The Mabinogion

by Lady Charlotte Guest Narrated by Matt Addis

Overview

Compiled in Middle Welsh during the 12th and 13th centuries, the Mabinogion is a mesmerising panorama of fantasy, romance, tragedy and humour. Blending Arthurian romance, Welsh legend and mythology, it tells tales of heroic knights, fair maidens, dramatic battles and magical beasts across 12 fantastical stories. These comprise the `Three Welsh Romances', Arthurian tales that also appear in the work of Chrétien de Troyes; the myths of Branwen, Pwyll Manawydan and Math; and the five `native tales', which include a romance about the Roman emperor Magnus Maximus. It continues to inspire writers today and is said to have influenced Alan Garner's The Owl Service and J.R.R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion.

Editorial Reviews

JULY 2019 - AudioFile

Narrator Matt Addis brings care, talent, and skill to these stories from twelfth- and thirteenth-century Wales, but he could have exercised more restraint. He takes his cue from the stories themselves—fantastic, fanciful, somewhere between myth, legend, and fairy tale—and from the archaic tone of the mid-nineteenth-century translation by Charlotte Guest. Addis’s phrases, imbued with a “once upon a time” feel, have a singsong lilt. While generally appropriate, this manner quickly cloys. There are ample opportunities to use a plainer tone, providing more variety, but Addis doesn’t take them. Still, he is expressive and sensitive to the text while providing a thoughtful diversity of voices. Listeners with patience and sympathy for this type of literature should find this, perhaps in short segments, a satisfying performance. W.M. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine

JULY 2019 - AudioFile

Narrator Matt Addis brings care, talent, and skill to these stories from twelfth- and thirteenth-century Wales, but he could have exercised more restraint. He takes his cue from the stories themselves—fantastic, fanciful, somewhere between myth, legend, and fairy tale—and from the archaic tone of the mid-nineteenth-century translation by Charlotte Guest. Addis’s phrases, imbued with a “once upon a time” feel, have a singsong lilt. While generally appropriate, this manner quickly cloys. There are ample opportunities to use a plainer tone, providing more variety, but Addis doesn’t take them. Still, he is expressive and sensitive to the text while providing a thoughtful diversity of voices. Listeners with patience and sympathy for this type of literature should find this, perhaps in short segments, a satisfying performance. W.M. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169256772
Publisher:	Naxos Audiobooks
Publication date:	01/01/2019
Edition description:	Unabridged

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