The Four Branches of the Mabinogi or Welsh: 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 Welsh: 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. They appeal to a wide range of readers, from young children to the most sophisticated adult. The tales are popular today in book format, as storytelling or theatre performances; they appear in recordings and on film, and continue to inspire many reinterpretations in artwork and modern fiction.
The Welsh: Mabinogi are known as the Four Branches of the Welsh: Mabinogi, or Welsh: 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 Welsh: 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.[1] The world displayed within the Welsh: 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, Welsh: hud (magic), and romance, combine in a unique synergy. Possible authors who have been proposed for the Four Branches include Welsh: italic=no|[[Rhigyfarch]] and Welsh: italic=no|[[Gwenllian ferch Gruffydd]].[2]
Each Branch contains several tale episodes in a sequence, and each Branch is titled with the name of a leading protagonist. These titles are Welsh: Pwyll, Branwen, Manawydan and Welsh: Math, but this is a modern custom; the Branches are not titled in the mediaeval manuscripts. Only one character appears in all four Branches, Welsh: italic=no|[[Pryderi]], though he is never dominant or central to any of the Branches.
See main article: Pwyll Pendefig Dyfed. Welsh: Pwyll Pendefeg Dyfed, "Welsh: italic=no|Pwyll Prince of Welsh: italic=no|[[Kingdom of Dyfed|Dyfed]]", hunting on his own land, meets the shining Welsh: [[Cŵn Annwn]] or "Hounds of Welsh: italic=no|Annwfn", and takes another man's kill, a stag, for himself. Welsh: italic=no|[[Arawn]], the king of Welsh: italic=no|Annwfn, is greatly offended. As recompense, Welsh: italic=no|Pwyll switches bodies with Welsh: italic=no|Arawn and dwells in Welsh: italic=no|Annwfn to vanquish Welsh: italic=no|Arawn's adversary. Welsh: italic=no|Pwyll chastely shares the queen's bed for a year. Welsh: italic=no|Pwyll defeats Welsh: italic=no|Arawn's enemy Welsh: italic=no|[[Hafgan]], and is then rewarded with an alliance between his land of Welsh: italic=no|Dyfed, and Welsh: italic=no|Annwfn. Pwyll then returns home to Welsh: italic=no|Dyfed where he finds it has been well ruled by Welsh: italic=no|Arawn in the past year.
Next, Welsh: italic=no|Pwyll encounters Welsh: italic=no|[[Rhiannon]], a beautiful and powerful maiden on a shining magical horse. They are strangely unreachable by anyone, for as they attempt to approach, Welsh: italic=no|Rhiannon and her horse get further away. Finally, they ask her to stop in which she complies and it is revealed that Welsh: italic=no|Rhiannon has chosen Welsh: italic=no|Pwyll as her husband, which he welcomes. On Welsh: italic=no|Rhiannon and Welsh: italic=no|Pwyll's wedding day in the court of Welsh: italic=no|Hyfaidd Hen, [[Gwawl fab Clud|Gwawl]] appears in disguise and tricks Welsh: italic=no|Pwyll into giving him the entire wedding feast and Welsh: italic=no|Rhiannon. Rhiannon then guides Welsh: italic=no|Pwyll through a cunning strategy using her magic bag which can never be filled, to extricate her from her betrothal to the princely Welsh: italic=no|Gwawl. Gwawl is trapped in the bag and beaten by Welsh: italic=no|Pwyll's men until he agrees to Welsh: italic=no|Rhiannon's terms, including foregoing vengeance.
Welsh: italic=no|Rhiannon eventually bears Welsh: italic=no|Pwyll a son and heir, but the child disappears the night he is born. Welsh: italic=no|Rhiannon's maids, in fear of their lives, accuse her of killing and eating her own baby. Welsh: italic=no|Rhiannon 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 Welsh: italic=no|Teyrnon Twrf Lliant. He and his wife adopt the boy who grows heroically apace, and adores horses. They called him Welsh: italic=no|Gwri Wallt Efryn (Welsh: italic=no|Gwri 'Golden Hair', Welsh: Gwallt Euraid). Welsh: italic=no|Teyrnon sees the boy's resemblance to Welsh: italic=no|Pwyll, so he restores the boy to Welsh: italic=no|Dyfed for a happy ending. Welsh: italic=no|Rhiannon is vindicated as is Welsh: italic=no|Pwyll's loyalty to her. Their son is renamed Welsh: italic=no|Pryderi "Loss", as is custom from his mother's first words to him: Welsh: Pryderi puns on anxiety and labour. In due course, Welsh: italic=no|Pryderi inherits the rule of Welsh: italic=no|Dyfed.
See main article: Branwen ferch Llŷr.
In the second branch, Welsh: italic=no|[[Branwen]], sister of Brân the Blessed, king of Britain, is requested by and given in marriage to Welsh: italic=no|[[Matholwch]], king of Ireland. Welsh: italic=no|Brân's half-brother Welsh: italic=no|Efnysien, angered that no one consulted him, insults Welsh: italic=no|Matholwch by mutilating all his valuable horses so horribly they become useless. Welsh: italic=no|Brân the Blessed gives Welsh: italic=no|Matholwch compensation in the form of new horses and treasure, then added a magical cauldron (Welsh: Pair Dadeni) 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, Welsh: italic=no|Matholwch and Welsh: italic=no|Branwen have a son, Welsh: italic=no|[[Gwern]]. The Irish nobles continue to be hostile because of what Welsh: italic=no|Efnysien did. Welsh: italic=no|Matholwch allows them to sway him, and casts Welsh: italic=no|Branwen away to serf in the kitchens, struck on the face every day by a low-caste butcher. Welsh: italic=no|Branwen trains a starling to take a message to Welsh: italic=no|Brân across the Irish Sea. He musters his host and crosses the sea to war on Welsh: italic=no|Matholwch. Brân is so huge he wades across with his ships beside him. Welsh: italic=no|Branwen persuades the Irish to sue for peace by building a colossal building to house Welsh: italic=no|Brân, which he has never had before. The Irish hide two hundred warriors in the house, hanging in bags on its pillars. Welsh: italic=no|Efnysien 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, Welsh: italic=no|Efnysien deliberately seeks to create discord. He throws his infant nephew Welsh: italic=no|Gwern on the fire and kills him. Fighting breaks out and the Irish use the Cauldron to revive their dead. Welsh: italic=no|Efnysien 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 Welsh: italic=no|Branwen. One is Welsh: italic=no|[[Manawydan]], Branwen's other brother, and his good friend Welsh: italic=no|Pryderi. Brân, 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 Welsh: italic=no|[[Harlech]] in Welsh: italic=no|[[Gwynedd]], then on the isle of Welsh: italic=no|[[Grassholm|Gwales]] in Welsh: italic=no|Dyfed. But on arriving back in Britain, Welsh: italic=no|Branwen dies of grief for the many who have died.
Welsh: Brân means 'raven'; Welsh: Branwen means 'white raven'; and Welsh: italic=no|Efnysien means 'trouble, strife'.
See main article: Manawydan fab Llŷr.
Welsh: italic=no|[[Pryderi]] of Welsh: italic=no|Dyfed returns from the Irish War as one of its few survivors, to reunite with his mother Welsh: italic=no|Rhiannon, and his wife Welsh: italic=no|[[Cigfa]]. He brings with him his beloved war comrade, Welsh: italic=no|[[Manawydan]], the heir to the kingship of all Britain. But Welsh: italic=no|Manawydan's rights as heir to Britain have been usurped by Welsh: italic=no|[[Caswallon]], and he does not want more war. Welsh: italic=no|Pryderi establishes him as the lord of Welsh: italic=no|Dyfed, including marriage to Welsh: italic=no|Rhiannon, a union which both partners welcome. The four of them, Welsh: italic=no|Pryderi, Cigfa, Rhiannon and her new husband Welsh: italic=no|Manawydan, become very good friends indeed, and travel the land of Welsh: italic=no|Dyfed admiring how bountiful it is.
Together they sit the Welsh: italic=no|Gorsedd Arberth, as Welsh: italic=no|Pwyll 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. Welsh: italic=no|Pryderi dislikes the lower class way of life, and Welsh: italic=no|Manawydan stops him from fighting their enemies. Instead Welsh: italic=no|Manawydan insists on moving away. After three attempts like this, they return to Welsh: italic=no|Dyfed.
Once more living as hunters Welsh: italic=no|Pryderi and Welsh: italic=no|Manawydan follow a shining white boar to a strange castle. Welsh: italic=no|Pryderi, against Welsh: italic=no|Manawydan's advice, follows his hounds inside to become trapped there by a golden bowl. Welsh: italic=no|Manawydan waits, then reports to Welsh: italic=no|Rhiannon who rebukes his failure to rescue his friend. But when she follows her son she too becomes trapped. Alone with Welsh: italic=no|Cigfa, Manawydan reassures her he will respect her virtue. After another attempt in England as shoemakers, the pair return to Welsh: italic=no|Dyfed, and Welsh: italic=no|Manawydan farms three fields of wheat next to Welsh: italic=no|Gorsedd Arberth. 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 Welsh: italic=no|Cigfa'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 Welsh: italic=no|Llwyd, friend of the wronged Welsh: italic=no|Gwawl, the mouse is Welsh: italic=no|Llwyd's shapeshiften wife, and the devastation of Welsh: italic=no|Dyfed is to avenge Welsh: italic=no|Gwawl. Manawydan bargains to release of Welsh: italic=no|Pryderi and Welsh: italic=no|Rhiannon, and the lifting of the curse on Welsh: italic=no|Dyfed.
See main article: Math fab Mathonwy (branch). Welsh: italic=no|[[Gwynedd]] in North Wales is ruled by the magician king Welsh: italic=no|[[Math fab Mathonwy]], whose feet must be held by a virgin at all times except while he is at war. Welsh: italic=no|Math's nephew Welsh: italic=no|[[Gilfaethwy]] is infatuated with Welsh: italic=no|[[Goewin]], the royal maiden foot-holder, so Welsh: italic=no|Gilfaethwy's brother Welsh: italic=no|[[Gwydion]] plots to aid him. He deceives Welsh: italic=no|Pryderi of Welsh: italic=no|Dyfed with magical sham gifts of horses and dogs, in exchange for Welsh: italic=no|Pryderi's valuable swine, a gift from Welsh: italic=no|Annwfn. Dyfed makes war in revenge, so Welsh: italic=no|Math leaves Welsh: italic=no|Goewin without his protection. Welsh: italic=no|Gwydion and Welsh: italic=no|Gilfaethwy rape her, and Welsh: italic=no|Gwydion kills Welsh: italic=no|Pryderi in single combat. Welsh: italic=no|Math marries Welsh: italic=no|Goewin in compensation for her rape. He punishes the two brothers by shapeshifting them into animal pairs who must mate and bear young; first deer, then boars, then wolves. The sons they bear become Welsh: italic=no|Math's foster sons, and after three years the brothers are reconciled with Welsh: italic=no|Math.
Welsh: italic=no|Gwydion suggests his sister Welsh: italic=no|[[Arianrhod]] as the new footholder. Welsh: italic=no|Math magically tests her virginity requiring her to step over his wand. She immediately gives birth to a son, Welsh: italic=no|[[Dylan ail Don]], who takes to the sea. She also drops a scrap of life which Welsh: italic=no|Gwydion scoops up and incubates in a chest by his bed. Welsh: italic=no|Arianrhod is deeply shamed and angered so she utterly rejects the boy. She swears a doom upon him that he cannot have a name, nor warrior arms, unless she gives them to him. Welsh: italic=no|Gwydion tricks her into naming the boy Welsh: italic=no|[[Lleu Llaw Gyffes]] (Bright Skillful Hand) by speaking to him, not knowing who he is as he is shapeshifted. More shapeshifting fakes a military attack so Welsh: italic=no|Arianrhod gives them arms - dressing and arming Welsh: italic=no|Lleu herself.
Welsh: italic=no|Arianrhod's third curse is Welsh: italic=no|Lleu may not marry a human woman. Welsh: italic=no|Gwydion and Welsh: italic=no|Math construct a beautiful wife for him from oak blossom, broom flowers, and meadowsweet, naming her Welsh: italic=no|[[Blodeuwedd]] (Flower Face). But Welsh: italic=no|Blodeuwedd and Welsh: italic=no|[[Gronw Pebr]] fall deeply in love. Welsh: italic=no|Gronw tells her to find out the secret of Welsh: italic=no|Lleu's protected life, which she does in the trust of her marriage bed. She begs Welsh: italic=no|Lleu to explain so she can know how to protect him. The method is complicated, taking a year of almost impossible effort but Welsh: italic=no|Gronw completes it and Welsh: italic=no|Lleu falls to his spear, transforms into an eagle and departs. Welsh: italic=no|Blodeuwedd and Welsh: italic=no|Gronw then live together.
Welsh: italic=no|Gwydion pursues a quest to find Welsh: italic=no|Lleu, who far away in eagle form perches up a tree, dying. Welsh: italic=no|Gwydion tracks a sow which he finds eating maggots falling from Welsh: italic=no|Lleu's rotting body. Welsh: italic=no|Gwydion sings a magical Welsh: [[englyn]] (poem) gradually bringing Welsh: italic=no|Lleu back to humanity. Welsh: italic=no|Gronw offers to compensate Welsh: italic=no|Lleu; but Welsh: italic=no|Lleu insists on returning the blow as it was struck against him. Welsh: italic=no|Gronw is cowardly and attempts to evade it using a stone shield. Welsh: italic=no|Lleu kills Welsh: italic=no|Gronw with his spear, which pierces him through the stone. Welsh: italic=no|Gwydion punishes Welsh: italic=no|Blodeuwedd by transforming her into an owl, a pariah among birds.
Some of the locations mentioned in the text have been identified in reality. Many are associated with Arberth and the surrounding district. Some have not been identified and may be methodological or in need of further archeological and historical discoveries (ex. Caer Dathyl).[3]
For the Welsh text in Middle Welsh spelling see Williams, Ifor. (1930, 1951). Pedeir Keinc y Mabinogi. Allan o Lyfr Gwyn Rhydderch. CUP. Classic text for modern students, and Welsh speakers, based on all the surviving MSS. This was the first modern use of the title Pedair Keinc y Mabinogi.
For the Welsh text in modernised spelling see J. M. Edwards, Mabinogion (o Lyfr Coch Hergest): Pwyll, Pendefig Dyfed, Branwen Ferch Llyr, Manawyddan fab Llyr, Math fab Mathonwy (Wrecsam: Hughes A'i Fab, 1921)
The Four Branches are edited individually in Middle Welsh with English glossary and notes as follows:
The three mediaeval manuscripts which have survived into modern times, were scribed in the 13th and 14th centuries, later than the compilation period of the work in the 11th century. The text in all three does not greatly differ, but it is thought that they are not copies of each other, but of lost earlier originals. The oldest is only a fragment; Peniarth 6, c. 1225; containing parts of the Second and Third Branches. The other two are named by the colour of their covers: LLyfr Gwyn ("White Book") and Llyfr Coch ("Red Book").
The oldest complete version is the "White Book of Rhydderch" (Llyfr Gwyn Rhydderch), one of the Peniarth Manuscripts. It was scribed c. 1350 by five different writers, probably commissioned by Ieuan ab Rhydderch ab Ieuan Llwyd near Ceredigion. It was then copied and studied by various Welsh scholars. About 1658, it was acquired by the antiquary Robert Vaughan and preserved in his famous library of Hengwrt near Dolgellau, Gwynedd. In 1859 it was passed to the Peniarth library by William Watkin Edward Wynne. Finally, John Williams presented it to the National Library of Wales in 1904, where it can be viewed today in two volumes.
The second complete version which has survived is the "Red Book of Hergest" (Llyfr Coch Hergest). The scribing was c. 1382–1410, in a time of unrest culminating in Owain Glyndŵr's uprising. The scribe has been identified as Hywel Fychan fab Hywel Goch of Buellt, who worked for Hopcyn ap Tomas ab Einion (fl. 1337–1408) near Swansea. The Hopcyn library changed hands due to war and politics several times, with owners including the Vaughans of Hergest. The MS. wandered on, sometimes slightly dubiously via 'borrowing'. Edward Lhuyd is one of many who copied it to study. In 1701 it was donated to Jesus College Oxford where it remains today. Here it was copied by the young Ioan Tegid when a student at University of Oxford c. 1815-17 for Charles Bosanquet. Later Tegid, as a senior bard and scholar, assisted Lady Charlotte Guest in her bilingual publication series, The Mabinogion, which brought the tales to the modern world. Her volume containing the Mabinogi was published in 1845, and her work is still popular today.
Welsh Icons United a 2014 exhibition at the National Library of Wales, guested the Llyfr Coch, the Red Book, as part of its display; thus bringing the two main Mabinogi MSS. under one roof for the first time. (12 October – 15 March 2014)