A review by mrtheprofessor
The Mabinogion by Charlotte Guest

3.0

3.5 stars. Early literature is difficult, and as much as I love Arthurian legend, there's a fair amount of chaff that you have slog through. Even still, the good stuff in this collection, the 4 stories that comprise the Mabinogion, is a little difficult to follow (or at least it was for me). Part of that is the Old English that was translated from Welsh, and part of that is the Welsh names of characters and places which I frequently had to give up as a loss in terms of pronouncing or remembering. That said, the Mabinogion, as well as Kilwch and Olwen, are well worth the trouble. There are two dreams in this collection that have to do with an invented history of Britain--one dealing with Arthur and one dealing with Roman emperor Maximus (Maxen Wledig) that were very interesting. I would recommend an annotated edition of this collection if you choose to read it as there's a lot to dig into.