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Manawyddan
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 to Ma ... [...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] |
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] |
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] |
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] |
Y Gododdin
''Y Gododdin'' () is a medieval Welsh poem consisting of a series of elegies to the men of the Brittonic kingdom of Gododdin and its allies who, according to the conventional interpretation, died fighting the Angles of Deira and Bernicia at a place named '' Catraeth'' in about AD 600. It is traditionally ascribed to the bard Aneirin and survives only in one manuscript, the '' Book of Aneirin''. The ''Book of Aneirin'' manuscript is from the later 13th century, but ''Y Gododdin'' has been dated to between the 7th and the early 11th centuries. The text is partly written in Middle Welsh orthography and partly in Old Welsh. The early date would place its oral composition soon after the battle, presumably in the ''Hen Ogledd'' ("Old North"); as such it would have originated in the Cumbric dialect of Common Brittonic.Elliott (2005), p. 583. Others consider it the work of a poet from Wales in the 9th, 10th, or 11th century. Even a 9th-century date would make it one of the oldest ... [...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] |
Twrch Trwyth
Twrch Trwyth (; also Trwyd, Troynt (MSS.''HK''); Troit (MSS.''C1 D G Q''); or Terit (MSS. ''C2 L'')) is an enchanted wild boar in the ''Matter of Britain'' great story cycle that King Arthur or his men pursued with the aid of Arthur's dog Cavall ( cy, Cafall, la, Cabal). The names of the hound and boar are glimpsed in a piece of geographical onomasticon composed in Latin in the ninth century, the ''Historia Brittonum''. However, a richly elaborate account of the great hunt appears in the Welsh prose romance ''Culhwch and Olwen'', probably written around 1100. A passing reference to Twrch Trwyth also occurs in the elegy ''Gwarchan Cynfelyn'' preserved in the Book of Aneirin. The name in Welsh can be construed to mean "the boar Trwyth", and may have its analogue in the boar Triath of Irish mythology (see #Etymology and Irish cognate below). ''Historia Brittonum'' The earliest reference to the boar Trwyth occurs in the tract ''De Mirabilibus Britanniae'' (or ''Mirabilia'' in ... [...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] |
Garwlwyd
Gwrgi Garwlwyd ("Man-Dog Rough-Grey") is a warrior character in Welsh Arthurian legend. He appears in the poem ''Pa gur'' and in the Welsh Triads as a fierce warrior, and may have been seen as a werewolf. Accounts In ''Pa Gur'', King Arthur and his men fight against an army of ''cinbin'', or dogheads, at the mountains of Eidyn (modern Edinburgh). In the next passage, Arthur's men fight Garwlwyd ("Rough-Grey") in the Battle of Tryfrwyd, possibly a second fight against the monsters. Arthur's warrior Bedwyr (later known as Bedivere) spars with Garwlwyd, evidently their champion. Welsh Triads 10W and 32 feature Gwrgi Garwlwyd ("Man-Dog" "Rough-Grey"), who can be identified with the character from ''Pa gur''. He is described as a menace who killed one Briton every day, and two on Saturday to avoid killing on Sunday. His death at the hands of Diffeidell mab Dissynyndawd, a bard and chieftain of Deira and Bernicia, is regarded as one of the "Three Fortunate Slayings". Scholar Rachel Brom ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cynocephaly
The characteristic of cynocephaly, or cynocephalus (), having the head of a canid, typically that of a dog or jackal, is a widely attested mythical phenomenon existing in many different forms and contexts. The literal meaning of "cynocephaly" is "dog-headed"; however, that this refers to a human body with a dog head is implied. Such cynocephalics are known in mythology and legend from many parts of the world, including ancient Egypt, India, Greece, and China. Further mentions come from the medieval East and Europe. In modern popular culture cynocephalics are also encountered as characters in books, comics, and graphic novels. Cynocephaly is generally distinguished from lycanthropy (werewolfism) and dogs that can talk. In addition, the Greeks and Romans called a species of apes cynocephalus (these apes are suspected to be baboons). Etymology The word ''cynocephaly'' is taken (through Latin) from the Greek word κυνοκέφαλοι ''kynokephaloi'', plural of the word κυ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
King Arthur
King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a legendary king of Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In the earliest traditions, Arthur appears as a leader of the post-Roman Britons in battles against Saxon invaders of Britain in the late 5th and early 6th centuries. He appears in two early medieval historical sources, the '' Annales Cambriae'' and the '' Historia Brittonum'', but these date to 300 years after he is supposed to have lived, and most historians who study the period do not consider him a historical figure.Tom Shippey, "So Much Smoke", ''review'' of , ''London Review of Books'', 40:24:23 (20 December 2018) His name also occurs in early Welsh poetic sources such as '' Y Gododdin''. The character developed through Welsh mythology, appearing either as a great warrior defending Britain from human and supernatural enemies or as a magical figure of folklore, sometimes assoc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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