lah%ucbmiro@Berkeley (06/18/85)
From: lah%ucbmiro@Berkeley (1st Lt. RYN Leigh Ann Hussey)
The person who despairs of what has been wreaked on the Four Branches over
the centuries might do well to look up the original Welsh -- after all,
even translations are defiling! (;-) Seriously, the best editions to be
had for study are those published by the Dublin Institute for Advanced
Studies. Each Branch (there are only 2 out so far, maybe 3 by now) comes
framed with introduction and copious notes, and there is a glossary in back.
For the brave. And the purist.
For the cowardly, the best modern version I know is (Great Arawn in Annwfn!)
the four modern interpretations by Evangeline Walton. They are (with their
respective Branch names in English & Welsh)
The Prince of Annwn ("Pwyll Pendefic Dyfed"; Pwyll Prince of Dyfed)
The Children of Llyr ("Branwen ferch Llyr"; Branwen Daughter of Llyr)
The Song of Rhiannon ("Manawyddan fab Llyr; Manawyddan Son of Llyr)
The Island of the Mighty ("Math fab Mathonwy"; Math Son of Mathonwy)
I don't find Walton taking liberties with the stories. She uses the bare
Branches as a framework, laying on them leaves of her own interpretation,
in the same way as I fancy the tale-tellers of old must have done, using
the simple versions as mnemonics for the plot. This is why the original
Branches are so short. (The Dublin Inst. books are more notes than text!)
Walton's stories are good stuff. Conflict of culture & ideals, conflict
between this World and the Otherworld, tragedy and heroism, archetypes,
adventures, fighting, loving, and like that. I recommend them even to
those (and there seem to be many on this list...) who dislike Fantasy.
It's such a shame that her later works are not up to par. Sigh.
Bendithion i chi!
Leigh Ann