The Mabinogion is the title for a collection of eleven medieval Welsh prose tales ("Mab" = youth --> tale of a youth or hero). The manuscript is dated about 1325, but the collection probably dates from 1100, and that after some of the tales had been in oral transmission who know how much earlier. They draw on myth, folklore, and Celtic history.

"Culhwch and Olwen" is the earliest Arthurian story and probably appeared in written form first in the late 10th century. Reading this one can be frustrating and is certainly disorienting. How do you explain, or even describe, the strangeness of the story? Why do we feel confused or uncertain reading this? Discuss the pace or the flow of the story.

For more discussion, see here.

"Culhwch and Olwen." The Mabinogion. Trans. Gwyn Jones and Thomas Jones. London: J.M. Dent & Sons, Ltd., 1949. Rpt. 1977.