The (Pregnant) Mouse Freed from the Gallows

A Ballad Parallel for the Conclusion of Manawydan fab Llŷr

Bibliographic Data

ID8933019
AuthorsThomas D Hill (0000-0003-3402-5313, corresponding author), K J Mills (0000-0002-5014-9685), Kristen Mills
Year2018
Volume129
Issue3
Pages302-315
Publication date2018-07-03
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueFolklore (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0015-587X • E-ISSN: 1469-8315
PublisherRoutledge (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/0015587x.2018.1473108
OpenAlexW2894677661
LanguageEN
References cited14

In the concluding episode of the Third Branch of the Mabinogi, the Welsh nobleman Manawydan takes the (pregnant) mouse that he has captured to the magically significant site Gorsedd Arberth and prepares to hang her for theft, according to the law. As he prepares the gallows, various figures attempt to intervene until finally a ‘bishop’ redeems his transformed wife by disenchanting the land, freeing Manawydan’s companions, and swearing not to take vengeance. We argue that this scene is strikingly similar to the famous ballad widely attested all over Europe, ‘The Maid Freed from the Gallows’, a parallel which not only illuminates this episode in the Mabinogi, but also suggests how the Welsh storyteller used traditional material in shaping these narratives

Archaeology · Art · Ballad · Genealogy · Literature · Narrative · Poetry · Theology · Welsh · Wife · Historical Studies of British Isles · History · Linguistics and language evolution · Medieval Literature and History · Philosophy

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