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Taliesin
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The tale of Taliesin is included in the Mabinogion translation by Lady Charlotte Guest although it is of later date than the other stories. The story opens with Ceridwen brewing a cauldron of knowledge for her son Afagddu. By mischance, a little boy called Gwion, who is stirring the cauldron, tastes the brew and becomes all-knowing. Ceridwen chases him through a series of shape-changes until eventually she swallows him, and nine months later, gives birth to him as a little baby. She casts the child adrift on the ocean, and he is found caught up on a fishing weir by Elphin, who names him Taliesin and adopts him. When Taliesin is thirteen, Elphin is imprisoned by the king of Gwynedd, and Taliesin goes to the court and through a series of brilliant bardic feats overcomes the king’s bards and frees Elphin. The story is taken from the translation of Lady Charlotte Guest, with the language modernised. The tale is put together from a number of different sources, none perfect, and none earlier in date than the sixteenth century, which indicates the lateness of the tale compared to others in the Mabinogion. It seems, however, that the poems are earlier in date, and that the tale was written in an attempt to knit together a series of earlier poems. There are a number of references to characters and events in the tale in earlier works (such as the Book of Taliesin), which indicates that the text may be a retelling or recreation of an older story. Alfred Nutt believes that the author probably belonged to the school of archaicising mystics who in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries were extremely active in amplifying and creating bardic traditions. |
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