Publisher's Synopsis
For the first time, a single volume gathers a representative selection of critical articles on the medieval Welsh prose works known as the Four Branches of the Mabinogi. Critical materials dealing with the Mabinogi are difficult to find, for they are offered chiefly in the journals Celtic Studies, Transactions of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion, Etudes Celtiques, Studia Celtica, Cambridge Medieval Celtic Studies, and the like-as well as occasionally in the wider range of journals dealing with medieval studies or in a number of regional, antiquarian publications. This collection brings together 16 critical articles for the scholars and students who have had to make do with interlibrary loans or photocopies of dubious clarity and limited durability. The articles deal with the origins of the Four Branches, comparative analysis (what can be learned by comparing the Welsh materials to the broader range of medieval tales), structural analysis, and thematic analysis. The latter two sections contain essays that approach the mabinogi as a work of art created by a master craftsman in control of his material.
