Bran and the Bardic Tradition - Notes
	The Story of Taliesin Taliesin's legend is told in the Mabinogion: Cerridwen, a wise woman, was brewing a cauldron of inspiration and knowledge for her son, and she asked little Gwion to stir the cauldron for her. Gwion accidentally tasted the brew and suddenly became all-knowing, to Cerridwen's annoyance. Gwion tried to escape from Cerridwen by changing his shape, but when he disguised himself as a grain of wheat, Cerridwen changed into a hen and ate him up. Nine months later she bore a baby boy - little Gwion, now reborn as the wondrous Taliesin.	Full text
	Taliesin in the Story of Bran Taliesin is listed amongst Bran's companions in the Romance of Branwen. The Book of Taliesin contains a reference to his presence at the final battle: "I was with Bran in Ireland; I saw when the Pierced Thigh was wounded".
	Taliesin as the son of Bran Robert Graves argues that Taliesin was a spiritual son of Bran, because Taliesin's father's name can be read as meaning ‘alder’, which is Bran's sacred tree. Graves' argument is that Taliesin’s original name, "Gwion, son of Gwreang" can be read as "Fionn, son of Freann". This makes a correspondence between Gwion and Fionn (or Finn), who in Irish myth had a similar enlightenment to Taliesin’s - Fionn was enlightened when he licked his burnt thumb whilst cooking a salmon of wisdom for a druid. The correspondence of Gwion’s father Gwreang is to "…Freann, an established variant of Fearn, the alder. Gwion is thus claiming oracular powers as a spiritual son of the Alder-god Bran…” Robert Graves, The White Goddess, p.75-76	Bran and the alder
	Bran and Ogyrven Robert Graves makes a connection between Bran and ‘the giant Ogyr Vran, who was the father of Arthur’s wife Guinevere, and was credited by the bards with the invention of their art and with the ownership of the Cauldron of Cerridwen from which they said that the Triple Muse had been born’. (The White Goddess, p.75-76). This connection originates with John Rhys, who in his Lectures on Welsh Philology gives a possible derivation of the name Ogyrven as ‘Ocurvran’, evil crow. He quotes a popular rhyme about Guinevere: ‘Gwinevere, giant Ogyrvan’s daughter, naughty young, more naughty after’ Rhys also points out occurrences of the name in Welsh poetry: ‘Ban pan doeth o peir Ogyrwen awen teir’ ‘When up the muses three From Ogyrven’s cauldron came’ The Chair of the Sovereign, Book of Taliesin In two poems in the Black Book of Carmarthen, Ceridwen is called ‘Ogyrven amhad’, Ogyrven’s offspring. Rhys also notes that ogham letters are referred to as ‘ogyrvens’, and quotes a line from the Book of Taliesin: ‘There are in awen (muse, poetry) seven score ogyrvens’ John Rhys, Lectures in Welsh Philology, p.320.
	Bran the inventor of Writing In the (comparatively modern) Barddas, Bran is credited with the invention of writing on parchment: "When were the sciences of the writing of Roll and [parchment] obtained? By Bran, son of Llyr the Blessed, it is said… certain is it that Bran the Blessed first brought them into the Isle of Britain from Rome, where he learned the art, and the mode of manufacturing [parchment] with the skins of lambs and calves and kids." Barddas (Symbol), p.37