Early Welsh Manuscripts, Part II

The tales are truly beautiful and magical, and have inspired numerous modern novels, particularly in the fantasy genre. Various modern translations can be found both in print and online (see Sources, below, for websites). The poetry is also quite lovely, sometimes even haiku-like in its clear imagery and its triad structure: "XI. Mountain snow--the hart is leaping;/ The wind whistles over the high white wall./ It is natural the calm should be graceful." (Eiry Mynyd/Mountain Snow poems). For more detailed information about the Red Book of Hergest and the Mabinogi, please see the sources below:

The Four Ancient Books of Wales by William F. Skene. (The Internet Sacred Text Archive)
Read the text of his 1868 book here, as well as translations of many of the poems in the four books.

An Introduction to Welsh Literature by Peter Williams. (Go Britannia! Wales)
A fascinating and detailed look at Welsh literature from the early heroic poets to the 20th century. There are specific chapters on the Heroic Sagas, the Arthurian legends, and the Mabinogi.

The Red Book of Hergest. (Jesus College, Oxford)
The entire manuscript in digitized form, plus some introductory notes.

The Red Book of Hergest. (Tŷ'r Beirdd - House of Bards)
A translation compiled by Mary Jones of Paley Library, Temple University. Includes text of some of the poems in original Welsh. She also has online translations of the other three Ancient Books of Wales, a page about the Mabinogi in particular, and a fount of other interesting Celtic information.

The Mabinogion.
A more recent translation, plus a bibliographical essay, by medievalist Will Parker. Includes a list of helpful links.

The Mabinogion on missgien.net
Lady Charlotte Guest's translation of the four branches, plus a helpful essay with background information.

Davies, John. A History of Wales. London: Penguin Books, 1990.
The definitive book on Welsh history, available either in Welsh or in English. Check out the early sections about life in Wales at the time of the court poets.
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