Being Branwen
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A feast was prepared and the two, the Goddess and the King, spent the evening in conversation as they fell in love with one another. Though Branwen dreaded the thought of leaving Her people, She was in the grip of first love and She knew that she had to go with him. Matholuch was also in the heat of first love, but he never lost sight that She was the gateway into the world of kings to come.
In his mind their son would rule both Ireland and the British Isles. Her other brother, Nissyen also said nothing against the marriage. The marriage feast and consummation were held at Aberffraw. For many days after, the men of Ireland and Wales hunted together in celebration. Night after night Branwen and Matholuch shared the fire of their growing love. When he learned of the marriage, he was angry to have been left out of the decision-making. In his anger he maimed the Irish horses in a terrible manner. The Irish marched off to their ships, stoney-faced with anger.
Deep in the hearts of Bran and his brothers, they knew that the only true atonement would be the death of Evnissyen in retribution for the Irish loss. But this they could not do as it violated the very essence of the way of the Old Tribes. So instead, Bran called to Matholuch to return and accept a face-price such as had never been offered before. The two kings, with Branwen at their sides and their people all around, came together again to settle the matter. Seeing that Matholuch was still uneasy, Bran offered yet another boone to his face-price, the cauldron of rebirth.
Any man who is killed can be thrown into this cauldron and will emerge to fight again.
The Bedd Branwen
Bran the Blessed warned Matholuch that a wise king would not use this cauldron as these unearthly beings can do nothing but fight. Ultimately they could be a worse fate to deal with than the enemy on the battlefield. And so it was settled and Branwen sailed to Ireland with her man.
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The people were dazzled by Her beauty and charm. They were happy for a few years. Soon their son, Gwern, was born. Matholuch felt sure his plan for his son to become king after him was well underway. The Irish were furious, blaming Matholuch for not getting blood vengeance.
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And he, coward that he was, acquiesced to their demands. For three years Branwen endured shame and daily beatings while working in the hot kitchen. She was alone, without a friend in the world, tormented by all around her. She endured it all with pride. But the one thing she could not endure was living with the shame that she had chosen such a weak man as her own. Finally one day she found a wounded baby starling. An idea hatched in her mind and hope was reborn.
She nursed the starling back to health and slowly taught it where to go, who to find, and what to say. Finally the time arrived for the starling to fly. All night Branwen passed her power, her words and her need to the starling. With the dawn she released her friend into the air who flew away toward Wales, the Island of the Mighty.
Branwen, Welsh Goddess of Love and Beauty
It was a long and terrifying journey but the starling reached its destination. It found Bran and spoke the words Branwen had taught it. Horrified at the news, Bran amassed the men of Wales and set out across the water to free Branwen. But once again Evnissyen intervened and catastrophe ensued. War broke out between the two peoples that destroyed them both.
At the end of that day many lay dead but worse was yet to come. The Irish made the fateful decision to use the cauldron of rebirth to obtain demon warriors. Finally Evnissyen, who finally accepted responsibility for what had arisen, sacrificed himself by going into the cauldron alive and breaking it apart from within. Toxic fumes engulfed all and by morning everyone was dead, save those sheltered in the Halls of Tara and the House of Bran. Bran sent word to the Irish that they would leave the island on the morrow to what peace and reconstruction could be had.
Treachery once more reared its ugly head as the remaining Irish warriors ambushed the remaining Welsh, ultimately delivering a death blow to Bran in the form of a poisonous spear. Bran, not wishing to endure a lingering death asked his brother to cut off his head and carry it back to Wales. Branwen then died of a broken heart.
Only seven men returned to the Isle of the Mighty, accompanied by the magical, talking head of Bran.
Branwen, Daughter of Llŷr is a major character in the Second Branch of the Mabinogi, which is On being told, he is furious that his half sister has been given in marriage without his consent, and vents his spleen by mutilating Matholwch's. The cruise of the Branwen: Being a short history of the modern revival of the Olympic Games, together with and account of the adventures of the Olympic fencing.
But as Goddess of Love, love infuses her story from beginning to end. Through love she seeks to unite the two lands. With love, she forgives and continues to seek peace even after her years of suffering in the kitchen. She sought this peace not only for the people but also for the land. And yet she also knows how to set boundaries, having finally shut Matholuch out of her heart forever. And in the end it was She, Great Goddess of Love, not any of the men, who died of a broken heart at the destruction surrounding her.
She made the ultimate sacrifice, dying to the old so that new life could be born again. Branwen is associated with the starling, the raven, the cauldron and the cup. Her colors are white, silver and green. Her planet is Venus.
Call on Branwen when you are challenged and lacking in empathy and She will help you feel love again. Call on Branwen for the courage to persevere during times of danger and fear. Learn from Branwen how to maintain your courage and determination during stressful situations. And finally learn how not to let duty to your relationships override your own Sovereignty. Experience the wisdom of the Celtic Goddesses! Judith Shaw , a graduate of the San Francisco Art Institute, has been interested in myth, culture and mystical studies all her life.
She continues to be inspired by the Divine Feminine in all of Her manifestations. Originally from New Orleans, Judith now makes her home in New Mexico where she paints and teaches part-time. Thank you, Judith, for your wonderful post. It was most timely for me as I had recently, as you said, let duty override my sovereignty. Your retelling of this traditional story was filled with strength and meaning. It held far more for me than so much of the religiosity that has become rampant.
I will look up your website to see more of your artwork. And all the while with my work on Branwen calling me from the background. Her story is a good one to remember often as the world and those in it can overwhelm us with their demands. Judith, what a beautiful tale. And what a beautiful image, as always. Aberffraw, likewise in Anglesey, was the residence of the princes of Gwynedd from the time of Roderick the Great, in , to that of the last Llywelyn, in He is mentioned as such in Triad L, already quoted.
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BELI, surnamed the Great, was king over Britain forty years, and was succeeded in the sovereignty by his sons, Lludd and Caswallawn, better known as Cassivelaunus. In the Armes attributed to Taliesin, Beli is thus addressed, THE beautiful Branwen or Bronwen, the "white-bosomed," as she is more frequently called , is one of the most popular heroines of Welsh romance.
No less celebrated for her woes than for her charms, we find that her eventful story was a favourite theme with the bards and poets of her nation. Numerous instances might be adduced of the allusions to her, which their compositions contain; suffice it to refer to the words of Davydd ab Gwilym, who, in one of his odes addressed to Morvudd, compares her hue to that of Bronwen, the daughter of Llyr. The indignities to which Branwen was subjected in Ireland are referred to in one of the Triads In , a grave containing a funeral urn was discovered on the banks of the river Alaw, in Anglesey, in a spot called Ynys Bronwen.
The appearance of the grave, and its remarkable locality, led to the inference that it might indeed be the "Bedd Petrual," the four-sided place of burial, in which, according to the text, her sorrowing companions deposited the remains of the unfortunate heroine of the Mabinogion. The following account of its discovery was communicated, in , to the Cambro-Briton and printed in that publication, II.
Raven Branwen
Hoare, on the authority of Richard Fenton, Esq. A farmer, living on the banks of the Alaw, a river in the Isle of Anglesea, having occasion for stones, to make some addition to his farm-buildings, and having observed a stone or two peeping through the turf of a circular elevation on a flat not far from the river, was induced to examine it, where, after paring off the turf, he came to a considerable heap of stones, or carnedd , covered with earth, which he.
On removing the lid, he found it contained an urn placed with its mouth downwards, full of ashes and half-calcined fragments of bone.
The blades are telescopic, which allows them to be approximately twice the length of the sheath. Matholuch felt sure his plan for his son to become king after him was well underway. He is also very cautious, warning Ruby and Yang to not let their past near-victories against Roman Torchwick and the White Fang go to their heads. No, death, while sad and solemn, was necessary. For every person she saved, thousands more died. This tribe, whilst sojourning in Asia, were at war with the Syrians, and were enabled to triumph through the aid of magic, as they had the art of resuscitating such of their number as fell in fight by sending demons to animate their corpses, so that the Syrians found to their dismay that those whom they had slain met them in battle the next day as vigorous as ever.
The report of this discovery soon went abroad, and came to the ears of the parson of the parish, and another neighbouring clergyman, both fond of, and conversant in, Welsh antiquities, who were immediately reminded of a passage in one of the early Welsh romances, called the Mabinogion or juvenile tales , the same that is quoted in Dr. A square grave was made for Bronwen, the daughter of Llyr, on the banks of the Alaw, and there she was buried. Happening to be in Anglesea soon after this discovery, I could not resist the temptation of paying a visit to so memorable a spot, though separated from it by a distance of eighteen miles.
I found it, in all local respects, exactly as described to me by the clergyman above mentioned, and as characterised by the cited passage from the romance. The tumulus , raised over the venerable deposit, was of considerable circuit, elegantly rounded, but low, about a dozen paces from the river Alaw. Branwen appears to be the Brungwaine or Brangian of romance, though the character of the Welsh heroine, and the part she sustains, differ widely from those attributed to the confidante of Tristan and Yseult la Belle.
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A Triad, in which several more of these ancient appellations are preserved, asserts that while yet uninhabited the Island was called Clas Merddin, but that after its colonization it bore the name of Vel Ynys, which was again changed in compliment to its conquest by Brut, into Ynys Prydain, or the Island of Brut.
The same Triad states that some authorities attribute the more modern designation to its conquest by Prydain son of Aedd the Great. THE compensation here offered to Matholwch, is strictly in accordance, except as regards the size of the silver rod, with what was required by the Laws of Hywel Dda, where the fine for insult to a king is fixed at a "hundred cows on account of every cantrev in the kingdom, and a silver rod with three knobs at the top, that shall reach from the ground to the king's face, when he sits in his chair and as thick as his ring-finger; and a golden bason, which shall hold fully as much as the king drinks, of the thickness of a husbandman's nail, who shall have followed husbandry for seven years, and a golden cover, as broad as the king's face, equally thick as the bason.
THE powers exercised by this family through the influence of the cauldron, bear a strong resemblance to those possessed by the Tuatha. This tribe, whilst sojourning in Asia, were at war with the Syrians, and were enabled to triumph through the aid of magic, as they had the art of resuscitating such of their number as fell in fight by sending demons to animate their corpses, so that the Syrians found to their dismay that those whom they had slain met them in battle the next day as vigorous as ever. In this difficulty, they had recourse to the advice of their priests, who told them to drive a stake of mountain ash through the bodies of such as they slew, and that, if they had been animated by demons, they would instantly turn into worms.
This counsel was followed, and the Tuatha de Danann were compelled to quit that country. An ancient Irish poem contains a series of Triads respecting this race which remind us of some passages in the Mabinogi of Kilhwch and Olwen. THIS Prince, so well known under his Latinized name of Caractacus, is chiefly remarkable for his captivity in Rome, which, according to Welsh authorities, was shared by his father Bran, his grandfather Llyr Llediaith, and all his near kinsfolk.
There are several Triads relating to this principal event of his life. There is no doubt of his having stood high in the esteem of his nation; and we are told that "the men of Britain, from the prince to the slave, became his followers in their country's need against the progress of the foe and of destruction.