Cacamwri, Osla Big-Knife and Llyn LLiwan.

Cacamwri, Osla Big-Knife and Llyn LLiwan.

 Serpens wrestling Ophiuchus along the celestial equator.

Orion the Hunter with his short-broad knife in its sheath and one foot in Zalos the 'Whirlpool' in the River Eridanus.

In Culhwch and Olwen during the frenzied events in the Severn estuary Cacamwri, the half brother of Hygwydd, is described as being dragged 'into the depths by two millstones', while his comrade Osla Big-knife is also dragged 'into the depths' by his sheath 'being full of water'.

Of all the harm that was got from seeking those treasures from him (Twrch Trwyth), worse was got trying to save the two men from drowning. Cacamwri, as he was being pulled up – two grindstones pulled him into the depths. As Osla Big-knife was running after the boar, his knife fell out of its sheath and he lost it; and his sheath thereafter being full of water, as he was dragged forth, it dragged him back into the depths.

In the 'catalogue of the court' the author prepared the way for this curious couplet full of loaded imagery by firstly associating Cacamwri's physical strength with the destructive power of an iron threshing flail:

Cacamwri, Arthur's servant – show him a barn, though there would be in it the work of fifty ploughs, he would thrash away with an iron flail until the boards, the rafters, and the side beams would be no better off than the fine oats in the heap of corn-sheaves at the bottom of the barn.

and secondly by describing Osla's big knife and sheath as being as big and as useful as a bridge:

Osla Big-Knife, who carried Bronllafn Ferylldan, ('Short-Broad-Breast-Blade'). When Arthur would come with his hosts to the edge of a torrent, a narrow place over the water would be sought, and the knife would be placed in its sheath across the torrent. Enough of a bridge would it be for the hosts of the Three Islands of Britain and its Three Adjacent Islands and their spoils.

The episode, then, has the feel of a previously rehearsed set piece; the author has carefully fed his readers a couple of lines in the 'catalogue' and the punchlines duly appear here in the 'achievements'. Cacamwri's propensity for extreme violence, compared in the 'catalogue' to the destructive power of an iron flail upon the threshing barn itself - until it was 'no better off than the fine oats in the heap of corn-sheaves at the bottom of the barn' - is now, ironically, the cause of his own undoing, for it is the weight of millstones, the instruments subsequently required to grind the oats and corn to flour, which drag him to the depths. Likewise Osla's vast knife and sheath, previously of great beneficial value as a bridge over water, are now the cause of his demise, as it is the sheath which drags him into the water.

It is possible to construe in this some sort of wisdom tale, however ironic, and if this were indeed true, then logic would lead us to believe that at this point in the tale both characters ought to have drowned, which is what the text appears to say, but this turns out not to be the case certainly as far as Cacamwri goes, for we will meet him again a little further on very much alive and, significantly, in a wrestling match. Osla Big-Knife, on the other hand, is not mentioned again, at least in this tale and it is therefore apparent that Cacamwri was successfully dragged up from the depths, despite the impression to the contrary, and that Osla was not.

There are instances of millstones in association with the sea or 'the depths' and with punishments in the New Testament, this from Mathew 18.5

And whoso shall receive onesuch little child in my name receiveth me. But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.

The British hagiographical legend of St. Perran appears to draw on this when it is said that Irish pagans tied him to a mill-stone and pushed him over a cliff-edge into the storm-tossed sea, which of course became instantly calm as the saint floated safely and righteously away to eventually land in Cornwall. A further reference comes from Revelations 18.21

And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, 'Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all'.

Whether any of this has anything to do with Cacamwri and Osla Big-Knife being dragged into the depths of the Severn is difficult to assess, although it would be hard to argue that the author of Culhwch, a man of considerable ecclestiastical learning, was not familiar with these biblical passages, he may even have known the St Perran legend judging by his evident familiarity with the Vitae of Welsh, Irish and Cornish saints (see below).

However that may be, there is another possible explanation for the presence, here, of these millstones. In their controversial book 'Hamlet's Mill' Heartha von Dechend and Giorgio de Santillana believe that they have identified a very widespread and apparantly very old tradition attested in many myths and legends throughout the world which suggests that mythic millwheels have to do with the slow eastwards motion of the vernal equinox through the ecliptic, (the path of the sun and the planets) at its junction with the celestial equator and known as the precession of the equinoxes. These tales consistently tell of the destruction of a Mill which sinks to the bottom of the sea and von Dechend and de Santillana have argued that this odd but persistent image stands for the dragging into the southern celestial hemisphere - 'The Depths' - of a succession of zodiacal constellations which have marked the sun's rising at the Vernal equinox through a series of 'World Ages'. A characteristic of these 'precessional myths' is that the destruction of this Mill, whoever the owner is at the time, marks the 'World's End' and the beginning of a new 'World Age'. These 'precessional myths' also relate that the sinking of this mill, with its millwheels, causes a whirlpool to come into existence at the place where it becomes submerged. Martin Bulgerin explains the idea in clear language:

Two very common mythic motifs concerning precession are the Whirlpool and the Millstone. The daily rotation of the Earth was viewed as the entire cosmos rotating about our heads, much like the rotating millstones used to grind grain. These cosmic millstones were not only a symbol of regularity and order in the universe, but were revered as the mills that ground out the fates of men and gods. The axis of this mill was the north pole itself, the creative center that represented divine power. Unfortunately, due to precession, the cosmic millstone sometimes broke its axle and fell into disrepair. Quite often, this broken mill fell into the ocean... disappearing into a giant whirlpool to the center of the earth. The whirlpool could be either pre-existing or caused by the falling millstone itself.

It seems remarkable then that the pulling of Cacamwri by two millstones into the depths occurs 'betwixt Aber Gwy and Llyn Lliwan', a miraculous lake which is described in the Mirabilia appended to the Historia Brittonom as a 'whirlpool'. Earlier in the tale, during the search for Mabon son of Modron, the Eagle of Gwernaby relates how he too was drawn 'down into the depths' by the Salmon of Llyn Llyw, just as Cacamwri and Osla were, which is again all very suggestive of whirlpools. It would be well to try to find the location of Llyn Lliwan with its whirlpool and its millwheels, though it has hitherto proved illusive.

The text of Culhwch regarding Twrch Trwyth's route to Llyn Lliwan is a little vague and several interpretations are possible, this has led, perhaps not surprisingly, to much confusion amongst all commentators of Culhwch as to the whereabouts of Llyn Lliwan. For instance, Bromwich and Evans thought that 'Evidently it was a lake or pool which over flowed into the Severn Estuary', maybe on the 'English shoreline in Gloucestershire', but most likely 'on the Welsh side of the Severn Estuary'...probably 'between the mouth of the Wye and Gloucester', but their map shows it at the mouth of the Usk! Bollard suggests tentatively, in his map, that Llyn Lliwan is about midway between Aber Gwy and Caer Loyw (Gloucester), whilst Jones & Jones have it midway between Aber Gwy and the mouth of the Usk. Tatlock suggested 'somewhere on the Llymon Brook which flows from Cross Ash in the middle of Gwent until it joins the River Trothy at Court Farm, but the etymology of Oper Lin Liuan makes this unlikely and Llyn Lliwan remains a mystery.'ⁱ In recent years The Caerwent Historic Trust has focussed attention on the Whirly Holes on the Neddern Brook near Caerwent, but even this promising theory suffers from the fact that these inland 'whirlpools' are far from the Mouth of the Wye and the waters of the Severn.

As mentioned, the site of Llyn Lliwan is described in the Mirabilia, in obscure and confusing language, and Geoffrey of Monmouth appears to closely paraphrase this in the Historia Regum Britaniae. One thing, however, is clear – the major inference in both texts is to the creation of the Severn Bore by a whirlpool in a 'bottomless pit' at the Mouth of the Severn. The two passages run as follows:

There is another wonder, which is Oper Linn Liuan. The mouth of this river flows into the Severn and when the Severn is flooded at high tide, and the sea likewise floods in the mouth of the aforesaid river and is received in the waters of the estuary like a whirlpool, and the sea does not rush up; there is a shore beside the river, and whenever the Severn is flooded at high tide this shore is not covered, and when the sea and the Severn recede, then lake Liuan throws up everything swallowed from the sea and that shore is covered, and like a mountain in one wave it throws up and breaks.

Arthur also told Hoel that there was a ... pool in the parts of Wales which are near the Severn. The local people call it Lin Ligua. When the sea flows into this pool, it is swallowed up as though in a bottomless pit; and as the pool swallows the waters, it is never filled in such a way as to overflow the edges of its banks. When the tide ebbs away, however, the pool belches forth the waters which it has swallowed, as high in the air as a mountain, and with them it then splashes and floods its banks. (Lewis Thorpe)

When, in Culhwch, the Eagle of Gwernabwy and Arthur's men visit the Salmon of Llyn Llyw at 'the place where he was', which must mean Llyn Llyw, it is implied there that the lake is to be found in the Severn itself, in the Salmon's assertion that 'With every tide I go up along the river until I come to the bend of the wall of Caer Loyw'. This makes best sense if we envisage this conversation as occurring in the Severn. Indeed, one doesn't have to look further than the banks of the river to find a 'lake', as the Severn itself contains many pools and lakes, for example: Salmon Pool, Count Lake, Plython Lake and Oldbury Lake are all within 4 miles up river from Aber Gwy, as are the suggestive Sturch Pill and Pighole Pill, both nearby inlets on the west bank of Severn. The description in the Mirabilia is also clear that the whirlpool is actually in the River Severn at the place where the incoming tide (the Bore) meets the river in full spate.

From Porth Clais to Beachley Point

With all this in mind it is worth now considering the route, as described in Culhwch, which leads to Llyn Lliwann and there is one interpretation which, it seems to me, fits the evidence contained in all of these texts whilst supplying a fitting denouement to the chase. It is also one which displays a general's, or at least an expert hunter's, grasp of the terrain, indeed I suspect that the author of Culhwch may have had access to a reasonably accurate map with which he worked out the entire route and especially the climax to the chase. ⁱⁱ

Arthur's plan is a clever one, he uses his (the author's) knowledge of the lie of the land to trap the Boar and force him into the Severn in a classic ambush:

Twrch Trwyth went from there to between Tawy and Euyas, and Arthur summoned all Cornwall and Devon unto him, to the estuary of the Severn, and he said to the warriors of this Island, "Twrch Trwyth has slain many of my men, but, by the valour of warriors, while I live he shall not go into Cornwall. And I will not follow him any longer, but I will oppose him life to life. Do ye as ye will." And he resolved that he would send a body of knights, with the dogs of the Island, as far as Euyas, who should return thence to the Severn, and that tried warriors should traverse the Island, and force him into the Severn.(Jones & Jones)

The strategy appears to have been to catch up with the Boar in Ewyas and then to chase him across the Wye into the toungue of land between there and the Severn, they then pressed him southwards through the Forest of Dean and towards the west bank of the Severn where the land narrows dramatically into the Beachley peninsula. He now has nowhere to go but into the Severn itself, he cannot attempt to cross the Wye because presumably Arthur and the rest of his men are lining the opposite bank, waiting in ambush, perhaps the men of Devon and Cornwall line the east bank of the Severn also.

According to the Welsh tale the place where the Twrch Trwyth was driven into the Severn is 'betwixt Llin Lliwan and Aber Gwy', and Bromwich and Evans note that in the Brut Dingestow the 'location of the tidal pool is here given as near the Welsh border'. They then assume that the border referred to is the old border, which Humphrey Lhwyd and later Camden insisted upon, of the Severn itself, which eventually led them to insinuate that the tidal reach of the Severn at Gloucester was somehow also in the frame. But this seems to be a mistake because there are two other Welsh borders to take into consideration. In 928AD king Aethelstan defeated the Welsh and established the River Wye as the border and about 150 years earlier in the latter half of the 8^th century Offa of Mercia built the southern section of his famous dyke, which began near Slimeroad Pill, someway below Sturch and Pighole Pills, and from there crossed the mile or so over to the Wye, effectively isolating the Beachley peninsula. It seems reasonable then that we should concentrate our search for Llyn Llywan, the tidal whirlpool, in this restricted area, namely somewhere off the Beachley peninsula south of Offa's Dyke, (which obviously contains the ancient Severn border but also these more recently established borders of Wales), and upstream of Aber Gwy.

And it is obvious from this that the large river pool known as 'Whirls End' is the place which the author of Culhwch thought of as the location of Llyn Llywanⁱⁱⁱ. Whirls End! The word 'Llywan' means 'Rudder' giving 'The Lake of the Rudder' and as any local boatman will tell you this is the one thing that is required in this most turbulent part of the Severn Estuary. The mystery is: why has nobody suggested this before?

Whirls End - Llyn Llywan

As mentioned Cacamwri is described in the 'catalogue of the court' as destroying a 'barn' which contains the work of 50 ploughs and the connection with millstones or quernstones is obvious and later explicit. One is reminded of the 50 tridents in the back of the Salmon of Llyn Llyw (the same as Llyn Lliwan), who we meet in that portion of Culhwch known as the Oldest Animals, an international popular tale which recounts the quest of a hero or heroes who visits a succession of animals, each one vastly older than the previous one, until finally he meets the oldest creature ever created. Now, whilst this may not be a theory of the precession of the equinoxes it is a surprisingly good description of one; the Hero may be seen as the Sun moving through the Zodiac i.e. 'The Circle of Animals', in this case the Ousel, the Stag, the Owl, the Eagle and the Salmon

I showed earlier that there are very strong reasons for believing that the author of Culhwch wanted Hygwyyd to represent the serpent constellation Hydra, (pseudo Eratosthenes being the most likely source) perhaps this is a clue to a celestial identity for his (half) brother Cacamwri; might he also be a serpent constellation? There are, besides Hydra, two other serpents anciently depicted in the sky, Serpens and Draco, (a fourth, Hydrus the Little Water Snake, was added in the late 16^th century). Circumpolar Draco, 'the serpent of the Hesperides' is in fact said to be the brother of Hydra, their parents being Typhon and Echidna, (Hesiod, Hyginus &c.), but Draco, being circumpolar, is never dragged to the 'Depths', never even sets below the horizon, and it is therefore clear to me that in the Welsh author's scheme it is the constellation Serpens, (often confused with Draco) the great Serpent winding along the celestial equator which Ophiuchus wrestles, that Cacamwri is supposed to correspond with. This 'long and slender' Serpent poised above Virgo as if ready to strike at her, is traditionally drawn looped around either the torso or one of the legs of Ophiuchus who holds the Head Kaput in his left hand and the Tail Cauda in his right, in an eternal wrestling match.

What of Osla Big-Knife, what constellation, if any, did the author have in mind for this character? It has been stated that the historical origins of Osla most likely lie with the 8^th century Mercian king Offa, whose name was occasionally spelt Ossa, and in Bonedd y Saint it is given as Offa Kyllellvawr vrenin Lloegr – 'Offa Great Knife, king of England'. Others have suggested the saxon Octha son of Hengist 'of the long knives' and this idea seems to be reinforced by the portrayal of Osla as the enemy of Arthur at Badon in the later (but related) medieval tale The Dream of Rhonabwy. So it is notewothy that in Culhwch, the earlier tale, Osla is depicted as a fully integrated member of Arthur's warband and any historical associations with enemy Saxon kings have been entirely suppressed, instead he is presented here as a mythical giant huntsman who is the owner of a vast knife and sheath capable of forming 'enough of a bridge' to cross 'a narrow place over the water'. In this tale Osla Big Knife is explicitly a giant, a warrior and a hunter, and there can be no doubt that we have here a perfect description of the constellation figure of Orion (Osiris) 'the Giant, the Warrior and the Hunter' (Allen, Star Names), the owner of the three stars known as The Belt of Orion from which hangs the asterism called The Sword of Orion. This celestial, short-broad blade appears to form a bridge in the sky over the narrows of the river constellation Eridanus.

There is another important element to the myth of the Millwheels and the Whirlpool and it is to do with the celestial location of the Whirlpool. Orion's left foot is in the River Eridanus and is marked by the star Rigel, apparently known as the 'whirlpool star', and it is true to say of both Osla and (Osiris) Orion that during the hunt, as he was 'running after the boar' the giant was dragged into the Depths, I might as well add 'at the Western verge'. This is how Brady, following Hamlet's Mill^iv, descibes the situation:

'Whatever the story, and there are many, the Golden Mill fell to earth, landed in the Oceans of the sky, and created a whirlpool. ...The whirlpool was located at the tip of the constellation Orion, at the point occupied by the fixed star Rigel, the foot of Orion, the point which slipped into the great starry ocean.'

Now if Cacamwri – Serpens,, (in his wrestling match with Ophiuchus) is being pulled up from the Depths in the east, (in spite of the two 'millwheels' which are tring to drag him down), then Osla Big-Knife – Orion, on the opposite side of the sky in the west, is being dragged down into the whirling Depths because his huge sheath is filling with water. This is strikingly similar to the astronomical tale, mentioned earlier, which Aratus tells for the rising of Scorpius and the setting of Orion, in the Phaenomena, except Scorpius, which was sometimes depicted as a serpent, has here been actually substituted by the constellation figure of Serpens, which is more truly on the opposite side of the sky from Orion.

One hour before the first appearance of SN1006. Serpens rose on the eastern horizon, 'was dragged up from the Depths' as Orion the Hunter set beneath the western horizon, 'was dragged into the Depths'.

NOTES

iTatlock, J. S. P., (1950), The Legendary History of Britain, p.76.

iiAs an aside, it is noteworthy that, following the crossing of the Irish Sea, Twrch Trwyth comes to land at a port, why does a monstrous boar need to come in at a port? The next time that he has to cross a major body of water he finds himself at Aber Towy, where from very ancient times a ferry has operated between Llanstephan and Ferryside, why does a monstrous boar need to catch a ferry? And again, the point where Twrch Trwyth crosses the Severn is also the site of an ancient ferry crossing between Wales and England. Curious.

iii The Blaenau Gwent County Council website reports in the section on Arthurian Gwent: 'Ewyas was originally one of the comotes of Ergyng and covered the eastern area of the Black Mountains. It is now split between Wales and Herefordshire, but the name survives in the Herefordshire village of Ewias Harold. Dyffryn Ewias ("The Vale of Ewias") is where Llanthony Priory now stands. Aber Gwy ("The Mouth of the Wye") speaks for itself, perhaps Beachley Point under the Welsh end of the old Severn Bridge is the spot referred to in the tale'.

iv“That there is a whirlpool in the sky is well known; it is most probably the essential one, and it is precisely placed. It is a group of stars so named (zalos) at the foot of Orion, close to Rigel (beta Orionis, Rigel being the Arabic word for ‘foot’), the degree of which was called ‘death,’ according to Hermes Trismegistos, whereas the Maori claim outright that Rigel marked the way to Hades (Castor indicating the primordial homeland). Antiochus the astrologer enumerates the whirl among the stars as Taurus. Franz Boll takes sharp exception to the adequacy of his description, but he concludes that the zalos must, indeed, be Eridanus ‘which flows from the foot of Orion.’” (Giorgio Santillana and Hertha Von Dechend, Hamlet’s Mill: An Essay Investigating the Origins of Human Knowledge and Its Transmission Through Myth (Boston: David R. Godine, Publisher, Inc., 1998, 1969), p. 210)

Lleu Llaw Gyffes and Perseus

Lleu Llaw Gyffes and Perseus

Lleu Llaw Gyffes (Lleu of the Skilful Hand), the ‘Hero’ of The Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi or Math Vab Mathonwy is almost certainly cognate with one of the principal heroes of medieval Irish literature, namely the semi-divine Lugh Samildanach (The Many Skilled), also styled Lugh Lamfhada (of the Long Arm).ⁱ Besides the obvious linguistic relationship in the names of Lleu and Lugh and their similar respective epithets, many scholars, most notably W. J. Gruffydd, have pointed out that the basis for each of their stories is the ‘international popular tale’ known as The King and his Prophesied Death, the best known version of which is the Greek legend of Acrisius and Perseus. In turn, these two insular heroes, Lleu and Lugh, are regarded as being literary survivals with a common mythological heritage which can be traced to the pan-European god Lugus, or in the (often triplicate) plural form, Lugoves, a god known from dedications, statuary, place-names and tribal names from across what were once the Celtic speaking areas of mainland Europe. It is widely held that this Lugus is the god whom Caesar meant when he said in ‘The Conquest of Gaul’, ‘The god they (the Gauls) reverence most is Mercury. They have very many images of him, and regard him as inventor of all arts, the god who directs men upon their journeys, and their most powerful helper in trading and getting money’. This equivalence seems to have struck a chord with the Gauls so much so that even the name Lugus dropped out of usage and was replaced by that of Mercury. A similar transition occurred in sculptural representations of the god as earlier native tricelaphic images of a clothed figure holding a bag of money and a staff were replaced by classical images of Mercury, who also holds a bag of money and a staff, but now the figure is naked or semi-naked except for winged sandals and a winged hat .

     

                       Lugus                                                                           Lugus/Mercury ('or Perseus?')

There is a strong connection between these images of Lugus/Mercury and the classical images of Perseus in paintings, in both bronze and stone statuary and as found on planispheric constellation charts. Both figures appear naked or half naked except for winged sandals and a winged hat and this is no coincidence since according to some versions of the myth it was Mercury who loaned the winged sandals and cap to Perseus. That is, they are depicted wearing the same sandals and cap. Both figures carry a bag, Lugus/Mercury’s is full of money or gold and Perseus’ bag, his kybisis, contains the head of the gorgon Medusa. Mercury wields his twinned serpent staff while Perseus has his scimitar. There is no denying that it would be very easy to confuse the figures of Mercury/Lugus and Perseus.

Perseus

Whilst all this may seem circumstantial, I think that the evidence for Lugus' association with the constellation Perseus has been preserved elsewhere in a slightly encrypted form, I believe that it has been transferred on to the hagiographical material regarding the martyrdom of the great Roman Catholic saint Lawrence.

Throughout northern Europe and particularly in that area which was once known as Gaul, the Perseid meteor shower is called 'The Shining Tears of St. Lawrence'. St. Lawrence is one of the most revered of all Catholic saints, ranking only below saints Peter & Paul, his feast day is August 10th and this seems to be the historically accurate date for his death in 258 and though modern scholars generally agree that he was beheaded the tale that his opportunistic hagiographers would have us believe is quite different. The manner of his invented death, his traditional accoutrements, his status as the third member of the triune of the great saints along with Peter and Paul, his association with the Perseids and even the coincidence of the similarity of his name- Lawrence with Lugos, Llew Llaw and Lugh indicate that he was deliberately being compared with the pan-European demi-god. Moreover, these Christian mythographers seemed to have been aware that Lugus was known in Romano-Celtic Gaul to be represented in the night sky, and in images of the same, as the constellation Perseus. According to both the poet Prudentius and St. Ambrose of Milan writing in the 4th century, St. Lawrence was roasted alive on a gridiron over hot coals. His famous last words, they say, were "Turn me over, this side is done." He is often depicted carrying a bag of money or treasure which is empty for the rich but full for the poor, and great emphasis is placed on his (moral) victory over his tyrant persecutor the Emperor Valerian. It is also to be noted that St. Lawrence was accredited with rescuing what later became known as the Holy Chalice of Valencia, the chalice said to have been present at the Last Supper. It seems clear that these details emerged because of a deliberate attempt by the Catholic Church to replace the popular image of Lugus/Mercury with that of Lawrence. However, in doing so they also revealed a desire to identify Lawrence with the constellation Perseus.

Firstly, I suggest that the idea for this image of a naked man on a fiery grid who wants to be turned over, has been influenced with reference to images of Perseus on the celestial co-ordinate grid, perhaps the glowing coals stood for stars, remember this is a made up episode, so why did his chroniclers choose this particular method of martyrdom?. The image of a naked man on a grid , who is reversible, probably came about because his hagiographers had in there possession two conflicting star charts, one showing the constellation Perseus from God's eye-view the other being geocentric. That is, the constellations are reversible, like Lawrence... like Perseus. Furthermore, This 'grid' turns up, in slightly altered yet unmistakable, forms in the two versions of the death stance of Lleu Llaw Gyffes which have come down to us in Welsh literature, but more on this shortly.

Mercator’s Perseus from God’s point of view

St. Lawrence. “Turn me over, This side is done”.

Second, the bag of money traditionally held by St. Lawrence has this peculiarity; It is empty for the rich but full for the poor. Compare this to the bag of money Lugus is sometimes shown carrying, indicating his function as a god of financial transactions. More recognisably, recall the 'Crane bag' owned by Irish Lugh which is empty of treasure at low tide but full when the tide is in. Perseus also has a bag, the Kybisis, in which he carries the head of Medusa. In the constellation Perseus this is represented as the asterism Caput Medusae, The Head of Medusa, the left eye of which is the famous star Algol, The Demon star, which is actually an eclipsing binary. Every two to three days the smaller of the two stars in the system passes in front of the larger and the 'star' appears to fluctuate dramatically by a full magnitude of brightness. The connection between these concepts seems obvious to me, the fluctuating contents of these bags – Lugus’s bag of money, Mercury's bag of money, Lawrence’s bag of money and Lugh's bag of treasure are all ultimately allusions to the apparent oscillations of the 'star' Algol, the blinking Eye of the Gorgon contained in the bag of the constellation Perseus.

Third, the traditional date for the martyrdom of Lawrence on August 10^th happens to coincide, to within a few days, with the height of the Perseid meteor shower. The Perseid meteor shower is the most intense of all the meteor showers which bombard the upper atmosphere throughout the year. Beginning in mid July it reaches a peak in the hours before dawn on the 12^th of August, sending anything up to a 150 bright streaks across the night sky every hour. The Perseids are so called because the radiant, the point in the sky from which they appear to emerge, is centred on the constellation of Perseus. That the Perseids are called 'The Shinining Tears of St. Lawrence' implicitly connects the saint to the constellation, reminding us that in Ireland the Perseids are the Games of (shining) Lugh. Irish tradition refers to the Perseid Meteor Shower as the 'Games of Lugh' and it seems likely that this is predicated upon this very same reason, i.e. they radiate from the constellation which they thought of as Lugh of the Long Arm. The respective mythologies of Perseus and Lugh, as has been mentioned, are so similar that they are often grouped together as 'Perseus Type Tales' or 'The King and his Prophesied Death'. These narrative parallels between Lugh and Perseus combined with the fact that the Irish regarded the Perseid meteor shower as 'belonging' to Lugh - I.e. The Games of Lugh - and that they radiate from the head of the constellation Perseus ought to alert us to the possibility that the constellation Perseus was known, at least to the Irish, as the constellation of Lugh Lamfhada - Lugh of the Long Hand or Lugh Lonnbeimnech -'Fierce Striker'. It is also good evidence that Lawrence was being equated with both Lugus and the constellation Perseus.

Fourth, it is tempting to see in the emphasis placed on Lawrence’s prophesied (moral) defeat of the tyrant Valerian one of the central motifs belonging to all ‘Perseus type tales’ including the life of Lugh. This is ‘The Prophesied Death of the (tyrant) King’ scenario being played out in the context of the Roman Catholic Church’s stated aim of grafting the identities of its divine heroes, its Saints and Angels, onto the pre-existing pantheon of the pagans they were intent on converting to Christianity.

There are a few further points worth making which appear to hint at a deliberate campaign by the early Church which aimed to replace Lugus with Lawrence. Saint Lawrence is the third member of the trinity of principal Catholic saints Peter, Paul and Lawrence which seems to me to correspond with the (also alliterating) Gaulish triune of principal divinities Teutatis, Taranis and Esus described by Lucan. Many scholars agree that Esus and Lugus are one and the same. Finally, Lawrence’s reputation as the saviour of the original Holy Chalice of the Last Supper - the wine bearing cup symbolised in the rite of the Holy Eucharist - is highly reminiscent of the Chalice associated with Lugus/Mercury and Rosmerta in the continental iconography and with Lugh and the Maiden of Sovereignty in the later Irish literature.

There are then good reasons to at least suppose that Lleu's Irish and Continental counterparts, Lugh and Lugus, were historically associated with both the mythical figure of Perseus and the constellation figure of Perseus or The Hero. Are there any indications in Math which might show that this astronomical association persisted into the Welsh tradition?ⁱⁱ I hope to show that the set pieces in the part of the tale involving Llew Llaw Gyffes; his mysterious conception, his birth, his second gestation at the foot of Gwydion’s bed and subsequent second birth, his suckling at the breast of ‘the lady in the town’, his naming, his arming, his death stance, his transformation into an eagle, his position in the topmost branches of the oak (world) tree, his return to human form and finally his revenge upon Gronw Pebyr may all be interpreted as references to the traditional figure of the Ptolemaic constellation Perseus, or the The Hero, and the positions this constellation takes in the yearly round. There are also, I will argue, clear references to other northern hemisphere constellations particularly those known as the ‘Royal Family’, these being Cassiepeia, Cepheus and Andromeda but also to Cygnus, Bootes, Corona Borealis, Lyra and Auriga or rather its asterisms - Capella (The She-Goat) and The Kids. There are, I suggest, further references to Hercules, Sagitta and Aquila, others too. Also encoded within this part of the text I find references to several southern hemisphere constellations, these include Cetus, Corvus and Argo Navis. The Milky Way and the equinoctial colure ,at the First Point of Aries, have also been cleverly woven into the tale.

The evidence points to an intimate knowledge on the part of the author of charts or planispheres depicting the constellations of both celestial hemispheres, of the kind which frequently accompanied manuscript copies of the various translations of the astronomical poem Phenomena by Aratus of Soli, such as that by Germanicus in the oldest scientific manuscript in the National Library of Wales (NLW MS 735C). In this manuscript the Phenomena is accompanied by other astronomy based texts including Macrobius’ commentary on Cicero’s Somnium Scipionis, these comprise the first 27 folios of the manuscript, designated part ’A’, which according to P. McGurk was produced early in the 11^th century in the Limoges area of France. In McGurks view this part of the MS arrived in Britain later in the 11th century where part ’B’, Hyginius’s Astronomica accompanied by illustrations of the constellations and consisting of 21 folios, was appended, ’Perhaps produced to complete A in a Welsh centre‘. This is precisely the period of time when, most experts agree, The Four Branches was written down - in a Welsh centre. I am not suggesting that this particular manuscript was involved in the production of the Mabinogi, but it as an ‘illustrated witness from Wales‘ of the kind of astronomical material available to the author of the Mabinogi tales. There is however, another manuscript which may very well have had a part to play in the writing of the Mabinogi, it is known as the 'Macrobius Manuscript' MS Cotton Faustina C 1.ⁱⁱⁱ Alison Pedden has identified this MS. as a product of Llanbadarn Fawr and the family of Sulien and his sons Rhygyfarch and Ieaun, considered by many to be the most likely authors of the Mabinogi, (but more on this in a seperate post on likely authorship). Certain passages within Math reveal familiarity with other classical texts which have to do with the origins of the constellations. These works are, The Library of Greek Mythology by pseudo Apollodorus and the Catasterismi by pseudo Eratosthenes, and the Poeticon Astronomicon of Hyginus which often circulated in various forms alongside the Phenomena. 

The Conception and Birth Of Llew Llaw Gyffes

Conception

The respective conceptions and births of Lugh and Perseus are just two of the many parallels which have allowed scholars to identify these figures with the Hero of the international popular tale The King and his Prophesied Death. In both the Irish and Greek versions it is prophesied that a certain king will be killed by his grandson, and so the king imprisons his daughter in a tower, to guard against any risk of pregnancy, thus avoiding the fulfilment of the prophecy. In the Greek version Zeus easily overcomes this obstacle by transforming himself into a shower of gold raining through the ceiling of Danae's cell and so entering her womb.There are several versions of the conception of Lugh in the Irish tradition, the main gist being that the father, usually one Cian, gains access to the princess in the tower with the magical help of a Druid. The result is the same in both tales -the daughter becomes pregnant and the first part of the prophecy -that the daughter will have a son - has come true.

In Math the role of the daughter is played, in the first instance, by Goewin the king's virgin footholder, whose chastity is ensured by the imposition of Math's feet upon her 'womb', (see The Astronomy of Math (part)1). The role of the (potential) father is played by Gilvaethwy, the king's nephew, who has become ill with lust for Goewin. This situation is overcome when Gwydion, Gilvaethwy's brother disguised as a Pencerdd or chief poet, engineers a war between Gwynedd and and the twenty-one cantrefs of the South thus obliging Math to leave his stronghold of Caer Dathyl so he may attend to the war. Gwydion then aids Gilfaethwy to gain access to the unprotected Goewin. The result is, of course, that Goewin becomes pregnant. 

Only no son ensues.

The conception (and birth) of Lleu in Math vab Mathonwy is problematical and its relationship to the Perseus type tale seems more than a little obscure, notwithstanding W.J. Gruffydd's painstaking analysis. The first set of problems are these:

1. There is no prophecy stating that the king will die by the hand of his grandson.
2. There is no grandfather. There is no daughter. There is no son.
3. Instead, the king's (unrelated) virginal footholder Goewin is raped by the king's nephew.
4. The pregnant Goewin then becomes the wife of the king and is given power over his realm.
5. No mention is ever made of the resultant offspring and Goewin drops out of the story, seemingly eternally pregnant.

We pick up the tale immediately following Gwydion's stunning announcement that 'A sty has been  made for them (the swine) in the other cantref below':

And that night Gwydyon son of Don and Gilfaethwy his brother returned to Caer Dathyl, and Gilfaethwy and Goewin daughter of Pebin were put to sleep together in Math the son of Mahonwy's bed; and the maidens were roughly forced out, and she was lain with against her will that night.

There then follows the series of battles between north and south Wales which culminates in the defeat of Pryderi (by strength and by magic) at the hands of Gwydion. Thus Math returns victorious to Caer Dathyl.

Math went to his chamber and bade a place be prepared for him to recline, so that he might put his feet in the fold of the maiden's lap. 'Lord,' said Goewin ' seek now a maiden to be under thy feet. I am woman.' 'How is that?' 'An assault was made upon me, lord, committed upon my person, and that openly. Nor did I bear it in quiet; There was none in this court did not know of it. They who came were thy nephews, lord, thy sister's sons, Gwydion son of Don and Gilfaethwy son of Don. And they wrought rape upon me and upon thee dishonour. And I was lain with, and that in thy chamber and thy bed.' 'Aye,' said he 'What I can, I will do: redress for thee first, and then I too will seek redress. As for thee,' he said, 'I will take thee to wife, and the authority over my realm will I give into thy hands.'

There is no further mention of the 'brave' and 'most beautiful' Goewin.

This dead end represents the most serious departure from the expected run of events as they usually occur in The King and his Prophesied Death. But what if our expectations are wrong? What if the author of Math had some other agenda in mind? In 'The Astronomy of Math vab Mathonwy (part 1)' I proposed that the virginal (i.e. small) Goewin was to be identified with the northernmost constellation Ursa Minor (the Small Bear). Could it be that, in the elevation by Math of the now pregnant (i.e. big) Goewin to rulership over the realm, the author is indicating her transformation or transference into the constellation Ursa Major (the Big Bear)? If this seems like an odd idea, it will be instructive to examine the origin legends of the two Bear constellations to see what, if any, light might be thrown on the 'cul de sac' figure, as Gruffydd calls her, of Goewin.

The author of Math would have known several different versions from classical sources which tell of the origin of the Bears. Aratus, Hyginus, Ps. Erastothenes, Ovid and Ps. Apollodorus (writers, whose works were familiar to, say, Rhygyfarch and Iaeun the sons of Sulien; if not the authors of the the Four Branches, then direct contemporaries.) all record a variety of traditions concerning the Bears. ⁱ And, to digress only slightly, Aratus' version in the Phaenomena is interesting because it demonstrates an ancient author bringing two different traditions together to make a new 'myth':

...Two bears surround this pole

...if the tale is true,

Zeus the Almighty stellified these two

Because, near Ida, in his infancy,

They found him lying on Dicte's dittany

And picked him up and housed him in their den.

One year they nursed him while the elder men

Of Crete distracted Cronos from his son.

As Aaron Poochigian, translator of the Phaenomena, has noticed Aratus has here combined two seperate tales: “(1) That of Callisto, an Arcadian maiden, and follower of Artemis,” a virgin who was raped by Zeus, then turned into a bear and eventually into the constellation Ursa Major; and (2) that of the Goat Amalthea, “who is said to have nursed the infant Zeus.” As regards this Amaltheia, Theony Condos noted that “According to Hyginus, while Cronos was searching for Zeus, Amalthea placed the infant in a cradle which she hung from the branch of a tree, so that Zeus was not to be found either in the sky or on land or in the sea.” Zeus placed the figure of a goat among the stars, so that she would be remembered, this goat is marked by the bright star Capella 'The She-Goat' in Auriga, which figure is always drawn on consellation charts in full and being carried, awkwardly, by the Charioteer (Auriga). I will have more to say about this goat when I come to discuss the 'death stance' of Lleu Llaw Gyffes.

The most widely told tales of the Bears are those which relate to Callisto (The name Kallisto comes from the Greek Καλλίστη, which means "most beautiful". Compare with Goewin... She was the “most beautiful” woman known) to Ursa Major and Phoenice to Ursa Minor, in this tradition 'the story of Ursa Major is transferred to Ursa Minor and the latter is identified with a maiden who suffers the same fate as Callisto'. In other words both Bears represent the same figure of Callisto, 'the most beautiful' virgin who was raped, transformed into a bear and finally raised to the very top of the sky. As we have seen Goewin's story does not sit at all well within the scheme of The King and his Prophecied Death despite superficial resemblances, instead we have a tale which is singularly alike with that of Callisto/Phoenice; it tells of a 'brave' and 'most beautiful' woman whose station in life requires her to be a virgin, but she is raped and can no longer function in her previous role (beneath the king's feet). Subseqeuntly the king elevates her to a position of great authority over his realm.

Ursa Major - Callisto - The Most Beautiful

Next 'The Birth of Llew'. (P.S. More notes, references etc. to follow)  

Notes:

i Other characters in the Mabinogi who have counterparts in Irish literature are: Don - Danu, Gofannon - Goban, Llyr - Lyr, Manawyddan - Mannanan mac Lyr

iiSchaubach's charts are very useful here in that they contain none of the modern constellations. This chart was compiled around 1780 but it is faithful to traditions described by Eratosthenes and Ptolemy. Also very useful is the Philips Planisphere for 51.5 degrees North, this allows you to track the movements of the constellations over time as they appear to an observer in Wales.

iii See Science and Phlosophy in Wales at the Time of the Norman Conquest; A Macrobius Manuscript from Llanbadarn. Alison Peden. (Cambridge Medieval Celtic Studies 2 (Winter 1981)). Ed. Patrick Simms Williams.

What's this about then?

What's this about then?

The 'Mabinogion' are a collection of Middle Welsh prose tales which were first grouped together by Lady Charlotte Guest, who translated them into English, in the 1830's and 1840's. A good number of re-translations have appeared since that time and each one has brought fresh insights into these complex tales. They have also generated a great deal of scholarly comment in books and in essays in specialist academic journals which have explored a wide range of themes through: origins - dating the compositions, to comparitive analysis – International Popular Tales, Celtic Affinities, to narrative structure and to thematic structure - Myth and Tradition, Sovereignty, Gender, Inheritence and Lordship, Friendship and Marriage.

However, up until very recently one aspect of these stories has received scant attention from Mabinogi scholars, and it is this: characters from several of the tales of the Mabinogion are associated, in Welsh tradition, with the Classical or Ptolemaic constellations. For instance the Milky Way is called Caer Gwydion after the enchanter from the Fourth Branch, Corona Borealis is Caer Aranrhod after Gwydion's sister, Cassiepeia is Llys Don (Don's Court) after their mother. Others have associated Arthur, who appears in five of the tales, with Ursa Major or with the lucida of Bootes – Arcturus. In the 19^th century, that infamous forger of Welsh manuscripts Iolo Morgannwg, (perhaps pointing to one of the reasons why this subject has been largely avoided) published a list of what he claimed were ancient Welsh names for the (presumably Ptolemaic) constellations, other than those just mentioned he cited a further eight, possibly ten, constellations named after characters who appear in the tales of the Mabinogion (to include here Hanes Taliesin), though unfortunately it is rarely clear which constellation is meant. Anyway, they are: Arthur's Harp (?Lyra), The Grove of Blodeuwedd, The Chair of Teyrnon (?Cepheus), Caer Sidi (?The Milky Way), The Cauldron of Ceridwen (?Crater), The Horse of Llyr (?Pegasus), Elffin's Chair, Olwen's Hall (?Milky Way) and The Woodland Boar (?Lupus).

I wondered what lay behind all this. How far back did these associations go? Were the authors of these old tales aware of these stellar connections, and if so, does this come across in the texts? Years of trying to find answers to these and related questions in the academic literature proved almost entirely fruitless, so I decided to conduct my own inquiry, I began by asking: Did Llew Llaw Gyffes, the 'Hero' of Math have any connection to the constellations? The answer to this question was definitely in the affirmative.

In 2012 professor Arfon Rees of Birmingham University published 'The Mabinogi Decoded' in which he independently made several identifications which agreed fully with my own findings. But in other areas I disagreed with his methods, particularly in his use of the modern constellations. The purpose of this site, then, is to set down my own musings concerning these matters and thereby to broaden this debate. To this end, I therefore welcome any criticism, comments and ideas.

JT. Aug 2013

'The Journey of the Swine'

'The Journey of the Swine'

The Journey of the Swine according to JK Bollard.¹

Gwydion is the most mobile of all the individuals in the Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi and his movements there are characterised by their circuitousness, one could say by their circularity. This aspect of Gwydion finds echo in his traditional association with the Milky Way which is known in Wales even now as Caer Gwydion, Gwydion's Fort. This tradition can be traced from the present day through many writers in the 20th century to Lady Charlotte Guest and Iolo Morganwg in the 19^th, to Lewis Morris in the 18^th, John Jones Gelli Lyvdy in the 17^th, David Johns and William Salesbury in the 16^th, Lewis Glyn Cothi in the 15^th to Gruffudd Grug in the 14th century. In other words the association of Gwydion with the Milky Way was current as the White Book of Rhydderch and the Red Book of Hergest were being compiled. Indeed, Mark Williams (perhaps following Gruffydd), has mooted that “It may represent a variant of the story of Gwydion older than that represented in the Mabinogi”.² Although to be fair he also says it may be a later development. The circularity of the Milky Way and its motion across the sky has not, as far as I know, been compared before with Gwydion's circuitous movements in the variant of Math which we do possess in the Red and White Books. W. J. Gruffydd for instance cites the John Jones Gelli Lyvdi account of Gwydion searching for Huan (Llew Llaw Gyffes) in the Milky Way on two occasions but never once is he moved to question the origins of this astronomical tradition. Mabinogi scholars in general have paid scant attention to this interesting question.

When we first meet Gwydion, at the start of the tale, the author immediately emphasises this characteristic when he contrasts Math's inability, (whom I think the author equated with Cepheus, see 'The Astronomy of Math vab Mathonwy. (part 1)) against Gwydion's ability to make a circuit of the land:

(Math) found his tranquillity at Caer Dathylⁱ in Arfon, and he might not go the circuit of the land, save Gilfaethwy son of Don and Gwydion son of Don, his nephews, his sister's sons, and the war-band with them, would go the circuit of the land in his stead.

This 'circuitous' motion of Gwydion here may not seem significant in itself, it is surely just a figure of speech apparently referring to the cylch or 'royal circuit', but this emphasis surfaces again on his return journey from Rhuddlan Teifi in quite an astonishing way. What is often described as Gwydion’s ‘circuitous flight’ with the pigs of Annwfn has been the subject of a great deal of discussion, but it is now universally accepted that this is an onomastic episode, ’to explain how various places came to have a name associated with pigs’.ⁱⁱ W.J. Gruffydd, however, early recognised that this interpretation falls short of a full explanation:

Now Gwydion, as he himself states, was in a great hurry to reach Arvon and Caer Dathal before the men of Dyfed should overtake him, and his obvious course was the (direct) one which Pryderi took... Instead of that he started away from the coast, went to the uplands of Ceridigion, and went further out of his way through Elenydd in the Pumlumon district, and to the district between Keri and Arwystli, almost on the march of England. He then turned northwards, and came to Rhos, the district around the modern Colwyn Bay. He was now far to the eastward of his destination, and so he had to come west towards Caer Dathal, passing through Arllechwedd.

He goes on to observe that:

...there was no dearth of Mochtrevs in Wales; every manor had one...So we cannot suppose that Gwydion is made to take this devious route in order to pass through Mochtrev and Mochnant.

This is his route as we have it in the Red and White books:

From (somewhere near, see below) Glyn Cych (Valley of Pigs) to Mochdrev (Pigtown) in the hills of Keridigyawn; from there across the Elenid and then stopping between Keri and Arwystli in a second town called Mochdrev. From there through a commot in Powys called Mochnant (Pigstream). Then they made for the cantrev of Rhos and spent the night at a third town called Mochdrev. The next day they headed for the Upper Town of Arllechwedd, where they made a sty for the swine, and so the town is now called Creuwryon (Gwydion's Sty). They then go to Caer Dathyl where it is announced that a sty has now been made for the pigs “in the other cantref below”. Gruffydd pointed out that Creuddyn (Stronghold of the Sty) in Ceredigion and Creuddyn in the cantref of Rhos dovetail into either end of the route, and he supposed these also formed part of the original route.

 

 It should be remembered that the traditional Welsh pigsty was a circular, stone built, beehive construction. This is what the author of Math would have imagined  Gwydion's sties to look like. I am reminded of another circular, conical structure which occurs later in the tale, this is the thatched, circular roof beneath which Lleu Llaw Gyffes must stand 'in order that he may be slain', (See 'The Death of Lleu Llaw Gyffes'). Without referring to the circles which Gwydion's 'pig route' traces across Wales, there are at least two more circular images in Math, (discussed below) these are the twelve (circular) mushrooms or toadstools and the twelve (circular) golden shields which Gwydion 'created by illusion' from the mushrooms. This is a theme, and I hope to show that each of these images of radiated circles carry a similar, if not the same, function.

According to the tale these various pig or swine towns, stream and fortresses and sties are so called because Gwydion passed through them with the pigs but it is now universally accepted that this is an onomastic tale, i.e. Gwydion’s route was invented by the story-teller in order to explain the numerous occurrences of Pig-towns etc. that exist throughout Wales. This apparently reasonable deduction is, I think, quite wrong, for Gwydion’s flight with the pigs of the South inscribes across the landscape of Wales two interlocking circles, one above the other, and overlapping at the centre of the country. In other words this devious route is but a part of a larger, and very specific design. 

My suspicions that Gwydion's circular motions in Math were related to his traditional association with the Milky Way were partly confirmed whilst studying the map entitled Place names in the Mabinogi in J.K. Bollard's translation (with Anthony Griffiths photographs) of The Mabinogi, and subtitled Legend and Landscape of Wales. This is possibly the most accurate map of the route yet compiled. In studying Gwydion's route on this map, ones first inclination is to join the pig sties or dots, as it were, by straight lines, however, I came to realise that the 'pig route' could be better described as two curves or arcs, one stretching from west Wales across mid-Wales and the other along the north coast, these two arcs are joined by a straight, not quite north-south, line from Mochdref in Powys to Mochdref in Creuddyn and passing through the comote of Mochnant. What is really striking and surprising is that these two arcs, when extended, appear to be segments of two circles with identical radii which overlap or intersect in mid-Wales. These intersecting circles cover the whole length of Wales, north to south, as well as the width, with the exception of Anglesey and the peninsulas of Lleyn and Dyfed, (approximately modern Pembrokeshire).

The underlying structure of the Pig Route.

You will notice in JK Bollard's map that:

a. The two arcs describing the south and north sections of Gwydion's route can be extended to form two circles of exactly equal circumference.

b. A line drawn through the centres of the two circles reveals that they are tilted several degrees west from true north. As a result of this, a line drawn through the two points where the circles intersect has a noticeable slant, rising from west to east. (This is very significant as I will demonstrate shortly).

c.The part of the route represented by the line Mochdre - Mochnant - Mochdre / Creuddyn perfectly dissects the northern circle. (The angle this line takes is not north - south, nor does it follow the axis of the centres of the two circles).

d. The angular distance between the styes ranges through: 12.5°, 20°, 22.5°, 30°, 30°, 40°. I may be wrong but this seems to be a very neat sequence, hardly random.

e. Utilising the centres of the two circles a Vesica Piscis can be drawn, and it transpires that the ratio between the inner and outer circles is the same as the ratio between the Tropics and the Celestial Equator found on the stereographic projections of medieval celestial charts and astrolabes.

According to this analysis Gwydion's starting point is neither at Rhuddlan Teifi nor at the sty of Glyn Cuch in Emlyn, (the 'north-easternmost cantref' of Dyfed) - the location of the (seven) swine as given in Triad 26 - but at a point in between, in fact at precisely the meeting place of the three boundaries of the territories of Ceredigion, Dyfed and Ystrad Tywi. This would have been a very sensible place, for all sorts of reasons, for the exchange of the swine with Gwydion’s magical creations to have taken place. Though the author doesn't actually specify where that exchange took place, we are merely told that, 'He came to Pryderi with the horses and the dogs', I feel strongly that he must have had this site, or a ford somewhere close by, in mind.

To explain. The First Branch begins with these words, 'Pwyll, Prince of Dyfed, was lord over the seven cantrefs of Dyfed.', but by the end of the First Branch Pryderi has extended his father's territory to include, 'The three cantrefs of Ystrad Tywi and the four cantrefs of Ceredigion'. Now it is obvious that if the pigs were being kept at Glyn Cych, which is south of the Teifi, then they were in Dyfed, this therefore is the 'country' which Pryderi means when he informs Gwydion that the pigs cannot leave because of a covenant between him and his country. But Gwydion's initial meeting with Pryderi takes place at Rhuddlan Teifi which is north of the Teifi and in Ceredigion. When Gwydion meets with Pryderi the following morning the story implies that Pryderi has the pigs with him, they must therefore have removed from Rhuddlan Teifi in Ceredigion to within the confines of the 'country' of Dyfed and the nearest entry point into Dyfed from Rhuddlan Teifi is precisely at the point where his three territories of Dyfed, Ceredigion and Ystrad Tywi meet. This must, therefore, have been the starting point for Gwydion's 'circuitous flight' with the pigs of Annwfn.

WJ Gruffydd noticed that the first part of the route would have taken Gwydion and the pigs through the district of Creuddyn, meaning 'Stronghold of the Sty' between the rivers Rheidol and Ystwyth, 'which he would pass on his way north and east'. But the first named stopover is in 'the uplands of Ceredigion, the place that is still called for that reason Mochtrev'. This must refer to the township or hamlet of Nant y Moch, meaning 'Pig's Stream', which was flooded during the creation of the Nant y Moch Reservoir in 1964. Accepting this and acknowledging some uncertainty in the exact siting of these 'pigsties', account should also be made for the expertise of the map's compiler, (J.K. Bollard) and the care taken to provide as accurate a map as possible.

The details in the build up to 'The Journey of the Swine', (to use Gruffydd's term), and those immediately following, are pertinent to understanding that the author of Math intended that this route could be understood to have occurred on two distinct levels. There is a terrestrial component and a celestial component, the terrestrial route appears unnecessarily slow and circuitous, hence the author has Math's men quip "Strange how very slowly you have journeyed!" However, I hope to show that Gwydion, in his 'disguise' as the constellation figure of Cygnus the Swan, actually did take the swiftest route possible on his return journey to Caer Dathyl. The numbers in the text provide some obvious clues:

a. When Gwydion is disguised as a Pencerdd or Chief Bard, (perhaps he is wearing a tugen and carrying a crwth. or Swan feather mantle and Lyre) 12 men travel to the South.

b. Pryderi cannot part with the swine unless 'they have bred double their number in the land.'

c. Gwydion conjured, ('created by illusion') in exchange the for the (7) swine, 3 sets of 12 magical items; 12 Stallions, 12 Hunting Dogs and 12 Golden Shields (these last 'he had made by magic out of toadstool'). I.e. 36 items in all.

d. It is necessary that Gwydion and his men should travel in haste, via the quickest route, because 'the magic will not last but from one time to another'. 'i.e. for twenty-four (24) hours'.

e. The mustering of the 21 cantrefs of the South.

All of this is relevant in determining that, in the intention of the author, the actual route taken by Gwydion was as much celestial as it was terrestrial. These details appear to refer to the temporal divisions, the coordination system and constellation figures which characterised the celestial charts, and the astrolabes, of the early Middle Ages. To take the number 12 first, most people would immediately associate 12 with the zodiac, but it is also an important subdivision on the outer ring of the mater of an astrolabe or of a constellation chart. This outer circle was divided into 24 hours, but was very often written as two consecutive sets of 12 hours. The circle of 24 hours was accompanied by a second ring which counted off the 360° and which was further arranged into 36 decans of 10° each, primarily for astrological purposes, (there were 3 decans or faces for each of the 12 signs of the zodiac). Furthermore it is important to point out here, though it may seem obvious, that a circle contains 12 'wedges' of 30° and this division is also a convention commonly found on ancient star charts and astrolabes. It is important to note also that according to Ptolemy's scheme, if we include the zodiacal constellations, there were 27 constellations in the northern hemisphere and 21 constellations in the southern hemisphere.

It is remarkable that when the author of Math describes Gwydion in a company of 12 and conjuring 3 sets of 12 magical items, (36 in all) whose efficacy would only last for 24 hours, followed by the mustering of 21 southern cantrefi, he perfectly duplicates the number of constellations in the southern hemisphere, the temporal divisions, the coordination system and the major operation of the mechanics of a medieval astrolabe.

The order in which Gwydion conjures his magical items is revealing and it is possible that the 12 horses, the 12 hounds and the 12 shields are intended to be understood as a sequence of three particular southern constellations, namely Centaurus, Canis Major and Cetus respectively. Both the stallions and the dogs are described as ’black but white breasted’, which easily fits this idea. Canis Major was frequently depicted by many of the later celestial cartographers, (Hevelius 1687, Zahn 1696, Flamsteed 1729, Thomas 1730 etc.) as a greyhound or hunting hound wearing a golden collar, but whether this reflects earlier tradition is hard to say, though it would be impossible to argue that the 12 golden collar wearing greyhounds in Math had influenced these giants of the Golden Age of Celestial Cartography, perhaps indicating the use of a common source. All three of these constellation figures are contained within three consecutive 30° wedges set 90° apart, (we are interested only in the curled tail of Cetus) as depicted on a conventional stereographic star chart of the Southern Hemisphere, centered on the south ecliptic pole and based on the star catalogues of Eratosthenes or Ptolemy. So, precisely 12 Centaurs (minus human torso) would be required to make a full circle and exactly 12 Canis Majors would also be required to do the same.

The tail of Cetus as shield requires explanation. My idea the that the author of Math was thinking of this tail, which was always depicted as wound into a circle, as the inspiration for golden shields made from mushrooms, may at first appear not very convincing. But I think this must have occurred to the author of Math also, and so he omits their magical construction from his narrative. (The way they are introduced sounds suspiciously like a cue to an audience "and the twelve golden shields you see over there", and then an aside, 'Those he had made by magic out of the toadstool').

Yet, I believe his scheme required an image from this 30° section containing the coiled tail of Cetus which reminded him of a mushroom or toadstool and then of a round shield or a buckler, and I think that the author has also taken this opportunity to convey an image of a star map containing the 360° radials. In the Mabinogi of Math this image of the heavens is made explicit through the form of three very effective visual puns. Gwydion conjures 12 golden shields from mushrooms. Consider a diagram of an upturned, open cap mushroom or toadstool; you would see a slim outer rim of flesh surrounding the gills which radiate from a central circle representing the stalk. To turn this into a diagram of a round shield or a targe, with a central boss, no changes need to be made to the original diagram of the mushroom. Now, to turn this into a planispheric template of a celestial hemisphere, no changes need to be made to the original diagram of the mushroom. According to James E. Morrison 'most astrolabes included several plates (tympans) covering a reasonable range of latitudes'. Six plates per astrolabe seems to have been the norm. Is it possible that in the passage "and the twelve golden shields you see over there", a reference is being made to 12 polished brass tympans? It is easy to see how these could be compared with twelve golden shields and 12 mushrooms. Evidently, magician Gwydion was a master of optical illusion and understood the power of suggestion. But Welsh tradition insists that he was also an Astronomer.

360º Planispheric projection (derived from Schaubach), Mushroom and Shield

The motif of the gift of a golden shield inscribed with the constellations and the Milky Way has a very ancient provenance for it occurs in the fountain-head of Western European literature, in Homer’s Iliad. This is the famous shield the smith god Hephaistos forged for Achilles.

First he (Hephaistos) began to make a huge and massive shield, decorating it all over. He put a triple rim round its edge, bright and gleaming, and hung a silver baldric from it. The body of the shield was made of five layers: and on its face he elaborated many designs in the cunning of his craft. On it he made the earth, and sky, and sea, the weariless sun and the moon waxing full, and all the constellations that crown the heavens.

The author of Math describes Gwydion's magical activity thus 'And then he betook him to his arts, and began to display his magic'. This phrase bears a striking resemblance to Homer's description of Hephaistos, (just quoted) who is also engaged in the making of a magical golden shield '...he elaborated many designs in the cunning of his craft'.

Golden Shield / Planispheric Tympan

The 12 divisions with Earth at the centre (According to a Macrobius MS)

In the Chapter on Dillus the Horseman I provided an argument which proposed that the author of Culhwch and Olwen was identifying the Boar which Dillus singes over his fire and the giant Boar Twrch Trwyth with the constellation then known as Therion, now known as Lupus. As I have said Therion or the Wild Beast has elsewhere been identified as representing the Erymanthian Boar and I have further argued that it seems likely that this constellation could also be thought of as the 'roast meat' which the centaur Pholus the Horseman singes over his fire, (he of course ate his raw) whilst entertaining Hercules before the hunt for the Erymanthian Boar. I suggested there that a connection existed, other than their shared 'seven-ness' and their supernatural provenance, between the boars in Culhwch and the pigs of Pryderi in Math. I think that the author of Math also had the constellation Therion (pars pro toto) in mind when he was thinking of the pigs of Annwfn.

Horse, Hound, Shield, Pig.

12 Horses

12 Hounds

12 Shields

Cambriae Typus

Gwydion's route with the swindled swine seemed to me to be evidence for a sophisticated and precise cartographical knowledge of Wales at the time that Math was set down in writing, moreover the text seemed to be implying that this knowledge was linked somehow to the stars and the constellations, or better, to the astrolabe. If this was truly the case I wondered, though it hardly seemed likely, if there was any material elsewhere which might throw some light on this tantalising evidence. So I Google Imaged 'ancient + map + Wales'. The first map that came up was the map of Wales by Humphrey Lhuyd called Cambriae Typus. Cambriae Typus was the earliest map specifically of Wales to be printed, it was first published as a fly sheet in Ortelius' Theatrum Orbis Terrarum in 1573. I knew this map from a lecture I attended some 25 years ago and had all but forgotton about it. I realized - I could see, immediately, that I had found the evidence I barely dared to suspect might be there, simply by pressing a computer key.

Cambriae Typus belongs to an apparently short-lived cartographic tradition with characteristics discernible in several other of the earliest printed maps from the late sixteenth century. Whoever the original authors of these maps were, they organised land into figures and animals in much the same way as the ancients constellated the heavens. This was achieved by subtly altering the course of rivers, lakes and coastlines so as to emphasise the zoomorphic and anthropomorphic imagery which these geographical features suggested; often towns churches, monasteries, hills and mountains were drawn in such a way as to imply facial features or other details. For example the Map of the British Isles including Ireland, as drawn by Abraham Ortelius in 1579, contains a half hidden image known as 'The Angel of Lincoln'. His 1573 map of Ireland appears as the head of a bearded man whose 'eye' is the Lake of The Red Eye. Similarly the 'Old Man of Scotland' first appears in printed maps of this period. Another map of Northern Europe figures Scandinavia as a lion pouncing on Denmark which appears to be a mouse. Cambriae Typus contains at least twelve 'hidden' images, the most well known of which is the dragon aspect of the map which was recognised by everyone in Wales up until recent times, in fact the map was usually hung with West at the top to make the dragon of Wales even more obvious. But turned with North at the top Wales is also the head of a pig, Herefordshire is a dog, (which bears comparison with Canis Major), a head of a goat for Powys, a head of a horse for the Lleyn Peninsula, a salmon for Ceridigion, Anglesey is made up of two human male heads, Janus-like, a Cetus like sea monster makes up Deheubarth, a Giants head dominates Harlech, Denbighshire has two female heads wearing medieval headdresses.The Wirral has become a slender woman.

The 'Angel of Lincoln'

The Old Man of Scotland

The King of Ireland

The Dragon of Wales

Zoomorphic Wales. Note the rounded shape of South Wales and the slanting line of text naming the Irish Sea; also note the political divisions – Gwynedd, Powys and Deheubarth – they are the same political divisions found in Math vab Mathonwy.

John Speed's map of 1610 appears modern by comparison and contains none of the imagery discernible in the above series of maps.

As mentioned, I attended a lecture in the mid-eighties where these strange maps were first brought to my attention. The lecturer suggested that they may be much older than their first appearance in print, pointing out that other contemporary maps do not share these odd characteristics. One only has to compare them with Christopher Saxton's maps of England and Wales published in 1579, or John Speed's maps of Wales published somewhat later in 1610 to see how 'old school' they appear, although I didn't agree with the lecturer's suggestion that they may have originated with the Druids. It seemed more likely, to me anyway, that they could very well be the products of monastic institutions where astrolabes had been used since at least as early the 1090's when Prior Walcher of the monastery of Great Malvern pointed his astrolabe at an eclipse of the moon. As Jonathon Lyons has pointed out this was a method the early Abbasid astronomers had used 'to establish the difference in geographic coordinates between cities and other important places'. By the mid-12^th century, Adelard of Bath's translation of al-Khwarizmi's zij al-Sindhind and the availibility of Euclidian texts '...allowed the vast magnitudes involved in measuring the celestial bodies to be captured and expressed in terms of “angular distance” relative to the earth or to one another. It also allowed the accurate calculation and mapping of terrestrial and celestial positions, either on a sphere or “projected” onto a two-dimensional map or chart, or onto the faceplate of an astrolabe'.

It is certain that at least one ambitious mapping project was undertaken in Wales by monks at an early period for, according to the NLW website 'The earliest recorded map specifically of Wales was a manuscript map (owned) by Giraldus Cambrensis (Gerald of Wales) produced in ca. 1205 and entitled “Totius Kambriae Mappa”. This map is referred to in a letter of Gerald’s and several 17th century sources state that it was at Westminster Abbey. The map is said to have shown no less than 43 towns and villages in Wales. By 1780 the map’s whereabouts were unknown and it was probably destroyed in a fire at the Abbey’s Library in 1695'.ⁱⁱⁱ And in 1889 Henry Owen opined, '...what is the greatest loss of all, a map of the whole of Wales, with the mountains, rivers, towns, castles, and monasteries carefully set out...Both Bishop Tanner and Wharton state that the " Totius Kambriae Mappa" was in existence in the library at Westminster Abbey. Wharton says that forty-three towns or villages in Wales were marked on it'.^iv Now it is very curious that Humphrey Lhuyd served as Member of Parliament for East Grinstead in 1559, and as the Member for Denbigh Boroughs in 1563 making it highly likely that this bookish man was a visitor to the library at Westminster and that he was familiar with Totius Kambriae Mappa. I wonder if this was the source for Humphrey's map CambriaeTypus.

Dr. F.J. North wrote a "classic" monograph entitled 'Humphrey Lhuyd's Maps of England and of Wales', on the origins of these maps, he made several crucial observations concerning Cambriae Typus, (italics are mine):

a. "A critical examination of the map leads to the conclusion that it cannot have been the direct outcome of a new personal survey of the area".

b. "It would seem that we must seek for a method whereby a map could be prepared, more accurate in its general shape and proportions than in minor details".

c. "...the Glamorgan coast is given a diagrammatically rounded outline". (In fact, it forms part of a perfect circle, with the upper 'coast' of Ceredigion providing the north western arc of this circle).

d. "...the displacement of the south coast is not due merely to an inclination of the axis of the map, because all the key points in the north are fairly correctly placed. The change takes place suddenly along an east-west line through Aberdovey, ... It is interesting to note that this displacement takes place about midway between the top and the bottom of the engraved area".

e. "Lhuyd was careful to point out that the manuscript sent to Ortelius was not "beautifully set forth in all poynctes," but would serve the purpose if "certain notes be observed," and it seems likely that the original manuscript was in four sheets, or that the northern and the southern portions were each drawn on either side of a large folded sheet. If the co-ordination of such sections had not been carefully indicated, the engraver may well have been responsible... for much that makes the map appear inaccurate".

Something which Dr. North did not make comment upon is that there seems to be no apparent reason why the three lines of text naming the Irish Sea in Latin, Britannis and Anglis have been set down at an odd slant, rising from west to east, when all other text, (except river names) had been set down parallel with the northern and southern edges of the map. This quirk only appeared on the very first edition of the map and was 'corrected' for all subsequent (almost fifty) editions. The top of the line "VERGIVIVM SIVE HIBERNICVM MARE" is in perfect accord with the line generated by the intersection of the two circles describing Gwydions route with the swine, (according to J.K. Bollard's map). It occurred to me that this line - VERGIVIVM SIVE HIBERNICVM MARE- is the fossilised remains of the original centre of the map.

In the composite map below the bottom layer is J.K. Bollards map, visible in the wedge shape between the two halves of Lhuyd's map. The second layer is Humphrey Lhuyd's map, but with the two halves, (following Professor North that 'The change takes place suddenly along an east-west line through Aberdovey') restored using the interlinked circles derived from Bollards map as the template. The top layer consists of Schaubach's stereographic projections of the constellations based upon the Catasterismi of Eratosthenes. The two circles generated from Gwydion's 'circuitous flight' with the swine will now be seen to be the tropics of Cancer and of Capricorn. I have a great deal of evidence which suggests that Gwydion is to be equated with Cygnus (to Christians the Northern Cross) and that the constellation figure we now call Lupus is to be equated with the Underworld swine. I have highlighted these figures. If the two hemispheres are rotated so that the line Mochdre-Mochnant-Mochdre passes through Deneb, the alpha star of Cygnus, then the Prime Meridian, which passes through the First Point of Aries and the First Point of Libra will form two sides of an equilateral triangle. Finally, the equators of the two charts now interlink to form a perfect Vesica Piscis, one of the most sacred symbols of Christian iconography. Gwydions Route with the Pigs of Annwfn was not only the swiftest possible path from Glyn Cuch to Caer Dathyl, it was the only possible path.

Cambriae Typus Vesica Piscis

I therefore conclude that:

1 Gwydions route with the pigs is a record of a survey of Wales which used an astrolabe as the principal means of surveying.

2 The purpose of the survey was twofold. a. To produce a map of Wales. b. To throw a protective, sacred talisman, in the form of the Vesica Piscis over the land.

3 The map which resulted from this survey may have been the original of the now lost Totius Kambriae Mappa of Geraldus Cambrensis, and it would be surprising if copies weren't made of this map, one at least may still exist but in a slightly bungled form as Humphrey Lhuyd’s Cambriae Typus.

Which came first? The Map of Wales or the Flag of Wales?

Math Vab Mathonwy (The Stealing of the Swine)

MATH the son of Mathonwy was lord over Gwynedd, and Pryderi the son of Pwyll was lord over the one-and-twenty Cantrevs of the South; and these were the seven Cantrevs of Dyved, and the seven Cantrevs of Morganwc, the four Cantrevs of Ceredigiawn, and the three of Ystrad Tywi.

At that time, Math the son of Mathonwy could not exist unless his feet were in the lap of a maiden, except only when he was prevented by the tumult of war. Now the maiden who was with him was Goewin, the daughter of Pebin of Dol Pebin, in Arvon, and she was the fairest maiden of her time who was known there.

And Math dwelt always at Caer Dathyl, in Arvon, and was not able to go the circuit of the land, but Gilvaethwy the son of Don, and Eneyd the son of Don, his nephews, the sons of his sister, with his household, went the circuit of the land in his stead.

Now the maiden was with Math continually, and Gilvaethwy the son of Don set his affections upon her, and loved her so that he knew not what he should do because of her, and therefrom behold his hue, and his aspect, and his spirits changed for love of her, so that it was not easy to know him.

One day his brother Gwydion gazed steadfastly upon him. "Youth," said he, "what aileth thee?"

"Why," replied he, "what seest thou in me?"

"I see," said he, "that thou hast lost thy aspect and thy hue; what, therefore, aileth thee?"

"My lord brother," he answered, "that which aileth me, it will not profit me that I should own to any."

"What may it be, my soul?" said he.

"Thou knowest," he said, "that Math the son of Mathonwy has this property, that if men whisper together, in a tone how low soever, if the wind meet it, it becomes known unto him."

"Yes," said Gwydion, "hold now thy peace, I know thy intent, thou lovest Goewin."

When he found that his brother knew his intent, he gave the heaviest sigh in the world. "Be silent, my soul, and sigh not," he said. "It is not thereby that thou wilt succeed. I will cause," said he, "if it cannot be otherwise, the rising of Gwynedd, and Powys, and Deheubarth, to seek the maiden. Be thou of glad cheer therefore, and I will compass it."

So they went unto Math the son of Mathonwy. "Lord," said Gwydion, "I have heard that there have come to the South some beasts, such as were never known in this island before." 

"What are they called?" he asked. 

"Pigs, lord." 

"And what kind of animals are they?" 

"They are small animals, and their flesh is better than the flesh of oxen."

"They are small, then?"

"And they change their names. Swine are they now called."

"Who owneth them?"

"Pryderi the son of Pwyll; they were sent him from Annwn, by Arawn the king of Annwn, and still they keep that name, half bog, half pig."

"Verily," asked he, " and by what means may they be obtained from him?"

"I will go, lord, as one of twelve, in the guise of bards, to seek the swine."

"But it may be that he will refuse you," said he. "My journey will not be evil, lord," said he;

"I will not come back without the swine."

"Gladly," said he, "go thou forward."

So he and Gilvaethwy went, and ten other men with them. And they came into Ceredigiawn, to the place that is now called Rhuddlan Teivi, where the palace of Pryderi was. In the guise of bards they came in, and they were received joyfully, and Gwydion was placed beside Pryderi that night.

"Of a truth," said Pryderi, "gladly would I have a tale from some of your men yonder." 

"Lord," said Gwydion, "we have a custom that the first night that we come to the Court of a great man, the chief of song recites. Gladly will I relate a tale." Now Gwydion was the best teller of tales in the world, and he diverted all the Court that night with pleasant discourse and with tales, so that he charmed every one in the Court, and it pleased Pryderi to talk with him.

And after this, "Lord," said he unto Pryderi, "were it more pleasing to thee, that another should discharge my errand unto thee, than that I should tell thee myself what it is?" 

"No," he answered, "ample speech hast thou." 

"Behold then, lord," said he, "my errand. It is to crave from thee the animals that were sent thee from Annwn." 

"Verily," he replied, "that were the easiest thing in the world to grant, were there not a covenant between me and my land concerning them. And the covenant is that they shall not go from me, until they have produced double their number in the land." 

"Lord," said he, "I can set thee free from those words, and this is the way I can do so; give me not the swine to-night, neither refuse them unto me, and to-morrow I will show thee an exchange for them."

And that night he and his fellows went unto their lodging, and they took counsel. "Ah, my men," said he, "we shall not have the swine for the asking." 

"Well," said they, how may they be obtained?" 

"I will cause them to be obtained," said Gwydion.

Then he betook himself to his arts, and began to work a charm. And he caused twelve chargers to appear, and twelve black greyhounds, each of them white-breasted, and having upon them twelve collars and twelve leashes, such as no one that saw them could know to be other than gold. And upon the horses twelve saddles, and every part which should have been of iron was entirely of gold, and the bridles were of the same workmanship. And with the horses and the dogs he came to Pryderi.

"Good day unto thee, lord," said he. "Heaven prosper thee," said the other, "and greetings be unto thee." 

"Lord," said he, "behold here is a release for thee from the word which thou spakest last evening concerning the swine; that thou wouldst neither give nor sell them. Thou mayest exchange them for that which is better. And I will give these twelve horses, all caparisoned as they are, with their saddles and their bridles, and these twelve greyhounds, with their collars and their leashes as thou seest, and the twelve gilded shields that thou beholdest yonder." Now these he had formed of fungus. "Well," said he, "we will take counsel." And they consulted together, and determined to give the swine to Gwydion, and to take his horses and his dogs and his shields.

Then Gwydion and his men took their leave, and began to journey forth with the pigs. "Ah, my comrades," said Gwydion, "it is needful that we journey with speed. The illusion will not last but from the one hour to the same tomorrow."

And that night they journeyed as far as the upper part of Ceredigiawn, to the place which, from that cause, is called Mochdrev still. And the next day they took their course through Melenydd, and came that night to the town which is likewise for that reason called Mochdrev, between Keri and Arwystli. And thence they journeyed forward; and that night they came as far as that Commot in Powys, which also upon account thereof is called Mochnant, and there tarried they that night. And they journeyed thence to the Cantrev of Rhos, and the place where they were that night is still called Mochdrev.

"My men," said Gwydion, "we must push forward to the fastnesses of Gwynedd with these animals, for there is a gathering of hosts in pursuit of us." So they journeyed on to the highest town of Arllechwedd, and there they made a sty for the swine, and therefore was the name of Creuwyryon given to that town. And after they had made the sty for the swine, they proceeded to Math the son of Mathonwy, at Caer Dathyl. And when they came there, the country was rising. "What news is there here?" asked Gwydion.

"Pryderi is assembling one-and-twenty Cantrevs to pursue after you," answered they. "It is marvellous that you should have journeyed so slowly."

"Where are the animals whereof you went in quest?" said Math. "They have had a sty made for them in the other Cantrev below," said Gwydion.

Notes

1The Mabinogi. Legend and Landscape of Wales. Translation by: John K. Bollard. Photography by: Anthony Griffiths. Gomer Press. Llanndysul. 2006.

2

iSee 'The Astronomy of Math vab Mathonwy' for 'Caer Dathyl'.

iiiNLW Early Mapping of Wales (Retrieved 12.11.11.)