Thanks for introducing this topic of discussion William. You, Vort and Fen raise some interesting points and got my wheels turning. While I understand your concern with whether the Arthurian tales are what was originally written, might you be referring to the earlier Welsh oral tradition? Though Lady Charlotte Guest was the first to translate the Mabinogion into English, she is not solely responsible for compiling the tales. The cycle of tales known as the Four Branches were compiled by a twelfth century Welsh bard, who was undoubtedly Christian. The oral tales would also likely have been "Christianized" by his time. The oldest Welsh Arthurian tales are "Culhwch and Olwen" and the "Dream of Rhonabwy," which, based on the archaic language, linguists date to around the tenth century. Beyond this, we enter the realm of speculation. Do they stem from an oral pagan tradition? An earlier Christian tradition? Or were they always the peculiar hybrid we see in the translations of the Mabinogion? I agree that the beauty, flow and connotative resonances of the Welsh language are lost in translation. Unfortunately, those of us not versed in Welsh would lose the tales in their entirety were they not translated. I'd rather suffer the English than not be able to read them at all. Are the English translations archaic and stilted? For the most part, yes, but that doesn't bother me. My favourite translation is by Welsh scholars Gwyn Jones and Thomas Jones, largely because it's the most accurate and has an informative introduction. Do I think they're Celtic? Well, as far as can be determined, they are of Celtic origin. At least, there's a fair bit of Celtic content in these early Welsh tales. Most important, though, you got me thinking and inspired my muse to write an article on the Mabinogion, which you can read HERE.