Math fab Mathonwy (branch)
Math fab Mathonwy, "Math, the son of Mathonwy" is a legendary tale from medieval Welsh literature and the final of the four branches of the Mabinogi. It tells of a vicious war between the north and the south, of the birth of Lleu Llaw Gyffes and Dylan ail Don, of the tyngedau of Arianrhod, of the creation of Blodeuwedd, a woman made of flowers; the chief characters of the tale are Math, king of Gwynedd, his nephew Gwydion, a magician and trickster, Gwydion's own nephew, cursed by his mother Arianrhod. Along with the other branches, the tale can be found the medieval Red Book of Hergest and White Book of Rhydderch. Allusions to the tale can be found in two old triads retained in the Trioedd Ynys Prydain Gilfaethwy, nephew to the Venedotian king, Math fab Mathonwy, falls in love with his uncle's virgin foot-holder, Goewin, his brother Gwydion conspires to start a war between the north and the south, so as give the brothers the opportunity to rape Goewin while Math is distracted. To this end, Gwydion employs his magic powers to steal a number of otherworldy pigs from the Demetian king, who retaliates by marching on Gwynedd.
Meanwhile and Gilfaethwy attack and rape Goewin. Pryderi and his men march north and fight a battle between Maenor Bennardd and Maenor Coed Alun, but are forced to retreat, he is pursued to Nant Call, where more of his men are slaughtered, to Dol Benmaen, where he suffers a third defeat. To avoid further bloodshed, it is agreed that the outcome of the battle should be decided by single combat between Gwydion and Pryderi; the two contenders meet at a place called Y Velen Rhyd in Ardudwy, "because of strength and valour and magic and enchantment", Gwydion triumphs and Pryderi is killed. The men of Dyfed retreat back to their own land; when Math hears of the assault on Goewin, he turns his nephews into a series of mated pairs of animals: Gwydion becomes a stag for a year a sow and a wolf. Gilfaethwy becomes a hind deer, a boar and a she-wolf; each year they produce an offspring, sent to Math: Hyddwn and Bleiddwn. After three years, Math releases his nephews from their punishment and begins the search for a new foot-holder.
Gwydion suggests his sister Arianrhod, magically tested for virginity by Math. During the test, she gives birth to a "sturdy boy with thick yellow hair" whom Math names Dylan and who takes on the nature of the seas until his death at his uncle Gofannon's hands. Ashamed, Arianrhod runs to the door, but on her way out something small drops from her, which Gwydion wraps up and places in a chest at the foot of his bed; some time he hears screams from within the chest, opens it to discover a baby boy. Some scholars have suggested that in an earlier form of the Fourth Branch, Gwydion was the father of Arianrhod's sons; some years Gwydion accompanies the boy to Caer Arianrhod, presents him to his mother. The furious Arianrhod, shamed by this reminder of her loss of virginity, places a tynged on the boy: that only she could give him a name. Gwydion however tricks his sister by disguising himself and the boy as cobblers and luring Arianrhod into going to them in person in order to have some shoes made for her.
The boy throws a stone and strikes a wren "between the tendon and the bone of its leg", causing Arianrhod to make the remark "it is with a skillful hand that the fair-haired one has hit it ". At that Gwydion reveals himself, saying Lleu Llaw Gyffes. Furious at this trickery, Arianrhod places another tynged on Lleu: he shall receive arms from no one but Arianrhod herself. Gwydion tricks his sister once again, she unwittingly arms Lleu herself, leading to her placing a third tynged on him: that he shall never have a human wife. So as to counteract Arianrhod's curse and Gwydion: While Lleu is away on business, Blodeuwedd has an affair with Gronw Pebr, the lord of Penllyn, the two conspire to murder Lleu. Blodeuwedd tricks Lleu into revealing how he may be killed, since he can not be killed during the day or night, nor indoors or outdoors, neither riding nor walking, not clothed and not naked, nor by any weapon lawfully made, he reveals to her that he can only be killed at dusk, wrapped in a net with one foot on a cauldron and one on a goat and with a spear forged for a year during the hours when everyone is at mass.
With this information she arranges his death. Struck by the spear thrown by Gronw's hand, Lleu flies away. Gwydion finds him perched high on an oak tree. Through the singing of an englyn he lures him down from the oak tree and switches him back to his human form. Gwydion and Math nurse Lleu back to health before mustering Gwynedd and reclaiming his lands from Gronw and Blodeuwedd. Gwydion overtakes a fleeing Blodeuwedd and turns her into an owl, the creature hated by all other birds, proclaiming: The narrative adds: Meanwhile, Gronw escapes to Penllyn and sends emissaries to Lleu to beg of his forgiveness. Lleu refuses, demanding that Gronw must stand on the bank of the River Cynfael and receive a blow from his spear. Gronw asks if anyone from his warband will take the spear in his place, but his men refuse his plea. Gronw agrees to receive the blow on the condition that he may place a large stone between himself and Lleu, who allows him to do so before throwing the spear with such strength that it pierces the stone, killing his rival.
A holed stone in Ardudwy is still known as Llech Ronw. The tale ends with Lleu ascending to the throne of Gwynedd
Wild boar
The wild boar known as the wild swine, Eurasian wild pig, or wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia, North Africa, the Greater Sunda Islands. Human intervention has spread its distribution further, making the species one of the widest-ranging mammals in the world, as well as the most spread suiform, its wide range, high numbers, adaptability mean that it is classed as least concern by the IUCN and it has become an invasive species in part of its introduced range. The animal originated in Southeast Asia during the Early Pleistocene, outcompeted other suid species as it spread throughout the Old World; as of 1990, up to 16 subspecies are recognized, which are divided into four regional groupings based on skull height and lacrimal bone length. The species lives in matriarchal societies consisting of their young. Grown males are solitary outside the breeding season; the grey wolf is the wild boar's main predator throughout most of its range, except in the Far East and the Lesser Sunda Islands, where it is replaced by the tiger and Komodo dragon, respectively.
It has a long history of association with humans, having been the ancestor of most domestic pig breeds and a big-game animal for millennia. Boars have re-hybridized in recent decades with feral pigs; as true wild boars became extinct in Great Britain before the development of Modern English, the same terms are used for both true wild boar and pigs large or semi-wild ones. The English'boar' stems from the Old English bar, thought to be derived from the West Germanic *bairaz, of unknown origin. Boar is sometimes used to refer to males, may be used to refer to male domesticated pigs breeding males that have not been castrated.'Sow', the traditional name for a female, again comes from Old English and Germanic. The young may be called'piglets'; the animals' specific name scrofa is Latin for'sow'. In hunting terminology, boars are given different designations according to their age: MtDNA studies indicate that the wild boar originated from islands in Southeast Asia such as Indonesia and the Philippines, subsequently spread onto mainland Eurasia and North Africa.
The earliest fossil finds of the species come from both Europe and Asia, date back to the Early Pleistocene. By the late Villafranchian, S. scrofa displaced the related S. strozzii, a large swamp-adapted suid ancestral to the modern S. verrucosus throughout the Eurasian mainland, restricting it to insular Asia. Its closest wild relative is the bearded pig of Malacca and surrounding islands; as of 2005, 16 subspecies are recognised, which are divided into four regional groupings: Western: Includes S. s. scrofa, S. s. meridionalis, S. s. algira, S. s. attila, S. s. lybicus and S. s. nigripes. These subspecies are high-skulled, with thick underwool and poorly developed manes. Indian: Includes S. s. davidi and S. s. cristatus. These subspecies have sparse or absent underwool, with long manes and prominent bands on the snout and mouth. While S. s. cristatus is high-skulled, S. s. davidi is low-skulled. Eastern: Includes S. s. sibiricus, S. s. ussuricus, S. s. leucomystax, S. s. riukiuanus, S. s. taivanus and S. s. moupinensis.
These subspecies are characterised by a whitish streak extending from the corners of the mouth to the lower jaw. With the exception of S. s. ussuricus, most are high-skulled. The underwool is thick, except in S. s. moupinensis, the mane is absent. Indonesian: Represented by S. s. vittatus, it is characterised by its sparse body hair, lack of underwool long mane, a broad reddish band extending from the muzzle to the sides of the neck. It is the most basal of the four groups, having the smallest relative brain size, more primitive dentition and unspecialised cranial structure. With the exception of domestic pigs in Timor and Papua New Guinea, the wild boar is the ancestor of most pig breeds. Archaeological evidence suggests that pigs were domesticated from wild boar as early as 13,000–12,700 BC in the Near East in the Tigris Basin being managed in the wild in a way similar to the way they are managed by some modern New Guineans. Remains of pigs have been dated to earlier than 11,400 BC in Cyprus.
Those animals must have been introduced from the mainland, which suggests domestication in the adjacent mainland by then. There was a separate domestication in China, which took place about 8,000 years ago. DNA evidence from sub-fossil remains of teeth and jawbones of Neolithic pigs shows that the first domestic pigs in Europe had been brought from the Near East; this stimulated the domestication of local European wild boars, resulting in a third domestication event with the Near Eastern genes dying out in European pig stock. Modern domesticated pigs have involved complex exchanges, with European domesticated lines being exported in turn to the ancient Near East. Historical records indicate that Asian pigs were introduced into Europe during the 18th and early 19th centuries. Domestic pigs tend to have much more developed hindquarters than their wild boar ancestors, to the point where 70% of their body weight is concentrated in the posterior, the opposite of wild boar, where most of the muscles are concentrated on the head and shoulders.
The wild boar is a bulky, massively built suid with short and thin legs. The trunk is short and massive, w
Cornwall
Cornwall is a county in South West England in the United Kingdom. The county is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar which forms most of the border between them. Cornwall forms the westernmost part of the South West Peninsula of the island of Great Britain; the furthest southwestern point of Great Britain is Land's End. Cornwall has a population of 563,600 and covers an area of 3,563 km2; the county has been administered since 2009 by Cornwall Council. The ceremonial county of Cornwall includes the Isles of Scilly, which are administered separately; the administrative centre of Cornwall, its only city, is Truro. Cornwall is the homeland of the Cornish people and the cultural and ethnic origin of the Cornish diaspora, it retains a distinct cultural identity that reflects its history, is recognised as one of the Celtic nations. It was a Brythonic kingdom and subsequently a royal duchy; the Cornish nationalist movement contests the present constitutional status of Cornwall and seeks greater autonomy within the United Kingdom in the form of a devolved legislative Cornish Assembly with powers similar to those in Wales and Scotland.
In 2014, Cornish people were granted minority status under the European Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, giving them recognition as a distinct ethnic group. First inhabited in the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic periods, Cornwall continued to be occupied by Neolithic and Bronze Age peoples, by Brythons with strong ethnic, linguistic and cultural links to Wales and Brittany the latter of, settled by Britons from the region. Mining in Cornwall and Devon in the south-west of England began in the early Bronze Age. Few Roman remains have been found in Cornwall, there is little evidence that the Romans settled or had much military presence there. After the collapse of the Roman Empire, Cornwall was a part of the Brittonic kingdom of Dumnonia, ruled by chieftains of the Cornovii who may have included figures regarded as semi-historical or legendary, such as King Mark of Cornwall and King Arthur, evidenced by folklore traditions derived from the Historia Regum Britanniae.
The Cornovii division of the Dumnonii tribe were separated from their fellow Brythons of Wales after the Battle of Deorham in 577 AD, came into conflict with the expanding English kingdom of Wessex. The regions of Dumnonia outside of Cornwall had been annexed by the English by 838 AD. King Athelstan in 936 AD set the boundary between the English and Cornish at the high water mark of the eastern bank of the River Tamar. From the early Middle Ages and culture were shared by Brythons trading across both sides of the Channel, resulting in the corresponding high medieval Breton kingdoms of Domnonée and Cornouaille and the Celtic Christianity common to both areas. Tin mining was important in the Cornish economy. In the mid-19th century, the tin and copper mines entered a period of decline. Subsequently, china clay extraction became more important, metal mining had ended by the 1990s. Traditionally and agriculture were the other important sectors of the economy. Railways led to a growth of tourism in the 20th century.
Cornwall is noted for coastal scenery. A large part of the Cornubian batholith is within Cornwall; the north coast has many cliffs. The area is noted for its wild moorland landscapes, its long and varied coastline, its attractive villages, its many place-names derived from the Cornish language, its mild climate. Extensive stretches of Cornwall's coastline, Bodmin Moor, are protected as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty; the modern English name Cornwall is a compound of two ancient demonyms coming from two different language groups: Corn- originates from the Brythonic tribe, the Cornovii. The Celtic word "kernou" is cognate with the English word "horn". -wall derives from the Old English exonym walh, meaning "foreigner" or "Roman". In the Cornish language, Cornwall is known as Kernow which stems from a similar linguistic background; the present human history of Cornwall begins with the reoccupation of Britain after the last Ice Age. The area now known as Cornwall was first inhabited in the Mesolithic periods.
It continued to be occupied by Neolithic and Bronze Age people. According to John T. Koch and others, Cornwall in the Late Bronze Age was part of a maritime trading-networked culture called the Atlantic Bronze Age, in modern-day Ireland, Wales, France and Portugal. During the British Iron Age, like all of Britain, was inhabited by a Celtic people known as the Britons with distinctive cultural relations to neighbouring Brittany; the Common Brittonic spoken at the time developed into several distinct tongues, including Cornish, Breton and Pictish. The first account of Cornwall comes from the 1st-century BC Sicilian Greek historian Diodorus Siculus quoting or paraphrasing the 4th-century BCE geographer P
Ireland
Ireland is an island in the North Atlantic. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, St George's Channel. Ireland is the second-largest island of the British Isles, the third-largest in Europe, the twentieth-largest on Earth. Politically, Ireland is divided between the Republic of Ireland, which covers five-sixths of the island, Northern Ireland, part of the United Kingdom. In 2011, the population of Ireland was about 6.6 million, ranking it the second-most populous island in Europe after Great Britain. Just under 4.8 million live in the Republic of Ireland and just over 1.8 million live in Northern Ireland. The island's geography comprises low-lying mountains surrounding a central plain, with several navigable rivers extending inland, its lush vegetation is a product of its mild but changeable climate, free of extremes in temperature. Much of Ireland was woodland until the end of the Middle Ages. Today, woodland makes up about 10% of the island, compared with a European average of over 33%, most of it is non-native conifer plantations.
There are twenty-six extant mammal species native to Ireland. The Irish climate is influenced by the Atlantic Ocean and thus moderate, winters are milder than expected for such a northerly area, although 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 AD; the island was Christianised from the 5th century onward. Following the 12th century Norman invasion, England claimed sovereignty. 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, was extended during the 18th century. With the Acts of Union in 1801, Ireland became a part of the United Kingdom. A war of independence in the early 20th century was followed by the partition of the island, creating the Irish Free State, which became sovereign over the following decades, Northern Ireland, which remained a part of the United Kingdom.
Northern Ireland saw much civil unrest from the late 1960s until the 1990s. This subsided following a political agreement in 1998. In 1973 the Republic of Ireland joined the European Economic Community while the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland, as part of it, did the same. Irish culture has had a significant influence on other cultures in the field of literature. Alongside mainstream Western culture, a strong indigenous culture exists, as expressed through Gaelic games, Irish music and the Irish language; the island's culture shares many features with that of Great Britain, including the English language, sports such as association football, horse racing, golf. The names Éire derive from Old Irish Eriu; this in turn comes from the Proto-Celtic *Iveriu, the source of Latin Hibernia. Iveriu derives from a root meaning'fat, prosperous'. During the last glacial period, up until about 10,000 BC, most of Ireland was periodically covered in ice. Sea levels were lower and Ireland, like Great Britain, formed part of continental Europe.
By 16,000 BC, rising sea levels due to ice melting caused Ireland to become separated from Great Britain. Around 6000 BC, Great Britain itself became separated from continental Europe; the earliest evidence of human presence in Ireland is dated at 10,500 BC, demonstrated by a butchered bear bone found in a cave in County Clare. It is not until about 8000 BC, that more sustained occupation of the island has been shown, with evidence for Mesolithic communities around the island; these Mesolithic communities lived as hunter-gatherers across the island until about 4000 BC. Some time before 4000 BC, Neolithic settlers arrived introducing cereal cultivars, domesticated animals such as cattle and sheep, large timber building, stone monuments; the earliest evidence for farming in Ireland or Great Britain is from Co.. Kerry, where a flint knife, cattle bones and a sheep's tooth were carbon-dated to c. 4350 BC. Field systems were developed in different parts of Ireland, including at the Céide Fields, preserved beneath a blanket of peat in present-day Tyrawley.
An extensive field system, arguably the oldest in the world, consisted of small divisions separated by dry-stone walls. The fields were farmed for several centuries between 3500 BC and 3000 BC. Wheat and barley were the principal crops; the Bronze Age – defined by the use of metal – began around 2500 BC, with technology changing people's everyday lives during this period through innovations such as the wheel. According to John T. Koch and others, Ireland in the Late Bronze Age was part of a maritime trading-network culture called the Atlantic Bronze Age that included Britain, western France and Iberia, that this is where Celtic languages developed; this contrasts with the traditional view that their origin lies in mainland Europe with the Hallstatt culture. During the Iron Age, a Celtic language and culture emerged in Ireland. How and when the island became Celtic has been debated for close to a century, with the migrations of the Celts being one of the more enduring themes of archaeological and linguistic studies.
The most recent genetic research s
Mouse
A mouse, plural mice, is a small rodent characteristically having a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse, it is a popular pet. In some places, certain kinds of field mice are locally common, they are known to invade homes for shelter. Species of mice are found in Rodentia, are present throughout the order. Typical mice are found in the genus Mus. Mice are distinguished from rats by their size; when someone discovers a smaller muroid rodent, its common name includes the term mouse, while if it is larger, the name includes the term rat. Common terms rat and mouse are not taxonomically specific. Scientifically, the term mouse is not confined to members of Mus for the deer mouse. Domestic mice sold as pets differ in size from the common house mouse; this is attributable both to different conditions in the wild. The best-known strain, the white lab mouse, has more uniform traits that are appropriate to its use in research.
Cats, wild dogs, birds of prey and certain kinds of arthropods have been known to prey upon mice. Because of its remarkable adaptability to any environment, the mouse is one of the most successful mammalian genera living on Earth today. Mice, in certain contexts, can be considered vermin which are a major source of crop damage, causing structural damage and spreading diseases through their parasites and feces. In North America, breathing dust that has come in contact with mouse excrement has been linked to hantavirus, which may lead to hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. Nocturnal animals, mice compensate for their poor eyesight with a keen sense of hearing, rely on their sense of smell to locate food and avoid predators. Mice build long intricate burrows in the wild; these have long entrances and are equipped with escape tunnels or routes. In at least one species, the architectural design of a burrow is a genetic trait. Order Dasyuromorphia marsupial mice, smaller species of Dasyuridae order Rodentia suborder Castorimorpha family Heteromyidae Kangaroo mouse, genus Microdipodops Pocket mouse, tribe Perognathinae Spiny pocket mouse, genus Heteromys suborder Anomaluromorpha family Anomaluridae flying mouse suborder Myomorpha family Cricetidae Brush mouse, Peromyscus boylii Florida mouse Golden mouse American Harvest mouse, genus Reithrodontomys family Muridae typical mice, the genus Mus Field mice, genus Apodemus Wood mouse, Apodemus sylvaticus Yellow-necked mouse, Apodemus flavicollis Large Mindoro forest mouse Big-eared hopping mouse Luzon montane forest mouse Forrest's mouse Pebble-mound mouse Bolam's mouse Eurasian Harvest mouse, genus Micromys Mice are common experimental animals in laboratory research of biology and psychology fields because they are mammals, because they share a high degree of homology with humans.
They are the most used mammalian model organism, more common than rats. The mouse genome has been sequenced, all mouse genes have human homologs; the mouse has 2.7 billion base pairs and 20 pairs of chromosomes. They can be manipulated in ways that are illegal with humans, although animal rights activists object. A knockout mouse is a genetically modified mouse that has had one or more of its genes made inoperable through a gene knockout. Reasons for common selection of mice are small size, inexpensive varied diet maintained, can reproduce quickly. Several generations of mice can be observed in a short time. Mice are very docile if raised from birth and given sufficient human contact. However, certain strains have been known to be quite temperamental. Mice and rats have the same organs in the same places, with the difference of size. Many people buy mice as companion pets, they can be playful and can grow used to being handled. Like pet rats, pet mice should not be left unsupervised outside as they have many natural predators, including birds, lizards and dogs.
Male mice tend to have a stronger odor than the females. However, mice are as pets they never need bathing. Well looked-after mice can make ideal pets; some common mouse care products are: Cage – Usually a hamster or gerbil cage, but a variety of special mouse cages are now available. Most should have a secure door. Food – Special pelleted and seed-based food is available. Mice can eat most rodent food Bedding – Usually made of hardwood pulp, such as aspen, sometimes from shredded, uninked paper or recycled virgin wood pulp. Using corn husk bedding is avoided because it promotes Aspergillus fungus, can grow mold once it gets wet, rough on their feet. In nature, mice are herbivores, consuming any kind of fruit or grain from plants. However, mice adapt well to urban areas and are known for eating all types of food scraps. In captivity, mice are fed commercial pelleted mouse diet; these diets are nutritionally complete. Mice are a staple in the diet of many small carnivores. Humans have eaten mice since prehistoric times and still eat them as a delicacy throughout eastern Zambia and northern Malawi, where they are a seasonal source of protein.
Mice are no longer consumed by humans elsewhere. However, in Victorian Britain, fried mice were still given to children as a folk remedy for bed-wetting. Prescribed cures in Ancient Egypt included mice as medicine. In Ancient Egypt, when infant
Y Gododdin
Y Gododdin is a medieval Welsh poem consisting of a series of elegies to the men of the Brittonic kingdom of Gododdin and its allies who, according to the conventional interpretation, died fighting the Angles of Deira and Bernicia at a place named Catraeth in about AD 600. It is traditionally ascribed to the bard Aneirin and survives only in one manuscript, the Book of Aneirin; the Book of Aneirin manuscript is from the 13th century, but Y Gododdin has been dated to between the 7th and the early 11th centuries. The text is written in Middle Welsh orthography and in Old Welsh; the early date would place its oral composition soon after the battle in the Hen Ogledd. Others consider it the work of a poet from Wales in the 10th, or 11th century. A 9th-century date would make it one of the oldest surviving Welsh works of poetry; the Gododdin, known in Roman times as the Votadini, held territories in what is now southeast Scotland and Northumberland, part of the Hen Ogledd. The poem tells how a force of 300 picked warriors were assembled, some from as far afield as Pictland and Gwynedd.
After a year of feasting at Din Eidyn, now Edinburgh, they attacked Catraeth, identified with Catterick, North Yorkshire. After several days of fighting against overwhelming odds, nearly all the warriors are killed; the poem is similar in ethos to heroic poetry, with the emphasis on the heroes fighting for glory, but is not a narrative. The manuscript contains several stanzas which have no connection with the Gododdin and are considered to be interpolations. One stanza in particular has received attention because it mentions King Arthur in passing, which, if not an interpolation, would be the earliest known reference to that character. Only one early manuscript of Y Gododdin is known, the Book of Aneirin, thought to date from the second half of the 13th century; the accepted view is that this manuscript contains the work of two scribes known as A and B. Scribe A wrote down 88 stanzas of the poem left a blank page before writing down four related poems known as Gorchanau; this scribe wrote the material down in Middle Welsh orthography.
Scribe B added material and had access to an earlier manuscript since the material added by this scribe is in Old Welsh orthography. Scribe B wrote 35 stanzas, some of which are variants of stanzas given by Scribe A, while others are not given by A; the last stanza is incomplete and three folios are missing from the end of the manuscript, so some material may have been lost. Differences exist within the material added by Scribe B; the first 23 stanzas of the B material show signs of partial modernisation of the orthography, while the remainder shows much more retention of Old Welsh features. Jarman explains this by suggesting that Scribe B started by modernising the orthography as he copied the stanzas, but after a while tired of this and copied the remaining stanzas as they were in the older manuscript. Isaac suggested that Scribe B was using two sources, called B1 and B2. If this is correct, the material in the Books of Aneirin is from three sources; the stanzas that make up the poem are a series of elegies for warriors who fell in battle against vastly superior numbers.
Some of the verses refer to the entire host, others eulogize individual heroes. They tell how the ruler of the Gododdin, Mynyddog Mwynfawr, gathered warriors from several Brythonic kingdoms and provided them with a year's feasting and drinking mead in his halls at Din Eidyn, before launching a campaign in which all of them were killed fighting against overwhelming odds; the poetry is based on a fixed number of syllables, though some irregularity occurs, which may be due to modernisation of the language during oral transmission. It uses rhyme, both end-rhyme and internal, some parts use alliteration. A number of stanzas may open with the same words, for example "Gwyr a aeth gatraeth gan wawr"; the collection appears to have been compiled from two different versions: according to some verses, there were 300 men of the Gododdin, only one, Cynon ap Clydno, survived. The names of about 80 warriors are given in the poem; the Book of Aneirin begins with the introduction Hwn yw e gododin. Aneirin ae cant.
The first stanza appears to be a reciter's prologue, composed after the death of Aneirin: The second stanza praises an individual hero: In might a man, a youth in years,Of boisterous valour,Swift long-maned steedsUnder the thigh of a handsome youth …Quicker to a field of bloodThan to a weddingQuicker to the ravens' feast Than to a burial,A beloved friend was Ywain,It is wrong that he is beneath a cairn. It is a sad wonder to me. Other stanzas praise the entire host, for example number 13: Men went to Catraeth at mornTheir high spirits lessened their life-spanThey drank mead and sweet, ensnaring. Red their swords, let the blades remainUncleansed, white shields and four-sided spearheads,Before Mynyddog Mwynfawr's men. Mead is mentioned in many stanzas, sometimes with the suggestion; this led some 19th-century editors to assume that the warriors went into battle drunk, however Williams explained that "mead" here stood for everything the warriors received from their lord. In return, they were expected to "pay their mead" by being loyal to their lord unto death.
A similar concept is found in Anglo-Saxon poetry. The heroes c
Taliesin
Taliesin was an early Brythonic poet of Sub-Roman Britain whose work has survived in a Middle Welsh manuscript, the Book of Taliesin. Taliesin was a renowned bard, believed to have sung at the courts of at least three Brythonic kings. Ifor Williams identified eleven of the medieval poems ascribed to Taliesin as originating as early as the sixth century, so being composed by a historical Taliesin; the bulk of this work praises King Urien of Rheged and his son Owain mab Urien, although several of the poems indicate that he served as the court bard to King Brochfael Ysgithrog of Powys and his successor Cynan Garwyn, either before or during his time at Urien's court. Some of the events to which the poems refer, such as the Battle of Arfderydd, are referred to in other sources. In legend and medieval Welsh poetry, he is referred to as Taliesin Ben Beirdd, he is mentioned as one of the five British poets of renown, along with Talhaearn Tad Awen, Aneirin and Cian Gwenith Gwawd, in the Historia Brittonum, is mentioned in the collection of poems known as Y Gododdin.
Taliesin was regarded in the mid-12th century as the supposed author of a great number of romantic legends. According to legend Taliesin was adopted as a child by Elffin, the son of Gwyddno Garanhir, prophesied the death of Maelgwn Gwynedd from the Yellow Plague. In stories he became a mythic hero, companion of Bran the Blessed and King Arthur, his legendary biography is found in several late renderings, the earliest surviving narrative being found in a manuscript chronicle of world history written by Elis Gruffydd in the 16th century. Details of Taliesin's life are sparse; the first mention of him occurs in the Saxon genealogies appended to four manuscripts of the Historia Brittonum. The writer names five poets, among them Taliesin, who lived in the time of Ida of Bernicia and a British chieftain, utigirn; this information is considered credible, since he is mentioned by Aneirin, another of the five mentioned poets, famed as the author of Y Gododdin, a series of elegies to the men of the kingdom of Gododdin who died fighting the Angles at the Battle of Catraeth around 600.
Taliesin's authorship of several praise-poems to Urien Rheged is accepted, these poems mention The Eden Valley and an enemy leader, identified as Ida or his son Theodric. These poems refer to victories of Urien at the battles of Argoed Llwyfain, The Ford of Clyde and Gwen Ystrad. Taliesin sang in praise of Cynan Garwyn, king of Powys and Cynan's predecessor Brochwel Ysgithrog is mentioned in poems. According to legends that first appear in the Book of Taliesin Taliesin's early patron was Elffin, son of Gwyddno Garanhir, a lord of a lost land in Cardigan Bay, called Cantre'r Gwaelod, Taliesin defended Elffin and satirised his enemy, the powerful Maelgwn Gwynedd, shortly before the latter died. According to the Welsh Triads Taliesin had a son, accounted a great warrior who suffered a violent death in Lothian. Taliesin's own grave is held in folk-lore to be one near the village of Tre Taliesin near Llangynfelyn called Bedd Taliesin, but this is a Bronze Age burial chamber, the village of Tre-Taliesin, located at the foot of the hill, was named after the burial chamber in the 19th century though legend was traced by Edward Lhuyd to the 17th century.
More detailed traditions of Taliesin's biography arose from about the 11th century, in Historia Taliesin. In the mid-16th-century, Elis Gruffydd recorded a legendary account of Taliesin that resembles the story of the boyhood of the Irish hero Fionn mac Cumhail and the salmon of wisdom in some respects; the tale was recorded in a different version by John Jones of Gellilyfdy. This story agrees in many respects with fragmentary accounts in the Book of Taliesin. According to the Hanes Taliesin, he was known as Gwion Bach ap Gwreang, he was a servant of Cerridwen and was made to stir the Cauldron of Inspiration for one year to allow for Cerridwen to complete her potion of inspiration. Upon completion of this potion, three drops landed upon Gwion Bach's thumb. Gwion placed his thumb in his mouth to soothe his burns resulting in Gwion's enlightenment. Out of fear of what Cerridwen would do to him, Gwion fled and transformed into a piece of grain before being consumed by Cerridwen. Gwion was reborn and given the name Taliesin.
According to these texts Taliesin was the foster-son of Elffin ap Gwyddno, who gave him the name Taliesin, meaning "radiant brow", who became a king in Ceredigion, Wales. The legend states that he was raised at his court in Aberdyfi and that at the age of 13, he visited King Maelgwn Gwynedd, Elffin's uncle, prophesied the manner and imminence of Maelgwn's death. A number of medieval poems attributed to Taliesin allude to the legend but these postdate the historical poet's floruit considerably; the idea that he was a bard at the court of King Arthur dates back at least to the tale of Culhwch and Olwen a product of the 11th century. It is elaborated upon in modern English poetry, such as Tennyson's Idylls of the King and Charles Williams's Taliessin Through Logres, but the historical Taliesin's career can be shown to have fallen in the last half of the 6th century, while historians who argue for Arthur's existence date his victory at Mons Badonicus in the years either si
