|
Cerridwen
& Gwion Bach Long ago in the northern part of the country we now know as Wales, there lived a woman of great power. Magical power! Cerridwen or Blessed One was her name. She lived in a magic castle at the bottom of Llyn Tegid, or as we say in English, Bala Lake, with her husband, Tegid Foel, the bald, and her two children. Her first child was a beautiful daughter and she was called Creirwy. Cerridwen's second child was a son called Morfran. Now Morfran was so ugly that it hurt to look at him. He was also known by the name of Afagddu, which means Utter Darkness. He was so ugly that in battle, no one would strike him because they though he was the Devil and the incarnation of evil. Cerridwen knew in her heart that something must be done for Morfran. As ugly as he was, he would never find a wife, let alone have any friends. But what could she do? She thought long and hard on the matter. She finally decided that since she couldn't do anything about his being ugly, for no matter what shape she turned him into, he was still very ugly, she would give to him the gift of all knowledge and poetry. Now making the spell that would give him all knowledge would take a long time. Many plants and tree barks and secret ingredients such as herbal extracts, had to be gathered, many of them at special times during the year. Then when she had all the ingredients, it would have to be cooked in a special potion. Cooking up this potion would take a whole year! And it had to be cooked in a special way. It had to be constantly stirred at just the right speed and the fire had to be kept at just the right temperature and water had to be continually added to keep the brew working. This was more work than she wanted to do, so she hired an old man and a boy from one of the villages on the shore of the lake. She gave them a potion that allowed them to live under the water in the castle, but they would not be allowed to leave tending the fire and potion for a whole year! She had them gather enough wood to last for the year, and then had them start the fire as she recited a spell. She placed her special cauldron, called Amen, on the fire and began to add the ingredients for the brew. A little of this plant, and a little of that tree bark, then a dap of special mud, then all the rest of the ingredients. As each was added, she continued her spell, singing it as she worked. Making it stronger until at last, all the ingredients were in and the rest of the work was up to Gwion Back and the old man. Slowly they stirred the brew, taking turns stirring and adding the wood, slowly so that it didn't burn. Twice each day, at first and last light, Cerridwen would visit the fire and make sure the spell was progressing. Slowly the wheel of the year turned until it was the last day of the year. Then on this day disaster struck! It was Gwion Back that was stirring the brew on this day. We can never know what it was that happened, whether too much wood was added, or if he stirred a little to fast, but all at once, three drops of the brew splashed out of the cauldron and landed on the thumb of Gwion. The potion was very hot and Gwion, without thinking, plunged his finger into his mouth! The spell meant for Morfran worked on Gwion instead. In the castle, Cerridwen felt the power of the spell work and knew that all her hard work had been in vain. All the power of knowledge, inspiration and poetry that came from the Cauldron of Inspiration belonged to Gwion, not Morfran! She was furious and darted down the steps to the fire. Gwion saw with his newfound knowledge exactly what was and what would happen when Cerridwen caught him. Using his newfound power, he changed his shape into that of a perch and jumped into the lake. Cerridwen saw him change and changed her shape to that of a pike to pursue him. She chased him to the edge of the lake, and then he jumped onto the land and changed into the shape of a hare. When Cerridwen reached the shore, she changed into a greyhound and continued the pursuit. She was much larger and faster than Gwion and soon she was almost upon him. He spotted a stream just ahead. Quick as a flash, he turned himself into a salmon and jumped into the water and darted away. Cerridwen changed herself into an otter and jumped into the stream after the salmon. The chase was fast and furious, under logs and over rocks, through ripples and into deep pools, but Cerridwen came ever closer. Gwion leaped into the air and changed into the shape of a small bird and flew up into the sky. Cerridwen changed into the form of a hawk and continued the chase. She got above Gwion and was just about to dive and catch him when he spotted some grains of wheat hidden among the chaff in a farmyard. Gwion changed his form into a grain of wheat and fell among the chaff. Cerridwen settled to the ground and though about how she could find him. She turned herself into a hen and started picking up the grains of wheat and eating them. One of those grains of wheat she ate was Gwion. But as often happens in these tales, eating Gwion didn't end the story. She found herself pregnant and vowed that she would kill the child as soon as it was born. The nine months went by quickly and when the baby was born, she took one look and knew that she could not kill such a beautiful child. But she had vowed to kill him! So she placed him in a cradle and set him adrift on the river. It so happens that the day on which she set the babe adrift was the First of May, Calan Mai or Beltain as we call it here. On this day, the fishing weirs opened on the rivers in Wales. The son of the king, Elffin was fishing at his father's weir this morning. He pulls nothing out all morning except the baby boy. As he opens the blanket, he exclaims "Dyma dâl iesin!" what a beautiful forehead. The child, even though he's only three days old, replies "Taliesin bid!" let it be Taliesin. And
so Elffin fosters Taliesin until he is grown. And the story of his life
then is another tale. Updated - 12/2001 |