Second Branch of the Mabinogi

The Second Branch of the Mabinogi refers to the second chapter of The Mabinogion, following the First Branch, in a series of the Four Branches of the Mabinogion. The first four tales of the Mabinogion are strung together into this four-tale collection within the whole. This branch follows the exploits of Bendigeidfran, also known as Brân the Blessed, who is king of Britain. He is approached by the king of Ireland, Matholwch, who wishes to marry Brân's sister, Branwen, to unite the island. It is agreed upon, but during Matholwch's stay in Wales, Brân's quarrelsome half-brother Efnysien maims the horses of Matholwch. In compensation, Brân offers the Irish king the Cauldron of Rebirth, which had come from two Irish giants named Llasar Llaes Gyfnewid and his wife Cymidei Cymeinfoll. Matholwch himself had tried to kill the two giants when his nobles threatened to rebel against him if the two were not gotten rid of. They had been welcomed in Wales and gave him the cauldron. When in Ireland, Branwen gave birth to a son, Gwern, however the nobles rumoured of the great insult over the horses in Britain and wanted Branwen punished on behalf of the British insult. She was made a maid in the kitchen, where she was beaten by the butcher. She sent a sparrow to her brother, and Britain marched on Ireland, leaving Britain in the care of Caradog. Matholwch agreed to make Gwern king of Ireland in exchange for peace, but the ever pestilent Efnysien threw his nephew into the fire, sparking sudden war. The Irish used the Cauldron of Rebirth to revive their soldiers and Efnysien, seeing that his actions would destroy the British, feigned death amongst the Irish corpses and was thrown into the cauldron, where he stretched out and destroyed himself and the cauldron. With everyone save a few dead, Brân himself was mortally wounded by a poisoned spear to the foot. He demanded that his remaining seven followers severe his head and bury it in London facing France to protect the land. During their leave, however, they learnt that the land had been taken from Caradog by the treacherous Cadwallon. Branwen died from sorrow, while the seven nobles took the head to the magical island of Gwales, where they remained unchanged for eighty years until they finally buried the head at London. Five pregnant women remained in Ireland, whose five sons inherited and split the land between them.

The Marriage of Branwen and the Honour-Price
Bendigeidfran (meaning Brân the Blessed, Brân meaning "crow" ), son of Llŷr, was crowned king of Britain and his seat was in London. He was considered to be a giant, unable to fit even within a house. The story opens with Brân in Harlech (Harlech), in Ardudwy (which was a commote, a division of land, on the coast of Cardigan Bay .), where he sat upon the rock of Harlech with his brother, Manawydan. With them were their two brothers from his mother's side (half-brothers), Nysien and Efnysien, along with other noblemen that served King Bendigeidfran. The four brothers shared the same mother, Penarddun, daughter of Beli, son of Mynogan, while Brân and Manawydan were sons of Llŷr, Nysien and Efnysien were sons of Euroswydd. Nysien was a good man of diplomacy and peace, able to bring bitter enemies to friendship, while Efnysien would cause loving brothers to fight. As they sat upon the rock, they saw thirteen ships sailing towards them from southern Ireland and the king ordered knights to investigate their intent. As the ships approached, a shield was raised, pointing upwards, in a display of peace and they alighteded on the shore with boats to greet the king, who sat atop the rock above.

It was revealed that Matholwch, king of Ireland, had arrived himself to seek union between Ireland and Britain by marrying the sister of Brân, Branwen (likely originally Bronwen, meaning "white breast" ). Court was held the next day and the marriage of Matholwch and Branwen arranged to be held at Aberffraw (one of the chief courts of Gwynedd, today Anglesey .). Branwen was renowned as a great beauty and deemed one of the Three Chief Maidens of Britain. Matholwch and his retinue travelled northwards over sea, whilst Brân and his retinue went overland until they met at Aberffraw and held celebrations in tents, as Brân was unable to fit inside the houses. The two retinues were billetted far and wide, across the coast of Aberffraw. The quarrelsome Efnysien, half-brother of Brân, came upon the site that Matholwch's horses were kept. This is the moment that Efnysien discovered that his half-sister, Branwen, was now wedded to the Irish king, Matholwch, and grew enraged that such a beautiful maiden be given away without his permission. He then proceeded to brutalise the horses by slicing their lips down to their teeth, cutting off their ears and tails and sliced their eyelids to the bone, thus maiming them beyond use.

When the news of this great insult reached the ears of Matholwch, he grew puzzled that the British would do such a thing after they had given him such a fine wife. He was, however, persuaded that the Irish retinue should retire to their ships and return to Ireland. When Bendigeidfran learnt that his honoured guest was leaving without permission nor announcement, he sent two messengers after the Irish monarch. The messengers were Iddig, son of Anarog, and Hyfaidd Hir. Matholwch explained to the messengers the dishonour he has been given, but also shared his confusion on the matter, and the messengers return to their lord. Brân did not wish for the Irish king to leave in such a state of anger and thus sent three messengers to, once again, speak with Matholwch; one, his own brother, Manawydan, Hyfaidd Hir and Unig Glew Ysgwydd. He promised Matholwch that he would replace each maimed horse with a new mount of equal quality. He would also grant the honour-price (compensation for an insult .) of a rod of silver, as thick as his little finger and as tall as himself, and a plate of gold as broad as his face. He asked that the messengers explain what manner of man Efnysien was, and how his status as half-brother prevented Brân from taking action. Though the council of Matholwch was to accept the offer and attend a banquet with the British monarch again, Matholwch was in poor spirits during the dinner as he felt he had received far too little compensation for the slight given to him. Noting his ally's distemper, Brân offered to increase the compensation. He would grant Matholwch the Cauldron of Rebirth. Should a deceased person be put within the cauldron, they would rise again alive and well, though they will be mute and incapable of speech. This raised the mood of Matholwch and he was soon given the rest of the promised compensation. The foals were given to Matholwch in a commote that was renamed Talebolion in honour of the exchange ("tâl" meaning "payment", "ebolion" meaning "foals". This in-narrative etymology is disputed ). When Matholwch asked Bendigeidfran how he obtained the cauldron, the British king relayed the tale of how he met Llasar Llaes Gyfnewid, who arrived in Britain from Ireland with his wife, Cymidei Cymeinfoll, after they escape the white-hot iron house. Matholwch recognised the pair and offered explanation from his own perspective on the matter of the iron house. He explained that he first met them as they approached him in Ireland from the Lake of the Cauldron. Llasar was a giant man with blonde-red hair and carried the cauldron on his back, while his wife was double the man's size even and was pregnant. They explained the child would be born a fully-armed warrior in just a month and the king offered to keep the couple and help them. This lasted one year peaceably, but after that the people of Ireland began to resent the giants as the giants were belligerent and insulting to the noblemen of the land. Eventually, the nobles approached Matholwch and demanded that he had to choose; keep the giants, or keep his kingdom. Matholwch decided to leave it to his council to decide how to deal with the giants, who refused to leave and could fight the armies of Ireland due to their great size and strength. The council decided to craft an iron-house and filled its rafters with charcoal. They invited the giants, and their children, to dwell within the iron-house and whilst the family were drunk from celebrations, the smiths set alight the charcoal and used bellows to fuel the flames. The family within waited until the iron was white-hot and then Llasar used his shoulder to smash down the wall. His wife, Cymidei, managed to escape after him, but their children died in the fire. The couple then reached Bendigeidfran in Britain. Unlike the Irish nobles, the Welsh nobles welcomed these Irish giants and they, and their rapidly grown children, dispersed throughout Wales where they improved every settlement they came to with craftsmanship.

Branwen in Ireland
When Matholwch returned to Ireland with his beautiful Welsh wife, Branwen, they went to the city of Abermenai, where they received a great welcome and Branwen showered her new Irish subjects with grand gifts of jewels. During the next year of happiness, Branwen gave birth to a son, Gwern, who was to be fostered and raised to become the very best of men in Ireland. The second year, however, rumours of the insult given to Matholwch in Wales by Branwen's half-brother, Efnysien, circulated. Matholwch's own foster brothers openly mocked him and the court was in an uproar that punishment upon Branwen was needed. She was forced from her husband's chamber and made into cook for the court, where she would be beaten across the head every day by the butcher (one of the greatest offences to be given to a queen by Welsh laws, and one of the 'Three Unfortunate Blows', and this marks Branwen with the Calumniated Wife motif .) The nobles then forced the king to accept an embargo upon Welsh ships and trade, and any Welsh that set foot onto Irish soil would be imprisoned. This continued for three years, but during those three years Branwen reared a small starling from her kitchen and taught the bird to speak. She told the creature of her woes and attached a note to its leg before sending it to fly to Britain in search of her brother to tell the king what had befallen her. The starling found Bendigeidfran in Caer Saint in Arfon. Upon reading the note, Bendigeidfran, Brân the Blessed, summoned the full levies of the one-hundred and fifty-four districts to attend him. The council agreed that the entire island muster against Matholwch of Ireland, leaving seven leaders behind, with Caradog, Brân's own son, in command of the island. The seven leaders were left in Edeirnion, where a township was renamed to Saith Marchog ("The Hill of the Seven Horsemen" ). The seven men were; Caradog (one of the Three Chief Stewards of Britain ), Hyfaidd Hir, Unig Glew Ysgwydd, Iddig son of Anarog Walltgrwn, Ffodor son of Erfyll, Wlch Minasgwrn, Llashar son of Llashar Llaesgyngwyd, Pendaran Dyfed (Pendaran Dyfed was a foster-father to Pryderi at the end of the First Branch of the Mabinogi, but the writer of the Mabinogion makes an inconsistency here by stating that Pendaran was a young lad during these events .). The writer of the Mabinogion explains that the sea between Ireland and Wales was not so wide in the past, as it is now, allowing the giant Brân to wade across the sea and two rivers, named Lli and Archan, while his soldiers took to their ships (There are several references to the sea claiming the land in Welsh tradition, including this example .).

A House for Bendigeidfran
Farmers on the shore saw an unusual sight approaching Ireland and reported to the king their misinterpretation of the vision; explaining they saw a mountain, with great lakes and accompanied by trees. Matholwch deemed this vision most strange, but responded that Branwen may have an explanation and she is summoned. When the messengers to Branwen refer to her as "lady", she corrected them that she is no longer and lady, referring to her maltreatment. She proceeded to explain that the armies of The Isle of the Mighty (a term for Britain) was approaching; the trees were the masts of the ships, the mountain her giant brother wading through the sea and the lakes were his angry eyes, set upon Ireland. With this news, the noblemen of Ireland advised King Matholwch to retreat across the River Liffey (still the River Liffey today), which was full of lodestones that would destroy any ship attempting to cross.

When the British reached the river, the knights were stumped, but Brân the Blessed said, "He who is a leader, let him be a bridge"; referring to himself (this is a common Welsh proverb that the original writer attempted to explain through the actions of Brân, taking the proverb literally .). Brân laid down and hurdles were placed upon him so that his soldiers were able to cross the river (possibly another attempt at explanation by the writer, this time referring to Baile Átha Cliath, name for Dublin in modern Irish, meaning "The Town of the Ford of the Hurdles" .), before Brân then crossed himself. Immediately, they were met by messengers from Matholwch, who addressed Brân as kin, due to their marriage, and pleaded that he meant nothing but good fortune for Brân the Blessed. The king vowed to invest the Irish king unto his son by Branwen, Gwern, the nephew of Brân, and that he would make due recompense for the injury done to Branwen. Brân was not enthusiastic and sent the messengers away that he would give no response to this claim, though he would take council with his noblemen. The messengers gave the message to Matholwch that he would need to prepare a better response for Brân would not listen at all to what they said. The council of Matholwch devised a plan, similar to that they made for dealing with the giants Llasar Llaes Gyfnewid and Cymidei Cymei, to fashion a huge house that would fit the giant Brân within, who had never been able to fit inside any building and would find this a great boon, and that Matholwch's kingship is at the disposal of Bendigeidfran and that Matholwch would pay homage to the king of Britain. Brân accepted this deal on the advice of his sister, who feared that the land would be laid waste for her sake. The Irish plot, however, was to hang upon every column of the hundred-columned house a hide bag and within each bag was an armed man.

Ahead of the British, entered the anti-hero Efnysien, who had maimed Matholwch's horses that led to Branwen's punishment, into the house. He approached the bag and said, aloud, "what have we here?" to which the Irishman within replied, "flour, friend". Efnysien groped the bag until he found the man's head and proceeded to crush the skull until he felt brain matter. He went around the house and crushed the skulls of every Irishman hidden in their bag, as each one responded with "flour, friend". The final bag gave the same response, but as he proceeded to crush the skull of the man, he felt armour. Yet he refused to let go until the man was crushed within his own helmet. Following all of this, Efnysien proceeded to sing an englyn (meaning a lyrical poem, historically written with three lines. This uses cynghanedd, a complex rhyme scheme with repeating consonants. This poem uses the word "blawd", which means "flour", "blossom/flower" and also "hero", ergo he is punning the word "blawd" as "flour" and "hero" .);

"There is in this bag a different kind of flour,

Champions, warriors, attackers in battle,

Against fighters, prepared for combat."



The Battle and the Cauldron of Rebirth
After which, the warriors of both Britain and Ireland entered and the two sides appeared to be reconciled. Gwern was invested as king of Ireland and he went around the room to meet with all of the nobles, including his uncles; Brân the Blessed, king of Britain, Manawydan and their half-brother Nysien. Efnysien, the remaining uncle, called over his nephew, which Gwern obediently did. Efnysien, boy in his arms, admitted to the child that he was about to commit a crime so callous, the household could never suspect the act and then he tossed the boy by the ankle into the open fire. Branwen attempted to leap into the fire after her son, but was caught by her brother Brân with one arm, and with the other he grabbed his shield. He then named himself as "Morddwyd Tyllion" ("Morddwyd" meaning "thigh" and "Tyllion" meaning "large", literally referring to his size. However "Tyllion" can also mean "pierced", an injury he sustains in the ensuing battle, which connects him to the character of the Fisher King .) in warning to the Irish soldiers as everyone leapt to their feet with weapons drawn. Brân locked his sister, Branwen, between his shield and his shoulder, protecting her from being harmed and harming herself.

Battle now inevitable, the Irish stoked the fires beneath the Cauldron of Rebirth, the magical cauldron that Bendigeidfran himself had bestowed unto Matholwch, and, even as the battle ensued, the Irish tossed dead bodies into the cauldron, including those long dead, so that they could be reborn, crowding the house with Irish warriors to overwhelm the British. Seeing himself as the cause of all of this, Efnysien knew he had to put a stop to the cauldron, lest the British fall. He crept amongst the Irish corpses that were to be tossed into the cauldron and is swept up by two Irishmen who threw him into the pot. Once within he stretched out his limbs and shattered the cauldron into four chunks, but his own heart broke too. Though this was considered a victory for the British, only seven noblemen and Bendigeidfran himself escaped with their lives; Pryderi son of Pwyll, Manawydan brother of Bendigeidfran, Glifiau son of Taran, Taliesin, Ynog, Gruddieu son of Muriel, and Heilyn son of Gwyn Hen. Bendigeidfran, Brân the Blessed, had been wounded in the foot by a poisoned spear. With this shallow victory, and poison in his veins, Brân demanded that his friends cut off his head. He ordered them to take his head to the Gwynfryn (the "White Mount") in London (the site where now stands the Tower of London) and bury it facing France. He proposed that the journey will be long, they were to feast in Harlech for seven years, where the Birds of Rhiannon would sing to them. Then they should travel to the mystical isle of Gwales in Penfro (referring to Grassholm Island today ), where they would remain for eighty years. There they could remain so long as they did not open the door that faced Aber Henfeln (Bristol Channel today ), in the direction of Cornwall, and they would remain untouched by time, as would his head remain in tact. But if they opened that door, they would be forced to leave the magical island. Once they leave the island, they must make for London to bury the head.

Journey to London
After severing the head of their king, the seven men, and Branwen as the eighth person, arrived in Aber Alaw in Talebolion, where they rested. Branwen lamented that two kingdoms of men should be laid waste on her account and breathes a heavy sigh that marked her death from sorrow. She was buried on the bank (her grave is said to be in Llanddeusant, where there is a cairn named Bedd Branwen with urns.). The seven continue their journey and meet with travellers, whereupon they ask for news of the land. They explain that Caswallon, son of Beli, has claimed the throne of Britain and has been crowned king in London. He slew six of the men that King Brân had stationed on the island as its wardens by wearing a magical invisibility cloak and stabbing them in their backs. Only Caradog, Brân's son, was spared by Caswallon, who did not wish to kill his kinsman, his cousin's son, but Caradog died from sorrow, one of the Three People who Broke their Hearts from Sorrow along with Branwen. One escaped, however, Pendaran Dyfed, who was foster-father to Pryderi, one of the seven survivors of Ireland. The seven survivors then went to Harlech as bid by their king, where they feasted for seven years and listened to the wondrous birdsong of the birds of Rhiannon. Following this, they went to Gwales in Penfro where there stood a royal residence overlooking the ocean. There were three doors, with one door closed that faced Cornwall. They stayed in that place and when there they knew no sorrow or pain, nor age, nor want and the eighty years passed unnoticed to them in Otherworldly bliss. The head of their king, Bendigeidfran was as pleasant as if he were still alive and the group was known as The Assembley of the Noble Head. Heilyn son of Gwyn Hen, came to a decision to open the mysterious forbidden door, unable to stem his curiosity. He cursed "shame on my beard" (the beard was a symbol of Welsh masculinity and a taboo to curse such a thing ), knowing his ill decision but unable to contain it. He threw open the door and peered upon Aber Henfelen and all of the loss, pain and heartache that had befallen them suddenly rushed upon them and they mourned the loss of their king. Unable now to remain there, they went for London. They buried the head at Gwynfryn, marking one of the Three Fortunate Concealments (referring to other concealed burials ), and one of the Three Unfortunate Disclosures (referring to these concealments being disclosed, including the head of Brân by Arthur Pendragon .).

The Remains of Ireland
In Ireland, none were left alive save for just pregnant women who fled to a cave in the wilderness. The five women gave birth to five sons simultaneously. The five of them, upon adulthood, slept with each other's mother and proceeded to divide the land of Ireland between them (a reference to the Irish word of "cóiced", meaning "fifth", a word that came to mean province). They crossed the lands to seek where battles had taken place and plundered the gold and silver to become wealthy.

And so ends this branch of the Mabinogion.