Welsh Mythology and Folklore in Popular Culture: Essays on Adaptations in Literature, Film, Television and Digital Media

235 Pages·2011·1.29 MB·English

by  Audrey L. Becker

Welsh Mythology and Folklore
in Popular Culture
CRITICALEXPLORATIONSINSCIENCEFICTIONANDFANTASY
(a series edited by Donald E. Palumbo and C.W. Sullivan III)
1Worlds Apart? Dualism and Transgression
in Contemporary Female Dystopias(Dunja M. Mohr, 2005)
2Tolkien and Shakespeare: Essays on Shared Themes and Language
(ed. Janet Brennan Croft, 2007)
3Culture, Identities and Technology in the Star WarsFilms: Essays on
the Two Trilogies(ed. Carl Silvio, Tony M. Vinci, 2007)
4The Influence of Star Trekon Television, Film and Culture
(ed. Lincoln Geraghty, 2008)
5Hugo Gernsback and the Century of Science Fiction(Gary Westfahl, 2007)
6One Earth, One People: The Mythopoeic Fantasy Series of Ursula K. Le Guin,
Lloyd Alexander, Madeleine L’Engle and Orson Scott Card(Marek Oziewicz, 2008)
7The Evolution of Tolkien’s Mythology: A Study
of the History of Middle-earth(Elizabeth A. Whittingham, 2008)
8H. Beam Piper: A Biography(John F. Carr, 2008)
9Dreams and Nightmares: Science and Technology in Myth and Fiction
(Mordecai Roshwald, 2008)
10Lilithin a New Light: Essays on the George MacDonald Fantasy Novel
(ed. Lucas H. Harriman, 2008)
11Feminist Narrative and the Supernatural: The Function of
Fantastic Devices in Seven Recent Novels(Katherine J. Weese, 2008)
12The Science of Fiction and the Fiction of Science: Collected Essays on SF Storytelling
and the Gnostic Imagination(Frank McConnell, ed. Gary Westfahl, 2009)
13Kim Stanley Robinson Maps the Unimaginable: Critical Essays
(ed. William J. Burling, 2009)
14The Inter-Galactic Playground: A Critical Study
of Children’s and Teens’ Science Fiction(Farah Mendlesohn, 2009)
15Science Fiction from Québec: A Postcolonial Study(Amy J. Ransom, 2009)
16Science Fiction and the Two Cultures: Essays on Bridging the Gap Between
the Sciences and the Humanities(ed. Gary Westfahl, George Slusser, 2009)
17Stephen R. Donaldson and the Modern Epic Vision: A Critical Study
of the “Chronicles of Thomas Covenant” Novels(Christine Barkley, 2009)
18Ursula K. Le Guin’s Journey to Post-Feminism (Amy M. Clarke, 2010)
19Portals of Power: Magical Agency and Transformation in Literary Fantasy
(Lori M. Campbell, 2010)
20The Animal Fable in Science Fiction and Fantasy(Bruce Shaw, 2010)
21Illuminating Torchwood: Essays on Narrative, Character and Sexuality
in the BBC Series(ed. Andrew Ireland, 2010)
22Comics as a Nexus of Cultures: Essays on the Interplay
of Media, Disciplines and International Perspectives
(ed. Mark Berninger, Jochen Ecke, Gideon Haberkorn, 2010)
23The Anatomy of Utopia: Narration, Estrangement and Ambiguity in
More, Wells, Huxley and Clarke(Károly Pintér, 2010)
24The Anticipation Novelists of 1950s French Science Fiction
(Bradford Lyau, 2010)
25The TwilightMystique: Critical Essays
on the Novels and Films(ed. Amy M. Clarke, Marijane Osborn, 2010)
26The Mythic Fantasy of Robert Holdstock: Critical Essays
on the Fiction(ed. Donald E. Morse, Kálmán Matolcsy, 2011)
27Science Fiction and the Prediction of the Future: Essays on Foresight
and Fallacy(ed. Gary Westfahl, Wong Kin Yuen, Amy Kit-sze Chan, 2011)
28Apocalypse in Australian Fiction and Film: A Critical Study
(Roslyn Weaver, 2011)
29British Science Fiction Film and Television: Critical Essays
(ed. Tobias Hochscherf, James Leggott, 2011)
30Cult Telefantasy Series: A Critical Analysis of The Prisoner,
Twin Peaks, The X-Files, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Lost,
Heroes, Doctor Whoand Star Trek (Sue Short, 2011)
31The Postnational Fantasy: Essays on
Postcolonialism, Cosmopolitics and Science Fiction
(ed. Masood Ashraf Raja, Jason W. Ellis and Swaralipi Nandi, 2011)
32Heinlein’s Juvenile Novels: A Cultural Dictionary(C.W. Sullivan III, 2011)
33Welsh Mythology and Folklore in Popular Culture: Essays on
Adaptations in Literature, Film, Television and Digital Media
(ed. Audrey L. Becker and Kristin Noone, 2011)
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Welsh Mythology and
Folklore in
Popular Culture
Essays on Adaptations in
Literature, Film, Television
and Digital Media
Edited by AUDREY L. BECKER and
KRISTIN NOONE
CRITICALEXPLORATIONINSCIENCEFICTIONANDFANTASY, 33
Donald E. Palumbo andC.W. Sullivan III, series editors
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Jefferson, North Carolina, and London
LIBRARYOFCONGRESSCATALOGUING-IN-PUBLICATIONDATA
Welsh mythology and folklore in popular culture : essays on
adaptations in literature, film, television and digital media /
edited by Audrey L. Becker and Kristin Noone.
p. cm. — (Critical explorations in science fiction and
fantasy ; 33)
[Donald E. Palumbo and C.W. Sullivan III, series editors]
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-7864-6170-7
softcover : 50# alkaline paper
1. Fantasy fiction, American—History and criticism.
2. Fantasy fiction, English—History and criticism. 3. Fantasy
fiction—20th century—History and criticism. 4. American
literature—Celtic influences. 5. English literature—Celtic
influences. 6. Influence (Literary, artistic, etc.) 7. Tales—
Wales—Adaptations—History and criticism. 8. Mythology,
Celtic—Wales. 9. Mythology, Welsh, in literature.
10. Myth in mass media. 11. Wales—In literature.
12. Popular culture—History—20th century. I. Becker,
Audrey L. II. Noone, Kristin.
PS374.F27W46 2011
700'.458429—dc22 2011015511
BRITISHLIBRARYCATALOGUINGDATAAREAVAILABLE
© 2011Audrey L. Becker and Kristin Noone. All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying
or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publisher.
On the cover: “Geraint and Enid Ride Away,” illustration by
Gustave Doré of Alfred Lord Tennyson’s Idylls of the King, 1868
Manufactured in the United States of America
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Box 6¡¡, Je›erson, North Carolina 28640
www.mcfarlandpub.com
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: Re-Imagining Wales
AUDREYL. BECKERandKRISTINNOONE 1
Celtic Studies and Modern Fantasy Literature
C.W. SULLIVANIII 9
“The Rough, Savage Strength of Earth”: Evangeline Walton’s
Human Heroes and Mythic Spaces
KRISTINNOONE 18
Branwen’s Shame: Voicing the Silent Feminine in Evangeline
Walton’sThe Children of Llyr
NICOLEA. THOMAS 30
Disavowing Maternity in Evangeline Walton’s The Virgin
and the Swine: Fantasy Meets the Social Protest Fiction of
the 1930s
DEBORAHHOOKER 42
“An Age-Old Memory”: Arthur Machen’s Celtic Redaction of
the Welsh Revival in The Great Return
GEOFFREYREITER 61
Magical Goods, “Orphaned” Exchanges, Punishment and
Power in the Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi
SUSANABROWER 81
The Hand at the Window: Twm Siôn Cati, the Welsh Colonial
Trickster
JONATHANEVANSandSTEPHENKNIGHT 91
An Irregular Union: Exploring the Welsh Connection to a
Popular African-American Wedding Ritual
TYLERD. PARRY 108
vii
viii Table of Contents
Constructing Myth in Music: Heather Dale, King Arthur and
“Culhwch and Olwen”
MEGANMACALYSTRE 130
Torchwood’s “Spooky-Do’s”: A Popular Culture Perspective on
Celtic Mythology
LYNNETTER. PORTER 140
Everyday Magic: Howl’s Moving Castle and Fantasy as
Sociopolitical Commentary
CAROLYNNE. WILCOX 160
Loosely Based: The Problems of Adaptation in Disney’s
The Black Cauldron
JEFFHICKS 171
We’re Not in Cymru Anymore: What’s Really Happening in
the Online Mabinogi
CLAYKINCHENSMITH 182
Temporality, Teleology and the Mabinogi in the Twenty-First
Century
AUDREYL. BECKER 195
Further Reading 213
About the Contributors 219
Index 221
Acknowledgments
The editors gratefully acknowledge and thank Chip Sullivan whose work
on Welsh mythology has influenced our scholarship and inspired this project.
We earnestly thank our contributors for their efforts and insights. We extend
a very special thank you to Don Palumbo for first expressing interest in our
project.
Kristin Noone thanks: John Ganim for advice and a copy of his presidential
address to the Chaucer Society; Andrea Denny-Brown and Rob Latham for
their support and generous feedback; the fellow Riverside graduate students
and faculty who lent their ears to various descriptions of the project and asked
helpful questions; the organizers of the annual Popular Culture Association
Conference, without whom this book would not have happened; Audrey L.
Becker, for a truly fantastic collaborative experience; and Jon Poblete, who not
only offered tech support but also listened patiently to ongoing musings about
cosmopolitanism, enchanted field mice, folk music, and video games, without
complaint.
Audrey L. Becker thanks: First and foremost, Kristin Noone for her spirit
and devotion to the project; my supportive colleagues in the English department
at Marygrove College; the Faculty Development Committee and Dean Judith
Heinen. Alyce von Rothkirch tipped me off to Seren Books’ New Series on the
Mabinogion while I was attending the “Theorising Wales” conference in July
2010. Sincere appreciation to Simon Hicks at Seren Books; Noel and Karen Bru-
ton of Arberth Studios; Martin Crampin; and Alex Lumelsky. My husband
Adam Druckman warrants immeasurable thanks. I thank my children Ivan and
Sadie, who screened Otherworldrepeatedly. What’s more, they never inadver-
tently deleted any files from my computer, for which I thank them profusely.
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