The Black Cauldron by Lloyd Alexander

'The Black Cauldron' could have taken me by surprise. Why you ask, well our old friend Walt Disney made a version of this book. Therefore, if you have seen the movie like the Disney movie Tinker Bell its not. I found Book 2 to be full of wonder and excitement beyond anything Mickey Mouse could deliver. Perhaps one of the most inspiring of all five books, 'The Black Cauldron' tests the companions (Taran, Eilonwy, Gurgi, and Fflewddur). Not only was their courage tested, but also their true virtue, for Taran and his companions were, given more than once, the chance to become evil doers. In the end, as Alexander puts it, you cannot always judge good and evil 'unmixed,' sometimes you must remember people for what they once were, and others for what they became. This is a retelling of the Mabinogion’s ‘Cauldron of Rebirth’ bringing to the young at heart a vivid way to introduce the Mabinogi. Paperback: 208 pages Rating: 5 Stars Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. BYR Paperbacks (May 16, 2006) Review by Bill Tillman

The Mabinogion Tetralogy by Evangeline Walton

Fantastic telling of the four branches of the Mabinogion. One truly needs to read several versions before being comfortable with the four branches. This is my ultimate favorite among all books Mabinogi. In the forward Betty Ballantine tells the story of Evangeline Walton born in 1907 in Indianapolis Indiana as a blue baby and never enjoying good health. All her life she had to cope with silver nitrate treatments which left her with a blue complexion. She was thus home educated and was very much a recluse. In this atmosphere, she began a life long love affair with books, her early favorite authors being Rider Haggard, Edgar Rice Burroughs, L. Frank Baum, and Lord Dunsany. The worlds of fantasy, love and adventure were also her world. A love of ancient and medieval history as well as the high poets formed her. Along with these factors, writing became a lifelong habit and passion. Her direction was toward magic and fantasy and when mixed with her burgeoning imagination this led her to the Mabinogion with its heroic myths of ancient Welsh lore. Therefore, her ambition focused on this rich body of literature. The myths, with a matter-of-fact acceptance of magic in the everyday lives of humankind, together with the fierce, tempestuous stories of the early Cymru, the titanic imagery, the blending of gods and men - proved the lure of a lifetime. In 1936, Walton published the Forth Branch of the Mabinogion with a title of 'The Virgin and the Swine.' This in the Depression went largely unnoticed. In the early 1970's Ballantine Books found a copy of 'The Virgin and the Swine. .Having started a new line of adult fantasy books, they were more than eager to republish this book. The Library of Congress did not have an address for the author, the publisher was long defunct. Ballantine posted ads for any information about the author in hundreds of publications. Calling the republished book The Island of the Mighty it was already in its print run when the Library of Congress informed them that the copyright had been renewed but  they still had no address. A  publisher's nightmare! Then another author found a twenty-year-old address for Walton. She was living in Tucson Arizona, and was pleased to see her book back in print. She asked if Ballantine would like the manuscripts for the other three branches. Checking and revising her early work, Prince of Annwn, The Children of Llyr, and the Song of Rhiannon The Mabinogion Tetralogy was published to the delight of dedicated fans of the Ballantine adult fantasy series. Recognition of her immense writing talents followed rapidly in the mainstream media. The Saturday Review of Literature wrote of Walton: “Evangeline Walton stands with T. H. White and C. S. Lewis as not only the best fantasies of the twentieth century. . . they are great works of fiction. Walton succeeds in creating an imaginary world that we believe actually existed [their italics] in this world’s history.” So this is the one work you cannot live without if you love the tales of the Mabinogi. Paperback: 720 pages Publisher: Overlook TP (December 31, 2003) Rating: 5 Stars Review by Bill Tillman

The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander

The tale of Taran, assistant pig keeper, has been entertaining young readers for generations. Set in the mythical land of Prydain (which bears a more than passing resemblance to Wales), Lloyd Alexander's book draws together the elements of the hero's journey from unformed boy to courageous young man. Taran grumbles with frustration at home in the hamlet Caer Dallben; he yearns to go into battle like his hero, Prince Gwydion. Before the story is over, he has met his hero and fought the evil leader who threatens the peace of Prydain: the Horned King. What brings the tale of Taran to life is Alexander's skillful use of humor, and the way he personalizes the mythology he has so clearly studied. Taran isn't a stick figure; in fact, the author makes a point of mocking him just at the moments when he's acting the most highhanded and heroic. When he and the young girl Eilonwy flee the castle of the wicked queen Achren, Taran emotes, "'Spiral Castle has brought me only grief; I have no wish to see it again.' 'What has it brought the rest of us?' Eilonway asked. 'You make it sound as though we were just sitting around having a splendid time while you moan and take on.'" By the end, Alexander has spun a rousing hero's tale and created a compelling coming-of-age story. Readers will sigh with relief when they realize The Book of Three is only the first of the chronicles of Prydain. Paperback: 190 pages Rating: 5 Stars Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. BYR Paperbacks (May 16, 2006) Review by Bill Tillman

The Mabinogi by Patrick K. Ford

Patrick Ford has given us a college level version of the Mabinogion with a great many notes explaining the background and hard parts of the translation. A very worthwhile version to have in your library. First, "The Four Branches of the Mabinogi," from which the collective title was derived, consisting of "Pwyll, Prince of Dyved," Branwen Daughter of Llyr," "Manawydan Son of Llyr," and "Math Son of Mathonwy." These begin with a story about the conception and birth of Pwyll's son, Pryderi, whose death is one of the early events in the "Fourth Branch," and concern a variety of heroes, and what are clearly rationalized gods. (Evangeline Walton turned each of the "Four Branches" into a novel; and other writers have done versions of one or another of them.) Second, there are two "native tales," "The Dream of Maxen Wledig" and "The Story of Lludd and Lleuelys," about Roman ("historical") and pre-Roman ("mythical") Britain as imagined by the medieval Welsh. The 'Lludd" text, as we have it, actually belongs to the "Chronicle" tradition launched by Geoffrey of Monmouth's supposed translation from an "ancient British book." (Which, if any part of it ever had any existence, was NOT the "Mabinogion.") The name of Lludd seems to be Welsh variant of a Celtic divine name, "Nuada" in Irish, "Nodens" in old British inscriptions, and "Nudd" in other Welsh sources; the variation seems to be due to assimilation to his epithet, Llaw Eraint, "Silver Hand," which is explained in the Irish tale of how the physician of the Gods made new hand for Nuada Argatlam." (H.P. Lovecraft picked up "Nodens" for the Cthulhu Mythos, a use which is unrelated; but Tolkien, whose hero Beren also lost a hand, actually wrote an early article on the Nodens inscriptions, and the apparent offerings of metal hands.) He may be behind King Lud, the supposed eponym of London. As Ford points out, Lleuellys, usually given as Llevellys, and also modernized as Llefellys, clearly should be read as Lleu-ellys, and recognized as a version of the god Lugh: the name Lleu is also used for a character in the Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi. "Maxen," in which a Roman Emperor seeks as his wife a princess seen in a dream, seems to reflect an even more garbled version of a story known to Geoffrey, compounding several real people, including Helen, the mother of the Emperor Constantine. She was, in a medieval confusion compounding an honest mistake with local patriotism, believed to be British, and identified with "Elen of the Hosts." Ford drops this, as it seems to contain a rather high proportion of medieval hagiography and romance, and a very low proportion of archaic Welsh tradition. Third are two Arthurian stories in native Welsh mode. "Culhwch and Olwen," is an elaborate quest, dragging in, at least by name, most of the gods and heroes traceable in Welsh material, and some of their Irish cousins into the bargain, mostly as part of Arthur's court. "The Dream of Rhonabwy" is a visionary encounter with Arthur and his warriors (and anything else I could say would probably be controversial); a fascinating text, which, after a very grittily realistic opening, almost boasts of its authentically dreamlike obscurity. It breaks off in a manner most modern readers will find unsatisfactory -- and its arbitrary nature may have been part of the point. Ford does not include it; a pity, but it is probably the least readable part of the collection. Fourthly however Ford does not translate the three "Romances," "Owain" (otherwise known as "The Lady of the Fountain"), "Peredur son of Evrawc," and "Gereint the Son of Erbin," the first and last of which are clearly versions of Chretien de Troyes' Old French Arthurian Romances, "Yvain" and "Erec," while the second is related in a more complex manner to his unfinished and problematic "Perceval le Gallois." These seem to illustrate Celtic materials going out into wider European society, and then flowing back into Wales to enrich (and confuse) the native heroic and mythic tradition with ideas of chivalry. The version of "Taliesin," based, as noted earlier, on the text Ford had re-edited from manuscripts, is restored to its two-story version, as "The Tale of Gwion Bach" and "The Tale of Taliesin," and includes reliable versions of the poems attributed to the variously-reborn hero. Again, there was a real Taliesin, a dark-age Bard, according to Welsh tradition; but these poems, like the stories, are pretty much independent of anything he may have actually composed. But they *may* reflect some very archaic ideas about the magical nature of poetry, which were old when the real Taliesin was alive. Ford included as an appendix a translation of the notoriously difficult "Cad Goddeu," or "Battle of the Trees." Ford doesn't claim to understand its "real meaning," if any, only what it actually says, and it is very nice to have it. Paperback: 205 pages Rating: 4 Stars Review by Bill Tillman

Tales From The Mabinogion - Gwyn Thomas / Kevin Crossley-Holland

This could be called an illustrated Readers Digest of the Mabinogion. At 88 pages including illustrations, which are excellent, this is a small work. Some branches of the Mabinogion are done well if briefly, others are lacking. This collection of medieval Welsh tales was selected from the Mabinogion myth cycle. They serve as great examples of the old stories of the Celtic Gods who lived on the Island of the Mighty before the Romans and the Anglo-Saxons came. These gods were pushed into mythic status by the coming of Christianity and they live on in these tales. With vibrant Welsh names like Branwen, Bendigeidfran, and Cigfa, these male and female heroes of yesteryear encounter beautiful enchantresses, powerful kings of the underworld, and the magical cauldron of rebirth. These are powerful tales of an ancient time when giants roamed the earth and magic was afoot. They rely on familiar folk tale archetypes, but have distinctly Celtic elements that make them unique. The book was originally written for adults, and it includes stunning illustrations that include an artistically rendered nude image of a woman, but the tales themselves are accessible to readers and listeners of all ages. This book would be a good addition to any folk tale collection. Purchase here:- Tales From The Mabinogion Paperback: 88 pages Rating: 5 Stars Review by Bill Tillman

Tales of an Aber Lad

A top television producer has described how he looked on in horror as a trapeze artist plunged helplessly to her death in the big top at an Aberystwyth circus. The tragedy is one of a collection of memories of David Lloyd’s childhood in the 1940s and ’50s in his autobiography Tales of an Aber Lad. David was a teenager in the Bertram Mills audience in May 1958 when 31-year-old Frances Duncan fell 25 feet, head first, after a defective rope became loose around her ankle. David says, “In my young life, I had never felt so frozen with shock and horror. I had seen her plummet and hit the ground and it was terrible. She lay there in the sawdust, her body shaking violently but the band struck up a tune and the clowns came on and distracted us as Frances was taken away to the North Road Hospital.”

Other recollections include a quack German ‘doctor’ who made patients bathe naked beneath Constitution Hill and an outbreak of typhoid fever, caused by local ice cream, which threatened to wreck the resort’s post-war tourist trade. The author, now living in semi-retirement in Aberystwyth, remembers the glory days of the old Coliseum Cinema, presided over by its formidable owner Mrs Gale, the “Grand Dame of picture palaces.” David says, “If there was romance on the Coliseum screen it was nothing compared to the passion in the back row of the stalls.” The ‘activities’ there are said to have been “so intense that the entire row from Seat 1 to Seat 25 had developed a treacherous lean.”

Reminiscences include news of the first television signal, picked up from a Midlands transmitter in 1950. The reception was said to have been better at night, “when there was less traffic on Trefechan Bridge.” Similarly early wireless (radio) signals were believed to have been affected by “bad weather around Pen Dinas.” A world that has long since disappeared was enlivened by the (Air Raid) Wardens Dramatic Society with producer Wilf Jones, the popular seasonal pantomimes of Peggy Royston and Shirley Twiddy, and “dainty teas” at DW Teviotdale in North Parade. David turns back the clock to remember the ‘big freeze’ of 1947, sweets becoming ration coupon free in 1953 and the terrors of the gas machine at the Portland Street dentists’. He remembers the November Fair with Ronnie Taylor’s Boxing Booth and the town girls who were “thrown around on the waltzer, hiding their stockings and suspenders from blasts of cold air.” Milk poured into jugs from churns carried by horse and cart was supplemented by doorstep deliveries from the likes of Mister Lister the green grocer and the eagerly awaited Corona man. Bread, coal, meat and fish were also delivered direct in those days, while itinerants brought candles and clothes pegs. Then there were visits to the traditional shops of Hodges, Bradleys, Daniel Thomas and Albert Davies. The Gwalia Motor Company boasted that it provided “a reliable motor car that could cover any distance.”

David recalls the launch of the Eagle comic, the wonders of the first radiograms, rides on Crosville buses, houses with no central heating, beatings in school and being ordered to inhale fumes from the Gas Works as a cure for whooping cough. Aber is said to have been “awash with tea rooms, coal merchants, iron mongers, dressmakers and tailors.” Personalities abounded, including businessman John Potts who wore his trilby like an American gangster. Seilo Chapel’s organist Charles Clements was described by no less than Sir Henry Wood as “the finest accompanist in Europe.”

Born in the Caradoc Road maternity home in 1940, David Lloyd is the son of the late Gilbert Lloyd, manager of the old David Roberts Brewery in Trefechan. For many years David was producer/director of award-winning programmes for HTV Wales in Cardiff, where he became Head of Features and Head of Community Programmes. Another distinguished ‘Aber Lad’, the acclaimed author Herbert Williams, says in his foreword that David’s tales are “told with humour, dexterity and lightness of touch that makes for easy and rewarding reading. They are accompanied by a diversity of photographs which will surprise and even astonish readers.”

New From 'Y Lolfa" - "Famous Welsh Tales"

Famous Welsh Tales is a brand new book of five Welsh folk tales published by Y Lolfa this week. It is aimed at children aged 7-9 who are independent readers. Wales has always been immensely proud of its cultural heritage and these stories depict some of the country’s best-loved folk heroes, such as Dic Penderyn’s brave stand during the Merthyr Riots of the 1830s and includes one of the best-known tales of Wales – the drowning of the kingdom of Cantre’r Gwaelod in Cardigan Bay.

The author, Meinir Wyn Edwards, has 18 years’ experience as a primary school teacher, but decided to give up education and turn to the publishing world. Having written books for children in her spare time, she now works as a Book Editor at Y Lolfa. She said,

“The objective was to create a colourful, handy-sized book, to appeal to a wide audience – anyone who is fascinated by the rich diversity that Welsh folk tales have to offer. I used to enjoy reading and discussing books and stories within the classroom, and I think it’s very important that we bring these Welsh folk tales to a new generation of pupils. I have tried to appeal to children from all over Wales with stories set in Merthyr, Merionethshire, Ceredigion and Gwynedd, to boys and girls, and I hope that I’ve been successful by giving a different and fresh slant to each tale.”

The illustrator is Gini Wade. The 124-page volume contains full-colour, detailed illustrations that add to the atmosphere and enjoyment of the text. She lives in Llanidloes where she works as an artist in the community and as a DJ. She has written four books for children and has illustrated many more.

The tales are Rhys and Meinir, Cantre’r Gwaelod, Dic Penderyn, Red Bandits of Mawddwy and Maelgwn, King of Gwynedd. Famous Welsh Tales is available in bookshops throughout Wales and www.ylolfa.com for £4.95.