As some of the earliest written Welsh prose, the eleven tales provide an insight into the ideas and themes that resonated with medieval audiences.
For the modern reader, the fantasy is unrivalled, with plot points that include two treacherous nephews being turned into a pair of breeding pigs, and a queen convicted of cannibalism forced to carry people around on her back as punishment. But there’s more recognisable medieval tropes too, including a number of stories that feature the legendary King Arthur character and his famous knights.
Beneath the surface, the text also reveals the collective attitudes and anxieties of the medieval population of Wales, particularly concerning the ever-present threat of conquest and colonisation.
Within the collection, four stories, known as The Four Branches of the Mabinogi, are tied together by an interlinked plot and recurring characters, with this connection emphasised through a narrative device that sees each of the four tales end with a version of the sentence: "and so ends this branch of the mabinogi".
Each of these stories revolves around a different mythical Welsh ruler, who must overcome family feuds, cross-border warfare, personal vendettas and the occasional magical curse in order to protect their kingdoms and safeguard their lineage.
The remaining seven stories aren’t connected to one another. Three are categorised as classic romance stories, where a knight, affiliated with King Arthur, performs acts of valour to win the affections of his beloved. Two are pseudo-histories, involving a supposed king of Britain facing a series of strange plagues and a Roman emperor travelling to Wales to meet a maiden he sees in a dream.
The other two stories are again Arthurian themed, though this time with Arthur himself as the focus. One sees Arthur musing over an impending war against the Saxons, and another where he helps a Welsh prince accomplish a number of formidable tasks in order to win the hand of a giant he wants to marry (because, why not). The latter of these stories is noteworthy for being the first written tale in any language with the legendary figure Arthur as its hero.
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