To wrap up the podcast, this episode celebrates the wonderful work of translators, in particular, the wonderful work of Maria Devana Headley in 'Beowulf: A New Translation'. With a mixture of poetry extracts and prose summaries, we tell the sto

The Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi, Part 2: The Women Deserve Better (Again)

Jul 15th, 2021 41m 58s

The final episode of the Mabinogion has everything: curses, magical disguises, trickery, women made out of flowers, secret love affairs, betrayal, poetry, hero children, shoemaking, riddles, gory revenge, and of course, misogyny. Join us, for t

The Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi, Part 1: The King's Footholder

Jul 8th, 2021 28m 40s

This week, we have the first half of the Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi, in which we meet the ruling family of Gwynedd, in the north. One of the king's nephews is wasting away for love of the king's footholder (no, literally, that's her job), so

The Third Branch of the Mabinogi: You're so WEIRD, Manawydan

Jul 1st, 2021 38m 11s

Pryderi and his wife are hanging out with Rhiannon and her second husband, Manawydan, when suddenly all the people, domesticated animals, and signs of civilisation disappear from Dyfed. They proceed to do not very much about it for several year

The Second Branch of the Mabinogi: What the f*ck, Efnysien

Jun 24th, 2021 44m 58s

In this story, the king of Ireland comes to visit the king of Britain to ask for his sister's hand in marriage. This would have been fine, except the king's half-brother Efnysien exists. There's no happy ending for this one - by the end of the

The First Branch of the Mabinogi, Part 2: Depressing Baby Names

Jun 10th, 2021 25m 17s

We return to the adventures of Pwyll and Rhiannon: how their firstborn child mysteriously disappeared, Rhiannon got framed for it, and a random nobleman eventually worked out that his mysterious foundling might be Pwyll's kid.WARNINGS. Animal

The First Branch of the Mabinogi: Pwyll Pendefic Dyfed

Jun 3rd, 2021 40m 14s

The prince of Dyfed pisses off the king of the otherworld and swaps places with him to earn his forgiveness. It also teaches him a few lessons about kingship. Later, he decides to go to a place where mysterious things happen, a mysterious woman

Rhonabwy's Dream

May 20th, 2021 37m 16s

In which a dude called Rhonabwy has a weird dream.CONTENT WARNINGS: Unhygenic environment: the protagonist takes shelter in a hut where the floor is covered in cow droppings and urine, which is described in more detail than necessary. Gore/Vi

Geraint, Part 3: Fast and Furious

May 13th, 2021 28m 31s

In the final part of Geraint's adventures, he defeats a few more people, nearly gets killed by some giants, and then realises he's been an ass when he hears Elen's distress at his injury. He doesn't apologise, though.CONTENT WARNINGS: Gore, i

Geraint, Part 2: Why the hell is she putting up with this

May 6th, 2021 32m 42s

Geraint's dad calls him home to take over his kingdom, and after a few years of glorious tournaments, Geraint runs out of people to fight and slips into a life of decadent idleness. When Enid mourns this change in him, Geraint completely misint

Geraint, Part 1: A Tale of Many Adjectives

Apr 29th, 2021 37m 24s

In this episode, we begin the story of Geraint, who sleeps in on the morning of a hunt, and thus happens to be with Gwenhwyfar when she is seriously insulted by the attendant of a strange knight. He goes on a quest to confront the knight and av

Bonus

Bitching in a Park, Part 2

Apr 22nd, 2021 42m 1s

And now, for the second half of our live session! In our first story, from Sermones Feriales et Communes (a collection of fables from the sermons of a 12th century Frenchman), a monkey demonstrates its powers of discernment. In the second, from

Bonus

Bitching in a Park, Part 1

Apr 15th, 2021 23m 20s

We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming for a bonus LIVE episode, recorded with a group of friends to celebrate the anniversary of the podcast. Today's stories are from "Medieval Tales and Stories" a collection edited and translated b

Peredur Part 3: The Fortress of Side-Quests

Apr 9th, 2021 26m 34s

In this, the final part of the tale of Peredur, a strange woman comes to Arthur's court, insults Peredur, and sends him on a quest. In the process, a lot of things happen that are left completely unexplained, but it seems to end well?CONTENT

Peredur Part 2: The Women He Loves Best

Apr 1st, 2021 39m 50s

In this episode, Peredur finally gets his vengeance on Cai, joins Arthur's court, and immediately disappears on another quest. As usual, he defeats hundreds of knights (as well as two different monstrous serpents), assists many ladies, and righ

Peredur Part 1: Tell Him I Sent You

Mar 25th, 2021 39m 2s

This episode, we begin another tale of an Arthurian knight - although this episode precedes his knighthood. Peredur, son of Efrog, is raised without knowledge of war or fighting, decides to become a knight, and proceeds to defeat absolutely eve

Owain Part 2: No, literally a lion

Mar 18th, 2021 30m 1s

After three years happily married to the Lady of the Well, Owain is sought out by the knights of King Arthur, almost all of whom he defeats handily. Then, after another three year interlude, he descends into wildness, and gradually redeems hims

Owain Part 1: You just killed her husband, dude

Mar 11th, 2021 32m 17s

Today, we begin a new story, featuring Owain, one of King Arthur's knights. After a friend tells Owain how he went looking for an ass-kicking and got his ass kicked, Owain decides to try it for himself. CONTENT WARNINGS: Gore. When Owain summ

Culhwch and Olwen Part 3: Too Many Names

Mar 4th, 2021 42m 34s

In this episode, the members of Arthur's court continue to work on the impossible tasks set by Ysbaddaden Bencawr as a condition of Culhwch's marriage to Olwen - most notably, the hunt for the great boar Twrch Trwyth, which takes them all over

Culhwch and Olwen Part 2: Impossible Tasks

Feb 25th, 2021 29m 34s

Ysbaddaden Bencawr gives our hero Culhwch a list of forty impossible (or highly improbable) tasks he must complete before he will be allowed to marry Olwen. This takes the first fifteen minutes of the episode. After that, Culhwch's companions s

Culhwch and Olwen Part 1: The Set Up

Feb 18th, 2021 30m 15s

This episode is the first of three parts telling the story of Culhwch, King Arthur's nephew, who is cursed to marry no-one other than Olwen, daughter of the great and terrible giant Ysbaddaden Bencawr. In this part, we hear Culhwch's backstory,

Lludd and Llefelys

Feb 11th, 2021 24m 21s

In today's story, Britain is afflicted with three plagues: an invasion by enemies who can hear whatever is spoken where the wind blows; a horrible scream every year that damages everyone's health; and the mysterious disappearance each night of

The Dream of Macsen Wledig

Feb 4th, 2021 31m 39s

Welcome to Bitching about the Mabinogion! This season, we will be reading a set of approximately 12th to 14th century Welsh stories, with much more of a fairy tale vibe than the Decameron. In today's episode, we hear about an emperor of Rome, M

Here Ends The Decameron

Jan 19th, 2021 46m 1s

This is the longest and last episode of Bitching About The Decameron - but fear not! There will be a second season, with new stories to tell. This episode begins with some information about what's coming next, then has the last (and most fucked

F*ck You, Giovanni

Jan 12th, 2021 24m

In this, the penultimate episode of Bitching About the Decameron, I summarise all of the stories I skipped, and why I skipped them, and discuss what that means for how we approach the text.WARNINGS: Mentions of domestic violence, violence aga