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is to challenge any preconceived notions and to provide a platform from which to re-examine the relationship between the individual tales.
    In an attempt to understand the resonances of these medievalWelsh texts, Explanatory Notes and Indexes of Personal and Place- Names are provided; their aim is to enhance the reading experience by placing the tales in a wider cultural and literary context, and by highlighting the intertextuality of medieval Welsh prose narrative. We can never expect to recover the tradition of reception that existed in medieval Wales. But we can try to recognize the signals, understand the cues, in order to transmit to a modern-day reader these unique theatrical experiences.

GUIDE TO PRONUNCIATION
     
    Since the emphasis in this translation is on performance, it is important that readers think about how the texts would have sounded to a listening audience, especially the alliterative personal names. Welsh spelling is largely phonetic, with the stress falling almost always on the penultimate syllable, e.g. MabinÓgion, Perédur, Máxen, Llefélys, Géraint, Rhonábwy. The following is meant to be a very rough guide rather than an accurate phonetic description.
Welsh consonants
     
    As in English, except for the following:
     
     
c
carol
; never as in
cider
ch
loch
; never as in
chair
dd
this
; never as in
thorn
f
as in
of
ff
as in
off
g
girl
; never
gem
ng
sing
; never
angel
or
finger
h
hat
; never silent in Welsh
ll
articulated by putting the tongue in the
l
position and producing a voiceless breathy sound
h
hat
; never silent in Welsh
r
trilled/rolled as in Italian
rh
articulated by putting the tongue in the
r
position and producing a voiceless breathy sound
s
sit
; never
rose si
+ vowel is pronounced as
sh
, as in
shop
th
thin
; never
the
i
and
w
can also be used as consonants:
i
yes
w
water
Welsh vowels can be short or long
     
     
a
cat
father
e
pet
bear
i
sit
machine
o
pot
more
u
sit
machine
w
cook
pool
y
sit
machine
cut
(in all positions except monosyllables and final syllables)
Diphthongs
     
     
ae, ai, au
aye
aw
ah
+
oo
ei, eu, ey
eye
ew
eh
+
oo (well
backwards)
iw, uw
dew
oe, oi
oil
ow
Owen
, not
down
yw
bough
wy
gooy
(with the two vowels compressed into one syllable)
Mutations
     
    The beginnings of Welsh words change (or mutate) under certain circumstances; for example,
Cymru
(Wales) can appear as
Gymru
,
Chymru
, and
Nghymru
. A mutation also takes place in the second of two words joined together as a compound, thus affecting many of the proper names found in the
Mabinogion
(e.g. Glewlwyd < glew + llwyd; Ewingath < ewin + cath).
Pronunciation of Common Names (an accent denotes stress)
     
     
Aranrhod
Arr-ánn-hrod
Bendigeidfran
Ben-dee-géyed-vran
Blodeuedd
Blod-éye-ethe
Branwen
Brán-wen
Cai
Kaye
Cigfa
Kíg-vah
Culhwch
Kíll-hooch
Enid
Énn-id
Gilfaethwy
Gill-váye-thooee
Gronw
Gróh-noo
Gwenhwyfar
Gwen-hóoy-varr
Gwydion
Góoyd-eeon
Llefelys
Llev-él-iss
Lleu
Ll-eye
Lludd
Lleethe
Luned
Lýn-ed
Manawydan
Man-ah-wúd-an [
wud
as in
bud
]
Matholwch
Math-óll-ooch
Olwen
Ól-wen
Owain
Ów-aye-n
Peredur
Per-éd-eer
Pryderi
Prud-érry [
Prud
as in
bud
]
Pwyll
Pooy-ll
Rhiannon
Hree-án-on
Rhonabwy
Hron-áb-ooee
Ysbaddaden
Us-bath-ád-en [
th
as in
then
]

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
     
Editions (including a substantial introduction and notes
)
* denotes a Welsh-language edition
     
Rachel Bromwich and D. Simon Evans,
Culhwch and Olwen: An Edition and Study of the Oldest Arthurian Tale
(Cardiff, 1988).
Patrick K. Ford,
Math uab Mathonwy
(Belmont, Mass., 1999).
——
Manawydan uab Llyr
(Belmont, Mass., 2000).
Glenys Witchard Goetinck,
Historia Peredur vab Efrawc
(Cardiff, 1976).*
——
Manawydan uab Llyr
(Belmont, Mass., 2000).
Ian Hughes,
Math uab Mathonwy
(Aberystwyth, 2000).*
Melville Richards,
Breudwyt Ronabwy
(Cardiff, 1948).*
Brynley F. Roberts,
Cyfranc Lludd a Llefelys
(Dublin, 1975).
——
Breudwyt Maxen Wledic
(Dublin, 2005).
Derick S. Thomson,
Branwen Uerch Lyr
(Dublin, 1976).
R. L.