1.
Welsh mythology
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Welsh mythology consists of both folk traditions developed in Wales, and traditions developed by the Celtic Britons elsewhere before the end of the first millennium. Like most predominately oral societies found in the prehistoric Britain, Welsh mythology and this oral record has been lost or altered as result of outside contact and invasion over the years. The only character to appear in every branch is Pryderi fab Pwyll, the king of Dyfed, who is born in the first Branch, is killed in the fourth, and is probably a reflex of the Celtic god Maponos. The only other recurring characters are Pryderis mother Rhiannon, associated with the peaceful British prince Manawydan and he manages to win her hand at the expense of Gwawl, to whom she is betrothed, and she bears him a son, but the child disappears soon after his birth. Rhiannon is accused of killing him and forced to carry guests on her back as punishment. The child has been taken by a monster, and is rescued by Teyrnon and his wife and they return him to his real parents, Rhiannon is released from her punishment, and the boy is renamed Pryderi. In the second branch, Branwen, sister of Brân the Blessed, king of Britain, is given in marriage to Matholwch, Matholwch and Branwen have a son, Gwern, but Matholwch proceeds to mistreat Branwen, beating her and making her a drudge. Branwen trains a starling to take a message to Bran, who goes to war against Matholwch and his army crosses the Irish Sea in ships, but Brân is so huge he wades across. The Irish offer to make peace, and build a big enough to entertain Bran, but inside they hang a hundred bags, telling Efnysien they contain flour. Efnysien kills the warriors by squeezing the bags, later, at the feast, Efnysien throws Gwern on the fire and fighting breaks out. Seeing that the Irish are using the cauldron to revive their dead, Efnysien hides among the corpses and destroys the cauldron, only seven men, all Britons, survive the battle, including Pryderi, Manawyddan and Bran, who is mortally wounded by a poisoned spear. Brân asks his companions to cut off his head and take it back to Britain, Branwen dies of grief on returning home. Five pregnant women survive to repopulate Ireland, Pryderi and Manawydan return to Dyfed, where Pryderi marries Cigfa and Manawydan marries Rhiannon. However, a mist descends on the land, leaving it empty, eventually they return to Dyfed and become hunters again. While hunting, a white boar leads them to a mysterious castle, Pryderi, against Manawydans advice, goes inside, but does not return. Rhiannon goes to investigate and finds him clinging to a bowl, the same fate befalls her, and the castle disappears. Manawydan and Cigfa return to England as shoemakers, but once again the locals drive them out and they sow three fields of wheat, but the first field is destroyed before it can be harvested. The next night the field is destroyed
2.
Cardigan, Ceredigion
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Cardigan is a town in the county of Ceredigion in Wales. It lies on a reach of the River Teifi at the point where Ceredigion meets Pembrokeshire. It was the county town of the county of Cardiganshire and is the second largest town in present-day Ceredigion. The settlement at Cardigan was developed around the Norman castle built in the late 11th or early 12th century, the castle was the location of the first National Eisteddfod in 1176, it underwent restoration in 2014. The town became an important port in the 18th century, the population in 2001 was 4,203, reducing slightly to 4,184 at the 2011 Census. Modern Cardigan is a compact and busy town with most facilities for retail, education, health, worship, Cardigan is an anglicisation of the Welsh Ceredigion, the surrounding territory its Norman castle once controlled. Ceredig was supposedly one of the sons of Cunedda Wledig, who Welsh legend records invaded from the north to recover lands in Roman Britain from invading Irishmen in late antiquity. The nearest known Roman forts were at Loventium and Bremia at the mines near Llanio above the River Teifi on the Sarn Helen road. The present town grew up near the forts established to control the access of the Teifi. A castle was built by Roger de Montgomery in 1093 after a Norman army conquered Ceredigion, the town itself held out until 1164. Rhys ap Gruffydd fortified the town and was credited with the establishment of the castle near the bridge over the Teifi, in 1176, he instituted the first eisteddfod. Contestants came from all over the British Isles to compete for chairs in music, lord Rhys grandson Maelgwn razed the castle and sacked the town. In 1199 the town received its first charter and became an important trade centre, in 1227 a weekly market was established which continues to this day. Welsh rule over Cardigan continued, for periods under royal lordship. The town wall was built in the 1240s and the castle was rebuilt, St Marys Church was established as a Benedictine Priory and parish church in mediaeval times and survived the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The castle ceased being the centre of the county with the Act of Union in 1536. Until the 16th century, Cardigan had been a small, walled town with river traffic. A small Benedictine priory operated until the Reformation and the important abbey of St Dogmaels was also nearby
3.
Kingdom of Gwynedd
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The Principality or Kingdom of Gwynedd was one of several successor states to the Roman Empire that emerged in sub-Roman Britain in the 5th century during the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain. Based in northwest Wales, the rulers of Gwynedd repeatedly rose to preeminence and were acclaimed as King of the Britons before losing their power in civil wars or invasions and that realm lasted until the conquest of Wales by Edward I in 1283. The sons of their leader, Cunedda, were said to have possessed the land between the rivers Dee and Teifi, the modern preserved county of Gwynedd and principal area of Gwynedd are both somewhat smaller. The 5th-century Cantiorix Inscription now in Penmachno church seems to be the earliest record of the name and it is in memory of a man named Cantiorix and the Latin inscription is Cantiorix hic iacit/Venedotis cives fuit/consobrinos Magli magistrati, Cantiorix lies here. He was a citizen of Gwynedd and a cousin of Maglos the magistrate, the use of terms such as citizen and magistrate maybe cited as evidence that Romano-British culture and institutions continued in Gwynedd long after the legions had withdrawn. As early as the 2nd century, there may have been an Irish presence in the region as Ptolemy marks the Llŷn Peninsula as the Promontory of the Gangani which is also a name he recorded in Ireland, the region became known as Venedotia in Latin. The name was attributed to a specific Irish colony on Anglesey. According to traditional pedigrees, Cuneddas grandfather was Padarn Beisrudd, Paternus of the red cloak, nennius recounts how Cunedda brought order to North Wales and after his death Gwynedd was divided among his sons, Dynod was awarded Dunoding, another son Ceredig received Ceredigion, and so forth. According to Professor John Davies, here is a determinedly Brythonic, nevertheless, there was generally quick abandonment of Roman political, social, and ecclesiastical practices and institutions within Gwynedd and elsewhere in Wales. These early petty kings or princelings adopted the title rhi in Welsh, later replaced by brenin, genealogical lists compiled around 960 bear out that a number of these early rulers claimed degrees of association with the old Roman order, but do not appear in the official royal lineages. It may be assumed that the stronger kings annexed the territories of their weaker neighbors, other evidence supports Nenniuss claim that a leader came to north Wales and brought the region a measure of stability, although an Irish Gaelic element remained until the mid-5th century. During that peace he established a mighty kingdom, after Cadwallon, Gwynedd appears to have held a pre-eminent position amongst the petty Cambrian states in the post-Roman period. The great-grandson of Cunedda, Maelgwn Hir Maelgwn the Tall, was one of the most famous leaders in Welsh history, there are several legends about his life concerning miracles performed either by him or in his presence. Maelgwn was curiously described as the dragon of the island by Gildas which was possibly a title, Maelgwn eventually died in 547 from the plague leaving a succession crisis in his wake. His son in law, Elidyr Mwynfawr of the Kingdom of Strathclyde, claimed the throne and invaded Gwynedd to displace Maelgwns son, Elidyr was killed in the attempt but his death was then avenged by his relatives who ravaged the coast of Arfon. Rhun counter-attacked and exacted the same penalty on the lands of his foes in what is now central Scotland, Rhun returned to Gwynedd and the rest of his reign was far less eventful. He was succeeded by his son, Beli ap Rhun in c, on the accession of Belis son Iago ap Beli in c. 599, the situation in Britain had deteriorated significantly, most of the area today called northern England and been overrun by the invading Angles of Deira and Bernicia who were in the process of forming the Kingdom of Northumbria
4.
Hell
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Hell, in many mythological, folklore and religious traditions, is a place of torment and punishment in an afterlife. Religions with a divine history often depict hells as eternal destinations while Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations. Typically these traditions locate hell in another dimension or under the Earths surface, other afterlife destinations include Heaven, Purgatory, Paradise, and Limbo. Hell is sometimes portrayed as populated with demons who torment those dwelling there, many are ruled by a death god such as Nergal, Hades, Hel, Enma or Satan. Subsequently, the word was used to transfer a pagan concept to Christian theology, Some have theorized that English word hell is derived from Old Norse hel. However, this is unlikely as hel appears in Old English before the Viking invasions. Furthermore, the word has cognates in all the other Germanic languages and has a Proto-Germanic origin, Hell appears in several mythologies and religions. It is commonly inhabited by demons and the souls of dead people, a fable about hell which recurs in folklore across several cultures is the allegory of the long spoons. Hell is often depicted in art and literature, perhaps most famously in Dantes Divine Comedy, punishment in Hell typically corresponds to sins committed during life. In many religious cultures, including Christianity and Islam, Hell is often depicted as fiery, painful and harsh, despite these common depictions of Hell as a place of fire, some other traditions portray Hell as cold. Buddhist - and particularly Tibetan Buddhist - descriptions of hell feature a number of hot. Among Christian descriptions Dantes Inferno portrays the innermost circle of Hell as a lake of blood. At death a person faced judgment by a tribunal of forty-two divine judges, if they had led a life in conformance with the precepts of the Goddess Maat, who represented truth and right living, the person was welcomed into the Two Fields. If found guilty the person was thrown to a devourer and would be condemned to the lake of fire, the person taken by the devourer is subject first to terrifying punishment and then annihilated. These depictions of punishment may have influenced medieval perceptions of the inferno in hell via early Christian, purification for those considered justified appears in the descriptions of Flame Island, where humans experience the triumph over evil and rebirth. For the damned complete destruction into a state of non-being awaits but there is no suggestion of eternal torture, the weighing of the heart in Egyptian mythology can lead to annihilation. The Tale of Khaemwese describes the torment of a man, who lacked charity. Divine pardon at judgement always remained a concern for the Ancient Egyptians
5.
Robert Graves
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Robert von Ranke Graves was an English poet, novelist, critic and classicist. He produced more than 140 works, Irish literature deeply affected Graves White Goddess theories, specifically the genre aisling. He earned his living from writing, particularly historical novels such as I, Claudius, King Jesus, The Golden Fleece. He also was a prominent translator of Classical Latin and Ancient Greek texts, his versions of The Twelve Caesars and The Golden Ass remain popular, for their clarity, Graves was awarded the 1934 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for both I, Claudius and Claudius the God. Graves was born into a family in Wimbledon, then part of Surrey. Gravess mother was from a recently ennobled German family, the eldest daughter of Heinrich von Ranke, a professor of medicine at the University of Munich and she was also a greatniece of the German historian Leopold von Ranke. At school, Graves was enrolled as Robert von Ranke Graves and in Germany his books are published under that name but before and during the First World War, the name caused him difficulties. In August 1916 an officer who disliked him spread the rumour that he was a spy, the problem resurfaced in a minor way in the Second World War, when a suspicious rural policeman blocked his appointment to the Special Constabulary. Gravess eldest half-brother, Philip Perceval Graves, achieved note as a journalist and his brother, Charles Patrick Graves, was a writer. Among the masters his chief influence was George Mallory, who introduced him to contemporary literature, in his final year at Charterhouse, he won a classical exhibition to St Johns College, Oxford but did not take his place there until after the war. At the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, Graves enlisted almost immediately and he published his first volume of poems, Over the Brazier, in 1916. He developed a reputation as a war poet and was one of the first to write realistic poems about experience of frontline conflict. In later years, he omitted his war poems from his collections, at the Battle of the Somme, he was so badly wounded by a shell-fragment through the lung that he was expected to die and was officially reported as having died of wounds. He gradually recovered and, apart from a spell back in France. One of Gravess friends at this time was the poet Siegfried Sassoon, in 1917, Sassoon rebelled against the conduct of the war by making a public antiwar statement. Graves feared Sassoon could face a court martial and intervened with the authorities, persuading them that Sassoon was suffering from shell shock. As a result, Sassoon was sent to Craiglockhart, a hospital in Edinburgh. Graves also suffered shell shock, or neurasthenia as it was then called, but he was never hospitalised for it, I thought of going back to France
6.
Roe deer
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The European roe deer, also known as the western roe deer, chevreuil, or simply roe deer, is an Eurasian species of deer. The male of the species is referred to as a roebuck. The roe deer is small, reddish and grey-brown. The species is widespread in Europe, from the Mediterranean to Scandinavia and it is distinct from the somewhat larger Siberian roe deer. Scottish roe deer were introduced to the Lissadell Estate in Co, sligo in Ireland around 1870 by Sir Henry Gore-Booth, Bt. The Lissadell deer were noted for their occasional abnormal antlers and survived in that area for about 50 years before they died out. In England and Wales, roe have experienced an expansion in their range in the latter half of the 20th century. This increase in population also appears to be affecting woodland ecosystems, at the start of the 20th century, they were almost extinct in Southern England, but since then have hugely expanded their range for no apparent reason and possibly in some cases with human help. In 1884, roe were introduced from Württemberg in Germany into the Thetford Chase area, and these spread to populate most of Norfolk, Suffolk, and substantial parts of Cambridgeshire. At the same time, the population in Scotland and the Lake District had pushed further south beyond Yorkshire and Lancashire and into Derbyshire. Not being a species that needs large areas of woodland to survive, urban roe are now a feature of cities, notably Glasgow and Bristol. In Wales, they are common, but have been seen as far south west as Cardigan and as far north west as Bangor. German colonial administrators introduced roe deer to the island of Pohnpei in Micronesia and they are hunted by locals in very steep and heavily vegetated terrain. The meat is sold in markets and restaurants in Kolonia, the capital city of Pohnpei. Roe deer were introduced also to Australia, the roe deer is distinct from the somewhat larger Siberian roe deer found from the Ural Mountains to as far east as China and Siberia. It is known there are roe deer that live in the Red Forest near Chernobyl. The roe deer is a small deer, with a body length of 95–135 cm, a shoulder height of 65–75 cm. It has rather short, erect antlers and a body with a grey face
