The Late, Late Show

I was watching TV, and for some reason there was a rather elderly Kim Basinger talking about awkward marriage proposals she’d received in her life. “But the worst,” she said, “was from Maxen Wledig.”

This interested me, as Maxen Wledig is the only Roman Emperor to appear in the Mabinogion, and I had no idea that Kim Basinger had dated him, or, indeed, any of the Roman emperors. I was sure I must have misheard, but when I tried to adjust the volume I woke up.

A young man wearing a headband and a gown or loose shirt sits in a boat at gazes bemusedly at the sea.
The header image for “The Dream of Maxen Wledig”
in Brooke’s Wonder Stories from the Mabinogion (1908)
artist unknown

[I posted this originally at Facebook, but have been porting my posts from there over here, since the Facebots seem increasingly dedicated to evil. I added the image on 7/14/2025.]

About JE

James Enge is the author of the World-Fantasy-Award-nominated novel Blood of Ambrose (Pyr, April 2009). His latest book is The Wide World's End. His short fiction has appeared in Black Gate, Tales from the Magician's Skull, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and elsewhere.
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