MABINOGI WEBINAR SUCCESS
The Mabinogi: Legend and Landscape of Wales
By Susan Davies Sit
During the month of March, almost thirty people signed on to Zoom each Thursday to join the Welsh Society of Western New England in learning about the Four Branches of The Mabinogi from members John Bollard and Margaret Lloyd of Florence, Massachusetts. Each week our homework was to read one of the four branches.
The Mabinogi: Legend and Landscape of Wales by John Bollard
John Bollard has translated The Mabinogi into English, and he has written and lectured widely about these tales for fifty years. The text of his book, The Mabinogi: Legend and Landscape of Wales, was offered to the registrants as a PDF, though many chose to purchase the book in order to see the many glorious color photos of Wales by Anthony Griffiths. Margaret Lloyd is an accomplished poet, and selections from her book, Travelling on My Own Errands: Voices of Women from The Mabinogi, were also offered to the group. Her poems respond to the tales through the personae of the women characters, revealing their imagined thoughts and providing us with multiple ways to enter into a closer engagement with a classic of medieval literature that remains relevant today.www.johnbollard.com.
Hosts Lowri Jones and Susan Davies Sit opened with welcomes and introductions to John and Margaret. Behind the scenes, Ed Brown worked his website and email magic to ensure everyone had what they needed. Each week, John led us through one of the Four Branches of the Mabinogi, by explaining the characters, their motives, and the historical and geographical context of the tales. The presentation was punctuated with a few of the beautiful photos of Mabinogi locations by Anthony Griffiths which are in their book. The lectures were also enhanced when Margaret read some of her poems about the women in The Mabinogi. These gave not only perspective, but beauty and warmth to the women.
The group had opportunities each week to ask John and Margaret questions about the characters, places, and mystical story content. They responded with clarity to our questions and added immensely to our understanding of the tales..
Travelling on My Own Errands: Voices of Women from The Mabinogi by Margaret Lloyd
This event was a huge success, as evidenced by the wonderful comments we received, such as the following:
“Before this program I had read, or rather, attempted to read The Mabinogi, but it was just words. John Bollard has done an excellent job of presenting this Welsh treasure in a way that is not only understandable, but relevant to the 21st century. And Margaret Lloyd’s poetry is so rich; she brings the women of the
century. And Margaret Lloyd’s poetry is so rich; she brings the women of the tales to life, as well as their journeys, in a way today’s women can relate. This has been a very enriching experience.” (Susan Jenkins Meers)
“By John Bollard offering this set of lectures of tales from the oldest of the recorded legends of Britain, I feel I have understood somewhat (at last) the real depth of the Mabinogi and the richness of its characters, heroes and foes alike. Margaret Lloyd’s poetry is amazing, she adds so much color, and fleshes out the women who are so integral in the medieval era. She puts so much emotion into her reading of the poems, one almost feels a part of the story oneself.” (Magdalen Dowden).
“I have some Celtic heritage (mostly Scottish, a tiny bit of Welsh), but my ancestors arrived in America so long ago that I grew up without much awareness of that heritage or what it means. Over the last few years, as I've learned to speak Welsh and traveled to Wales, I've thought a lot about what it means to have lost that part of my ancestry and what it means to long for it. The food, the songs, the folktales - all the little bits and pieces that make up the texture of a culture and that situate us in time, place, and people. I felt like I got to touch a beautiful little bit of that culture in learning more about The Mabinogi with the WSWNE. I didn't grow up with the stories as I might have if I'd grown up in Wales; I don't have friends and relatives named for the characters. In short, I don't have the intuitive familiarity that comes with growing up surrounded by it, so it was a delight to learn about how the tales are situated in medieval Welsh history, politics, and law - they finally make sense! John Bollard and Margaret Lloyd humanized the stories so beautifully, drawing out the context and motivations and suggesting ways to enter into the mindset of the characters and medieval listeners. Hearing about context and translation choices satisfied my inner nerd as well as my inner longing for connection with my Celtic roots.” (Brennan Mallonee)
Connecting Welsh Americans with Wales is a particular mission of WSWNE and we do that in many different ways, especially as our membership grows to include people from all over the USA and Canada. We offer a variety of learning opportunities via Zoom.