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Welsh Deities and Legendary Figures
Aeron’s name is derived from that of the Brythonic goddess Agrona, the root of which is agro meaning “battle, slaughter”. Aeron is in fact the god of battle and slaughter as is his Brythonic counterpart. Son of Don and Beli, brother of Gwydion, Amaethon [Amathaon] is the god of agriculture, his name meaning “ploughman/labourer”. Ysbaddaden wanted Amaethon to till his land, as one of the conditions of Culhwch marrying Olwen, in the tale of Culhwch and Olwen. He caused the Cad Goddeu or Battle of the Trees having stolen a bird, a deer and a hound from Arawn Lord of Annwn. To help fight the battle, his brother Gwydion changed the trees into warriors. Lord of Annwn, Arawn had a chance meeting with Pwyll, chieftain of Dyfed while out hunting. They agreed to change places for a year and a day so that Pwyll might slay Hafgan, Arawn’s enemy. During this time, Pwyll did not sleep with Arawn’s beautiful wife, been though he had been transformed to look like him. For that and the death of Hafgan, Arawn rewarded Pwyll and they became allies. Arawn’s forces were defeated by Gwydion transforming trees into warriors in the battle. Arianrhod [Aranrhod], meaning “silver wheel”, is the goddess of the sky and fertility. She is also known as a goddess of the moon and the name Silver Wheel could be a poetic name for the moon. Daughter of Don and Beli, she was the sister of Amaethon, Gwydion, Govannon, Gilfaethwy and Nudd. Legend has it that to prove she was a virgin, she stepped over the magic wand of Math, her uncle, gave birth to her two sons, Dylan and Lleu. Lleu was raised by Gwydion, who some say was actually his father. Arianrhod placed three geis on him. He would have no name, bear no arms, and have no human wife. The name is likely derived from the Brythonic name Bel, possibly meaning “bright, brilliant”, which formed the root of a solar deity known as Belenus to the Romans. Beli was the husband of Don and the son of Mynogen. He had five sons and two daughters: Amaethon, Gwydion, Govannon, Gilfaethwy, Nudd, Arianrhod and Penarddun. In Irish legend his equivalent is widely thought to be Bile. The name Blodeuedd [Blodeuwedd] means “face of flowers” and she was said to be the lovliest woman. She was created by Math, using his magic wand, as a wife for Lleu [Llew Llaw Gyffes]. She betrayed Lleu with Goronwy [Gronw Pebyr] and having found out the only way to kill him, told her lover. Goronwy ambushed Llew, while he had one foot on a special bath and the other on a goat and threw a spear that he had taken a year to make. Lleu was hit and did not die but turned into an eagle. Blodeuedd was turned into an owl by Gwydion as revenge for Lleu. Bran, meaning “Raven” became known as Bendigeid Vran, “Bran the Blessed” and was the son of Llyr and Penardun. He had a brother, Manawydan and two half-brothers, Nissyen and Evnissyen. His sister was Branwen [Bronwen]. He was a King of Britain, although still alluded to as a god. Said to be taller than the tallest tree, Bran was a giant able to wade through the sea with his head above the surface of the water. Matholwch [Mallolwch] married Bran’s sister Branwen and as a result of an insult from one of Bran’s half brothers, Matholwch sent Branwen to work in his kitchens. This treatment of his sister sparked a war between Bran and Matholwch which ended in the bloody deaths of all the Irish and all but 7 of Bran’s men. Bran himself was killed by a poison spear. Bran asked that Manawydan take his head back to Britain, his body being too large to take back whole. The Celts believed that your soul resided in your head and if you possessed the head of an enemy, he was totally defeated. Bran believed that his head would return to Britain and so the essence of him would go home. The name Branwen means “Beautiful Raven” or “White Raven”. Bran meaning “Raven” is followed by wen, derived from gwen, meaning “fair, white, blessed”. Branwen was the daughter of Llyr and Penardun, the sister of Bran and half-sister to Nissyen and Evnissyen. She was given in marriage to Matholwch of Ireland. Her half-brother Evnissyen was not consulted and at the wedding feast he mutilated her new husband’s horses, a gift to Bran. Bran offered Matholwch horses and a magic cauldron, the Cauldron of Rebirth, as compensation for his half-brother’s act, to avoid war. She gave Matholwch a son, Gwern but the Irish complained that the gifts Bran had given were not enough to redress the insult from Evnissyen. Branwen was enslaved for three years, sent to work in the kitchens, no longer the Irish Queen. Branwen sent a message to her brother with a starling she had taught to recognize him. When Bran learned of his sister’s treatment he raised an army and sailed across the sea to rescue her. Son of Bran, he was left as chief steward in Bran’s absence when he sailed to Ireland to rescue Branwen. Caradawc was overthrown by Caswallon [Casswallawn] when news of Bran’s death reached them. Ceridwen [Caridwen], derived from the Welsh cerdd meaning “poetry” and gwen meaning “white, fair, blessed” is translated as “blessed poetry”. The wife of Tegid Foel, the giant, she had two sons; Morvran and Morfan, and a daughter; Creirwy. Morfan, also known as Afagddu, “utter darkness”, was reputedly the ugliest man in the world. Ceridwen set about making Afagddu a brew from Amen, the Cauldron of Inspiration. When Afagddu drank three drops from this cauldron of knowledge, brewed for a year and a day, he would become wise and respected. During the time it took to make the brew, she had two servants, Morda and Gwion Bach, watch over the brew. Gwion scalded his thumb and sucked the hot drops from his finger, taking the gift that had been meant for Afagddu. Ceridwen was furious and sought to kill Gwion. They transformed themselves into different animals. Gwion became a hare, Ceridwen a greyhound, then he became a salmon, she an otter; he was a bird, while Ceridwen became a hawk. Gwion at last became a grain of seed. Ceridwen transformed into a hen, ate him and then became pregnant. Ceridwen gave birth to Taliesin, the greatest of Welsh bards, the reincarnation of Gwion Bach. Her heart was softened by his beauty and instead of killing him she put him into a leather bag and cast him into the sea. It was Elphin that later found him and named him Taliesin. Ceridwen’s other son was said to have fought at the battle of Camlann, and been so ugly himself that none would approach him. Creirwy however, was the most beautiful women in the world. Culhwch [Kilhwch] means “hiding place of the pig” and he was named this by his mother who gave birth to him in a pigsty. He was cursed by his father’s new wife, that he could only marry Olwen who was the daughter of the giant, Yspaddaden. When Culhwch went to ask Yspaddaden for Olwen, he was told to return the next day for an answer but as Culhwch and the men with him went to leave, Yspaddaden threw a poisoned spear at them. Bedwyr caught it and threw it back, wounding him in the knee. The next day Yspaddaden threw a spear at them once again, but this time Menw the son of Gwaedd caught it, and flung it back at him. On the third day Yspaddaden threw a spear at them once again, this time Culhwch caught it and there it back, piercing his eye. Yspaddaden then gave Culhwch a series of difficult tasks to perform before he could marry Olwen, each of which he accomplished with the aid of Arthur and his men. They showed Yspaddaden everything he had asked for and when he agreed to give Olwen to Culhwch, Goreu, the son of Custennin cut off his head. The Welsh equivalent to the Irish Dana, Don was the mother-goddess. She was the daughter of Mathonwy, sister of Math and the wife of Beli. She had quite a few children including Amaethon, Arianrhod, Govannon, Gwydion, Gilvaethwy, and Nudd. The name Dylan comes from dy “great” and llanw “sea”. He was the son of Arianrhod and the brother of Lleu. He may have been the son of Arianrhod’s brother Gwydion, but was supposed to have been conceived when Arianrhod stepped over the wand of Math to prove she was a virgin. Shortly after his birth, Dylan went to the sea where he could swim better than a fish. He was known as a god of the sea. He was killed by his uncle Govannon the smith and on his death all the waves of Britain and Ireland lamented. Evnissyen [Efnisien] was the son of Penardun and Eurosswydd who held Llyr captive until Penardun slept with him. She had twin boys, Nissyen and Evnissyen. When his half-sister Branwen was given to Matholwch, he took it as an insult that he was not consulted and mutilated the horses Bran had given to the Irish king. Bran gave Matholwch the Cauldron of Rebirth to prevent a war. Branwen was eventually made to work as a servant because of this insult, which led to war when Bran received news of it. When Bran and his men arrived in Ireland, a trap was set for him by Matholwch. Two hundred men hid in leather bags inside a huge tent built to house Bran, who was a giant. His men were told these bags contained flour but Evnissyen killed the warriors who were later brought back to life by the Cauldron of Rebirth. Evnissyen was killed near the cauldron and found among the dead Irish was thrown into it. Stretching out, he broke the cauldron into four pieces, breaking his heart along with it. Gwern was the son of Matholwch and Branwen. When Bran came to Ireland over an insult to his sister, Matholwch suggested that his son Gwern take his place as king. Evnissyen, Branwen’s half-brother refused to accept this proposal and threw the little boy onto a fire. Govannon was the smith god, the Welsh equivalent of the Irish god Goibhniu whose name comes from the word gobha meaning “smith”. The son of Beli and Don, Govannon was the brother of Amaethon, Arianrhod, Gilvaethwy, Gwydion and Nudd. He was also the uncle of Lleu and Dylan. He killed Dylan with a spear. Yspaddaden required that Culhwch get Govannon to sharpen Amaethon’s plough as one of the tasks set to gain Olwen in marriage. Gwydion was the brother of Amaethon, Arianrhod, Gilvaethwy, Govannon and Nudd; and the son of Bali and Don. He adopted his nephews Lleu and Dylan. While serving his uncle Math, king of Gwynedd, as chief advisor he stole Pryderi of Dyfed’s pigs to get Math to go to war. While Math was out of the way, Gilvaethwy slept with Goewin, Math’s footholder. When Math returned and discovered what had happened, he turned the two into animals for 3 years. For the first year Gwydion was a stag and Gilvaethwy a hind. The second year, Gwydion was a sow and Gilvaethwy a boar. In the last year the brothers were both wolves. Gwydion turned warriors into trees to fight against Arawn in the Cad Goddeu and helped Lleu overcome the curses put on him by Arianrhod. See Ceridwen and Taliesin Gwynn meaning “white, fair, blessed” was a king of Annwn. He was the son of Nudd and the brother of Edern. His rival Gwythyr fab Greidawl was married or betrothed to Creiddylad the daughter of Lludd Llaw Ereint, whom Gwynn was in love with. He abducted Creiddylad and the two men fought over her. Arthur forced a truce between them. Each year on the first of May they would fight a duel, while Creiddylad stayed in her father’s house. This would continue until the end of days, when the victor would win the maiden. |
