57-452: In Arthurian legend , Ywain / ɪ ˈ w eɪ n / , also known as Yvain and Owain among other spellings ( Ewaine , Ivain , Ivan , Iwain , Iwein , Uwain , Uwaine , Ywan , etc.), is a Knight of the Round Table . Tradition often portrays him as the son of King Urien of Gorre and of either the enchantress Modron or the sorceress Morgan le Fay . The historical Owain mab Urien ,
114-595: A Celtic army and assumed the title of Roman Emperor in 383. He was defeated in battle in 385 and beheaded at the direction of the Eastern Roman emperor . The story of Taliesin is a later survival, not present in the Red or White Books, and is omitted from many of the more recent translations. The tales called the Three Welsh Romances ( Y Tair Rhamant ) are Welsh-language versions of Arthurian tales that also appear in
171-600: A Welsh tale associated with the Mabinogion , Owain is one of Arthur's top warriors and plays a game of chess against him while the Saxons prepare to fight the Battle of Badon . Three times during the game, Owain's men inform him that Arthur's squires have been slaughtering his ravens, but when Owain protests, Arthur simply responds, "Your move." Then Owain's ravens retaliate against the squires, and Owain does not stop them until Arthur crushes
228-635: A book, the level of detail being too much for the memory to handle. The comment suggests it was not popular with storytellers, though this was more likely due to its position as a literary tale rather than a traditional one. The tale The Dream of Macsen Wledig is a romanticised story about the Roman emperor Magnus Maximus , called Macsen Wledig in Welsh. Born in Hispania , he became a legionary commander in Britain, assembled
285-450: A date prior to 1100, based on linguistic and historical arguments, while later Saunders Lewis set forth a number of arguments for a date between 1170 and 1190; Thomas Charles-Edwards , in a paper published in 1970, discussed the strengths and weaknesses of both viewpoints, and while critical of the arguments of both scholars, noted that the language of the stories best fits the 11th century, (specifically 1050–1120), although much more work
342-432: A dragon proves to be a loyal companion and a symbol of knightly virtue, and helps him complete his quest, which includes defeating the giant Harpins and two demons. In the end, Laudine, rescued from the stake, allows him and his lion to return to her fortress. Chrétien's Yvain had a huge impact on the literary world; German poet Hartmann von Aue used it as the basis for his Middle High German court epic Iwein , while
399-507: A historic legend in " Lludd and Llefelys ", complete with glimpses of a far off age; and other tales portray a very different King Arthur from the later popular versions. The highly sophisticated complexity of the Four Branches of the Mabinogi defies categorisation. The stories are so diverse that it has been argued that they are not even a true collection. Scholars from the 18th century to
456-674: A historical figure of the 6th-century Brythonic kingdom of Rheged (in today's northern England and southern Scotland) at the time of the Anglo-Saxon invasion of Britain . His name was recorded in the bardic tradition of Taliesin and became a legendary character in the Welsh Triads , where his father, sister, horse and personal bard are all acclaimed but his wife Penarwan is named one of the "Three Faithless Wives of Britain", along with her sister Esyllt (Iseult, Tristan 's love). In Geoffrey of Monmouth 's Historia Regum Britanniae c. 1136, he
513-496: A publication now in the public domain : Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). " Mabinogion ". Catholic Encyclopedia . New York: Robert Appleton Company. The Guest translation can be found with all original notes and illustrations at: The original Welsh texts can be found at: Versions without the notes, presumably mostly from the Project Gutenberg edition, can be found on numerous sites, including: A discussion of
570-450: A set period of time, but he becomes so enthralled in his knightly exploits that he forgets his lady, and she bars him from returning. Yvain goes mad with grief and lives naked in the woods (probably the earliest instance of a hero's mental illness in French literature, which later became a popular motif), but eventually is cured by Morgan and decides to win back his love. A lion he rescues from
627-422: A sophisticated narrative tradition, both oral and written, with ancestral construction from oral storytelling, and overlay from Anglo-French influences. The first modern publications were English translations by William Owen Pughe of several tales in journals in 1795, 1821, and 1829. However it was Lady Charlotte Guest in 1838–45 who first published the full collection, bilingually in Welsh and English. She
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#1732845495962684-475: Is a central component of the Matter of Britain. Geoffrey drew on a number of ancient British texts, including the 9th-century Historia Brittonum . The Historia Brittonum is the earliest known source of the story of Brutus of Troy . Traditionally attributed to Nennius , its actual compiler is unknown; it exists in several recensions. This tale went on to achieve greater currency because its inventor linked Brutus to
741-594: Is a compact version by Sioned Davies. John Bollard has published a series of volumes with his own translation, with copious photography of the sites in the stories. The tales continue to inspire new fiction, dramatic retellings, visual artwork, and research. The name first appears in 1795 in William Owen Pughe 's translation of Pwyll in the journal Cambrian Register under the title "The Mabinogion, or Juvenile Amusements, being Ancient Welsh Romances". The name appears to have been current among Welsh scholars of
798-637: Is also possible to read the Arthurian literature, particularly the Grail tradition, as an allegory of human development and spiritual growth, a theme explored by mythologist Joseph Campbell amongst others. Mabinogion The Mabinogion ( Welsh pronunciation: [mabɪˈnɔɡjɔn] ) are the earliest Welsh prose stories, and belong to the Matter of Britain . The stories were compiled in Middle Welsh in
855-416: Is critically compared to the illustrious Arthurian age. However, Arthur's time is portrayed as illogical and silly, leading to suggestions that this is a satire on both contemporary times and the myth of a heroic age. Rhonabwy is the most literary of the medieval Welsh prose tales. It may have also been the last written. A colophon at the end declares that no one is able to recite the work in full without
912-477: Is needed. In 1991, Patrick Sims-Williams argued for a plausible range of about 1060 to 1200, which seems to be the current scholarly consensus (fitting all the previously suggested date ranges). The collection represents the vast majority of prose found in medieval Welsh manuscripts which is not translated from other languages. Notable exceptions are the Areithiau Pros . None of the titles are contemporary with
969-466: Is often assumed to be responsible for the name "Mabinogion", but this was already in standard use in the 18th century. Indeed, as early as 1632 the lexicographer John Davies quotes a sentence from Math fab Mathonwy with the notation "Mabin" in his Antiquae linguae Britannicae ... dictionarium duplex , article "Hob". The later Guest translation of 1877 in one volume has been widely influential and remains actively read today. The most recent translation
1026-454: Is only mentioned in passing, as succeeding his uncle, Auguselus (Angusel), King of Albany (northern Scotland). The settlers of Brittany brought much of their insular British culture when they came to the continent, and in the 12th century, updated versions of Breton lais and stories became popular with French audiences. The French poet Chrétien de Troyes wrote the romance Yvain, the Knight of
1083-650: Is the best-known part of the Matter of Britain. It has succeeded largely because it tells two interlocking stories that have intrigued many later authors. One concerns Camelot , usually envisioned as a doomed utopia of chivalric virtue, undone by the fatal flaws of the heroes like Arthur, Gawain and Lancelot . The other concerns the quests of the various knights to achieve the Holy Grail ; some succeed ( Galahad , Percival ), and others fail. The Arthurian tales have been changed throughout time, and other characters have been added to add backstory and expand on other Knights of
1140-475: The Battle of Camlann (known as the Battle of Salisbury Plain in the romances). There, he personally kills two of Saxon leaders allied to the traitorous King Mordred and rescues the unhorsed Arthur, before Mordred himself charges his half-brother and splits his helmet and head with a two-handed powerful downwards sword blow. The scene's narration declares that, by the time of his death, Yvain "was considered to be one of
1197-448: The legendary kings and heroes associated with it, particularly King Arthur . The 12th-century writer Geoffrey of Monmouth 's Historia Regum Britanniae ( History of the Kings of Britain) is a central component of the Matter of Britain. It was one of the three great Western story cycles recalled repeatedly in medieval literature, together with the Matter of France , which concerned
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#17328454959621254-413: The 12th–13th centuries from earlier oral traditions. There are two main source manuscripts , created c. 1350 –1410, as well as a few earlier fragments. The title covers a collection of eleven prose stories of widely different types, offering drama, philosophy, romance, tragedy, fantasy and humour, and created by various narrators over time. There is a classic hero quest, " Culhwch and Olwen ";
1311-405: The 1970s predominantly viewed the tales as fragmentary pre-Christian Celtic mythology , or in terms of international folklore . There are certainly components of pre-Christian Celtic mythology and folklore; however, since the 1970s, an understanding of the integrity of the tales has developed, with investigation of their plot structures, characterisation, and language styles. They are now seen as
1368-500: The Ford of Barking where dogs congregate and bark for some unknown reason. Only Urien is brave enough to go near the place and there he discovers Modron, endlessly washing clothes (a scene common in Celtic legend, see Morrígan ). He has his way with her, and she announces she had been destined to remain at the ford until she had conceived a son by a Christian. She tells Urien to return at the end of
1425-486: The Four Branches, which is a tightly organised quartet very likely by one author, where the other seven are so very diverse (see below). Each of these four tales ends with the colophon "thus ends this branch of the Mabinogi" (in various spellings), hence the name. Lady Charlotte Guest's work was helped by the earlier research and translation work of William Owen Pughe. The first part of Charlotte Guest's translation of
1482-773: The Lion at the same time he was working on Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart during the 1170s. In it, the eponymous hero Yvain seeks to avenge his cousin Calogrenant who had been defeated by an otherworldly knight beside a magical storm-making fountain in the forest of Brocéliande . Yvain defeats the knight, Esclados , and falls in love with his widow Laudine . With the aid of Laudine's servant Lunete , Yvain wins his lady and marries her, but his cousin Gawain convinces him to embark on chivalric adventure. Yvain's wife assents but demands he return after
1539-566: The London-Welsh Societies and the regional eisteddfodau in Wales. It was inherited as the title by the first publisher of the complete collection, Lady Charlotte Guest . The form mabynnogyon occurs once at the end of the first of the Four Branches of the Mabinogi in one manuscript. It is now generally agreed that this one instance was a mediaeval scribal error which assumed 'mabinogion'
1596-505: The Mabinogion appeared in 1838, and it was completed in seven parts in 1845. A three-volume edition followed in 1846, and a revised edition in 1877. Her version of the Mabinogion was the most frequently used English version until the 1948 translation by Gwyn Jones and Thomas Jones, which has been widely praised for its combination of literal accuracy and elegant literary style. Several more, listed below, have since appeared. Dates for
1653-433: The Round Table . The medieval legend of Arthur and his knights is full of Christian themes; those themes involve the destruction of human plans for virtue by the moral failures of their characters, and the quest for an important Christian relic. Finally, the relationships between the characters invited treatment in the tradition of courtly love , such as Lancelot and Guinevere , or Tristan and Iseult . In more recent years,
1710-402: The Saxons") contains the lines: Ne sont que III matières à nul homme atandant: De France et de Bretaigne et de Rome la grant There are only three subject matters for any discerning man: That of France, that of Britain, and that of great Rome. The name distinguishes and relates the Matter of Britain from the mythological themes taken from classical antiquity , the " Matter of Rome ", and
1767-792: The Tall), he appears in all the 13th-century prose accounts of the Vulgate Cycle and the Post-Vulgate Cycle , and consequently in Thomas Malory 's Le Morte d'Arthur . Yvain's mother is often said to be King Arthur 's half-sister, making him Arthur's nephew. This sister is Morgan in the Post-Vulgate Cycle and Le Morte d'Arthur (causing Yvain to be banished from the court of Camelot after Morgan's attempts on Arthur's life), but other works name another of their siblings, such as Queen Brimesent in
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1824-628: The Vulgate Merlin . Yvain is nephew of Morgause and King Lot , and thus cousin to Gawain, Agravain , Gaheris , Gareth and Mordred . He has a half-brother (with whom he is often confused) named Yvain the Bastard , son of Urien and his seneschal 's wife (and also another half-brother named Galeguinant in the Prose Lancelot ). In his version, Malory merged Yvain the Great with the character of Yvain of
1881-670: The White Hands , previously an unrelated Knight of the Round Table, and also made him father of Yder . In the cyclical prose tradition, Yvain fights in Arthur's war against the Saxons ( Saracens in the English versions), Lucius , Claudas and Galehaut , and undergoes in many various quests and adventures, some of these during his banishment from Camelot following the conflict between King Arthur and his mother. These include his failed attempt to defeat
1938-774: The author of Owain, or the Lady of the Fountain , one of the Welsh Romances included in the Mabinogion , tells essentially the same story, recasting the work in a Welsh setting. The story exists in several further versions in different languages, including the Middle English Ywain and Gawain . However, the mysterious 14th-century so-called Prose Yvain is a mostly unrelated text and not an actual prosification of Chrétien's poem. It contains only one Yvain episode, telling of his rescue of
1995-759: The basis of the literary character, ruled as the king of Rheged in Britain during the late-6th century. Yvain was one of the earliest characters associated with King Arthur . He was also one of the most popular, starring as the eponymous hero in Chrétien de Troyes ' late-12th-century Yvain, the Knight of the Lion and appearing prominently in many later accounts, often accompanied by his fierce pet lion. He remains Urien's son in virtually all literature in which he appears, whereas other Arthurian-legend characters based on historical figures usually lost their original familial connections in romance literature. Ywain (Yvain) takes his name from Owain mab Urien (Owain son of Urien ),
2052-556: The best and most valiant men in the world." The chronicle Scalacronica uses the cyclical prose narrative but vastly expands of Yvain's roles in the battle, having him replace Arthur as Mordred's slayer as well as Griflet in the final scenes. Yvain's birth by the fay ( fairy ) Morgan may have its roots in Welsh legends : two of the Triads claim the goddess-like figure of Modron as his mother. Travelling through Denbighshire , Urien comes across
2109-480: The characters described events that happened long before medieval times. After the departure of the Roman Legions, the later half of the 5th century was a difficult time in Britain. King Arthur's twelve battles and defeat of invaders and raiders are said to have culminated in the Battle of Badon . There is no consensus about the ultimate meaning of The Dream of Rhonabwy . On one hand it derides Madoc 's time, which
2166-534: The chess men. The Saxon leaders arrive and ask for a truce of two weeks, and the armies move on to Cornwall . Rhonabwy, the dreamer of the Dream , awakens, and the reader is left as confused as he is. The Dream of Rhonabwy has never been satisfactorily interpreted. Arthurian legend By century The Matter of Britain ( French : matière de Bretagne ) is the body of medieval literature and legendary material associated with Great Britain and Brittany and
2223-400: The development of Arthurian legend, with links to Nennius and early Welsh poetry. By contrast, The Dream of Rhonabwy is set in the reign of the historical Madog ap Maredudd (1130–60), and must therefore either be contemporary with or postdate his reign, being perhaps early 13th C. Much debate has been focused on the dating of the Four Branches of the Mabinogi . Ifor Williams offered
2280-770: The diaspora of heroes that followed the Trojan War . As such, this material could be used for patriotic myth-making just as Virgil linked the founding of Rome to the Trojan War in The Æneid . Geoffrey lists Coel Hen as a King of the Britons , whose daughter, Helena marries Constantius Chlorus and gives birth to a son who becomes the Emperor Constantine the Great , tracing the Roman imperial line to British ancestors. It has been suggested that Leir of Britain, who later became King Lear,
2337-612: The earliest extant versions of the stories, but are on the whole modern ascriptions. The eleven tales are not adjacent in either of the main early manuscript sources, the White Book of Rhydderch ( c. 1375 ) and the Red Book of Hergest ( c. 1400 ), and indeed Breuddwyd Rhonabwy is absent from the White Book. The Four Branches of the Mabinogi ( Pedair Cainc y Mabinogi ) are
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2394-599: The early Arthurian and pseudo-historical sources of the Matter of Britain. The Scots , for instance, formulated a mythical history in the Pictish and the Dál Riata royal lines. While they do eventually become factual lines, unlike those of Geoffrey, their origins are vague and often incorporate both aspects of mythical British history and mythical Irish history. The story of Gabrán mac Domangairt especially incorporates elements of both those histories. The Arthurian literary cycle
2451-603: The evil giant Malduit (eventually slain by Bors the Younger ), his participation in the liberation of the Castle of Maidens , and saving the life of a younger Mordred injured in a tournament. Yvain's importance is indicated by his close friendship with Gawain and by the passage in the Mort Artu section of the Lancelot-Grail cycle where he is one of the last to die before King Arthur at
2508-475: The legends of Charlemagne and his companions , as well as the Matter of Rome , which included material derived from or inspired by classical mythology and classical history . Its pseudo- chronicle and chivalric romance works, written both in prose and verse, flourished from the 12th to the 16th century. The three "matters" were first described in the 12th century by French poet Jean Bodel , whose epic Chanson des Saisnes [ fr ] ("Song of
2565-503: The lion, followed by several more unrelated episodes in which Yvain is no longer main character. Yvain appears also in numerous other romances. In some of them he has alternate family relations, for example his father in Sir Perceval of Galles is named Asoure and in Claris et Laris (where Yvain kills the king of Turkey, Corsabrin) he has a sister named Marine. As Yvain the Great (or Yvain
2622-454: The most clearly mythological stories contained in the Mabinogion collection. Pryderi appears in all four, though not always as the central character. Also included in Guest's compilation are five stories from Welsh tradition and legend: The tales Culhwch and Olwen and The Dream of Rhonabwy have interested scholars because they preserve older traditions of King Arthur. The subject matter and
2679-411: The tale of Culhwch ac Olwen, with its primitive warlord Arthur and his court based at Celliwig , is generally accepted to precede the Arthurian romances, which themselves show the influence of Geoffrey of Monmouth 's Historia Regum Britanniae (1134–36) and the romances of Chrétien de Troyes . Those following R. S. Loomis would date it before 1100, and see it as providing important evidence for
2736-418: The tales have been preserved in earlier 13th century and later manuscripts. Scholars agree that the tales are older than the existing manuscripts, but disagree over just how much older. It is clear that the different texts included in the Mabinogion originated at different times (though regardless their importance as records of early myth, legend, folklore, culture, and language of Wales remains immense). Thus
2793-480: The tales in the Mabinogion have been much debated, a range from 1050 to 1225 being proposed, with the consensus being that they are to be dated to the late 11th and 12th centuries. The stories of the Mabinogion appear in either or both of two medieval Welsh manuscripts, the White Book of Rhydderch or Llyfr Gwyn Rhydderch , written c. 1350 , and the Red Book of Hergest or Llyfr Coch Hergest , written about 1382–1410, though texts or fragments of some of
2850-584: The tales of the Paladins of Charlemagne and their wars with the Moors and Saracens , which constituted the " Matter of France ". King Arthur is the chief subject of the Matter of Britain, along with stories related to the legendary kings of Britain , as well as lesser-known topics related to the history of Great Britain and Brittany , such as the stories of Brutus of Troy , Coel Hen , Leir of Britain (King Lear), and Gogmagog . The legendary history of Britain
2907-401: The trend has been to attempt to link the tales of King Arthur and his knights with Celtic mythology , usually in highly romanticized, 20th-century reconstructed versions. The work of Jessie Weston , in particular From Ritual to Romance , traced Arthurian imagery through Christianity to roots in early nature worship and vegetation rites, though this interpretation is no longer fashionable. It
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#17328454959622964-600: The work of Chrétien de Troyes . Critics have debated whether the Welsh Romances are based on Chrétien's poems or if they derive from a shared original. Though it is arguable that the surviving Romances might derive, directly or indirectly, from Chrétien, it is probable that he in turn based his tales on older, Celtic sources. The Welsh stories are not direct translations and include material not found in Chrétien's work. [REDACTED] This article incorporates text from
3021-497: The year to receive his children and these are the twins Owain and Morvydd. However, Yvain is not associated with Morgan in the continental literature until the Post-Vulgate cycle. (Morgan appears in Chrétien's Knight of the Lion as a healer but the author does not imply she is the protagonist's mother.) Calogrenant or Colgrevance from Knight of the Lion is his another important cousin in the romances. In The Dream of Rhonabwy ,
3078-434: Was created partly to form a body of patriotic myth for the country. Several agendas thus can be seen in this body of literature. According to John J. Davenport, the question of Britain's identity and significance in the world "was a theme of special importance for writers trying to find unity in the mixture of their land's Celtic, Anglo-Saxon, Roman and Norse inheritance." Geoffrey of Monmouth 's Historia Regum Britanniae
3135-646: Was interested in the legendary history of Britain, and was familiar with some of its more obscure byways. Shakespeare's plays contain several tales relating to these legendary kings, such as King Lear and Cymbeline . It has been suggested that Shakespeare's Welsh schoolmaster Thomas Jenkins introduced him to this material. These tales also figure in Raphael Holinshed 's The Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland , which also appears in Shakespeare's sources for Macbeth . Other early authors also drew from
3192-565: Was originally the Welsh sea-god Llŷr , related to the Irish Ler . Various Celtic deities have been identified with characters from Arthurian literature as well: for example Morgan le Fay was often thought to have originally been the Welsh goddess Modron or Irish the Morrígan . Many of these identifications come from the speculative comparative religion of the late 19th century and have been questioned in more recent years. William Shakespeare
3249-504: Was the plural of 'mabinogi', which is already a Welsh plural occurring correctly at the end of the remaining three branches. The word mabinogi itself is something of a puzzle, although clearly derived from the Welsh mab , which means "son, boy, young person". Eric P. Hamp , of the earlier school traditions in mythology, found a suggestive connection with Maponos , "the Divine Son", a Gaulish deity . Mabinogi properly applies only to
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