Lincoln, Polly A.

Evangeline Walton's fictionalization of the Four Branches of the Mabinogion projects an alternative focus onto the collection of Welsh myths. Previous treatments and translations from Welsh to English perpetuate the traditional interpretation of the Mabinogion as the fragmented story of the Hero-God's life from conception to death. Walton's work changes this focus and subtly changes the structural order of the tales. Walton offers a narrative from the perspective of the female world view, as opposed to the male perspective which has survived with the tales from the time of their discovery in the Middle Ages. In a comparison of Walton's tetralogy to the translations of Guest, Jones, Gantz, and Ford, it becomes clear that Walton's use of symbols and structure, and her alternative focus change the Hero tale, or Boy-Mare tale, into an epic structured upon the decline of the Goddess in Celtic culture. The application of Mythological and Psychofeminist critical theories to the recurring themes, symbols, and archetypes in Walton's Mabinogion will demonstrate the existence of this nontraditional perspective.