Ancient Legends Retold

The Four Branches of the Mabinogion are a rich treasure trove of tales. These magical, quintessentially Welsh stories are confusing, but it would be hard to match their splendid strangeness. The Four Branches tell of the kings and queens of Wales in the time of' 'Once upon a time'. Only one character appears in all Four Branches. He is Pryderi, and the story of his life journey is told in this book. Pryderi is brave and bold: sometimes foolhardy, always fiercely loyal. The stories of two beautiful, powerful women entwine with his: Rhiannon of the Birds, his mother, and Cigfa, his wife. Both accompany him on his life path. But, at the last, Pryderi must go on alone. Here, for the first time, his tale is told from beginning to end.

'My name is Vortigern ... ' Generations before Arthur's birth, a British warlord looks back on his life: his rise from humble roots to shake the thrones of a dying empire; his stand against chaos amid the aftermath of Rome; his struggle with the greedy, embittered princes of church and kingdom; his loves and his losses, and his last encounter with his own mysterious destiny, on a mountain where the world we know is beginning to take shape before his eyes. Vortigern's voice speaks from the heart of a forgotten darkness, telling a story of courage and cowardice, glory and crime, tragedy and treason.

There was a time in Ireland's history when chivalry and chieftainry ruled the land. When the country was occupied by bands of warriors, who spoke only their native tongue, and who cherished their heritage and civilisation. This was the time of Cuchulainn. All of the warrior bands had their own Seanachie, a person responsible for recounting the deeds of times past, a chronicler of the ages. Cuchulainn was their most famous subject and hundreds of tales of his heroic and terrifying deeds, such as single-handedly defending Ulster at the age of seventeen, and his battle frenzy in which he knows neither ally nor enemy, have survived to this day. This is an exhilarating new telling of Cuchulainn for our time, full of valour, passion and bloodshed.

This collection of five tales and one play contains the definitive Robin Hood. They are the earliest ballads and play and still the best of the bunch. 'Robin Hood and the Monk' is the earliest surviving manuscript, dated c.1450, and is considered the greatest of the ballads, though it was probably not sung, being described as a 'talkyng'; 'Robin Hood's Death' is one of the most satisfying tragedies in the English language; while 'A Lytell Geste of Robyn Hode' is a comprehensive account of the famous English outlaw - complete, unified and pointing quite clearly to the reign of Edward II as a probable time for an historical Robin Hood, despite the opinions of most of the experts.