#maiden of the starlings; branwen

[ofdeedsglorious]

muse tags;

twelve seals unleashed; arthur as fair as north winds; gareth ever loyal knight of the sun; gawain an echoing song; taliesin knight of sacred fire; bors knight of the lake; lancelot chosen by the other lance; percival heart of a fallen star; emrys sign of the red dragon; uther a poisonous dawn; accolon a shield of pure faith; galahad he who rejects courtly love; dinadan to you who will crown a king; elouan wielder of the poison lance; palamedes howl to the moon; marrok maiden of the starlings; branwen she on the white horse; rhiannon

[aneurinallday]

The Four Branches of the Mabinogion

The First Branch: Pwyll and Rhiannon

Prince Pwyll encounters a mysterious maiden, who evades him until he finally calls out to her. Her name is Rhiannon. They marry and have a son, but the newborn vanishes and is presumed dead. Rhiannon is falsely accused of the crime, but Pwyll refuses to accept her guilt. Eventually, they were reunited with their lost child, Pryderi, thus proving Rhiannon's innocence and vindicating Pwyll.

The Second Branch: Bran and Branwen

Brân the Blessed, king of Britain, is visited by a starling. The starling carries a message from his sister Branwen, telling him that her husband, the Irish king Matholwch, is abusive. Brân and his army set sail to Ireland to rescue his sister and have revenge on Matholwch. Brân is slain by a poisoned spear, and Branwen dies from heartbreak.

The Third Branch: Manawydan

Only seven British warriors survive the war with Ireland. Pryderi offers the throne to his friend Manawydan, along with his mother Rhiannon's hand in marriage. Manawydan and Rhiannon are happily married, and along with Pryderi and his wife Cigfa, lift a curse afflicting the kingdom of Dyfed.

The Fourth Branch: Math, son of Mathonwy

In the kingdom of Gwynedd, the lady Arianrhod is ashamed at losing her virginity. She curses her son to never have a name and never bear arms; but her brother, the magician Gwydion, tricks her into giving the boy a name (Lleu) and a weapon.

Angry at being deceived, she places a third curse on the boy: that he can never have a human wife. Gwydion makes Lleu a wife out of flowers, and names her Blodeuwedd, but Blodeuwedd falls for another man instead and tries to murder Lleu. Lleu has revenge on those who betrayed him, and becomes ruler of Gwynedd, since Arianrhod was the niece of King Math.

(originally posted June 17 2024)

[metal-berry]

Some ideas I had for RWBY:

Raven and Qrow’s dad is named Jackdaw Branwen and they have an aunt named Maggie “Magpie” Branwen.

They also have cousins named Rook and Jay. Jay has a daughter named Starling.

Starling is the decoy Spring Maiden instead of Vernal.

[aladyinasong]

Thinking about Branwen, sister of Bran the Blessed, and Sansa.

Branwen (and Bran) story start with the King of Ireland traveling to Wales to ask her hand in marriage to make peace between the two kingdom, the betrothal is accepted and in the next day, a feast is held to celebrate their marriage. When Branwen arrives in Ireland the King starts to treat her cruelly as punishment for the actions of Efnysien, one of her brothers. Later, she gives birth to an heir, Gwern, and continues being mistreated by her husband until she finds and trains a small bird and later sends it with a message telling what she is suffering to Bran and he takes a army to Ireland to rescue her. When the army arrives, Branwen’ husband fears a war and agrees to give the kingdom to their son, still a child, to avoid conflict but some of the irish lords don’t support the idea and plan to secretly attack Bran and his men, Efnysien discover this and kills all the lords crushing their heads one by one. A feast is hold in celebration to Gwern’ coronation but Efnysien burns his own nephew alive after getting jealous while Branwen watches everything and tries to leap into the fire after her son but Bran holds and protect her when a war breaks between Welsh and Irish in the middle of the feast. Efnysien regrets what he did after realizing that the Irish have more chances of winning the war and tries to help the Welsh soldiers breaking a magic cauldron used to resurrect dead people by the Irish, he dies in the process. The war still goes on, everybody dies except Bran, Branwen and seven welsh soldiers, including one of their other brothers, they return to Wales but discover that Bran has been hit by a poisoned arrow to his leg, he dies and because of the grief for everything she lost, Branwen also dies of a broken heart.

Sansa story start with the King of Westeros going to the North asking her father to be his hand and proposing a betrothal between her and his son, a feast is held in homage to the King. They go to KL and after Ned execution, Joffrey now the king, starts to treat Sansa badly and punishes her for the victories of her brother. In the original outline, Sansa actually marries Joffrey and gives birth to a heir. Later, Jaime kills everyone in the Red Keep including Sansa and her child (his grand nephew) to be king. Part of this became Elia Martell story and Branwen death also probably inspired Ashara Dayne a little, both died because of heart break after losing their brothers and children.

Branwen is almost always represented with birds, specially starlings. She was described as one of the most beautiful maidens of all times and considered the perfect example of wife and queen. She is one of the Goddess of Sovereignty, a woman that personifies a territory and it’s her that confers sovereignty upon a king by marrying or having a romantic relationship with him. Similarly, Sansa is considered the key to the North and a big part of her plot it’s people trying to force her into marriages to get Winterfell.

[whitecrownsblackthrones-archived]

Which Goddess are you? [Celtic Edition]

Áine

Goddess of summer, wealth, sovereignty, love, protection, and fertility.        Áine is thought to mean “brightness, glow, joy, radiance, splendour, glory, fame”.        She is associated with Midsummer, the Sun and Moon; the element Air; the direction South West; one of the sacred herbs of Druids, Meadowsweet; and County Limerick, where the hill of Knockainy (Cnoc Áine) is found. In her role as Sun Goddess, she could take the form of ‘Lair Derg’, a red mare that no one could outrun, in order to walk among her people. Her sacred animals are red mares, rabbits, and swans.        Áine is thought to be the daughter of King Eógabail/Eoghanach, a member of the Tuatha Dé Danann and the foster son of the sea god Manannan Mac Lir.  Other sources state that she is the daughter of the Dagda and sister to Brigid. She is also thought to be the sister of Aillen and/or Fennen.        Áine was also known as a Love Goddess, and people would worship her in the hope that she might bestow sexuality, fertility, abundance and prosperity upon them. Through her many relationships with human men, she is thought that she gave birth to a magical Faerie-Human race, which is how she gained her name as Queen of the Faeries.        One of the myths surrounding Áine describes how she sat in her birthing chair on Lughnasadh and gave birth to a sheave of grain. It is believed that by performing that act, Áine gave the gift of grain to the people of Ireland.

Branwen

Goddess of love and beauty.

       Branwen, Daughter of Llyr, was a Goddess of Love and Beauty who features in the Second Branch of the Mabinogi, which tells the tale of how war broke out between Wales and Ireland. She is a daughter of Llyr and Penarddun and is married to the King of Ireland, Matholwch.        Branwen one of the triple goddesses of Avalon along with Cerridwen and Arianrhod. Branwen translates as white raven. She is the maiden aspect of the triple goddess as seen as a beautiful young woman. She is springtime and inspiration and the daughter of the sea. She releases mistreated wives from bondage and blesses them with new beginnings. She is associated with Aphrodite and her Roman counterpart, Venus.        Her sacred animals are ravens, crows, doves, sparrows, and starlings. Her symbols are cauldrons, cups, starlings, and the waxing moon.

Tagging: @tetsuwan-atom​, @sphinxsmuses​, @bluehaired-tales​, @fxtelism​ & anyone else up for this! :D