ABSTRACT
And yet the stories themselves are not, superficially, concerned with myth. While we have no information about the author/redactor, the circumstances responsible for his undertaking the work, the conditions under which the stories were told or read, or the audience, it seems clear from the way in which the stories develop that the primary interest lay in their entertainment value. Whether or not she is Epona and whether or not the audience was aware of that, Rhiannon is depicted as a strong-willed woman capable of taking charge of her own destiny. She leaves her own kingdom because her people are trying to marty her to a suitor she does not want. She tells Pwyll that she wants him for a husband-and the sooner the better. Later, when he has botched the wedding feast and is in danger of losing her, she berates him for his foolishness and then patiently explains to him how he can rectify the siTUation. Even her punishment is undertaken with her own complicity and by her leave. Her character is strongly contrasted with that of Pwyll, who is indecisive and passive. In the third branch, her husband is Manawydan, and here too there is stark contrast between the assertive Rhiannon and her passive mate. Branwen, in the second branch, presents a different type of woman, one whose family makes decisions for her and who accepts her fate unquestioningly.
