It had been better than 40 years since I last read this. I loved it then, so much so I named my eldest daughter Rhiannon. I love it still. It's not a strict translation, or a scholarly analysis, but a retelling, in novel form, of the ancient Welsh tales. There's a good deal of conjecture, speculation, embellishment and invention, but it fits together quite nicely and, I elive, sheds some needed light on Celtic religious attitudes that have been obscured in other contexts. A must read - and a fine one. ( )

This is a brilliant re-telling of the First Branch of the Mabinogion, that mysterious tale of ancient Wales that has been translated both well and not-so-well over the centuries. Evangeline Walton does a marvelous job building out the drama, the language, and the tension that the bards conveyed. It is a tale as hold as humanity: human Pwyll, Prince of Dyved, meets with Arawn, Lord of Death and the Underworld called Annwn. Here, they switch places and both their aspects are changed. Pwyll even rides the Grey Horse of Arawn while Arawn rides Pwyll's horse. And there are the tasks that only Pwyll can do in place of Arawn in order to save humanity from destruction of warring tribes while Pwyll also gets to take Arawn's seat in his kingdom for a year and a day.

As the tale of Pwyll unfolds into the tale of Rhiannon with her birds, Pwyll brings his Ninety-Nine Companions to the Mound of Gordsedd Arberth where they seek, in charmed slumber, to join the first King of Dyved and his daughter, Rhiannon, so that Pwyll might marry her and thereby gain a Queen and an heir. Three times they climb the Mound, and three times the Old Druid seeks to murder him with his sickle, only to be thwarted in his lust for absolute and continued power and control. Walton's ability to bring ancient tales to a modern audience are most welcome with this volume. ( )

What a delightful find. Simple language, evocative imagining of the legends. Reminded me of a translation of the stories of Cuchulain I read (some time ago, can't remember author, argh). Plenty of gender conflict material here with the Old Tribes matrilineal (ignorant of father's role in child creation) and the New Tribes patrilineal. ( )

This is the second I've read of Walton's retellings of the Mabinogion. This isn't as artfully composed as the first she wrote, The Island of the Mighty. In that story, her politics seemed to flow naturally, but here they only reminded me of the contrast between the way the Celts treated women and the way we romantics would like to imagine they did. But, Walton fleshes out Pwyll's journey through the underworld with haunting images that help move the story into nearly a bildungsroman and deepen its romance. ( )

A lyrical, earthy retelling of the Mabinogion (medieval Welsh tale). I was surprised to find I liked the hero of the story--medieval heroes are generally either terribly stupid or complete prigs, and Pwyll is not bright but brighter than many of his countrymen. This, the first part of Walton's four-part retelling, seems mostly concerned with the transition between the old, pagan ways and Christianity, which is to come. I wish the oracles and gods had spent a little less time fortelling what would happen in the twentieth century (pollution, we don't respect the Mother Earth, we fly and harness lightning), but it's overall a good, fast read of an ancient myth. ( )