Maxen Wledic was emperor in Ruvein (Rome). He was the most beautiful and the wisest of men, the best made for the dignity of emperor of all who had reigned before him. One day when he was holding a conference of kings, he said to his intimate friends: “I intend to go hunting tomorrow. The next morning he left with his retinue and reached the valley of a river which arrives in Rome. He hunted in the valley until midday accompanied by thirty-two kings, all wearing crowns and their vassals.
Contents
ToggleMaxen's dream
It was not for pleasure that he hunted so long; he wanted to behave like a man who is the lord of so many kings. The sun was high in the sky above their heads, the heat was great; he fell asleep. The valets then raised their shields in a circle around him, placing them on the shafts of their spears to defend him from the sun. They put a shield enamelled with gold under his head. So Maxen slept.
While sleeping, he had a vision. It seemed to him that he was going up the valley of the river to its source, then that he arrived at the highest mountain in the world: it seemed to him as high as the sky. The mountain crossed, he crossed, on the other side, the most beautiful and the most united countries that one had ever seen. He saw great rivers running from the mountain to the sea. He walked along the rivers towards their mouths.
Some time it had taken him to travel thus, he arrived at the mouth of a great river, the largest one could see. There was a large city at the mouth, and in the city a great fortress, surmounted by large towers of many different colors. There was a fleet at the mouth of the river: it was indeed the largest one had ever seen. In the middle, he saw a ship much more beautiful than all the others.
Everything he saw above the waves was made up alternately of gold and silver panels; a bridge of cetacean bones was thrown from the ship ashore. It seemed to him that he was crossing the bridge and entering the ship. The sails were raised and the ship set off across the sea and the waves.
He came to an island, the most beautiful in the world. After crossing the island from one sea to the other and arriving at the far end, he saw deep valleys, precipices, high rocks and a steep land, very watered, such as it does not exist. had never seen anything like it. From there he saw in the sea, in front of this land crossed by streams, an island, and between the island and himself a country whose plain was as long as the sea which bordered it; the mountain extended as much as the woods.
From the mountain he saw a river crossing the country and heading towards the sea. At its mouth was a great fortress, the most beautiful one had ever seen. The door was open; he came in. He saw a beautiful room there. The roof seemed to him to be gold, the walls, forming a circle, of sparkling precious stones, the entire doors of solid gold. He saw golden beds and silver tables. On the couch in front of him were two young dark-haired people playing chess
The chessboard was in silver and the horsemen in gold; the young people were dressed in all black brocade; their hair was held back by bands of red gold, set off with sparkling precious stones; rubies and gems alternated there, not to mention the imperial stones. Their feet were shod in new cordwal boots, closed with strips of red gold. At the foot of one of the columns, a white-haired man was seated in an elephant-bone chair adorned with two eagles of red gold.
He wore gold bracelets on his arms, on his fingers many rings, on his neck a gold necklace; a golden band held back her hair: her air was imposing. He had before him a golden chessboard with his horsemen; he held in his hand a golden rod and steel axes with which he cut the knights of the game of chess. In front of him sat a young girl in a chair of red gold. She was so beautiful that it was no easier to look at her than the sun in all its shine.
She wore white silk shirts closed on the chest with red gold clasps, a gilt brocade overcoat, around the head a red gold band enhanced with rubies, gems alternating with pearls, and imperial stones. ; his belt was of red gold. There wasn't a creature offering a better look. The young girl rose from her chair as he approached.
He threw his arms around her neck, and they both sat down in the golden pulpit, which seemed no narrower to them than to the virgin alone; he had his arms around the young girl's neck and his cheek against hers, when he was roused from his sleep: the dogs were raging against their leashes, the shields collided, the shafts of the spears clashed, horses neighed and pawed.
Once awakened, the emperor had neither life nor rest at the memory of the virgin he had seen in a dream. There was not in him a knuckle of bones, a point on the inside of a fingernail, and all the more reason a larger place, which was not entirely penetrated by the love of the young girl. The people of his house said to him, “Lord, it is high time for you to eat. The emperor then climbed back on his palfrey and walked towards Rome, sadder than ever before.
He stayed like that all week; if the people of his house went to drink wine and mead in golden vessels, he stayed away; were they going to listen to music or funny stories, he did not accompany them. He only liked one thing: to sleep. As often as he fell asleep, he saw in a dream the woman he loved the most. When he was awake, there was no trace of her: he did not know in the world where she was.
The valet attached to the room - and all valet that he was, it was the king of Romani - said to him one day: “Lord, all your men are complaining about you.
- Why is that ? replied the emperor.
- Because they get neither mission nor answer from you, as vassals are used to getting from their lord. This is the cause of the complaints that are raised against you.
- Well ! valet, said the emperor, bring around me the wise men of Rome and I will say why I am sad. "
The wise men of Rome are united around the emperor. He said to them: “Sages of Rome, I had a dream, and in this dream, I saw a young girl. I have neither life nor rest because of her.
- Lord, they replied, since you thought it appropriate to consult us, we are going to give you some advice. We believe that you send messengers for three years to all three parts of the world to seek the object of your dream. As you do not know which day or which night you will receive the good news, you will always be supported by this hope ”.
The messengers began to roam the world seeking news of the girl for a whole year. When they returned at the end of the year, they knew nothing more than the day they left. The emperor was saddened to think that, in all likelihood, he would never hear from the woman he loved most.
The king of Romani then said to the emperor: “Lord, go hunt in the direction where it seemed to you to go; see if it's east or west. The emperor set out to hunt and arrived on the banks of the river. This, he said, is where I was when I saw this vision. I walked up the river to the west. Thirteen men immediately set out as the Emperor's messengers.
In front of them, they saw a great mountain which seemed to them to rise up to the sky. This is the paraphernalia in which the messengers walked: each of them wore a sleeve on his cloak, in front, as an ambassadorial badge, so that they would not be worried in the countries at war which they would have to cross. After having crossed this mountain, they had before their eyes great countries with level ground, crossed by great rivers. "Here is, they said, the country that our lord crossed."
They went along the rivers, towards their mouth, until they came to a great river which they saw flowing towards the sea; a great city was at the mouth of the river, and in the city a great fortress surmounted by great towers of various colors. At the mouth was a fleet, the largest in the world, and in the middle a ship larger than all the others. “Here again, they said, is what our lord saw in a dream”. They crossed the sea on this great ship and arrived in the island of Brittany.
They crossed it to Eryri. Here is still, they said, the land furrowed with water that our lord saw in a dream. They walked forward until they saw Mon (Anglesey) in front and they also had Arvon in front of them. This is indeed, they said, the land which our lord saw in a dream. Aber Sein appeared to them as well as the fort at the mouth of the river. The gate of the fort was open; they entered, and inside they saw a room. This is the room he saw in a dream, they said. "
They entered: the two young people were playing chess seated on a bed of gold; the man with white hair was seated at the foot of the column, in a golden pulpit, cutting the knights of the game of chess; the young girl was seated in her chair of red gold. The envoys fell to their knees before her. Empress of Rome, they said, hello!
- Lords, replied the young girl, you have the appearance of distinguished people and the badges of ambassadors: what does this mockery mean to me?
- There is not there, princess, the least mockery. The Emperor of Rome saw you in a dream. Since then, because of you, he has neither life nor rest. So we leave the choice to you, princess: either you will come with us to be made empress in Rome, or the emperor will come here himself to take you as his wife.
- Gentlemen, I do not want to doubt what you tell me, nor add too much faith to it either. Only if the Emperor loves me, let him come and get me here. "
The messengers returned, riding day and night. When the horses weakened, they bought more. When they arrived in Rome, they went to greet the emperor by asking for their reward. They got what they asked for. "We will guide you, Lord," they said, "by sea and by land, to the place where the woman you love most is found. We know his name, his family ties and his background. "
The emperor left immediately with his troops, with these men as guides. They went to the island of Brittany across the sea and the waves. He conquered the island from Beli, son of Manogan, and his sons, and forced them to go to sea; for him, he advanced as far as Arvon. The emperor recognized the country when he saw him. On seeing the Aber Sein fort: "There, he said," the fort where I saw the woman I love the most. He walked straight to the fort and the hall. There he saw Kynan, son of Eudav, and Adeon, son of Eudav, playing chess; Eudav, son of Karadawc, seated in an ivory pulpit, carving the knights of the game of chess.
The virgin he had seen in a dream was sitting in a golden pulpit. Empress of Rome, he said, hi! ". The Emperor threw his arms around her neck, and that very night he slept with her.
The next day, the young girl asked her for her marriage present (Agweddi) in return for her virginity. He asked her what she wanted. She asked for the island of Brittany for her father from the Rudd Sea (the English Channel) to the Irish Sea and the three main adjacent islands to hold them under the Emperor of Rome, and three fortresses to be built, at her willingly, in the place she would choose. She chooses a location for her first highest fortress in Arvon.
Soil was brought from Rome to make it healthier for the emperor to sleep, sit and walk there. Then he built two other fortresses, one in Kaer Llion, the other in Kaer Vyrddin. One day the emperor went hunting in Kaervyrddin and advanced to the top of Brevi Vawr. There, the emperor raised his flag, and the place still bears the name of Kadeir Vaxen (chair of Maxen) today. Kaervyrddin is so called because it was built by a myriad of men.
So Elen had the idea of making main roads from each strong city to the other across the island of Brittany. The roads were made and they are called the paths of Elen Lluyddawc (the army conductor), because she was from the island of Brittany and the people of the island would never have assembled in such numbers. for anyone other than her.
The emperor stayed on this island for seven years. Now the people of Rome had, at that time, this custom, that any emperor who spent in a foreign country more than seven years while conquering, remained in the conquered country, and could not return to Rome. They created a new emperor. The latter wrote a threatening letter to Maxen. It only contained these words: "If you come, yes, if you never come to Rome ..."
The letter and the news were taken to Maxen at Kaer Llion. He also sent a letter to the one who called himself Emperor of Rome. In this letter there was only the words: "If I ever go to Rome, yes, if I go ..." Maxen then set out with his troops towards Rome. He subdued France, Burgundy, all the countries in his path to Rome, and came to besiege the city. He besieged her for a year, not being any closer to taking her than on the first day.
Elen's brothers, the army leader, came to join him with an army small in number, but composed of such warriors, that it was better than a double army of Roman soldiers. The Emperor was warned when this troop was seen to stop beside his army, and raise its flags. We had never seen an army more beautiful, better equipped, nor provided with more brilliant standards, for its number. Elen came to see the army, and recognized the standards of her brothers.
So Kynan and Adeon, son of Eudaf, went to visit the emperor, who welcomed them and embraced them. They went to see the Romans storming the ramparts, and Kynan said to his brother, “We are going to try to fight Rome in a more skillful way than that. They measured the height of the ramparts during the night, and sent their carpenters into the woods. They made them make ladders, one for four men.
They were ready. Every day at noon the two emperors took their meals, and the fighting ceased on both sides, until each had finished eating. Now, the men of the Isle of Britain took their meal in the morning, and drank until they were warm with drink. When the two emperors had gone to eat, the Bretons advanced against the ramparts, applied their ladders to it, and, in an instant, penetrated, above, into the interior.
Before the new emperor had time to arm himself, they surprised and killed him and many others. They spent three days and three nights subduing the men who were in the fortress, and seizing the castle. Some of them were busy defending the access to the ramparts against any soldier in Maxen's army until they had finished submitting everyone as they pleased.
Maxen then said to Elen, the conductor of the army: “I am very surprised that it was not for me that your brothers conquered this city.
- Lord Emperor, she replied, my brothers are the wisest men in the world. Go yourself and claim the city. If they are the ones who have it in their power, they will gladly give it to you ". The Emperor and Elen went to ask for the city. The two brothers then told the emperor that he owed the conquest of the city and its surrender only to the men of the island of Brittany. Immediately the gates of the city of Rome opened. The emperor went to sit on his throne, and all the Romans paid homage to him.
The emperor then said to Kynan and Adeon: “Lords, I have fully recovered my empire. This army, I give it to you to subjugate with it whatever part of the world you want. They set out and subdued countries, fortified castles, and fortified cities. They killed the men, but let the women live.
They continued until the young people who had come with them were gray-haired men, so much time had they spent on these conquests! Kynan then said to his brother Adeon: "What do you prefer? Stay in this country, or return to your homeland? He preferred to return to his homeland, and many others with him. Kynan remained in the country with the others and settled there. They decided to cut off the tongues of all the women to avoid corrupting their language. It was because the women ceased to speak, while the men spoke, that the men of Llydaw were called Bretons.
It is as a result of this that this very common appellation came from the island of Brittany and still comes from it. This story is called the Dream of Maxen Wledic, Emperor of Rome. This is where it ends.