Four Branches of the Mabinogi
The Four Branches of the Mabinogi or Pedair Cainc Y Mabinogi are the earliest prose stories in the literature of Britain. Originally written in Wales in Middle Welsh, but widely available in translations, the Mabinogi is generally agreed to be a single work in four parts, or "branches." The interrelated tales can be read as mythology, political themes, romances, or magical fantasies. The tales are popular today in book format, as storytelling or theatre performances; they appear in recordings and on film, and continue to inspire reinterpretations in artwork and modern fiction, such as the New Stories of the Mabinogion series and The Assembly of the Severed Head by Hugh Lupton.
Overview
The Mabinogi are known as the Four Branches of the Mabinogi, or Pedair Cainc y Mabinogi in Welsh. The tales were compiled from oral tradition in the 11th century. They survived in private family libraries via medieval manuscripts, of which two main versions and some fragments continue to survive today. Early modern scholarship of the Mabinogi saw the tales as a garbled Welsh mythology which prompted attempts to salvage or reconstruct them. Since the 1970s the tales have become recognised as a complex secular literature, though rooted in and containing elements of Welsh Mythology, with powerfully explored characters, political, ethical and gendered themes, as well as imaginative fantasies. The style of writing is admired for its deceptive simplicity and controlled wordpower, as well as intricate doublets where mirrorings have been compared to Celtic knotwork. The world displayed within the Mabinogi extends across Wales, to Ireland, and into England. It presents a legendary Britain as a united land under a king, yet with powerful separate princedoms, where native Welsh law, hud, and romance, combine in a unique synergy. Possible authors who have been proposed for the Four Branches include italic=no and italic=no.Each Branch contains several tale episodes in a sequence, and each Branch is titled with the name of a leading protagonist. These titles are Pwyll, Branwen, Manawydan and Math, but this is a modern custom; the Branches are not titled in the mediaeval manuscripts. Only one character appears in all four Branches, italic=no, though he is never dominant or central to any of the Branches.
- Pwyll Prince of Dyfed tells of the heroic and magical sojourn of italic=no in Annwn, his shapeshifting, chastity and a duel, which all establish a mighty alliance. The formidable italic=no courts him, and he helps her win her freedom to marry him. The strange abduction at birth of their baby son follows, with his rescue, fostering and restoration by the good lord italic=no of the Kingdom of Gwent. The child is named italic=no.
- Branwen Daughter of Llŷr follows italic=no's marriage to the King of Ireland, who abuses her due to insult by her half brother, italic=no. A tragically genocidal war develops fomented by italic=no, in which a Cauldron which resurrects the dead figures, and the giant king Bran's head survives his death in an enchanted idyll. italic=no is merely named as a war survivor, and italic=no dies, heartbroken.
- Manawydan Son of Llŷr brother of italic=no, heir to the throne of Britain, becomes italic=no's good friend during the war. italic=no arranges his friend's marriage to italic=no. The land of italic=no is devastated. Journeys in England setting up craft businesses follow. An enchanted trap removes italic=no and italic=no becomes a farmer. He cannily negotiates their release, as well as the restoration of the land, by confronting the villain behind it all.
- Math Son of Mathonwy is a dark sequence of deception and treachery: war with italic=no, the death of italic=no, the double rape of a virgin girl, and the rejection of an unwanted hero son by proud italic=no her magician brother is the architect of all these destinies. He adds an artificially incubated pregnancy, and a synthetic woman. She, italic=no, creates a treacherous love triangle, murder in a peculiar manner. italic=no makes a shamanic journey of redemption.
The Branches
First branch: , Prince of
Pwyll Pendefeg Dyfed, "italic=no Prince of italic=no", hunting on his own land, meets the shining Cŵn Annwn or "Hounds of italic=no", and takes another man's kill, a stag, for himself. italic=no, the king of italic=no, is greatly offended. As recompense, italic=no switches bodies with italic=no and dwells in italic=no to vanquish italic=no's adversary. italic=no chastely shares the queen's bed for a year. italic=no defeats italic=no's enemy italic=no, and is then rewarded with an alliance between his land of italic=no, and italic=no then returns home to italic=no where he finds it has been well ruled by italic=no in the past year.Next, italic=no encounters italic=no, a beautiful and powerful maiden on a shining magical horse. They are strangely unreachable by anyone, for as they attempt to approach, italic=no and her horse get further away. Finally, they ask her to stop in which she complies and it is revealed that italic=no has chosen italic=no as her husband, which he welcomes. On italic=no and italic=no's wedding day in the court of italic=no appears in disguise and tricks italic=no into giving him the entire wedding feast and italic=no then guides italic=no through a cunning strategy using her magic bag which can never be filled, to extricate her from her betrothal to the princely italic=no is trapped in the bag and beaten by italic=no's men until he agrees to italic=no's terms, including foregoing vengeance.
italic=no eventually bears italic=no a son and heir, but the child disappears the night he is born. italic=no's maids, in fear of their lives, accuse her of killing and eating her own baby. italic=no negotiates a penalty where she must sit at the castle gate every day for seven years telling her terrible tale to strangers and offer them a ride on her back. Meanwhile, the child is rescued from its monstrous abductor by italic=no. He and his wife adopt the boy who grows heroically apace, and adores horses. They called him italic=no. italic=no sees the boy's resemblance to italic=no, so he restores the boy to italic=no for a happy ending. italic=no is vindicated as is italic=no's loyalty to her. Their son is renamed italic=no "Loss", as is custom from his mother's first words to him: Pryderi puns on anxiety and labour. In due course, italic=no inherits the rule of italic=no.
Second Branch: , Daughter of
In the second branch, italic=no, sister of Brân the Blessed, king of Britain, is requested by and given in marriage to italic=no, king of Ireland. italic=no's half-brother italic=no, angered that no one consulted him, insults italic=no by mutilating all his valuable horses so horribly they become useless. italic=no the Blessed gives italic=no compensation in the form of new horses and treasure, then added a magical cauldron which can restore the dead to life, although the revived persons will always remain unable to speak. The legend of this cauldron, when the two kings compare its lore, is that it came from Ireland.In Ireland, italic=no and italic=no have a son, italic=no. The Irish nobles continue to be hostile because of what italic=no did. italic=no allows them to sway him, and casts italic=no away to serf in the kitchens, struck on the face every day by a low-caste butcher. italic=no trains a starling to take a message to italic=no across the Irish Sea. He musters his host and crosses the sea to war on italic=no is so huge he wades across with his ships beside him. italic=no persuades the Irish to sue for peace by building a colossal building to house italic=no, which he has never had before.
The Irish hide two hundred warriors in the house, hanging in bags on its pillars. italic=no shrewdly suspects treachery and disbelieves the Irish story these are bags of flour. He crushes the skull of each hidden warrior, singing after he does it. Later, at the feast, italic=no deliberately seeks to create discord. He throws his infant nephew italic=no on the fire and kills him. Fighting breaks out and the Irish use the Cauldron to revive their dead. italic=no hides among the corpses to get in the Cauldron, stretches and cracks it, dying as he does so.
The war had become a genocide. Five pregnant women survive to repopulate Ireland. Only Seven Survivors remained of the British host, besides italic=no. One is italic=no's other brother, and his good friend italic=no, mortally wounded by a poisoned spear, bids the survivors to cut off his head, and take it to bury at the White Tower in London. He prophesies his head will be their good companion and advise them, while they will sojourn for many years of idyllic feasting, first at italic=no in italic=no, then on the isle of italic=no in italic=no. But on arriving back in Britain, italic=no dies of grief for the many who have died.
Brân means 'raven'; Branwen means 'white raven'; and italic=no means 'trouble, strife'.
Third Branch: , son of
italic=no of italic=no returns from the Irish War as one of its few survivors, to reunite with his mother italic=no, and his wife italic=no. He brings with him his beloved war comrade, italic=no, the heir to the kingship of all Britain. But italic=no's rights as heir to Britain have been usurped by italic=no, and he does not want more war. italic=no establishes him as the lord of italic=no, including marriage to italic=no, a union which both partners welcome. The four of them, italic=no and her new husband italic=no, become very good friends indeed, and travel the land of italic=no admiring how bountiful it is.Together they sit the italic=no, as italic=no once did. A clap of thunder, a bright light, and magical mist descend. Afterwards the land is devastated of all other life except wild animals. The four live by hunting, but after two years they want more, so they travel to England. In three towns in turn they craft saddles, shields and shoes of such quality that the local craftsmen cannot compete, so their envy becomes dangerous. italic=no dislikes the lower class way of life, and italic=no stops him from fighting their enemies. Instead italic=no insists on moving away. After three attempts like this, they return to italic=no.
Once more living as hunters italic=no and italic=no follow a shining white boar to a strange castle. italic=no, against italic=no's advice, follows his hounds inside to become trapped there by a golden bowl. italic=no waits, then reports to italic=no who rebukes his failure to rescue his friend. But when she follows her son she too becomes trapped. Alone with italic=no reassures her he will respect her virtue. After another attempt in England as shoemakers, the pair return to italic=no, and italic=no farms three fields of wheat next to italic=no. But his first field's harvest is cut down by thieves, and his second. He sits vigil at night, and sees a horde of mice eating the ripe corn. He catches a slow, fat one. Against italic=no's protest he sets up a miniature gibbet to hang it as a thief.
A scholar, a priest and a bishop in turn offer him money if he will spare the mouse which he refuses. When asked what he wants for the mouse's life he first demands an explanation. The bishop tells him he is italic=no, friend of the wronged italic=no, the mouse is italic=no's shapeshiften wife, and the devastation of italic=no is to avenge italic=no bargains to release of italic=no and italic=no, and the lifting of the curse on italic=no.