Welsh mythology Welsh mythology (also commonly known as ''Y Chwedlau'', meaning "The Legends") 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 t ...

and

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

, the Pair Dadeni (Cauldron of Rebirth) is a magical

cauldron A cauldron (or caldron) is a large cookware and bakeware, pot (kettle) for cooking or boiling over an open fire, with a lid and frequently with an arc-shaped hanger and/or integral handles or feet. There is a rich history of cauldron lore in r ...

able to

resurrect Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions involving the same person or deity returning to another body. The disappearance of a body is anothe ...

the dead. It plays a key role in

Branwen ferch Llŷr ; "Branwen, daughter of Llŷr" is a legendary tale from medieval Welsh literature and the second of the four branches of the Mabinogi. It concerns the children of Llŷr; Bendigeidfran (literally "Brân the Blessed"), high king of Britain, and h ...

, the second branch of the

Mabinogi The ''Mabinogion'' () is a collection of the earliest Welsh prose stories, compiled in Middle Welsh in the 12th–13th centuries from earlier oral traditions. There are two main source manuscripts, created –1410, as well as a few earlier frag ...

. It is one of a number of magic cauldrons in Welsh legend and folklore, including the cauldron of Diwrnach the Irishman in ''

Culhwch and Olwen ''Culhwch and Olwen'' () is a Welsh tale that survives in only two manuscripts about a hero connected with Arthur and his warriors: a complete version in the Red Book of Hergest, , and a fragmented version in the White Book of Rhydderch, . It ...

'', the cauldron of the Head of Annwn in ''

Preiddeu Annwfn ''Preiddeu Annwfn'' or ''Preiddeu Annwn'' () is a cryptic poem of sixty lines in Middle Welsh, found in the Book of Taliesin. The text recounts an expedition with King Arthur to Annwfn or Annwn, the Celtic Otherworld, Otherworld in Welsh mythol ...

'' and the cauldron of

Cerridwen Ceridwen or Cerridwen ( ''Ke-RID-wen'') was an enchantress in Welsh medieval legend. She was the mother of a hideous son, Morfran, and a beautiful daughter, Creirwy. Her husband was Tegid Foel and they lived near Bala Lake () in north Wales. ...

in the tale of

Taliesin Taliesin ( , ; 6th century AD) was an early Britons (Celtic people), Brittonic poet of Sub-Roman Britain whose work has possibly survived in a Middle Welsh manuscript, the ''Book of Taliesin''. Taliesin was a renowned bard who is believed to ...

. Pair Dadeni was destroyed by

Efnysien Efnisien fab Euroswydd (also spelled Efnissien or Efnysien) is a sadistic anti-hero in Welsh mythology, appearing prominently in the tale of '' Branwen ferch Llŷr'', the second branch of the Mabinogi. Described by Will Parker as "a study in the ps ...

in a battle with the Irish. Seeing that the Irish were using the cauldron to revive their dead, he hid among the Irish corpses and was thrown into the cauldron by the Irish. He destroyed the cauldron from within, sacrificing himself in the process. In ''

The Chronicles of Prydain ''The Chronicles of Prydain'' is a five part series of children's high fantasy coming-of-age novels written by American author Lloyd Alexander and published by Henry Holt and Company. The series includes: ''The Book of Three'' (1964), '' The Bla ...

'' by

Lloyd Alexander Lloyd Chudley Alexander (January 30, 1924 – May 17, 2007) was an American author of more than 40 books, primarily fantasy novels for children's literature, children and young adults. Over his seven-decade career, Alexander wrote 48 books, and ...

, a cauldron similar to the Pair Dadeni exists to create undead warriors. Alexander cites Welsh mythology as a basis for Prydain and the cauldron in particular. A plan to destroy the cauldron forms much of the plot of the second book, '' The Black Cauldron''.

References

{{Reflist Mabinogion Welsh mythology Cauldrons Mythological objects Resurrection