The Tale of Taliesin

Synonyms:
Cym: The Tale of Taliesin

This is an entirely new translation of the Ystoria Taliesin (tale of Taliesin) from Elis Gruffudd's Cronicl Wech Oesoedd rendered into English. This translation is updated on a daily basis and at the current rate will be completed in 1 month. As a result, what you see here will be updated by installments.

The Tale of Taliesin

Here follows the tale of Gwion Bach, that which is commonly known in Wales:

In the earliest days of Arthur, there was a gentleman who dwelt in that region which today is known as Penllyn who was known as Tegid Foel and his realm, as far as it relates to this tale, was the waters that today are known as Llyn Tegid. And this tale shows that he had a wife, who was known as Kerridwen. And she, according to the scribe, was skilful and learned in the three disciplines; these that can be named: magic, witchcraft and sorcery. In addition, this document shows that between them Tegid and Cerridwen had a descendant, a son, he who was ugly of aspect and beraing and who was named Morfran and so dark was his colour that he was named Afagddu.

Due to his ill aspect and coilouration his mother was overcome with great sadness, for she saw, obviously, that there was no means or measure by which her son could be accepted amongst the noble-born unless he bore virtues that were superior to his aspect. And to bring this matter about she turned her entire mind to contemplate her [magical] arts and to examine by which means that she could endow him [Morfran] with the spiri of augury and to make him a great prophet for the world he beheld. And after long toil at her arts she discovered that there was a means to attain such knowledge as this through virtue of the plants of the earth and the toil of man and his cunning; namely: to chose and select certain plants on specific days and certain hours and to place them all in a cauldron of water and to place the cauldron on the fire, which would have to be lit continusously night and day for a year and a day and at the end of this entire time there would splash forth three droplets distilled from the entire virtues of all the plants and upon whatever man those droplets fell, she [Kerridwen] foresaw that he would be replete with knowledge of the various arts and would have the full measure of the spirit of prophecy. In addition, she saw that the full measure of the plants (apart from the three aforementioned drops) would form the surest poison tht the world had ever known, that which wiould shatter the cauldron to release its contents upon the earth.

And, in truth, this tale is foolish and stands against all faith and holiness. But, as before, the body of this tale clearly shows that she collected a large number of the world's plants and these she placed in a cauldron with water and this she placed on the fire. And the tale relates that she took an old blind man to handle the cauldron and to stir its contents. But this tale relates not the name of this man, any more than it relates the name of the tale's author. Though the tale does name the boy who guided this man — Gwion Bach, h who Kerridwen set to light the fire beneath the cauldron. And in this manner each of them kept to their appointed task, to whit, lighting the fire, heating he cauldron and stirring it, with Cerridwen maintaining it filled with water and herbs and this they did for one year and one day.

During this time Kerridwen took Morfran her son and placed him close to the cauldron ready to accept the droplets when it came to the appointed hour for them to leap from the cauldron. At that time, when Kerridwen set down her thighs to rest, at that time when it happened for her to sleep at the precise instant that the three droplets imbued with virtue leapt from the cauldron and these fell upon Gwion Bach, he who had displaced Morfran from his accustomed position [by the cauldron]. And with this the cauldron rang out and shattered due to the force of the poison [within]. And with this Kerridwen awoke from her slumber, like as to a man in a frenzy. That which Gwion foresaw, he who was now replete with knowledge and he clearly foresaw that she [Cerridwen] was so poisonous in her temperament that she would execute him as soon as she became aware of the manner by which he deprived her son of the virtuous droplets. But as soon as Cerridwen recovered from her rage and began questioning her son, he informed her through a lengthy discourse the means by which Gwion sent him from the spot that she [Cerridwen] had set him to stand. As a result, she emerged from her house, like a man in a frenzy, chasing Gwion Bach — he, whom the tale relates to us, she discovered fleeing fleetly in the form of a hare. As a result she transformed into the form of a black greyhound bitch and she chased him from place to place. And in the end, after long pursuit in various forms, she was so persistent on his tail that she forced him to flee into a granary where there was a large heap of hulled wheat and there he altered form to become one of the grains. Kerridwen's response was to transform into a short-tailed black hen and, as the tale relates, she swallowed Gwion into her womb, where she bore him for the term of nine months until the time she was able to give birth to him.

But when she gazed upon him, come into this world, she could not bring herself to either harm him physically with her own hand, nor to allow anyone else, in her sight, to do him harm. And in the end she placed him in a coracle, or a bag made of skin, that which she caused to b made snug and watertight about and beneath him. In this she had the child placed before casting him in the lake, such as some of the sources tel us, but others relate that it was in the sea that she cast him. In that place where, after considerable time, he was recovered, and this work will be related here when the proper time comes...

[Here the tale breaks off and Elis Gruffudd continues his history of the world. After relating the arly Brythonic rulers he reaches the reign of Maelgwn Gwnedd and after recording Maelgwn's death after 35 years of rule the tale resumes from Taliesin's perspective...]

The Tale From Taliesin's Perspective.

[This tale will continue to be expanded each day until it is complete...]

The Tale of Taliesin

The Tale From Taliesin's Perspective.

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