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Welsh Parallels: The Irish Cycles
| Perhaps one of the strongest surviving bardic traditions is that of Wales. Whether Fili (poet), seanchas (storyteller), or cruitre (magickal harper), some representation may be found among the Barddas of Wales. In fact, it is interesting to note that even while bards were waning in respect and "popularity" elsewhere in the Celtic world and in the world of the Angles and Saxons that followed, bards maintained a place of
importance in Wales well into the thirteenth century and beyond. Even
in the modern period, annual Eisteddfods (bardic competitions) are celebrated. As the richness and longevity of the Welsh bardic tradition are important to note so, too, are the parallels between the "mythos" of the seanchai of Wales and the Cycles of Irish tradition. At least three of the Cycles are reflected/paralleled in Welsh legend--the Mythological Cycle (as it relates the tale of the Tuatha De Danaan); the Ulster Cycle (relating the "Sorrows of Deidre"); and the Fenian Cycle (particularly its hero, Fionn Mac Cumhaill). The Tuatha De Danaan and the Plant AnnwnAccording to the Mythological Cycle of the Irish Celts, the Tuatha De Danaan were one of several racial groups who came to live in Ireland at some point in the far distant past. Originally led by Nuadu Airgetlan (of the silver hand/arm), they came to be regarded on the level of gods, possessed of four magickal treasures and capable of great deeds and heroism. With their defeat at the hands of the Milesians, however, they descended into the Underworld, retiring to homes in the hollow hills or rathes. As Christianity rose in power, their power continued to diminish, and so did their size. Until, finally, they became the faeries known as the Daoine Sidhe. Led by Finvarra, King of the Faeries and Lord of the Dead, the Daoine Sidhe maintained their courts beneath the hills of Ireland's rolling green. They were known to be great warriors and chess-players, and enjoyed such pastimes as hurling. They were also known for the diminuitive horses which they bred and enjoyed riding upon their faerie rades, as well as their tiny cattle. Finvarra, their king, as well as being a renowned warrior and chess-player, was also known for his womanizing. There is a tale of a woman known as Ethna the Bride whom he supposedly stole from her husband, that she might live with him in his rathe at Knock-Ma. She was, of course, later recovered by her mortal love. The tales of the Plant Annwn in Wales are not dissimilar. They are also led by a king--Gwynn Ap Nudd, King of the Faeries and Lord of the Dead. As was the case in Ireland, with the rise of Christianity, the Old Gods of Wales were "demoted" to the denizens of Faerie. As with the Daoine Sidhe, the Plant Annwn live in a subterranean world (in this case, beneath the lakes of Wales) and participate in courtly life there. They raise their own hunting hounds and cattle and enjoy rades. Gwynn ap Nudd also has a reputation as a womanizer. The tale of Creiddylad in many ways mirrors that of Ethna. Having eloped with her lover, Gwythyr ap Greidawl (Lord of the Upper World), she was stolen by Gwynn ap Nudd and taken to live in his subterranean kingdom of Annwn. However, rather than being recovered, the two Lords were doomed to fight for her for eternity (hence, the battle of the Holly King and the Oak King, and the changing of the seasons, rather like the tale of Persephone in Greek myth). The Ulster Cycle and the MabinogionThe comparisons between the tales of Irish and Welsh bards do not end with the Mythological Cycle, however. The Ulster Cycle, later retold by such greats as William Butler Yeats (who, it may be said, kept the Irish bardic tradition alive as late as the 19th/20th century), compares in at least one instance not only with the Arthurian traditions of Wales, but with the Mabinogion (the largest extant source of Welsh mythology) itself. The "Sorrows of Deidre", one of the three legendary Sorrows of the Irish tradition, in many ways parallels the story of Branwen in the second book of the Mabinogion. It is foretold at her birth by Cathbad the Druid that "many a blow will be dealt among Ulster's warriors because of her. Heroes will fight over her. High Kings will seek her hand." Because of this prophecy, many sought her untimely demise and she left Ireland with her lover for Alban (Britain). Through the course of her tale, many tragedies befall her and each part of Cathbad's prophecy comes to pass. Finally, she cannot bear it any longer and commits suicide by crushing her own skull against a rock. The story of Branwen incidentally begins with the arrival of a High King of Ireland, Matholwch, who seeks her hand in marriage. Evnissyen, her half-brother, ever seeking to make trouble, proclaims his offense at the marriage and disfigures Matholwch's horses. Bran, Branwen's brother and High King of Wales, makes reparations by replacing the horses and all seems peaceful once more. However, two years later, as Branwen is in Ireland with her husband, a war erupts amongst the Irish over this past transgression and Branwen is taken captive and punished for the misdeeds of Evnissyen. Hearing of his sister's travails through a bird she trained to speak (a little bird told me?), Bran sends seven emissaries to Ireland and recovers her. After a time, Branwen bears a son to Matholwch, but Evnissyen, once more seeking to cause trouble, hurls the boy into a fire, killing him. Yet another battle ensues, and only seven of Bran's party survive (among them, Taliesin). At this point, Bran instructs the seven survivors to cut off his head and bury it on the White Mount in London (future site of the Tower of London), assumedly to bring peace back to the land. Branwen accompanies the seven on their journey, but having withstood all she can, she proclaims "two islands have been destroyed because of me!"; her heart breaks on the spot, and she dies. As was foretold of Deidre, Branwen caused the people of her country (and of Ireland) to go to war; heroes fought for her; and her hand was sought by High Kings. Fionn Mac Cumhaill and Gwion/TaliesinPerhaps the most striking heroic parallel between the cycles of Ireland and the "mythos" of Wales may be drawn between Fionn Mac Cumhaill and the character of Gwion Bach, who becomes Taliesin, the great bard of Wales. Aside from the obvious similarities of their tales, it is interesting to note the importance of the bardic tradition among the Fianna--every warrior was expected to be a poet and teller of tales, as well as a hero. It is told in the Fenian Cycle of how Fionn came to have the knowledge of all things through his adventures in a giant's cave (a subterranean lair). The giant, upon finding the boy there, sets him to tend a roasting salmon which he had just caught, warning Fionn: he'd "best not raise a blister (on the salmon's flesh) else I'll cut the head off you. I have followed this salmon for three days and three nights without stopping, and never let it out of my sight, for it is the most wonderful salmon in the world." But as Fionn tended the salmon, a blister arose on its flesh. He attempted to hide it by covering it with his thumb, but it burned him. In an attempt to soothe his pain, Fionn put his thumb between his teeth and gnawed "the skin to the flesh, flesh to the bone, bone to the marrow." Upon tasting the marrow, he received the knowledge of all things. Knowing the giant would surely kill him, he skinned one of his goats and donned the hide. Masquerading as a goat (an archetypal image of shapeshifting, perhaps?), he escaped through the giant's legs as the other goats left the cavern. The similarities of this to the Welsh legend of Gwion Bach are indeed striking. Like Fionn, Gwion finds himself in a subterranean lair (in this case, the bottom of a lake): the home of Cerridwen, goddess of inspiration and poetry. There is also a giant in this tale, in the form of Cerridwen's husband, Tegid. Cerridwen sets Gwion to tend her cauldron of Greal (made from nine leeches or herbs) which she is brewing for her ugly son, Avagdu, to make him knowledgeable in all things (at least he'll be smart, if not attractive). She issues a warning that Gwion must not taste even a drop of the Greal. After a year and a day, the cauldron has boiled dry save for three drops. An ember flies into the cauldron, and these last three drops burst onto Gwion's thumb which he instinctively places in his mouth, thereby gaining all of the knowledge of the goddess. (Note also here the recurring triad: Fionn gnawed "skin to flesh, flesh to bone, bone to marrow"--a group of three--while Gwion tasted the three drops of Cerridwen's Greal.) Having been warned that to taste her Greal was to taste of his own death, Gwion Bach attempted to flee, shapeshifting into the form of a salmon (totem of knowledge, as in the tale of Fionn), but Cerridwen gives chase. After several changes of form, he finally takes the shape of a piece of grain, which Cerridwen eats. Nine months later, she gives birth to Gwion reborn as Taliesin, who retains the inspiration and knowledge gleaned from the Greal and becomes the greatest of all bards. Consequently, bards in Wales often refer to themselves as Cerddorion--sons of Cerridwen. The themes and elements of these two stories mirror each other on such a deep level that one almost wonders how they could possibly have developed independent of each other. Both begin in a subterranean locale (not unlike the archetype of the cave in the hero's journey, as discussed by Campbell); both relate the coming to knowledge through ingestion of a forbidden food; and both detail some means of shapeshifting as a mode of escape. The end results of both stories also parallel: in the case of Fionn, he went on to stress the bardic tradition among the Fianna; in the case of Gwion Bach, he became the greatest bard in all of Wales, Taliesin, "Radiant Brow." |
Copyright 2000, Taliesin Emrys