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In Praise Of: Mabinogi – Lost Legends and Dark Magic


 

I suppose one of the lies I tell myself is that I’m not a binge-watcher. It’s a lie mostly because I don’t actually watch a huge amount of TV so realistically speaking even if I’m binge-watching say Parks and Recreation or Battlestar Galactica - both great lockdown viewing by the way - it’s not a huge portion of my actual time on this planet. But what’s even more unusual is for me to be a binge-listener; I normally listen to audiobooks when I’m on a long walk and even then that’s only on the rare occurrence I’m not just listening to music. Anyway you can probably guess where this is leading – not long after I discovered Mabinogi – Lost Legends and Dark Magic on BBC Sounds, I found myself at the end of the final episode going “wow that was really great though I probably shouldn't have gone so fast through 15 episodes!"

For the uninitiated, Mabinogi is a radio play adaption of some of the Welsh myths in the collection traditionally known as The Mabinogian.  I had the joy of encountering them while studying a course entitled “Arthur in Medieval Celtic and Scandanavian Literature” while at the University of Aberdeen and they've been some of my favourite myths ever since. They are heroic, melancholic, action-packed, rude, rumbunctious, worringly syncretic i.e. basically everything you could want in a mythological cycle. There’s way too much variety to give a run-down that would give it justice so instead I’ll just link to the Encyclopaedia Britannica article which gives you a reasonable overview. (Here) The tale of Culhwch and Olwen is definitely my favourite of the stories and I would love to one day get a group to do a dramatic reading of it as it's so completely over the top - you’ve got giants, a rather useless King Arthur who lives in a wood and even a hero who is so manly that rain evaporates around him due to his warriors glow! To be honest I'm slightly amazed Netflix hasn't made a series based on it yet.

Mabinogi sadly doesn’t adapt the King Arthur elements of the cycle, instead picking and choosing a selection of tales from the segments referred to as the branches of the Mabinogi, and unifying these tales through a new plotline regarding Prince Pryderi and his foster sister the bard Brigid (and narrator of the series). They’re bond is the emotional core of the series and whether its banter between the two, or great moments of loss and love, it all works well. Though it should be said my favourite character has to be Bran the Blessed, a giant so big he can only live outside, and given essentially the character of Brian Blessed’s Prince Vultan in Flash Gordon. I don’t know whether it was deliberate or just the similarity of the name and booming voice creating connections in my mind but honestly every scene with Bran in it is a delight.

While it's hopefully clear that I'm recommending the whole series, I definitely think Episode 11 is the standout one, while also being the only one that can truly stand on its own without being ridiculously confusing. It’s a unique and modern retelling of the selkie myth, and while I won’t give more spoilers than that I definitely think it’s worth a listen. Though be warned it is probably the saddest episode in the entire series.

I guess my only complaint would be the complete lack of any Christian references. Now obviously Mabingoi is set in the world of Celtic myth and legend but I don’t think it would have done any harm for at least a single mention of a bishop or saint. The world of The Mabinogian is one where the Christian and the Pagan overlap and I think it would have been nice to see it acknowledged. (I’m actually thinking of labelling it the “Just One Bishop” rule for Arthurian adaptions since there’s quite a number of them that could have benefited from just a casual reference to something vaguely Christian so as to tie them a little bit closer to the medieval world that they emerged from. I’m not asking for orthodoxy, if anything it would be syncretism… but that’s probably for another blog post!)

So that’s Mabinogi. It's an enjoyable romp, that feels at times like a non-family friendly version of Merlin and which provides an excellent entry point to one of the great myth cycles of Western Europe. I therefore can only heartily recommend.

Mabinogi – Lost Legends and Dark Magic can be found wherever you listen to your podcasts or directly via BBC Sounds: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09mfjrw

 

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