The Dream of Emperor Maxen

The Dream of Emperor Maxen is the fifth tale from The Mabinogion collection and follows Emperor Maxen of Rome, based on the historical Magnus Maximus. While Maximus led a rebel host against the Roman emperor to usurp the throne, the opposite is presented in this chapter. Maxen falls asleep and experiences a dream. The grandeur of Britain is inflated through the language, expressing everything to be the largest, the greatest, the most impressive or beautiful, despite Europe having much larger mountains and fleets during the era. The dream takes him to a mysterious, beautiful castle and within it is an old man, his sons and his daughter. In the dream, Maxen embraces her as a lover and wakes up. He falls into despondency without this dream woman, but sends out messengers to find the place he described to them from his dreams. When, eventually, the mysterious, majestic land is revealed to be Britain, he sails forth to conquer it. He took the land from Beli, son of Manogan, and travels to Wales, to Aber Saint. There, he finds Eudaf Hen, son of Caradog who mentioned in The Second Branch of the Mabinogion. His daughter is Elen and they marry. He builds forts upon the island, and gives the island over to Caradog. Elen builds great roads and the armies of Britain follow her. In his absence, Rome has declared a new emperor who tells Maxen not to return. Historically, this would be Gratian, but he was emperor before Magnus, and Magnus was the usurper. He marches on Rome, conquering lands on his way, until he lays siege to the city. The siege lasts for a year before Elen's brothers, Cynan and Gadeon, arrive. They create ladders to scale the walls and ignore the designated dinner period that the Romans on both sides had adhered to. The British warriors took the city and handed the throne back to Maxen. He rewarded them with their own host to conquer lands with. When the two brothers were old and weary, Gadeon returned to Britain, while Cynan settled new lands, referring to Brittany. He cut out the tongues of the wives of the British men, so that their own language would not be corrupted.

The Dream
Maxen Wledig (based on the historical figure of Magnus Maximus ) was the wise and fair Emperor of Rome. During a hunt, in which he was accompanied by thirty kings under his command, he grew exhausted from the long hunt with so many people. He fell to sleep, as his chamberlains used shields to keep off the sun. As he slept, he began to dream. He travelled along a river valley and came to the tallest mountain he had ever known. From the mountain sprang many rivers that ran to the sea. When he came to a great, wide river mouth he saw a magnificent city there with towers of many different colours. Aside the city was a large fleet, larger than any he'd seen, and amongst them was one special ship with planks of alternating gold and silver. There was a bridge made of whalebone from the ship to the shore and he dreamt that he was walking along that bridge and onto the ship. He took command of the ships and sailed for the fairest land he had ever seen, with terrain alien to him. He came to a great mountain, where there was a river and a beautiful castle. Within the castle, the roof was tiled with gold and the walls were of sparkling stones. The floor was solid gold and the couches were also gold, while the tables were silver. Upon one of the couches were two auburn-haired lads playing gwyddbwyll (a chess-like boardgame ). The board itself was silver, but its pieces were red gold. The boys wore brocaded, black silk with frontlets (decorative headband) of red and decorated with alternating rubies and white gems. They wore boots of new Cordovan leather (leather produced in the Spanish city of Córdoba, especially for shoemaking ) and bands of red gold. At the end of the hall was a grey-haired man sat upon a throne of ivory with two eagles of red gold. He wore many bracelets on his arms and rings upon his fingers. He had a gold torque (symbol of authority for Celtic cultures) around his neck and a gold frontlet on his head. In front of him was another gwyddbwyll board of silver and with a bar of gold, he was carving the pieces.

There was also a maiden seated upon a chair of red gold. Looking upon her beauty was as difficult as looking at the light of the sun. She wore a shift (loose-fitting dress) of white silk and a clasp of red gold at the breast. She had a surcoat (outer garment) of gold brocaded silk and a mantle (cape/cloak). She also had a frontlet of red gold with rubies and white gems, but also pearls with imperial stones. She wore a girdle (belt) of red gold around her waist. He walked over to the maiden and they embraced before he sat beside her. They cuddled there, cheek-on-cheek, but the sounds of dogs, clashing shields and spears, and the stomping of horses woke him from this dream. But with the lingering memory of this woman, he was in love. This caused him to fall into depression as he returned to Rome.

The Island of Britain
He became a recluse and would not join his friends in their revelry, whether drinking or singing. Instead, he would sleep often, so that he could continue to see this woman in his dreams. As this went on, his chamberlain, who was a king in Romani (meaning Rome ), informed Maxen that he was being openly criticised for his current behaviour. In response, he called a meeting of wise men to explain his condition. They advised that he sent messengers away for three years to the three regions of the world (meaning Asia, Africa and Europe ) to find this mysterious land of his dreams. Messengers were sent, but after one year they returned with no news of the land nor the lady. More messengers were sent, but they also came back with no news. The Romani king suggested that Maxen should go hunting in the direction that he remembered going in his dream, either towards the east or the west. He went to the river and remembered he travelled westwards. Thirteen messengers were sent forth. They wore their capes to the front to show to all that they were messengers and not to be harmed, even in warring states. They discovered the mountain that appeared to touch the sky, and the river mouth that they recognised from Maxen's descriptions. They found the castle with the many-coloured towers, as well as the large fleet. They accessed the largest ship that they knew from their lord's words, which took them across the sea to the island of Britain. They travelled the land until they came to a land known as Eryri (Snowdonia ), and recognised the rugged terrain that Maxen had told them of. Eventually they found the Island of Môn (Anglesey ) and then Arfon (a cantref, and the Welsh shoreline facing Anglesey). They saw Aber Saint ("aber" meaning estuary of the "River Saint", which is Afon Seiont) and the castle at the mouth of the river. Within, they saw the boys playing gwyddbwyll, the grey-haired king and the maiden. They knelt before her and addressed her as the Empress of Rome. They explained that the Emperor of Rome wished to marry her as he had dreamt of her and was unable to live without her. Though she did not wish to doubt their words, she also had no reason to believe them either. She stated that the emperor must fetch her himself if he truly wished to marry her. They rushed back to Rome and pushed their horses to their limit, forcing the messengers to buy new ones when those horses failed. They reached the emperor and promised to guide him to the lady he loved, and they were each rewarded for their service.

Maxen arrived in Britain with his army and he forcibly took possession of the land from Beli, son of Manogan, and his sons. He travelled with his guides to Aber Saint, where he confirmed that this was the castle he had dreamt of. He went inside and found Cynan and Gadeon, sons of Eudaf. Eudaf himself was the old, grey-haired man carving game pieces, and was son of Caradog (son of Bran the Blessed). And the woman he loved best, Elen. That night they slept together and come morning, as he confirmed she had been a virgin, she named her bridal fee (the use of the bridal fee, called agweddi, would be the expectation of allowance to the wife should the marriage fail within seven years with justified separation. Here, it is confused by the author with cowyll, the acknowledgement of the bride's virginity, the 'morning gift' ). She requested that the island of Britain be granted to her father, from the North Sea to the Irish Sea, and the three adjacent islands (Wight, Man and either Orkney or Anglesey ). She requested that a castle be built for her at Arfon, as the capital of Britain (Caer Saint, the capital of the cantref of Arfon, where the historical Roman fort Segontium stood. This is close to today's more famous Caernarfon Castle ). He agreed to the terms and he had soil brought from Rome to Britain so that he would feel healthier and he could sit and walk around in this soil. He then had two further forts built in her honour, Caerllion (Caerleon in Gwent ) and Caerfyrddin (Camarthen, also known as "Merlin's Fort", where the historical Roman fort Moridunum was called Myrddin. Named from "myrdd" meaning 'host', though Geoffrey Monmouth links this placename with Merlin in History of the Kings of Britain ). From Caerdyrddin, the emperor hunted atop Y Freni Fawr (one of the highest hills of the Preseli hills ) and the camp there remained as Cadair Faxen. Elen also took to construction orders and had great roads built, which came to be called Ffyrdd Elen Luyddog, as few could command such large armies in Britain but her (today the major Roman road running north-to-south is still known as "Helen's Causeway").

Conquest of Rome
It was customary for a Roman emperor of the day to remain in a country and not return to Rome if they remain away for seven years (a narrative construction that loosely ties to Maximus' conquest of Rome) and a new emperor was declared. This new emperor sent a threatening letter to tell Maxen not to return, but Maxen sent a letter in return that he would do as he pleased. He travelled with his host to Rome and, on his way, conquered France and Burgundy and all nations in his path. He laid siege to Rome itself for a year. Elen's brothers, Cynan and Gadeon, joined Maxen with a small, but powerful and well-trained fighting force. Upon witnessing Maxen's Roman soldiers attempt another assault on the city, Cynan decided a more cunning tactic was required. The walls of the city were measured and Cynan sent men to craft ladders. The two opposing sides would cease warfare each noon to eat dinner. The men of Britain, however, ate and drank in the morning instead, so while the Romans ate, the soldiers of Britain climbed their ladders and attacked. The new emperor didn't have time to prepare for the attack and was killed. Three days were spent in bloody battle, until conquered. Maxen approached the city and the brothers allowed him within and to take the throne. As a reward, Maxen granted both brothers a large host to conquer whatever lands they pleased. They marched across the lands, killing every man they came upon in towns and cities but allowed the women to live. They marched out as boys, but came to their end as grey-bearded men. The brothers decided what each should do. Gadeon, along with many of the host, returned to Britain, but Cynan and his group remained in their new land. Cynan decided to cut out the tongues of their conquered women, so that only the British men could speak on without their language being corrupted by their foreign women. These men were called Llydaw men. In times to come, others speaking this old language would return to the island of Britain (a reference to the founding of Brittany and an explanation for their use of the British language ).