Brides and bridles. Rhiannon and the white horse during the Norman invasion of Wales

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Postcolonial scholars have observed how various aspects of the Four Branches of the Mabinogi reflect anxieties of the Norman Invasion of Wales. While these readings often center on examining the Norman influence as an outside threat, this article examines the First Branch of the Mabinogi as emphasizing the importance of wise leadership within Wales, specifically in terms of inter-Welsh interactions. I do this through the exploration of Rhiannon as a fairy mistress, a motif which proliferates the chivalric romance. While scholarship often interprets the fairy mistress as ‘other’ or ‘foreign’, I argue that Rhiannon presents an important departure. Rather than being explicitly a foreign entity, she is, instead, Welsh. Pwyll’s treatment of her, then, makes the First Branch a story about inter-Welsh relationships and cautions that tending to women’s needs and voices should be a priority to Welsh leaders, rather than something which is designated as a secondary concern.