The oldest (prose) stories on record in Europe.
Before the Mabinogi c. 1100 stories were told in long poems to help the memory of the storyteller with rhyme and rhythm. The Mabinogi was a prose revolution. This is the ancestor of all our prose stories today, novels, tales, drama, gaming. Plus the stories are exciting, moving, fun.
The FIRST STEPS page has links to videos, recording, recommended versions to read in English (mostly FREE).
Often known as Celtic myths or legends the Mabinogi is superb literature in its own right. It tells of kings, queens, magicians, destiny and war, children, love and tragedy. These are mature narratives where women and men grow, change, struggle with their fate. This is a work of genius which can fascinate scholars for their lifetimes, yet also delight young children.
You can read the STORIES ~ look up things in an INDEX ~ a historical TIMELINE ~ Welsh words GLOSSARY~ read about the SCHOLARS ~ search the big MABINOGI BIBLIOGRAPHY~ or DOWNLOAD key articles & theses in the Library.
The Mabinogi is also known as
the Four Branches of the Mabinogi
and Pedeir Keinc y Mabinogi (PKM).
MABINOGION? Many people have heard the title ‘Mabinogion.’
It’s not the same thing as the Mabinogi.
The Mabinogion is a list of eleven or twelve prose tales from Welsh mediaeval manuscripts.
The Mabinogion contains the Mabinogi as four of its eleven tales. The shorter word ‘Mabinogi’ is contained in the longer word Mabinogion. The Mabinogi also gets published or performed on its own.
‘Mabinogion‘, the name for the list of eleven tales, is actually an old, old mistake made in the mediaeval manuscripts, a single ‘typo.’ Its ending -ion is a Welsh plural so it became established as a title for the eleven stories.
Recently John Bollard has challenged the idea that this Mabinogion collection makes sense. He says the eleven stories are too different in type and dates, their apparent connection merely their survival in two large manuscripts.
Edited 18/04/25 from the original Oct, 2014 page
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