Mythology has played an important part in the culture and history of Wales with the national flag of the famous red dragon encapsulating the nation's love of tales and folklore.
Perhaps the most significant cultural source of these stories comes from The Mabinogion, a collection of 11 tales dating prior to the Middle Ages.
The authors of the stories are unknown, having been passed down from generation to generation through the oral tradition, with each teller adding their own take.
They were immortalised in written form in the Middle Welsh language and preserved in the White Book of Rhydderch, written between 1300 and 1325, and the Red Book of Hergest, written between 1375 and 1425.
The tales themselves concerned the trials and tribulations of various Welsh royal families, a Roman emperor, plagues, romance, voyages, mythical beasts, white horses, and one of the earliest origins of the Arthurian legend.
But it wasn't until the 19th century, when a woman from Lincolnshire who fell in love with the Welsh language translated these tales into English for the first time, that they became known all over Europe and the rest of the world.
Lady Charlotte Guest, whose husband John owned the Dowlais Ironworks, collected the 11 tales and gave them the title The Mabinogion, which was mistakenly believed to be the plural for Mabinogi – a loose translation of 'tale of a hero's boyhood'.
Professor Sioned Davies, professor emeritus at Cardiff University, translated The Mabinogion into English for Oxford World Classics and has studied and taught the subject for most of her life.
Speaking about the origin of the collection, Prof Davies said: "The 11 stories which make up the Mabinogi were collected together in the 19 century by Lady Charlotte Guest. She needed a title and gave it the title The Mabinogion. That implies there is one author and one date but they are all by different authors and different periods in themselves.
"The Four Branches contain resonances of Celtic mythology like shape-shifting and white horses and resonances with the wider world.
"They're all very different tales. Some are pseudo-historical. There's The Dream of Macsen Wledig who was a Roman emperor. It's difficult to date the 11 stories but they are believed to be from around the Middle Ages.
"They are taken from the Red Book of Hergest and the White Book of Rhydderch which can be viewed online. They do appear mainly in those two manuscripts but some of them do appear earlier than that. There are signs and signals that language is used which dates the manuscripts.
"They were really put on a wider stage and a European platform in the 19 century when they were translated into English."
The Four Branches, which makes up the central story of The Mabinogion, include the tales of Pwyll, Prince of Dyfed; Branwen, daughter of Llŷr; Manawydan, son of Llŷr; and Math, son of Mathonwy.
While these are separate tales concerning the royal families of Wales they are linked by the single character of Pryderi who appears in all four. They built around themes of friendship, revenge, redemption, loyalty, love, fidelity, and the grotesque.
The remaining sevens stories also featured in The Mabinogion were included by Lady Charlotte Guest, with four Arthurian romances selected.
Prof Davies said: "The Mabinogion and specifically the Four Branches, they have had quite an impact on Welsh literature and culture just as Shakespeare and Chaucer have on English literature.
"Quite a few people have said why haven't they done a Hollywood blockbuster because it seems like it would be right up their street.
"You have to have elements in those stories which are international. You'll elements in Star Wars that are similar, the works of JK Rowling and Doctor Who. Some of those motifs and themes are international.
"Most people are inspired by the Four Branches of the Mabinogi rather than the Arthurian legend. They resonate a lot more with today's readership because of their themes of friendship and their characters speak more to the contemporary world.
"The Four Branches are anchored in the Welsh landscape so you can see all the places that are mentioned in Wales.
"At the end of some of the stories you have the phrase 'And this is why such and such is named such and such' and there's the debate whether the place name came first or whether they were derived from these stories."
While originally compiled in Middle Welsh, translators have faced the challenge of keeping true to the original text while making it relevant to modern readers.
While the Middle Welsh was included alongside the English in the first edition Lady Charlotte Guest's translation it was removed from the second edition.
Since then it has been translated into languages as diverse as French, German, and Hungarian.
Describing her treatment of the text, Prof Davies said: "When are you translating from the Middle Welsh the spelling is quite different from modern Welsh but once you get over that it's easier to follow.
"You have examples where you get 'd' in the Medieval Welsh and it becomes 'dd' in modern Welsh but once you have mastered those things it's quite simple. Any Welsh speaker would be able to understand it so there's not such a vast difference.
"I did my PhD many years ago on The Mabinogion and I am particularly interested in the oral elements you find in them. My argument is that they originally told orally and we have still got those elements in the written forms of the story. I translated them with the voice in mind and I have read out my translations at various literary festivals.
"When you read certain things aloud they don't draw attention to themselves as much as they do in a written form and they're quite rhythmic as well."
Since Lady Guest's translation in the 19th century the impact The Mabinogion has had on the cultural landscape has endured with writers, artists, musicians, and film-makers taking inspiration from the stories.
Illustrators such as Margaret Jones and Alan Lee have illustrated the work and artists such as Iwan Bala have based some of their paintings on the tales.
Writers such as Jenny Nimmo took inspiration from The Mabinogion for The Snow Spider and The Magician Trilogy while there has also been an opera called The Sacrifice, based on the Second Branch, which was performed by the Welsh National Opera.
The most recent adaptations saw a series of modern re-tellings by Seren Books, with stories by writers such as Owen Sheers, Fflur Dafydd, Russell Celyn Jones, and Gwyneth Lewis.
Speaking about The Mabinogion's enduring appeal, Prof Davies said: "They are fascinating stories. I have lectured in universities for 40 years and every year you would find different things or a student would ask a question you had never thought of before.
"People can find things in the story which are relevant today. There are even three plagues mentioned in the story which is extremely relevant. I think I translated them as plagues but they can also be seen as oppressions.
"The tales talks about people's fears and how they overcome them. There's something new in all of them. The Arthurian ones have been very popular over the years. They are all very different and make us think about different things."
