Theosophical University Press Online Edition The Fates of the Princes of Dyfed Cenydd Morus (Kenneth Morris) Illustrations by Reginald Machell Copyright © 1914 by Katherine Tingley; originally published at Point Loma, California. Electronic edition 2000 by Theosophical University Press ISBN 1- 55700-157-x. This edition may be downloaded for off-line viewing without charge. For ease of searching, no diacritical marks appear in the electronic version of the text. To Katherine Tingley: Leader and Official Head of the Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society, whose whole life has been devoted to the cause of Peace and Universal Brotherhood, this book is respectfully dedicated Contents Preface The Three Branches of the Bringing-in of it, namely: The Sovereignty of Annwn I. The Council of the Immortals II. The Hunt in Glyn Cuch III. The Slaying of Hafgan The Story of Pwyll and Rhianon, or The Book of the Three Trials The First Branch of it, called: The Coming of Rhianon Ren Ferch Hefeydd I. The Making-known of Gorsedd Arberth, and the Wonderful Riding of Rhianon II. The First of the Wedding-Feasts at the Court of Hefeydd, and the Coming of Gwawl ab Clud The Second Branch of it, namely: The Basket of Gwaeddfyd Newynog, and Gwaeddfyd Newynog Himself I. The Anger of Pendaran Dyfed, and the Putting of Firing in the Basket II. The Over-Eagerness of Ceredig Cwmteifi after Knowledge, and the Putting of Bulrush-Heads in the Basket III. The Circumspection of Pwyll Pen Annwn, and the Filling of the Basket at Last The First Branch of it again: III. The Second Wedding-Feast in the Court of Hefeydd, and the Enchantment of the Story of the Sons of Cleddyf Cyfwlch The Third Branch of it; and the Name of this Branch: The Coming of Ab Cilcoed, and the Three Trials of Pwyll Pen Annwn I. The Forge of the Immortals II. The Hosting of the Armies of Malen Ruddgoch Ren III. The Machinations of Ceridwen Ferch Hu, and the Falling of the Sorrow of the Dimetians IV. The Council of the Immortals, and the Declaration of the Fates of the Princes of Dyfed The Story of Rhianon and Pryderi, or The Book of the Three Unusual Arts of Pryderi fab Pwyll The First Branch of it, namely: The Mare and the Foal of Teyrnion Twrf Fliant I. The Dropping of the Three Drops of Wisdom on the Lips of Teyrnion II. The Mare and the Foal of Teyrnion Twrf Fliant, and the Finding of Gwri Gwallt Euryn The Story of Dienw'r Anffodion I. The Misfortunes of the One Without a Name, and the Merriment of Gwydion fab Don II. The Four Herbs that were in the Cauldron of Regeneration, and the Naming of Manawyddan Son of the Boundless The Second Branch of it, called: The Three Unusual Arts of Teyrnion and Gwri Gwallt Euryn and the Freeing of the Birds of Rhianon I. The Art of War in the midst of Peace, and the Freeing of Aden Lanach II. The Art of Peace in the midst of War, and the Freeing of Aden Lonach Second Branch, part 2 III. The Quest of Aden Fwynach the Third Bird, and the Opposition of the Hosts of Bargod y Byd IV. The Three Kinsmen of the Ferryman of the Lake of the Bargod, and the Spell of the Three Places in Wales V. The Spell of the Wood, the Field and the Mountain, and the Freeing of Aden Fwynach at last The Third Branch of it, that is to say: The Return of Pryderi I. The Peculiarities of the Ring and the Fillet of the Family of Hefeydd, and the Three Primitive Bards of the Island of the Mighty II. The Petulant Impatience of Pendaran Dyfed, and the Maintaining of the Sovereignty of Rhianon III. The Coming of Pryderi Key to Pronunciation and Glossary PREFACE Ac y mae bodau sydd gymaint yn fwy na dyn ag y mae dyn yn fwy na'r bacillyn lleiaf welir drwy y chwyddwydr cryfaf. Mae y galluogrwydd i ymddadblygu hefyd yn anfeidrol. Mae y meddwl dynol ar y ffordd mawr i ymddadblygu yn dduw. Dyma ffordd Duw o greu duwiau, sef drwy ymddadblygiad. Mae Duw erioed yn eu creu. — Index How far the story is taken from the Four Branches of the Mabinogi, and to what degree it has elected to go its own way, need not be enlarged on here; now that that great old Welsh book has become a popular classic, with cheap editions both in Welsh and in English. Suffice it to say that from that source come the main framework of the plot, and, I hope, the whole spirit and atmosphere; and that there is a mint of phrases recurring through the chapters, which have been boldly lifted from Lady Guest's translation, and set in here without quotation marks, footnotes, or other acknowledgement. Why not? Such phrases were probably a part of the stock in trade of all the old story-tellers: "Names of Adornment," such as we find listed in the Triads; and belonged rather to Wales and bardism than to any one author. Other phrases, again, have been taken from Llywarch Hen and Taliesin, and from the druidical writings of the School of Glamorgan. Further, if Morgan Llwyd o Wynedd had not called his book Llyfr y Tri Aderyn, "The Book of the Three Birds," it is doubtful whether the various parts of this story would have found subtitles with so native a flavor as the ones that have been given to them. As to how much of it may be borrowed from Irish sources: it would be difficult for the writer to say; since it is rather a long time since he had access to books of Irish mythology, and the latter presents itself to his memory rather as a rainbow-hued and beautiful illumination, than in any detail. To read the Mabinogi aright, one must read it in the light of that ancient, proud and beautiful civilization which the Irish stories reveal so much more fully, and with so much less admixture of foreign and medieval elements; just as, to reconstruct the Celtic pantheon at all, one must work by the light of all Aryan mythology. In the days of Pwyll Pen Annwn there was little distinction between Cymro and Gwyddel, or between the Clan of Hu Gadarn in the Island of the Mighty, and the Family of Dana in Ireland. The Mabinogi, as it comes down to us, and as it appears in Lady Guest's wonderful translation, remains such a classic, such a masterpiece of style, such a storehouse of ancient treasure, that it may be asked: What right has any one to imply that such and such an incident goes unrecorded in it, or is recorded incorrectly? But one must remember that the Mabinogi was very old before it was written down; that bards had told and retold these stories a thousand times between the days of their prechristian origin and the twelfth or thirteenth century when they were written in the form in which we have them. Would they have suffered no change during those ages? It is certain that they would; from being the record and exposition of a mythology, they would have become mainly a source of entertainment; their pristine purpose would have become obscured; their day star would have dwindled to a rushlight. Supposing we knew nothing of the Greek mythology, but what might have remained as a tradition with the troubadours? The deepest truths of religion and philosophy had their first recording for the instruction of the peoples, not in the form of treatise, essay, or disquisition, but as epics, sagas, and stories. I do not know what better form could be found for them. It is the soul of man that is the hero of the eternal drama of the world; "the Universe exists for the purposes of the soul." From the beginning of time, events, circumstances, and adventures are unfolding themselves about the human soul; it is weaving them about itself. Man enmeshes himself as in a web in the results of his own thought and action; and by his own action and thought he must make himself free. The Great Ones of old time knew well that there is a "small old path that leads to freedom": a path of action, of thought, of wisdom. They related the Story of the Soul; leading it from the first freedom of Gwynfyd, down into the depths of Abred and incarnation, to the gates of that path of freedom, and then onward to the heights. They that had ears to hear, heard; and found in the great stories the indication of the path for themselves; as for the multitude, there was entertainment for them; and the mere outward teaching of the sagas would be their incitement to virtue, to courage, to a sound, generous, and magnanimous life. The stories long survived the time when their real meaning had been forgotten. Druidism, as a state religion, might not withstand the legions and proscription of the Caesars; if it lived on, it was in secret. But the druid-born stories that had been the amusement of the chieftains in the evenings of winter; that were for inculcating the traditional virtues in the young men and maidens — there would not cease to be a need for them. The winter evenings were no shorter than of old; the virtues taught by the new religion were of another order; the feast times would still be incomplete without bards and story-tellers; and these must have their old capital to draw upon: they must have the outward and visible sign, if not the inward and spiritual grace.