The Stone of Goronwy

Lud's Church (XII)

The Tribe of Goronwy Pebyr of Penllyn, who refused to stand instead of their lord to receive the poisoned dart from Llew Llaw Gyffes, by Llech Goronwy, at Blaen Cynvael, in Ardudwy. [1]

After being nursed back to full health, Lleu Llaw Gyffes wanted justice; so the story goes:

"........they mustered Gwynedd and made for Ardudwy. Gwydion went in front, and made for Mur Castell. Blodeuedd, when she heard that they were on their way, took her maidens with her and made for the mountain, across the River Cynfael, making for a court that was up the mountain. And so frightened were they, that they could not walk without facing backwards. Then, before they knew it, they fell into a lake and all drowned except Blodeuedd herself. And then Gwydion overtook her, and said:

'I will not kill you. What I am going to do is even worse,' he said 'that is, I will release you in the shape of a bird. Because of the shame that you have wrought upon Lleu Llaw Gyffes, you will not dare to show your face ever again in the light of day ever again, and that will be because of enmity between you and all birds. It will be in their nature to harass you and despise you wherever they find you. And you will not loose your name - that will always be "Bloddeuwedd". [2]

Goronwy fled, making for Penllyn, which is a commot on the borders of Llyn Tegid, or Bala Lake.
He sent out envoys to Lleu offering him terms, "either land or territory or gold or silver."

Lleu refused Gorowy's offer of terms and sent back the following message: "Here is the least I'll accept from him: going to the place where I was, when he cast the spear, with me in the place where he was. And let me cast a spear at him. That is the least I will accept from him."

Gorowy then asked his nobles and his warband if there was anyone one that would take this blow for him.

They refused and because of this refusal to endure the taking of a single blow on behalf of their lord, they are remembered in a Triad as one of the Three Disloyal Warbands:

"The Tribe of Goronwy Pebyr of Penllyn, who refused to stand instead of their lord to receive the poisoned dart from Llew Llaw Gyffes, by Llech Goronwy, at Blaen Cynvael, in Ardudwy. And the Tribe of Gwrgi and Peredur, who deserted their lords in Caer Greu, where there was an appointment for battle next morning against Eda Glinmawr,and they were both slain. And the third, the Tribe of Alan Vyrgan who returned back by stealth from their lord, leaving him and his servants going to Camlan, where he was slain."

....And with that they both went to the banks of Afon Cynfael. And once there Goronwy Pebyr stood where Lleu had been when he'd been struck and Lleu stood where the other had been. And then Goronwy said unto Lleu: 'Lord,' said he, 'since it was from the deceit of a woman that I did unto you as I did, I implore you, before god, to allow me to set that flat stone that I see on the riverbank between myself and the blow.'

Lleu did not refuse this and so Goronwy took the stone and placed between himself and the blow. Then Lleu cast his spear at Goronwy and it pierced the stone and went through, and it went through Goronwy as well and broke his back.

And there Goronwy Pebyr was slain, and there lies the stone upon the banks of Afon Cynfael in Ardudwy, with the hole still through it. Which is why, until this day, it is called Llech Goronwy.

A second time did Lleu Llaw Gyffes take possession of his land, and he governed it prosperously. And as the story-tellers relate he became, after this, the lord of Gwynedd. Thus ends this branch of the Mabinogi. [3]

Lleu’s retribution swiftly brings the tale of Math son of Mathonwy and indeed the Four Branches of the Mabinogi, in its current form, to an end.

If, as already suggested, the Mabinogi was originally Tales pertaining to the family of Mabon, ending with Pryderi’s death, then the story of Lleu may well have been a later appendage, the reference to the Triad The Three Disloyal Warbands at the end of this branch suggests an oral variant of the tale was in existence when the redactor wrote Math son of Mathonwy in its extant version. [4]

At first glance this would appear to be a straight forward onomastic tale to account for Llech Goronwy in Cwm Cynfael, just south from Ffestiniog and the sites of Llyn y Morwynion, (Lake of the Maidens) and Mur Y Castell, (Tomen-y-Mur ) in Ardudwy. Not far from here is also the claimed burial place of Pryderi at Maentwrog.

Tomen-y-Mur was used by the Romans as a marching camp on the Sarn Helen Roman road, probably named after “Elen of the Hosts” running for about 160 miles from Aberconwy in the north to Carmarthen in the south. Elen of the Hosts, also known as Elen of the Ways, She is Protectress of the Pathways; guardian of all who journey, patron of travellers. Elen is best known from Welsh legend as Elen Luyddogg in the Mabinogion in “The Dream of Macsen Wledig”; Elen is discovered by Mascen in a dream. Her beauty was compared with that of the Sun.

In Britain the was a Cult of St Helen predominantly in the North country, where many churches are dedicated to her, and more 'holy' wells were named for Helen than for any other non-biblical female saint. [5]

Tomen-y-Mur was Lleu’s castle and it is while he was away visiting Math in Arfon that lonely Blodeuedd had met Goronwy while he was out hunting. Blodeuedd was created by Gwydion and Math as a companion for Lleu as his mother Aranrhod had cursed him not to have a wife of this race. Blodeuedd was created for Lleu’s sexual satisfaction, (some have called her a sex beast) therefore it can be little surprise that she took a lover while on her own – it was her sole purpose in life.

Llyn y Morwynion (Lake of the Maidens), less than a mile from Tŷ Nant y Beddau, is where the serving maids of Blodeuedd fell while being pursued by Gwydion, the sorcerer. Blodeuedd flees with her maidens from the fort at Tomen-y-Mur but because they were constantly looking back at their pursuers, they all fall headlong into the lake and are drowned, all except Blodeuedd who is transformed into an owl by Gwydion and from then on known as Bloddeuwedd (Owl).

Llech Goronwy
It would appear unlikely that the tale of Goronwy has been added to the conclusion of the Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi purely as a onomastic tale claiming to account for the name of the stone found in Cwm Cynfal, although the Mabinogi claimed the stone was still there on the banks of the Cynfal.

In 1934, Frank Ward discovered a stone in the bed of the river Cynfal, measuring some forty inches by thirty inches, with a hole straight through it, about an inch in diameter. The stone had apparently been washed downstream by this time from its earlier position in the Ceunant Coch, where a woman who had lived in a farmhouse called ‘Llech Ronw’ nearby, recalled having seen it. She added that a about 150 yards away was a fallen standing-stone which was believed to mark the site of the grave of Goronwy Pebyr (Bedd Goronwy). A later account confirmed the same story. [6]

A few years ago it was claimed the rock was found again, not on the banks of the river Cynfael but on one of its tributaries. The rock is unusual; a man sized flat stone with a hole at about what would be heart-height.

The farm, on whose land the stone is found, is called "Bryn Saeth" (the hill of the arrow), a farm nearby is called Llech Goronwy (Goronwy's Stone), and, making a triangle with those two a third farm is called "Bryn Gyfergyd" (the hill of the blow). [7]

The stone can still be seen today as shown in the pictures, however whether this is the original stone we will never know, apparently it was erected by the local Council a few years ago, and lies alongside the Afon Bryn Saeth, at SH714407, a tributary to the Afon Cynfal.

Goronwy
Goronwy Pebyr has been translated as “spearman, radiant”, the first element gwr (man) and *rhonwy (an archaic name for spear). The attached epithet, Pebyr is thought to derive from the Cymric word pefr (shining, radiant). A suggested etymology for Lleu has been the shining one or radiant one based on the presence of the component 'lleu' meaning ‘light’ in Cymric. This has led to the suggestion that they may well be one and the same deity and this event was an annual duel between light and dark, remembering of course that Lleu was one of a twin; divine twins being mythemic in Proto-Indo-European in mythologies. [8]

The required method to kill Lleu’s has the implication of a ritual as certain conditions must be met:

Lleu cannot be killed:

a. without a spear,
b. inside a house and he cannot be killed outside,
c. he cannot be killed on horseback and he cannot be killed on foot.

How he can be killed:

a. the spear must be worked on only during Sunday at the time of Mass,
b. a bath must be prepared, this must be by a riverside, there must be a well thatched roof [9] over the bath; so he is neither inside or outside,
c. a buck (male) goat must be placed by the bath, Lleu must place one foot on the goat’s back and the other on the edge of the bath; so he is neither on horseback or on foot.

This triad of conditions that is required to bring about Lleu’s death immediately brings to mind the threefold death motif suffered by an individual who dies simultaneously in three ways; an acknowledged Proto-Indo-European mythological theme.

As we saw previously in the medieval verse romance Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, set in the days of King Arthur at the New Year's feast, derived originally from the much earlier 8th Century Irish tale Bricriu’s Feast, the three attempted axe cuts are symbolic of the three strikes and clearly referring to the triple death.

>> Continued in Part XIII - Gwydion's Eagle <<

Notes:
1. Rachel Bromwich, Three Disloyal Warbands of the Island of Britain, Trioedd Ynys Prydein (TYP): The Triads of the Island of Britain, University of Wales Press; 3rd Revised Edition, 2006.
2. "Blodeuwedd" still means "owl" in modern Welsh.
3. Will Parker, The Mabinogi of Math, 2003.
4. Bromwich, op.cit, p.65.
5. Dr G. R. Jones: The Cult of St Helen.
6. Bromwich, op.cit, p.67.
7. Michael Senior, Gods and Heroes in North Wales. Gwasg y Garreg Gwalch, Lanrwst, 1993.
8. In the study of mythology, a 'mytheme' is the essential kernel of a myth, an irreducible, unchanging element, and one that is always found shared with other, related mythemes and reassembled in various ways.
9. W J Gruffydd, Math van Mathonwy, University of Wales Press, 1928. Gruffydd suggests that what is meant here is a round, pointed thatched roof without sides.

Picture credits: These photographs, which I am assured are the Stone of Goronwy (Llech Goronwy) were emailed to me sometime ago but I have no idea of the original source.

* * *

The Fair One with a Skillful Hand

Lud's Church XI

Gwydyon ap Don, of toiling spirits,
Enchanted a woman from blossoms,
And brought pigs from the south.
Since he had no sheltering cots,
Rapid curves, and plaited chains.
He made the forms of horses
From the springing pants,
and illustrious saddles. [1]

Lleu Llaw Gyffes
If we accept Eric Hamp’s theory [2] that the Mabinogi originally was a cycle of tales pertaining to the family of Pryderi, an account of the birth, disappearance and restoration of Mabon, which being another name for the British god Maponus, the divine son, whose imprisonment and release is one of the tasks Culhwch must accomplish to win Olwen in Culhwch and Olwen, then the Fourth Branch, The Mabinogi of Math, probably terminated in the death of Pryderi at the hands of Gwydion’s magic which was recorded in the original “Battle of the Trees” (Discussed in Part X – The Enchantment of Gwynedd).

In the Fourth Branch Lleu Llaw Gyffes is not yet born at the time of the Battle over the stolen pigs between Gwydion and Pryderi and therefore does not feature in the poem “The Battle of the Trees” either. It would therefore appear that the tale of Lleu was a later appendage to the original tales of Mabon and family, probably because ultimately it portrays a cycle of birth, death and rebirth, as we shall see.

Lleu’s first appearance in the Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi is after the death of Pryderi in battle with Gwydion and his magic. The battle was constructed by Gwydion by stealing Pryderi’s magic, otherworld pigs, in an attempt to get Math’s foot-holder Goewin on her own so that Gwydion’s brother Gilfaethwy, who had fallen hopelessly in love with her, could get her on her own. The result of this was that Math had to find another maiden foot-holder. Gwydion and Gilfaethwy suggested their sister Aranrhod, daughter of Don, but she failed Math’s virginity test when stepping over his magic wand and dropped a curly yellow haired boy, Dylan, Prince of Wave, and then as she ran for the door dropped another small something, which Gwydion immediately took away and hid in a chest at the end of his bed. This grows fast as a fair haired boy. Gwydion took the four-year-old, often referred to as ‘his boy’ to Aranrhod, but she denied the boy was hers and places three curses on him over a period of time. Firstly she denies him a name unless she names him herself, which she does after he hits a wren with a needle, when disguised a shoemaker, the naming incident is clearly very significant. ‘God knows,' said she 'the fair one strikes it with a skillful hand’. Gwydion then said ‘he has obtained a name, and the name is good enough "Lleu Skillful Hand" he will be from now on.'

As we saw in Part VII - Songs from the Sons of Llyr there are two variants to this name in Welsh, Lleu/Llew: the later appearing in later versions of the tale and probably due to scribal error; the former is the original as revealed by the rhyme scheme in at least two poems; one in the Mabinogi of Math in the stanzas sung by Gwydion to Lleu while he is in the form of an eagle, the other from the Book of Taliesin.

In the Llyfr Gwyn Rhydderch, The White Book of Rhydderch, he is known as both Lleu and Llew, although it is mostly written as Llew in the White Book texts and the spelling Llew is more common in Mabinogi texts probably having arisen from the ambiguities of early welsh spelling and manuscript errors. Although they may sound similar, Llew translates as ‘lion’ which is quite different and therefore is sometimes translated as the “Lion with the Steady Hand” which is quite incorrect as the naming of Lleu Llaw Gyffes is revealed in the Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi, as we have seen above as 'the fair one with a skilful hand’, as Lleu means “light” or “fair” as in colour. [3]

This is confirmed as the oldest fragment of the Mabinogi of Math mab Mathonwy, found in the Peniarth 16 Manuscript, gives “Lleu” ONLY as the name. The rhyme in the three ancient englynion contained in the tale of Math shows that the true form of the name is Lleu:

Dar a dyf yn ard uaes,
Nis gwlych glaw, mwy tawd nawes.
Ugein angerd a borthes.
Yn y blaen, Lleu Llaw Gyffes.

An oak grows on a high plain,
Rain wets it not, though doth corruption seep
A score of crafts does it uphold
And at its crown Lleu of the Skilful Hand [4]

There is still much discussion between scholars as to the interpretation of Lleu's name and suggestions have been forward as 'The Bright One/The Shining One' based on the presence of the component 'lleu' meaning ‘light’ in Cymric. This led many Victorian scholars to propose Lleu as a sun-god, [5] although modern opinion seems to have moved away from this as an out-dated notion.

Lleu is also related to the Cymric word goleu literally meaning 'banisher of darkness', stemming from the proto Indo-European root *leug- (blackness, darkness) word and it has also been suggested that Lleu may be related to the proto-Celtic root *lug- (oath) which is linked both to pledges and contracts. A significant retort exists between the name 'Lugus' and the Old Celtic stem lugi- meaning "to swear, oath" (appearing in Irish as luighe, in Welsh as llw, and in Breton as le). [6]

Lleu, coupled with the epithet Llaw Gyffes (Skillful Hand) shares many qualities and is undoubtedly cognate with the Irish deity Lúgh as represented in Irish mythological texts as hero and King of Tuath de Dannan. Lúgh is known by the epithets Lámhfhada ("long hand"), Ildanach ("skilled in many arts"), Samh-ildánach ("Equally skilled in many arts"), Lonnbeimnech ("fierce striker"). These epithets are far too deliberately similar for the connection of Lleu to Lugh to be purely coincidental as we will see later.

The Warrior's Graves
In addition to the Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi, the name Lleu also appears in the Triads, the Book of Taliesin and in the Stanza of the Graves or Englynion y Beddau (also known as 'The Graves of the Warriors of the Island of Britain'), found in a number of Welsh manuscripts, the earliest and most important is in the Black Book of Carmarthen (Llyfr Du Caerfyrddin) collection containing seventy-three stanzas; although the Black Book manuscript dates to the 13th century Thomas Jones has dated the original text to the 9th- or 10th-century but they probably represent much older oral folklore traditions. [7] The Stanza of the Graves although not specifically giving the site of Lleu’s grave states it is under the sea near the grave of his kinsman, [8] this is generally presumed to be a reference to Dylan Eil Ton, who as we have seen, according to the text of the Fourth Branch, is Lleu's twin.

The traditional site of Dylan’s grave is at Maen Dylan, a large stone situated along the shoreline at Aberdesach, near Clynnog-fawr, within Caernarfon Bay. Less than two miles along the coast to the north of Maen Dylan, situated on the sea-shore, near to the village of Llandwrog, just off the A499, lies Dinas Dinlle(u) (grid ref: SH437563) on the seaward boundary of a large strip of land, called Morfa Dinlleu, running north up to The Bar, entrance to the Menai Strait. Local tradition claims that Lleu Llaw Gyffes lived at Dinas Dinlle and that Dinas Dinlleu was named after him, meaning literally "City of Lleu's Fortress".

The remains of this large circular hillfort, next to the sea, was originally defended by double banked ramparts some six metres high and deep ditches, with an entrance to the south-east. There are a number of depressions within the ramparts where huts once stood as well as a badly damaged mound which could be the remains of a round barrow. The western edge is steadily eroding into the sea. It is claimed the Roman road Watling Street originally ended here. The site has not been fully excavated, but sherds of Roman pottery have been discovered in the past, suggesting occupation or reoccupation in the 2nd or 3rd centuries AD

The grave of Lleu’s kinsman’s referred to in the Stanza of the Graves may not be Dylan after all, as there is the possibility that it is his Uncle and foster father, Gwydion who is also said to be buried at Morfa Dinlle [9]

After the naming episode in the Fourth Branch when he hits the wren and receives his name from Aranrhod as 'the fair one with a skilful hand’, Lleu and Gwydion return to Dinas Dinlle:

“The following morning in the young of the day, they walked along the beach up as far as Brynn Aryen; and at the top of Cefyn Cludno, they kitted-out [some] horses and went along to Caer Aranrhod”. [10]

East off the shoreline at Dinas Dinlle there is a cluster of rocks, a reef known as Caer Aranrhod which is named after Lleu's mother. The City, or Caer, of Aranrod, is reported to have been engulfed by the sea; the ancient site occasionally comes to view at low tides, not far from Clynnog.

For the site of The Castle Of Aranrod, Charlotte Guest in her notes to the Mabinogion, quotes Rev. P. B. Williams, in his "Tourist's Guide through Caernarvonshire," speaking of Clynnog, he says: "There is a tradition that an ancient British town, situated near this place, called Caer Arianrhod, was swallowed up by the sea, the ruins of which, it is said, are still visible during neap tides, and in fine weather."

Although it is said that Caer Aranrhod refers to the submerged reef, however, we have seen previously that Aranrhod’s name is originally and consistently spelled Aranrot, meaning ‘big, round wheel’ having astrological connotations; this has been interpreted in some traditions as the Milky Way, but the Milky-way is named after Gwydion, termed Caer Gwydion, who gave his name to the constellation of Cassiopeia, in Welsh, Llys Don, (the Court of Don). We find the Welsh name for Lleu’s mother in the constellation of the Corona Borealis; Caer Arianrod.

The Stanza of the Graves confirms the association of this episode of the Fourth Branch with Clynnog:

“where the wave makes a noise,
the grave of Dylan is at Llanfueno” [11]

Llanfueno is the church (Llan = enclosure or church) dedicated to St Bueno which lies south along the coast from Dinas Dinlleu and Maen Dylan in the village of Clynnog Fawr. It has been argued recently that the redaction of the stories of the fourth branch of the Mabinogi (Math vab Mathonwy) took place in the monastic settlement (Welsh clas) at Clynnog. [12]

click for larger image

Saint Beuno, was perhaps the greatest of North Wales Celtic saints, legends linking him with miraculous healing powers. He founded the monastery at Clynnog Fawr in 616 AD and the Church founded around 630 AD. Clynnog Church, large for a small village settlement, became an assembly point for pilgrims bound for Bardsey Island. Saint Beuno founded a "clas" (a hybrid between a Monastery and a College) an institution peculiar to the Celtic Church, and it became the most important ecclesiastical centre for Western Caernarfonshire. The group of clergy who held it appear in the oldest manuscript of the Venedotian Code, under the name of ‘clas Beuno’.

The second curse that he shall not bear arms unless Aranrhod does herself, which she does after Gwydion creates the allusion of a fleet of ships attacking.

Not of mother and father
The third course she inflicts on Lleu is that she shall not have a mortal wife, which leads Gywdion and Math to construct Blodeuedd, as revealed in the Battle of the Trees:

Not of mother and father,
When I was made,
Did my Creator create me.
Of nine-formed faculties,
Of the fruit of fruits,
Of the fruit of the primordial God,
Of primroses and blossoms of time hill,
Of the flowers of trees and shrubs.
Of earth, of an earthly course,
When I was formed.
Of the flower of nettles,
Of the water of the ninth wave.
I was enchanted by Math,
Before I became immortal,
I was enchanted by Gwydyon [13]

Blodeuedd ('Flowers' 'Blossoms') took Goronwy, the lord of Penllyn as a lover and tricked Lleu into revealing how he could be killed:

‘It is not easy,' Lleu continued 'to kill me by a blow . It would be necessary to spend a year making the spear to strike me with - and without making any of it [at any other time] except when one was at mass on Sundays.'
'And is that certain?' she asked.
'It's certain, God knows,' he replied 'I cannot be killed inside a house, nor outside,' he continued 'I cannot be killed on horseback or on foot.'
'Aye,' said she '[so] in what way can you be killed?'
'I'll tell you,' he replied. 'By making a bath for me by the side of a river, making a curved, slatted roof over the tub, and thatching that well and without [leaving] any gaps. And bringing a buck,' he continued 'and putting it next to the tub, and me putting one of my feet on the buck's back, and the other one on the side of the tub. Whoever would strike me [while I am] like that would bring about my death.'

She gave the secret of how to kill Lleu to her lover Goronwy, who then spent a year and a day making the spear. She then gets Lleu to act out how he can be killed while Goronwy is hiding behind Brynn Cyfegyr (hill of combat) on the bank of the River Cynfael.

Lleu emerged from the bath in a gazebo-like bath house (having no walls but a roof), neither “indoors or out” with one foot on the back of a goat (a billy-goat in Welsh is bwch gafr 'buck goat') neither “on horseback or on foot” and the other on the edge of the bath, neither “on land nor on water”. Gronowy rose up from behind the hill and cast the poison spear and struck him on the side. Lleu being struck with the only weapon that could kill him: a spear that has been forged for a year and a day "while folk are at mass on Sunday" immediately turned into an eagle and took flight letting out a terrible scream. Goronwy then took control of Lleu’s lands and ruled over both Ardudwy and Penllyn.

Gwydion searches all over for Lleu, eventually he finds him by following a sow into a valley, Nant Lleu, which is now called Nantlle in western Snowdonia, just a few miles east of Dinas Dinlleu.

Lleu transformed as an Eagle - Alan Lee

Gwydion could see the sow was grazing on rotting flesh and maggots that fell from the eagle when he shook himself. He realised that the eagle was Lleu and sung to him to entice him down as we saw in Part IX – Math’s Tale. Lleu fell into Gwydion's lap who struck him with his magic wandand he changed back to his human form but was nothing but skin and bones. Gwydion took him back to Caer Dathyl, and with the best doctors in Gwynedd brought him back to good health before the end of the year.

>> Continued in Part XII - The Stone of Goronwy <<

Notes

1. The Chair Of Ceridwen. Book Of Taliessin XVI - From The Four Ancient Books of Wales by W F Skene.
2. Mabinogi and Archaism, Celtica 23 by Eric P Hamp
3. Celtic Culture, A Historical Encyclopedia By John T. Koch, 2006, pp 1164 – 1166
4. The Fourth Branch oh the Mabinogi: Math mab Mathonwy.
5. See for example John Rhys, The Hibbert Lectures, The Origins of Religion in Heathendom.
6. Lugus: The Many-Gifted Lord by Alexei Kondratiev. Originally published in An Tríbhís Mhór: The IMBAS Journal of Celtic Reconstructionism #1, Lúnasa 1997.
7. The Black Book of Carmarthen, The Stanzas of the Graves, Thomas Jones - John Rhys Memorial lectures, Proceedings of the British Academy 53 (1967).
8. Llyfr Du Caerfyrddin, edited by A O H Jarman, Caerdydd: Gwasg Prifysgol Cymru, 1982.
9. In her Notes to Math The Son Of Mathonwy in her Mabinogion collection Lady Charlotte Guest states that “The grave of Gwydion ab Don has not been left unrecorded; it was in Morva Dinllev, the scene of one of his adventures with Llew Llaw Gyffes.” However, she does not name her source.
10. The Fourth Branch oh the Mabinogi: Math mab Mathonwy.
11. Thomas Jones, 1967, op cit.
12. “Clas Beuno and the Four Branches of the Mabinogi” - P. Sims-Williams, in 150 Jahre “Mabinogion” B. Maier and S. Zimmer (eds.), 2001, pp111-127
13. The Book of Taliesin VIII - From The Four Ancient Books of Wales by W F Skene.


** UPDATE AUGUST 2019 **

Excavations at Lleu's Fortress uncovers Iron Age roundhouse
Archaeologists have uncovered a huge Iron Age roundhouse, thought to be about 2,500 years old, and roman pottery during excavations at the coastal fort of Dinas Dinlle in North Wales.
The 43ft (13m) wide roundhouse has been buried under coastal sand thought to have been blown in during a storm in 1330. About 30% of Lleu's fortress has been lost to the sea since 1900 with experts predicting that the whole 125-acre site could be completely lost within 500 years due to climate change.

>> BBC News Wales 20th August 2019

* * *

The Enchantment of Gwynedd

LUD'S CHURCH (X)

I make no apology for providing a précis in the previous part of the Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi, named from Math son of Mathonwy, here. It is often described as the most complex of the four branches and is certainly the most mythological, containing shapeshifting in abundance, featuring the Children of Don.
The Enchanters
It has been suggested that The Mabinogi Math is a retelling of the legend of the King and his Prophesised Death and not Celtic in origin, but a universal legend told in Egypt, Greece and the middle East in addition to Ireland and Wales. [1] Recently scholars have suggested that Mabinogi Math maybe an interpretation of a pre-Christian creation myth based on the etymology of the name Don being cognate with Old Irish don = “place, ground, earth”, i.e. Children of the Earth. [2]

Math was the brother of Don and son of Mathonwy, a great and wise king, ruler of Gwynedd, uncle to Gwydion, Gilfaethwy and Arianrhod, and brother of Penarddun. He had the strange gift of hearing everything that was said once the wind took hold of it. This same gift was said to have been possessed by the Coraniaid, a supernatural race listed in the Triads as one of the Three Oppressions and one of the three plagues of Lludd’s reign, as we saw in Lludd’s Dragons (Part VII.) This plague was eradicated by bruising insects that he had obtained from his brother Lleuelys in France, and sprinkling this concoction over the Coraniaid.

The name Math is derived from the Proto-Celtic *matu- meaning "bear”, providing the root of the Gallic god Matunus, a Latin form of the Celtic Matunos, who was known to have been worshipped in Roman Britain from an altar stone dedication at High Rochester dating from AD213. This god clearly indicates a relationship to Artos as the two ancient Celtic words for bear were math or matu and art or artos. We know that there was a bear cult worshipped in ancient times and in Gaul there was a divinized she-bear, called Dea Arti. There were many gods assimilated to the god Mercury; the Bear God ‘Artaius’ (from which the Celtic god Arthur is ultimately derived) was one such known as Mercury Artaius, and widely worshipped by the continental Celts.

It has been proposed that Math is a corruption of Welsh Mathien, from Irish Mathgen, meaning relative (or kin) of the bear and the epithet Mathonwy an adaptation of the Irish name Mathgamnai, literally ‘bear cub’, and in Gaulish we find matugenos meaning ‘son of the bear’s son,’ therefore a suggested meaning for Math vab Mathonwy would be "Bear-kin, son of the Bear cub".

The setting of the Fourth Branch is Gwynedd in North Wales and portrays Math as the great sorcerer king of Gwynedd, but the main focus is on his nephew the wizard Gwydion. There is some debate whether Mathonwy denotes the name of Math’s mother or father, as Gwydion presumably carries his mother’s name, Gwydion vab Dôn it is probable that it is a matronymic indicating a maternal lineage in the ruling house of Gwynedd.

The Trioedd Ynys Prydain name Math as one of the 'Three Great Enchanters of the Island of Britain' and goes on to say that he taught these enchantments to his nephew Gwydion, the powerful magician, come trickster, of the Fourth Branch who can create horses and hounds from toadstools, shoes from seaweed, illusions of an invading fleet and a woman out of flowers. The Triad states that Math taught these skills to Gwydion:

Three Great Enchantments of the Island of Britain.
The Enchantment of Math son of Mathonwy and he taught it to Gwydion son of Dôn.
And the enchantment of Uther Pendragon and he taught it to Menw son of Teirgwaedd.
And the third was the enchantment of Rudlwm the Dwarf and he taught it to Coll son of Collfrewy his nephew.

The great magician Gwydion’s name contains the form, gwyd- of the verb gwybot ‘to know.’ The word "gwyddion" can mean "trees" or "forest", (which is related to the word “goddeu”), the name could possibly mean "one born of wood," a suggested meaning of his name would be “woodwise”, and implies a man of learning who gained his learning from nature, a druid.
Gwydion may also be derived from *Uidugenos which in archaic Welsh is Guidgen, as found in the Brycheiniog genealogy contained in the Harleian 3859 manuscript; "Lou hen map Guidgen" (Lleu son of Gwydion). *Uidugenos is clearly very similar to Uiducus/Viducus, raising the possibility that Gwydion and Uiducus are essentially the same name. We find Uiducus as the deity Mercury Uiducus, meaning either "Mercury the Woodsman" (uidu- "wood, tree") or "Mercury the Wise" (uid- "see"). This would appear to confirm Gwydion’s divine status. [3]

Battle of the Trees
Gwydion is mentioned in the poems "The Chair of Cerridwen" and "Song Before the Sons of Llyr.” Math and Gwydion also feature as the wizards in the poem The Battle of the Trees (Cad Goddeu) also from the 14th Century Book of Taliesin, in which they turn trees and shrubs to form an army. This poem is generally thought by scholars to be the battle from the Arthurian Battle list in Nennius, Chapter 56, Cat Coit Celidon in a mythological context and given a northern location based on the location of Goddeu in Rheged, roughly an expanded modern day Cumbria. This mythological battle is often cited in a contradictory context to locate a historical Arthur.

This poem, The Battle of the Trees, although usually referred to as one of the bard Taliesin’s boasting poems, is clearly recounting Math and Gwydion’s battle with Pryderi son of Pwyll over the pigs stolen from Annwn (Dyfed). It contains sections referring to episodes we see in the The Fourth Branch; the creation of Bloduedd from flowers and mentions Math, Gwydion, Dylan and Goronwy, even a possible allusion to Lleu as an eagle. It would seem to be based on the, now lost, same pagan original tale as the Fourth Branch, centred on Gwynedd and the Lleyn Peninsula in particular, exactly where we find the Children of Don located. [4]

A short poem found in the later manuscript (Peniarth MS 98B) confirms the fact that the Battle of the Trees (sometimes called The Battle of Achren), was fought over animals that had been stolen from the otherworld by the Children of Don. The account describes how Amathaon ab Don brought a white roebuck and a welp from Annwn and fought with Arawn, King of Annwn. Gwydion sang the two Englyns following:

"Sure-hoofed is my steed impelled by the spur;
The high sprigs of alder are on thy shield;
Bran art thou called, of the glittering branches."

And thus,

"Sure-hoofed is my steed in the day of battle:
The high sprigs of alder are on thy hand:
Bran by the branch thou bearest
Has Amathaon the good prevailed."

The Battle is referred to in the Triads of the Island of Britain:

Three Futile Battles of the Island of Britain:
One of them was the Battle of Goddeu: it was brought about by the cause of the bitch, together with the roebuck and the plover;
The second was the Action of Arfderydd, which was brought by the cause of the lark's nest;
And the third was the worst: that was Camlan, which was brought about because of a quarrel between Gwenhwyfar and Gwennhwyfach.

This is why those (Battles) were called Futile: because they were brought about by such a barren cause as that.

The Four Branches were likely based on an original, now lost, tale detailing the conflict between the Children of Don in the North of the Children of Llyr from the South, concluding in the final battle (of the Trees) for the magical creatures stolen from Annwfn, resulting in Pryderi's death, which Gwydion brings about by way of getting Math to leave Caer Dathyl so that Gilfaethwy can have his way with Goewin.

The Battle for the Pigs
In the Fourth Branch Gwydion tells Math that he had heard that a certain type of creature had come into the South, which has never come to this Island before:

'What is their name?' asked Math.
'"Hogs", Lord.'
'What kind of animals are those?'
'Small animals, their meat is better than the meat of oxen. They are small and they are changing names. "Pigs" is what they are called nowadays.'
'To whom do they belong?'
'Pryderi son of Pwyll, sent to him from Annwfn by Arawn king of Annwfn. [5]

In this story, pigs make their first appearance as a gift from Arawn, lord of the Otherworld, to Pwyll, who then passed them on to his son Pryderi. Here we see an indication that pigs had a particular connection to Annwfn, and a special status as a cult animal amongst the Celts.

The story of the seven pigs which Arawn gave to Pwyll, Lord of Annwfn, are now the property of Pryderi, the swineherd and mentioned in the Triads:

Three Powerful Swineherds of the Island of Britain:
Pryderi son of Pwyll, Lord of Annwfn, tending the swine of Penndaran Dyfed his foster-father. These swine were the seven animals which Pwyll Lord of Annwfn brought and he gave them to Penndaran Dyfed his foster-father. And this is the place where he used to keep them, in Glyn Cuch in Emlyn. And this is why he was called a powerful swineherd: because no one was able either to deceive or to force him.

And the second was Drystan son of Tallwch, tending the swine of March son of Meirchyawn, while the swineherd went with a message to Essyllt. Arthur and March and Cei and Bedwyr all four were there. But they did not succeed in seizing even one pigling, not by force, nor by deception, nor by stealth...

In the opening lines of the First Branch of the Mabinogi, Pwyll is his chief court at Arberth and decides to go hunting at Glyn Cuch, he set out that evening from Arberth, coming as far Pen Llwyn Diarwya, and spent the night there. The next day he came to Llyn Cuch, and while out hunting when he comes across another pack of hounds bringing down a stag, the dogs have dazzling bright white and with red ears. These are no doubt the hounds of hell, the cwn annwfn, the hounds of the Wild Hunt. Pwyll argues over the stag with the other huntsman, who says he is “From Annwvyn. Arawn, king of Annwfn am I.'”

Arberth has been been identified with Narbeth in Southern Pembrokeshire and the location of Glyn Cuch in Emlyn is almost certainly modern day Newcastle Emlyn, in the Teifi Valley, spanning across the county borders of Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire in west Wales. Lying on the River Teifi, Emlyn was one of the seven cantrefs of Dyfed, the name derives from am (around, as on both sides of) and glyn (valley); the valley in question being the Cuch which provided the border of the commotes of Emlyn Is Cuch (to the west) and Emlyn Uwch Cuch (to the east).

After trading the twelve horses, hounds and shields that Gwydion had created by magic from toadstools, they swiftly left as the magic would not last from one day to the next. After leaving Pryderi’s court in Rhuddlan Teifi (near Lampeter in Ceredigion), the trail of the pig drive back to Gwynedd can be traced through the pig (moch) place-names of the text:

Mochdref – probably Nant y Moch in the uplands of Ceredigion.
Mochdref - over Elenid, between Ceri and Arwystli. Southwest of Newtown, Powys
Mochnant - Commote in Powys
Mochdref - near Colwyn Bay, Rhos.
Creuwyon (Cororion), - where a sty was made for the pigs at the highest township of Arllechwedd.

Math's army waited for Pryderi’s forces at Pennardd. Gilfaethwy and Gwydion slipped away to Caer Dathyl that night and Goewin was taken against her will. The two armies faced each other between Maenawr Bennard and Maenawr Coed Alun (Coed Helen). According to local tradition, Gwydion stood on a hill to watch and direct the battle, Bryn Gwydion, is near Clynnog off the A499, South of Caernarfon.

Pryderi’s army retreated, culminating in the final battle, and Pryderi’s death, at Traeth Mawr, (Aberglaslyn was a tidal estuary then, prior to the building of the Cob at Porthmadog). Pryderi was killed in single combat against Gwydion’s magic and buried at Maentwrog.

And so ends the original tales of Pryderi.
However, the Fourth Branch goes on from this point to tell the tale of Lleu.

The Tale of Lleu
As Goewin was no longer a maiden, Math had to find another, and in failing her test Aranhod promptly dropped Dylan and Lleu, the divine twins. Aranrhod appears in the Book of Taliesin and is famed for her beauty. She appears in three Triads, her father mentioned as Beli, and in the Fourth Branch her mother is the goddess Don. She is without doubt a deity, traditionally her name meaning “Silver wheel” which may indicate she was the goddess of the moon. However, Aranrhod’s name is originally and consistently spelled Aranrot, which would mean ‘big, round wheel’ giving astronomical connotations of the zodiac. She fails to recognise Lleu as her son and puts three curses on him. The identity of Lleu’s father is not revealed but Gwydion shows a keen interest in the boy, thus giving the innuendo of incest with his sister Aranhod.

Upon being baptised Dylan Eil Ton meaning “Prince of Wave”, or “Son of Wave” immediately made for the sea. Shape-shifting from human to animal form occurs often in this branch of the mabinogi, it has been suggested that that Dylan changes shape into an unnamed creature when he is baptized, possibly a seal, selkies being well known in Celtic mythology. [6]

Dylan appears in two poems in the Book of Taliesin, giving little away about his story:

From The Battle of the Trees:
I played in the twilight,
I slept in purple;
I was truly in the enchantment
With Dylan, the son of the wave [7]

The Death-song of Dylan, son of the Wave
ONE God Supreme, divine, the wisest, the greatest his habitation,
When he came to the field, who charmed him in the hand of the extremely liberal.
Or sooner than he, who was on peace on the nature of a turn.
An opposing groom, poison made, a wrathful deed,
Piercing Dylan, a mischievous shore, violence freely flowing.
Wave of Iwerdon, and wave of Manau, and wave of the North,
And wave of Prydain, hosts comely in fours.
I will adore the Father God, the. regulator of the country, without refusing.
The Creator of Heaven, may he admit us into mercy. [8]

The Fourth Branch mentions the blow by which his death was caused was cast by Gofannon, his uncle, the divine smith, deemed one of the Three Ill-Fated Blows, however the Triad has not survived. Gofannon son of Don, the divine smith, patron of metalworkers, also appears briefly in Culhwch ac Olwen as a gifted smith; one of the tasks given to Culhwch if he is to win the hand of Olwen is to get Gofannon to sharpen the plough of his brother Amaethon son of Don, the divine ploughman.

Gofannon also appears in the Book of Taliesin:

I have been with skilful men,
With Matheu and Govannon,
With Eunydd and Elestron,
In company with Achwyson,
For a year in Caer Gofannon. [9]

Matheu is clearly Math son of Mathonwy, but Caer Gofannon, the fort of the smith remains elusive and sadly the whole story of Dylan seems to have been lost and denotes a missing, much older mythological cycle.

>> Part XI - The Fair One with a Skillful Hand <<

Notes

1. W J Gruffydd, Math vab Mathonwy, University of Wales Press, Cardiff, 1923.
2. John Carey, Journal of the History of Religions 31, discussed in Celtic Culture by John T. Koch, 2006.
3. Considering that the word Druid (magician, priest) is thought to derive from "drus" meaning oak, it is likely that the word for scientist is derived from forest, i.e. the man of learning gained his knowledge from nature. – Gwydion by Mary Jones [http://www.maryjones.us/jce/gwydion.html].
4. Places mentioned in the Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi – The Nantlle Valley website [http://www.nantlle.com/mabinogi-saesneg-places-mentioned-in-the-fourth-branch.htm]
5. The Four Branches of the Mabinogi, Will Parker, Bardic Press, 2005.
6. Keefer, Sarah Larratt. 1989-1990. “The lost tale of Dylan in the Fourth Branch of The Mabinogi.” in C.W. Sullivan III (ed.) 1996. The Mabinogi: a book of essays. New York & London. 79-97.
7. Battle of the Trees (Cad Goddeu) from The Book of Taliesin VIII, The Four Ancient Books of Wales, W F Skene.
8. The Death-song of Dylan, son of the Wave, from The Book of Taliesin XLIII, The Four Ancient Books of Wales, W F Skene.
9. The First Address of Taliesin, from The Book of Taliesin I, The Four Ancient Books of Wales, W F Skene.

* * *

Math's Tale

LUD'S CHURCH (IX)

Or the tops of its whirling trees?
Who bends them so crooked?
Or what fumes may be
About their stems?
Is it Lleu and Gwydyon
That perform their arts? [1]

The Fourth Branch: The Mabinogi of Math

So the story goes.......

Pryderi son of Pwyll was lord over 21 cantrefs in the South, which included seven of Dyfed, Math son of Mathonwy was lord of Gwynedd in the North, and resided at Caer Dathyl in Arfon. Math needed to rest his feet in the lap of a maiden called Goewin when not at war, or patrolling his lands with his nephews Gilfaethwy and Gwydion sons of Don.

Gilfaethwy had fallen in love with Gowein who was Math’s constant companion at Caer Dathyl, to such a degree that he was wasting away. Gwydion told Gilfaethwy not to speak as Math could hear whatever whisper, however small, that there might be between people, once it was carried on the wind, he said he knew what was on Gilfaethwy’s mind so they would hatch a plot to get Goewin on her own.

So they went to Math and told him that Pryderi son of Pwyll, had some hogs sent to him from Annwfn by Arawn, Lord of the Otherworld. These small animals, now known as pigs, had meat better than the meat of oxen. Gwydion said he would go in a group of twelve, disguised as bards, and ask for the pigs. So Gwydion went, with Gilfaethwy and ten men with them, to Ceredigion to the court of Pryderi, the place nowadays called Rhuddlan Teifi.

They persuaded Pryderi to lend them his magical hogs from Annwfn in return for twelve horses, hounds and shields that Gwydion had created by magic from toadstools, but they had to move swiftly as the magic will not last from one day to the next. By the time they were home in Gwynedd the spell had worn off and Pryderi was in pursuit with an army and Math was on his way to meet him. That night with Math out of the way, Gwydion and Gilfaethwy returned to Caer Dathyl. The maidens were forced out rudely and Goewin was put to sleep with Gilfaethwy against her will. Gwydion returned for the battle at Maenawrs Bennardd and Coed Alun, where Pryderi was forced to retreat. He then challenged Gwydion to single combat and was killed, and buried at Maen Tyriawg.

On Math’s return to Caer Dathyl, Gowein told him of her ravishment by Gilfaethwy. As punishment Math used magic to turn Gwydion and Gilfaethwy into stags, boars and wolves of opposite sexes for a year each. After they had spent three years in the forest mating each other and between them giving birth to one faun, piglet and wolf-cub, which Math then turned into humans called Bleiddwn, Hyddwn & Hychdwn Hir, they were then forgiven.

Math now had to find a new foot maiden, Gwydion and Gilfaethwy suggested their sister Aranrhod daughter of Don, but she failed Math’s virginity test whilst stepping over his magic wand and dropped a curly yellow haired boy, and then dropped a small something as she ran for the door, which Gwydion picked up before anyone could see it and then hid in a chest at the foot of his bed. Math said he would name the curly yellow haired boy Dylan. As soon as the boy was baptized he made for the sea, where he took on the nature of the sea. He could swim as well as the best fish in the sea, and for that reason he was called 'Dylan Prince of the Wave', as no wave ever broke beneath him. The blow by which his death came about was cast by Govannon, his uncle, deemed one of the Three Ill-Fated Blows.

As Gwydion was waking up in his bed one day, he heard a cry in the chest at his feet. Although it wasn't loud, it was loud enough for him to hear it. He quickly got up and opened the chest. As he opened it, he could see a little boy. He took him to a woman in the town who could feed him; he then grew at twice the normal rate.

One day, he followed Gwydion outside for a walk and they made for Caer Aranrhod. Upon his arrival at the court, Aranrhod got up to meet him and make him welcome. When Gwydion introduced the four-year-old to his embarassed mum Aranrhod she cursed him to have no name but one given by her. Next day Gwydion conjured up a ship out of sea-weed and dulse, then he conjured dovan leather in gold. He and the boy then disguised a shoemakers sailed the boat, to Caer Aranrhod. While making shoes for Aranrhod, suddenly, there was a wren alighting on the deck of the boat. The boy took aim and hit it between the sinew and the bone of its leg. Aranrhod laughed, 'God knows,' said she 'the fair one strikes it with a skilful hand’. Gwydion then said ‘he has obtained a name, and the name is good enough "Lleu Skillful Hand" he will be from now on.'

Aranrhod then cursed the boy to never bear arms until equipped by herself. So this time Gwydion disguised them both himself and Lleu as bards to enter her castle and created by magic an illusion of a fleet attacking them. In panic Aranrhod armed them both with weapons, without knowing arming her son herself.

Aranrhod placed a third curse on Lleu that he should never have a wife "of the race that is now on this earth". Gwydion and Math together conjured with their magic to create a woman out of flowers, and named her Blodeuedd. Lleu married her and moved to Cantref Dinoding where he ruled from Mur Castell in region of Ardudwy.

One day while Lleu was away visiting Math at Caer Dathyl, Gronw Pebyr, Lord of Penllyn, was hunting a stag, At the River Cynfael, he caught up with the stag and killed it. He was busy flaying the stag and baiting his hounds until the night closed in on him. And as the sun went down, and the night drew near, he came past the gate of the court and Blodeuedd put him up for the night. They at once fell in love, and planned to kill Lleu so they could be together. When Lleu returned Blodeuedd pretended to be worried if Lleu were to be killed, so she tricked him into telling her how his death may come about. Lleu said he could only be killed with a spear made over a year during Sunday Masses, and he cannot be killed inside a house, nor outside and he cannot be killed on horseback or on foot. Lleu added that this could be achieved by making a bath for him by the side of a river, making a curved, slatted roof over the tub, and thatching well and without any gaps. And bringing a buck, and putting it next to the tub, and him putting one of his feet on the buck's back, and the other one on the side of the tub. Whoever would strike him while he is like that would bring about his death.

As soon as she had the information, Gronw started to make the spear and a year later Blodeuedd persuaded Lleu to give a demonstration by the River Cynfael. Gronw who was in hiding in the shadow of the hill Bryn Kyfegyr jumped oyt when Lleu was in position and cast the poison spear and struck him on the side, with the shaft protruding out of him and the head stuck inside. Lleu, screamed and took flight in the form of an eagle, and after that they lost sight of him. Gronw took Lleu’s lands so that Ardudwy and Penllyn were both under his command.

When Math heard of this, Gwydion said he would never rest until he found his nephew. He searched all Gwynedd and the far reaches of Powys for Lleu, finally coming to a swineherd in Maenawr Benardd in Arfon who had a sow that went out everyday when the sty is opened, it not being possible to get a hold of her, he did not know where she goes.

The next day as the swine-herd saw the light of day, he woke Gwydion, as soon as the swine-herd opened the sty, the sow launched herself out of the sty, she roamed far and wide, with Gwydion following her. She went up-stream, making for a valley and then started grazing beneath a tree.

Gwydion came under the tree, and looked for what the sow was grazing on. He could see the sow was grazing on rotting flesh and maggots. He looked up into the top of the tree, where he could see an eagle in the top of the tree. When the eagle shook himself, worms and rotting flesh fell from him, which the sow was devouring.

It occurred to him that the eagle was Lleu and he sung an englyn:

‘An oak grows between two pools,
Dark-black branches sky and glen
If I do not tell a lie
From the flowers of Lleu this has come!’

The eagle came down until he was in the middle of the tree.
Gwydion sang another englyn:

‘An oak grows upon a high plain
Rain neither wets it, nor drips upon it
Nine-score strikes has it endured
In its top, Lleu Skillful-Hand’

And then the eagle came down to the lowest branch of the tree.
Then Gwydion sang this englyn:

Grows an oak upon a steep
The sanctuary of fair lord
Unless I speak falsely:
Lleu will come down into my lap

The eagle he fell onto Gwydion’s knee; and then Gwydion struck him with his magic wand, and Lleu turned back into his own form. He was nothing but skin and bones. Gwydion took him to Caer Dathyl, where the best doctors that could be found in Gwynedd were brought to nurse Lleu back to health before the end of the year.

Math and Gwydion set about getting justice for Lleu, so they mustered Gwynedd and marched on Mur Castell. On hearing this Blodeuedd and her maidens and made for the mountain, across the River Cynfael, so scared running backwards, they fell into the lake and all drowned except herself.

Gwydion told Blodeuedd that he would not kill her, but even worse, because of the shame that she brought upon Lleu Llaw Gyffes, he would turn her into an owl so that she will not dare to show her face in the light of day ever again, and for all of enmity all other birds will harass her and despise her wherever she may go. And he renamed her “Bloddeuwedd”, meaning owl.
Lleu's punishment for Gronw was to return the spear cast from the same river bank. But his men refused to take the spear for him, because of this his men are called One of The Three Disloyal Warbands. Gronw was permitted to put a stone from the bank of the river between himself and the blow from the spear.

Lleu cast the spear at him; it pierced though the stone, through Gornw and broke his back. Gronw Pebyr died, and there the stone with a hole through it, 'The Stone of Gronw', is still to be seen on the bank of the River Cynfael in Ardudwy

Lleu Skillful Hand regained his land, and according to the tradition, he was lord of Gwynedd thereafter.

Thus ends this branch of the Mabinogi.

>> Part X - The Enchantment of Gwynedd <<

* * *

Notes:

1. The First Address of Taliesin, from The Book of Taliesin I, The Four Ancient Books of Wales, W F Skene.
2. This is not meant as a literal translation of the Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi, more a summary taking into account the various very good modern translations readily available, for example Will Parker, Sioned Davies, John K Bollard and Patrick K Ford.

* * *

Songs from the Sons of Llyr

LUD'S CHURCH (VIII)

"I have been in the battle of Godeu, with Lleu and Gwydion,
they changed the form of the elementary trees and sedges" [1]
Lleuelys
As we have seen in Part VII - Lludd’s Dragons, the three elements of the independent Welsh tale Lludd & Lleuelys (Cyfranc Lludd a Llefelys), echo the same features of the Irish tale of The Second Battle of Mag Tuired: sovereignty; force; fruitfulness. In this Irish tale Naudu Airgetlam, The King of the Tuatha De Danann, has lost kingship, the new King Bres tyrannises the people, the warriors have become powerless, and the fertility has been contravened by giving the harvest as tribute. In Lludd & Lleuelys, the three plagues have brought the same inflictions: The Coraniaid have effectively tyrannised the people with their magical powers of hearing; The May eve scream has reduced the strength of the warriors; food not eaten on the first night of the feast in the king’s court, a year’s provision, disappears. French scholar George Dumezil suggests the three plagues that menace human society are an archaic formulation, which he refers to as The Ancient Tripartite. [2]

According to John Koch the name Llefelys appears to be a compound, the first element being the same as Welsh Lleu, Old Irish Lugh, Celiberian and Gaulish Lugus.

Koch states: “The etymology of the second element is less apparent. Having recognised the fact that the common origin of the supernatural figures Old Irish Naudu, the Welsh Nudd and the Roman-British Nodons, the Irish mythology surrounding the figure Naudu confirms that Llefelys is to be connected with the Irish Lug in character as well as name.

...Elements of the Welsh story Lludd & Llefelys resonate with the features of the story of Naudu and Lug, the prinicipal of source being The Second Battle of Mag Tuired. Like Naudu, Lludd's kingdom is blighted by oppressors, including a failure of the food supply and fertility in both cases. Lug comes to aid Naudu as does Llefelys with Lludd to restore the kingdom.

Lleuelis the usual spelling in White Book and Red Book texts of the Cyfranc modernised as Llefelys. Ford writes this as Modern welsh Lleuelys, emphasing the connection with Lleu the central figure of the Math mab Mathonwy and counterpart of Lug.” [3]

Patrick Ford therefore uses the name, in modern Welsh, Lleuelys, in place of Llefelys [4] to emphase the connection with Lleu the central figure of the Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi, Math mab Mathonwy [5]. Some might query the form Lleuelys where most modern Welsh scholars give Llefelys. However, Lleuelis is the usual spelling in White Book of Rhydderch and Red Book of Hergest texts of the Cyfranc, modernised as Llefelys. The Red Book manuscript Column 705 gives Cyfranc Llud a Lleuelis. [6]

In both versions of the story, The Second Battle of Mag Tuired and Llud a Lleuelis the three elements are restored by the respective arrivals of Lug and Lleu; both cognate with the name Lugus.

Lleu Llaw Gyffes
The name Lleu appears in Welsh literature as Lleu Llaw Gyffes, the same figure from the Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi, Math, son of Mathonwy. In addition to the Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi the name Lleu appears in four Triads, the Book of Taliesin and in the Stanza of the Graves from the Black Book of Carmarthen, the epithet usually always attached to the name is LLaw Gyffes.

There are two variants to this name in Welsh, Lleu/Llew, the former is the original as revealed by the rhyme scheme in at least two poems; one in the Mabinogi of Math in the first three stanza sung by Gwydion to Lleu while he is in the form of an eagle, the other from the Book of Taliesin. Although the spelling Llew is more common in Mabinogi texts, probably having arisen from the ambiguities of early welsh spelling and manuscript errors, this is sometimes translated as the “Lion with the Steady Hand” which is quite incorrect as the naming of Lleu Llaw Gyffes is revealed in the Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi.

The Mabinogion
Probably the most popular version, and certainly the first in English, of the Mabinogion was produced by Lady Charlotte Guest in the 19th Century. Lady Guest, an English woman, married John Josiah Guest, a Welshman born in Dowlais, Merthyr Tydfil, and owner of the Dowlais Iron Company. During her time in Wales she studied literature and learned Welsh, going on to translate medieval songs and poems, and eventually the misnamed Mabinogion. Guest noted the word “mabynnogyon” in one manuscript which she took for a plural and applied to the whole collection of twelve tales. The word "mabinogion" does not exist in Welsh, it therefore probably being a copyist error to be found only at the end of the First Branch, the Mabinogi of Pwyll.
The word Mabinogi only correctly applies to the first four tales, known as the Four Branches of the Mabinogi. Various editions of the Mabinogion generally follow Guest, but can sometimes omit The Story of Taliesin (Hanes Taliesin) making the collection of only eleven tales.

Lady Guest’s Mabinogion became the first translation of the material to be published, being printed in several volumes between 1838 and 1849, containing in addition to the Four Branches of the Mabinogi the so called Welsh Romances containing Arthurian material. The popularity of the tales continues today with modern versions continuing to be produced and although scholars may quibble over the translations of some words, content generally stays true to Guest’s work. [7]

The Three Romances:
Owain, or the Lady of the Fountain
Peredur, son of Efrawg
Gereint and Enid (sometimes called Gereint son of Erbin)

The three romances bear some resemblance to Chrétien de Troyes 12th century tales, respectively Yvain, the Knight of the Lion, Perceval or the Story of the Grail, and Erec and Enide. There is some debate between scholars as to which came first, the Welsh Romances or Chrétien de Troyes tales. The Romances survive in the White Book of Rhydderch and the Red Book of Hergest, both from the fourteenth century, but contain much Celtic material which is considered at least as old as Chrétien, if not older. Chrétien may have based his tales on Breton material which may offer some explanation to the similarity of the sources. Roger Sherman Loomis presents a formidable case for the Celtic roots of the Grail story. [8]

The Native Tales:
Culhwch ac Olwen
The Dream of Rhonabwy
The Dream of Mascen Wledig
Lludd and Llefelys
Hanes Taliesin

Lady Guest also included in her anthology these five native tales; Culhwch ac Olwen contains much early Arthurian material and echoes the raid on the otherworld as depicted in the early Arthurian poem The Spoils of Annwfn. The court list in Culhwch ac Olwen is of particular interest as it features figures like Lludd Llaw Eraint and Gwynn ap Nudd which seem to be based on the mythological Children of Don, Welsh counterpart of the Irish Tuatha De Danann.

The Dream of Rhonabwy is one of the later tales included in the Mabinogion, composed in the second half of the 12th Century but has interested scholars because it preserves much older Arthurian traditions. The tale takes place in a vision that came to Rhonabwy during a dream. On the road, Rhonabwy meets one Iddawg, one of Arthur's messengers at the Battle of Camlann, who escorts Rhonabwy through the dreamscape, patiently answering all his questions. A colophon at the end of the tale states that no one can recite the work in full without a book, as the amount of detail is too great for the memory alone.

The tale The Dream of Macsen Wledig is a romanticized story about the Roman Commander Magnus Maximus, proclaimed Emperor by his army in Britain in AD 383, after recovering Britain from incursions by the Picts and Scots in AD 381. Maximus, in pursuit of his imperial ambitions, took his troops to Gaul and defeated the Emperor Gratian, but was executed by Theodosius five years later. Maximus is criticised by Gildas and the Historia Brittonum for took the bulk of the Roman British Garrison to the continent and left the country undefended at the mercy of foreign invaders. Although Hispanic by birth, Maximus became an important figure and appears in many medieval Welsh dynasties.

Hanes Taliesin, sometimes known as the Ystoria Taliesin, or Chwedl Taliesin is a later piece, not included in the Red or White Books, which although included by Lady Guest more recent translations tend to omit from the Mabinogion. It is a mixture of Welsh prose and poetry, about and supposedly by Taliesin, though none of these poems are found in the Llyfr Taliesin. The earliest text is found in Elis Gruffydd’s Chronicle of the Six Ages of the World compiled during the first half of the sixteenth century. There are over twenty manuscripts of Ystoria Taliesin many of which only contain the first part, The Tale of Gwion Bach, set in the days of the legendary King Arthur, dealing with a witch, a magical brew and shape shifting. Patrick Ford comments that the tales wonder and magic remind us of Culhwch and Olwen. The second part, The Tale of Taliesin, has few of those qualities, and although the two parts are chronologically consecutive, they are worlds apart. [9]

The Four Branches of the Mabinogi
It is important to differentiate between the Mabinogion, the collection of tales based on Guest’s anthology and the Four Branches of the Mabinogi (Pedeir Keinc y Mabinogi) which contain only the following:

First Branch: Pwyll Prince of Dyfed
Second Branch: Branwen Daughter of Llyr
Third Branch: Manawydan son of Llyr
Fourth Branch: Math son of Mathonwy

The most mythological stories contained in the Mabinogion collection are the four interrelated tales, from a single storyteller, titled The Mabinogi in the manuscripts, or often "The Four Branches of the Mabinogi". The word Branch is the common translation of the word keinc and the title generally given to the four tales. A second meaning for keinc can be “strand or yarn (of a rope)” resulting in the possibility of intentionally interconnected episodes linked throughout a relationship of the subject matter. [10]
Although The Four Branches of the Mabinogi are dated c.1060-1120, it is generally thought that they preserve much older material, remnants from a complete cycle of tales centred on Pryderi, who appears in all four branches, though not always as a central character, is born in the First Branch and dies in the Fourth. The word “mabinogi” is usually translated as "tales for youth," or "tales of the hero", derived from "mabon" or "meibon", meaning a boy, young man or youth.

This mythological cycle is betrayed by the name of the key characters; Rhiannon has her roots in the goddess Rigantona, (Great Queen Goddess) and Pryderi is considered to have his roots in the British god Maponus (Mabon), with much material comparable to the ancient Irish sagas, although written in Early Christian society of twelfth-century Wales the Four Branches of the Mabinogi contains tales of figures from the British Celtic mythological cycle; The Children of Don and the Children of Llyr, pagan cultures from prehistoric Britain.

Therefore the term Mabinogi may also mean "tales of Mabon" derived from the name this god, Mabon ap Modron, (The Divine Son of the Divine Mother) who was stolen at three days old, and is named in the Triads as one of The Three Exalted Prisoners of the Island of Britain. It has been suggested that the Four Branches may have originally been an account of the birth, disappearance and restoration of Pryderi, which is another name for the British god Maponus, god of youth and rebirth, whose imprisonment and release plays a significant role in Culhwch and Olwen. [11]

There is further evidence of this lost mythological cycle; Pryderi also appears in the Welsh tale Preiddiau Annwfn (Spoils of Annwfn), in which Arthur attempts to steal a magic cauldron from Annwfn (The Otherworld). Pryderi is one of the seven survivors, along with Arthur and Taliesin, which holds similarities to the tale of Branwen Daughter of Llyr in the Second Branch.

The First Branch, sometimes called The Mabinogi of Pwyll is set in Dyfed, South West Wales, tells the story of Rhiannon the horse goddess, connected with birds and the Otherworld. Pwyll, endures a succession of magical trials before emerging as the 'Head of Annwfn'. He then becomes the consort of the Great Queen; she then gives birth to the hero Pryderi. Pryderi, whose departure and revival form the conclusion of thee First Branch, epitomise an important connection to the other Branches.

In The Second Branch, or Mabinogi of Branwen, the mythical Sons of Llyr appear as the leading dynasty among the tribes of Britain before the ascendancy of the Sons of Beli Mawr.
Bran, or Bendigeidfran, leads an ill-fated journey to Ireland to avenge his sister, Branwen. On the return from this expedition, carrying the living, talking head of Bran the seven survivors find that Caswallan the son of Beli, has seized control of the Island in their absence.

The Third Branch, The Mabinogi of Manawydan, the consequences from the events of the first two branches is recounted by Manawydan son of Llyr, Pryderi son of Pwyll, his mother Rhiannon and his wife Cigfa residing in a bare land devoid of human habitation, the traditional Wasteland myth. The restoration of the Enchantment of Dyfed comes when Manawydan, through knowledge and scheming, outwits the magical influence which brought about his downfall, and banishes its influence from Dyfed for ever.

The Fourth Branch, The Mabinogi of Math, features the story of Lleu who is forced to overcome the curse of his mother after he is conceived in dubious circumstances; she determines he shall not receive neither a name, a weapon, or a wife. With the assistance of his uncle, the magician Gwydion, son of Don, he succeeds in overcoming this triple curse. Gwydion and Math magically create a woman for Lleu, conjuring her out of wild flowers. She falls in love with Gronw Pebyr and betrays him; they attempt to kill Lleu, who turns into an eagle. Gwydion finds him in a tree top and restores him to health.

>> Part IX - Math's Tale <<

Notes:
1. This poem, untitled but usually referred to as Song Before the Sons of Llyr ("Kerdd Veib am Llyr"), Book of Taliesin, XIV, Four Ancient Books of Wales by Skene, attributed to Taliesin, brings together several mythological themes, the Cauldron of Cerridwen, the Cauldron of Bran, the Cauldron of Annwn, with allusions to the Four Branches of the Mabinogi, the battles between the Children of Don and the Children of Llyr: Pryderi, Manawyddan, Bran, and Gwydion. It also refers to Cad Goddeu, (the Battle of the Trees), and Caer Siddi, the mythical city from which Arthur and his retinue steal the Cauldron of Annwn in the Prieddu Annwn, (Spoils of Annfwn), "Save seven, none returned from Caer Siddi" - both poems also found in the Book of Taliesin. Taliesin also appears as one of the seven survivors, along with Manawyddan, Pryderi, from the Battle of Ireland in Branwen Daughter of Llyr, The Second Branch of the Mabinogi; “Now the seven men that escaped were Pryderi, Manawyddan, Gluneu Eil Taran, Taliesin, Ynawc, Grudyen the son of Muryel, and Heilyn the son of Gwynn Hen.”
2. George Dumezil discusses the tale and shows that the three plagues that menace human society are an archaic formulation in Mythe et Epopee I, 1968, pp.613-623, - referred to in The Mabinogi and Other Medieval Welsh Tales by Patrick K Ford, pp. 111-112.
3. Celtic Culture, A Historical Encyclopedia By John T. Koch, ABC-CLIO, 2006, pp 1164 – 1166
4. The Mabinogi and other Medieval Welsh Tales by Patrick K Ford, University of California Press, 2nd Revised 30th Anniversary Edition 2008, p.111.
5. John T. Koch, 2006, Ibid. pp 1164 – 1166.
6. “Col. 705. ILyma gyfranc llud a lleuelis” - The given text represents the entry for the Llyfr Coch Hergest in Cymraeg Canol (middle Cymric).as given in the Historical Manuscripts Commission, Report on manuscripts in the Welsh language, vol. II part I, (London, 1902).
See >> Red Book of Hergest at Celtnet
7. For good, readable recent editions in modern English see: The Mabinogi and other Medieval Welsh Tales by Patrick K Ford, University of California Press, 2nd Revised 30th Anniversary Edition 2008; The Mabinogion by Sioned Davies, Oxord University Press 2007; The Four Branches of the Mabinogi by Will Parker, Bardic press 2007; The Mabinogi by John K Bollard, Gomer Press 2006.
8. The Grail: From Celtic Myth to Christian Symbol by Roger Sherman Loomis, Cardiff University Press, First Edition, 1963. One reviewer says “In terms of serious scholarship, there has been little that supersedes or countervenes this work from a major Authuriad scholar at the height of his powers.”
9. Patrick K Ford, Ibid, p.159.
10. The Mabinogion by Sioned Davies, Oxord University Press 2007, p.232.
11. “Hamp states that mabinogi "has nothing to do with 'youth' or 'boy, son'. It is a collective of an adjective denoting what pertains to a stem *mapono-; in [this] context its relevance to Maponos is immediately clear. The derivative *mapon-āk-ijīmeant 'the (collective) material pertaining to (those of ) Maponos'." Maponos 'the Divine Son', son of Matrona 'the Divine Mother'is represented in early Middle Welsh poetry and in the earliest Arthurian tale, How Culhwch Got Olwen, as Mabon son of Modron. Thus, The Mabinogi is so-called, Hamp concludes, because it deals with material derived from myths of the earlier Brythonic deities, who are also reflected in the names Rhiannon, 'the Divine Queen,' and Teyrnon, 'the Divine King.' And there are, of course, other characters of mythological origin in The Mabinogi. (The name Maponos/Mabon derives ultimately from the same root as that of mab; the -on indicates divinity in all these names.)” – “What is The Mabinogi? What is "The Mabinogion"? - John K Bollard.
See >> Mabinogi and Archaism, Celtica 23 by Eric P Hamp [PDF file]

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