The Mabinogion: Myths Across Wales

Narberth is the chief palace of Pwyll, Prince of Dyfed, and the mound of Gorsedd Arberth is where Pwyll first meets his future wife. Pwyll and his noblemen climb it and watch Rhiannon arrive, dressed in gold silk and riding a shining white horse. In the third branch the same place is the setting where Rhiannon is imprisoned and made to carry travellers through the gates as penance. The ruined castle in the town is Norman, seemingly 13th century, and opened again to the public in 2005.

Location precision: The ruined Norman castle stands in Narberth, but the Mabinogi's court and mound are not securely identified; scholars debate the exact site.

Visitor guidance: A ruined castle in the town of Narberth, opened to the public since 2005.

The Irish king Matholwch sails to Harlech to speak with Bran the Blessed and ask for the hand of his sister Branwen. The wedding turns sour when Efnisien mutilates Matholwch's horses, and Matholwch's mistreatment of Branwen in Ireland leads to a destructive war between the two islands. Only seven survivors come home, and they stay at Harlech for seven years. Today the great castle of Harlech, run by Cadw, is part of a World Heritage Site declared in 1986 and is the place linked with Branwen's legend.

Location precision: The tale names Harlech, but the medieval castle on the rock is associated with the legend only by local tradition; no native Welsh fortification is evidenced there.

Visitor guidance: Harlech Castle is run by Cadw as a visitor attraction.

Tomen y Mur is identified as the legendary palace of Ardudwy in the fourth branch. The tale tells how Gwydion and Math make a woman, Blodeuwedd, from the flowers of oak, broom and meadowsweet to be wife to Lleu. She falls in love with Gronw, and they plot Lleu's death. When Gronw throws his spear from ambush, Lleu turns into an eagle rather than dying outright. The remains are a Roman fort with a small military amphitheatre, a rare feature in Britain, and a Norman motte dominating the site.

Location precision: The identification of Tomen y Mur with the tale's palace is traditional; the story itself gives no firm location and the pin marks the Roman fort and Norman motte.

Visitor guidance: The Roman fort, amphitheatre and Norman motte can be seen on the site.

In The Dream of Macsen Wledig the emperor Macsen, identified with Magnus Maximus, dreams of a beautiful woman who turns out to be Saint Elen. She is found at "the fort at the mouth of the Seiont", which the pin places at the Roman fort of Segontium. Magnus Maximus, a legionary commander in Britain, assembled a Celtic army and assumed the title of Roman Emperor in 383. Most of the fort's foundations are preserved today, though a road cuts through the site.

Location precision: The tale describes only the fort at the mouth of the Seiont; the pin marks Segontium, the Roman fort usually linked with it.

Visitor guidance: The foundations of the fort are preserved, though the A4085 cuts through the site.

Every May Day a horrid scream rings across Britain, and it causes all pregnant women to miscarry. It comes from a red dragon locked in combat with a foreign white dragon. Lludd traps the pair, puts them to sleep with mead and buries them in a stone chest, confining the dragons at Dinas Emrys. A circle of tumbled stones on the hill is said to be where they were hidden. Most of the ramparts and walls visible today are medieval.

Location precision: The tale names the hill, not a spot on it; the pin marks the hillfort of Dinas Emrys.

Visitor guidance: Ramparts, walls and foundations, mostly medieval, remain on the hill.