The Astronomy of Math vab Mathonwy (part 1)

The Astronomy of Math vab Mathonwy (part 1)

Bear-born son of the Little Bear, King of the North

'Math son of Mathonwy was lord over Gwynedd'.

These, the first words of the Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi, are the first major indication that the characters in this medieval Welsh tale are being sourced from graphic images of the classical constellation figures which adorned the celestial planispheres or star charts of the Middle-ages. I believe that these introductory words are a reference to two specific constellations and that they were intended to give readers or an audience their bearings. The word bearings is an old navigational term which stems from the fact that the two northern celestial bear constellations Ursa Major and Ursa Minor are circumpolar, the Greater Bear points to the Pole Star and the Lesser Bear contains the Pole Star and neither constellation sets below the horizon. Hence 'North' on old maps is written Septentriones referring to the seven stars of these respective Bears, also recall 'Arctic' meaning 'of the Bears'. To know this is 'to know your bearings'. I think that the author of The Fourth Branch had in mind the most northerly constellation figures of Cepheus the King and Ursa Minor the Little Bear when he first drew the figures of Math vab Mathonwy and Goewin his footholder.1  How have I arrived at this conclusion? To answer that question we need first to establish the known facts concerning Math vab Mathonwy and his footholder Goewin.

Math vab Mathonwy

Professor W. J. Gruffydd's analysis of the name Math vab Mathonwy is as follows: He equates Irish Mathgen with Math. 'Math belongs to a well known order of names...deriving from animals; Gaulish Artogenos, "son of bear" and Matugenos "Son of the Bear" are examples...The Irish Mathgen [bear-born], if borrowed into Welsh, would be written in Old Welsh Mathgen, and in Medieval Welsh Mathyen or Mathien. It will by this time be clear that the name Math is a corruption of Mathien.'...'Speculation as to his father's (or mother's ) name, Mathonwy, must be largely a matter of conjecture. It has been suggested by Professor Zimmer that it is an adaptation of the Irish name Mathgamnai, anglicised Mahoney. In the Irish Bible, as de Jubainville points out, the Hebrew do^b, "bear," is translated mathghamhuin, which literally means a "bear cub." Whether there be any connection between these words and Mathonwy it is difficult to say‘. However, he concluded (and other major scholars, such as Rachel Bromwich have concurred): " We may then translate Math(ien) vab Mathonwy as "Bear(kin) son of Bearling…" Bearling meaning 'bear cub' or 'little bear'. On the face of it this presents us with a very strange idea indeed; it is easy to imagine a powerful warrior king in an heroic age society being named as "Son of the Bear", but what would it have meant to be named “Son of the Bear Cub“ or “Son of the Little Bear”? As a patronymic (or matronymic), it appears, at least on the surface, more demeaning than heroic.

Goewin

A peculiar characteristic of Math is that he must have his feet in the croth, literally ‘womb’ but usually translated ‘fold’, of a virgin’s lap in order that he may live. The name of this virginal footholder is Goewin which translates as 'the Brave One'. This odd situation represents another departure from the norm because although medieval Welsh law provided space for the king’s foot holder, the position appears to have been an exclusively male one. In the normal run of affairs the presence of the foot holder elevated the king above ordinary men but Math's situation makes him beholden to the footholder, his life depends upon the presence of his virginal female footholder. Therefore, rather than being elevated by his footholder Math's status is, it would seem, diminished; his power to act in the world is thus severely curtailed and in consequence Math is unable to do a circuit of the country (gylch y wlat). The picture emerging here is, therefore, a static one, the Son of the Little Bear and his 'brave' footholder are effectively immobile, held symbolically at the centre of the land. This status quo can only be altered, we are told, in the event of a war.

Hutlath

Although Math is not the principal character in the Fourth Branch, he is literally, as well as figuratively, a central character. Events occur around him and because of him, sometimes through the agency of his hutlath or magic-wand which he will use to transform his nephews into wild beasts and whom he forces to mate and have human offspring, to test the virginity of his niece and to create a flower-faced woman not 'from the race that is on the earth'. As regards Math‘s ‘wand’ or hutlath, Gruffydd alludes to the poem Daronwy from The Book of Taliesin in which it is stated that:

"Few there are who know where

the magic wand of Mathonwy grows in the wood"

Whatever the confusion here between Math and Mathonwy, it is certain that "Mathonwy like Math is distinguished as the possessor of a magic wand", and that knowledge of the whereabouts of this wand is, it is intimated, secret or privileged information.

Draco

Though it is not mentioned in the tale, the symbol for the Gwynedd royal house has, since post Roman times, been that of a dragon and this would have been common knowledge to both the author of Math vab Mathonwy and his audience. It is widely considered that the red dragon which adorns the national flag of Wales may have had its origins in the so called Draco standards of the Romans. Following their withdrawal this Draco standard was apparantly adopted by the Welsh kings of Aberffraw symbolising the continuation of Roman style administration. As early as the sixth century Gildas, in De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae, names the Gwynedd king Maelgun Maglocunos Draco. Around the seventh century, it became known as the Red Dragon of Cadwaladr, (king of Gwynedd from 655 to 682), and it is recorded in the Historia Brittonum (Nennius) as being the symbol of Gwynedd at least as early as the 8th century.

Caer Dathyl

The whereabouts of Caer Dathyl, Math's principal abode, has long been a matter of speculation. It has variously been associated with Tre'r Ceiri, Pen Y Gaer, Caer Engan, Caernarfon, Pen Dinas, Craig Y Dinas and Y Foel or perhaps it no longer exists because it has fallen into the sea. Gruffydd derives Dathyl from the more correct form Dathal or Tathal, a Welsh adaption of the Irish Tuathal. I wondered what this word Tuathal meant and what it's origin was. I do not having any formal education in etymology and so I gleaned most of the following from a web site for scholars and students of Old Irish called Old Irish-L Archives.
There are two words to consider:
1. Tuath translates as people, tribe, nation. As in the Tuatha de Danaan - the people of (the goddess) Danu, (cognate with Welsh 'Don' the sister of Math).
2. Tuath- (used in compounds) translates as northern, left, on the left; consequently perverse, wicked, evil, sinister.
Whether the two words are related seems to be an open question. Macbain gives Rhys' suggestion that Scots Gaelic -tuath- - 'north' may come from do-huth < to-su - 'turning to' the root being -su- 'turn'. Interestingly, in view of Math's ability to hear even the quietest whisper, Pokorny suggests that tuath comes from proto Indo- European teu - 'to listen, to observe'. He also noticed middle Welsh tut - 'magician' cognate with middle Irish tuathhaid -'magician'. The history of this word then carries these meanings: 'the people', 'of the north', 'turning (to the left?)', 'listening', 'magician'. To what extent the author and his audience where aware of these connotations is open to speculation, but it must be remembered that most, if not all monks were at least bilingual and some were trilingual. In Wales, it would not have been unusual for a monk to be fluent in Welsh, Latin and Irish or even in English and French. Moreover, there was in fact a great deal of interest in etymology, (however inexact) as is evidenced by the popularity of Isadore of Seville's etymological encyclopaedia.

Royal Family

Finally, mention should be made here, concerning three of Math's close relatives all of whom have traditional associations in Wales with the Ptolemaic constellations. Cassiepeia (the wife of Cepheus) is known in Wales as Llys Don, Don is the sister of Math. Corona Borealis is known in Wales as Caer Aranrhod, Aranrhod is the neice of Math. The Milky Way is known in Wales as Caer Gwydion, Gwydion is the nephew of Math. (I will show later that the author intended that Aranrhod represented Andromeda, the daughter of Cepheus).

Grouping all of these characteristics together it is clear that this is an exact description of the constellation figure of Cepheus (son of Cepheus or sometimes of Belos ). A comparison may be tabulated thus:

Math is the king of the 29 cantrefs of the North. Cepheus is the King of the 27 constellations of the Northern Hemisphere.

Math vab Mathonwy means 'Bear-born son of Little Bear'. Cepheus appears to be the son of the Little Bear.

It is true of both Math and Cepheus that their "feet are in the fold of a virgin's womb".

The name of the footholder is Goewin – 'the Brave One'. The (brave) Little Bear is known as the 'king's footstool'.

Math cannot make a circuit of the land. Cepheus cannot make a circuit of the sky.

Math carries a powerful magic wand. Cepheus carries a royal sceptre.

The emblem of Gwynedd is the Red Dragon. Cepheus sits on the Dragon throne, Draco.

Math's sister is Don, in Welsh tradition Cassiepeia. Cassiepeia in Greek tradition is the wife of Cepheus.

Math's niece is Aranrhod, in Wales Corona Borealis Corona Borealis is a Northern constellation

Math has in his family tree Beli Mawr and Don. Cepheus son of Cepheus has in his family tree Belos and Danae.

I am led to several conclusions:

1.The name Math vab Mathonwy, 'Bear-kin son of Bearling', can now be explained as a descriptive term for the graphic figure of the constellation Cepheus with respect to the figure of the constellation Ursa Minor, i.e. Ursa Minor, (the bearling) appears to have given birth to Cepheus, the King of the North. What seemed at first to be a puzzlingly demeaning name can now be seen as a good technical description of the appearance of the Northern-most of the circumpolar constellations. Gruffydd’s assertion, (and both Rachel Bromwich and Marged Haycock concurred) that Math vab Mathonwy belongs to that class of ‘nonsense’ names such as are found in Culhwch and Olwen (‘Suck son of Sucker‘, ‘Ear son of Listener’, ‘Aim son of Aimer’ etc.) is therefore a red herring. Indeed this whole notion of male animals giving birth to humans is a central and deeply embedded theme of this tale, and it may be that it was intended to be an amusing irony that it was Math (Bear-born) who inflicted the bestial punishments upon Gilvaethwy and Gwydion which resulted in the ‘three sons of Gilvaethwy’, Bleiddwn - Wolf-born, Hyddwn - Stag-born and Hychtwn - Swine-born.

2.The peculiarity of Math that he must have his feet in the 'fold of a virgin's womb' can thus be recognised in this configuration. Geowin - ‘the brave one’ is therefore to be identified with the constellation figure of Ursa Minor which has been called 'the king's footstool', for obvious reasons.

3. Furthermore, we find here not just the source for these two characters but also the inspiration for the narrative foil which will drive the events of the first episodes of Math vab Mathonwy.

Confronted with this image of the wand waving king of the north who appears to be emerging from the womb, of Ursa Minor and apparently seated next to a dragon, I do not doubt that a medieval audience to this tale would have had any difficulty in identifying the constellation Cepheus with Math vab Mathonwy, (Bear-born Son of the Little Bear), lord of Gwynedd (the king of the North) whose feet are resting on the croth of his virginal footholder.. Note that close by sits his sister Don (Cassiepeia).

Notes

1.Later in the tale, I will argue, when Goewin is pregnant and Math makes her his wife, she can be seen as representing Ursa Major the Greater Bear, in the same way that Zeus made Callisto the queen of Heaven.