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The Mabinogion
- Narrated by: James Cameron Stewart
- Length: 11 hrs and 14 mins
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The Mabinogion
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Summary
Then they took the flowers of the oak, and the flowers of the broom, and the flowers of the meadowsweet, and from those they conjured up the fairest and most beautiful maiden that anyone had ever seen.
Celtic mythology, Arthurian romance, and an intriguing interpretation of British history - these are just some of the themes embraced by the anonymous authors of the eleven tales that make up the Welsh medieval masterpiece known as The Mabinogion.
They tell of Gwydion the shape-shifter, who can create a woman out of flowers; of Math the magician whose feet must lie in the lap of a virgin; of hanging a pregnant mouse and hunting a magical boar. Dragons, witches, and giants live alongside kings and heroes, and quests of honor, revenge, and love are set against the backdrop of a country struggling to retain its independence.
Sioned Davies's lively translation re-creates the storytelling world of medieval Wales and reinvests the tales with the power of performance.
What listeners say about The Mabinogion
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- G. Morus
- 02-06-20
Terrible pronunciation
Such a missed opportunity. Why not use a narrator who could actually pronounce the Welsh names? Unfair to ask a non Welsh speaker to do it. Narrator also fails to bring any life to some stories, particularly the later ones. Sich a brilliant translation requires a far better production. Try again.
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11 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Taffette
- 05-08-24
Narrator can’t pronounce any of the Welsh names/placenames
Really disappointed that a book of Welsh tales is narrated by someone who can’t pronounce the words. It really affects the enjoyment when you can’t understand what he’s said.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- N. Davies
- 22-08-24
Painful to listen to
Unfortunately I could not listen to the story as the quintessentially English delivery was too painful to listen to. The pronunciation of the Welsh words (of which there are many) was forced and the general performance was just woefully inappropriate to the content.
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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
- Miss B
- 03-09-24
I enjoyed this narration
It maybe that I’m not Welsh, that I enjoyed this audiobook, for not knowing that the Welsh pronunciations wernt correct. It couldn’t bother me. Had I have been Welsh, it probably would have.
However, I enjoyed the way it was narrated and kept me listening and enjoying the whole book. I often find narrations of similar work so dry and dull that I give up.
Maybe for me, it was the slight Monty Pythonesque nature of the narration that kept it alive, entertaining and therefore absorbing. I’m not sure that was the intention of the narrator to sound Pythonesque but for me, it worked. Maybe for others, it might be disrespectful to such a historic tale.
But I love a narrator that acts the parts rather than just reads dryly.
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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
- Crocker
- 01-09-19
Endured for 7 mins of chapter two,
Utterly dreadful narration, it might have improved from minute eight but it was beyond all my powers to go any further, has been returned. Cannot comment on the story for obvious reasons
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10 people found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- HistoryLover
- 31-07-18
Dreadful Welsh pronunciation ruins this fine translation
Sioned Davies is widely regarded as the world's expert on The Mabinogion and her translation is magnificent- it captures the mood and feeling of early Medieval Wales brilliantly. So why was James Cameron Stewart chosen to read it? He cannot pronounce the Welsh names and utterly mangles the lyricism of the work. I stuck it out for Branch 1 - but his pronunciation of names like Pwyll had me on edge. I returned the audiobook and got my credit back. What a lost opportunity. What a pity Davies didn't get the narrator her translation deserves.
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27 people found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- R. Lee
- 10-07-24
Audible strikes again with a narrator who is utterly wrong for the book.
The stories are excellent. I’ll keep going because I want to hear them. Why a narrator who can breathe life into the story, or who can pronounce the Welsh properly, who sounds like he’s from the nation that produced the stories wasn’t chosen is a mystery. A cut crystal posh English accent and stilted delivery is about the worst thing that can be done to these stories. He was bearable for the preface as that was academic, but he’s utterly unsuited to the stories themselves. How any producer could listen to this narration and think it was worth publishing is beyond me. He may be right for other book, but off the back of this one, I won’t be listening to any others he does.
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Owen K Andrews
- 17-10-22
awful rendition. may as well be in Welsh.
almost impossible to listen to. the narrator is awful. the translation is garbage. find another version. we all have a right to be spared this rubbish. there must be a better reading somewhere. this is the pits.
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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
- Jessica May
- 11-12-20
Reading sounds like shipping forecast
I would have given anything for this to work as studying this translation, but I can't listen to it. Reading, is so stilted, and lacking warmth. I
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6 people found this helpful