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Branwen Daughter of Llyr
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Bendigeid Vran, the son of Llyr, was the crowned king of this island, and he was exalted from the crown of London. One afternoon he was at Harlech in Ardudwy, at his Court, and he sat upon the rock of Harlech, looking over the sea. With him were his brother Manawyddan the son of Llyr, and his two brothers by his mother's side, Nissyen and Evnissyen, and many other nobles, as was fitting to see around a king. His two brothers by his mother's side were the sons of Eurosswydd, by his mother, Penardun, the daughter of Beli son of Manogan. Of the two youths, Nissyen was of a good and gentle nature, a peacemaker between his kindred, but Evnissyen would cause strife between his two brothers when they were most at peace. A Suitor for Branwen As they sat on the rock, they saw thirteen ships coming from the south of Ireland, making towards them swiftly, the wind being behind them. "I see ships afar," said the king, "coming swiftly towards the land. Command the men of the court to equip themselves and go and learn their intent." So the men went to meet the ships, and when they saw them approach they were certain that they had never seen ships better furnished, with beautiful satin flags on them. One of the ships outstripped the others, and they saw a shield lifted above the side of the ship, with its point upwards in token of peace. They put out boats and came towards the land, and the men of the court went down to meet them. The king was standing on a rock above their landing place, and the visitors saluted him. He called down to them from the rock, "Heaven prosper you, and welcome. To whom do these ships belong, and who is the chief amongst you?" "Lord," said they, "Matholwch, king of Ireland, is here, and these ships belong to him." "Why does he come?" asked the king, "and will he come to the land?" "He comes to you as a suitor, lord," said they, "and he will not land unless you grant him his wish." "And what may that be?" inquired the king. "He desires to ally himself with you, lord," said they, "and he comes to ask for Branwen the daughter of Llyr, so that, if you agree, the Island of the Mighty may be leagued with Ireland, and both become more powerful." "Let him come to land," the king answered, "and we will discuss the matter." And this answer was brought to Matholwch, who willingly agreed to land. He was received joyfully, and great was the throng in the palace that night, what with his people and those of the Court. The next day the king took counsel, and they resolved to bestow Branwen on Matholwch. She was one of the three chief ladies of this island, and the fairest damsel in the world. |
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They fixed upon Aberffraw as the place where she should become his bride, and so they proceeded there, Matholwch and his people in their ships, Bendigeid Vran and his people by land, until they came to Aberffraw. And then they began the feast and sat down, the King of the Island of the Mighty and Manawyddan the son of Llyr on one side, and Matholwch on the other side, with Branwen the daughter of Llyr beside him. They sat under tents, and not within a house, because no house could ever contain Bendigeid Vran. They banqueted and caroused and talked, and when it became more pleasing to sleep than to carouse, they went to rest, and that night Branwen became Matholwch's bride. The next day they arose, and all the officers of the court began to equip and arrange the horses and attendants, and they ranged them in order as far as the sea. |
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Insult and Atonement One day, Evnissyen, the quarrelsome man mentioned above, came by chance upon the horses of Matholwch, and asked whose horses they might be. "They are the horses of Matholwch, king of Ireland, who is married to your sister Branwen." "They have given such a maiden, my sister no less, in marriage without my consent? They could have offered no greater insult to me than this!" said he. He rushed under the horses and cut off their lips at the teeth, and their ears close to their heads, and their tails close to their backs, and wherever he could clutch their eyelids, he cut them to the bone, and he disfigured the horses and rendered them useless. Matholwch's men reported to him that the horses had been disfigured and injured so that not one of them could ever be of any use again. "Lord," said one, "it was an insult to you, and it was meant as such." "But why," said Matholwch, "if they desired to insult me so, have they given me a such a high ranking and well-loved maiden as a bride?" "Lord," said another, "you see that it is so, and there is nothing for you to do but to go to your ships." And so towards the ships he set out. Tidings came to Bendigeid Vran that Matholwch was quitting the court without asking leave, and two messengers, Iddic the son of Anarawd and Heveydd Hir, were sent to ask why he did so. They overtook him and asked what he intended to do, and why he was leaving. "Truly," he said, "if I had known I would not have come here. I have been altogether insulted; no one has been treated worse than I have been here, but one thing surprises me above all." "What is that?" they asked. "That Branwen the daughter of Llyr, one of the three chief ladies of this island, and the daughter of the King of the Island of the Mighty, should have been given to me as my bride, and that after that I should have been insulted; and I marvel that the insult was not done to me before they had bestowed on me so exalted a maiden." "Believe us, lord," they replied, "it was not the will of any of the Court, nor any of the council that you should have received this insult; and as you have been insulted, the dishonour is greater to Bendigeid Vran than to you." "Indeed," said he, "I think so too. Nevertheless he cannot recall the insult." The messengers returned and told Bendigeid Vran what Matholwch had said. "Listen," he said, "we must find a way to prevent his going away at enmity with us." "Well, lord," they replied, "send after him another embassy." "I will do so. Arise, Manawyddan son of Llyr, and Heveydd Hir, and Unic Glew Ysgwyd, and go after him. Tell him that he shall have a sound horse for each one that has been injured. And besides that, as an atonement for the insult, he shall have a staff of silver, as large and as tall as himself, and a plate of gold as wide as his face. And show to him who it was that did this, and that it was against my will; but that he who did it is my brother, by the mother's side, and therefore it would be hard for me to put him to death. Ask him to come and meet me," he said, "and we will make peace in any way that he may desire." The embassy went after Matholwch, and told him all these sayings in a friendly manner, and he listened to them. "Men," he said, "I will take counsel." So to the council he went. And in the council they considered that they would be shamed if they were to refuse so great an atonement, and so they decided to accept it, and they returned to the Court in peace. The pavilions and the tents were arranged in the fashion of a hall, and they went to meat, seated again as they had sat at the beginning of the wedding feast. Matholwch and Bendigeid Vran began to talk, but it seemed to Bendigeid Vran, while they talked, that Matholwch was not as cheerful as he had been before. And he thought that the chieftain might be sad, because of the smallness of the atonement which he had, for the wrong that had been done him. "Oh, man," said Bendigeid Vran, "you do not talk tonight as cheerfully as you used to. If it is because of the smallness of the atonement, you shall add to it whatever you may choose, and tomorrow I will pay you the horses." "Lord," said he, "Heaven reward you." "And I will enhance the atonement," said Bendigeid Vran, "for I will give you a cauldron, with the property that if one of your men is killed today, and be placed in the cauldron, then tomorrow he will be as well as he was at his best, except that he will not regain his speech." Matholwch gave him great thanks and was very joyful. In the morning they paid Matholwch the horses as long as the trained horses lasted. And then they journeyed to another manor, where they paid him with colts until the whole had been paid, and from then on, the manor was called Talebolion. |
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The Tale of the Cauldron That night they again sat together, and Matholwch asked Bendigeid Vran how the cauldron had come into his possession. "I got it from a man who had been in your land", said he, "and I would only give it to one from there." "Who was that?" asked Matholwch. "Llassar Llaesgyvnewid; he came here from Ireland with Kymideu Kymeinvoll, his wife, who escaped from the Iron House in Ireland, when it was made red hot around them, and fled to our land. I am surprised that you know nothing of this yourself." "I do know something of it," said he, "and as much as I know I will tell you. One day I was hunting in Ireland, and I came to the mound at the head of that lake which is called the Lake of the Cauldron. And I saw a huge yellow-haired man coming from the lake with a cauldron upon his back. He was a man of vast size, and of horrible appearance, and a woman followed after him. And if the man was tall, the woman was twice as tall, and they came towards me and greeted me. 'Why are you journeying?' I asked. 'I will tell you, ' he said to me, 'We journey because in six weeks this woman will have a son, and the child will be born a warrior fully armed.' So I took them with me and maintained them for a year. And that year I had them with me not grudgingly. But there were murmurings, because from the fourth month they had begun to make themselves hated and to be disorderly in the land; committing outrages, and molesting and harassing the nobles and the ladies; and then my people rose up and begged me to part with them, and they made me choose between them and my dominions. So I applied to the council of my country to decide what should be done, for they would not go of their own free will, neither could they be compelled against their will by fighting. And so the people caused a chamber to be made all of iron. When the chamber was ready, every smith in Ireland came, and everyone who owned tongs or hammer, and they caused coals to be piled up as high as the top of the chamber. They had the man, and the woman, and their children served with plenty of meat and drink, and when they had all become drunk, the people set fire to the coals around the chamber, and they blew it with bellows until the house was red hot all around the family. Then there was a council held in the centre of the chamber floor. And the man waited until the plates of iron were all of a white heat; and then, by reason of the great heat, the man dashed against the plates with his shoulder and struck them out, and his wife followed him; but except him and his wife none escaped the iron house. And then I suppose, lord," said Matholwch to Bendigeid Vran, "that he came over to you." "Doubtless he came here," said he, "and gave the cauldron to me." "In what manner did you receive them?" "I dispersed them through every part of my dominions, and they have become numerous and are prospering everywhere, and they fortify the places where they are with men and arms, of the best that were ever seen." |
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Branwen in Ireland That night they continued to talk as much as they would, and had minstrelsy and carousing, and when it was more pleasant to them to sleep than to sit longer, they went to rest. And thus was the banquet carried on with joyousness; and when it was finished, Matholwch journeyed towards Ireland, and Branwen with him, and they went from Aber Menai with thirteen ships, and came to Ireland. In Ireland there was great joy because of their coming. Branwen gave honourable gifts to every great man and noble lady who visited her, either a clasp, or a ring, or a royal jewel. And in this way she spent the year in much renown, and she passed her time pleasantly enjoying honour and friendship. In the meantime it chanced that she became pregnant, and in due time a son was born to her, and the name that they gave him was Gwern, the son of Matholwch, and they put the boy out to be foster-nursed, in a place where were the best men of Ireland. But in the second year, a tumult arose in Ireland, on account of the insult which Matholwch had received in Cambria, and the payment made him for his horses. His foster brothers, and those that were nearest to him, blamed him openly for that matter. He might have no peace from the tumult until they should revenge on him this disgrace. And the vengeance they took was to drive away Branwen from the same chamber with him, and to make her cook for the Court; and they caused the butcher after he had cut up the meat to come to her and give her every day a blow on the ear, and such they made her punishment. "Lord," said his men to Matholwch, "forbid the ships and the ferry boats and the coracles from going to Cambria, and imprison those that come here from Cambria so that they will not go back and tell this thing there." And he did so; and it was thus for no less than three years. Branwen reared a starling in the cover of the kneading trough, and she taught it to speak, and she taught the bird what manner of man her brother was. And she wrote a letter of her woes, and the spite with which she was treated, and she tied the letter to the root of the bird's wing, and sent it towards Britain. And the bird came to visit this island, and one day it found Bendigeid Vran at Caer Seiont in Arvon, conferring there, and it alighted upon his shoulder and ruffled its feathers, so that the letter was seen, and they knew that the bird had been reared in a domestic manner. |
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Bran comes to Ireland Then Bendigeid Vran took the letter and looked upon it. And when he had read the letter he grieved exceedingly at the news of Branwen's woes. Immediately he began sending messengers to summon the island together. He caused sevenscore and four countries to come to him, and he complained to them himself of the grief that his sister endured. So they took counsel. And in the council they resolved to go to Ireland, and to leave seven men as princes here, and Caradawc the son of Bran, as the chief of them, and their seven knights. In Edeyrnion were these men left. And for this reason were the seven knights placed in the town. Now the names of these seven were, Caradawc the son of Bran, and Heveydd Hir, and Unic Glew Ysgwyd, and Iddic the son of Anarawc Gwalltgrwn, and Fodor the son of Ervyll, and Gwlch Minascwrn, and Llassar the son of Llaesar Llaesgygwyd, and Pendaran Dyved as a young page with them. And these abode as seven ministers to take charge of this island; and Caradawc the son of Bran was the chief amongst them. Bendigeid Vran, with the host of which we spoke, sailed towards Ireland, and it was not far across the sea, and he came to shoal water. It was but by two rivers; the Lli and the Archan they were called; and the nations covered the seas. Then he proceeded with what provisions he had on his own back, and approached the shore of Ireland. Now the swineherds of Matholwch were upon the seashore, and they came to Matholwch. "Lord," said they, "greetings to you." "Heaven protect you," said he, "have you any news?" "Lord," said they, "we have marvellous news, a wood we have seen upon the sea, in a place where we never yet saw a single tree." "This is indeed a marvel," said he, "did you see anything else?" "We saw lord," said they, "a vast mountain beside the wood, which moved, and there was a lofty ridge on the top of the mountain, and a lake on each side of the ridge. And the wood, and the mountain, and all these things moved." "Truly," said he, "there is none who can know anything concerning this, unless it be Branwen." Messengers then went to Branwen. "Lady," said they, "what do you think this is?" "The men of the Island of the Mighty, who have come here on hearing of my ill treatment and my woes." "What is the forest that is seen upon the sea?" they asked. "The yards and the masts of ships," she answered. "Alas," said they, "what is the mountain that is seen by the side of the ships?" "Bendigeid Vran, my brother," she replied, "coming to shoal water; there is no ship that can contain him in it." "What is the lofty ridge with the lake on either side?" "On looking towards this island he is angry, and his two eyes, one on each side of his nose, are the two lakes beside the ridge." The warriors and the chief men of Ireland were brought together in haste, and they took counsel. "Lord," said the nobles to Matholwch, "there is no other counsel than to retreat over the river Linon, and to keep the river between you and him, and to break down the bridge across the river, for there is a lodestone at the bottom of the river that neither ship nor vessel can pass over." So they retreated across the river, and broke down the bridge. Bendigeid Vran came to land, and the fleet with him by the bank of the river. "Lord," said the chieftains, "are you aware of the nature of this river, that nothing can go across it, and there is no bridge over it?" "What," said they, "is your counsel concerning a bridge?" |
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"There is none," said he, "except that he who will be a chief, let him be a bridge. I will be so," said he. And then was that saying first uttered, and it is still used as a proverb. And when he had lain down across the river, hurdles were placed upon him, and the host passed over them." And as he rose up, the messengers of Matholwch came to him, and saluted him, and gave him greeting in the name of Matholwch, his kinsman, and showed how that of his goodwill he had merited of him nothing but good. "For Matholwch has given the kingdom of Ireland to Gwern the son of Matholwch, your nephew and your sister's son. And this he places before you, as a compensation for the wrong and spite that has been done to Branwen. And Matholwch shall be maintained wherever you want, either here or in the Island of the Mighty." Said Bendigeid Vran, "Shall not I myself have the kingdom? Then perhaps I shall take counsel concerning your message. From this time until then no other answer will you get from me." "Truly," said they, "the best message that we receive for you, we will convey it to you, and we ask you to await our message to him." "I will wait," answered he, "but return quickly." |
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A House for Bran The messengers set forth and came to Matholwch. "Lord," said they, "prepare a better message for Bendigeid Vran. He would not listen at all to the message we brought him." "My friends," said Matholwch, "what is your counsel?" "Lord," said they, "there is no other counsel than this alone. He was never known to be within a house, so make a house that will contain him and the men of the Island of the Mighty on the one side, and yourself and your people on the other, and give over your kingdom to his will, and do him homage. So by reason of the honour you do him in making him a house, since he never before had a house to contain him, he will make peace with you." So the messengers went back to Bendigeid Vran, bearing him this message. And he took counsel, and in the council it was resolved that he should accept this, and this was all done by the advice of Branwen, and lest the country should be destroyed. And this peace was made, and the house was built both vast and strong. But the Irish planned a crafty device, and the craft was that they should put brackets on each side of the hundred pillars that were in the house, and should place a leather bag on each bracket, and an armed man in every one of them. Then Evnissyen came in before the people of the Island of the Mighty, and scanned the house with fierce and savage looks, and saw the leather bags which were around the pillars. "What is in this bag?" he asked one of the Irish. "Meal, good soul," said he. And Evnissyen felt about it until he came to the man's head, and he squeezed the head until he felt his fingers meet together in the brain through the bone. And he left that one and put his hand upon another, and asked what was within. "Meal," said the Irishman. So he did the same to every one of them, until he had not left alive, of all the two hundred men, save only one; and when he came to him, he asked what was there. "Meal, good soul," said the Irishman. And he felt about until he felt the head, and he squeezed that head as he had done the others. And, although be found that the head of this one was armed, he didn't leave him until he had killed him. And he sang an Englyn:- "There is in this bag a different sort of meal, |
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The Tragedy And then the people came to the house. The men of the Island of Ireland entered the house on the one side, and the men of the Island of the Mighty on the other. And as soon as they had sat down there was concord between them; and the sovereignty was conferred upon the boy. When the peace was concluded, Bendigeid Vran called the boy to him, and from Bendigeid Vran the boy went to Manawyddan, and he was beloved by all that beheld him. And from Manawyddan the boy was called by Nissyen the son of Eurosswydd, and the boy went to him lovingly. "Why," said Evnissyen, "does my nephew the son of my sister not come to me? Even if he were not king of Ireland, I would willingly fondle the boy." "Cheerfully let him go to you," said Bendigeid Vran, and the boy went to him cheerfully. "By my confession to Heaven," said Evnissyen in his heart, "unthought of by the household is the slaughter that I will this instant commit." Then he arose and took up the boy by the feet, and before any one in the house could seize hold of him, he thrust the boy headlong into the blazing fire. And when Branwen saw her son burning in the fire, she strove to leap into the fire also, from the place where she sat between her two brothers. But Bendigeid Vran grasped her with one hand, and his shield with the other. Then they all hurried about the house, and never was there made so great a tumult by any host in one house as was made by them, as each man armed himself. Then said Morddwydtyllyon, "The gadflies of Morddwydtyllyon's Cow!" And while they all sought their arms, Bendigeid Vran supported Branwen between his shield and his shoulder. Then the Irish kindled a fire under the cauldron of renovation, and they cast the dead bodies into the cauldron until it was full, and the next day they came forth fighting-men as good as before, except that they were not able to speak. Then when Evnissyen saw the dead bodies of the men of the Island of the Mighty nowhere resuscitated, he said in his heart, "Alas! Woe is me, that I should have been the cause of bringing the men of the Island of the Mighty into so great a strait. Evil betide me if I find not a deliverance therefrom." And he cast himself among the dead bodies of the Irish, and two unshod Irishmen came to him, and, taking him to be one of the Irish, flung him into the cauldron. And he stretched himself out in the cauldron, so that he rent the cauldron into four pieces, and burst his own heart also. |
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In consequence of that the men of the Island of the Mighty obtained such success as they had; but they were not victorious, for only seven men of them all escaped, and Bendigeid Vran himself was wounded in the foot with a poisoned dart. Now the seven men that escaped were Pryderi, Manawyddan, Gluneu Eil Taran, Taliesin, Ynawc, Grudyen the son of Muryel, and Heilyn the son of Gwynn Hen. |
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The Company of the Head And Bendigeid Vran commanded them that they should cut off his head. "And take you my head," said he, "and bear it even unto the White Mount, in London, and bury it there, with the face towards France. And a long time you will be upon the road. In Harlech you will be feasting seven years, the birds of Rhiannon singing unto you the while. And all that time the head will be to you as pleasant company as it ever was when on my body. And at Gwales in Penvro you will be fourscore years, and you may remain there, and the head with you uncorrupted, until you open the door that looks towards Aber Henvelen, and towards Cornwall. And after you have opened that door, there you may no longer tarry, set forth then to London to bury the head, and go straight forward." So they cut off his head, and these seven went forward therewith. And Branwen was the eighth with them, and they came to land at Aber Alaw, in Talebolyon, and they sat down to rest. And Branwen looked towards Ireland and towards the Island of the Mighty, to see if she could descry them. "Alas," said she, "woe is me that I was ever born; two islands have been destroyed because of me!" Then she uttered a loud groan, and there broke her heart. And they made her a four-sided grave, and buried her upon the banks of the Alaw. Then the seven men journeyed forward towards Harlech, bearing the head with them; and as they went behold there met them a multitude of men and women. "Have you any tidings?" asked Manawyddan. "We have none," said they, "save that Caswallawn the son of Beli has conquered the Island of the Mighty, and is crowned king in London." "What has become," said they, "of Caradawc the son of Bran, and the seven men who were left with him in this island?" "Caswallawn came upon them, and slew six of the men, and Caradawc's heart broke for grief thereof; for he could see the sword that slew the men, but knew not who it was that wielded it. Caswallawn had flung upon him the Veil of Illusion, so that no one could see him slay the men, but the sword only could they see. And it liked him not to slay Caradawc, because he was his nephew, the son of his cousin. And now he was the third whose heart had broke through grief. Pendaran Dyved, who had remained as a young page with these men, escaped into the wood," said they. Then they went on to Harlech, and there stopped to rest, and they provided meat and liquor, and sat down to eat and to drink. And there came three birds, and began singing unto them a certain song, and all the songs they had ever heard were unpleasant compared thereto; and the birds seemed to them to be at a great distance from them over the sea, yet they appeared as distinct as if they were close by, and at this repast they continued seven years. |
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And at the close of the seventh year they went forth to Gwales in Penvro. And there they found a fair and regal spot overlooking the ocean; and a spacious hall was therein. And they went into the hall, and two of its doors were open, but the third door was closed, that which looked towards Cornwall. "See, yonder," said Manawyddan, "is the door that we may not open." And that night they regaled themselves and were joyful. And of all they had seen of food laid before them, and of all they had heard of, they remembered nothing; neither of that, nor of any sorrow whatsoever. And there they remained fourscore years, unconscious of having ever spent a time more joyous and mirthful. And they were not more weary that when first they came, neither did they, any of them, know the time they had been there. And it was not more irksome to them having the head with them, than if Bendigeid Vran had been with them himself. And because of these fourscore years, it was called the entertaining of the noble head. The entertaining of Branwen and Matholwch was in the time that they went to Ireland. |
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One day said Heilyn the son of Gwynn, "Evil betide me, if I do not open the door to know if that is true which is said concerning it." So he opened the door and looked towards Cornwall and Aber Henvelen. And when they had looked, they were as conscious of all the evils they had ever sustained, and of all the friends and companions they had lost, and of all the misery that had befallen them, as if all had happened in that very spot; and especially of the fate of their lord. And because of their perturbation they could not rest, but journeyed forth with the head towards London. And they buried the head in the White Mount, and when it was buried, this was the third goodly concealment; and it was the third ill-fated disclosure when it was disinterred, inasmuch as no invasion from across the sea came to this island while the head was in that concealment. AND THUS IS THE STORY RELATED OF THOSE WHO JOURNEYED OVER FROM IRELAND. In Ireland none were left alive, except five pregnant women in a cave in the Irish wilderness; and to these five women in the same night were born five sons, whom they nursed until they became grown-up youths. And they thought about wives, and they at the same time desired to possess them, and each took a wife of the mothers of their companions, and they governed the country and peopled it. And these five divided it amongst them, and because of this partition are the five divisions of Ireland still so termed. And they examined the land where the battles had taken place, and they found gold and silver until they became wealthy. AND THUS ENDS THIS PORTION OF THE MABINOGI, CONCERNING THE BLOW GIVEN TO BRANWEN, WHICH WAS THE THIRD UNHAPPY BLOW OF THIS ISLAND; AND CONCERNING THE ENTERTAINMENT OF BRAN, WHEN THE HOSTS OF SEVENSCORE COUNTRIES AND TEN WENT OVER TO IRELAND TO REVENGE THE BLOW GIVEN TO BRANWEN; AND CONCERNING THE SEVEN YEAR'S BANQUET IN HARLECH, AND THE SINGING OF THE BIRDS OF RHIANNON, AND THE SOJOURNING OF THE HEAD FOR THE SPACE OF FOURSCORE YEARS. |
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