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Transcribed from the 1849 edition text by David Price, email
ccx074@coventry.ac.uk

THE MABINOGION
TRANSLATED BY LADY CHARLOTTE GUEST

Contents:
Introduction
The Lady of the Fountain
Peredur the Son of Evrawc
Geraint the son of Erbin
Kilhwch and Olwen
The dream of Rhonabwy
Pwyll Prince of Dyved
Branwen the daughter of Llyr
Manawyddan the son of Llyr
Math the son of Mathonwy
The dream of Maxen Wledig
The story of Lludd and Llevelys
Taliesin

INTRODUCTION

Whilst engaged on the Translations contained in these volumes, and on
the Notes appended to the various Tales, I have found myself led
unavoidably into a much more extensive course of reading than I had
originally contemplated, and one which in great measure bears
directly upon the earlier Mediaeval Romance.

Before commencing these labours, I was aware, generally, that there
existed a connexion between the Welsh Mabinogion and the Romance of
the Continent; but as I advanced, I became better acquainted with the
closeness and extent of that connexion, its history, and the proofs
by which it is supported.

At the same time, indeed, I became aware, and still strongly feel,
that it is one thing to collect facts, and quite another to classify
and draw from them their legitimate conclusions; and though I am loth
that what has been collected with some pains, should be entirely
thrown away, it is unwillingly, and with diffidence, that I trespass
beyond the acknowledged province of a translator.

In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries there arose into general
notoriety in Europe, a body of "Romance," which in various forms
retained its popularity till the Reformation. In it the plot, the
incidents, the characters, were almost wholly those of Chivalry, that
bond which united the warriors of France, Spain, and Italy, with
those of pure Teutonic descent, and embraced more or less firmly all
the nations of Europe, excepting only the Slavonic races, not yet
risen to power, and the Celts, who had fallen from it. It is not
difficult to account for this latter omission. The Celts, driven
from the plains into the mountains and islands, preserved their
liberty, and hated their oppressors with fierce, and not causeless,
hatred. A proud and free people, isolated both in country and
language, were not likely to adopt customs which implied brotherhood
with their foes.

Such being the case, it is remarkable that when the chief romances
are examined, the name of many of the heroes and their scenes of
action are found to be Celtic, and those of persons and places famous
in the traditions of Wales and Brittany. Of this the romances of
Ywaine and Gawaine, Sir Perceval de Galles, Eric and Enide, Mort
d'Arthur, Sir Lancelot, Sir Tristan, the Graal, &c., may be cited as
examples. In some cases a tendency to triads, and other matters of
internal evidence, point in the same direction.

It may seem difficult to account for this. Although the ancient
dominion of the Celts over Europe is not without enduring evidence in
the names of the mountains and streams, the great features of a
country, yet the loss of their prior language by the great mass of
the Celtic nations in Southern Europe (if indeed their successors in
territory be at all of their blood), prevents us from clearly seeing,
and makes us wonder, how stories, originally embodied in the Celtic
dialects of Great Britain and France, could so influence the
literature of nations to whom the Celtic languages were utterly
unknown. Whence then came these internal marks, and these proper
names of persons and places, the features of a story usually of
earliest date and least likely to change?

These romances were found in England, France, Germany, Norway,
Sweden, and even Iceland, as early as the beginning of the thirteenth
and end of the twelfth century. The Germans, who propagated them
through the nations of the North, derived them certainly from France.
Robert Wace published his Anglo-Norman Romance of the Brut
d'Angleterre about 1155. Sir Tristan was written in French prose in
1170; and The Chevalier au Lion, Chevalier de l'Epee, and Sir
Lancelot du Lac, in metrical French, by Chrestien de Troyes, before
1200.

From these facts it is to be argued that the further back these
romances are traced, the more clearly does it appear that they spread
over the Continent from the North-west of France. The older
versions, it may be remarked, are far more simple than the later
corruptions. In them there is less allusion to the habits and usages
of Chivalry, and the Welsh names and elements stand out in stronger
relief. It is a great step to be able to trace the stocks of these
romances back to Wace, or to his country and age. For Wace's work
was not original. He himself, a native of Jersey, appears to have
derived much of it from the "Historia Britonum" of Gruffydd ab
Arthur, commonly known as "Geoffrey of Monmouth," born 1128, who
himself professes to have translated from a British original. It is,
however, very possible that Wace may have had access, like Geoffrey,
to independent sources of information.

To the claims set up on behalf of Wace and Geoffrey, to be regarded
as the channels by which the Cymric tales passed into the Continental
Romance, may be added those of a third almost contemporary author.
Layamon, a Saxon priest, dwelling, about 1200, upon the banks of the
upper Severn, acknowledges for the source of his British history, the
English Bede, the Latin Albin, and the French Wace. The last-named
however is by very much his chief, and, for Welsh matters, his only
avowed authority. His book, nevertheless, contains a number of names
and stories relating to Wales, of which no traces appear in Wace, or
indeed in Geoffrey, but which he was certainly in a very favourable
position to obtain for himself. Layamon, therefore, not only
confirms Geoffrey in some points, but it is clear, that, professing
to follow Wace, he had independent access to the great body of Welsh
literature then current. Sir F. Madden has put this matter very
clearly, in his recent edition of Layamon. The Abbe de la Rue, also,
was of opinion that Gaimar, an Anglo-Norman, in the reign of Stephen,
usually regarded as a translator of Geoffrey of Monmouth, had access
to a Welsh independent authority.

In addition to these, is to be mentioned the English version of Sir
Tristrem, which Sir Walter Scott considered to be derived from a
distinct Celtic source, and not, like the later Amadis, Palmerin, and
Lord Berners's Canon of Romance, imported into English literature by
translation from the French. For the Auntours of Arthur, recently
published by the Camden Society, their Editor, Mr. Robson, seems to
hint at a similar claim.

Here then are various known channels, by which portions of Welsh and
Armoric fiction crossed the Celtic border, and gave rise to the more
ornate, and widely-spread romance of the Age of Chivalry. It is not
improbable that there may have existed many others. It appears then
that a large portion of the stocks of Mediaeval Romance proceeded
from Wales. We have next to see in what condition they are still
found in that country.

That Wales possessed an ancient literature, containing various lyric
compositions, and certain triads, in which are arranged historical
facts or moral aphorisms, has been shown by Sharon Turner, who has
established the high antiquity of many of these compositions.

The more strictly Romantic Literature of Wales has been less
fortunate, though not less deserving of critical attention. Small
portions only of it have hitherto appeared in print, the remainder
being still hidden in the obscurity of ancient Manuscripts: of these
the chief is supposed to be the Red Book of Hergest, now in the
Library of Jesus College, Oxford, and of the fourteenth century.
This contains, besides poems, the prose romances known as Mabinogion.
The Black Book of Caermarthen, preserved at Hengwrt, and considered
not to be of later date than the twelfth century, is said to contain
poems only. {1}

The Mabinogion, however, though thus early recorded in the Welsh
tongue, are in their existing form by no means wholly Welsh. They
are of two tolerably distinct classes. Of these, the older contains
few allusions to Norman customs, manners, arts, arms, and luxuries.
The other, and less ancient, are full of such allusions, and of
ecclesiastical terms. Both classes, no doubt, are equally of Welsh
root, but the former are not more overlaid or corrupted, than might
have been expected, from the communication that so early took place
between the Normans and the Welsh; whereas the latter probably
migrated from Wales, and were brought back and re-translated after an
absence of centuries, with a load of Norman additions. Kilhwch and
Olwen, and the dream of Rhonabwy, may be cited as examples of the
older and purer class; the Lady of the Fountain, Peredur, and Geraint
ab Erbin, of the later, or decorated.

Besides these, indeed, there are a few tales, as Amlyn and Amic, Sir
Bevis of Hamtoun, the Seven Wise Masters, and the story of
Charlemagne, so obviously of foreign extraction, and of late
introduction into Wales, not presenting even a Welsh name, or
allusion, and of such very slender intrinsic merit, that although
comprised in the Llyvr Coch, they have not a shadow of claim to form
part of the Canon of Welsh Romance. Therefore, although I have
translated and examined them, I have given them no place in these
volumes.

There is one argument in favour of the high antiquity in Wales of
many of the Mabinogion, which deserves to be mentioned here. This
argument is founded on the topography of the country. It is found
that Saxon names of places are very frequently definitions of the
nature of the locality to which they are attached, as Clifton,
Deepden, Bridge-ford, Thorpe, Ham, Wick, and the like; whereas those
of Wales are more frequently commemorative of some event, real or
supposed, said to have happened on or near the spot, or bearing
allusion to some person renowned in the story of the country or
district. Such are "Llyn y Morwynion," the Lake of the Maidens;
"Rhyd y Bedd," the Ford of the Grave; "Bryn Cyfergyr," the Hill of
Assault; and so on. But as these names could not have preceded the
events to which they refer, the events themselves must be not
unfrequently as old as the early settlement in the country. And as
some of these events and fictions are the subjects of, and are
explained by, existing Welsh legends, it follows that the legends
must be, in some shape or other, of very remote antiquity. It will
be observed that this argument supports REMOTE antiquity only for
such legends as are connected with the greater topographical
features, as mountains, lakes, rivers, seas, which must have been
named at an early period in the inhabitation of the country by man.
But there exist, also, legends connected with the lesser features, as
pools, hills, detached rocks, caves, fords, and the like, places not
necessarily named by the earlier settlers, but the names of which
are, nevertheless, probably very old, since the words of which they
are composed are in many cases not retained in the colloquial tongue,
in which they must once have been included, and are in some instances
lost from the language altogether, so much so as to be only partially
explicable even by scholars. The argument applies likewise, in their
degree, to camps, barrows, and other artificial earth-works.

Conclusions thus drawn, when established, rest upon a very firm
basis. They depend upon the number and appositeness of the facts,
and it would be very interesting to pursue this branch of evidence in
detail. In following up this idea, the names to be sought for might
thus be classed:-

I. Names of the great features, involving proper names and actions.

Cadair Idris and Cadair Arthur both involve more than a mere name.
Idris and Arthur must have been invested with heroic qualifications
to have been placed in such "seats."

II. Names of lesser features, as "Bryn y Saeth," Hill of the Dart;
"Llyn Llyngclys," Lake of the Engulphed Court; "Ceven y Bedd," the
Ridge of the Grave; "Rhyd y Saeson," the Saxons' Ford.

III. Names of mixed natural and artificial objects, as "Coeten
Arthur," Arthur's Coit; "Cerrig y Drudion," the Crag of the Heroes;
which involve actions. And such as embody proper names only, as
"Cerrig Howell," the Crag of Howell; "Caer Arianrod," the Camp of
Arianrod; "Bron Goronwy," the Breast (of the Hill) of Goronwy;
"Castell mab Wynion," the Castle of the son of Wynion; "Nant
Gwrtheyrn," the Rill of Vortigern.

The selection of names would demand much care and discretion. The
translations should be indisputable, and, where known, the connexion
of a name with a legend should be noted. Such a name as "Mochdrev,"
Swine-town, would be valueless unless accompanied by a legend.

It is always valuable to find a place or work called after an
individual, because it may help to support some tradition of his
existence or his actions. But it is requisite that care be taken not
to push the etymological dissection too far. Thus, "Caer Arianrod"
should be taken simply as the "Camp of Arianrod," and not rendered
the "Camp of the silver circle," because the latter, though it might
possibly have something to do with the reason for which the name was
borne by Arianrod herself, had clearly no reference to its
application to her camp.

It appears to me, then, looking back upon what has been advanced:-

I. That we have throughout Europe, at an early period, a great body
of literature, known as Mediaeval Romance, which, amidst much that is
wholly of Teutonic origin and character, includes certain well-marked
traces of an older Celtic nucleus.

II. Proceeding backwards in time, we find these romances, their
ornaments falling away at each step, existing towards the twelfth
century, of simpler structure, and with less encumbered Celtic
features, in the works of Wace, and other Bards of the Langue d'Oil.

III. We find that Geoffrey of Monmouth, Layamon, and other early
British and Anglo-Saxon historians, and minstrels, on the one hand,
transmitted to Europe the rudiments of its after romance, much of
which, on the other hand, they drew from Wales.

IV. Crossing into Wales we find, in the Mabinogion, the evident
counterpart of the Celtic portion of the continental romance, mixed
up, indeed, with various reflex additions from beyond the border, but
still containing ample internal evidence of a Welsh original.

V. Looking at the connexion between divers of the more ancient
Mabinogion, and the topographical nomenclature of part of the
country, we find evidence of the great, though indefinite, antiquity
of these tales, and of an origin, which, if not indigenous, is
certainly derived from no European nation.

It was with a general belief in some of these conclusions, that I
commenced my labours, and I end them with my impressions strongly
confirmed. The subject is one not unworthy of the talents of a Llwyd
or a Prichard. It might, I think, be shown, by pursuing the inquiry,
that the Cymric nation is not only, as Dr. Prichard has proved it to
be, an early offshoot of the Indo-European family, and a people of
unmixed descent, but that when driven out of their conquests by the
later nations, the names and exploits of their heroes, and the
compositions of their bards, spread far and wide among the invaders,
and affected intimately their tastes and literature for many
centuries, and that it has strong claims to be considered the cradle
of European Romance.

C. E. G.
DOWLAIS, August 29th, 1848.

THE LADY OF THE FOUNTAIN

King Arthur was at Caerlleon upon Usk; and one day he sat in his
chamber; and with him were Owain the son of Urien, and Kynon the son
of Clydno, and Kai the son of Kyner; and Gwenhwyvar and her
handmaidens at needlework by the window. And if it should be said
that there was a porter at Arthur's palace, there was none. Glewlwyd
Gavaelvawr was there, acting as porter, to welcome guests and
strangers, and to receive them with honour, and to inform them of the
manners and customs of the Court; and to direct those who came to the
Hall or to the presence-chamber, and those who came to take up their
lodging.

In the centre of the chamber King Arthur sat upon a seat of green
rushes, over which was spread a covering of flame-coloured satin, and
a cushion of red satin was under his elbow.

Then Arthur spoke, "If I thought you would not disparage me," said
he, "I would sleep while I wait for my repast; and you can entertain
one another with relating tales, and can obtain a flagon of mead and
some meat from Kai." And the King went to sleep. And Kynon the son
of Clydno asked Kai for that which Arthur had promised them. "I,
too, will have the good tale which he promised to me," said Kai.
"Nay," answered Kynon, "fairer will it be for thee to fulfill
Arthur's behest, in the first place, and then we will tell thee the
best tale that we know." So Kai went to the kitchen and to the mead-
cellar, and returned bearing a flagon of mead and a golden goblet,
and a handful of skewers, upon which were broiled collops of meat.
Then they ate the collops and began to drink the mead. "Now," said
Kai, "it is time for you to give me my story." "Kynon," said Owain,
"do thou pay to Kai the tale that is his due." "Truly," said Kynon,
"thou are older, and art a better teller of tales, and hast seen more
marvellous things than I; do thou therefore pay Kai his tale."
"Begin thyself," quoth Owain, "with the best that thou knowest." "I
will do so," answered Kynon.

"I was the only son of my mother and father, and I was exceedingly
aspiring, and my daring was very great. I thought there was no
enterprise in the world too mighty for me, and after I had achieved
all the adventures that were in my own country, I equipped myself,
and set forth to journey through deserts and distant regions. And at
length it chanced that I came to the fairest valley in the world,
wherein were trees of equal growth; and a river ran through the
valley, and a path was by the side of the river. And I followed the
path until mid-day, and continued my journey along the remainder of
the valley until the evening; and at the extremity of a plain I came
to a large and lustrous Castle, at the foot of which was a torrent.
And I approached the Castle, and there I beheld two youths with
yellow curling hair, each with a frontlet of gold upon his head, and
clad in a garment of yellow satin, and they had gold clasps upon
their insteps. In the hand of each of them was an ivory bow, strung
with the sinews of the stag; and their arrows had shafts of the bone
of the whale, and were winged with peacock's feathers; the shafts
also had golden heads. And they had daggers with blades of gold, and
with hilts of the bone of the whale. And they were shooting their
daggers.

"And a little way from them I saw a man in the prime of life, with
his beard newly shorn, clad in a robe and a mantle of yellow satin;
and round the top of his mantle was a band of gold lace. On his feet
were shoes of variegated leather, fastened by two bosses of gold.
When I saw him, I went towards him and saluted him, and such was his
courtesy that he no sooner received my greeting than he returned it.
And he went with me towards the Castle. Now there were no dwellers
in the Castle except those who were in one hall. And there I saw
four-and-twenty damsels, embroidering satin at a window. And this I
tell thee, Kai, that the least fair of them was fairer than the
fairest maid thou hast ever beheld in the Island of Britain, and the
least lovely of them was more lovely than Gwenhwyvar, the wife of
Arthur, when she has appeared loveliest at the Offering, on the day
of the Nativity, or at the feast of Easter. They rose up at my
coming, and six of them took my horse, and divested me of my armour;
and six others took my arms, and washed them in a vessel until they
were perfectly bright. And the third six spread cloths upon the
tables and prepared meat. And the fourth six took off my soiled
garments, and placed others upon me; namely, an under-vest and a
doublet of fine linen, and a robe, and a surcoat, and a mantle of
yellow satin with a broad gold band upon the mantle. And they placed
cushions both beneath and around me, with coverings of red linen; and
I sat down. Now the six maidens who had taken my horse, unharnessed
him, as well as if they had been the best squires in the Island of
Britain. Then, behold, they brought bowls of silver wherein was
water to wash, and towels of linen, some green and some white; and I
washed. And in a little while the man sat down to the table. And I
sat next to him, and below me sat all the maidens, except those who
waited on us. And the table was of silver, and the cloths upon the
table were of linen; and no vessel was served upon the table that was
not either of gold or of silver, or of buffalo-horn. And our meat
was brought to us. And verily, Kai, I saw there every sort of meat
and every sort of liquor that I have ever seen elsewhere; but the
meat and the liquor were better served there than I have ever seen
them in any other place.

"Until the repast was half over, neither the man nor any one of the
damsels spoke a single word to me; but when the man perceived that it
would be more agreeable to me to converse than to eat any more, he
began to inquire of me who I was. I said I was glad to find that
there was some one who would discourse with me, and that it was not
considered so great a crime at that Court for people to hold converse
together. 'Chieftain,' said the man, 'we would have talked to thee
sooner, but we feared to disturb thee during thy repast; now,
however, we will discourse.' Then I told the man who I was, and what
was the cause of my journey; and said that I was seeking whether any
one was superior to me, or whether I could gain the mastery over all.
The man looked upon me, and he smiled and said, 'If I did not fear to
distress thee too much, I would show thee that which thou seekest.'
Upon this I became anxious and sorrowful, and when the man perceived
it, he said, 'If thou wouldest rather that I should show thee thy
disadvantage than thine advantage, I will do so. Sleep here to-
night, and in the morning arise early, and take the road upwards
through the valley until thou reachest the wood through which thou
camest hither. A little way within the wood thou wilt meet with a
road branching off to the right, by which thou must proceed, until
thou comest to a large sheltered glade with a mound in the centre.
And thou wilt see a black man of great stature on the top of the
mound. He is not smaller in size than two of the men of this world.
He has but one foot; and one eye in the middle of his forehead. And
he has a club of iron, and it is certain that there are no two men in
the world who would not find their burden in that club. And he is
not a comely man, but on the contrary he is exceedingly ill-favoured;
and he is the woodward of that wood. And thou wilt see a thousand
wild animals grazing around him. Inquire of him the way out of the
glade, and he will reply to thee briefly, and will point out the road
by which thou shalt find that which thou art in quest of.'

"And long seemed that night to me. And the next morning I arose and
equipped myself, and mounted my horse, and proceeded straight through
the valley to the wood; and I followed the cross-road which the man
had pointed out to me, till at length I arrived at the glade. And
there was I three times more astonished at the number of wild animals
that I beheld, than the man had said I should be. And the black man
was there, sitting upon the top of the mound. Huge of stature as the
man had told me that he was, I found him to exceed by far the
description he had given me of him. As for the iron club which the
man had told me was a burden for two men, I am certain, Kai, that it
would be a heavy weight for four warriors to lift; and this was in
the black man's hand. And he only spoke to me in answer to my
questions. Then I asked him what power he held over those animals.
'I will show thee, little man,' said he. And he took his club in his
hand, and with it he struck a stag a great blow so that he brayed
vehemently, and at his braying the animals came together, as numerous
as the stars in the sky, so that it was difficult for me to find room
in the glade to stand among them. There were serpents, and dragons,
and divers sorts of animals. And he looked at them, and bade them go
and feed; and they bowed their heads, and did him homage as vassals
to their lord.

"Then the black man said to me, 'Seest thou now, little man, what
power I hold over these animals?' Then I inquired of him the way,
and he became very rough in his manner to me; however, he asked me
whither I would go? And when I told him who I was and what I sought,
he directed me. 'Take,' said he, 'that path that leads towards the
head of the glade, and ascend the wooded steep until thou comest to
its summit; and there thou wilt find an open space like to a large
valley, and in the midst of it a tall tree, whose branches are
greener than the greenest pine-trees. Under this tree is a fountain,
and by the side of the fountain a marble slab, and on the marble slab
a silver bowl, attached by a chain of silver, so that it may not be
carried away. Take the bowl and throw a bowlful of water upon the
slab, and thou wilt hear a mighty peal of thunder, so that thou wilt
think that heaven and earth are trembling with its fury. With the
thunder there will come a shower so severe that it will be scarce
possible for thee to endure it and live. And the shower will be of
hailstones; and after the shower, the weather will become fair, but
every leaf that was upon the tree will have been carried away by the
shower. Then a flight of birds will come and alight upon the tree;
and in thine own country thou didst never hear a strain so sweet as
that which they will sing. And at the moment thou art most delighted
with the song of the birds, thou wilt hear a murmuring and
complaining coming towards thee along the valley. And thou wilt see
a knight upon a coal-black horse, clothed in black velvet, and with a
pennon of black linen upon his lance; and he will ride unto thee to
encounter thee with the utmost speed. If thou fleest from him he
will overtake thee, and if thou abidest there, as sure as thou art a
mounted knight, he will leave thee on foot. And if thou dost not
find trouble in that adventure, thou needest not seek it during the
rest of thy life.'

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