The Mabinogion (Penguin Classics) [Mass Market Paperback]

Anonymous (Author), Jeffrey Gantz (Translator)

Book Description

Series: Penguin Classics | Publication Date: January 25, 2005

Drawing on myth, folklore and history, the stories of the "Mabinogion" passed from generations of storytellers before they were written down in the thirteenth century in the form we know. Set in dual realms of the forests and valleys of Wales and the shadowy otherworld, the tales are permeated by a dreamlike atmosphere. In "Math Son of Mathonwy" two brothers plot to carry off the virginal Goewin, while in "Manawydan Son of Llyr" a chieftain roams throughout Britain after a spell is cast over his land. And King Arthur's court provides the backdrop to tales such as "How Culhwch Won Olwen", in which a young man must complete many tasks before he can marry a giant's daughter.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, Welsh (translation)

About the Author

Jeffrey Gantz lives in Massachusetts, where he works as a newspaper editor and journalist. An expert in Celtic languages and literature, he has also translated Early Irish Myths and Sagas for Penguin Classics.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics (January 25, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140443223
• ISBN-13: 978-0140443226
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 4.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #234,389 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent translation of an under-read classic, July 8, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Mabinogion (Penguin Classics) (Mass Market Paperback)

Jeffrey Gantz's translation of The Mabinogion is not only the most readable to the modern man, unlike Guest, he doesn't delete passages thought "indelicate" by Victorian society. This is the best representation of these Welsh classics, and includes Gantz's own study of the mythology of these texts, a book in it's own right, as a prologue and at the beginning of each tale. A must for every library.

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Account of Welsh Celtic Mythology, August 6, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Mabinogion (Penguin Classics) (Mass Market Paperback)

The Mabinogion is an excellent collection of Welsh Celtic myths/legends. Certain tales are difficult to follow because of a large cast of characters and long list of events/deeds. Nevertheless, the Mabinogion portrays Celtic (Welsh) mythology well. There is an excellent summary of each tale, a guide to pronunciation of names and a map of the region. Together with the tales, these additions make this book exciting and easily accessible.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Modern words for classics from medieval Wales, August 30, 2005

By 

wiredweird "wiredweird" (Earth, or somewhere nearby) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Mabinogion (Penguin Classics) (Mass Market Paperback)

Gantz has created a modern, readable translation of these eleven Welsh classics. Although they come from the same oral tradition and were captured on paper around the same time (1200s to 1400s), they are rarely related to each other. Each story has its unique character, like page after page of people named in 'How Culwch won Owen'. 'The Dream of Rohanbwy' likewise seems to be a listing of colored arms and costumes so detailed that the writer say, "no one ... knows The Dream without a book because of the many colors."

Others of these tales are much more interesting for their relatioships to other parts of the mythos of the British isles. 'Peredur son of Evrawg' is variant of the Parsival story, with close parallels in many of its particulars. The Mabingion also retells some of the earliest known tales in the Arthurian canon. 'Gerient and Enid,' for example, is founded in the Arthur mythology. It's founded on the notions of knightly honor and chivalry, but with a primitive and harsh interpretation of the ethos.

There are other glimpses of early Celtic times, as well. One that struck me, in two different passages, was a telling of some great feast, where the doors were closed to all comers once the feasting began. All comers, that is, except a "king of a lawful dominion or a craftsman who brings his craft." Later in that story (Culwch), the bouncer isn't told to let the kings in, only the craftsmen. This is a vivid display of their high regard for skilled work, something that sounds strange to a modern ear. I think less of the modern ear for thinking so little of such skills.

Not all translations of the Mabinogion are created equal. Reading another translation, I foundered on obsolete, Elizabethan language injected to make the stories seem archaic. This one uses contemporary language, as bards in a living oral tradition would have done, to create a smooth and readable collection.

//wiredweird