THE GODS OF THE BRYTHONS
Our knowledge of the gods of the Brythons, i.e. as far as Wales is
concerned, is derived, apart from inscriptions, from the _Mabinogion_,
which, though found in a fourteenth century MS., was composed much
earlier, and contains elements from a remote past. Besides this, the
_Triads_, probably of twelfth-century origin, the _Taliesin_, and other
poems, though obscure and artificial, the work of many a "confused bard
drivelling" (to cite the words of one of them), preserve echoes of the
old mythology.[328] Some of the gods may lurk behind the personages of
Geoffrey of Monmouth's _Historia Britonum_ and of the Arthurian cycle,
though here great caution is required. The divinities have become heroes
and heroines, kings and princesses, and if some of the episodes are
based on ancient myths, they are treated in a romantic spirit. Other
episodes are mere _Märchen_ formulæ. Like the wreckage of some rich
galleon, the _débris_ of the old mythology has been used to construct a
new fabric, and the old divinities have even less of the god-like traits
of the personages of the Irish texts.
Some of the personages bear similar names to the Irish divinities, and
in some cases there is a certain similarity of incidents to those of the
Irish tales.[329] Are, then, the gods dimly revealed in Welsh literature
as much Goidelic as Brythonic? Analysing the incidents of the
_Mabinogion_, Professor Anwyl has shown that they have an entirely local
character, and are mainly associated with the districts of Dyfed and
Gwent, of Anglesey, and of Gwynedd, of which Pryderi, Branwen, and
Gwydion are respectively the heroic characters.[330] These are the
districts where a strong Goidelic element prevailed, whether these
Goidels were the original inhabitants of Britain, driven there by
Brythons,[331] or tribes who had settled there from Ireland,[332] or
perhaps a mixture of both. In any case they had been conquered by
Brythons and had become Brythonic in speech from the fifth century
onwards. On account of this Goidelic element, it has been claimed that
the personages of the _Mabinogion_ are purely Goidelic. But examination
proves that only a few are directly parallel in name with Irish
divinities, and while here there are fundamental likenesses, the
_incidents_ with Irish parallels may be due to mere superficial
borrowings, to that interchange of _Märchen_ and mythical _données_
which has everywhere occurred. Many incidents have no Irish parallels,
and most of the characters are entirely different in name from Irish
divinities. Hence any theory which would account for the likenesses,
must also account for the differences, and must explain why, if the
_Mabinogion_ is due to Irish Goidels, there should have been few or no
borrowings in Welsh literature from the popular Cúchulainn and Ossianic
sagas,[333] and why, at a time when Brythonic elements were uppermost,
such care should have been taken to preserve Goidelic myths. If the
tales emanated from native Welsh Goidels, the explanation might be that
they, the kindred of the Irish Goidels, must have had a certain
community with them in divine names and myths, while others of their
gods, more local in character, would differ in name. Or if they are
Brythonic, the likenesses might be accounted for by an early community
in myth and cult among the common ancestors of Brythons and
Goidels.[334] But as the date of the composition of the _Mabinogion_ is
comparatively late, at a time when Brythons had overrun these Goidelic
districts, more probably the tales contain a mingling of Goidelic (Irish
or Welsh) and Brythonic divinities, though some of these may be
survivals of the common Celtic heritage.[335] Celtic divinities were
mainly of a local, tribal character. Hence some would be local Goidelic
divinities, others, classed with these, local Brythonic divinities. This
would explain the absence of divinities and heroes of other local
Brythonic groups, e.g. Arthur, from the _Mabinogion_. But with the
growing importance of these, they attracted to their legend the folk of
the _Mabinogion_ and other tales. These are associated with Arthur in
_Kulhwych_, and the Dôn group mingles with that of Taliesin in the
_Taliesin_ poems.[336] Hence Welsh literature, as far as concerns the
old religion, may be regarded as including both local Goidelic and
Brythonic divinities, of whom the more purely Brythonic are Arthur,
Gwynn, Taliesin, etc.[337] They are regarded as kings and queens, or as
fairies, or they have magical powers. They are mortal and die, and the
place of their burial is pointed out, or existing tumuli are associated
with them, All this is parallel to the history of the Tuatha Dé Danann,
and shows how the same process of degradation had been at work in Wales
as in Ireland.
The story of the Llyr group is told in the _Mabinogion_ of Branwen and
of Manawyddan. They are associated with the Pwyll group, and apparently
opposed to that of Dôn. Branwen is married to Matholwych, king of
Ireland, but is ill-treated by him on account of the insults of the
mischievous Evnissyen, in spite of the fact that Bran had atoned for the
insult by many gifts, including that of a cauldron of regeneration. Now
he crosses with an army to Ireland, where Evnissyen throws Branwen's
child, to whom the kingdom is given, on the fire. A fight ensues; the
dead Irish warriors are resuscitated in the cauldron, but Evnissyen, at
the cost of his life, destroys it. Bran is slain, and by his directions
his head is cut off and carried first to Harlech, then to Gwales, where
it will entertain its bearers for eighty years. At the end of that time
it is to be taken to London and buried. Branwen, departing with the
bearers, dies of a broken heart at Anglesey, and meanwhile Caswallyn,
son of Beli, seizes the kingdom.[338] Two of the bearers of the head are
Manawyddan and Pryderi, whose fortunes we follow in the _Mabinogi_ of
the former. Pryderi gives his mother Rhiannon to Manawyddan as his wife,
along with some land which by magic art is made barren. After following
different crafts, they are led by a boar to a strange castle, where
Rhiannon and Pryderi disappear along with the building. Manawyddan, with
Pryderi's wife Kieva, set out as shoemakers, but are forced to abandon
this craft on account of the envy of the craftsmen. Finally, we learn
how Manawyddan overcame the enchanter Llwyt, who, because of an insult
offered by Pryderi's father to his friend Gwawl, had made Rhiannon and
Pryderi disappear. They are now restored, and Llwyt seeks no further
revenge.
The story of Branwen is similar to a tale of which there are variants in
Teutonic and Scandinavian sagas, but the resemblance is closer to the
latter.[339] Possibly a similar story with their respective divinities
or heroes for its characters existed among Celts, Teutons, and Norsemen,
but more likely it was borrowed from Norsemen who occupied both sides of
the Irish Sea in the ninth and tenth century, and then naturalised by
furnishing it with Celtic characters. But into this framework many
native elements were set, and we may therefore scrutinise the story for
Celtic mythical elements utilised by its redactor, who probably did not
strip its Celtic personages of their earlier divine attributes. In the
two _Mabinogi_ these personages are Llyr, his sons Bran and Manawyddan,
his daughter Branwen, their half-brothers Nissyen and Evnissyen, sons of
Llyr's wife Penardim, daughter of Beli, by a previous marriage with
Eurosswyd.
Llyr is the equivalent of the Irish Ler, the sea-god, but two other
Llyrs, probably duplicates of himself, are known to Welsh story--Llyr
Marini, and the Llyr, father of Cordelia, of the chroniclers.[340] He is
constantly confused with Lludd Llawereint, e.g. both are described as
one of three notable prisoners of Britain, and both are called fathers
of Cordelia or Creiddylad.[341] Perhaps the two were once identical, for
Manannan is sometimes called son of Alloid (= Lludd), in Irish texts, as
well as son of Ler.[342] But the confusion may be accidental, nor is it
certain that Nodons or Lludd was a sea-god. Llyr's prison was that of
Eurosswyd,[343] whose wife he may have abducted and hence suffered
imprisonment. In the _Black Book of Caermarthen_ Bran is called son of Y
Werydd or "Ocean," according to M. Loth's interpretation of the name,
which would thus point to Llyr's position as a sea-god. But this is
contested by Professor Rh[^y]s who makes Ywerit wife of Llyr, the name
being in his view a form of the Welsh word for Ireland. In Geoffrey and
the chroniclers Llyr becomes a king of Britain whose history and that of
his daughters was immortalised by Shakespeare. Geoffrey also refers to
Llyr's burial in a vault built in honour of Janus.[344] On this
Professor Rh[^y]s builds a theory that Llyr was a form of the Celtic Dis
with two faces and ruler of a world of darkness.[345] But there is no
evidence that the Celtic Dispater was lord of a gloomy underworld, and
it is best to regard Llyr as a sea-divinity.
Manawyddan is not god-like in these tales in the sense in which the
majestic Manannan of Irish story is, though elsewhere we learn that
"deep was his counsel."[346] Though not a magician, he baffles one of
the great wizards of Welsh story, and he is also a master craftsman, who
instructs Pryderi in the arts of shoe-making, shield-making, and
saddlery. In this he is akin to Manannan, the teacher of Diarmaid.
Incidents of his career are reflected in the _Triads_, and his union
with Rhiannon may point to an old myth in which they were from the first
a divine pair, parents of Pryderi. This would give point to his
deliverance of Pryderi and Rhiannon from the hostile magician.[347]
Rhiannon resembles the Irish Elysium goddesses, and Manawyddan, like
Manannan, is lord of Elysium in a _Taliesin_ poem.[348] He is a
craftsman and follows agriculture, perhaps a reminiscence of the old
belief that fertility and culture come from the god's land. Manawyddan,
like other divinities, was drawn into the Arthurian cycle, and is one of
those who capture the famous boar, the _Twrch Trwyth_.[349]
Bran, or Bendigeit Vran ("Bran the Blessed"), probably an old pagan
title which appropriately enough denotes one who figured later in
Christian hagiology, is so huge that no house or ship can hold him.
Hence he wades over to Ireland, and as he draws near is thought to be a
mountain. This may be an archaic method of expressing his divinity--a
gigantic non-natural man like some of the Tuatha Déa and Ossianic
heroes. But Bran also appears as the _Urdawl Ben_, or "Noble Head,"
which makes time pass to its bearers like a dream, and when buried
protects the land from invasion. Both as a giant squatting on a rock and
as a head, Bran is equated by Professor Rh[^y]s with Cernunnos, the
squatting god, represented also as a head, and also with the Welsh Urien
whose attribute was a raven, the supposed meaning of Bran's name.[350]
He further equates him with Uthr Ben, "Wonderful Head," the superior
bard, harper and piper of a _Taliesin_ poem.[351] Urien, Bran, and Uthr
are three forms of a god worshipped by bards, and a "dark" divinity,
whose wading over to Ireland signifies crossing to Hades, of which he,
like Yama, who first crossed the rapid waters to the land of death, is
the ruler.[352] But Bran is not a "dark" god in the sense implied here.
Cernunnos is god of a happy underworld, and there is nothing dark or
evil in him or in Bran and his congeners. Professor Rh[^y]s's "dark"
divinities are sometimes, in his view, "light" gods, but they cannot be
both. The Celtic lords of the dead had no "dark" character, and as gods
of fertility they were, so to speak, in league with the sun-god, the
slayer of Bran, according to Professor Rh[^y]s's ingenious theory. And
although to distracted Irish secretaries Ireland may be Hades, its
introduction into this _Mabinogi_ merely points to the interpretation of
a mythico-historic connection between Wales and Ireland. Thus if Bran is
Cernunnos, this is because he is a lord of the underworld of fertility,
the counterpart of which is the distant Elysium, to which Bran seems
rather to belong. Thus, in presence of his head, time passes as a dream
in feasting and joy. This is a true Elysian note, and the tabued door of
the story is also suggestive of the tabus of Elysium, which when broken
rob men of happiness.[353] As to the power of the head in protecting the
land, this points to actual custom and belief regarding the relics of
the dead and the power of divine images or sculptured heads.[354] The
god Bran has become a king and law-giver in the _Mabinogion_ and the
_Triads_,[355] while Geoffrey of Monmouth describes how Belinus and
Brennus, in the Welsh version Beli and Bran, dispute the crown of
Britain, are reconciled, and finally conquer Gaul and Rome.[356] The
mythic Bran is confused with Brennus, leader of the Gauls against Rome
in 390 B.C., and Belinus may be the god Belenos, as well as Beli, father
of Lludd and Caswallawn. But Bran also figures as a Christian
missionary. He is described as hostage at Rome for his son Caradawc,
returning thence as preacher of Christianity to the Cymry--a legend
arising out of a misunderstanding of his epithet "Blessed" and a
confusing of his son with the historic Caractacus.[357] Hence Bran's
family is spoken of as one of the three saintly families of Prydein, and
he is ancestor of many saints.[358]
Branwen, "White Bosom," daughter of a sea-god, may be a sea-goddess,
"Venus of the northern sea,"[359] unless with Mr. Nutt we connect her
with the cauldron described in her legend,[360] symbol of an orgiastic
cult, and regard her as a goddess of fertility. But the connection is
not clear in the story, though in some earlier myth the cauldron may
have been her property. As Brangwaine, she reappears in romance, giving
a love-potion to Tristram--perhaps a reminiscence of her former
functions as a goddess of love, or earlier of fertility. In the
_Mabinogion_ she is buried in Anglesey at Ynys Bronwen, where a cairn
with bones discovered in 1813 was held to be the grave and remains of
Branwen.[361]
The children of Dôn, the equivalent of Danu, and probably like her, a
goddess of fertility, are Gwydion, Gilvæthwy, Amæthon, Govannon, and
Arianrhod, with her sons, Dylan and Llew.[362] These correspond,
therefore, in part to the Tuatha Déa, though the only members of the
group who bear names similar to the Irish gods are Govannon (= Goibniu)
and possibly Llew (= Lug). Gwydion as a culture-god corresponds to Ogma.
In the _Triads_ Beli is called father of Arianrhod,[363] and assuming
that this Arianrhod is identical with the daughter of Dôn, Professor
Rh[^y]s regards Beli as husband of Dôn. But the identification is far
from certain, and the theory built upon it that Beli is one with the
Irish Bile, and that both are lords of a dark underworld, has already
been found precarious.[364] In later belief Dôn was associated with the
stars, the constellation Cassiopeia being called her court. She is
described as "wise" in a _Taliesin_ poem.[365]
This group of divinities is met with mainly in the _Mabinogi_ of Math,
which turns upon Gilvæthwy's illicit love of Math's "foot-holder"
Goewin. To assist him in his _amour_, Gwydion, by a magical trick,
procures for Math from the court of Pryderi certain swine sent him by
Arawn, king of Annwfn. In the battle which follows when the trick is
discovered, Gwydion slays Pryderi by enchantment. Math now discovers
that Gilvæthwy has seduced Goewin, and transforms him and Gwydion
successively into deer, swine, and wolves. Restored to human form,
Gwydion proposes that Arianrhod should be Math's foot-holder, but Math
by a magic test discovers that she is not a virgin. She bears two sons,
Dylan, fostered by Math, and another whom Gwydion nurtures and for whom
he afterwards by a trick obtains a name from Arianrhod, who had sworn
never to name him. The name is Llew Llaw Gyffes, "Lion of the Sure
Hand." By magic, Math and Gwydion form a wife for Llew out of flowers.
She is called Blodeuwedd, and later, at the instigation of a lover,
Gronw, she discovers how Llew can be killed. Gronw attacks and wounds
him, and he flies off as an eagle. Gwydion seeks for Llew, discovers
him, and retransforms him to human shape. Then he changes Blodeuwedd
into an owl, and slays Gronw.[366] Several independent tales have gone
to the formation of this _Mabinogi_, but we are concerned here merely
with the light it may throw on the divine characters who figure in it.
Math or Math Hen, "the Ancient,"[367] is probably an old divinity of
Gwyned, of which he is called lord. He is a king and a magician,
pre-eminent in wizardry, which he teaches to Gwydion, and in a _Triad_
he is called one of the great men of magic and metamorphosis of
Britain.[368] More important are his traits of goodness to the
suffering, and justice with no trace of vengeance to the wrong-doer.
Whether these are derived from his character as a god or from the Celtic
kingly ideal, it is impossible to say, though the former is by no means
unlikely. Possibly his supreme magical powers make him the equivalent of
the Irish "god of Druidism," but this is uncertain, since all gods were
more or less dowered with these.
Gwydion's magical powers are abundantly illustrated in the tale. At
Pryderi's court he changes fungus into horses and dogs, and afterwards
slays Pryderi by power of enchantments; he produces a fleet by magic
before Arianrhod's castle; with Math's help he forms Blodeuwedd out of
flowers; he gives Llew his natural shape when he finds him as a wasted
eagle on a tree, his flesh and the worms breeding in it dropping from
him; he transforms the faithless Blodeuwedd into an owl. Some of these
and other deeds are referred to in the _Taliesin_ poems, while Taliesin
describes himself as enchanted by Gwydion.[369] In the _Triads_ he is
one of the three great astrologers of Prydein, and this emphasis laid on
his powers of divination is significant when it is considered that his
name may be derived from a root _vet_, giving words meaning "saying" or
"poetry," while cognate words are Irish _fáith_, "a prophet" or "poet,"
German _wuth_, "rage," and the name of Odinn.[370] The name is
suggestive of the ecstasy of inspiration producing prophetic and poetic
utterance. In the _Mabinogion_ he is a mighty bard, and in a poem, he,
under the name of Gweir, is imprisoned in the Other-world, and there
becomes a bard, thus receiving inspiration from the gods' land.[371] He
is the ideal _fáith_--diviner, prophet, and poet, and thus the god of
those professing these arts. Strabo describes how the Celtic _vates_
(_fáith_) was also a philosopher, and this character is given in a poem
to Seon (probably = Gwydion), whose artists are poets and
magicians.[372] But he is also a culture-god, bringing swine to men from
the gods' land. For though Pryderi is described as a mortal who has
himself received the swine from Annwfn (Elysium), there is no doubt that
he himself was a lord of Annwfn, and it was probably on account of
Gwydion's theft from Annwfn that he, as Gweir, was imprisoned there
"through the messenger of Pwyll and Pryderi."[373] A raid is here made
directly on the god's land for the benefit of men, and it is
unsuccessful, but in the _Mabinogi_ a different version of the raid is
told. Perhaps Gwydion also brought kine from Annwfn, since he is called
one of the three herds of Britain,[374] while he himself may once have
been an animal god, then an anthropomorphic deity associated with
animals. Thus in the _Mabinogi_, when Gwydion flees with the swine, he
rests each night at a place one of the syllables of which is _Moch_,
"swine"--an ætiological myth explaining why places which were once sites
of the cult of a swine-god, afterwards worshipped as Gwydion, were so
called.
Gwydion has also a tricky, fraudulent character in the _Mabinogi_, and
although "in his life there was counsel," yet he had a "vicious
muse."[375] It is also implied that he is lover of his sister Arianrhod
and father of Dylan and Llew--the mythic reflections of a time when such
unions, perhaps only in royal houses, were permissible. Instances occur
in Irish tales, and Arthur was also his sister's lover.[376] In later
belief Gwydion was associated with the stars; and the Milky Way was
called Caer Gwydion. Across it he had chased the faithless
Blodeuwedd.[377] Professor Rh[^y]s equates him with Odinn, and regards
both as representing an older Celto-Teutonic hero, though many of the
alleged similarities in their respective mythologies are not too
obvious.[378]
Amæthon the good is described in _Kulhwych_ as the only husbandman who
could till or dress a certain piece of land, though Kulhwych will not be
able to force him or to make him follow him.[379] This, together with
the name Amæthon, from Cymric _amæth_, "labourer" or "ploughman," throws
some light on his functions.[380] He was a god associated with
agriculture, either as one who made waste places fruitful, or possibly
as an anthropomorphic corn divinity. But elsewhere his taking a roebuck
and a whelp, and in a _Triad_, a lapwing from Arawn, king of Annwfn, led
to the battle of Godeu, in which he fought Arawn, aided by Gwydion, who
vanquished one of Arawn's warriors, Bran, by discovering his name.[381]
Amæthon, who brings useful animals from the gods' land, plays the same
part as Gwydion, bringer of the swine. The dog and deer are frequent
representatives of the corn-spirit, of which Amæthon may have been an
anthropomorphic form, or they, with the lapwing, may have been earlier
worshipful animals, associated with Amæthon as his symbols, while later
myth told how he had procured them from Annwfn.
The divine functions of Llew Llaw Gyffes are hardly apparent in the
_Mabinogi_. The incident of Blodeuwedd's unfaithfulness is simply that
of the _Märchen_ formula of the treacherous wife who discovers the
secret of her husband's life, and thus puts him at her lover's
mercy.[382] But since Llew is not slain, but changes to eagle form, this
unusual ending may mean that he was once a bird divinity, the eagle
later becoming his symbol. Some myth must have told of his death, or he
was afterwards regarded as a mortal who died, for a poem mentions his
tomb, and adds, "he was a man who never gave justice to any one." Dr.
Skene suggests that truth, not justice, is here meant, and finds in this
a reference to Llew's disguises.[383] Professor Rh[^y]s, for reasons not
held convincing by M. Loth, holds that _Llew_, "lion," was a
misapprehension for his true name _Lleu_, interpreted by him
"light."[384] This meaning he also gives to _Lug_, equating Lug and
Llew, and regarding both as sun-gods. He also equates _Llaw Gyffes_,
"steady _or_ strong hand," with Lug's epithet _Lám fada_, "long hand,"
suggesting that _gyffes_ may have meant "long," although it was Llew's
steadiness of hand in shooting which earned him the title.[385] Again,
Llew's rapid growth need not make him the sun, for this was a privilege
of many heroes who had no connection with the sun. Llew's unfortunate
matrimonial affairs are also regarded as a sun myth. Blodeuwedd is a
dawn goddess dividing her love between the sun-god and the prince of
darkness. Llew as the sun is overcome by the latter, but is restored by
the culture-hero Gwydion, who slays the dark rival. The transformation
of Blodeuwedd into an owl means that the Dawn has become the Dusk.[386]
As we have seen, all this is a _Märchen_ formula with no mythical
significance. Evidence of the precariousness of such an interpretation
is furnished from the similar interpretation of the story of Curoi's
wife, Blathnat, whose lover Cúchulainn slew Curoi.[387] Here a supposed
sun-god is the treacherous villain who kills a dark divinity, husband of
a dawn goddess.
If Llew is a sun-god, the equivalent of Lug, it is curious that he is
never connected with the August festival in Wales which corresponds to
Lugnasad in Ireland. There may be some support to the theory which makes
him a sun-god in a _Triad_ where he is one of the three _ruddroawc_ who
cause a year's sterility wherever they set their feet, though in this
Arthur excels them, for he causes seven years' sterility![388] Does this
point to the scorching of vegetation by the summer sun? The mythologists
have not made use of this incident. On the whole the evidence for Llew
as a sun-god is not convincing. The strongest reason for identifying him
with Lug rests on the fact that both have uncles who are smiths and have
similar names--Govannon and Gavida (Goibniu). Like Amæthon, Govannon,
the artificer or smith (_gôf_, "smith"), is mentioned in _Kulhwych_ as
one whose help must be gained to wait at the end of the furrows to
cleanse the iron of the plough.[389] Here he is brought into connection
with the plough, but the myth to which the words refer is lost. A
_Taliesin_ poem associates him with Math--"I have been with artificers,
with the old Math and with Govannon," and refers to his _Caer_ or
castle.[390]
Arianrhod, "silver wheel," has a twofold character. She pretends to be a
virgin, and disclaims all knowledge of her son Llew, yet she is mistress
of Gwydion. In the _Triads_ she appears as one of the three blessed (or
white) ladies of Britain.[391] Perhaps these two aspects of her
character may point to a divergence between religion and mythology, the
cult of a virgin goddess of whom myth told discreditable things. More
likely she was an old Earth-goddess, at once a virgin and a fruitful
mother, like Artemis, the virgin goddess, yet neither chaste nor fair,
or like a Babylonian goddess addressed as at once "mother, wife, and
maid." Arianrhod, "beauty famed beyond summer's dawn," is mentioned in a
_Taliesin_ poem, and she was later associated with the constellation
Corona Borealis.[392] Possibly her real name was forgotten, and that of
Arianrhod derived from a place-name, "Caer Arianrhod," associated with
her. The interpretation which makes her a dawn goddess, mother of light,
Lleu, and darkness, Dylan, is far from obvious.[393] Dylan, after his
baptism, rushed into the sea, the nature of which became his. No wave
ever broke under him; he swam like a fish; and hence was called Dylan
Eil Ton or "son of the wave." Govannon, his uncle, slew him, an incident
interpreted as the defeat of darkness, which "hies away to lurk in the
sea." Dylan, however, has no dark traits and is described as a blonde.
The waves lament his death, and, as they dash against the shore, seek to
avenge it. His grave is "where the wave makes a sullen sound," but
popular belief identifies him with the waves, and their noise as they
press into the Conway is his dying groan. Not only is he _Eil Ton_, "son
of the wave," but also _Eil Mor_, "son of the sea."[394] He is thus a
local sea-god, and like Manannan identified with the waves, and yet
separate from them, since they mourn his death. The _Mabinogi_ gives us
the _débris_ of myths explaining how an anthropomorphic sea-god was
connected with the goddess Arianrhod and slain by a god Govannon.
Another _Mabinogion_ group is that of Pwyll, prince of Dyved, his wife
Rhiannon, and their son Pryderi.[395] Pwyll agrees with Arawn, king of
Annwfn (Elysium), to reign over his kingdom for a year. At the end of
that time he slays Arawn's rival Havgan. Arawn sends him gifts, and
Pwyll is now known as Pen or Head of Annwfn, a title showing that he was
once a god, belonging to the gods' land, later identified with the
Christian Hades. Pwyll now agrees with Rhiannon,[396] who appears
mysteriously on a magic hillock, and whom he captures, to rid her of an
unwelcome suitor Gwawl. He imprisons him in a magical bag, and Rhiannon
weds Pwyll. The story thus resolves itself into the formula of the Fairy
Bride, but it paves the way for the vengeance taken on Pryderi and
Rhiannon by Gwawl's friend Llwyt. Rhiannon has a son who is stolen as
soon as born. She is accused of slaying him and is degraded, but Teyrnon
recovers the child from its super-human robber and calls him Gwri. As he
grows up, Teyrnon notices his resemblance to Pwyll, and takes him to his
court. Rhiannon is reinstated, and because she cries that her anguish
(_pryderi_) is gone, the boy is now called Pryderi. Here, again, we have
_Märchen_ incidents, which also appear in the Fionn saga.[397]
Though there is little that is mythological here, it is evident that
Pwyll is a god and Rhiannon a goddess, whose early importance, like that
of other Celtic goddesses, appears from her name, a corruption of
Rigantona, "great queen." Elsewhere we hear of her magic birds whose
song charmed Bran's companions for seven years, and of her marriage to
Manawyddan--an old myth in which Manawyddan may have been Pryderi's
father, while possibly in some other myth Pryderi may have been child of
Rigantona and Teyrnon (=Tigernonos, "king").[398] We may postulate an
old Rhiannon saga, fragments of which are to be found in the _Mabinogi_,
and there may have been more than one goddess called Rigantona, later
fused into one. But in the tales she is merely a queen of old romance.
Pryderi, as has been seen, was despoiled of his swine by Gwydion. They
were the gift of Arawn, but in the _Triads_ they seem to have been
brought from Annwfn by Pwyll, while Pryderi acted as swineherd.[399]
Both Pwyll and Pryderi are thus connected with those myths which told of
the bringing of domestic animals from the gods' land. But since they are
certainly gods, associated with the gods' land, this is perhaps the
result of misunderstanding. A poem speaks of the magic cauldron of Pen
Annwfn, i.e. Pwyll, and this points to a myth explaining his connection
with Annwfn in a different way from the account in the _Mabinogi_. The
poem also tells how Gweir was imprisoned in Caer Sidi (=Annwfn) "through
the messenger of Pwyll and Pryderi."[400] They are thus lords of Annwfn,
whose swine Gweir (Gwydion) tries to steal. Elsewhere Caer Sidi is
associated with Manawyddan and Pryderi, perhaps a reference to their
connection as father and son.[401] Thus Pryderi and Pwyll belong to the
bright Elysium, and may once have been gods of fertility associated with
the under-earth region, which was by no means a world of darkness.
Whatever be the meaning of the death of Pryderi at the hands of Gwydion,
it is connected with later references to his grave.[402]
A fourth group is that of Beli and his sons, referred to in the
_Mabinogi_ of Branwen, where one of them, Caswallawn, usurps the throne,
and thus makes Manawyddan, like MacGregor, landless. In the _Dream of
Maxen_, the sons of Beli are Lludd, Caswallawn, Nynnyaw, and
Llevelys.[403] Geoffrey calls Beli Heli, and speaks of an earlier king
Belinus, at enmity with his brother Brennius.[404] But probably Beli or
Heli and Belinus are one and the same, and both represent the earlier
god Belenos. Caswellawn becomes Cassivellaunus, opponent of Cæsar, but
in the _Mabinogi_ he is hostile to the race of Llyr, and this may be
connected with whatever underlies Geoffrey's account of the hostility of
Belinus and Brennius (=Bran, son of Llyr), perhaps, like the enmity of
the race of D[^o]n to Pryderi, a reminiscence of the strife of rival
tribes or of Goidel and Brython.[405] As has been seen, the evidence for
regarding Beli as D[^o]n's consort or the equivalent of Bile is slender.
Nor, if he is Belenos, the equivalent of Apollo, is he in any sense a
"dark" god. He is regarded as a victorious champion, preserver of his
"honey isle" and of the stability of his kingdom, in a _Taliesin_ poem
and in the _Triads_.[406]
The personality of Casswallawn is lost in that of the historic
Cassivellaunus, but in a reference to him in the _Triads_ where, with
Caradawc and Gweirydd, he bears the title "war king," we may see a
glimpse of his divine character, that of a god of war, invisibly leading
on armies to battle, and as such embodied in great chiefs who bore his
name.[407] Nynnyaw appears in Geoffrey's pages as Nennius, who dies of
wounds inflicted by Cæsar, to the great grief of Cassivellaunus.[408]
The theory that Lludd Llaw Ereint or _Lodens Lamargentios_ represents
_Nodens_ (Nuada) _L[=a]margentios_, the change being the result of
alliteration, has been contested,[409] while if the Welsh Lludd and Nudd
were identical it is strange that they should have become distinct
personalities, Gwyn, son of Nudd, being the lover of Creiddylad,
daughter of Lludd,[410] unless in some earlier myth their love was that
of brother and sister. Lludd is also confused or is identical with Llyr,
just as the Irish Ler is with Alloid. He is probably the son of Beli
who, in the tale of _Lludd and Llevelys_, by the advice of Llevelys rids
his country of three plagues.[411] These are, first, the Coranians who
hear every whisper, and whom he destroys by throwing over them water in
which certain insects given him by Levelys have been bruised. The second
is a shriek on May-eve which makes land and water barren, and is caused
by a dragon which attacks the dragon of the land. These Lludd captures
and imprisons at Dinas Emreis, where they afterwards cause trouble to
Vortigern at the building of his castle. The third is that of the
disappearance of a year's supply of food by a magician, who lulls every
one to sleep and who is captured by Lludd. Though the Coranians appear
in the _Triads_ as a hostile tribe,[412] they may have been a
supernatural folk, since their name is perhaps derived from _còr_,
"dwarf," and they are now regarded as mischievous fairies.[413] They may
thus be analogous to the Fomorians, and their story, like that of the
dragon and the magician who produce blight and loss of food, may be
based on older myth or ritual embodying the belief in powers hostile to
fertility, though it is not clear why those powers should be most active
on May-day. But this may be a misunderstanding, and the dragons are
overcome on May-eve. The references in the tale to Lludd's generosity
and liberality in giving food may reflect his function as a god of
growth, but, like other euhemerised gods, he is also called a mighty
warrior, and is said to have rebuilt the walls of Caer Ludd (London),
his name still surviving in "Ludgate Hill," where he was buried.[414]
This legend doubtless points to some ancient cult of Lludd at this spot.
Nudd already discussed under his title Nodons, is less prominent than
his son Gwyn, whose fight with Gwthur we have explained as a mythic
explanation of ritual combats for the increase of fertility. He also
appears as a hunter and as a great warrior,[415] "the hope of armies,"
and thus he may be a god of fertility who became a god of war and the
chase. But legend associated him with Annwfn, and regarded him, like the
Tuatha Déa, as a king of fairyland.[416] In the legend of S. Collen, the
saint tells two men, whom he overhears speaking of Gwyn and the fairies,
that these are demons. "Thou shalt receive a reproof from Gwyn," said
one of them, and soon after Collen was summoned to meet the king of
Annwfn on Glastonbury Tor. He climbed the hill with a flask of holy
water, and saw on its top a splendid castle, with crowds of beautiful
and youthful folk, while the air resounded with music. He was brought to
Gwyn, who politely offered him food, but "I will not eat of the leaves
of the tree," cried the saint; and when he was asked to admire the
dresses of the crowd, all he would say was that the red signified
burning, the blue coldness. Then he threw the holy water over them, and
nothing was left but the bare hillside.[417] Though Gwyn's court on
Glastonbury is a local Celtic Elysium, which was actually located there,
the story marks the hostility of the Church to the cult of Gwyn, perhaps
practised on hilltops, and this is further seen in the belief that he
hunts souls of the wicked and is connected with Annwfn in its later
sense of hell. But a mediant view is found in _Kulhwych_, where it is
said of him that he restrains the demons of hell lest they should
destroy the people of this world. In the _Triads_ he is, like other
gods, a great magician and astrologer.[418]
Another group, unknown to the _Mabinogion_, save that Taliesin is one of
the bearers of Bran's head, is found in the _Book of Taliesin_ and in
the late story of Taliesin. These, like the _Arthur_ cycle, often refer
to personages of the _Mabinogion_; hence we gather that local groups of
gods, originally distinct, were later mingled in story, the references
in the poems reflecting this mingling. Late as is the _Hanes Taliesin_
or story of Taliesin, and expressed as much of it is in a _Märchen_
formula, it is based on old myths about Cerridwen and Taliesin of which
its compiler made use, following an old tradition already stereotyped in
one of the poems in the _Märchen_ formula of the Transformation
Combat.[419] But the mythical fragments are also mingled with traditions
regarding the sixth century poet Taliesin. The older saga was perhaps
developed in a district south of the Dyfi estuary.[420] In Lake Tegid
dwell Tegid Voel, Cerridwen, and their children--the fair maiden
Creirwy, Morvran, and the ugly Avagddu. To give Avagddu knowledge, his
mother prepares a cauldron of inspiration from which three drops of
inspiration will be produced. These fall on the finger of Gwion, whom
she set to stir it. He put the finger in his mouth, and thus acquired
the inspiration. He fled, and Cerridwen pursued, the rest of the story
being accommodated to the Transformation Combat formula. Finally,
Cerridwen as a hen swallows Gwion as a grain of wheat, and bears him as
a child, whom she throws into the sea. Elphin, who rescues him, calls
him Taliesin, and brings him up as a bard.[421]
The water-world of Tegid is a submarine Elysium with the customary
cauldron of inspiration, regeneration, and fertility, like the cauldron
associated with a water-world in the _Mabinogion_. "Shall not my chair
be defended from the cauldron of Cerridwen," runs a line in a Taliesin
poem, while another speaks of her chair, which was probably in Elysium
like that of Taliesin himself in Caer Sidi.[422] Further references to
her connection with poetry show that she may have been worshipped by
bards, her cauldron being the source of their inspiration.[423] Her
anger at Gwion may point to some form of the Celtic myth of the theft of
the elements of culture from the gods' land. But the cauldron was first
of all associated with a fertility cult,[424] and Cerridwen must
therefore once have been a goddess of fertility, who, like Brigit, was
later worshipped by bards. She may also have been a corn-goddess, since
she is called a goddess of grain, and tradition associates the pig--a
common embodiment of the corn-spirit--with her.[425] If the tradition is
correct, this would be an instance, like that of Demeter and the pig, of
an animal embodiment of the corn-spirit being connected with a later
anthropomorphic corn-goddess.
Taliesin was probably an old god of poetic inspiration confused with the
sixth century poet of the same name, perhaps because this boastful poet
identified himself or was identified by other bards with the gods. He
speaks of his "splendid chair, inspiration of fluent and urgent song" in
Caer Sidi or Elysium, and, speaking in the god's name or identifying
himself with him, describes his presence with Llew, Bran, Gwydion, and
others, as well as his creation and his enchantment before he became
immortal.[426] He was present with Arthur when a cauldron was stolen
from Aunwfn, and basing his verses on the mythic transformations and
rebirths of the gods, recounts in highly inflated language his own
numerous forms and rebirths.[427] His claims resemble those of the
_Shaman_ who has the entree of the spirit-world and can transform
himself at will. Taliesin's rebirth is connected with his acquiring of
inspiration. These incidents appear separately in the story of Fionn,
who acquired his inspiration by an accident, and was also said to have
been reborn as Mongan. They are myths common to various branches of the
Celtic people, and applied in different combinations to outstanding gods
or heroes.[428] The _Taliesin_ poems show that there may have been two
gods or two mythic aspects of one god, later combined together. He is
the son of the goddess and dwells in the divine land, but he is also a
culture-hero stealing from the divine land. Perhaps the myths reflect
the encroachment of the cult of a god on that of a goddess, his
worshippers regarding him as her son, her worshippers reflecting their
hostility to the new god in a myth of her enmity to him. Finally, the
legend of the rescue of Taliesin the poet from the waves became a myth
of the divine outcast child rescued by Elphin, and proving himself a
bard when normal infants are merely babbling.
The occasional and obscure references to the other members of this group
throw little light on their functions, save that Morvran, "sea-crow," is
described in _Kulhwych_ as so ugly and terrible that no one would strike
him at the battle of Camlan. He may have been a war-god, like the
scald-crow goddesses of Ireland, and he is also spoken of in the
_Triads_ as an "obstructor of slaughter" or "support of battle."[429]
Ingenuity and speculation have busied themselves with trying to prove
that the personages of the Arthurian cycle are the old gods of the
Brythons, and the incidents of the romances fragments of the old
mythology. While some of these personages--those already present in
genuinely old Welsh tales and poems or in Geoffrey's _History_--are
reminiscent of the old gods, the romantic presentment of them in the
cycle itself is so largely imaginative, that nothing certain can be
gained from it for the understanding of the old mythology, much less the
old religion. Incidents which are the common stock of real life as well
as of romance are interpreted mythologically, and it is never quite
obvious why the slaying of one hero by another should signify the
conquest of a dark divinity by a solar hero, or why the capture of a
heroine by one knight when she is beloved of another, should make her a
dawn-goddess sharing her favours, now with the sun-god, now with a
"dark" divinity. Or, even granting the truth of this method, what light
does it throw on Celtic religion?
We may postulate a local Arthur saga fusing an old Brythonic god with
the historic sixth century Arthur. From this or from Geoffrey's handling
of it sprang the great romantic cycle. In the ninth century Nennius
Arthur is the historic war-chief, possibly Count of Britain, but in the
reference to his hunting the _Porcus Troit_ (the _Twrch Trwyth_) the
mythic Arthur momentarily appears.[430] Geoffrey's Arthur differs from
the later Arthur of romance, and he may have partially rationalised the
saga, which was either of recent formation or else local and obscure,
since there is no reference to Arthur in the _Mabinogion_--a fact which
shows that "in the legends of Gwynedd and Dyfedd he had no place
whatever,"[431] and also that Arthur the god or mythic hero was also
purely local. In Geoffrey Arthur is the fruit of Igerna's _amour_ with
Uther, to whom Merlin has given her husband's shape. Arthur conquers
many hosts as well as giants, and his court is the resort of all
valorous persons. But he is at last wounded by his wife's seducer, and
carried to the Isle of Avallon to be cured of his wounds, and nothing
more is ever heard of him.[432] Some of these incidents occur also in
the stories of Fionn and Mongan, and those of the mysterious begetting
of a wonder child and his final disappearance into fairyland are local
forms of a tale common to all branches of the Celts.[433] This was
fitted to the history of the local god or hero Arthur, giving rise to
the local saga, to which was afterwards added events from the life of
the historic Arthur. This complex saga must then have acquired a wider
fame long before the romantic cycle took its place, as is suggested by
the purely Welsh tales of _Kulhwych_ and the _Dream of Rhonabwy_, in the
former of which the personages (gods) of the _Mabinogion_ figure in
Arthur's train, though he is far from being the Arthur of the romances.
Sporadic references to Arthur occur also in Welsh literature, and to the
earlier saga belongs the Arthur who spoils Elysium of its cauldron in a
_Taliesin_ poem.[434] In the _Triads_ there is a mingling of the
historic, the saga, and the later romance Arthur, but probably as a
result of the growing popularity of the saga Arthur he is added to many
Triads as a more remarkable person than the three whom they
describe.[435] Arthurian place-names over the Brythonic area are more
probably the result of the popularity of the saga than that of the later
romantic cycle, a parallel instance being found in the extent of
Ossianic place-names over the Goidelic area as a result of the spread of
the Fionn saga.
The character of the romance Arthur--the flower of knighthood and a
great warrior--and the blending of the historic war-leader Arthur with
the mythic Arthur, suggest that the latter was the ideal hero of certain
Brythonic groups, as Fionn and Cúchulainn of certain Goidelic groups. He
may have been the object of a cult as these heroes perhaps were, or he
may have been a god more and more idealised as a hero. If the earlier
form of his name was Artor, "a ploughman," but perhaps with a wider
significance, and having an equivalent in Artaius, a Gaulish god equated
with Mercury,[436] he may have been a god of agriculture who became a
war-god. But he was also regarded as a culture-hero, stealing a cauldron
and also swine from the gods' land, the last incident euhemerised into
the tale of an unsuccessful theft from March, son of Meirchion,[437]
while, like other culture-heroes, he is a bard. To his story was easily
fitted that of the wonder-child, who, having finally disappeared into
Elysium (later located at Glastonbury), would reappear one day, like
Fionn, as the Saviour of his people. The local Arthur finally attained a
fame far exceeding that of any Brythonic god or hero.
Merlin, or Myrddin, appears in the romances as a great magician who is
finally overcome by the Lady of the Lake, and is in Geoffrey son of a
mysterious invisible personage who visits a woman, and, finally taking
human shape, begets Merlin. As a son who never had a father he is chosen
as the foundation sacrifice for Vortigern's tower by his magicians, but
he confutes them and shows why the tower can never be built, namely,
because of the dragons in the pool beneath it. Then follow his
prophecies regarding the dragons and the future of the country, and the
story of his removal of the Giant's Dance, or Stonehenge, from Ireland
to its present site--an ætiological myth explaining the origin of the
great stone circle. His description of how the giants used the water
with which they washed the stones for the cure of sickness or wounds,
probably points to some ritual for healing in connection with these
megaliths. Finally, we hear of his transformation of the lovelorn Uther
and of his confidant Ulfin, as well as of himself.[438] Here he appears
as little more than an ideal magician, possibly an old god, like the
Irish "god of Druidism," to whose legend had been attached a story of
supernatural conception. Professor Rh[^y]s regards him as a Celtic Zeus
or as the sun, because late legends tell of his disappearance in a glass
house into the sea. The glass house is the expanse of light travelling
with the sun (Merlin), while the Lady of the Lake who comes daily to
solace Merlin in his enchanted prison is a dawn-goddess. Stonehenge was
probably a temple of this Celtic Zeus "whose late legendary self we have
in Merlin."[439] Such late romantic episodes and an ætiological myth can
hardly be regarded as affording safe basis for these views, and their
mythological interpretation is more than doubtful. The sun is never
prisoner of the dawn as Merlin is of Viviane. Merlin and his glass house
disappear for ever, but the sun reappears every morning. Even the most
poetic mythology must conform in some degree to actual phenomena, but
this cannot be said of the systems of mythological interpretation. If
Merlin belongs to the pagan period at all, he was probably an ideal
magician or god of magicians, prominent, perhaps, in the Arthur saga as
in the later romances, and credited with a mysterious origin and an
equally mysterious ending, the latter described in many different ways.
The boastful Kei of the romances appears already in _Kulhwych_, while in
Geoffrey he is Arthur's seneschal.[440] Nobler traits are his in later
Welsh poetry; he is a mighty warrior, fighting even against a hundred,
though his powers as a toper are also great. Here, too, his death is
lamented.[441] He may thus have been a god of war, and his battle-fury
may be poetically described in a curious passage referring to him in
_Kulhwych_: "His breath lasted nine days and nine nights under water. He
could remain without sleep for the same period. No physician could heal
a wound inflicted by his sword. When he pleased he could make himself as
tall as the tallest tree in the wood. And when it rained hardest,
whatever he carried remained dry above and below his hand to the
distance of a handbreadth, so great was his natural heat. When it was
coldest he was as glowing fuel to his companions."[442] This almost
exactly resembles Cúchulainn's aspect in his battle-fury. In a curious
poem Gwenhyvar (Guinevere) extols his prowess as a warrior above that of
Arthur, and in _Kulhwych_ and elsewhere there is enmity between the
two.[443] This may point to Kei's having been a god of tribes hostile to
those of whom Arthur was hero.
Mabon, one of Arthur's heroes in _Kulhwych_ and the _Dream of Rhonabwy_,
whose name, from _mab_ (_map_), means "a youth," may be one with the god
Maponos equated with Apollo in Britain and Gaul, perhaps as a god of
healing springs.[444] His mother's name, Modron, is a local form of
_Matrona_, a river-goddess and probably one of the mother-goddesses as
her name implies. In the _Triads_ Mabon is one of the three eminent
prisoners of Prydein. To obtain his help in hunting the magic boar his
prison must be found, and this is done by animals, in accordance with a
_Märchen_ formula, while the words spoken by them show the immense
duration of his imprisonment--perhaps a hint of his immortality.[445]
But he was also said to have died and been buried at Nantlle,[446]
which, like Gloucester, the place of his prison, may have been a site of
his widely extended cult.[447]
* * * * *
Taken as a whole the various gods and heroes of the Brythons, so far as
they are known to us, just as they resemble the Irish divinities in
having been later regarded as mortals, magicians, and fairies, so they
resemble them in their functions, dimly as these are perceived. They are
associated with Elysium, they are lords of fertility and growth, of the
sea, of the arts of culture and of war. The prominent position of
certain goddesses may point to what has already been discovered of them
in Gaul and Ireland--their pre-eminence and independence. But, like the
divinities of Gaul and Ireland, those of Wales were mainly local in
character, and only in a few cases attained a wider popularity and cult.
Certain British gods mentioned on inscriptions may be identified with
some of those just considered--Nodons with Nudd or Lludd, Belenos with
Belinus or Beli, Maponos with Mabon, Taranos (in continental
inscriptions only), with a Taran mentioned in _Kulhwych_.[448] Others
are referred to in classical writings--Andrasta, a goddess of victory,
to whom Boudicca prayed;[449] Sul, a goddess of hot springs, equated
with Minerva at Bath.[450] Inscriptions also mention Epona, the
horse-goddess; Brigantia, perhaps a form of Brigit; Belisama (the Mersey
in Ptolemy),[451] a goddess in Gaulish inscriptions. Others refer to the
group goddesses, the _Matres_. Some gods are equated with Mars--Camulos,
known also on the Continent and perhaps the same as Cumal, father of
Fionn; Belatucadros, "comely in slaughter"; Cocidius, Corotiacus,
Barrex, and Totatis (perhaps Lucan's Teutates). Others are equated with
Apollo in his character as a god of healing--Anextiomarus, Grannos (at
Musselburgh and in many continental inscriptions), Arvalus, Mogons, etc.
Most of these and many others found on isolated inscriptions were
probably local in character, though some, occurring also on the
Continent, had attained a wider popularity.[452] But some of the
inscriptions referring to the latter may be due to Gaulish soldiers
quartered in Britain.
COMPARATIVE TABLE OF DIVINITIES WITH SIMILAR NAMES IN IRELAND, BRITAIN,
AND GAUL.
_Italics denote names found in Inscriptions._
IRELAND. BRITAIN. GAUL.
_Anextiomarus_ _Anextiomarus_
Anu Anna (?) _Anoniredi_, "chariot of Anu"
Badb _Bodua_
Beli, Belinus _Belenos_
Belisama _Belisama_
Brigit _Brigantia_ _Brigindu_
Bron Bran Brennus (?)
Buanann _Buanu_
Cumal _Camulos_ _Camulos_
Danu Dôn
_Epona_ _Epona_
Goibniu Govannon
_Grannos_ _Grannos_
Ler Llyr
Lug Llew or Lleu (?) Lugus, _Lugores_
Mabon, _Maponos_ _Maponos_
Manannan Manawyddan
_Matres_ _Matres_
Mider _Medros_ (?)
Modron _Matrona_ (?)
Nemon _Nemetona_
Nét _Neton_
Nuada _Nodons_, Nudd
Hael, Llûdd (?)
Ogma Ogmíos
_Silvanus_ _Silvanus_
Taran _Taranis_
_Totatis, Tutatis_ Teutates
FOOTNOTES:
[328] The text of the _Mabinogion_ has been edited by Rh[^y]s and Evans,
1887, and it has been translated into English by Lady Guest, and more
critically, into French, by Loth. Many of the _Triads_ will be found in
Loth's second volume. For the poetry see Skene, _Four Ancient Books of
Wales_.
[329] These incidents are found mainly in the story of Branwen, e.g.
those of the cauldron, a frequent accessory in Irish tales; the
regeneration of the warriors, also found in the story of Mag-tured,
though no cauldron is used; the red-hot house, occurring also in _Mesca
Ulad_; the description of Bran paralleled by that of MacCecht.
[330] Anwyl, _ZCP_ i. 277, ii. 124, iii. 122.
[331] Bp. of S. Davids, _Vestiges of the Gael in Gwynned_, 1851;
Rh[^y]s, _TSC_ 1894-1895, 21.
[332] Skene, i. 45; Meyer, _TSC_ 1895-1896, 55.
[333] Cf. John, _The Mabinogion_, 1901, 19. Curoi appears as Kubert, and
Conchobar as Knychur in _Kulhwych_ (Loth, i. 202). A poem of _Taliesin_
has for subject the death of Corroi, son of Dayry (Curoi mac Daire),
Skene, i. 254.
[334] Loth, _RC_ x. 356; John, _op. cit._ 19; Nutt, _Arch. Rev._ i. 331.
[335] The giant Ysppadden in _Kulhwych_ resembles Balor, but has no evil
eye.
[336] Anwyl, _ZCP_ ii. 127-128, "The merging of the two legends [of Dôn
and Taliesin] may have arisen through the fusion of Penllyn with Ardudwy
and Arvon."
[337] Professor Rh[^y]s thinks that the Llyr family may be pre-Celtic,
_TSC_ 1894-1895, 29 f.; _CFL_ 552.
[338] Loth, i. 97 f.; Lady Guest, iii. 143 f.
[339] See Nutt, _Folk-lore Record_, v. 1 f.
[340] Loth, i. 298, ii. 243-244; Geoffrey, _Hist. Brit._ ii. 11.
[341] Loth, i. 224, 265, ii. 215, 244; Geoff. ii. 11.
[342] Skene, i. 81; Rh[^y]s, _Academy_, Jan. 7, 1882.
[343] _Triads_, Loth, ii. 293; Nutt, _Folk-lore Record_, v. 9.
[344] _Hist. Brit._ ii. 11-14.
[345] _AL_ 131.
[346] Skene, i. 262.
[347] See Nutt-Meyer, ii. 17.
[348] Skene, i. 276.
[349] Loth, i. 208, 280; see also i. 197, ii. 245, 294.
[350] See Skene i. 355. The raven is rather the bird of prey come to
devour Urien than his "attribute."
[351] Skene, i. 298.
[352] For these theories see Rh[^y]s, _HL_ 90_f_.; _AL_ ch. 11; _CFL_
552.
[353] See Ch. XXIV.
[354] See p. 242.
[355] Loth, i. 65, ii. 285.
[356] _Hist. Brit._ iii. 1_f_. Geoffrey says that Billingsgate was
called after Belinus, and that his ashes were preserved in the gate, a
tradition recalling some connection of the god with the gate.
[357] An early Caradawc saga may have become mingled with the story of
Caractacus.
[358] Rees, 77.
[359] So Elton, 291.
[360] _Folk-lore Record_, v. 29.
[361] Lady Guest, iii. 134.
[362] Dôn is sometimes held to be male, but she is distinctly called
sister of Math (Loth, i. 134), and as the equivalent of Danu she must be
female.
[363] Loth, ii. 209.
[364] See p. 60, _supra_, and Rh[^y]s, _HL_ 90_f_.
[365] Lady Guest, iii. 255; Skene, i. 297, 350.
[366] For this _Mabinogi_ see Loth, i. 117f.; Guest, iii. 189f.
[367] Skene, i. 286.
[368] Loth, ii. 229, 257; and for other references to Math, Skene, i.
281, 269, 299.
[369] Skene, i. 296, 281.
[370] Loth, ii. 297; Rh[^y]s, _HL_ 276.
[371] Skene, i. 264.
[372] Rh[^y]s, _HL_ 270. Skene, i. 430, 537, gives a different meaning
to _seon_.
[373] Skene, i. 264.
[374] Loth, ii. 296.
[375] Skene, i. 299, 531.
[376] See p. 224, _infra_.
[377] Guest, iii. 255; Morris, _Celtic Remains_, 231.
[378] _HL_ 283 _f_. See also Grimm, _Teut. Myth._ i. 131.
[379] Loth, i. 240.
[380] Stokes, _US_ 34.
[381] _Myvyrian Archæol._ i. 168; Skene, i. 275, 278 f.; Loth, ii. 259.
[382] See my _Childhood of Fiction_, 127. Llew's vulnerability does not
depend on the discovery of his separable soul, as is usual. The earliest
form of this _Märchen_ is the Egyptian story of the Two Brothers, and
that of Samson and Delilah is another old form of it.
[383] Skene, i. 314, ii. 342.
[384] _HL_ 408; _RC_ x. 490.
[385] _HL_ 237, 319, 398, 408.
[386] _HL_ 384.
[387] _HL_ 474, 424.
[388] Loth, ii. 231.
[389] Loth, i. 240.
[390] Skene, i, 286-287.
[391] Loth, ii. 263.
[392] Skene, ii. 159; Rh[^y]s, _HL_ 157; Guest, iii. 255.
[393] Rh[^y]s, _HL_ 161, 566.
[394] Skene, i. 282, 288, 310, 543, ii. 145; Loth, i. 135; Rh[^y]s, _HL_
387.
[395] Loth, i. 27 f.; Guest, iii. 7 f.
[396] Rhiannon is daughter of Heveidd Hen or "the Ancient," probably an
old divinity.
[397] In the _Mabinogi_ and in Fionn tales a mysterious hand snatches
away newly-born children. Cf. _ZCP_ i. 153.
[398] Anwyl, _ZCP_ i. 288.
[399] Loth, ii. 247.
[400] Skene, i. 264.
[401] Ibid. i. 276.
[402] Ibid. i. 310.
[403] Loth, i. 166.
[404] _Hist. Brit._ ii. 11, iii. 1, 20, iv. 3.
[405] Cf. Anwyl, _ZCP_ i. 287.
[406] Skene, i. 431; Loth, ii. 278. Some phrases seem to connect Beli
with the sea--the waves are his cattle, the brine his liquor.
[407] Loth, ii. 209, 249, 260, 283.
[408] Geoffrey, _Brit. Hist._ iv. 3. 4.
[409] Rh[^y]s, _HL_ 125 f.; Loth, i. 265; MacBain, _CM_ ix. 66.
[410] See Loth, i. 269; and Skene, i. 293.
[411] Loth, i. 173 f.
[412] Loth, ii. 256, 274.
[413] Rh[^y]s, _HL_ 606. Cf. the Breton fairies, the _Korr_ and
_Korrigan_.
[414] Geoffrey, iii. 20.
[415] Loth, i. 253-254; Skene, i. 293.
[416] Guest, iii. 323.
[417] Ibid. 325.
[418] Loth, i. 253, ii. 297.
[419] See p. 353, _infra_.; Skene, i. 532.
[420] Anwyl, _ZCP_ i. 293.
[421] Guest, iii. 356 f.
[422] Skene, i. 275, 296.
[423] Ibid. i. 498, 500.
[424] See p. 382, _infra_.
[425] _Mon. Hist. Brit._ i. 698, ii.; Thomas, _Revue de l'hist. des
Religions_, xxxviii. 339.
[426] Skene, i. 263, 274-276, 278, 281-282, 286-287. His "chair" bestows
immortal youth and freedom from sickness.
[427] Skene, i. 264, 376 f., 309, 532. See p. 356, _infra_.
[428] See pp. 350-1, _infra_. Fionn and Taliesin are examples of the
_Märchen_ formula of a hero expelled and brought back to honour,
Nutt-Meyer, ii. 88.
[429] Loth, i. 209, ii. 238; Skene, ii. 459.
[430] Nennius, ch. 50, 79.
[431] Anwyl, _ZCP_ i. 293.
[432] Geoffrey, viii. 9-xi. 3.
[433] Nutt-Meyer, ii. 22 f.
[434] See p. 381, _infra_.
[435] Loth, ii. 232, 245.
[436] Rh[^y]s, _AL_, 39 f. Others derive the name from _arto-s_, "bear."
MacBain, 357.
[437] Loth. ii. 247; Skene, ii. 459.
[438] Geoffrey, vi. 17-19, vii. viii. 1, 10-12, 19. In a poem (Skene, i.
478), Myrddin is called "the man who speaks from the grave"--a
conception familiar to the Celts, who thought of the dead as living on
in the grave. See p. 340, _infra_.
[439] Rh[^y]s, _HL_, 154 f., 158-159, 194.
[440] Geoffrey, ix. 12, etc.
[441] Skene, ii. 51.
[442] Loth. i. 225; cf. p. 131, _infra_. From this description Elton
supposes Kei to have been a god of fire.
[443] _Myv. Arch._ i. 175; Loth, i. 269. Rh[^y]s, _AL_ 59, thinks Merlin
may have been Guinevere's ravisher.
[444] Holder, i. 414.
[445] Loth i. 250, 260 f., 280, ii. 215, 244.
[446] Skene, i. 363, ii. 406; _Myv. Arch._ i. 78.
[447] Hu Gadarn is mentioned in the _Triads_ as a leader of the Cymry
from the east and their teacher in ploughing. He divided them into
clans, and invented music and song. The monster _avanc_ was drawn by him
from the lake which had burst and caused the flood (see p. 231,
_infra_). Perhaps Hu is an old culture-god of some tribes, but the
_Triads_ referring to him are of late date (Loth, ii. 271, 289, 290-291,
298-299). For the ridiculous Neo-Druidic speculations based on Hu, see
Davies, _Celtic Researches_ and _Mythology and Rites of the Druids_.
Gurgiunt, son of Belinus, in Geoffrey, iii. 11, may be the French
legendary Gargantua, perhaps an old god. See the works of Sébillot and
Gaidoz on _Gargantua_.
[448] Loth, i. 270.
[449] Dio Cassius, lxii. 6.
[450] Solinus, xxii. 10. See p. 2, _supra_.
[451] Ptol. ii. 3. 2.
[452] For all these see Holder, _s.v._