Monthly Archives: December 2010

12/27/10

The Four Branches of the Mabinogi

The Four Branches of the Mabinogi is a compliation of Welsh mythological tales found in the White Book of Rhydderch and the Red Book of Hergest, both dating to the middle of the fourteenth century.   The stories however, are older, the specific versions dating to around 1100 AD, and thus before the works of Geoffrey of Monmouth. 

Parker writes:  “The Four Branches also relay aspects of a deeply pagan thought-world, which ultimately draws on traditions and beliefs from the Neolithic and Bronze Age cultures of prehistoric Britain, as well as those of the Celtic Iron Age and Romano-British eras.”  http://www.mabinogion.info/

The first branch tells the story of Pwyll, Lord of Dyfed.  Pwyll spends a year as Lord of  Annwn, the Underworld and then encounters Rhiannon, whom he marries.  I loved the following exchange between the two, in the initial stages of their courtship when Pwyll inadvertently promises Rhiannon to someone else and Rhiannon isn’t shy about speaking her mind:

Gwawl:  ‘Lord, it is for you I have a request, and to ask you for it I have come.’

Pwyll:  ‘Whatever boon you put to me, as far as I am able to get it, it will be yours.’

Rhiannon:  ‘Och!’ Why do you give such an answer?’

Gwawl:  ‘That is how he has given it, Lady, in the presence of nobles.”

Pwyll:  ‘Friend, what is your boon?’

Gwawl:  ‘You are [about] to sleep with the woman whom I love the most tonight. And it is to ask for her, [along] with the provisions and victuals which are here that I have come.’

Pwyll fell silent, for there was not an answer he could give.

Rhiannon:  ‘Be dumb as long as you like.  There was never a man so slow with his wits as you were [just] then.’

http://www.mabinogi.net/pwyll.htm

“The main action of the Four Branches takes place in two key centres of power within this region: the Cardigan/Teifi valley area of Dyfed in West Wales, and the northwest of Gwynedd centred on the Anglesey and Arfon coastlands. The relationship between these regional power-centres and the crown of London in the Mabinogi bears a strong resemblance to the geo-politics of the late-twelfth century, echoing the relationship between the native Welsh warlords and the Anglo-Norman Angevin kings during centuries between the establishment of the March and the Edwardian conquest of the late 13th century. These parallels were not accidental. It would appear that for the contemporary courtly audiences in Wales, this process of typological insinuation – linking the mythic past with the politics of the present – was an established function of the genre.”  http://www.mabinogion.info/four-branches.htm

“A single character, Pryderi links all four branches. In the first tale he’s born and fostered, inherits a kingdom and marries. In the second he’s scarcely mentioned, but in the third he’s imprisoned by enchantment and then released. In the fourth he falls in battle.

The tales themselves are concerned with the themes of fall and redemption, loyalty, marriage, love, fidelity, the wronged wife, and incest.

They’re set in a bizarre and magical landscape which corresponds geographically to the western coast of south and north Wales, and are full of white horses that appear magically, giants, beautiful, intelligent women and heroic men.”  http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/history/sites/themes/society/myths_mabinogion.shtml

12/9/10

Maps of Wales

Both topography and geography change over time.  Geologically, Wales hasn’t changed much in 2000 years, but the topography has, from mining, from the building of villages and cities, and from the wholesale cutting–and then replanting–of forests.  As evidenced by the loss of the location of many of the Roman roads, transportation routes change over time.  What used to be on a major pathway across the country is now in a desolate, hard-to-reach area.

As one example, in Powys, in the 19th century, the leader of Birmingham City Council set about finding a clean water supply for the City.  He identified the Elan and Claerwen Valleys as having the best potential for water storage with ample water (72 inches a year), narrow downstream valleys, impermeable bedrock, and a higher altitude eliminating the need for pumps.

“An Act of Parliament was passed for the compulsory purchase of the area and in 1893 the building work began. Over 100 occupants of the Elan Valley had to move, only landowners received compensation payments. Many buildings were demolished, among them 2 manor houses, 18 farms, a school and a church (which was replaced by the corporation as the Nantgwyllt Church).  A railway line was constructed to transport the workers and thousands of tonnes of building material each day and a village of wooden huts was purpose built to house many of the workers on the site of the present Elan Village.”  http://www.rhayader.co.uk/index.php/rhayader/aboutdetail/the_surrounding_area/

It is maps that can clarify these changes.  These are administrative maps dating from the time of Rhodri the Great (900s AD), to the 13th century AD under Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, to modern administrative jurisdictions:

Then there are maps of important castles in Wales.  This one is from the fabulous castlewales.com web page (http://www.castlewales.com/native.html).

It doesn’t have Aber Garth Celyn on it or Aberffraw, both of which were destroyed after 1282, though it does have Deganwy.  My assumption is that this map may be old–and it is an important point that what is mapped can reveal as much about the map maker as the place he/she is mapping:

This map shows similar information, but includes King Edward’s castles (King Edward ruled Wales after the murder of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, the last Prince of Wales, in December of 1282).  It’s from the Welsh government site (cadw.wales.gov.uk):

This is Roman road map (for construction between 44-410 AD) of Wales (not very good–the paper Ordnance Survey map is far better).  What this map doesn’t show as clearly is that many of the modern roads do not follow the Roman roads–whether because of the differences is in road building techniques or because the relative importance of various destinations has changed.  This is particularly evident with the Roman road that went from Tomen y Mur through Dolwyddelan  to Caerhun.  There’s not even a track that follows that exact route anymore.  There’s also evidence indicating that another road not on this map ran south from St. Asaph through Ruthin and connected with the road running from Caer Gai to Chester.  Another ran south from Caer Gai to Caersws, and connected to the roads at Castell Collen.

http://www.britainexpress.com/wales/history/roman-forts.htm

12/7/10

Roman Villa found near Aberystwyth

Thirty years ago, aerial photographers from Cambridge University noted something odd about the layout of a field near the village of Abermagwr near Aberystwyth.   They were doing a flyover during the summer, and because of the dry conditions, there were unexplained cropmarks in a field.  At the time, they noted, “a double-ditched rectangular enclosure, with traces of a possible building within.”  http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/405315/details/NANT+MAGWR+ROMAN+SITE,+ABERMAGWR,+POSSIBLE+ROMAN+VILLA/

No excavations were undertaken until this summer.  Researchers can now confirm that they are “the remains of a much-robbed late Roman villa. The Abermagwr villa had all the trappings of established villas in south Wales and southern England, including a slate roof and glazed windows. It was roofed with local slates, but these were pentagonal, cut with five sides and a fine point to form a highly decorative roof, common amongst villas in south-west England and the Isle of Wight. The walls were built of local stone on cobble foundations though the upper storey (If such existed) may possibly have been timber-framed and plastered. The villa was fronted by a cobbled yard. Finds from the site indicate occupation in the late 3rd and early 4th centuries AD. They include vessels in Black Burnished ware, a practical kitchen pottery imported from Dorset, and fine ware bowls from Oxfordshire. Three coins of Constantine I, minted in the first quarter of the 4th century AD, were crucial for the dating the site and were all found lying on or near late clay floor surfaces underneath the collapsed slate roof.

The villa was heavily robbed for its building stone, probably in the medieval period. ‘Robber trenches’ were dug into the ruins and most useful blocks removed leaving only the substantial clay and stone packed foundations. The building became lost from memory, and the land returned to the plough. Only the local name ‘Magwr’, meaning a ‘ruined homestead’ preserves a memory of a building here.”

http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/405315/details/NANT+MAGWR+ROMAN+SITE,+ABERMAGWR,+POSSIBLE+ROMAN+VILLA/

One of the many, many cool things about this find is that it is the only villa in this region of Wales–in fact, none other villas have been found this far north:  “Roman villas were high-status homes of wealthy landowners which sat at the heart of a farming estate. They are common throughout southern England and to a lesser extent in south-east Wales, with a few outliers in south-west Wales and a singleton in the middle reaches of the Usk valley.”  http://heritageofwalesnews.blogspot.com/2010/07/4th-century-roman-villa-discovered-in.html

The exact location on Google Earth, 7 miles southeast of Aberystwyth and .36 miles to the NE of Abermagwr.  The Google Earth image was taken on 1 January 2006 before any work had been done on the site.

12/4/10

All about Smashwords

Smashwords has been a great discovery for me because it has allowed me to give away The Last Pendragon.  Because of this, I’ve been able to share my work with thousands of people I never could have reached otherwise, who have downloaded it from numerous websites to which Smashwords distributes, including Barnes and Noble.com.  The book should be coming soon to Amazon as well. 

As part of their quest to get the word out about what they have to offer, they’ve asked authors to embed the following presentation:

Introduction to Smashwords – Ebook Publishing and Distribution Made Easy

12/2/10

Welsh Cantrefs and Commotes

In medieval Wales, for legal and administrative purposes the country was divided into cantrefs, which were relatively large areas (like US counties) and commotes, which were smaller jurisdictions. 

“A cantref is a measurement of a hundred (literally, it means “one hundred”). A commot is a community, the word ultimately deriving from the same root as Cymru–comrad, compatriot, neighbor.”   The list of cantrefs and commotes from the Red Book of Hergest is found here:  http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/cantref.html

In the Middle Ages, Gwynedd had and fifteen cantrefs and thirty-six commotes.  Overall, it was the largest of the regions of Wales.

“The antiquity of the cantrefi is demonstrated by the fact that they often mark the boundary between dialects. Some were originally kingdoms in their own right, others may have been artificial units created later.   (Davies, John; Nigel Jenkins, Menna Baines and Peredur I. Lynch (2008), The Welsh Academy Encyclopedia of Wales, Cardiff: University of Wales Press, pp. 113)

“Cantrefi were of particular importance in the administration of the Welsh law. Each cantref had its own court, which was an assembly of the “uchelwyr“, the main landowners of the cantref. This would be presided over by the king if he happened to be present in the cantref, or if he was not present by his representative. Apart from the judges there would be a clerk, an usher and sometimes two professional pleaders. The cantref court dealt with crimes, the determination of boundaries and matters concerning inheritance. The commote court later took over many of the functions of the cantref court, and in some areas the names of the commotes are much better known than the name of the cantref of which they formed parts.”  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantref