Branwen daughter of Llyr

Here is the second branch of Mabinogi.This is the story of Branwen, daughter of Llyr.

Branwen daughter of Llyr

Bendigeit Vran, son of Llyr, was crowned king of the whole island, a dignity further enhanced by the crown of Llundein (London). One afternoon, he was in Harddlech in Ardudwy, which served as his court, sitting on top of the rock above the waves of the sea, in the company of Manawyddan, son of Llyr, his brother, two other brothers of the next to his mother, Nissyen and Evnyssyen, and, moreover, many nobles, as befitted around a king.

These two brothers were sons of Euroswydd, but they were of the same mother as him: Penardim, daughter of Beli, son of Mynogan. One of these young people was good; he put peace in the midst of the family when we were the most irritated: it was Nyssyen. The other pitted his two brothers against each other when they loved each other the most. While they were thus seated, they saw thirteen ships coming from the south of Iwerddon (Ireland) and heading their way; their walk was easy, rapid; the wind, blowing in the stern, quickly brought them closer to them. "I see ships over there," cried the king, coming quickly to land; order the men of the court to get dressed, and to go and see what their intentions are. The men dressed and went downstairs in their direction. When they could see the ships up close, they were convinced that they had never seen any that looked better equipped. Beautiful brocade banners floated above them. Suddenly a ship broke away in front of the others, and a shield was seen rising above the bridge, the umbo at the top, as a sign of peace. Bran's men walked over to him, so they could converse.

The strangers threw canoes into the sea, approached the shore, and saluted the king. He could hear them from the top of the rock where he was sitting, above their heads. God gives you well, he said, welcome. Who owns these ships and who is in charge?
'Lord,' they replied, 'Matholweh, King of Ireland is here, and these ships are his.
- What can he want? Does he want to come ashore?
- As he comes as a solicitor to you, he will not go, if he does not obtain the object of his trip.
- What is it?
- Lord, he wants to ally with you: it is to ask for Branwen, daughter of Llyr, that he has come. If it pleases you, it will establish a link between the Isle of Forts and Ireland that will increase their power.
- Well, let him come ashore, and we will deliberate about it. This answer was brought to Matholwch.

 "Gladly," he said. And he went to land. He was well received, and that night there was a great gathering of his troops and those of the court. The next day a council was held, and it was decided that Branwen would be given to Matholwch. She was one of the first three ladies of this island and the most beautiful young girl in the world. They agreed to meet at Aberffraw where Matholwch would sleep with her. We marched, and all the troops marched towards Aberffraw, Matholwch and his people by sea, Bendigeit Vran and his people by land.

On their arrival in Aberffraw, the banquet began. They sat down, the King of the Isle of Forts and Manawyddan on one side, Matholwch on the other, and Branwen with them. They were not in a house, but under pavilions. Bendigeit Vran could never have fit in a house. We began to drink, and we continued, chatting, until it was more pleasant to sleep than to drink. They went to bed. That night Matholwch and Branwen slept together. The next day, all the people of the court rose; the officers began to take care of the division of the horses, in concert with the valets; they distributed them on all sides as far as the sea. In the meantime, one day the enemy of peace of which we spoke above, Evnyssyen, fell on the dwelling of Matholwch's horses, and asked to whom they belonged. "These are the horses of Matholwch, King of Ireland," he replied.
- What are they doing here? he said.
- This is where the King of Ireland is; he slept with your sister Branwen; these horses are his.
- And that's how they acted with a young girl like her, with my sister! give it without my permission! They couldn't do me a greater affront. " 

Immediately it melts under the horses, cuts their lips close to their teeth, their ears close to their heads, their tails close to their backs; if he didn't find a grip on the eyebrows, he shaved them to the bone. He thus disfigured the horses, to the point that it was impossible to do anything about it. The news reached Matholwch; he was told that the horses were so disfigured and spoiled that they could no longer be used. Yes, lord, said one of the men, you have been insulted; that's what we want to do to you.
'In truth,' he replied, 'I find you strange, if they wanted to insult me, that they gave me such a young girl, of such high standing, so beloved by her nation.
- Lord, said another, you see the proof; there is only one thing left to. do, get to your ships. " 

Following this interview, he set about leaving on his ships. Bendigeit Vran, hearing that Matholwch was leaving the court without taking leave, sent him to ask why. The messengers were Iddic, son of Anarawe, and Eveydd Hir. They came up to him, and asked him what his preparations meant, and for what reason he was leaving. Certainly, he replied, if I had known, I would not have come here. I have suffered the most complete outrage. No one has had to suffer a worse attack than me in these places. One thing, however, surprises me above all.
- Which one, they said.
- That I was given Branwen, one of the three first ladies of this island, the daughter of the king of the Isle of Forts, that I slept with her, and then come to insult me. I am amazed that it was not done before giving it to me.
'Certainly, lord, it was not by the will of the one who possesses this court, nor of any of his advice that this affront was made to you. And, if you find yourself outraged, Bendigeit Vran is even more sensitive than you to this affront and this trick.
- I believe so, but he cannot prevent me from having received this outrage. " 

They returned thereto to Bendigeit Vran, and reported Matholwch's answer to him. There is no way, he said, to prevent her from leaving with hostile dispositions, even if I would not allow it.
- Well, lord, send messengers after him again.
- It's what I'm going to do. Arise, Manawyddan son of Llyr, Eveidd Hir, Unic Glew Ysgwydd, go after him, and tell him that he will have a horse in good condition for every one that has been spoiled for him. I will also give him, in uyneb, warth (in compensation) rods of silver as thick and as long as he, a golden dish as wide as his face. Let him know what kind of man did this to him, that I had nothing to do with it, that the culprit is a brother of mine, on my mother's side, and that it is hardly possible for me to undo him or kill him. Let him come and see me; I will make peace on the conditions which he will draw up himself. " 

The messengers went in search of Matholwch, reported this speech to him in a friendly manner. After hearing them, he said: “Men, we are going to take advice. He went to take counsel, and they considered that if they rejected these proposals, it would likely result for them rather shame than a reparation so important. He condescended to accept, and they went to court as friends.

Pavilions and tents were prepared for them as halls, and they sat down to table. They sat down in the same order as at the start of the banquet, and Matholwch began to talk to Bendigeit Vran. The latter found that his conversation was languishing, that he was sad, no doubt because of the affront, whereas before he had been constantly joyful. He thought the prince was so sad because he found the reparation too weak for the wrong he had been done. Man, he told her, you are not as good a conversationalist tonight as you were on previous nights. If the repair does not seem sufficient to you, I will add to it as you wish; and from tomorrow, we will pay you for your horses.
- Lord, he replied, God restore it to you.
- I will complete the repair by giving you a cauldron whose virtue is this: if a man is killed for you today, you will only have to throw him in so that the next day he will be as good as ever, except that he will no longer have the floor. Matholwch thanked him, and was very happy. The next day the horses were replaced by others, as long as there were horses tamed. We then went to another kymmwt, and gave him foals until full payment; so that this kymmwt bore, from there, the name of Tal-ebolyon.

The next night they sat down in company. Lord, said Matholwch to Bendigeit, where did the cauldron you gave me come from?
- He came to me, he replied, from a man who was in your country, but I do not know if that is where he found him.
- Who was it ?
– Llasar Llaesgyvnewit. He came here from Ireland with Kymideu Kumeinvoll his wife. They had escaped from the iron house, Ireland, when it was white hot on them. I would be very surprised if you didn't know anything about this.
- Indeed, lord, and I will tell you everything I know. One day when I was hunting in Ireland, on top of a mound that overlooked a lake called Llynn y Peir (Cauldron Lake), I saw a tall, red-haired man emerging from it, carrying a cauldron over it. the back. he was oversized, and looked like a thief. And if he was tall, his wife was still twice as tall as him. They walked over to me and greeted me.
- Which trip is yours? I tell them.
"Here, lord," he replied. This woman will be pregnant in a month and a fortnight. The one who will be born from her, at the end of a month and a half will be a warrior armed from all parts.

 I undertook to provide for their maintenance, and they remained with me a year without being reproached. But, from there, I got into difficulty about them. Before the end of the fourth month, they made themselves hate by committing unrestrained excesses in the land, embarrassing and causing trouble to noble men and women. Following this, my vassals gathered and came to summon me to separate from them by giving me to choose between these people and themselves. I left it to the country to decide their fate. They certainly wouldn't have gone willingly, nor was it by fighting that they would have been forced to leave. In this embarrassment, my vassals decided to build an all-iron house. When it was ready, they brought in all there were blacksmiths in Ireland with pincers and hammers, and piled up coal all around to the top of the house. They passed in abundance food and drink to the woman, to the man and to her children. When they were known to be drunk, they began to set the charcoal on fire around the house and blow the bellows until everything was white hot. They held counsel in the middle of the bedroom floor. The man stayed there until the iron wall was white. The heat becoming intolerable, he gave a shoulder to the wall and left, throwing her out, followed by his wife. No one other than the two of them escaped. It was then, I suppose, that he crossed the sea and came to you.

- It was then, no doubt, that he came here and gave me the cauldron.
- How did you welcome them?
- I distributed them on all sides on my estates. They multiply and rise everywhere; wherever they are, they are fortified with the best men and arms that we have seen. " 

They continued their interview that night, with artistic recreations and compotation, as long as they liked. When they found it was better to sleep than to sit longer, they went to bed. They thus spent the time of the banquet in gaiety. When it was finished, Matholwch left with Branwen for Ireland. They left Aber Menei with their thirteen ships, and arrived in Ireland, where they were greeted with great displays of joy. A distinguished man or a noblewoman did not come to Ireland to visit Branwen, unless she gave her a precious royal necklace, ring or jewel, which gave them a princely air when they went out. She thus spent the year gloriously, and completely succeeded in acquiring glory and friendship. It happened then that she became pregnant. At the end of the required time, a son was born to him. They gave him the name of Gwern, son of Matholwch, and they sent him to educate the best men in Ireland.

In the second year, there was suddenly a lot of noise in Ireland about the outrage which Matholwch had suffered in Kymry (Wales), and the nasty trick he had been played about his horses. His foster-brothers and his closest relatives openly reproached him for this. The tumult became such in Ireland that he could not hope for rest if he did not take revenge for the outrage. Here is the revenge they decided: he would chase Branwen out of her room, send her to cook the food at court, and every day the butcher, after cutting the meat, would go to her and give her a bellows. This was the punishment imposed on Branwen. Now, lords, said his men to Matholwch, prevent the ships, the barges and the corwgl from going to Wales, all who come from Wales imprison them; don't let them go back, lest we find out. They stopped at this shot. They did not stay less than three years like this.

Meanwhile, Branwen raised a starling on the edge of her mess, taught her a language, told her what kind of man her brother was, and brought her a letter outlining her suffering and the abusive treatment she was undergoing. She attached the letter to the birth of the bird's wings, and sent it to Wales. The bird went to this island. He found Bendigeit Vran in Caer Seint en Arvon which this time happened to be his court of law. He climbed down onto his shoulder and bristled his feathers until the letter was seen and it was recognized that we were dealing with a bird raised in a house. Bendigeit Vran took the letter and read it. His grief was great upon hearing of Branwen's sufferings, and he immediately sent messengers to gather the entire island. He called to him all the forces of the hundred and fifty-four countries. He himself complained to them of the sufferings that his sister was subjected to, and took counsel. It was decided to make an expedition in Ireland and to leave in this island seven men as governors, and Cradawc at their head; they were seven knights. They were left in Edeirnon, and it is because of this that the city was called Seith Marchawc (Seven Knights). They were: Cradawc, son of Bran; Eveidd Hir; United Glew Ysgwydd; Iddic, son of Anarawc Walltgrwn (with curly hair); Ffodor, son of Ervyll; Wlch Minascwrn; Llashar, son of Llaesar Llaesgywydd, and Pendaran Dyvet who remained with them as a young valet. These seven men remained as administrators to watch over the island; Cradawc was at their head.

Bendigeit Vran and all the soldiers we have named set sail for Ireland. The waves were not considerable then; he walked through the shallows. There were only two rivers called Lli and Archan. Since then, the waves have extended their empire. Bendigeit stepped forward, carrying all there were musicians on his back, and went to the land of Ireland.

The pig-keepers of Matholwch, who were on the water's edge, returned to him. Lord, they said, be well.
- God give you well, he answered, do you bring news?
- Yes, lord, surprising news. We saw a wood on the water, where we had never seen a trace before.
- That's a surprising thing; is that all you saw?
- We saw again, lord, a great mountain beside the wood, and this mountain was walking; on the mountain a peak, and on each side of the peak a lake. The woods, the mountains, everything was in motion.
- There is no one here to know anything about it, except Branwen; question her. " 

The messengers came to Branwen. Princess, they said, what do you think all this is?
'They are,' she replied, 'the men from the Isle of Forts who cross the water to come here after learning of my sufferings and my dishonor.
- What is this wood that we saw on the waves?
- They are yards and masts of ships.
- Oh! they said, and the mountain that was seen beside the ships?
- It's Bendigeit Vran, my brother, fording. There was no ship he could fit in.
- And the high peak, and the lakes on both sides of the peak?
- It is him throwing irritated glances on this island; the two lakes on both sides of the peak are his eyes on either side of his nose. " 

They immediately gathered all the warriors of Ireland, all the great chiefs, and held a council. Lord, said the nobles to Matholwch, there is no other possible plan but to retreat across the Llinon, River of Ireland, to put the Llinon between you and him, and to break the bridge. There is a magnetic stone at the bottom of the river which does not allow any ship or vessel to cross it. " 
They retreated to the other side of the river, and broke the bridge. Bendigeit came ashore and went with the fleet to the riverside. Lord, said his nobles to him, you know the privilege of this river: no one can cross it, and there is no bridge over it. What is your opinion for a bridge?
- I see no other than this: Let whoever is chief be a bridge. I will be the bridge. " 

It was then, for the first time, that this remark was made, and it still serves as a proverb today. He lay down over the river; hurdles were thrown at him, and the troops crossed over him. As he got up, Matholwch's messengers came to greet him and compliment him on behalf of their master, his relative by marriage, assuring him that he was not unworthy of him, in what depended on his will. Matholwch, they added, gives the kingdom of Ireland to Gwern your nephew, your sister's son; he offers it to him in your presence, in reparation for the wrong and the annoyances that have been done to Branwen; you will provide for the maintenance of Matholwch wherever you want, here or in the Isle of Forts.
“If I cannot myself,” replied Bendigeit Vran, “seize the kingdom, I may deliberate on your proposals. Before you have brought me other proposals, do not try to get an answer from me.
- The most satisfactory answer we will receive, we will bring it to you. So wait for our message.
- I'll wait, but come back quickly. " 

The messengers went to Matholwch. Lord, they said to him, prepare a more satisfying answer for Bendigeit Vran. He doesn't want to listen to anything we brought him for you.
- Men, said Matholwch, what is your opinion?
- Lord, they replied, we only see one. He has never been able to fit in a house. Well ! make a house big enough to accommodate him and the men from Isle of Forts on one side, you and your army on the other. Give him your kingdom to dispose of as he pleases, and do him homage. In return for the honor we have done him by building a house capable of containing him, which he never had, he will make peace with you. " 

The messengers returned with this message to Bendigeit Vran. He decided to accept. All this was done by the advice of Branwen, who wanted to avoid ruin to a country which also belonged to her. They began to carry out the conditions of the treaty; a tall and spacious house is built. But the Gwyddyl (the Irish) imagined a stratagem: they established supports on both sides of each of the hundred columns of the house. They placed a skin bag on each ledge, and an armed man in each bag.

Evnyssyen entered before the troops from the Isle of Forts, and threw all sides in the house, angry and malicious glances. He saw the bags of skin along the pillars. What is in this bag? he said to an Irishman.
"Flour, my soul," he replied.
He felt it until he found the head, and he squeezed it until he felt his fingers meet in the marrow through the bones, and he let it. He put his hand on another, and asked, "What's in this one?"
- Flour, replied the Irish.
He played the same game with each of them, until only one of the two hundred men remained alive. He went to the latter, and asked, "What is it here?
- Flour, replied the Irish.

He felt him until he found his head, and squeezed it like the others. He felt armor on his head, and didn't let go until he killed him. So he sang this enqlyn:
 There are in this particular sack of flour, champions, wrestlers, who descend into combat: combat fully prepared for the combatants. " 

At this time the troops entered the house. The men from the Isle of Ireland went to one side and those from the Isle of Forts to the other. As soon as they were seated, the union between them was made. The royalty was offered to the son of Matholwch. Peace concluded, Bendigeit Vran sent for the child; the child then went to Manawyddan. Everyone who saw him liked him. He was with Manawyddan when Nyssyen, son of Eurossuydd, called him to him. The child walked over to him gently. Why, cried Evnyssyen, does my nephew, my sister's son, not come to me? Would he not be King of Ireland, that I would be happy to exchange hugs with him.
"Willingly," said Bendigeit Vran, "let him go." "
The child came to him very happy. I can attest to God, Evnyssyen thought to himself, the family hardly expected the murder I am about to commit right now. He stood up, grabbed the child by the feet, and, before any of the family could stop him, he tossed the child head first into the blazing fire.

Branwen, seeing her son in the midst of the flames, wanted, from where she was seated between her two brothers, to leap into the fire; but Bendigeit Vran seized it with one hand and took his shield with the other. Everyone at once to attack each other from the whole house; this troop in the same house produced the greatest tumult that one had seen; each grabs his weapons. Morddwyt Tyllyon then exclaims: Dogs of Gwern, beware of Morddwyt Tyllion!

Each then threw himself on his arms. Bendigeit Vran held Branwen between his shield and his shoulder. The Irish began to light a fire under the resurrection cauldron. The corpses were thrown in until it was full. The next day they arose again, as formidable warriors as ever, except that they could not speak. Evnyssyen seeing on the ground the bodies deprived of rebirth of the men of the Isle of Forts said to himself: “O God, woe to me for having been the cause of this destruction of the men of the Isle of Forts. Shame on me if I can't find a way to salvation. He made his way among the corpses of the Irish. Two barefoot Irishmen came up to him and, mistaking him for one of their own, threw him into the cauldron. He strained himself in the cauldron so much that the cauldron burst into four pieces and his chest shattered. This is what the men of the island owe all the success they obtained.

It was reduced to the fact that seven men were able to escape; Bendigeit Vran was wounded in the foot by a poisoned spear. These are the seven who escaped Pryderi, Manawyddan, Gliuieri Eil Taran, Talyessin Ynawc, Grudyeu, son of Muryel, Heilyn, son of Gwyn Hen (the old one). Bendigeit Vran ordered his head to be cut off. “Take my head,” he said to them; take her to Gwynn Vryn (the white hill) in London and bury her there with her face turned towards France. You will be on the road for a long time. In Harddlech you will sit at the table for seven years, while the birds of Rhiannon sing to you. My head will be as pleasant a company for you as in the best moments when it was on my shoulders. In Gwales, in Penvro, you will spend eighty years. Until you open the door that opens onto Aber Henvelen, towards the Cornwall, you can stay there and keep your head intact. But it will be impossible, as soon as you open the door; cross straight ahead. » They cut off his head, and, taking him with them, set out across the strait, all seven of them, not counting Branwen.

They landed at Aber Alaw in Talebolyon. There they sat down and rested. Branwen looked towards Ireland and the Isle of Forts, on what she could see of them: "Alas, son of God," she cried, "cursed be my birth! Two so beautiful islands destroyed because of me! She sighed deeply and her heart broke. They made him a square tomb and buried him there on the edge of the Alaw. The seven men walked towards Harddlech with their heads. Along the way, they encountered a troop of men and women. »Do you have any news ?, said Manawyddan
- No others, they replied, except that Caswallawn son of Beli has taken possession of the Isle of Forts and is crowned king in London.
- What happened, said the seven, to Caradawc son of Bran, and to the seven men who were left with him on this island?
– Kaswallawn attacked them and killed six of them; Caradawc's heart broke in despair when he saw the sword killing his men without knowing who was striking them. It was Kaswallawn who had put on an enchanted cloak, so that no one saw him kill them: only the sword could be seen. For Caradawc, he didn't want to kill him, because he was his nephew, his cousin's son german. He was one of three men whose hearts broke with grief. Pendaran Dyvet who was a young servant with the seven men escaped into a wood. “ 

They went to Harddlech and settled there. They began to provide themselves with plenty of food and drink, and began to eat and drink. Three birds came to sing to them a certain song, to which all those they had heard were without charm. The birds stood above the waves in the distance, yet they could see them as distinctly as if they had been with them. This meal lasted seven years; at the end of the seventh year they left for Gwales in Penvro.

They found there a pleasant, royal place above the waves, and a large hall. Two of the doors were open, but the third was closed, the one facing Cornwall. Here, said Manawyddan, is the door that we must not open. " 

They spent the night there in the midst of abundance and gaiety. Whatever suffering they had seen, whatever suffering they themselves had experienced, they remembered nothing, nor any sorrow in the world. They spent eighty years there in such a way that they did not remember having had a better or more pleasant time in their entire life. They weren't tired any more; neither of them noticed that the other was older all this time than when they had been there. The company of the head was no more painful to them than while Bendigeit Vran was alive. It is because of the past eighty years that this time is called the Reception of the sacred head. The time of the expedition to Ireland is called the reception of Branwen and Matholwch. But this is what Heilyn, son of Gwynn, did one day. Shame on my beard, he cried, if I don't open that door to find out if what they say is true. " 

He opened the door and glanced over at Cornwall and the Bristol Channel. As soon as he looked, all the losses they had done, the deaths of their parents and companions, all the harm that had happened to them came back to them as clearly as if it had all happened right now, but , above all, the loss of their lord. From that moment they had no rest and left for London with their heads.

However long their journey was, they got there and buried their heads in Gwynn Vrynn. This was, when it was buried, the third good hiding place, and, when it was discovered, the third bad discovery: no plague could indeed come in this island, as long as the head would have been hidden in this place. This is what the story of their adventure says. These were the men who returned from Ireland.

In Ireland there were only five pregnant women alive, in a cave in the desert. At the same time, five sons were born to these five women. They brought them up until they were great young people, thought of women and wanted them. So each of them slept with the other's mother. They ruled the country, populated it and divided it among themselves five: it is from this division between five that come the five current divisions of Ireland. They surveyed the land where the battles had taken place, and found so much gold and silver there that they became rich. This is how this branch of the Mabinogi ends, dealing with the cause of the bellows given to Branwen, the third of the disastrous bellows given in this island; of Bran's reception when he went to Ireland with troops from the one hundred and fifty-four countries to punish Branwen's bellow; supper at Harddlech for seven years; of the birdsong of Rhiannon, and the hospitality of the head comprising eighty years.