Mabinogion

A collection of ancient Welsh legends translated into English by Lady Charlotte Guest (1812-1895) and published 1838-49. The title is the plural form of the Welsh maginogi, originally indicating stories of a hero's childhood, but is here used in the wider sense of "hero tale." The stories in this collection are from various manuscript sources, originally part of the oral tradition of professional minstrels known as cyvarwyddon.

In this collection, the section entitled the Four Branches of the Mabinogi derives from a manuscript ca. 1060 C.E. , dealing with pre-Christian myths that have affinities with traditional Irish folklore. Kilhwch and Olwen is from a manuscript ca. 1100 C.E. and is an early Arthurian romance. The Dream of Rhonabwy is another Arthurian story, related to the French recension of Didot Perceval. The Lady of the Fountain, Geraint, and Peredur are also Arthurian, ca. 1200 C.E. , colored by Breton and French culture, although Celtic in origin. The Dream of Maxen, dating from the twelfth century, is a literary work rather than folk tale, the plot resembling the Irish Dream of Oengus. Taliesin dates from a sixteenth-century manuscript; it concerns a famous bard of the sixth century and has affinities with Irish legends.

In addition to the translation by Lady Charlotte Guest, there is also a later translation by Gwyn Jones and Thomas Jones (1949).