Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

1999

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Collins, Robert A.

Abstract

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.

Extent

82 p.

Comments

Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 1999.|Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters

Identifier

FADT15696

Format

pdf

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