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The Merchinogi

The medieval Welsh Mabinogi is a set of four linked stories of gods and heroes, love and tragedy, quests and destinies. I fell in love with these stories during my studies of the medieval Welsh language, but I always felt they needed more lesbians. The name "Mabinogi" takes as its root the word "mab" (boy or son), and so my cycle of stories is the Merchinogi, similarly based off the word "merch" (girl or daughter). I plan a quartet of stories, just as the original, following the loves, quests, and destinies of Elin, the Lady of Madrunion, and Morvyth, her beloved.

Elin verch Gwir Goch oed yn arglwydes ar Cantref Madruniawn wrth na bo i’w thad na meibion na brodyr. A threigylgweith dyvot yn y medwl vynet y hela. Ac wrth dilyt y cwn, hi a glywei llef gwylan. Ac edrych i fyny arni yn troi, a synnu wrthi. A’y theyrnas ymhell o’r mor. Ac yna y gelwi i gof ar y dywot y chwaervaeth Morvyth pan ymadael ar lan Caer Alarch: Os clywhych gwylan yn wylo, sef minnau yn wylo amdanat. A thrannoeth cyvodi a oruc ac ymadael a’y theulu a’y niver a’y chynghorwyr, a marchogaeth a oruc tra doeth i’r mor.

Elin, the daughter of Gwir Goch, ruled over the cantref of Madrunion, for her father had neither sons nor brothers. And one day it came into her mind to go hunting. As she was riding after the hounds, she heard the cry of a seagull and looked up to see a white bird circling overhead. She marveled at it, for her lands were far from the sea. And then she remembered what her foster-sister Morvyth had said when they parted on the shore by Caer Alarch: “When you hear a gull crying, that will be me—crying for you.” And the next morning she took leave of her household and her warriors and her counselors and rode west for the sea.

Book #1.0
Podcastle.org logo
February, 2015

When Elin rode out and heard the seagulls crying, it set her on the greatest adventure of her life.

A free story in both text and audio formats. Follow the Podcastle.com link to access.


Book #2.0
September, 2017

A visitor from the other world seeks to entrap Elin, the Lady of Madrunion, into helping her, but it is her lover Morvyth who is snared. How can she prevail as champion against an Otherworldly opponant with only the skills of a mortal woman?