The mabinogion tetralogy critical essays

The Mabinogion Tetrology is a bit of an odd thing because the story is cobbled together from Welsh myths and legends, so perhaps it’s not as cohesive story-wise as something like The Lord of the Rings is, which was created whole-cloth. But Evangeline Walton's writing line-for-line is some of the most beautiful I’ve read.

Although the term mabinogi applies explicitly only to what are now generally known as the Four Branches of the Mabinogi, the term “Mabinogion” has turned out to be a convenient label for the eleven extant medieval narratives of Welsh origin (as opposed to medieval Welsh translations of texts from other literary traditions).

Walton is indescribably beautiful with words. Her Mythic Wales is true in every way to the misty legends that have been passed down. Instead of misty though, Walton takes those ancient stories and clears the mist, humanizing and modernizing the legends.

The Mabinogion is to Welsh mythology what the tales of Zeus, Hera, and Apollo are to Greek myth. these tales constitute a powerful work of the imagination, ranking with Tokien's Lord of the Rings novels and T.H. White's The Once and Future King.