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Manawydan
Manawydan fab Llŷr is a figure of Welsh mythology, the son of Llŷr and the brother of Brân the Blessed and Brânwen. The first element in his name is cognate with the stem of the name of the Irish sea god Manannán mac Lir, and likely originated from the same Celtic deity as Manannán. Unlike Manannán, however, no surviving material connects him with the sea in any way except for his patronymic (''llŷr'' is an old Welsh word for ''sea''). Manawydan's most important appearances occur in the Second and Third Branches of the Mabinogi (the latter of which is named for him), but he is also referenced frequently in medieval poetry and the Welsh Triads. The Mabinogi Second Branch Manawydan is an important character in the Second Branch of the Mabinogi, the ''Mabinogi of Brânwen, Daughter of Llŷr''. In this tale, Manawydan serves as advisor to his brother Brân the Blessed, the King of Britain. He sits beside Brân at the feast celebrating the wedding of their sister Brânwen t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Four Branches Of The Mabinogi
The ''Four Branches of the Mabinogi'' or ''Pedair Cainc Y Mabinogi'' are the earliest prose stories in the literature of Britain. Originally written in Wales in Middle Welsh, but widely available in translations, the ''Mabinogi'' is generally agreed to be a single work in four parts, or "branches." The interrelated tales can be read as mythology, political themes, romances, or magical fantasies. They appeal to a wide range of readers, from young children to the most sophisticated adult. The tales are popular today in book format, as storytelling or theatre performances; they appear in recordings and on film, and continue to inspire many reinterpretations in artwork and modern fiction. Overview The ''Mabinogi'' are known as the ''Four Branches of the Mabinogi'', or ''Pedair Cainc y Mabinogi'' in Welsh. The tales were compiled from oral tradition in the 11th century. They survived in private family libraries via medieval manuscripts, of which two main versions and some fragments sti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Welsh Mythology
Welsh mythology (Welsh language, Welsh: ''Mytholeg Cymru'') consists of both folk traditions developed in Wales, and traditions developed by the Celtic Britons elsewhere before the end of the first millennium. As in most of the predominantly oral societies Celtic mythology and history were recorded orally by specialists such as druids ( cy, derwyddon). This oral record has been lost or altered as a result of outside contact and invasion over the years. Much of this altered mythology and history is preserved in Medieval Welsh literature, medieval Welsh manuscripts, which include the Red Book of Hergest, the White Book of Rhydderch, the Book of Aneirin and the Book of Taliesin. Other works connected to Welsh mythology include the ninth-century Latin historical compilation ''Historia Brittonum'' ("History of the Britons") and Geoffrey of Monmouth's twelfth-century Latin chronicle ''Historia Regum Britanniae'' ("History of the Kings of Britain"), as well as later folklore, such as the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhiannon
Rhiannon is a major figure in the Mabinogi, the medieval Welsh story collection. She appears mainly in the First Branch of the Mabinogi, and again in the Third Branch. She is a strong-minded Otherworld woman, who chooses Pwyll, prince of Dyfed (west Wales), as her consort, in preference to another man to whom she has already been betrothed. She is intelligent, politically strategic, beautiful, and famed for her wealth and generosity. With Pwyll she has a son, the hero Pryderi, who later inherits the lordship of Dyfed. She endures tragedy when her newborn child is abducted, and she is accused of infanticide. As a widow she marries Manawydan of the British royal family, and has further adventures involving enchantments. Like some other figures of British/Welsh literary tradition, Rhiannon may be a reflection of an earlier Celtic deity. Her name appears to derive from the reconstructed Brittonic form *''Rīgantonā'', a derivative of *''rīgan-'' "queen". In the First Br ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pryderi
Pryderi fab Pwyll is a prominent figure in Welsh mythology, the son of Pwyll and Rhiannon, and king of Dyfed after his father's death. He is the only character to appear in all Four Branches of the Mabinogi, although the size of his role varies from tale to tale. He is often equated with the divine son figure of Mabon ap Modron, while Jeffrey Gantz compares him to Peredur fab Efrawg, who is himself associated with the continental figure of Sir Percival de Galles.''The Mabinogion.'' Translated with an introduction by Jeffrey Gantz. 1976. Penguin Books, London. Ifor Williams speculated that he was once the focal character of the Mabinogi as a whole, although some subsequent scholars disagree with this theory. Pryderi is described by Jeffrey Gantz as "bold and enterprising, but rash to the point of foolishness." He goes on to say that "his downfall, while pathetic, is not entirely undeserved." Role in Welsh mythology Birth and early life Pryderi was born in Arberth to Pwyll, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Llwyd Ap Cil Coed
Llwyd ap Cil Coed is a character in the Third Branch of The Mabinogi, known also as the story of '' Manawydan ap Llŷr''. Role in the Third Branch Llwyd is a friend of Gwawl ap Clud, who had been insulted by Pwyll in the First Branch. Llwyd decides to avenge this insult upon Pryderi son of Pwyll by making barren and empty the kingdom of Dyfed. Later, by means of an enchanted bowl in a mysterious fortress, he imprisons Pryderi and Rhiannon, Pwyll's widow and Pryderi's mother. Llwyd apparently makes Rhiannon bear the yokes of his horses, while Pryderi has to carry the gate hammers, while they are in captivity. Only Manawydan, Rhiannon's new husband, and Pryderi's wife Cigfa remain in Dyfed. They try to plant grain, but their crop is destroyed by mice. Manawydan chases the pests away, but catches one that is fat and slower than the others, and sets out to hang it for theft. A cleric, a priest, and a bishop come by one at a time and beg Manawydan to spare the mouse, but he r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Efnisien
Efnisien fab Euroswydd (also spelled Efnissien or Efnysien) is a sadistic anti-hero in Welsh mythology, appearing prominently in the tale of ''Branwen ferch Llŷr'', the second branch of the Mabinogi. Described by Will Parker as "a study in the psychopathic personality" and an "embodiment of the forces of anti-social disruption," he is the catalyst of the tale's ultimate tragedy, and is largely responsible for the destruction of both Ireland and the Island of the Mighty. He is the son of Euroswydd and Penarddun, twin brother to Nisien, and half-brother to Brân the Blessed, Manawydan, and Branwen. The Welsh Triads call Llŷr one of the Three Exalted Prisoners of Britain for his captivity at Euroswydd's hands; this is likely to a lost tradition of the birth of Penarddun's younger sons. Role in Welsh tradition The Irish king Matholwch sails to Harlech to speak with Brân the Blessed high king of the Island of the Mighty and to ask for the hand of his sister Branwen in marriage, thu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pa Gur
Poem 31 of the Black Book of Carmarthen, a mid-13th century manuscript, is known from its first line as ''Pa gur yv y porthaur?'' (meaning "What man is the gatekeeper?") or ''Pa gur'', or alternatively as ''Ymddiddan Arthur a Glewlwyd Gafaelfawr'' ("The dialogue of Arthur and Glewlwyd Gafaelfawr"). It is a fragmentary, anonymous poem in Old Welsh, taking the form of a dialogue between King Arthur and the gatekeeper Glewlwyd Gafaelfawr, in which Arthur boasts of his own exploits and those of his companions, especially Cai the Fair. ''Pa gur'' is notable for being one of the earliest vernacular Arthurian works, and for alluding to several early adventures of Arthur which are now lost. Its precise age is not known and has been the subject of wide-ranging disagreement, but scholarly opinion now tends to favour a date of c. 1100. Summary ''Pa gur'' is in places a very difficult text, and translations of it vary widely. This summary is based on the version of Jon B. Coe and Sim ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cigfa
Cigfa ferch Gwyn Glohoyw (Middle Welsh: ''Kigua'') is a minor character in Welsh mythology, the wife of King Pryderi of Dyfed. She is mentioned briefly in the First Branch of the ''Mabinogi'', and appears more prominently in the third. Describing the character, Proinsias Mac Cana writes: "Cigfa strikes one as a slight though effective vignette of a contemporary bourgeois snob while William John Gruffydd hypothesises that the character was a later addition to the tale."Gruffydd, W. D. ''Rhiannon'', Cardiff, 1953. John Rhys suggested a connection between Cigfa and the Irish character ''Ciochba''.Hughes, Ian. ''Manawydan uab Llyr'' Role in Welsh tradition After ascending to the throne of Dyfed, Pryderi searches for a wife and marries Cigfa, whose ancestry is recorded as "Cigfa, daughter of Gwyn Glohoyw, son of Gloyw Walltlydan, son of Casnar Wledig". A similar lineage can be found in ''Bonedd y Saint'', in which a saint named Mechyll fab Echwys is the grandson of Gwyn Glohoyw and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manannán Mac Lir
Manannán or Manann, also known as Manannán mac Lir ("son of the sea"), is a warrior and king of the Otherworld in Irish mythology who is associated with the sea and often interpreted as a sea god, usually as a member of the Tuatha Dé Danann. He is seen as the ruler and guardian of the Otherworld, and his dominion is referred by such names as Emain Ablach, Mag Mell (Plain of Delights), or Tír Tairngire (Land of Promise). He is described as over-king of the surviving Tuatha Dé after the advent of humans ( Milesians), and uses the mist of invisibility ('' féth fíada'') to cloak the whereabouts of his home as well as the sidh dwellings of the others. In modern tales, he is said to own a self-navigating boat named ''Sguaba Tuinne'' ("Wave-sweeper"), a horse Aonbharr which can course over water as well as land, and a deadly strength-sapping sword named Fragarach, though the list does not end there. Manannán appears also in Scottish and Manx legend, where he is known ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Llŷr
Llŷr ( cy, Llŷr Llediaith (); ''Lleddiaith'' meaning "half-speech" or "half-language") is a figure in Welsh mythology, probably originally a deity, probably derived from Irish Ler ("the Sea"), father of ''Manannán mac Lir''. Other than his progeny and odd titbits, his identity remains obscure. Llŷr appears as the father of Brân, Brânwen and Manawydan by Penarddun in the ''Branwen, Daughter of Llyr'', the Second Branch of the ''Mabinogi''., New Revised ed. 1993, p. 21, "Bendigeidfran son of Llŷr was crowned king.. His two brothers on the mother's side (Nisien and Efnisien) were sons of Euroswydd by his mother Penarddun." The Welsh Triads states that Llŷr was imprisoned by Euroswydd, and presumably, Penarddun subsequently married Euroswydd, giving birth by Euroswydd to her two younger sons, Nisien and Efnisien, as stated in the Second Branch. William Shakespeare's play ''King Lear'' is based on material taken secondhand (through Raphael Holinshed) from Geoffrey of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Historia Brittonum
''The History of the Britons'' ( la, Historia Brittonum) is a purported history of the indigenous British ( Brittonic) people that was written around 828 and survives in numerous recensions that date from after the 11th century. The ''Historia Brittonum'' is commonly attributed to Nennius, as some recensions have a preface written in his name. Some experts have dismissed the Nennian preface as a late forgery, arguing that the work was actually an anonymous compilation. Overview The ''Historia Brittonum'' describes the supposed settlement of Britain by Trojan expatriates and states that Britain took its name after Brutus, a descendant of Aeneas. The work was the "single most important source used by Geoffrey of Monmouth in creating his '' Historia Regum Britanniae''" and via the enormous popularity of the latter work, this version of the earlier history of Britain, including the Trojan origin tradition, would be incorporated into subsequent chronicles for the long-running h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caswallon
Cassivellaunus was a historical British military leader who led the defence against Julius Caesar's second expedition to Britain in 54 BC. He led an alliance of tribes against Roman forces, but eventually surrendered after his location was revealed to Julius Caesar by defeated Britons. Cassivellaunus made an impact on the British consciousness. He appears in British legend as Cassibelanus, one of Geoffrey of Monmouth's kings of the Britons, and in the ''Mabinogion'', the ''Brut y Brenhinedd'' and the Welsh Triads as Caswallawn, son of Beli Mawr. Name The Common Brittonic personal name ''Cassiuellaunos'' stems from the word ''uellaunos'' ('chief, commandant'). The meaning of the prefix ''cassi-'' has been debated, but it possibly signifies 'tin, bronze'. Cassivellaunus may thus been translated as 'Chief-of-Tin', that is to say 'the inflexible'. The personal name ''Ver-cassivellaunus'' ('True-Chief-of-Tin') is related. History Cassivellaunus appears in Julius Caesar's ''Com ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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