The eleven stories of The Mabinogion, first assembled on paper in the fourteenth century, reach back far earlier into the oral traditions of Welsh storytelling. Closely linked to the Arthurian legends - King Arthur himself is a character - they summon up a world of mystery and magic that is still evoked by the Welsh landscape they so vividly describe. Mingling fantasy with tales of chivalry, these tales not only prefigure the later romances of the Middle Ages but stand on their own merits as magnificent evocations of a golden age of Celtic civilization.