I have developed three alternative versions of Math son of Mathonwy as it is found in the White Book of Rhydderch, in an attempt to show the context and origins of the tale:
- a bardic version stressing some of the international story motifs and the triadic tradition, the more literary elements of the tale;
- a form of legendary history where the incidents are rationalised into a definite medieval history, completing the evolution of the tale.
- an older, more mythical version, reasserting the overall structure of Ôthe king and his prophesied deathÕ as the principal theme of the tale;