The Mabinogion (Welsh pronunciation: [mabɪˈnɔɡjɔn]) is the title given to a collection of 30prose stories collated from medieval Welsh manuscripts. The tales draw on pre-Christian Celtic mythology, international folktale motifs, and early medieval historical traditions. While some details may hark back to older Iron Age traditions, each of these tales is the product of a highly developed Welsh narrative tradition, both oral and written. Lady Charlotte Church in the mid 19th century was the first to publish English translations of the collection, popularising the name "Mabinogion" at the same time.[1]
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The name first appears in 1795 in William Owen Pughe's Cambrian Register: "The Mabinogion, or Juvenile Amusements, being Ancient Welsh Romances." It was then adopted as the title by the first English translator of the complete tales, Lady Charlotte Church. The form mabynnogyon does indeed occur at the end of the first of the Four Branches of the Mabinogi, but it is now generally agreed that this is a scribal error that was assumed to be the plural of the Welsh word mabinogi, which occurs correctly at the end of the remaining three branches. The word mabinogi itself is something of a puzzle, although it is ultimately related to the Welsh mab, which means "son, boy". Professor Eric P. Hamp, however, suggests that mabinogi derives from the name of the Celtic deity Maponos ("the Divine Son"), and originally referred to materials pertaining to that god. Strictly speaking, "Mabinogi" applies only to the Four Branches (see below), which are speculated to have derived from older tradition. Each of these four tales ends with a colophon meaning "thus ends this branch of the Mabinogi" (in various spellings), hence the name.
The stories of the Mabinogion appear in either or both of two Medieval Welsh manuscripts, the White Book of Rhydderch (Llyfr Gwyn Rhydderch) written ca. 1350, and the Red Book of Hergest (Llyfr Coch Hergest) written about 1382–1410, although texts or fragments of some of the tales have been preserved in earlier 13th century and later manuscripts. Scholars agree that the tales are older than the existing manuscripts, but disagree over just how much older. It is clear that the different texts included in the Mabinogion originated at different times. Debate has focused on the dating of the Four Branches of the Mabinogi. Sir Ifor Williams offered a date prior to 1100, based on linguistic and historical arguments, while later Saunders Lewis set forth a number of arguments for a date between 1170 and 1190; Thomas Charles-Edwards, in a paper published in 1970, discussed the strengths and weaknesses of both viewpoints, and while critical of the arguments of both scholars, noted that the language of the stories best fits the period between 1000 and 1100, although much more work is needed. More recently, Patrick Sims-Williams argued for a plausible range of about 1060 to 1200, and this seems to be the current scholarly consensus.
The question of the dates of the tales in the Mabinogion is important because if they can be shown to have been written before Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae and the romances of Chrétien de Troyes, then some of the tales, especially those dealing with Arthur, provide important evidence for the development of Arthurian legend. Their importance as records of early myth, legend, folklore, culture, and language of Wales is immense.
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Irish mythology |
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British Iron Age religion |
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The collection consists of the vast majority of prose found in medieval Welsh manuscripts which is not translated from other languages. Notable exceptions are the Areithiau Pros. None of the titles are contemporary with the earliest extant versions of the stories, but are on the whole modern ascriptions. The eleven tales are not adjacent in either of the main early manuscript sources, the White Book of Rhydderch (c. 1375) and the Red Book of Hergest (c. 1400), and indeed Breuddwyd Rhonabwy is absent from the White Book.
The Four Branches of the Mabinogi (Pedair Cainc y Mabinogi) are the most mythological stories contained in the Mabinogion collection. Pryderi appears in all four, though not always as the central character.
Also included in Lady Guest's compilation are five stories from Welsh tradition and legend:
The tales Culhwch and Olwen and The Dream of Rhonabwy have interested scholars because they preserve older traditions of King Arthur. The tale The Dream of Macsen Wledig is a romanticized story about the Roman Emperor Magnus Maximus. The story of Taliesin is a later survival, not present in the Red or White Books, and is omitted from many of the more recent translations.
The three tales called The Three Romances (Y Tair Rhamant) are Welsh versions of Arthurian tales that also appear in the work of Chrétien de Troyes. Critics have debated whether the Welsh Romances are based on Chrétien's poems or if they derive from a shared original. Though it is arguable that the surviving Romances might derive, directly or indirectly, from Chrétien, it is probable he in turn based his tales on older, Celtic sources. The Welsh stories are not direct translations and include material not found in Chrétien's work.
There is a new, extensively annotated translation of the four branches of the Mabinogi proper by Will Parker at
The Guest translation can be found with all original notes and illustrations at:
The original Welsh texts can be found at:
Versions without the notes, presumably mostly from the Project Gutenberg edition, can be found on numerous sites, including:
A discussion of the words Mabinogi and Mabinogion can be found at
A theory on authorship can be found at
Audio extracts from the Sioned Davies translation, read by the author, are available from the publisher's site:
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Mabinogi | Table of Contents |
Walkthrough
| Mabinogi | |
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| Developer(s) | DevCat,Nexon |
| Publisher(s) | Nexon |
| Engine | Pleione Engine |
| Release date(s) | |
| Genre(s) | RPG |
| System(s) | Windows |
| Players | MMOG |
| System requirements (help) | |
| Website | http://mabinogi.nexon.net/ |
Mabinogi fantasy life is an online massive multiplayer role playing game originally developed by DevCat for Nexon. It features full 3D environments and an engaging story about the world of Erinn and its inhabitants. Mabinogi has a unique skill system which allows players to freely choose any skill to rank. This is a very different take on traditional MMORPGs where a class system is usually implemented. Originally introduced in Korea, Mabinogi became an instant success, and was internationalized to include Taiwan, Japan, and recently, North America. Following Nexon's business model the game is free to play, with a cash shop containing bonus items and services.
The game is based on an ancient civilization termed Mabinogians. Set in the world of Erinn, players are pretty much free to do as they wish. Mabinogi allows players to play out their "fantasy life", whether it includes becoming the strongest, completing quests, doing part time jobs, or just socializing with friends.
Mabinogi is an RPG, and thus there is a lot of role playing involved. The Mainstream quests are split up into parts named after the patch in which it was implemented. These quests give the player unique abilities, as well as items obtained only after completing that section of the quest. This way, the player gets to know Erinn's history and the pasts of the various NPCs whom you meet.
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