Matthews' Mabon

Juliette Wood on Caitlin Matthew's Mabon and the Mysteries of Britain (Folklore, 99 (1988), p. 262.)

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The rather charming illustration to the preface to this book is entitled 'Into the Other World'. Another world it certainly is, though one created in the author's imagination, and definitely not to be found in the collection of stroies known since their translation in the nineteenth century as the Mabinogion.

The author's argument, that the Mabinogion contains the remnants of a British Mystery Tradition centering around the figure of Mabon, who includes all the young heroes mentioned in the tales, as son of a divine mother, a figure who includes all the female characters in the tales, is not really sustainable. It is remiscent of Jessie Weston's view of the Grail romances as a literary expression of the cult of the dying god, and suffers from much the same fallacy. There really is no concrete evidence for such a cult, and lacking this, it is difficult to see how complex literature written at a comparatively late period could contain remnants of one. While one would not deny the existence of many of the themes singled out by the author, such as the search for a magic otherworld object, or the quest on which the questor himself undergoes change, it is difficult to see how these are linked to any religious ritual outside, and prior to, the texts themselves. Without doubt, similar themes appear in many stories. This is one of the most striking and intriguing features of comparative literature, but it does not follow that an original story (or in this instance, a religious myth) can be reconstructed by putting all the elements together.

The author does show awareness of the critical background to the Mabinogion,
at least that which has appeared in English, and provides the reader with footnotes and an extensive bibliography. Unfortunately, however, she relies on translations rather than the Welsh texts. This is particularly difficult when she deals with the poetry related to the Mabinogion, such as Preiddeu Annwn for which she uses Loomis' outdated and far from correct translation, and the Hanes Taliesin poetry which was printed by Lady Charlotte Guest and contains numerous errors. Miss Matthews' argument is at its weakest when she departs from her secondary sources and ventures into linguistic speculation herself. For example, 'Culhwch' as a compound of cu in Irish and Llwch as a Welsh pronunciation of the name Lugh (p. 106), or 'Mabonograin' as 'son of the sun' from mabon, son in Welsh, and grian, sun in Irish (p. 156), are too fanciful; they are typical of numerous errors in the book stemming from the author's reliance on translations and secondary sources.

One does not wish to be too dismissive of the book, however. The author is not claiming to be writing serious criticism, but rather to enable the general reader to gain a better understandfing of the stories. Unfortunately, presenting the Mabinogion as a 'treasure trove' of symbols for rather dubious British Mysteries can hardly be said to contribute much to an understanding of the tales for any reader. Nevertheless, the book is an enjoyable example of the kind of amiable dottiness that characterises the Celtic Fringe.