#math ap mathonwy

[thingsfromthedirt]

The Owl Service (1969): the title sequence to Granada's beautiful adaptation of Alan Garner's 1967 novel

[gawrkin]

Notable Sorcerers of British Mythology (other than Merlin)

King Bladdud, from Historia Regum Britanniae. Father of King Leir and Grandfather of Gonoril, Regan and Cordelia. The earliest known necromancer in Britain.

[...]

Celidoine, King of Scotland and North Wales, son of Nasciens and ancestor of Sir Lancelot and Galahad. Buried in Camelot.

From the Red Book of Hergest Welsh Triads: Math ap Mathonwy, King of Gwynedd, brother of Don, and uncle of his protege, Gwydion, the magician-trickster hero of the Mabinogi. Amongst other things, punished his wayward nephews for raping Goewin by shapeshifting them, tested Arianrhod's virginity with his wand (which she failed), and is co-creator of Blodeuwedd, the flower-bride of Lleu Llaw Gyffes. Uther Pendragon, King Arthur's father, who mentored Menw, one of Arthur's own enchanter-knights. Infamous for using shapeshifting to seduce Igraine, siring Arthur. This triad implies Uther himself was a practicioner of the magical arts and has his own apprentice, with the assistance of Merlin in Historia being Geoffrey of Monmouth's spin. Gwythelyn the Dwarf. Unknown, but his nephew-protege, Coll ap Collfrewy, is one of the mighty swineherds of Britain and the owner of the magical sow, Henwen.

From Iolo Morgannwg's own dubious triads (so take them with a grain of salt): Idris Gawr of Merionydd, of Cadair Idris fame. A huge giant learned in poetry, astronomy and philosophy, who's throne/chair is a mountain said to be able to grant poetic skill or madness. Gwydion fab Don, the trickster figure of the Mabinogi and student of his uncle Math. The Milky Way Galaxy is said to be his fortress. Gwyn ap Nudd, Lord of the Wild Hunt and King of the Fairies of Glastonbury. King Arthur's cousin and huntsman. Doomed by Arthur to fight Gwythyr ap Greidawl for the hand of Creiddylad until the End of the World.

*(Not included are Klingsor and Gansguoter of the German Arthurian Tradition)

It is very notable that many of these Sorcerers are Kings, lordly rulers in their own right.

[gingersnaptaff]

Aye give us some Goewin headcannons, please!

GOEWIN MY BELOVED!!!!!!!!!!!!! Love her, she can do no wrong in my eyes. Putting everything under the cut because once again I cannot shut the fuck up.

So, first off I headcanon she's in the same vein as Enid in that she came from an impoverished family but (unfortunately) Math adopted her when he was circuiting his lands. Even more unfortunately is that she was probably about 12 at the time (which is when under Welsh law a girl became a woman.) Now, I don't think she became his footholder straight away - because to me the tynged that caused Math's affliction didn't start until probably Dôn (his sister considering her kids are his nephews and niece) oneshotted him over a dispute (because i Do Not think the family of Dôn are great although Beli Mawr probs tempers his wife's temoer but Gwydion and Gilfaethwy had to get the slitheriness from somewhere - didn't come until Goewin was about 21.

Saying that, being in the position of footholder would not be glamorous. You're a glorified footstool in effect and I think that probably did a number of Goewin's mental health. That was then compounded by what went on with her, Gwydion, and Gilfaethwy and then also further compounded by her having to MARRY HER ABUSERS UNCLE. which I know was to preserve her honour but I definitely don't see it as being anything but hell for her. Math's invites his nephews back to court and (although Gilfaethwy probs dies somehow) he actively aids Gwydion in his making Blodeuwedd.

HOWEVER, ACTUALLY. I think its entirely possible Goewin sabotaged Blodeuwedd's... conception (ew) by spitting in the mixture or BY STREWING IN WEEDS. Like, okay, its not much of a stretch to presume she knew how Gwydion was even before he and his brother SA'ed her. She would've known their comings and goings at court, particularly because obvs they're Math's nephews. She probably knew they were bad news from the get-go. Idk when exactly Aranrhod conceived Dylan and Lleu- although the text suggests it wasn't that long after Gwydion returned to court but time isn't exactly linear in The Mab - but Goewin probs knew that Math's had adopted Dylan and Gwydion adopted Lleu. It's not stated that Gwydion didn't raise him at his uncle's court. It's entirely possible that Goewin saw how attached her nephew-by-marriage was to the baby and formulated a plan to get back at him.

For the record, this does make it sound like she's an evil mastermind. I don't think that at all. I just think she, like Aranrhod does later, would react with bitterness and if she saw an opportunity to enact revenge then she would do so.

As for her and Math's relationship? I think its entirely possible for him to at once feel distressed for the fact his nephews hurt her and also the fact that they harmed what would essentially be his property. Obvs branch 4 is the most entangled legally with law but - I suspect - Gwydion and Gilfaethwy monetarily compensated their uncle too as well as the whole animal transformed stuff. I think Math would give her the money - and don't forget Goewin's status has been raised to that of queen. She has her own privy purse and a considerable amount of soft power - and, because he never has an heir becaus the throne of Gwynedd goes to Lleu, they slept apart. For all his faults (and he has many) I don't think Math would've pressured her.

Also, a quick rundown of her hobbies: she loves hunting. That's the way she lets off steam and I really do think its an outlet for her. I think she also makes up stories, not to boast the way Gwydion does but because she loves the craft. Furthermore, she loves singing and she also birdwatches!! (And yes that had come up a few times but I genuinely lovebirdwatching.) I think she also has an interest in science so she does all sorts of experiments, maybe even gets Math to teach her some magic!!! Plus, I think she's really good at horseriding and I think she really venerated Rhiannon when she was a kid. She used to pray for Rhiannon's aid whenever the going got tough.

She goes to live in Caer Aranrhod after Math dies and Gwydion and Lleu take over Gwynedd. She, Aranrhod, and Blodeuwedd have a load of fun actually. (I know this is a super popular hc in Mab circles - thank u to the fic writers on AO3 - but it is honestly so lovely. I think they would bond after everything.

Her favourite food is oatcakes and cheese. Simple but homely. I think it reminds her of when she was a kid.

When Goewin became queen her dad and mam sent her younger siblings - her brother, Anarawd, and her sister, Tangwystwyl - to live with her for a time. Anarawd was fostered into a noble family in the cantref of Rhos, Tangwystyl became her sister's chief confidante before she left to become a devotee of Cerridwen's.

[gingersnaptaff]

Gofannon, when I get my hands on you, so help me.

GOFANNON, WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON U-

[gawrkin]

I wonder if Bladdud, the necromancer king from Historia Regum Britanniae, was derived from/inspired by Bleiddwn from the Mabinogion, given Math and Gwydion's involvement and the association with magic (druidism).

[finnbennach]

The Táin: Before the Táin

Trans. Thomas Kinsella

Since the table of contents divides this prologue chunk more or less into tales about Conchobor and tales about Cúchulainn, I'll follow suit. ("How the Táin Bó Cuailnge Was Found Again" was covered in a previous post.)

CONCHOBOR

The three tales given here concern the conception of Conchobor, how he got to be king of Ulster, and his cruel treatment of Derdriu (Deirdre). The middle tale is about Macha's curse of the Ulstermen, and though it doesn't explicitly state who the king is who decides to make the pregnant Macha race his horses, the fact that this tale is sandwiched in the "Conchobor" section of the prologue imply that Conchobor was the king in question.

Conchobor is clearly an important figure, likely beyond the Táin. He is the child of a druid and Queen Nes (in this version), and raised by the druid, Cathbad; though there is no supernatural element to his conception (as there is with Cúchulainn's), he is conceived at an auspicious hour, and thanks to his mother's cunning takes the kingship of Ulster at the age of seven.

His best qualities are given in the first tale, the highest being that "[t]here was no wiser being in the world" (Kinsella 4). On the same page, the narrative states that when it was time for Fergus to retake his kingship from Conchobor (as part of Nes's plot), the men of Ulster were angry at Fergus and conversely "grateful to Conchobor for all he had given them," indicating he was a generous as well as a wise king.

My reading of the second and third tales, then, is that they are included as foils for this first one. Where the first tale paints Conchobor as wise and good, the others complicate him: he sometimes makes bad decisions (as in the decision that lead to Macha cursing all of Ulster) and he can be cruel (as in his treatment of Derdriu, beyond imprisoning her for life, but especially in taunting her as she is being driven to Eogan, which prompts her to kill herself [Kinsella 20]).

CÚCHULAINN

Cúchulainn's relevant background is also given in three tales concerning how he was begotten, his courtship of Emer and his training in arms, and his killing of his own son, Connla.

Cúchulainn is a warrior-hero, and I suppose these three tales are meant to give a glimpse of what kind of warrior and hero he is. He is thrice-born, but his supernatural-ness is heralded even before his birth with the desolation of the plains of Ulster by a flock of supernatural birds. I was looking for this to somehow reflect badly back on Conchobor, since the health of the land and the legitimate rulership of the king were interconnected in Celtic cultures. Maybe, though, this immediately-established tension between Cúchulainn and Conchobor returns later in the Táin.

On pg. 25, it is shown how Cúchulainn is to be reared under the influence of many people: "he will be formed by all---chariot-fighter, prince and sage." I think we are to get a picture of him as what we would now call a well-rounded man, and not a mere brute. His complexity, too, is further hinted at in the story of his courtship of Emer, when he embarks on the journey to his training in arms and he and Emer swear to stay pure until they are reunited (Kinsella 29)--but of course he has a son with Aife while he is gone. He seems to be quick to anger when, on pg. 39, he has to go out and find all the herds of Sliab Fuait and bring them back to Conchobor, which exercises his anger. Then, of course, there is in "The Death of Aife's One Son" Cúchulainn killing Connla because he promised himself to the honor of Ulster.

As this is not meant to be a scholarly reading of anything, but a reader's reading, I am looking now for some of these complexities and faults of Cúchulainn's to come back and bite him in the ass, as they say.

THE QUARREL OF THE TWO PIG-KEEPERS, AND HOW THE BULLS WERE BEGOTTEN

The most I have to say about this tale, beyond that I freaking love it, is that all the shape-shifting calls to mind two tales from the Welsh tradition. One is in the tale of Math ap Mathonwy, who punishes brothers Gwydion and Gilfaethwy for their elaborate and organized rape of Math's maiden, Goewin, by having them take the shape of various wild animals and mate with each other, one pair of animals each year for three years. But the resemblance is, I think, only passing, or at least that's all I can make of it, for in the Math tale, this line of the story ends with the end of the punishment and immediately other matters take precedence.

The other tale is the one of Gwion Bach and Ceridwen, in which Gwion Bach receives the three drops that spring out of Ceridwen's cauldron, filling him with wisdom. Enraged, she chases him, and they take the form of various prey and predator animals, until finally Gwion Bach assumes the form of a grain and Ceridwen of a black hen and swallows him, then carries him for nine months and delivers him, thus bringing the poet Taliesin into the world.

It's obviously the shape-shifting aspects of the two stories that interest me, and the struggle and resistance in each. The pig-keepers fight each other in each shape until they become the maggots that are drunk up with the spring water by cows, one belonging to Dáire mac Fiachna and the other to Medb and Ailill, which resulted in the two bulls, the Dub of Cuailnge and Finnbennach.

Not to suggest that these two tales are directly related--only that there may be a theme or template in use here, or perhaps just a feature common to Celtic storytelling that was employed both in Ireland and in Wales, involving two characters changing shape multiple times and struggling against each other, and ending up with the gestation and birth of one or more important figures.

Which makes me wonder if the shape-shifting bit in the Math tale initially ended elsewhere, but with that result lost to the Christian re-writers.

[oceanlover4evr]

Ok, but do they ever say why Math's gotta have his feet in the lap of a virgin at all times? Doesn't seem to make much sense.