MABINOGION

collection of 11 medieval Welsh tales based on mythology, folklore, and heroic legends. The tales provide interesting examples of the transmission of Celtic, Norman, and French traditions in early romance. The name Mabinogion derives from a scribal error and is an unjustified but convenient term for these anonymous tales. The finest of the tales are the four related stories known as The Four Branches of the Mabinogi, or The Four Branches (dating, in their present form, from the late 11th century), the only tales in which the word Mabinogi (meaning Matters Concerning [the Family of?] Maponos) appears. Of great interest to Welsh studies are The Four Independent Native Tales, which show minimal continental influence and include Kulhwch and Olwen (q.v.), Lludd and Llefelys, The Dream of Macsen, and The Dream of Rhonabwy. The tales Owein and Luned (or The Lady of the Fountain), Geraint and Enid, and Peredur Son of Efrawg parallel the French romances Yvain, Erec, and Perceval of Chrtien de Troyes. The Welsh text was edited by Ifor Williams, as Pedeir Keinc y Mabinogi, in 1930 (revised reprint 1959); an English translation, The Mabinogion, was published in 1949 (rev. ed. 1974); and a new translation was included in The Mabinogi and Other Medieval Welsh Tales (1977) by Patrick K. Ford.