#FairyTaleTuesday There are interesting similarities between the Mabinogi's character of Pryderi, and the later Arthurian knight Percival. 1/5

#MythologyMonday In the depths of Cardigan Bay, if stories are to be believed, lies the lost land of Cantre'r Gwaelod. According to the 'Black Book of Carmarthen', when a careless well-maid neglected her duty, the waters overflowed and drowned the surrounding lands. 1/2

Along the path to the Breton castle of Fort-la-Latte is the Menhir of La Latte, reputedly the finger of a fallen giant. 1/5

#BookWormSat The Mabinogion is set in a society of courts, hunts, feasts, and obligations. But it rarely explains them, assuming an audience already familiar with its customs. Instead, the stories' values are revealed through its heroes' actions: honour, kinship, justice, and duty.

#WyrdWednesday The Third Branch of the Mabinogi sees a mysterious cursed fog descend across the land of Dyfed, leaving it desolate and lifeless. I wonder if perhaps the story was inspired by the spectacular cloud inversions that sometimes descend across the mountains and valleys of Wales.

Montmorency was beautiful, but my favourite have been the nearby Jean Larose falls. Much smaller, and a bit of a hike, but also much more intimate - we only passed a handful of other people on the trail there... :)

#PhantomsFriday A short break from Welsh mythology and folkore this week, while we're on vacation a little North of Quebec City! The 'Lady in White' is one of the most widespread ghost legends in the world. The Quebec version is set here, at the spectacular Montmorency waterfalls. 1/3

#WyrdWednesday In the poem 'Preiddeu Annwfn', or The Spoils of the Otherworld, Arthur leads a voyage across the sea to steal the treasures of the magical realm of Annwn, including an enchanted cauldron kept warm by the breath of nine maidens. 1/3

#FolkloreSunday 'Awen' is one of those Welsh words without a clean English translation, it's the kind of divine creative spark that brings inspiration to poets and musicians.

#BookWormSat The origins of the word Mabinogion are uncertain, though it likely derives from the Welsh word 'mab', meaning boy, son, or young person. Early editions even used translations such as "The Boy's Mabinogion" and "The Mabinogion; or, Juvenile Amusements" as titles.

A birthday tale for #folklorethursday ! When the witch Ceridwen gave birth to a cursed child, he was too beautiful for her to kill, so she cast him into the sea in a basket.

At certain train stations in Paris they have the most wonderful machines that distribute free (human-written) short stories at the touch of a button... Simply choose your desired reading time, and receive some brief fiction of the requested length!

#PitchYaGame Before Games of Thrones, before Lord of the Rings, before even Geoffrey of Monmouth compiled the legends of King Arthur - before all of these came the Mabinogion. Discover the magical stories of this ancient book in Tales from the Mabinogion.

#ScreenshotSaturday The severed head of the giant High King Bendigeidfran, in my painterly narrative adventure into Welsh mythology, 'Tales from the Mabinogion'. I've shared this screen a couple of times before, but it's one of my favourite scenes in the game, so here you go again!

My Orc Warlord, as it appeared in White Dwarf in 1996, and as it is thirty years later! A little chipped, but not bad considering... :) Probably not my oldest mini, but certainly the oldest that I can do a side-by-side with!

If you're a gamedev lacking art skills and budget for a concept/storyboard artist, may I suggest using fine art paintings, instead of defaulting to LLMs? Here's an example of the references I used for one shot in the opening cinematic of 'Tales from the Mabinogion'.

#WyrdWednesday The Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi tells the story of the enchanted flower maiden Blodeuwedd. Her lover, Gronw Pebr, is slain by a spear that pierces through a rock he is standing behind.

#FairyTaleTuesday Hordes of reanimated zombies are of course a staple of Hollywood. But the trope of the army of the Undead dates back much further.

Three castles that had a big impact on me as a kid. Anyone able to identify all three? Two are easy, one less so... ;)

#BookwormSat The Cauldron is one of the great recurring symbols of Celtic mythology. Irish myth gives us the 'Coir Ansic' that never runs empty, while Welsh myth has cauldrons that give life to the dead, grant the gift of poetic inspiration, or feed only the brave leaving the cowardly hungry. 1/2

Here's the voice stem on its own, this might make it a bit easier! (You'll have to scroll through to 50s for the vocal section).

#WyrdWednesday Something a little different to share today, some music from the OST for the game... :) The creatures of the Otherworld of Annwn are dark, liminal, often brutal, always mysterious. I feel this track, at the same time haunting and pulsing, perfectly captures their 'wyrd' nature.

#MythologyMonday The ancient Welsh poem 'Preiddeu Annwfn', or 'The Spoils of Annwfn', contains one of the earliest depictions of King Arthur. It sees him journeying to the Otherworld in search of magical treasures. 1/5

#FolkloreSunday Cath Palug was one of the three great plagues of Ynys Môn. Born as a kitten to the great white sow Henwen, it was cast into the sea and later found by the sons of Palug. Raised without knowing its true nature, the kitten grew into a monstrous cat-beast, wreaking havoc on the island.

"A merry life, and a short one, shall be my motto!". Continuing from last week's post on famous Welsh pirates, today is the birthday of Wales' most notorious son, Bartholomew 'Black Bart' Roberts! Roberts is often credited as creating the 'Pirate Code', that is still referenced in popular culture.

#ScreenshotSaturday Before Games of Thrones, before Lord of the Rings, before even Geoffrey of Monmouth compiled the legends of King Arthur - before all of these came the Mabinogion. Discover the magical stories of this ancient book in Tales from the Mabinogion.

#BookWormSat The 'Adar Rhiannon', the Birds of Rhiannon, are three magical birds found in the stories of the Mabinogion. Their song had the power to lull the living to sleep, or wake the dead, and could be heard as if close by even when the birds were far away.

A new set of stamps from the Royal Mail celebrates castles across the UK, including some gorgeous photos of several Welsh castles... :) shop.royalmail.com/special-stam...

#FolkloreSunday In 1838 Lady Charlotte Guest published her translation of "The Lady of the Fountain", one of the earliest Arthurian legends. Between 1838 and 1845, she published seven further volumes of medieval Welsh folklore and mythology, in what became the very first edition of The Mabinogion.

A photo of my great-great-great grandfather, Seth Roberts. He was the first person in North Wales to perform the Welsh national anthem, just outside of Wrexham in 1857, a performance described as "astonishing" and "electrifying". I image that he'd be proud!