The Red Book of Hergest is one of the main sources of the cycle of Welsh legends known as the Mabinogion, four "branches" of interrelated heroic tales that reflect earlier British and possibly Celtic history and mythology. (The White Book of Rhydderch, from around 1300 - 1325, contains some of what is found in the Red Book of Hergest, but the manuscript is fragmented.) It also contains numerous poems of a historical or geographical nature-about the fall of Troy, the herbal physicians of Myddfai, the counties of Wales and regions of Britain, etc.-as well as poems attributed to Llywarch Hen, and other heroic sagas such as the Heledd Cycle.
"The Mabinogion" was a title first used by Lady Charlotte Guest in her 1849 translation of eleven tales from the Red Book of Hergest, some of which appear to be of later origin and resemble chivalric romances and others which are considered to from a much earlier time period. The word "mabinogi" itself is usually translated to mean a tale of boyhood, the word "mab" meaning "son" in Welsh. The later tales--The Tale of the Lady of the Fountain; The Story of Peredur, son of Efrawc; The Story of Geraint, son of Erbin; and The Dream of Macsen Wledig-are Arthurian in character, bearing similarities to British and French medieval chivalric tales.
The earlier ones-including the Pedair Cainc (Four Branches) y Mabinogi-hardly mention Arthur at all. These are The Tale of Pwyll, Prince of Dyfed; The Tale of Branwen, daughter of Llyr; The Tale of Manawyddan, the son of Llyr; The Tale of Math, son of Mathonwy; The Contention of Lludd and Llefelys; The Story of Kilhwch and Olwen; and The Dream of Rhonabwy. The first four of these form the Mabinogi proper. A nice overview of the characters from the four tales is provided on missgien.net:
Most of the principal characters in the "Four Branches" - the only stories which are referred to as Mabinogi - come from two distinct clans of gods. Bran, Branwen and Manawyddan are the children of Llyr, the sea god and mythical king of the early Britons, who later found another manifestation as Shakespeare's King Lear. Gwydion, Arianrod and Llew Llaw Gyffes are children of Dôn - Welsh equivalents of the Irish Tuatha dá Danann. Llew is Lugh Lamfada, the master of all arts, who destroys the titanic Balor of the evil eye - Leader of the Fomori. Manawyddan is more familiar as Mannamán Mac Lir, who drives his chariot across the wave tops to his home on the Ilse of Man.
 |
Go To Page: 1 2
