Welsh Legends and Folk-Tales

Oxford Myths and Legends

by Gwyn Jones

Table of Contents:
The four branches of story; I. Pwyll and Pryderi. i. The marriage of Pwyll and Rhiannon --
II. THe birth of Pryderi --
II. The story of Branwen --
III. The trials of Dyfed --
IV. Lleu and the flowerface --
The British Arthur; I. The quest for Olwen. i. The destiny --
ii. At Arthur's court --
iii. In search of Olwen --
iv. Fulfilling the tasks: The sword of Wrnach the giant --
The oldest animals --
The lame ant --
The beard of Dillus the bearded --
The everlasting battle --
The tusk of Ysgithyrwyn --
The hunting of the otherworld boar --
The blood of the black witch --
v. Culhwch marries Olwen --
II. How Trystan won esyllt --
III. Rhitta of the beards --
IV. The dream of Rhonabwy --
Tales old and new; I. The dream of Macsen Wledig --
II. The three plagues of Britain --
III. Collen and the fair small folk --
IV. The lad who returned from Faerye --
V. Where Arthur sleeps --
VI. The aged infant. VII. The woman of Llyn-Y-Fan: i. The meeting --
ii. The parting --
iii. The sequel --
VIII. Eight leaves of story: i. The three staunch swineherds of Britain --
ii. The sigh of Gwyddno Long-shank --
iii. Baglan the builder --
iv. A harp on the water --
v. The man who killed his greyhound --
vi. The sun of Llanfabon --
vii. Red-hat otter --
viii. Cadwalader and all his goats --
IX. The salt welsh sea --
X. High eden.

Genres: Mythology, Short Stories, Childrens, Folklore, Fantasy, Fairy Tales, Fiction

230 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1955

About the author

Son of a miner, Gwyn Jones (1907-1999) became a schoolteacher, then lecturer, then Professor of English from 1940. He was a novelist and short-story writer, translator of The Mabinogion and Icelandic sagas, founder and editor of The Welsh Review. He became Chairman of the Welsh Arts Council and was awarded the CBE (1965), the Knight's Cross of the Order of the Falcon (1963), and the Commander's Cross (1987) of Iceland.

Reviews

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had no idea that Arthur was a part of Welsh mythology. Is this where he came from originally or is his story all over the isles?

It was fun reading these stories. I liked a few of them. Most of them were about wars and doing stupid feats for stupid reasons. Like fighting over the sky and the stars being cows? I feel sorry for this giantess lady who had to marry the idiot who killed all kinds of amazing people and creatures and then her father! Definitely not the best side of Arthur there, helping him just because he's a cousin or something. *sigh*

I mostly enjoyed the early stuff with the giant heroes who could walk across the channel. I would love some more context as to what these stories meant to the Welsh people. I suppose I'll have to study more Welsh history for that.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The death of Gelert, the creation of Llyn Bala and the story of Cantre Gwaelod. The book includes children’s versions of these tales among many others.

[Mark Lattman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I almost always enjoy reading Mythology, and the stories here were entertaining. There’s a lot of (clearly purposeful) repetition of themes, both within each tale, and among them in total, and many of them were unique, which was nice. Like with a lot of actual Mythology (not the toned-down versions for 20th Century children’s bed time stories or Disney movies), the stories are quite brutal at times, though not so much so that it obscures the point and/or moral. But the fables were all exceptionally short here, so they felt more like summations than the full stories. Also: It needed a lot more Dragons, especially since we’re talkin’ Wales, and a Dragon was featured on the cover. So, this felt like a good introduction to Welsch Mythos, but it was hardly a filling feast. 85/100

[Angela · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately, this was my least favorite of the Oxford Myths & Legends series that I've been reading. It has very few stories about love (happy ones, at least) or kindness, but lots of stories about warring armies, valor, power, and pride. It was also quite violent. Definitely not a great source for children's bedtime stories.

There were, however, a few things that made the book fascinating to me. One was the crazy and amazing names! The pronunciation guide in the back was very helpful, and I highly recommend checking that out before you even begin reading the book. Also - for any fans of Tolkien or Lloyd Alexander's "The High King" series, there were many similar names, themes, and story elements.

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really fun to read what was taken as "history" in the dark ages. This was a really neat little mini-compilation of the mabinogion, a collection of pre-medieval Welsh folk tales, including some of the first written tales of the legendary Arthur.