#MythologyMonday "Gadewais er mwyn dilyn Bendigeidfran, y Brenin Mawr. Trechon ni fyddin o feirwon Gwyddelig oedd wedi’u dadeni o bair yr oedd e wedi’i roi iddyn nhw." I had left at the side of High King Bendigeidfran, to crush an army of Irish dead rebirthed from a cauldron he had gifted them. 1/4

#BookWormSat #ScreenshotSaturday Forests in the Mabinogi are far more than simple scenery. Heroes hunt, plot and lose themselves in the woods while Otherworldly creatures shift through their shadows. I've shared this clip before, but it's a fine time to share it once again! Best with sound on... :)

#FairyTaleTuesday In one of the Mabinogion's more bizarre moments, the brothers Gwydion and Gilfaethwy are punished for their transgressions against the foot maiden Goewin by being transformed into a series of mating animals. 1/2

#MythologyMonday The Cŵn Annwn, the red-eared, ghost-white spectral hounds of the Welsh Otherworld, are most often portrayed running alongside Arawn on his wild hunts. But they appear elsewhere also. When Culhwch rides to Arthur's court, he is accompanied by two of the beasts. 1/2

#BookWormSat I feel like I don't write enough here about Rhiannon, one of the strongest and most stoic characters of the Mabinogion. From her defiance of her father and rebuff of Gwawl, to the courageous bid to rescue her son from his magical prison, we see a model of fearlessness and endurance.

#ThrowbackThursday Five years ago that I did the very first vegetation rendering tests that would become Tales from the Mabinogion. At the time, it was a small side project to investigate some different shader techniques. It's come a long way since then...! store.steampowered.com/app/3067260/...

#WyrdWednesday Centuries before Lovecraft ever dreamed his tentacled nightmares, the great bard Taliesin had already given us his own version of cosmic horror. 1/2

#FairyTaleTuesday The White Book of Rhydderch is one of the most important Welsh language works, containing a collection of Welsh prose texts and early Welsh poetry, including some of the very earliest mentions of King Arthur. 1/2

#FolkloreSunday Cath Palug, one of the three great plagues of Ynys Môn, originated in Gwynedd. Born as a kitten to the great white sow Henwen of Cornwall, at the black rock in Llanfair, it was cast into the sea and later found by the sons of Palug. 1/3

Ah yes! You're quite right, my mistake!

#ScreenshotSaturday Just made a few updates to the Steam page, including a couple of new screen shots. Check it out, and add a wishlist or follow, if you haven't already! store.steampowered.com/app/3067260/...

#BookologyThursday In Welsh folklore, "Tyngedau" are a type of curse, an inevitable destiny cast on to an ill-fated target. 1/2

Somehow I missed sharing this one! Has anyone visited since the renovations? Worth a trip...? bbc.com/news/article...

#WyrdWednesday Gwydion fab Dôn is a complex character in the Mabinogion. There is clearly a good side to him, he uses his powers to repel an invasion of monsters from the Otherworld, and raises the abandoned child Lley Llaw Gyffes with great care. 1/2

#LegendaryWednesday "Take a ram's urine, and eel's bile, and the juice of ash, expressing the same into the ear, and about the tooth." The Red Book of Hergest, a key source for the Mabinogion, contains a section of remedies from the famed Physicians of Myddfai, among them several for toothache!

#FairyTaleTuesday Although not the first mention of Arthur's pursuit of the giant boar Twrch Trwyth, the account in the Mabinogion is its most thorough retelling. Culhwch is tasked with hunting down the beast to gain Olwen's hand in marriage, and seeks Arthur's help in this nigh impossible quest.

#MythologyMonday Two tales in the Mabinogion feature visions that come to the protagonists in their sleep: The Dream of Rhonabwy, and The Dream of Macsen Wledig. Notably, both dreams also feature the ancient Welsh board game of Gwyddbwyll, a name that survives in modern Welsh as the word for chess!

#BookWormSat With Summer in full heat, and trees standing in their full glory, what better time to revisit Taliesin’s famous poem Cad Goddeu, the Battle of the Trees? This treatment by Mark Wigan is lovely, though sadly the printed edition seems to be no longer available.

My favourite translation I've seen for 'Cigfa' has been 'Slaughterhouse'. It becomes even more entertaining when she's given the title of 'Princess'...!

#LegendaryWednesday Not every education happens in a classroom. You might think the great bard Taliesin had to study for years to earn his wisdom. But his “schooling” was anything but ordinary. 1/3

#WyrdWednesday This outdoor sculpture of King Arthur can be found at Tintagel castle, in Cornwall. 1/2

If you're in or around Wrexham this week, be sure to stop by the National Eisteddfod - the uniquely Welsh celebration of language and culture - with its many events of competitive storytelling, poetry, and music. www.bbc.com/news/article...

#FairyTaleTuesday The Welsh Triads tell of three fateful lost voyages: Gavran and his men vanished in search of the mysterious Green Isles; Merddin the Bard disappeared with his nine crew aboard a ship of glass; and Madog, Prince of the North, was lost at sea with ten ships and three hundred men.

#mythologymonday Wales stands apart in elevating poetry and storytelling to the level of competitive ‘sport’. At the annual National Eisteddfod, the nation’s highest literary honours - the Eisteddfod Crown and Chair - are awarded to its most gifted writers in contests of skill with word and verse.

Games are not history books, but they are gateways to curiosity and understanding. I'm no history teacher, but if my games can lead players to ask questions, and explore forgotten stories, then that's a win!

The first version of the narrative for Tales from the Mabinogion actually centered on King Arthur, before I pivoted to use Pryderi as the player. At some point I do want to go back and revisit the idea though, a Welsh Arthur is too rich a figure to ignore! nation.cymru/opinion/no-k...

#FairytaleTuesday When Pwyll, Prince of Dyfed, trespassed into the Wild Hunt of Arawn, Lord of the Otherworld, the result was an unexpected bargain between the two: they would switch places for a year and a day, taking on each other's form, wearing each other's face, ruling in each other's place.

#FolkloreSunday All know the stories of Arthur, but few remember the tales of his hound, Cafall. In the hunt for the great boars Twrch Trwyth and Ysgithyrwyn, Cafall led the pack, cornering the beasts. Some say that his paw print can still be found stamped on the rock at the site of Carn Gafallt.

#BookWormSat One of the oldest Arthurian tales is The Dream of Rhonabwy. While Rhonabwy sleeps, he dreams of Arthur playing chess, the game ending with him throwing a temper tantrum and smashing the board before the game is complete! Rhonabwy awakes, to find he has been sleeping for three days.

#Legendarywednesday The Pair Dadeni - the Cauldron of Rebirth - was a gift to the Irish from High King Bendigeidfran. Little did he know that they would use it to reanimate an army of silent, undead warriors, in a devastating war that would leave only a dozen survivors.

#FairytaleTuesday Another post about Blodeuwedd, the woman magically crafted from flowers, who ends her days transformed into an owl? What can I say, it's Summer time, the flowers are in full bloom, and there's no more apt tale! 1/2

Personally, there's nothing political about my preference for the native Welsh castles. Because they tended to be "lower budget", they relied more on natural defenses rather than big walls, which just happen often to make for very dramatic locations! 1/4

#BookWormSat Edward Williams, aka Iolo Morganwg, was a Welsh antiquarian and fraudster, who was almost single handedly responsible for the revival of the Welsh bardic tradition. In an age of Enlightenment rationalism, he offered Wales a mythic counter-history. 1/2

#LegendaryWednesday It was on the shores of Harlech, where the castle now stands, that the giant king of Britain, Bendigeidfran, first saw the approaching Irish fleet. The Great King was of such stature that he had no need of a vessel himself, wading out in to the water alongside his own ships.

#FolkloreSunday Summer arrives, the trees stand in their full glory, what better time to revisit Taliesin’s famous poem Cad Goddeu, the Battle of the Trees? This treatment by Mark Wigan is lovely, though sadly the printed edition seems to be no longer available.

#BookWormSat From the Laws in Wales Acts to the Blue Books of 1847, English authority has historically marginalized and suppressed Welsh language and culture. The Lady Guest translation of The Mabinogion was both an act of literary rescue, and quiet rebellion.

#LegendaryWednesday Two warriors. One blow. One shot at peace. In the First Branch of the Mabinogi, Pwyll is given a single strike to slay Hafgan, rival Lord of the Otherworld. With perfect martial skill he delivers it... No second strike needed, no mercy, only a clean death. Peace follows.

#MythologyMonday Manawydan fab Llŷr is the Welsh cognate of the Irish sea god, Manannán mac Lir. However, although they share linguistic roots and mythic ancestry, their roles diverage sharply across the two traditions. Notably, Manawydan is mortal, in contrast to Manannán's role as a deity.

#pitchyagame A game about language, land, loss, and myth, Tales from the Mabinogion is a crafted and personal third-person adventure rooted in ancient Welsh legend, voiced entirely in the Welsh language. Wishlist on Steam now: store.steampowered.com/app/3067260/Tales_from_the_Mabinogion/

I'll be online answering questions for the rest of the day, so please do come by and join the discussion!

My keynote for the Middle Ages in Modern Games conference is here! I talk about why I'm making a game about Welsh mythology in the Welsh language, and the importance of language and culture in video games. There's also some new footage from the game! middleagesinmoderngames.net/mamg25/playi...

#wyrdwednesday Ever wondered what might happen if a group of writers deliberately gorged on Welsh Rarebit before bed, to test the theory that it causes nightmares, and then recorded the fevered dreams that followed? Wonder no more. Welsh Rarebit Tales is the unholy result of exactly that experiment!

With Witcher IV on the horizon, now’s the perfect time to revisit Witcher III, but try it with Polish voiceover. It’s a very different, and perhaps better, experience. Language shapes the story. That’s why Tales from the Mabinogion is fully voiced in Welsh. #witcher4 www.youtube.com/watch?v=bB_T...

#mythologymonday For three days Pwyll and his men chase after Rhiannon, enamored by her beauty. And for three days her impossibly swift steeds stays ahead of them. Finally, Pwyll changes tack, and calls out to her, asking her to stop. And she does.

#TowardDawn is a #Welsh mythology inspired RPG from solo dev @deviserene.bsky.social. Carys and the gwyllgi Bleddyn battle mythical Welsh creatures like Bwbachod and Ci Annwn. Lots more references to #Wales, #Cymraeg and Welsh folklore exist that will be explored in future videos.

Something a little different for #screenshotsaturday, a few minutes of pure audio from the game. One Voice Award winner Phil Rowe brings words by NYT bestseller Gav Thorpe (English), and Eisteddfod Crown winner Rhys Iorwerth (Welsh) to life, set to music by renowned folk musician Oli Wilson-Dickson.

#bookwormsat Although never titled "witch", Arianrhod is a powerful, magical, and unrepentant figure. Although often portrayed in the role of villain, her character demands a more sympathetic reading, one that sees her as a woman asserting agency in a world attempting to coerce her through shame.

Oh, so many options to talk about tomorrow! Ceridwen, the witch who gave birth to the the great bard Taliesin, perhaps? Or maybe the Cŵn Annwn, the "hell hounds" from the Otherworld? Even Gwyn ap Nudd, lord of the Otherworld, has a very "devil adjacent" feel to him! Who to pick??

The 2025 Eisteddfod Crown and Chair have recently been revealed! I do like the Crown (although last year's version remains my all time favourite), but this year's Chair is a bit less to my taste...

#folkyfriday In Taliesin's poem Cad Goddeu, the Battle of the Trees, the wizard Gwydion animates an army of trees to battle against a horde of monsters attacking from the Otherworld. 1/2