The Branches
Five tales read as 136 deeds among 45 characters
I read the Four Branches of the Mabinogi in their own order, and after them Culhwch and Olwen, the story of a hunt from the same collection, as a list of deeds: every time one character aids, wrongs, kills, marries, begets, enchants or makes amends to another, each with the passage in Lady Charlotte Guest's translation where it happens. That came to 136 deeds among 45 characters. Manawydan and Gwydion do the most, 13 deeds each, and the commonest deed by far is aiding someone.
The five tales
Pwyll, Lord of Dyfed, the First Branch: 25 deeds among 9 characters, most often aiding someone. Pwyll frees Gwawl from the bag on condition he renounce all revenge for the humiliation. “Take a pledge from him that he will never seek to revenge that which has been done to him.”
Branwen, Daughter of Llŷr, the Second Branch: 26 deeds among 10 characters, most often aiding someone. Bendigeidfran musters sevenscore and four countries and sails for Ireland on hearing of her grief. “He began sending messengers to summon the island together … and he complained to them himself of the grief that his sister endured.”
Manawydan, Son of Llŷr, the Third Branch: 25 deeds among 7 characters, most often aiding someone. Manawydan rides to Oxford to tender homage to Caswallon and is honourably received. “He went to Caswallawn at Oxford, and tendered his homage; and honourable was his reception there.”
Math, Son of Mathonwy, the Fourth Branch: 37 deeds among 11 characters, most often a wrong done. Gwydion trades illusions that will not outlast a day for Pryderi's swine from Annwfn, and drives them north before the trick unravels. “It is needful that we journey with speed. The illusion will not last but from the one hour to the same to-morrow.”
Culhwch and Olwen, from the same collection: 23 deeds among 15 characters, most often a killing or maiming. Arthur splits the witch Orddu in two at her cave mouth with his dagger Carnwennan once his men have failed against her. “Arthur rushed to the door of the cave, and at the door he struck at the witch, with Carnwennan his dagger, and clove her in twain.”
Who does what to whom
Every deed from the five tales in one square grid. The 45 characters run down the side as the ones who act and along the top as the ones acted on, grouped by house: the children of Llŷr, the children of Dôn, the court of Dyfed, Ireland, Arthur's court, Annwfn and the rest of the cast. Each mark is one character doing something to another. Hover over it or tap it for the deed in Guest's words, and press a house's name to open it out.
Drawing the loom…
The Welsh Triads
The Welsh Triads, Trioedd Ynys Prydein, sort the people and events of early Welsh tradition into threes, and many of them name the same people and places as the tales. I linked 12 triads to this cast 31 times, 27 to a character and 4 to a place. In 16 of the links the triad agrees with the story as the tales tell it, in 11 it tells it differently and in 4 it names a place the tale also names and says nothing more. The triads are grouped down the side by which of those they mostly do.
Drawing the loom…
Every deed, quotation and character comes from Lady Charlotte Guest's translation of the Mabinogion (public domain, from Project Gutenberg), and a script checks that each deed names characters and places that exist in the atlas. The quotations are Guest's words with an ellipsis wherever I have left some out. The triads are my paraphrases of the English texts each one cites, most often the Red Book of Hergest text at maryjones.us, with Rachel Bromwich's Trioedd Ynys Prydein cited for every one, so none of the lists of three is a quotation.