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The Mabinogion (Penguin Classics) | 
 enlarge | Author: Anonymous
Creator: Jeffrey Gantz
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Category: Book
List Price: $12.00
Buy Used: $3.18
You Save: $8.82 (74%)
New (37) Used (43) from $3.18
Rating:  16 reviews
Sales Rank: 169209
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5 x 0.9
ISBN: 0140443223
Dewey Decimal Number: 891.6631
EAN: 9780140443226
ASIN: 0140443223
Publication Date: November 18, 1976
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Book is in acceptable condition. Paperback. Extensive wear on front and back covers. Bend in bottom edge of front and back covers. Book edges have slight curl. Pages have turned brown. Ready to ship.
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Product Description
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.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 11 more reviews...
 The Mabinogian May 29, 2008
0 out of 5 found this review helpful
Simply horrible!
I can't imagine this entertaining any one.
That said, I suppose it has a small niche out there, some where.
 Wonderful Classic May 8, 2008
It's The Mabinogian, you have to love it. It's really great for anyone, but especially good for anyone in Celtic Studies. Every Druid I have ever known had a copy too.
The Mabinogion March 28, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
An excellent collection of Welsh tales from the high Middle Ages. Like the contemporary Gaelic mythology it leaves one pondering the meanings of so many of the storys' details long after they finish reading it; I think the significance of so much of their content is lost on us modern readers, and probably even on the men who initially wrote them down in the 12-14th Centuries. Overall, this version of the Mabinogion is a worthwhile look into the Medieval Welsh imagination, and a good book for anyone interested in Arthurian mythology.
Great collection of early Arthuriana, but a somewhat stilted translation November 19, 2007
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Let me agree with a previous reviewer who commented on the change in translation style between the "Celtic" and "Arthurian" stories. It's quite pronounced and not commented on in the book. Still, this is a great collection of tales, perhaps a little unpolished.
 A good, readable translation of a mediocre collection February 14, 2006
2 out of 11 found this review helpful
I'm a fan of tradtional Germanic epics such as Beowulf and hte Saga of Burnt Njal, as well as a fan of other medieval literature, including Wolfram von Eschenbach's "Parzifal," which tells the same story as some of the "branches" (stories) of the Mabinogion. So I had high expectations for the Mabinogion.
Unfortunately, the book failed to live up to them. Out of the eleven mostly unrelated stories included in this volume, only a few really held my interest. In a work like this you expect an episodic, somewhat repetitive story, but the Mabinogion takes this to the extreme. A few of the stories are practically parodies of Arthurian romance; for example, "How Culhwch Won Olwen." In this story, the hero meets the heroine and is told that he must complete thirty-nine tasks to win her. The rest of the story consists of an account of the completion of these tasks, most of which don't rate more than about a sentence; plus a five-page list of all the knights of Arthur's court who helped him. Expanded to full length, this might be interesting, but as it stands it's about as exciting as reading Cliff's Notes. In addition, the Mabinogion's humor often falls flat, especially when compared with the Icelandic epics.
The Penguin Classics edition seems to be well-translated and well-annotated, but the book itself didn't hold my interest. Unless you're an Arthurian completist or a Welsh history buff, I'd give this one a miss.
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