Exploring Celtic Myth

Cerridwen

2009-12-01T16:01:00.007-06:00

Pic: will remove if asked by Disney, found here

In the tale of "Gwion Bach," Cerridwen is the wife of a nobleman in Arthur's court, and has a very ugly and untalented son named Morfan, but known as Afaggdu, "utter darkness"(Ford, 162). I think Cerridwen has two important aspects - mother and magician.

As a mother, she is concerned that Morfan won't do well at court due to being ugly and needing some other quality to make up for it in order to win the acceptance of the nobles. In order to make him special, she decides to use her magic arts to give him the gift of prophecy. She shows dedication in that she "labor[ed] long in her arts" to find out "there was a way of achieving such knowledge by the special properties of the earth's herbs and by human effort and cunning" (Ford, 163). Also, since the cauldron of water and herbs needed to be stirred and kept boiling for a year and a day, she found an old blind man to stir it and a boy to tend the fire - Gwion Bach. Additionally, Cerridwen kept the cauldron full of water and herbs herself for a year and a day, but she got tired on the last day and sat down to rest, only after she put Morfan in range of the three magic drops that the cauldron would spew to give him the gift of prophecy. I think she shows dedication as a mother, working long and hard to see that her child is able to succeed. She also demonstrates great skill as a magician in researching what spell to use, the herbs needed, how to brew it, and getting the desired result.

She also interacts as both a mother and a magician towards Gwion Bach. When she finds out that he pushed Morfan out of the way so that the magic drops fell on him instead, she chases after him. Both of them transform themselves into different animals and objects they think will help them, much like Merlin's showdown with Madam Mim in Disney's The Sword in the Stone. Finally, Gwion Bach changes into a grain of wheat in a barn, and Cerridwen became a hen and swallowed him, which, in fairytale logic, means that she became pregnant with him. She carried him for nine months, and delivered him. However, when Gwion Bach was reborn and Cerridwen saw him, she couldn't hurt him now that he was her child, and she didn't want anyone else to hurt him either. In this way she not only acted motherly towards Gwion Bach, but she actually became his mother when her intention was to kill him. After he was born, she put him in a basket and set it in a body of water of some sort (the transcriber notes that there's confusion as to whether it was the sea, a river or a lake). This is very much like the biblical tale of Moses, who was also put in a basket to save his live.

As a magician, Cerridwen shows that she is clearly very powerful, since she can brew a fantastic magic potion that makes the reciever have the gift of prophecy and magic himself, transform herself into numerous shapes, and has great knowledge of herbs and spells. As a mother, she shows herself to be extremely dedicated, loyal, and hard-working, but is also fallible. I believe this tale depicts Cerridwen in a more positive light than is usually percieved of women who are powerful and skilled in magic. Unlike the evil queens in Disney movies, Cerridwen uses her magic to benefit her child, and spares Gwion Bach once he is her own child.

Bibbity Bobbity Boo, Part 2: Transformation

2009-12-01T16:00:00.007-06:00

There are numerous instances of transformation in the Mabignogi and the other tales, but I'll look at just a few significant episodes, some of which I alluded to in Part 1 about magic items.

in the tale of "Pwyll, prince of Dyfed," Pwyll encounters Arawn, king of Annwfn, the Otherworld, and offends him by letting his hunting dogs attack the stag that Arawn's hounds had taken down. In order to redress this wrong, Pwyll offers to make peace with him in any way possible, so Arawn has Pwyll take on his likeness and switch places with him. Arawn asks him to meet him in the same place in one year and deal his enemy, Hafgan, a single blow, which Hafgan will not survive. They switch places, and Pwyll carries this out, living as Arawn for a year and defeating Hafgan. When they switch back, Arawn's wife notices that he's different, since while Pwyll was in Arawn's place, he did not lay with her but just went to bed and rolled over since he wanted to remain loyal to Arawn. Pwyll and Arawn stay friends and bring their two realms closer together. I think that since Pwyll is from the "real world," he is able to hurt Hafgan as Arawn wanted and knew would happen. I think it's possible that the Prince and Pauper tales are based on this tale or are variations of it.

Bloudwedd, in the tale of "Math son of Mathonwy," is created by Math and Gwydion transforming flowers into a woman, but it seems that she is not entirely human, although she is given a human form. When she betrays Lleu Llaw Gyffes, he is killed and transforms into an eagle, perhaps indicating his warrior nature since he becomes a bird of prey. He is turned back into a human by Gwydion striking him with his magic staff, which I discussed in the previous post on magic items. Math punished Bloudwedd for her deception by being turned into an owl, which I discussed in the post on her. I find it interesting that this is the second instance of using animal transformation as punishment, but this time it's Gwydion enacting it and it's permanent.

Previously, Math used animal tranformation on Gwydion and Gilfaethwy for violating his servant maiden Goewin in Math's own bed while he was away. First he changed Gilfaethwy into a hind and Gwydion into a stag, and makes them stay together and says " 'mate in the same manner as the wild beasts in whose shape you are, and when they have offspring, so shall you. A year from today return here to me' "(Ford, 97). Next he makes the one who was a hind (Gilfaethwy) become a wild boar, and Gwydion become a wild sow, and again they have an offspring. Again, Math reverses their genders and makes them wolves and they have another offspring. This is quite the punishment, since it lasts three years, and involves the two brothers switching genders and having an incestuous relationship that results in an animal offspring each time. However, I think that this is to show that Math is the wizard in control, even though Gwydion demonstrates that he has magic abilities of his own in this tale.

In the tale "Manawydan son of Lyr," Manawydan sees mice stealing grain from his field three times, and on the third night catches a pregnant one since it's slower than the others, and decides to hang it. A scholar, a priest, and a bishop all ask for him not to hang the mouse, but Manawydan is determined. Finally the bishop reveals that he's actually Llywd, son of Cil Coed, and the pregnant mouse is his wife, whom he transformed into a mouse, along with all the other ladies of the court on the third night to steal Manawydan's grain in revenge for what happened to Gwawl in the tale of "Pwyll, prince of Dyfed" since Gwawl promised to not take revenge himself. The first two nights it was his war band transformed into mice that he sent, but the ladies asked to be able to do it. In order to get his wife back, Llywd agrees to release the enchantment on Rhiannon and Pryderi, never put an enchantment on the land of Dyfed, and never take revenge on Rhiannon, Pryderi, or himself. I think that it's interesting that Llywd is sneaky in his revenge by having animals steal from Manawydan for him. It's really a ridiculous situation that Manawydan wants to take his revenge on the mice by hanging one of them and that the scholar, priest, and bishop argue with him about it. Manawydan is treating the mouse like a human in this punishment, since he could easily kill it by just squishing it in his hand or stomping on it.

Gwion Bach and Cerridwen both use transformation in the tale of "Gwion Bach" when Cerridwen is chasing Gwion Bach, enraged that he stole the three magic drops of prophecy meant for her son Morfan. Cerridwen "saw himd fleeing swiftly in the form of a hare. She turned herself into a black greyhound and pursued him from one place to another. Finally, after a long persuit in various shapes, she pressed him so hard that he was forced to flee into a barn where there was a great pile of winnowed wheat. There he turned himself into one of the grains; what Cerridwen did then was to change herself into a tufted black hen, and the story says that in this form she swallowed Gwion into her belly"(Ford, 164). This is different from the other transformations that I've discussed so far in that they aren't changing each other or other things into something else, but rather initiating changing themselves into various forms. This also demonstrates the power of the three magic drops that Cerridwen brewed for Morfan, since it says that it is meant to give him the ability of prophecy and arts, but allows Gwion Bach to change his form at will. As I mentioned previously, this reminds me of the wizard's duel in Disney's Sword in the Stone, which may be based on this incident, since it is the male wizard Merlin, otherwise known as Taliesin, battling a powerful witch. However, as in the wizard duel, Gwion Bach wins by entering Cerridwen's body without dying.

Bibbity Bobbity Boo: Magic Items

2009-12-01T15:58:00.005-06:00

There are several magic items in the Mabignogi, as well as in the other tales, namely the tale of "Gwion Bach" and "Taliesin." This is by no means exhaustive of all the magic items in the Mabignogi and the other tales, but these seemed particularly significant to me.

In the tale of "Pwyll, Prince of Dyfed," Rhiannon's former suitor, Gwawl, shows up to her feast to celebrate her engagement with Pwyll, and Pwyll agrees to grant any request he has, without knowing who he is. Gwawl asks to be allowed to marry her instead, and Pwyll can't back out honorably. Rhiannon comes up with the plan to allow it to happen in one year and a day, and that they'll make all the feast preparations. In the meantime, she'll have Pwyll disguise himself as a beggar and ask Gwawl to fill the magic bag, supplied by Rhiannon, with food from the feast. The bag is magic and cannot be filled, so Pwyll will ask Gwawl to stamp it down into the bag, trap him in the bag when he does so, and call his men to descend upon the court. This is precisely what happened, and once Pwyll caught Gwawl, he let his men play badger-in-the-bag with him, kicking and hitting it. This allows Pwyll a chance to bargain with Gwawl to make him promise to not take revenge on him and Rhiannon, then they let him go. I believe that the magic bag could be associated with the fertility goddess aspect of Rhiannon, since it implies that it can keep an endless amount of food, much like the symbol of the cornucopia. I think that in most folk tales and lore, containers, such as cups, bowls, and in this case, a bag, are generally associated with the generative capabilities of women, so it makes a good deal of sense that Rhiannon's magic item is a container. Also, it's use helps get Rhiannon out of a bad marriage, and allows her to be with the man she loves and wishes to marry.

The next significant magic items I'd like to discuss are Gwydion son of Don and Math's magic staffs in the tale of "Math son of Mathonwy." They don't always seem to need them, but they both use them to perform magic feats. The first mention of a staff is when Math punishes Gwydion and Gilfaethwy for raping his foot-maiden Goewin, by striking them with his "staff of enchantment" and changing them into animals and switching their genders three different times, but more on that in Part 2 where I'll discuss transformations. The next time Math uses his magic staff is to test whether his niece Aranrhod daughter of Don is still a maiden, since he is considering marrying her. He holds the staff low to the ground and asks her to step over it, and when she does, a yellow-haired baby boy falls to the floor. I understand this to be a magic test of her virginity, and I'm guessing that she fails, since a baby comes out of supposedly nowhere and she runs off after this happens. The next time a staff is mentioned in this tale is when Gwydion finds Lleu Llaw Gyffes in the form of an eagle, and strikes him with his staff to make him turn back into a human. When he does, he is barely alive, just skin and bones, which makes me think that he was killed as a human and was existing as a spirit until Gwydion changed him back. I think it's interesting that both Math and Gwydion have magical powers and use magical staffs, yet Gwydion is clearly subordinate to Math since Math is able to punish him by transforming into an animal and Gwydion can't change back on his own. Staffs are often associated with male magic as they are phallic symbols, which makes Aranrhod's magic virginity test of stepping over the staff even more poignant.

The next magic items are both cauldrons, but with slightly different properties - the cauldron of rebirth in the tale of "Branwen daughter of Lyr" and Cerridwen's cauldron in the tale of "Gwion Bach." In the case of Cerridwen's cauldron, I think that it is more of a tool for a magically gifted person than magical in itself. I do find it interesting that the text says that "all the juice of those herbs except the three aforementioned drops would be as powerful a poison as there could be in the world, and that it would shatter the cauldron and spill poison across the land" (Ford, 163). Yet, the text never says that the cauldron actually shatters, so perhaps, because the spell went awry with Gwion Bach receiving the good magic drops, the poison was foiled. This makes me question Cerridwen's foresight, since I would assume if the cauldron did shatter, she and everything and one around her would die, from the sound of the text. However, even the scribe thought this was weird, and Ford translates "indeed, this tale is illogical and contrary to faith and piety" (Ford, 163). Here, the cauldron is a feminine magical tool, as it represents the power to create and is symbolically linked to the womb.

In the tale of "Branwen daughter of Lyr," the cauldron is even more strongly representative of a womb. It is even called the cauldron of rebirth, and Bendigeidfran says " 'if a man of yours is killed today, cast him into the cauldron, and by tomorrow he will be as good as ever - but he will be without speech' "(Ford, 63). The cauldron itself has the power to give life back to the dead. Bendigeidfran gives the cauldron to Matholwch, the Irish king to whom he allows his sister Branwen to wed, to make recompense for Efnisien disfiguring his horses. Later, the Welsh go to war with the Irish when they hear that Matholwch has made Branwen serve as a scullery maid since his countrymen aren't happy that he accepted the apology for what happened to his horses. The Irish use the cauldron of rebirth to keep their numbers up, and they keep it full, so Efnisien can't put any Welsh dead in it. Efnisien realizes that he need to stop this so that the Welsh have a chance of victory against the Irish, so he pretended to be a dead Irish soldier and was thrown into the cauldron alive. According to the tale, "he stretched himself out in the cauldron, then, until the cauldron broke in four pieces, and his heart as well. From that came such victory as the men of the Isle of the Mighty [the Welsh] got, and their only victory was the escape of seven men" (Ford, 70). I believe that since this cauldron is meant only for the dead, the cauldron breaks because Efnisien enters it alive and with the goal of destroying it. He sacrifices himself in order for his countrymen to have a slight victory by living to fight another day. I believe part of this story was adapted in Disney's The Black Cauldron, with the loyal small furry critter throwing himself in the cauldron to save his friends and keep the Horned King from creating an undead army.

Blodeuwedd

2009-12-01T15:45:00.005-06:00

In the fourth branch of the Mabinogi, Lleu Llaw Gyffes is cursed by his mother Aranrhod that he shall never marry a woman of any race on the earth. Determined to prove her wrong, Math son of Mathonwy, Lleu's uncle, and Gwydion charm three kinds of flowers - oak, broom, and meadow sweet - to create the most beautiful woman for his nephew to marry, and he names her Blodeuedd. She is immediately married to Lleu Llaw Gyffes and goes to live with him in Ardudwy.

I was curious about the three flowers used in her creation and gleaned some interesting info through a quick look at Wikipedia. Oak is common all over the northern hemisphere, and is the national tree of England, as it is a symbol of strength and endurance. Oak is also one of three kinds of trees (the other two being ash and thorn) that are most associated with fairy lore in the Celtic tradition. Broom is a shrub that most often grows wild, has bright yellow flowers that can be used to make dye, and is native to all of Europe, north Africa, and southwest Asia. Meadowsweet grows all over Europe, in damp low lying meadows, and has small white flowers with a very sweet scent.

In relation to Blodeuedd, this means that she is made up of common wildflowers that grow as weeds in some areas, and the flower of a tree associated with faries, which in the Celtic tradition, from what little I've read so far, are not necessarily nice to humans. So, unlike little girls, she's not made out of sugar and spice and everything nice, but some things with particularly not-nice potential. Also, being made out of flowers, and therefore non-human, she may not have had a soul. I also think that the tale is saying that while men can make a beautiful woman, they can't make her complete since they can never understand womanhood.

I think it is the fact that she is non-human, and treated as a possession of Lleu Llaw Gyffes, that makes it so she quickly falls in love with Gronw and have an affair with him. I think it may also be this resentment that leads her to deceive Lleu Llaw Gyffes into revealing the complicated way that he can be killed (standing with one foot on the edge of a tub, the other on a billy goat, on a riverbank with a roof frame above him, with a weapon made while people were at prayer on a Sunday), and then gets him to actually demonstrate how one would be able to do that. She has Gronw kill Lleu with a spear (but he really changes into an eagle somehow and flies off), and take possession of his land.

When Gwydion finds Llew as an eagle and finds out what happens, he catches Blodeuedd and changes her into an owl. He said," 'Because of the shame you brought upon Lleu Llaw Gyffes, you shall not dare show your face ever in the light of day for fear of the other birds. There shall be enmity between you and all the rest of the birds. It shall be natural for them to persecute you and dishonor you wherever they find you. You shall not lose your name, however, you shall always be called Blodeuewedd.' What blodeuwedd is, is 'owl' in the language of the present day" (Ford, 108). I find it particularly significant that she is turned into a bird that is a harbinger of death in several cultures and generally associated with evil and magic. Also, owls are solitary birds most of the time, so part of her punishment is isolation, as well as to be a creature of the night, which is generally associated with sin, mystery, and evil.

Rhiannon

2009-12-01T13:13:00.006-06:00

Pic: White Horse of Uffington from Google Earth, coordinates 51.577460N, 1.565589W

Ford's introduction describes Rhiannon as strongly tied to horses as a fertility goddess, since her name "comes from an earlier form Rigantona, that means "great queen goddess" (Ford, 5). Ford also suggests that among continental Celts, she was called Epona, who among the Romans "was associated in the calendar of feasts with the hippomorphic sea god and fertility deity" (5).

While Pwyll waited near the Mound of Arberth, Rhiannon appeared - riding a white horse and wearing a gold brocade dress, at a mound where it is rumored that one will either be wounded or see a marvel (Ford, 42). This clearly marks her as otherworldly, due to the location where she appeared - a mound, which were often sacred to Celts, and the fact that her horse is white, a color that denotes otherworldly creatures in the Celtic tradition (Ford, 35-36). Rhiannon also seemed to be riding at a slow, steady gait, yet no one could catch up to her. This reminds me of Arwen's first appearance in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, since she comes to help Strider and the hobbits riding a white horse, surrounded by a white light, and seems to move slowly when in reality shes moving very quickly. In the case of Arwen, I think Jackson choose this to set her apart as otherworldly, like Rhiannon, since she is the first elf the hobbits meet, and to emphasize her immortality, giving more weight to her choice to live a mortal lifespan.

I think it's very unique that Rhiannon's first words are to tease Pwyll. He sent someone else after her three times, and each of them failed. Then, he pursued her himself for some time before he asked her to wait for him, to which she retorts, " 'I will wait gladly...and it had been better for the horse if you had asked it long ago' "(Ford, 44). Considering that the original manuscripts may have come from the 11th century, although the tales would most likely be older, I think it's unusually to find a female character who is as strong-willed and outspoken as Rhiannon. She also scolded Pwyll for agreeing to grant a stranger whatever he wants with no exceptions, since the stranger is Gwawl, the man whom Rhiannon was promised against her will. She even called Pwyll "feeble-minded". I think she gets away with this because she's saying what the court is thinking, and due to being from the Otherworld, and therefore not used to human society.

Rhiannon is also exceedingly clever, and concocts her own escape from having to be given to Gwawl. She also seems willing to humble herself too. When she was suspected to have killed her child, Rhiannon accepted her punishment - to tell her story to visitors and carry them on her back from the gate to the court. This too links her to horses, since she has to act like a beast of burden by carrying people. I think this isn't a move of defeat, but rather, she is willing to submit to the punishment because she knows she's innocent and will eventually be proven as such.

1, 2, 3...

2009-11-25T12:22:00.010-06:00

In reading the Mabinogi and the other tales, the number three appears so often that it can't be ignored.

The number three has long been significant. It stands for the beginning-middle-end, birth-life-death, mind-spirit-body, past-present-future, as well as a host of other ideas that involve completeness, and has long been considered sacred. It is evocative of the triangle, triquetra, and triskelion. It has long been used in literature, particularly religious texts, as well as in folkore. In Greek mythology, three Fates control the universe, and in Shakespeare's MacBeth, MacBeth encounters three witches.

In the tale of "Gwion Bach", Gwion Bach pushes Ceridwen's son Morfran out of the way to let the three drops of magic potion from Ceridwen's cauldron fall on him. The three drops of potion contained herbs from all of the earth, and bestowed the receiver with becoming "extraordinarily learned in various arts and full of the spirit of prophecy" (Ford, 163). As a result, Gwion Bach eventually becomes, Taliesin, who was later considered the greatest of bards.

In the tale of "Pwyll, Prince of Dyfed," the number three is especially prevalent. Pwyll sends someone on horseback after Rhiannon three times, and each time they fail. Pwyll only succeeds in catching up to her when he pursues her himself and asks her to stop. In the third year of her marriage to Pwyll, Rhiannon still has not had a child, and the men of the land were sad that Pwyll did not have an heir. I think that in this case, three years would be the expected "completion" of the marriage, which would mean that Rhiannon would be expected to have given birth to an heir. Also, when Terynon and his wife realize that their foster child is Pwyll's son, they know they'll get three things - Rhiannon's gratitude for being released from her punishment, Pwyll's thanks for fostering his son, and that they may be able to continue to be the boy's foster parents.

In the tale of "Branwen daughter of Llyr," the tale describes how she was one of three chief ancestress of the land, and the fairest of the three, perhaps to emphasize her importance to justify her brother's revenge on the Irish for mistreating her.

In the tale of "Manawydan son of Llyr," Manawydan and Pryderi travel together and decide to take up different trades at each place they stop, and they take up three trades - saddle making, shoe making, and shield making. To emphasize their skill, they are called one of three golden shoemakers. Later, when Manawydan is tending to his field he catches a pregnant mouse among those stealing grain and decides to hang the mouse. Before he can do so, three people offer to ransom the mouse - a scholar, a priest, and a bishop. Finally the bishop reveals that he is actually Llywd, son of Cil Coed, and the mouse is his pregnant wife.

In the tale of "Math, son of Mathonwy," Math's nephews - Gwydion and Gilfaethwy - rape his servant girl Goewin, and to punish them, Math transforms them into a mated pair of animals three times - a pair of deer, boars, then wolves - switching the gender back and forth each time. Each time, they have an offspring when they come back to Math. That's quite the punishment, but then again, you don't make a sorcerer mad. Also, since Lleu Llaw Gyffes was cursed by his mother that he would never be able to marry a human woman, Math made a woman for Lleu Llaw Gyffes out of three kinds of flowers - oak, broom, and meadow sweet. In this case, it may not have been enough to make her complete, since flowers fade and wither.

Beyond 4 Branches: Cohesion in the Mabinogi and Other Tales

2009-11-20T12:04:00.011-06:00

I finished reading The Mabinogi and Other Medieval Welsh Tales as translated and edited by Patrick K. Ford several weeks ago, but, due to a sudden, unexpectedly huge workload and getting H1N1 followed closely by another virus, I have regrettably been unable to post until now.

The four branches of the Mabinogi include 1. Pwyll, Prince of Dyfed, 2. Branwen daughter of Llyr, 3. Manawydan son of Llyr, and 4. Math son of Mathonwy. The other tales included are Lludd and Lleuelys, Culhwch and Olwen, the Tale of Gwion Bach, and the Tale of Taliesin, and the appendix with the poem Cad Goddeu. I have found this translation to be very helpful, since Ford introduces each tale with an explanation of the context of the tale and its characters.

The tales in the four branches of the Mabinogi are tied together by the reappearance of characters and familial and marriage ties of the characters. Rhiannon is introduced in the first branch, and in the third branch marries Manawydan son of Llyr. Also in the third branch, Llwyd son of Cil Coed seeks revenge for the ill treatment of Gwawl son of Clud, who was Rhiannon's suitor in the first branch and who promised not to exact revenge himself. The third branch also concerns Pryderi, the son of Pwyll and Rhiannon, and his wife Cigfa, whom he marries at the end of the first branch. The second and third branch are both about children of Llyr, the Welsh sea god. In the fourth branch, Gwydion tricks Pryderi, the son of Pwyll and Rhiannon, out of his pigs and starts a war with him.

The other tales included don't have quite the same cohesion. In Culhwch and Olwen, Manawydan son of Llyr from the second branch is named as a companion of Arthur, as is Taliesin, from later in the other tales.

Most of the tales have similar or reoccurring themes or motifs, but I will tackle those individually in more posts.

Purpose

2009-04-09T17:48:00.007-05:00

I've created this blog primarily as a part of my academic interest in Celtic Studies and Folklore, and as a place to provide commentary on what I am currently researching in Celtic Mythology. I've taken classes in Irish Gaelic, Celtic musical Traditions, Irish and Scottish history, and Celtic film, Scandinavian myths and legends, and shamanism, and may eventually blend what I've learned from those into what I'm learning now. I plan to read both translations of original source texts as well as scholarly commentary, as well as look at the source languages and cultures. I may also add comments about recent media involving Celtic myths, such as news articles, movies, podcasts, and fiction books that I've found interesting in regard to where Celtic myths have shown up in current or recent culture.

P.S. 12/3/09

I'm saving discussion about Arthurian myths and legends until spring of 2010, when I'm taking a Medieval studies course on Arthurian literature. So tune in later for that.