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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What weapon does Lleu Llaw Gyffes use to kill Gronwr?

2. What language was The Mabinogion originally written in?

3. Which country do these tales originate in?

4. How many tales are versions of French romances?

5. What is the name of Pryderi's wife?

Short Essay Questions

1. Exactly what disappears during the thunder and mist, and what does not?

2. How do Math and Gwydion find Lleu Llaw Gyffes after Gronwr shoots him?

3. What is given to Matholwch and the other Irishmen in compensation for the mutilated horses?

4. What role does Macsen Wledig play in the reconquest of Rome?

5. What is unusual about Rhiannon's horse as the messengers try to catch her?

6. Was the name "The Mabinogion" originally given to this collection of tales?

7. How does Math react to the news that Goewin has been raped?

8. What does Pwyll do that insults or offends Arawn?

9. Why does Pryderi arrange for his widowed mother to marry Manawydan?

10. What happens when the door facing Cornwall is opened?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The Mabinogion often sets the plot events in places that the listeners would have been familiar with. Choose three of the real-world places below and for each, state which tale or tales that the place is mentioned in and the most significant events to take place there. Choose from:

(a) Caer Llion

(b) London

(c) Ireland

(d) Dyfed

(e) Cornwall

Essay Topic 2

Hunting seems to be an important plot element in many of the tales in The Mabinogion. Eexplain the role that hunts and hunting play in the plots of the following tales:

(a) Pwyll Prince of Dyfed

(b) Culhwch and Olwen

(c) The Dream of Macsen Wledig

Essay Topic 3

The motif of the magical food vessel seems to be an important one in Celtic mythology and in The Mabinogion. Choose three examples of these magical food vessels presented in the text and describe each in detail. Along with your description, explain the role that the vessel plays in the plot.

(see the answer keys)

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