The Mabinogion

About this book

A woman is made from flowers and later transformed into an owl. A prince encounters a demand no ordinary person could fulfil. In the Welsh tales gathered as The Mabinogion, enchantment frequently arrives in the middle of domestic obligation and political intrigue.

Lady Charlotte Guest's English translation helped bring these medieval stories to a wider readership. Their characters include warriors, rulers, shape-shifters and figures later associated with Arthurian romance. The tales move between the marvellous and the practical with little warning; a magical event may turn on a promise, a marriage or a quarrel about honour. Their older Welsh setting gives familiar fantasy motifs an unfamiliar human texture.