#the mabinogion

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#the mabinogion #alan lee #other alan lee art #other illustration

@The Art of Alan Lee and John Howe

Wed, 01 Jan 2014 15:01:50

the-evil-clergyman:

Illustrations from The Mabinogion by Alan Lee (2001)

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#the mabinogion #mythology #literature #illustration #alan lee

@Old Solid Books

Fri, 18 Feb 2022 16:28:01

I read a list recently of the 25 greatest fantasy novels. The vast majority of books on the list were first published in the last 20 years. Now while it’s unlikely that the fantasy published in the last two decades represents 90% or more of the best fantasy of all time, it is understandable why this list appeared as it did; most of the stuff readers buy is new stuff, so there’s a bias toward that. There is of course the angle that the literature that is published now builds upon all that has come before it so has the advantage of a good palette of colours. However, fantasy, being the oldest form of literature is an incredibly rich and varied canon, and it would be a shame to think that not enough people are digging deeper.

As rare booksellers we generally look for books that have contributed to the cultural landscape. It helps us feel that our job is more than just buying and selling. Most books from the last couple of decades haven’t had the chance to contribute fully, or rather their contribution hasn’t yet been fully realised. So the majority of our stock is pre-21st-century. There are some exceptions where the cultural impact is undeniable (Pratchett, Martin, King, Rowling) or where the books have helped progress the variety and strength of the canon (Hobb, Mieville, Abercrombie), but on the whole the fantasy literature we deem ‘important’ has had at least a generation to permeate the cultural membrane.

Of course, important and great aren’t necessarily the same and it takes a lifetime to reconcile the two. A lot of the time we read what we feel is entertaining, because we aren’t always interested in how it impacted the canon. There’s nothing wrong with that. But at the same time, there is a lot of important writing out there that is great (there is also important writing that’s bloody boring). I’m thinking of writers like William Morris, E.T.A. Hoffman, E.R. Eddison, Edmund Spenser, Thomas Malory, and pieces such as Beowulf, Gilgamesh, The Odyssey, The Mabinogion. These are writers and works that have had an incalculable influence on the books of the last 20 years, and continue to do so.

I am slightly biased toward this area of fantasy because these are the scarcer items and these are the items that collectors buy because of their importance within the canon, so they are good stock. But at the same time, in my research and reading I’ve found these to be great and entertaining reads. So I thought I’d write some pieces based around rare books and important works of speculative fiction (i.e. fantasy, science fiction and horror) that are more often seen in university libraries than in the Waterstone’s fantasy section.

I’ll be looking at publication history, cultural impact, various rarities, reading strategies and I encourage you to comment too because I imagine many of you have much more experience in these areas than I do. Many of the books will be new books we’ve just acquired, and many we’ll have little knowledge of, so it will be a learning experience. And if just one of you picks up We’ll start by looking at S. Fowler Wright's The Riding of Lancelot.

@firsteditionbooks-old

Wed, 30 Jul 2014 12:44:00

The sword of Arthur, Caledfwlch, (my interpretation from the Dream of Rhonabwy)

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#we stan the mabinogion in this house #king arthur #some personal work for a change #im a sucker for arthurian lit #arthurian legend #the mabinogion #welsh king arthur is where its at #excalibur #caledfwlch #digital art #i know i missed swordtember but #dream of rhonabwy #my little medievalist heart go

@Paints and Quests

Thu, 14 Oct 2021 17:06:32

After the two nephews had been cleaned up they went to see Math, who said, ‘Men, you have earned peace, and you shall have friendship. Now advise me which virgin to choose.’ Gwydyon replied, 'Lord, that is an easy choice: Aranrhod daughter of Dôn, your niece and your sister’s daughter.’ The girl was sent for, and when she arrived Math said, 'Girl, are you a virgin?’ 'I do not know but that I am.’ Math took his wand and bent it, saying, 'Step over that, and if you are a virgin I will know.’ Aranrhod stepped over the wand, and with that step she dropped a sturdy boy with thick yellow hair; the boy gave a loud cry, and with that cry she made for the door, dropping a second small something on the way, but before anyone could get a look at it Gwydyon snatched it up and wrapped it in a silk sheet and hid it in a little chest at the foot of his bed. 'Well, ’ said Math, 'I will arrange for the baptism of this one,’ referring to the yellow-haired boy, 'and I will call him Dylan.’ The boy was baptized, whereupon he immediately made for the sea, and when he came to the sea he took on its nature and swam as well as the best fish. He was called Dylan son of Ton, for no wave ever broke beneath him. The blow which killed him was struck by his uncle Govannon, and that was one of the Three Unfortunate Blows.

'Math Son of Mathonwy’, The Mabinogion

c. 11th century

trans. Jeffrey Gantz (1976)

#the mabinogion #welsh literature #the four branches of the mabinogi #aranrhod #arianrhod #middle

@beginning-middle-end

Sat, 17 Aug 2013 14:01:16

oldshrewsburyian:

appleinducedsleep:
aliteraryprincess:
thereadingchallengechallenge:
anyone have any recs for books based on/inspired by the legends of King Arthur?
I enjoyed Once and Future by AR Capetta & Cory McCarthy, couldn’t get into TH White, and already have The Guinevere DeceptionandHalf Sick of Shadows on my TBR. newer books rather than old, preferably
thank you in advance lovelies <3
edit: please don’t recommend Marion Zimmer Bradley. she abused her children and helped her husband abuse other children. her books don’t need to be recommended to anyone ever again.
The Warlord Chronicles by Bernard Cornwell are a really interesting take on the legends. It’s considered historical fiction rather than fantasy, though the characters to believe in magic (whether it’s real or not is rather ambiguous). And I absolutely love his character arc for Guinevere.
@oldshrewsburyian maybe you have some recs?
I do! I also have some crowd-sourced recs from when I asked a similar question, as I know more about the medieval literature than the modern literature it’s inspired. Those recs are hereandhere.
I adore T.H. White’s Once and Future King, and think it would be worth another shot for OP. The reason I love it so very, very much – okay, one of the reasons – is that it is both a retelling with a wonderful, vivid world for wonderful, vivid characters and a book about what Arthur always means to all of us. And friendship. And… okay I’ll stop. But it really is a marvel of a book.
A delightful short story, first: Garth Nix, The Necessary Arthur
Rosemary Sutcliff has a YA trilogy retelling of Malory that I was absolutely obsessed with when I was about 14. And her prose is wonderful. I still remember the line “But Tristan was a slight man and a desperate one…” The books are: The Sword and the Circle,The Light Beyond the Forest,The Road to Camlann.
Rosemary Sutcliff also wrote an original retelling for adults, set in post-Roman Britain, Sword at Sunset. It makes me cry every time. Sutcliff knew and loved both English landscape and medieval literature and it shows. This is probably my favorite Arthur retelling.
Mary Stewart’s Merlin trilogy/tetralogy is worth a rec here. No longer new, but deservedly classics of modern retelling, I think. Also a neighbor recommended them to 12-year-old me when she was walking her dog, and I want to pass on this tradition of recommending them. Again, the prose is great and the scene-setting is really atmospheric. I really like how it handles magic, too.
Evangeline Walton’s Mabinogion Tetralogy retelling is brilliant and sweeping and too little known. I know of very few retellings of the Welsh Arthurian stories, and these are gorgeous. They’re not Arthur-centric, but they’re great.
I haven’t read Tracy Deonn’s YA trilogy Legendborn yet, but it’s been recommended to me by a fellow medievalist, so I might.
Finally, I’m not sure if Finding Camlann would fit the bill, because it’s not a retelling, but it is very much inspired by the legends of King Arthur… because it’s about scholars researching those legends, and coming closer and closer to their possible origin. It’s charming.

So happy to see a rec for E Walton’s Mabinogion – I read these almost fifty years ago (when they were published as four separate books) and loved them so much that they are the only four books which have survived every move I’ve made since then.

Amazing feat of stitching together the diverse thousand-year old Welsh tales into novels accessible to English readers.

It’s true they are not Arthur-centric. This is a different clan of characters and a different emphasis on craft.

Abe Books has copies of all of ‘em listed for sale.

As far as I can find, local libraries do not have these in their catalog.