In this form the Romance found its way back to England, and about 1205 was told for the first time in English verse by Layamon, an English priest who dwelt on the banks of the upper Severn, and who was thus, besides being indebted to Wace, near enough the original source to have access to the great body of Welsh literature then current on the subject. Through these, and French authors, the Cymric tales soon passed to other Continental lands, and since then have been retouched, paraphrased, and amplified in all the languages of Europe. They belong to the age, and breathe the spirit of chivalry. In modern times these romances have again attracted attention, and become famous through the publication of Lady Charlotte Guest’s English translations of the Mabinogion, 1st edition, 1837–49, and reprint, 1877; Vicomte de la Villemarqué’s French translations of the Welsh poems and Round Table romances in 1841 and subsequently; and later still, Professor Loth of Rennes’ translation of the Mabinogion. As in the case of the Gaelic sagas, traditions had been floating among the Welsh people for hundreds of years, and when the general awakening of the twelfth century took place, a natural desire sprung up to have these collected, arranged, and written down. The Mabinogion were thus originally tales penned to be repeated at the fireside, to while away the time of young chieftains and their following, but ultimately they reacted very powerfully upon the national literature and character. The name Mabinogion was not at first so generally applied to all the tales as it is to-day. Only four were so designated. In point of antiquity these tales sort out into two distinct classes,—one older, the other less ancient. The latter celebrate heroes of the Arthurian cycle, and are full of ecclesiastical terms and of allusions to Norman customs, manners, arts, arms, and luxuries. The former refer to persons and events of an earlier period, are more mythological, and contain very few of these later allusions. As Professor Rhys[29] thinks, they are essentially Goidelic stories, and their machinery is magic, not the laws of chivalry. To the older class belong— The Tale of Pwyll, Prince of Dyfed. The Tale of Branwen, daughter of Llyr. The Tale of Manawyddan, the son of Llyr. The Tale of Math, son of Mathonwy. These only are the Mabinogion. The Contention of Llud and Llevelys. The Story of Kilhwch and Olwen. The Dream of Rhonabwy. This last Professor Rhys regards as a hash or after-composition, in spite of the respectability of the MS. To the later class— The Tale of the Lady of the Fountain. The Story of Peredur, son of Evrawc. The Story of Geraint, son of Erbin. The Dream of Macsen Gudelig.