retellings/recyclings were a bit more user-friendly, but what I love about mythology is the concentrated nature of it. These are oral traditions boiled down to their essence--the versions finally set to paper are meant to communicate what was really important to someone nearly 1000 years ago, from stories that...more
view 1 comment
This is an excellent translation of the Mabinogion. Unlike Gantz, Davies uses familiar spellings of names, which I like; unlike Jones and Jones, she divides dialogue up into paragraphs--a conversation can be pretty confusing when it's printed as a single paragraph. Above all, though, Davies translates for oral performance--they're wonderful stories to read aloud. Occasionally, when the action is getting intense, Davies will switch to the present tense, as the Welsh originals do. It makes the...more
I have five different translations of the Mabinogi, and this is the first one where I was able to finish the whole book, so on that basis alone Davies has my undying affection. Of the others, Ford's has works that this edition lacks, so if I can ever find my copy of it, I will read those to supplement the Davies edition. My only real problem with this translation is that when the "exciting parts" happen (usually the climax of a story), the narrative switches to present tense. Davies cl...more
I love the stripped-down style of the original tales (well. Apart from the, what, five pages of all the knights that were at Arthur's court that day in one of the tales. I imagine that sounded lovely and lyrical when it was being performed aloud, but in written form it does drag a little) and I think Jeffrey Gantz has done a brilliant job in capturing a slightly archaic, but still perfectly readable cadence here. I also like the way names are left untranslated in the text, but are usually footno...more
This is the book we are currently reading in the Celtic Studies Discussion Group that I have been running for over a year now. I have already read it in other translations, and I really enjoy it. This translation seems to be one of the most true, although I have a newer one that is full of phenomenal interpretation and commentary. Still, the Ford version is one better for our group.
Corbin
rated it
·
review of another edition
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
myth nerds, Traci Harding fans, Arthurian legend buffs, maruts, misanthropes, mystics
Imagine King Arthur and his knights snuck up on the Tylweth Teg, clubbed them over the head, stole their coyote stories, and then changed all the endings.
In other words, this is a book about just how insufferably rude human beings can manage to be, just by upholding the ideals of their cultures of origin.
In other words, this is a book about just how insufferably rude human beings can manage to be, just by upholding the ideals of their cultures of origin.
A good translation of the Mabinogi, discarding the "thous" of the Jones translation. What becomes clear from this version is that the Welsh borrowed a fair bit from Irish sources, and they like to make fun of the English and Irish. Also, they have a good sense of humor.
A good read and interesting to see the merging of pre-Christian and post-Christian Britain. While these stories were written down in perhaps the 12th or 13th centuries A.D., they obviously date to a much earlier time. Despite the Christian references, paganism is very much still alive and well here. And, I believe these are also the first appearances of King Arthur that still are extant.
However, beware Jeffrey Gantz's introduction and notes. While he may be a fine translator, I am not entir...more
However, beware Jeffrey Gantz's introduction and notes. While he may be a fine translator, I am not entir...more
As much as I love medieval tales, it took me awhile to get into this. Some of it I loved (Rhiannon, Pryderi, and Taliesin were great), but some of the tales were disjointed and repetitive. I would like to read it again with a different translation to see if that makes a difference -- I think Lady Charlotte Guest's archaic style got in the way of the text, at least for me.
Still, there were a number of good stories in this collection, and I would recommend it to anyone with an intere...more
Still, there were a number of good stories in this collection, and I would recommend it to anyone with an intere...more
I can pretty easily see how these tales could get inside you and need to be re-read, savored again and again. I'm a little sad that I have to give my copy back to the library so soon. There is a lot to explore within these tales: history, the nature of (folk) stories, Arthur, the role of women, to name a few. I have a book, Women in Celtic Myth: Tales of Extraordinary Women from the Ancient Celtic Tradition, which retells the stories of the first Branch from the perspective of the women in it, a...more
From "Culhwch and Olwen"
How Culhwch got his name, which means swine or pig:
"Cilydd son of Celyddon Wledig desired a woman as well-born as himself. The woman he wanted was Goleuddydd daughter of Anlawdd Wledig. After his wedding feast with her, the country went to prayer to see whether they would have an heir. And through the country's prayers, they got a son. From the time she became pregnant she went mad and avoided civilized places. When her time came her senses r...more
How Culhwch got his name, which means swine or pig:
"Cilydd son of Celyddon Wledig desired a woman as well-born as himself. The woman he wanted was Goleuddydd daughter of Anlawdd Wledig. After his wedding feast with her, the country went to prayer to see whether they would have an heir. And through the country's prayers, they got a son. From the time she became pregnant she went mad and avoided civilized places. When her time came her senses r...more
We own a few different translations of this, I think. I'm going to note down here exactly which ones we have for my own reference.
We have a translation by Sioned Davies:
The Mabinogion
We have two versions of Gwyn Jones translations:
The Mabinogion:
The Mabinogion
(And when I find the others I'll add those details too).
We have a translation by Sioned Davies:
The Mabinogion
We have two versions of Gwyn Jones translations:
The Mabinogion:
The Mabinogion
(And when I find the others I'll add those details too).
I'd heard of the Mabinogion, but just assumed it was just a Welsh version of Chaucer, and at £2 in a second hand bookshop it seemed a decent gamble.
Having read it, I now seem to have accidentally read three quarters of the key medieval texts about King Arthur. This isn't necessarily a terrible thing as all three have been quite enjoyable, but I'm not sure what I'm going to do with my new-found knowledge about corrupt folios, Red Books, White Books and the movement of the legends fro...more
Having read it, I now seem to have accidentally read three quarters of the key medieval texts about King Arthur. This isn't necessarily a terrible thing as all three have been quite enjoyable, but I'm not sure what I'm going to do with my new-found knowledge about corrupt folios, Red Books, White Books and the movement of the legends fro...more
This is a group of 12 Welsh legends that feature King Arthur along with other kings. They are stories passed down orally and have mnemonic devices imbedded in them to aide in the telling so they sometimes sound odd to our modern ears. There is so much here that appears in current day literature. There are magical creatures and wells and rocks and carpets, shape shifting, giants, fierce warriors, fair maidens, unbelievably delicious food, and chesslike games, etc. everything that appears in mo...more
The Welsh tales in The Mabinogion have been preserved in two manuscripts; the White Book of Rhydderch and the Red Book of Hergest. Set down around 1325 AD, the stories are transcriptions of originally orally composed tales. The tales themselves draw from Celtic myth, history and Arthurian legend. They derive their name from the first four tales which are called the Four Branches of the Mabinogi. These four can be considered a clear group of connected tales, just as the last three are grouped as ...more
I honestly tried really hard to like this. I wanted to like it and expected to like it, but it just didn't happen. I feel really bad about the two stars because this collection of old Welsh stories has a lot of historical significance. I think I read in the intro that it contains the first recorded Arthurian tales (or something of that nature), and it is supposed to be a cool example of older Celtic mythology adapted into mostly-Christianized, partly-Frenchified court romances and adventures....more
Wales, meskipun merupakan bagian dari United Kingdom yang di Indonesia jamak disebut ‘Inggris’ (meski sebutan itu kurang sesuai), sebenarnya berbeda dan harus dibedakan dari Inggris (England). Bangsa Wales telah menghuni daratan Britania sebelum suku-suku bangsa lain berdatangan dari Eropa daratan dan ikut menjadi penghuni pulau tersebut. Uniknya, meskipun bahasa Wales tergolong rumpun Indo-Eropa bersama sejumlah bahasa lain seperti Sanskrit, Yunani, dan Inggris (sepupu dekatnya), ternyata berda...more
How does a person even presume to review a book that has survived 700 years, containing stories that survived close to their current form without anyone writing them down for a further 300 years?
I originally picked up the book because Lloyd Alexander's Chronicles of Prydain is based on Welsh myth, Mabinogion is _the_ collection of Welsh myth, and is even acknowledged by the author as one of his sources. Who would want to read some of the proto-stories that gave us the Black Cauldr...more
I originally picked up the book because Lloyd Alexander's Chronicles of Prydain is based on Welsh myth, Mabinogion is _the_ collection of Welsh myth, and is even acknowledged by the author as one of his sources. Who would want to read some of the proto-stories that gave us the Black Cauldr...more
I didn't do my normal thing of looking for appropriate reading materials before going on holiday — I mean, I'd already read How Green Was My Valley and Under Milk Wood, so there didn't seem to be much point in looking for anything else.*
But when I was running out of reading matter and went to the bookshop in St David's, I was half-looking for something Welsh and settled on the Mabinogion. I knew the name but nothing else about it; as it turns out, it's not one work at all; it's a sel...more
But when I was running out of reading matter and went to the bookshop in St David's, I was half-looking for something Welsh and settled on the Mabinogion. I knew the name but nothing else about it; as it turns out, it's not one work at all; it's a sel...more
This is a collection of old Welsh myths, mostly translated from medieval texts. It is harder reading than most of the fare I read, since there is very little explanation of the world-view that surrounds the stories. The authors prefaces to each of the tales are immensely helpful.
There are a few stories in here that are really interesting, like the story of Pwyll, who saved a faeire (sidhe) king at his request by impersonating him. It's one of only a few mythological stories that I...more
There are a few stories in here that are really interesting, like the story of Pwyll, who saved a faeire (sidhe) king at his request by impersonating him. It's one of only a few mythological stories that I...more
http://nhw.livejournal.com/877227.html[return][return]The collection of Welsh classic legends. The stories are not gems of perfection - internal inconsistencies and unresolved plot elements abound - but I found myself nonetheless carried along by most of them. Oddly enough the one that grabbed me most was Peredur, the story that later became that of Perceval or Parsifal, with his peculiar series of deeply symbolic adventures.[return][return]The Penguin explanatory apparatus was a bit annoying. A...more
So THIS is where Lloyd Alexander's Taran stories come from...you know, The Black Cauldron. The characters and plots are his own, but the culture, myths, importance of pigs, and names with lots of /gw/ and /ll/ sounds are based in ancient Wales. Specifically this group of 12 early Welsh tales, known collectively as The Mabinogion.
These stories are arranged from those that are very old to those slightly newer. Most were probably handed down by bards in an oral fashion for gener...more
These stories are arranged from those that are very old to those slightly newer. Most were probably handed down by bards in an oral fashion for gener...more
I'm giving the Mabinogion five stars because it is so much itself. These old tales are not for everyone and the language comes down to us a bit stilted, but I love the repetition and pageantry. It's dreamlike: evil giants, strange beasts, knights so powerful they kill a thousand men in a day. I love phrases like "the loudest thing anyone ever heard" and "the hoary-haired man."
It's old-fashioned. It's put-downable. And there's nothing else like it.
It's old-fashioned. It's put-downable. And there's nothing else like it.
Good translation and interesting stories full of adventure, suspense and romance to keep your attention. However, the endings come out of nowhere and occur extremely abruptly without any detail at all leaving the reader to ask, "What? That's it? --- It's over? Just like that?"
Out of the 11 stories, I really only enjoyed the last one completely from beginning to end.
So, good beginnings, good middle, awful endings.
Out of the 11 stories, I really only enjoyed the last one completely from beginning to end.
So, good beginnings, good middle, awful endings.
These tales would be best re told by some mystic druidic type with beard, robe and sickle sat around a fire. The oral tradition was not commited to print for a reason and the techniques used by the ancient story tellers do not come over very well in print. Nevertheless, an interesting insight into the medieval mind, if a little hard for the C21st mind to read.
The Mabinogion is made up of four Branches; the majority of my rating is for the First Branch.
The subsequent branches are entertaining, and the book as a whole is one I would recommend as fun fairy tales. The first branch, however, was by far my favorite. The character of Rhiannon (in the First Branch only) is one of my favorite characters of all time.
The subsequent branches are entertaining, and the book as a whole is one I would recommend as fun fairy tales. The first branch, however, was by far my favorite. The character of Rhiannon (in the First Branch only) is one of my favorite characters of all time.
(Sixth book/seventh text in the readathon.)
It's been a long time since I read this in its entirety, if I ever did. I picked it up since I seemed to be on a role with Arthurian stuff, and was surprised to find how many of the stories do have some Arthurian aspect. I was under the impression it was only one or two.
I like the Joneses translation, although the 'thou'ing gets a little irritating and hard to read at times -- perhaps mostly once it's 8am and you haven't slept that n...more
It's been a long time since I read this in its entirety, if I ever did. I picked it up since I seemed to be on a role with Arthurian stuff, and was surprised to find how many of the stories do have some Arthurian aspect. I was under the impression it was only one or two.
I like the Joneses translation, although the 'thou'ing gets a little irritating and hard to read at times -- perhaps mostly once it's 8am and you haven't slept that n...more
The stories here are mostly pretty good. Reading about Math building a gallows out of forks and thread for a pregnant mouse: awesome.
But there are some issues.
The translation has a lot of problems with unclear dialogue. It's no fun to have to reread a conversation multiple times just to keep track of who said what and what it all means. That's especially tricky given how archaic the sound of this translation is, despite it intending to be more modern and clear.
...more
But there are some issues.
The translation has a lot of problems with unclear dialogue. It's no fun to have to reread a conversation multiple times just to keep track of who said what and what it all means. That's especially tricky given how archaic the sound of this translation is, despite it intending to be more modern and clear.
...more
This is a collection of Welsh tales that I re-read from time to time for the sheer unadulterated pleasure of the literary experience contained within this work. the earlier stories provide a glimpse of the mores and weltanschauung of pre-Roman British culture.
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
