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Aengus Arawn Badb Brigid Cailleach Ceridwen Cernunnos Cu Chulainn Dagda Danu Gwydion Herne the Hunter Lugh Medb Morrigan Neit Nuada Taliesin Taranis
Chalchiuhtlicue Coatlicue Huitzilopochtli Mictlantecuhtli Mixcoatl Ometeotl Quetzalcoatl Tezcatlipoca Tlaloc Tonatiuh Xipe Totec Xochiquetzal Xolotl
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Caishen Cangjie Dragon King Eight Immortals Erlang Shen Fuxi Guanyin Hou Yi Huxian Jade Emperor King Yama Leizi Lu-ban Mazu Nezha Nuwa Pangu Shennong Sun Wukong Xiwangmu Yue Lao Zhong Kui
Norse Classical Celtic Arthurian
Literature Stories Names
Aphrodite Apollo Ares Artemis Athena Atlas Coeus Crius Cronus Demeter Dionysus Gaia Hades Hephaestus Hera Hermes Hestia Hyperion Iapetus Mnemosyne Oceanus Phobos Phoebe Poseidon Prometheus Rhea Tethys Themis Uranus Zeus
Bacchus Ceres Diana Juno Jupiter Mars Mercury Minerva Neptune Pluto Venus Vesta Vulcan
Amun Anubis Aten Atum Babi Bastet Bes Geb Hapi hathor heqet Horus Isis Khepri Khnum Khonsu Maat Nephthys Nut Osiris Ptah Ra Seshat Seth Shu Sobek Thoth
Alfheim Baldur Freya Freyr Frigg Heimdallr Helheim Idun Jotunheim Loki Nerthus Njord Odin Thor Tyr
Aengus Arawn Badb Brigid Cailleach Ceridwen Cernunnos Cu Chulainn Dagda Danu Gwydion Herne the Hunter Lugh Medb Morrigan Neit Nuada Taliesin Taranis
Chalchiuhtlicue Coatlicue Huitzilopochtli Mictlantecuhtli Mixcoatl Ometeotl Quetzalcoatl Tezcatlipoca Tlaloc Tonatiuh Xipe Totec Xochiquetzal Xolotl
Amaterasu Ame no Uzume Benzaiten Bishamonten Daikokuten Ebisu Fujin Fukurokuju Inari Izanagi Kagutsuchi Raijin Susanoo Tsukuyomi
Caishen Cangjie Dragon King Eight Immortals Erlang Shen Fuxi Guanyin Hou Yi Huxian Jade Emperor King Yama Leizi Lu-ban Mazu Nezha Nuwa Pangu Shennong Sun Wukong Xiwangmu Yue Lao Zhong Kui
Norse Classical Celtic Arthurian
Literature Stories Names
  1. Celtic Mythology
    Otherworld Warrior Society Celtic Cycles Facts & Figures Genealogy Bibliography About Celtic Myths
  2. Celtic Cycles
    Book of Invasions Ulaid Cycle Fenian Cycle Conversions Mabinogion Armorican Connections Fabulous Voyages
  3. Mabinogion

Mabinogion

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 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 belong to the Four Branches of the Mabinogi ("Pedair Cainc y Mabinogi"). The next four (or five, if including Taliesin) were the Independent tales, in two tales of which Arthur appeared on the scene. The last three tales fall 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 he only played a 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 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.

  • Four Branches of Mabinogi

  • Three Welsh Romances

  • Five Independent Tales

Four Branches of Mabinogi

The Four Branches of the Mabinogi (Pedair Cainc y Mabinogi) were four Welsh tales of the Mabinogion proper. These tales were told in sequence.

What is interesting is that Pryderi, the son of Pwyll and Rhiannon, appears in all four tales, from his birth in the first tale to his death in the last of the Branches. Yet, he was never the main character in any of the tales.

The first and third tale centered on the kingdom of Dyved ruled by Pwyll and Pryderi, in the south in Wales, while the second tale was set in Britain (England, ruled by Bran) and Ireland. The last tale was concentrated around Gwynedd, the northern kingdom of Wales, ruled by Math the brother of Don.

Pwyll Lord of Dyved

Pwyll Lord of Dyved

Branwen Daughter of Llyr

Branwen Daughter of Llyr

Manawyddan Son of Llyr

Manawyddan Son of Llyr

Math Son of Mathonwy

Math Son of Mathonwy

Three Welsh Romances

Lady of the Fountain

Lady of the Fountain

Gereint and Enid

Gereint and Enid

Peredur

Peredur

Five Independent Tales

The Dream of Maxen

The Dream of Maxen

Lludd and Llevelys

Lludd and Llevelys

Culhwch and Olwen

Culhwch and Olwen

The Dream of Rhonabwy

The Dream of Rhonabwy

Taliesin

Taliesin

Related pages

  • Welsh Deities

  • Arthurian legends

Welsh Romances

The last three tales in the Mabinogion were Welsh romances, known as Tair Rhamant, similar to those written by the French poet Chretien de Troyes, who flourished in the second half of the twelfth century.

The Mabinogion's Gereint Son of Erbin or Geraint and Enid bears striking resemble to Chretien's Erec and Enide. The Lady (or Countess) of the Fountain paralleled with that of Chretien's Knight of the Lion (Yvain).

The link between Peredur and Conte du Graal (or Perceval) was similar but has less in common than the other tales. Instead of Peredur having seen the grail at his uncle's castle (like in Perceval), he saw a severed head on a platter!

In fact, the three romances were most definitely written after Chretien de Troyes and were influenced by the French writer. These three romances showed that they were also influenced by courtly manners and knighthood. The heroes were undoubtedly knights, which were absent from the other tales.

I have omitted the last three tales in the Mabinogion for two reasons.

These tales were more entwined with the Arthurian legend and the similarities between the French and Welsh versions give me some justification of not wasting any more time spent on them.

The second reason why I preferred the French version was because Chretien added more details and life to the characters and scenes than the Welsh versions. The Welsh romances were less refined than Chretien's romances.

So I have the French versions of these romances that can be found in the Arthurian Legends.

Below are the three links from the Arthurian romances:

  • Geraint and Enid (See Erec and Enide)

  • The Lady of the Fountain (See Yvain and the Lady of the Fountain)

  • Peredur Son of Evrawg (See Perceval's Tradition for a brief summary of Peredur)

If you are interested the Welsh version of the family tree of Arthur, see the House of Arthur and Culhwch.

Jimmy Joe Timeless Myths

By Jimmy Joe

Celtic Cycles:

  • • Book of Invasions
  • • Ulaid Cycle
  • • Fenian Cycle
  • • Conversions
  • • Mabinogion
  • • Armorican Connections
  • • Fabulous Voyages
Branwen Daughter of Llyr

Branwen Daughter of Llyr

Branwen Daughter of Llyr was the second Branch of the Mabinogi. The story tells how the war began between Wales and Ireland. The tale actually centred on Branwen's brother Bran and her husband Mallolwch, the king of Ireland. Seeds of Discord War A...

May 13th, 2000 • Jimmy Joe
Bibliography

Bibliography

Texts Other Texts References Texts The following books are translations that I have read. If you are interested in reading this literature, then I would highly recommend that you read these books. These books are the main sources of information fo...

September 27th, 2000 • Jimmy Joe
Houses of Dôn and Llyr

Houses of Dôn and Llyr

The family tree below displays two important families in Welsh mythology: the Children of Llyr and the Children of Don. There were conflicts between the two houses during the reigns of Math in the north and Pryderi in the south of Wales. The House...

January 20th, 2001 • Jimmy Joe
Pryderi

Pryderi

Pryderi was the son of Pwyll , the lord of Dyved, and of Rhiannon . Pryderi was the only character to appear in all four tales of the Mabinogi . In the tale of Pwyll , Pryderi was abducted when he was only an infant. In the story of Branwen , he w...

May 13th, 2000 • Jimmy Joe
Pwyll Lord of Dyved

Pwyll Lord of Dyved

Pwyll Lord of Dyved was the first of the Branches of the Mabinogion. The tale recounts his adventure in the Otherworld Annwvyn, how he wooed his wife Rhiannon and the unfair punishment of Rhiannon over the mysterious disappearance of their son. Pw...

May 13th, 2000 • Jimmy Joe
The Dream of Rhonabwy

The Dream of Rhonabwy

Like Culhwch and Olwen, the Dream of Rhonabwy was an independent tale of Arthur which had no influence from outside of Wales. Madawg, the son of Maredudd, ruled Powys, a northern kingdom in Wales. His brother Iorwerth was distressed and envied his...

May 13th, 2000 • Jimmy Joe
Welsh Deities

Welsh Deities

The gods and goddesses in Welsh myths were like the Irish deities, living in Wales, England and Scotland. They inhabited and ruled over the land with mortals. These Welsh deities were powerful rulers of the isle of Britain, establishing mighty dyn...

May 13th, 2000 • Jimmy Joe
Gwydion

Gwydion

Gwydion: Magician and Trickster Gwydion fab Dôn, or son of Dôn, was a magician and a trickster in Welsh folklore . One could say he was like a god for all his powers, and he could be compared to Hermes in Roman mythology, always full of trickery. ...

April 2nd, 2002 • Timeless Myths
Taliesin

Taliesin

Taliesin is a name that appeared frequently in Welsh myth and legend, as a master bard. Yet Taliesin could also possibly be a historical figure who lived in the sixth century AD, as mentioned by Nennius, a 9th century historian. Here, you will fin...

May 13th, 2000 • Jimmy Joe
Math Son of Mathonwy

Math Son of Mathonwy

Math Son of Mathonwy was the last Branch of the Mabinogi. Much of the tale centred on Math's nephew Gwydyon . Gwydyon first helped his brother Gilvaethwy seduce a maiden, and later helped Lleu, his nephew, to overcome successive curses by Lleu's o...

May 13th, 2000 • Jimmy Joe

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