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Mabinogion, the Four Branches
- The Ancient Celtic Epic
- Narrated by: Colin Jones
- Length: 3 hrs and 37 mins
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Mabinogion, the Four Branches
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Summary
After reading, recording, and listening to the Four Branches of the Mabinogion, I'm amazed that the world isn't full of manga comics, Hollywood blockbusters, best-selling novels, sticker collections, trading cards, and fantasy role-playing games based on this quite astonishing collection of Welsh tales. The breadth and imagination of these stories is really quite amazing - How many other stories can boast such a heady collection of wizards, body-swapping, bitter curses, deep revenge lasting for generations, a giant, a cauldron of immortality, murder plots, princes, kings and even pig-embezzlement? Not to mention a woman made from flowers by two wizards as a wife for a man cursed by his mother from ever marrying another human being. A man who can only be killed by a spear which has been crafted for one year and this while he stands with one leg on a bath and the other on the back of a young goat?
The Mabinogion is a collection of tales, told over generations, recorded in two manuscripts; Llyfr Coch Hergest (The Red Book of Hergest) and Llyfr Gwyn Rhydderch (The White Book of Rhydderch). Translated into English by Lady Charlotte Guest, they contain a large number of tales from the Welsh storytelling tradition. Strictly speaking, however, the term Mabinogi (Mabinogion was mistakenly taken as the plural of Mabinogi by Lady Charlotte Guest) refers to the Four Branches recorded here.
Complete with an introduction by Welsh author and audiobook narrator Colin Jones. Cover art by Howard David Johnson.
What listeners say about Mabinogion, the Four Branches
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Mr H.
- 18-07-19
poor recording quality
music is fine in the background but becomes distracting as it drowns out the narrator,as a result I am unable to hear the stories. the narrator heavily over pronounciates the letter S. This is very distracting and some times piercing to listen too.
5 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- SapphireGrey
- 11-04-21
Great voice for narration
Colin Jones has the perfect voice for narration with his soft south Walian lilt and gentle reading pace. I find the intermittent musical overlays a little distracting, but that's more to do with my hearing than the production itself. I intend to revisit the text version of the Mabinogion and then come back to this audiobook for a second listen!
2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Naomi B
- 26-10-22
A magical, ancient mythology.
It is lovely to have the Mabinogi in English narrated by Welsh speaker and the names pronounced correctly. The music gave a nice atmosphere, although it may be my headphones or possibly the levels need adjusting as it overwhelmed the story in parts.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mary H.
- 25-05-18
Audio is the best way to hear these stories!
I love books, and generally, I prefer an actual book to an audio version. However, as Colin Jones so rightly comments in the introduction, these stories come from an oral tradition, and as such, the audio version more closely replicates the listening experience of the early Celts who would have been hearing these stories in early times. Plus, for those who do not speak Welsh, it's much easier to stay with the story when one doesn't have to fumble over names as you read. My only criticism is that in some places, the narration competes with the background music/vocals, making it hard to discern the story. I wish it had been mixed with the background track a little lower in volume. Still, I enjoy it!
4 people found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- ryan
- 09-02-18
background music rediculous cant even hear story
cant hear any of the story with such loud background music, not worth thw money at such low quality
2 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Amanda K Terry
- 30-09-17
Good story, bad music
The story was poor together well, but I did not like the choice of music.
2 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- ANDRE R WILLIAMSON
- 06-03-21
Very interesting traditional tale; recording marred by loud background music
I enjoyed listening to the recording as I have been learning Welsh. There were several stretches in audio chapters 6 and 7, however - and there may have been other times too - when the background music became foreground music, drowning out the narration completely. Not just a few words, but entire paragraphs were rendered incomprehensible.
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- lucindy h.
- 20-12-20
Background music too loud
Waste of money because I can’t hear the story due to music. Find a better version!!