Editing Mabinogion (section)

==Date of stories==
[[File:George Sheringham - The Panel of the Mabinogi - ref 10525.jpg|thumb|''The Panel of the Mabinogi'' (watercolour and gouache on silk) by [[George Sheringham]] (1884–1937) ]]
Dates for the tales in the ''Mabinogion'' have been much debated, a range from 1050 to 1225 being proposed,<ref>[[Andrew Breeze]], ''The Origins of the Four Branches of the Mabinogion'' (Leominster 2009), p. 72, 137.</ref> with the consensus being that they are to be dated to the late 11th and 12th centuries.<ref>I. Ousby (ed.), ''The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English'' (Cambridge 1995), p. 579</ref> The stories of the ''Mabinogion'' appear in either or both of two medieval Welsh manuscripts, the [[White Book of Rhydderch]] or ''Llyfr Gwyn Rhydderch'', written {{Circa|1350}}, and the [[Red Book of Hergest]] or ''Llyfr Coch Hergest'', written about 1382–1410, though texts or fragments of some of the tales have been preserved in earlier 13th century and later manuscripts. Scholars agree that the tales are older than the existing manuscripts, but disagree over just how much older. It is clear that the different texts included in the ''Mabinogion'' originated at different times (though regardless their importance as records of early myth, legend, folklore, culture, and language of Wales remains immense).

Thus the tale of Culhwch ac Olwen, with its primitive warlord Arthur and his court based at [[Celliwig]], is generally accepted to precede the Arthurian romances, which themselves show the influence of [[Geoffrey of Monmouth]]'s {{Lang|la|[[Historia Regum Britanniae]]}} (1134–36) and the romances of [[Chrétien de Troyes]].<ref>Sioned Davies (translator), ''The Mabinogion'' (Oxford 2007), p. xxiii,  279.</ref>  Those following [[R. S. Loomis]] would date it before 1100, and see it as providing important evidence for the development of Arthurian legend, with links to [[Nennius]] and early Welsh poetry.<ref>H. Mustard (translator), ''Parzival'' (New York 1961) pp. xxxi, xlii</ref> 
By contrast, [[The Dream of Rhonabwy]] is set in the reign of the historical [[Madog ap Maredudd]] (1130–60), and must therefore either be contemporary with or postdate his reign, being perhaps early 13th century.<ref>Sioned Davies (translator), ''The Mabinogion'' (Oxford 2007), p.  xxi.</ref>

Much debate has been focused on the dating of the ''Four Branches of the Mabinogi''. [[Ifor Williams]] offered a date prior to 1100, based on linguistic and historical arguments,<ref>[[Andrew Breeze]], ''The Origins of the Four Branches of the Mabinogion'' (Leominster 2009), p. 69.</ref> while later [[Saunders Lewis]] set forth a number of arguments for a date between 1170 and 1190; [[Thomas Charles-Edwards]], in a paper published in 1970, discussed the strengths and weaknesses of both viewpoints, and while critical of the arguments of both scholars, noted that the language of the stories best fits the 11th century, (specifically 1050–1120),<ref>[[Andrew Breeze]], ''The Origins of the Four Branches of the Mabinogion'' (Leominster 2009), p.  72.</ref> although much more work is needed. In 1991, [[Patrick Sims-Williams]] argued for a plausible range of about 1060 to 1200, which seems to be the current scholarly consensus (fitting all the previously suggested date ranges).<ref>Sims-Williams, Patrick, 'The Submission of Irish Kings in Fact and Fiction: Henry II, Bendigeidfran, and the dating of the Four Branches of the Mabinogi', ''Cambridge Medieval Celtic Studies'', 22 (Winter 1991), 31–61.</ref>