Wales and the Medieval Mind ................................ . ....... 2
Manuscript Context: The White Book of Rhydderch ................................ ...... .4
The Mabinogion and its reception in the Modern Age . .............. .. .11
The structure of this book ..... . . ......... 18
Megalithic Britain . .. .. .............. ... .25
Into the Iron Age .... ............ ...32
Late Iron Age Britain ............... .. ....33
Roman and Sub-Roman Britain .. ............... .....35
The Early Medieval Brythonic World 350 AD 850 AD ................ .. ....38
Rhodri Mawr and the Welsh Royal Tribe ...................41
Hywel Dda ..... ..............42
Gruffydd ap Llywelyn ................43
Bleddyn ap Cynfyn, Gruffydd ap Cynan and the Battle of Mynydd Carn .....................44
The Normans and the Marcher Lordships ..................45
The Capture of Gruffydd ap Cynan and the Welsh Resistance ....................47
The Rise and Fall of the House of Mathrafal ...................48
The later career of Gruffydd ap Cynan; Welsh Independence from 1136 ....................49
The King and the Royal Tribe ...............52
The Noble Castes: Breyr, Uchelwyr and Bonheddwyr .................54
Fosterage, Clientship, Honour-Price and other Celtic social institutions ......................55
The Unfree Population ..................57
Gerald of Wales ...............57
The Descriptio ............59
The Bardic Schools and the Celtic Church ................61
Cyfarwyddyd and Tribal History ..............66
The Triads of the Island of Britain .................71
The prose literature of the cyfarwyddiaid .................75
The Four Branches and the Three Romances ................79
The Four Branches of the Mabinogi and the poetics of Narrative Interlace .....................84
Court Bard: Eulogy and the Typological Horizon ...................88
The School of Taliesin ..................91
POPULAR MAGICAL BELIEF IN MEDIEVAL WALES
The Anthropology of Magical Belief ................103
The Four Branches and the Magical World View ................109
Magical Belief in Medieval Wales: An Overview .................114
The Demon-Haunted World ... ...........114
Shape-Shifting in Late-Twelfth Century Ireland and Wales ..................115
Animism and the Cult of Sovereignty .. .................120
Unclean Spirits ..............122
The Faery Otherworld ...............124
North and South: 1137 1176 .............128
The Angevin Hegemony and the Medieval Celtic World ... .................132
North and South 1164 1200 ...............137
THE FOUR BRANCHES AND 12TH CENTURY WALES
Contextual Overview ............140
The Four Branches of the Mabinogi in context ...............143
INTRODUCTION
Dyfed and the House of Hywel Dda .................147
The Myth of the Indigenous Underworld ...................152
Celtic Psychogeography ...................154
The Roman and the Post-Roman South . ....................159
The Riches of Annwfn .................163
The Head of Annwfn ...............164
The Otherworld Conception Myth ...................167
Ami et Amile: the Two Brothers tale. ...................170
Pwyll Pendeuic Dyfed and the Temptation Game ................173
Notes on translation ..... ................177
PWYLL I: TEXT... . .. .................178
THE HORSE GODDESS AND THE FAERIE BRIDE
Rhiannon, Nest and Elen of Dyfed ....................187
The Sovereignty Goddess .................189
The Cult of the Horse Goddess ..................... 191
The Faerie Wife ................194
PWYLL II: TEXT ..................198
MAPONUS, MATRONA AND THE MOTIF OF INFANT DISAPPEARANCE
The Mabinogi and the Universal Hero Myth ......................210
The Myth of Infant Exile and Return ......................211
Pryderi, Mabon and the origins of the Mabinogi tradition .....................213
Modron The Great Mother .................217
PWYLL III: TEXT .................220
LITERARY ASPECTS OF THE FIRST BRANCHThe First Branch as a Magical Narrative ................. ...229
The Chase of the White Stag .................230
The Otherworld Sojourn ...................233
The Combat at the Ford ................235
Pwyll Penn Annwfn: The Joining of the Kingdoms ........................236
The Coming of Rhiannon ...................238
The Wedding Feast ...................241
The Badger in the Bag episode ..................243
The Marriage of Pwyll and Rhiannon ......................246
The Disappearance of Pryderi and the Calumniation of Rhiannon .........................247
The Penance of Rhiannon and the Restoration of Pryderi .........................247
The Early Life of Pryderi and the Unification of the South . .......................251
The Tribal Politics of the First Branch .....................253
The Perfidy of the Southern Uchelwyr ...................256
Pwyll: The Wise Fool ....................258
CONCLUSION: INTO THE DEEP ..................260
The Assembly of Brβn and Island Otherworld .....................263
THE BELGIC LEGACY
The Sons of Cunedda and the Old North ....................267
Beli Mawr and the Belgae ..................272
The Belgae and Late Iron Britain ....................274
The Keltoi and the Sack of Delphi .....................276
The Great Diaspora ...................278
The British Gog and Magog ...................280
Bennius/Benne Brit and the Irish Sea Connection ........................282
THE TRAGIC PEACEWEAVER TALE
The Vφlsunga Saga and other Germanic Analogues ...................285
The Gold of Toulouse ....................289
Branwen and the House of Llŷr .....................290
BRANWEN I: TEXT .................293
THE ISLAND OTHERWORLD AND THE LIVING HEAD
An Irish Sea Odyssey ....................310
Manannαn mac Lir .....................311
Immram Brain ..................313
The Otherworld Island ...................318
The Island Otherworld in the Second Branch ......................321
The Living Head ....................324
BRANWEN II: TEXT ...............332
LITERARY ASPECTS OF THE SECOND BRANCH
The Second Branch as a Magical Narrative ..................336
The Mutilation of the Horses ....................338
The Cauldron of Rebirth and the Iron House Incident ....................340
The Beating of Branwen ... ................341
The Assembly of Bran ..................342
The Human Bridge ...................344
The Great House ..................345
The Men in Bags ..................346
The Destruction of Gwern ................348
The Destruction of the Cauldron of Rebirth ...................350
The Beheading of Brβn .................353
The Death of Branwen ..................354
The Singing of the Birds of Rhiannon .....................355
The Assembly of the Wondrous Head ...................356
The Fortunate Concealment ..................358
THE DYNASTIC AND SOCIAL AGENDA OF THE SECOND BRANCH
Introduction ..................361
The Killing of Gruffydd ap Llywelyn ......................361
The Tribal Politics of the Second Branch ...................364
CONCLUSION: A TRAGEDY WOVEN BY MANY HANDS ..................369
Chapter 4: THE MABINOGI OF MANAWYDAN THE WASTELAND MYTH AND THE ENCHANTMENT OF DYFED
INTRODUCTIONExile and Deliverance . ...................371
DYFED AND THE IRISH SEA PROVINCEThe Irish Sea Province ..................374
The Irish Diaspora c.250-450 AD ................375
The Expulsion of the Dιisi .....................381
THE MAGICAL PRISONER AND THE EMPTY LANDGweir, Pryderi and The Magical Prisoner ..................383
Cath Maige Mucrama and The Wasteland Myth .................386
The Empty Land: The Third Branch and the Sub-Roman Experience .....................390
MANAWYDAN: TEXT ...............395
LITERARY ASPECTS OF THE MABINOGI OF MANAWYDAN
The Third Branch as a Magical Narrative .................411
The Marriage of Manawydan and Rhiannon .................412
The Enchantment of Dyfed ..................414
The Golden Shoemaker ..............416
The Magical Caer ...............417
The Bushel of Wheat ..............419
The Mice in the Corn ..................420
The Disenchantment of Dyfed .................422
The Badger-in-the-Bag Revisited ................428
THE DYNASTIC AND SOCIAL AGENDA OF THE THIRD BRANCH
Manawydan, the Dιisi and the Isle of Man ...................430
Medieval Anti-Types of the Third Branch Protagonists .....................432
Manawydan as a moral exemplum?. ...............440
CONCLUSION THE POETICS OF EXILE ...............444
Gwynedd and the House of Dτn ..................447
THE PROTO-CELTIC SUBSTRATE
Lebor Gabαla The Book of Invasions ................452
Indo-Europeans Origins: The Battle Axe People ...................455
Megalithic Britain and the Bell-Beaker People ..................457
The Tuatha Dι Danann ................460
THE KING AND HIS PROPHESIED DEATH
The Battle of Moytura .................465
The Icelandic Tradition: Baldur, Loki, Oπinn ....................468
The King and His Prophesied Death ................477
Lleu, Math and Gronw: the Prophesied death in the Fourth Branch ...................478
MATH I: TEXT................................................................................................................481
THE BIRTH AND EARLY LIFE OF LLEU LLAW GYFFES
Lugh, Cϊ Chulainn and the Birth of the Hero .....................491
The Oak-Lightning-Mistletoe Cult ....................494
Lugus: The Gaulish Mercury .....................498
Lugh/Lleu in the Medieval Tradition ......................502
Lleu in the Fourth Branch .................506
MATH II: TEXT...............................................................................................................508
THE BIRDMANS TALE
The Werewolfs Tale and The Faerie Wife ....................514
The Madness of the Bird Man . ..................516
Little Flower .................521
The Owl Goddess . ................523
Lleu, Blodeuedd and the Love Triangle in the Celtic Tradition ........................527
MATH III: TEXT..............................................................................................................530
LITERARY ASPECTS OF THE FOURTH BRANCH
The Fourth Branch as a Magical Tale .. ..................539
The Pig Wars and the Rape of Goewin ..................540
The Punishment of the Sons of Dτn ...................545
The Birth of Lleu ...................547
The Growth of Lleu and the Vengeance of Aranrhod ......................551
The Adultery of Blodeuwedd .....................556
The Death and Epiphany of Lleu ....................560
Lleu: Invalid, Initiate or Redeemer? ....................566
The Vengeance of Lleu ..................568
Lleu and The Kingship of Gwynedd ...................572
THE DYNASTIC AND SOCIAL AGENDA OF THE FOURTH BRANCH
The House of Aberffraw: 1170-1197 .....................575
The Prophesied Death and the Question of the Ethling .........................579
The Decline of Matrilineal Kingship .....................581
CONCLUSION A COMPLEX TALE .....................590
Chapter 6: 1216 AND AFTER THE LEGACY OF THE MABINOGI
INTRODUCTION
The Literature of Subversion .............594
THE AUDIENCE-COMMUNITY OF THE MABINOGI
The Mabinogi in the court of Llywelyn Fawr ......................597
The Re-Constitution of Wales 1216 and after .....................604
THE CULTURAL LEGACY OF THE MABINOGI
The Mabinogi and Arthurian Romance ...................609
From Romance to Gothic Horror ...................614
The Mabinogi in Twentieth Century Literature ........................620
Celtic Neopaganism .. ....................627
CONCLUSION THE SPROUTING BRANCH ....................634
APPENDIX
A Diverse Landscape ....................639
Druidic Syncretism and the Four Branches .....................640
Andedion The Underworld Gods ...................644
*Rigantona: A Case Study .....................647
Tuatha Dι Danaan: the supernatural community ......................648
Medieval Bardic Paganism? The Evidence of the Mabinogi ......................653