Follow up talks on the Mabinogion by Quentin & Liz Deakin

[QuentinDeakin]

Quentin and Liz Deakin each gave a talk following up the presentation by Dylan Foster Evans at the previous meeting. Quentin’s presentation, ‘Alchemists of the Imagination’, set the work into its historical context and highlighted the beliefs prevailing at the time they were written down in the twelfth or thirteenth centuries. He argued that the works are best understood in the context of the time when they were written down, most probably in the twelfth century, when the intense high Catholic beliefs and practices of the time, although widespread, were being seriously challenged by the Cathars, whose 'dualist' ideas of conflict between a good and a bad god mirrored the battles between humanity and the other world in the Mabinogi. Liz explored the role of women in the Four Branches and the enduring power of myth in British society up to the present day under the title 'Women of the Four Branches of the Mabinogion'. Both talks were well illustrated and Liz’s presentation included art work inspired by the Mabinogion including some of her own. Both presentations were enhanced by music from a twentieth-century stage production of the work. Dylan attended the meeting and his input in the discussion following the talks was appreciated.