Mabinogion

Mabinogion, collection of Welsh prose tales, composed between the second half of the 11th century and the end of the 13th century, but based on an older oral tradition. Most of the 11 anonymous tales incorporate Welsh mythology and folklore and deal with the Arthurian legend. These stories are preserved in two manuscripts, the White Book of Rhydderch (c. 1300-1325), and the Red Book of Hergest (c. 1375-1425); the first English translation was made from the latter in 1838-1839 by Lady Charlotte Elizabeth Guest. The meaning of the name Mabinogion, which she adopted as the title, is the subject of debate. It is derived from the group of four related stories that begins the collection, “The Four Branches of the Mabinogi”; of 11th-century composition, they concern the life of Prince Gwri, or Pryderi. This cycle is followed by four independent tales also based on native Welsh lore. The collection concludes with a group of three Arthurian romances, showing Norman-French influence and bearing some relation to the work of the 12th-century French poet Chrétien de Troyes, although originally of Welsh origin.