Given a choice between beloved John and son Tal, and my study of the Mabinogi it would be a close thing.
www.mabinogistudy.com
The Mabinogi are among the few earliest prose tales of Britain and Europe. Before 1100 tales were told by poetry because that gave the tellers memory help with rhyme, rhythm, repetition. When manuscripts were used outside the monasteries, memory was not so hard worked. The tales were read aloud, and trainees could learn them from the written versions.
These are not just a pioneering first as prose tales, they are a work of genius. The characters have depth, and are not always what they seem. There’s enchantments, and politics, love, war, tragedy and humour. Structural patterns offer fascinating messages if you dig deep. Yet for all this complexity, the tales can be and are enjoyed by young children. That’s their genius.
www.mabinogistudy.com tells the tales themselves, where you can read them in the original or listen to them (recordings) enjoy artworks. It looks at other stories connected with them, how they survived the centuries, and makes useful lists about them like the characters, scholars, books, articles and other resources.
The Mabinogi Bibliography holds about 2,000 listings, searchable, many with notes.
Coming soon Sept 2019 an online discussion forum.