1.
Efnysien
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Efnysien fab Euroswydd is a sadistic anti-hero in Welsh mythology, appearing prominently in the tale of Branwen ferch Llŷr, the second branch of the Mabinogi. He is the son of Euroswydd and Penarddun, twin brother to Nisien, the Welsh Triads call Llŷr one of the Three Exalted Prisoners of Britain for his captivity at Euroswydds hands, this is likely to a lost tradition of the birth of Penardduns younger sons. Matholwch is deeply offended until Bran offers him compensation in the form of a cauldron that can restore the dead to life. Pleased with the gift, Matholwch and Branwen sail back to Ireland to reign, the Irish offer to make peace and build a house big enough to entertain Bendigeidfrân but hang a hundred bags inside, supposedly containing flour but actually containing armed warriors. Efnisien, suspecting treachery, reconnoitres the hall and kills the warriors by crushing their skulls, later, at the feast, Efnysien, again feeling insulted, murders Gwern by burning him alive, and, as a result, a vicious battle breaks out. Seeing that the Irish are using the cauldron to revive their dead and he destroys the cauldron from within, sacrificing himself in the process. Only seven men survive the conflict, among them Manawydan, Taliesin and Pryderi, prince of the Kingdom of Dyfed, the survivors are told by a mortally wounded Bran to cut off his head and to return it to Britain. For seven years the seven survivors stay in Harlech, where they are entertained by Bendigeidfrans head and they later move on to Gwales where they live for eighty years without perceiving the passing of time. Eventually, Heilyn fab Gwyn opens the door of the hall facing Cornwall, as instructed they take the now silent head to the Gwynfryn, the White Hill, where they bury it facing France so as to ward off invasion. Referring to Efnysiens atrocities throughout the tale, Will Parker writes, The rage here is calculated and his actions are deliberately staged to inflict the most profound damage to the weak points of the social fabric around him - in this case relations with the men of Ireland. Jeffrey Gantz describes him as, he controlling force of Branwen. a story all by himself, progressively insecure and envious, cruel and sadistic, clever and resourceful, repentant and self-sacrificing. The character has been compared to other figures, such as the Irish hero Bricriu Nemthenga. Efnisien appeared prominently in the 2003 film Otherworld, in which he was voiced by Welsh actor Alun Raglan, in 2006, Welsh singer-songwriter Elin Fflur released an EP entitled Ysbryd Efnisien. Evnyssien is the title of a song by Italian band Ataraxia
2.
Dyfed
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Dyfed is a preserved county of Wales. It was created on 1 April 1974, as an amalgamation of the three pre-existing counties of Cardiganshire, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire and it was abolished twenty-two years later, on 1 April 1996, when the three original counties were reinstated, Cardiganshire being renamed Ceredigion the following day. The name Dyfed is retained for ceremonial and other purposes. It is a rural county in southwestern Wales with a coastline on the Irish Sea. Dyfed is a county of Wales. The choice of the name Dyfed was based on the name given to the region once settled by the Irish Déisi. Modern Dyfed was formed from the counties of Cardiganshire, Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire and was divided into the following local government districts. The county town and administrative headquarters of Dyfed was Carmarthen whilst the largest settlement was Llanelli, other significant centres of population included Haverfordwest, Milford Haven and Aberystwyth. The Independents gained a majority and retained this at subsequent elections, at the 1977 election, Plaid Cymru gained some ground although not to the extent that was seen in parts of the South Wales valleys in that year. The name Dyfed was retained for such purely ceremonial purposes as the Lord Lieutenancy, Dyfed has a long coast on the Irish Sea to the west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It is bounded by the counties of Gwynedd to the north. Cardiganshire, the northernmost part of Dyfed, has a coastal strip. Further south in Cardiganshire the land is mountainous, and the River Teifi forms the border with Carmarthenshire for part of its length. Carmarthenshire, the part of Dyfed, is mostly hilly, except for the river valleys. Fforest Fawr and Black Mountain extend into the east of Carmarthenshire, the highest point in Carmarthenshire is Fan Brycheiniog,2,631 feet, on the border with Powys. The River Towy is the largest river and drains into the Bristol Channel, as do the River Loughor, the River Gwendraeth, Carmarthenshire has a long coastline which is deeply cut by the estuaries of the Loughor, Gwendraeth, Tywi and Taf. The south coast has many fishing villages and sandy beaches and the part around Llanelli. Pembrokeshire, the part of Dyfed, juts out into the Irish Sea and has a long, much indented
3.
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
4.
Branwen
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Branwen is also the name of a character in some versions of Tristan and Iseult. Branwen, Daughter of Llŷr is a character in the Second Branch of the Mabinogi. Branwen is a daughter of Llŷr and Penarddun and she is married to the King of Ireland, but the marriage does not bring peace. The story opens with Branwens brother, Brân the Blessed, giant and King of Britain, sitting on a rock by the sea at Harlech and seeing the vessels of Matholwch, king of Ireland, Matholwch has come to ask for the hand of Branwen in marriage. Brân agrees to this, and a feast is held to celebrate the betrothal, while the feast is going on, Efnysien, a half-brother of Branwen and Brân, arrives and asks why there are celebrations. On being told, he is furious that his sister has been given in marriage without his consent. Matholwch is deeply offended, but conciliated by Brân, who gives him a magical cauldron which can bring the dead to life, he not know that when the dead are brought back. When Matholwch returns to Ireland with his new bride, he consults with his nobles about the occurrences in the Isle of the Mighty and they are outraged and believe that Matholwch was not compensated enough for the mutilation of his horses. In order to redeem his honor, Matholwch banishes Branwen to work in the kitchens, Branwen is treated cruelly by her husband Matholwch as punishment for Efnysiens mutilation of the horses, though not before she gives birth to an heir, Gwern. She tames a starling and sends it across the Irish Sea with a message to her brother, some swineherds see the giant Brân wading the sea and report this to Matholwch, who retreats beyond a river and destroys the bridges. However, Brân lays himself down over the river to serve as a bridge for his men, Matholwch, fearing war, tries to reconcile with Brân by building a house big enough for him to fit into in order to do him honour. Matholwch agrees to give the kingdom to Gwern, his son by Branwen, the Irish lords do not like the idea, and many hide themselves in flour bags tied to the pillars of the huge, newly-built house to attack the Welsh. Efnysien, checking out the prior to the arrival of Brân and his men, guesses what is happening. At the subsequent feast to celebrate Gwerns investiture as King of Ireland, Efnysien, in a moment of rage. On landing in Wales at Aber Alaw in Anglesey, Branwen dies of grief that so much destruction had caused on her account, crying, Oi. Da o ddwy ynys a ddiffeithwyd om hachos i, oh Son of God, woe to me that I was born. Two fair islands have been laid waste because of me and she was buried beside the Afon Alaw. Brân had commanded his men to cut off his head and to bear it even unto the White Mount, in London, and so for seven years his men spent feasting in Harlech, accompanied by three singing birds and Brâns head
5.
Ireland
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Ireland is an island in the North Atlantic. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, Ireland is the second-largest island of the British Isles, the third-largest in Europe, and the twentieth-largest on Earth. Politically, Ireland is divided between the Republic of Ireland, which covers five-sixths of the island, and Northern Ireland, in 2011, the population of Ireland was about 6.4 million, ranking it the second-most populous island in Europe after Great Britain. Just under 4.6 million live in the Republic of Ireland, the islands geography comprises relatively low-lying mountains surrounding a central plain, with several navigable rivers extending inland. The island has lush vegetation, a product of its mild, thick woodlands covered the island until the Middle Ages. As of 2013, the amount of land that is wooded in Ireland is about 11% of the total, there are twenty-six extant mammal species native to Ireland. The Irish climate is moderate and classified as oceanic. As a result, winters are milder than expected for such a northerly area, however, summers are cooler than those in Continental Europe. Rainfall and cloud cover are abundant, the earliest evidence of human presence in Ireland is dated at 10,500 BC. Gaelic Ireland had emerged by the 1st century CE, the island was Christianised from the 5th century onward. Following the Norman invasion in the 12th century, England claimed sovereignty over Ireland, however, English rule did not extend over the whole island until the 16th–17th century Tudor conquest, which led to colonisation by settlers from Britain. In the 1690s, a system of Protestant English rule was designed to materially disadvantage the Catholic majority and Protestant dissenters, with the Acts of Union in 1801, Ireland became a part of the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland saw much civil unrest from the late 1960s until the 1990s and this subsided following a political agreement in 1998. In 1973 the Republic of Ireland joined the European Economic Community while the United Kingdom, Irish culture has had a significant influence on other cultures, especially in the fields of literature. Alongside mainstream Western culture, an indigenous culture exists, as expressed through Gaelic games, Irish music. The culture of the island shares many features with that of Great Britain, including the English language, and sports such as association football, rugby, horse racing. The name Ireland derives from Old Irish Eriu and this in turn derives from Proto-Celtic *Iveriu, which is also the source of Latin Hibernia. Iveriu derives from a root meaning fat, prosperous, during the last glacial period, and up until about 9000 years ago, most of Ireland was covered with ice, most of the time
6.
Harlech
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Harlech is a town and seaside resort in Gwynedd, within the historic boundaries of Merionethshire in northwest Wales. Lying on Tremadog Bay and within the Snowdonia National Park, it has a population of 1,447, the town is in the unitary authority of Gwynedd which was formed in 1996. From 1974 to 1996 it was in the Meirionydd District of the 1974 County of Gwynedd, the town is best known for the landmark Harlech Castle, begun in 1283 by Edward I of England, captured by Owain Glyndŵr, and later the stronghold of Henry Tudor. The castle was next to the sea, but geological processes have changed the shape of the coastline. The town has developed, with housing estates on the flat low town area and hillside properties in the high town around the shopping street, church. The two areas are linked by a steep and winding road called Twtil, the exact derivation of the name Harlech is unclear. Some mostly older sources claim that it derives from Arddlech, i. e. ardd + llech, more recent sources tend to go for a simpler derivation from the two Welsh words hardd and llech. As late as the 19th century some texts referred to Harddlech and Harddlech Castle and this name appears in the mid-19th century translation of the Mabinogion, And one afternoon he was at Harddlech in Ardudwy, at a court of his. And they were seated upon the rock of Harddlech overlooking the sea, contemporary documents from the time of the Mabinogion do not mention Harlech, referring only to Llywelyn building his castle at Ardudwy. An electoral ward in the name exists. This stretches to include Talsarnau Community, the population of the ward taken at the 2011 census was 1,997. The towns railway station is served by the Cambrian Coast Line and it also contains Ffordd Pen Llech, a street which descends the rock spur to the north of the castle, and has the steepest signed gradient on a public road in the United Kingdom. Ysgol Ardudwy is the county school for children between the ages of 11–16. Ysgol Tanycastell is the primary school for children between the ages of 3–11. The town is also the home of Waless only long-term adult residential college, Coleg Harlech, theatr Harlech is located on the Coleg Harlech campus and stages a varied selection of plays, music, and films throughout the year. Other attractions in Harlech include its beach backed with sand dunes and the famous Royal Saint Davids Golf Club, the Rhinogydd range of mountains rises to the east. A World War II-era fighter aircraft was found on Harlech beach in 2007, the discovery of the Lockheed P-38 Lightning has been described as one of the most important WWII finds in recent history. The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery is not divulging the location of the U. S. Army Air Forces plane, known as the Maid of Harlech
