Before the great kings and queens of England there were the storytellers of Wales who kept true to their oral tradition. These bards were held in high regard as they not only kept imagination alive, but strove to preserve their ancient culture. A product of that culture is the Mabinogion, which after being translated many times, still reminds us of the Celts and their ways of life.
The oral tradition was vital to the Welsh but as civilization intervened in the Thirteenth or Fourteenth century, The Red Book of Herst contained the first tales of the Mabinogion. At this time a bard was still a nice profession but chivalry was on the rise. This 'noble nature' found itself into the heart of many stories and Europe became a personification of 'romance' because of this. It wasn't just the 'love' relationship aspect between a man and a woman as we might expect romance to be. Romance also described the journeys of courageous knights, lords, barons and the forces against them.
We see the influence of royalty in the famous tale of "Kilhwch and Olwen" where Kilhwch, cousin to the famous King Arthur, desires Olwen for his wife under his mother's wishes. He travels far and finally finds her after meeting her unlucky father who is harmed by the men who approach.
There is also the tale of "Pwyll Prince of Dyved," where the legendary Rhiannon is shamed by being wrongly accused of murdering her son. This story stresses the importance for women and their ability to care for their children above anything else. She was seperated from her family and forced to tale every traveler who she ran into, what she had done until she was freed from her punishment.
But those are just two of the tales in this wonderful collection. If anyone is interested in Celtic folklore this is the book for you! Dover additions are rather inexpensive for classical texts and this one comes with twelve stories and two introductions, one from Lady Charlotte E. Guest herself. Just $2.00 in the U.S., $3.00 in Canada and 1.90 in the U.K., it's worth saving up that extra change around the house to buy a copy!
