The Mabinogion

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Alan Lee (born 20 August 1947) is an English book illustrator and movie conceptual designer. He was born in Middlesex, England, and studied at the Ealing School of Art.

A scene very much like this one appears in the Irish myth of Dierdre, in which a snowscape of ravens feasting on the dead gets Dierdre thinking about the appearance of the man she loves. Artful contrasts and vivid imagery like this abound in the Mabinogion. a.) a literal translation: in that case, go with the Jones and Jones translation of the 1950s (IIRC), offered by Everyman The ancient Welsh collection of Celtic myth and Arthurian Legend, illustrated by the great Alan Lee. Strange and otherworldly, the Four Branches of the Mabinogi are unquestionably the jewels of this collection of medieval Welsh mythology and folklore. In volume they make up only a little over a third of the book, but trust me — this is what you are here for.In artworks, Rhiannon has inspired some entrancing images. A notable example is Alan Lee 1987, and 2001, who illustrated two major translations of the Mabinogi, and his pictures have attracted their own following.

Four of these mythical stories end with a vague allusion to being one of four branches of “the Mabinogi”, giving the collection its name, and the others are hero quests, Arthurian romances, spectacular and chemerical pseudo-historical sagas, which might or might not be related to the first four. The four “branch” tales do not seem to relate to one another except for “Manawyden, The Son of Llyr” being a sequel to, and sharing characters with “Branwen, the Daughter of Llyr”. Otherwise, some common names or places are all that link these branches. Pryderi Son of Pwyll is the common figure, appearing in each of these tales, but usually with a minor part. For the most part, each enchanting tale seems to be independent from the rest, riddled with mysteries deepened through the ages and brought to life by towering imaginations. In these two episodes we begin our look at the renowned collection of medieval Welsh tales, the Mabinogion. What we call the Mabinogion today is a collection of eleven stories from the Red Book of Hergest, one of the Four Ancient Books of Wales, and the White Book of Rhydderch, another medieval Welsh manuscript.Tolkien's work has inspired him ever since he read his books at an early age. Alan Lee is also inspired by nature, myth, legends and Folklore. bw): Cedric Gibbons, Edward Carfagno, Edwin B. Willis, F. Keogh Gleason /(c): Paul Sheriff, Marcel Vertès

Here are the Four Branches of the Mabinogi, four separate but intricately interconnected stories portraying a legendary Britain united under one king, and seven so-called 'independent' tales, among them the earliest known stories of King Arthur – legends that appear nowhere else -- as well as Welsh versions of tales that also appear in the Arthurian romances of Chrétien de Troyes and others.

Alan Lee

I used this collection of Welsh tales to gain key insight into connections with the English language by comparing the names of characters and locations to their English counterparts. In the Robin of Sherwood story "The King's Fool" (1984), Rhiannon's Wheel is the name of a stone circle where Herne the Hunter appears to the characters. [15] That said, it’s a very uneven book. The first four “branches” are really where the sauce is. The tales that follow, mostly chivalric Arthurian adventures, can be dry (though interesting for predating any round tables or swanky grails). I’ll make an exception for the tale of Cuhlwch whose mad crush on Olwen leads uncle Arthur into an epically misguided hunt for a divine boar, which, for some reason, has a comb and a razor and a pair of sheers all caught in the tuft of hair between its ears. The hunt is such an ordeal it kills off nearly every last Briton (which is a shame since the author went to such great lengths to name all of them [phew!]). But Cuhlwch gets the girl in the end, so . . . alls well that ends well?