The Mabinogion
by Jeffrey Gantz
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Read in January, 1987
My dad had a copy of this book. I read it very early on into my obsession with Celtic myth and legend. I think I was 10 or 11, but I'd already heard all the stories in bedtime story form and I gobbled The Mabinogion up with a spoon. I've read it a gazillion times since, even once in college for a Medieval Celtic Lit class. If you love Celtic myth, this book is for you. Just bear in mind that it's Celtic myth-y to the core -- so be prepared for some interesting literary idiosyncrasies. ...more
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Read in March, 2008
I first read a story from this collection of 12 stories in Middle Welsh class (yeah, in Middle Welsh...what an awesome language). I didn't know that there was much about King Arthur, though after the first four stories most were about him and his knights. Some of the stories were strange and weird, but all of them had either good stories, other-worldly feels, or both. I really enjoyed this book, and suggest it to anyone with an interest in myth, knights or Arthur.
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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.
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I loved this one... mostly because these are some of the earliest known stories of King Arthur. They aren't exactly what you would expect if you've only ready T.H. White's Once and Future King. The pagan influences are much stronger here and the stories reflect the oddness of the cultural moment when Christianity had not yet won out over the pagen beliefs.
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Read in September, 2007
recommends it for:
lovers of magic and strange fairy-tales
I read this book for my thesis research, although sadly it did not yield the kind of evidence I was looking for so I'll have to look for new sources elsewhere. On its own, though, it's a pretty magical read if you are looking for a taste of early Welsh mythology.
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An excellent translation for the lay reader. Those who find epic or medieval literature hard slogging might be better off reading Evangeline Walton's excellent tetralogy of novels based closely on the Mabinogi's four branches.
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Old stories well told. They were scribbled down by monks when bards still had worth and a poem could break a man. Some of the oldest indigenous British tales. Magic, scary big pigs, jaggy spears, slippy riverbanks.
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Read in October, 2003
I read this because it was Welsh and I'm Welsh, at first. But it's fascinating to read if you have any interest in myths and legends.
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Read in October, 2007
A great edition of the cornerstone of Welsh myth, with a fair amount of interesting introductory information.
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"Jess..hold the bear" The presentation we did on this book tried to kill us. :)
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