Welcome back to White Rose of Avalon, my Darlings.   Today’s blog post is a review of Mabon and the Guardians of Celtic Britain: Hero Myths in the Mabinogion by Caitlin Matthews!   I have had this book on my to-read list for a while now, and I am happy to have finally read this one.

I have read many books by Caitlin Matthews (and John Matthews as well), and this one was a very enjoyable and interesting read!   Essentially, the book is structured largely as a reading companion to The Mabinogion, which was not what I had expected before reading the book.   Upon reading the introduction and realizing the structure, I was actually pleasantly surprised, as it was very nice to get the opportunity to re-read the branches of The Mabinogion as I worked my way through this book!   Each chapter was broken up into a brief overview of the story from The Mabinogion, which serves as a solid review of the story right after reading it (if you choose to re-read the stories as you work your way through the chapters), then commentary on the story, and finally several sections of comparison between the story and other Celtic lore (often Irish) and even connections to Greek Myth.   This provided a very well-formatted way to study the stories in this incredibly important collection of Welsh Celtic folklore!

I had a lot of interesting realizations during the course of reading this book, with new information clicking into place, as well as a sense of feeling not alone.   The latter was likely due to when the observations Matthews made in certain cases aligned well with my own interpretations of the tales, but they were not observations that I had seen anyone else make!   Of course, I did not fully agree with every interpretation and observation made in this book, as we each have our own unique ways of interpreting the stories of The Mabinogion.   Honestly, I think it is very important to expose ourselves to many different ways of thinking about folklore in order to broaden our horizons!

I would highly recommend this book as a great companion to deepening your study of the stories of The Mabinogion.   I hope you have enjoyed reading my thoughts on this great book by Caitlin Matthews.   Have you read this book?   Are you interested in reading it now?   Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

Note on Image: The image at the top of the post is the cover of the book.   I found the picture on https://www.amazon.com/Mabon-Guardians-Celtic-Britain-Mabinogion/dp/0892819200.    

LINK TO AVALONIAN ROSE FAERY MYSTERIES PATREON: patreon.com/AvalonianRoseFaeryMysteries 

Further Reading

• Mabon and the Guardians of Celtic Britain: Hero Myths in the Mabinogion by Caitlin Matthews
• The Mabinogion (any translation)