ymarilwyd

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26 December

Horseshoe Falls, Llangollen, Wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

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Nadolig Llawen!! 🎄

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POLL 5❤️✨️🐓🌳

It's TIME FOR ANOTHER ROUND OF... Who do you think is Welsh mythology Arthuriana's most sexy man, lady, God or dubious entity (Part 5)

Notes:

Cerridwen/Taliesin: these two go hand in hand. Cerridwen is seen as the goddess of inspiration and healing who looks after the cauldron of Awen (Inspiration in Welsh). She's best known for being the mother of Morfran and Creirwy as well as for being the main instigator of the potion of inspiration debacle. Cerridwen was trying to brew it for her son, Morfran, to offset his hideousness. It didn't quite work because her servant, Gwion, accidentally splashed his finger with the hot liquid when he was stirring it and Cerridwen WENT APESHIT. Long story short she and he have a battle of sorts where they shape-shift into various animals until Gwion eventually transforms into a piece of grain and hides amongst the grain. Cerridwen, not be outdone, transforms into a hen and swallows Gwion-as grain. Nine months later she gives birth to Taliesin. She can't bring herself to kill Gwion/Taliesin so she throws the baby into a river. Happily, he gets discovered by Elffin - son of Gwyddno Garanhir - and is adopted. His name means radiant brow and he's the chief of bards. Is hot shit. He haunts me. Accompanied Arthur on his quest to Annwfn and wrote about it presumably in a fugue state.

Tristan/Esyllt: U know the drill: boy loves girl, girl loves boy, girl is given away to boy's ass-earred uncle. It all ends unhappily right? Right? WRONG!!! Esyllt and Tristan run to King Arthur after being outlaws and are like 'EXCUSE ME CAN U TELL MARCH TO S T O P?' Arthur is like 'okay one of U can have her when the trees have leaves and another can have her when they don't.' March chooses the second option cuz the nights are longer and Esyllt is like 'SUCKS TO BE U. There are three trees that are good of their kind, holly and ivy and yew, which keep their leaves as long as they live. I am Trystan's as long as he lives.' #GETREKTMARCH!!! Also, Tristan HAS INVUNERABILITY and is besties with Gwalchmai.

Finally, King Arthur. Here he is. Portrayed as both a warlord and a noble, level-headed lad in later stories Arthur is many things and one of them is Dumbo. I love him. He's a himbo. Goes on a quest and doesn't do anything, tries to kidnap a lady and his two besties have to drag him off, battles a guy (Hueil) and kills him cuz Hueil has the audacity to try and mack off with his mistress and thus incurs Gildas' wrath. Has a fuckin huge dog (Cafall) and a fuckin huge horse (Llamrei.) His wife is a giantess and Arthur recognises he's punching above his weight with her. Has Caledfwlch - his sword- and Rhongomyniad - his spear - and a fuckin boat that he loves more like his wife. He also fucks off Cai with an englyn so bad it makes me genuinely want to hit him with my shoes. Be nice, Arthur. Cai, by rights, should've lopped off his head. Is probably Wales' best boi after Cadwaladr, also has two gods in his retinue and I will take every opportunity to yell about that until I fuckin DIE.

The two with the most votes go through so vote, vote, vote!!! (Also no poll on Sunday! We chill on Sundays!)

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my first commission, the mari lwyd :-) a bit out of season but oh well!

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On making a Welsh version of the entire story of King Arthur:

No Lancelot and No Affair. PERIOD. And absolutely no compromise or cheating on this one: you cannot turn anyone else (coughBediverecough) into a Lancelot analogue. You must sacrifice the Love Triangle completely - no "duty vs. love" drama. You're going to have make do without that conceit. You must exercise your own creativity and forge a different dramatic conflict for Arthur and Gwenhwyfar, if at all.

Supplementary to the above: Divorce is legal.

Arthur is at the forefront. Sometimes, Cai, Gwalchmai and Bedwyr is the focus of a particular adventure, but Arthur is a Man of Action, who often outdoes his own warriors. And in particular, he may not even be a King - he may even just be a military chief (Wleddig, Ameraudur or Dux Bellorum), freeing him up to rove around.

Giants, not fairies, as the primary supernatural race Camelot interacts with. Next to that, Saints and Deities come afterwards.

On the legal side: Celtic Law is Tort Law - a weregild system is at play, known as Saraad (Insult/Honor Price) and Galanas (Injury/Homicide Price). Livestock as a measure of wealth. Inheritance system is Gavelkind (although tribal politics may come into play. See Tanistry).

Emphasis on Poetry, Song and Poetic Speech. Englyns are recommended. Bards as serious authority figures.

Be liberal with the supernatural. Mystical items are always fought over and Knights have cyneddf, or mystical abilities.

The Grail Quest has to be whole sale rewritten and given a new mythos: it's either "The Raid on the Otherworld" where the story is about the capture of a mystical Cauldron (Preiddu Annwfn). AND/OR. It's the Peredur version of Perceval, involving a Severed Head instead of a Grail - Maybe its Bran the Blessed himself! - and possibly a battle with the "Nine Sorceresses"

Exceptions to the "No Affair" rule: Medraut and Melwas. The former requires commitment to Traitor!Guinevere and the latter ends with Arthur winning and taking back Guinevere, whether Melwas lives or not.

The Fall of Camelot - There 3 options for how it should unfold without Lancelot: a) defaulting towards Historia Regum Britanniae's version of events. b) the Gwenhwyfach feud. And c) Non-Traitor Medraut ending. The first, similar to the No Affair exception, requires commitment to Traitor!Guinevere. The second involves establishing Gwenhwyfach as a character in her own right. The third and last is the most difficult: the writer must concieve a sufficiently satisfying third party as an opponent for Arthur and Mordred for a tragic last stand.

No Incest. Medraut remains Arthur's Nephew.

No Villain!Morgan

Optional for the above: Iddog Cordd Prydain as an instigator for the hostilities between Arthur and Medraut

As an extention of the "No Lancelot" rule, No Lady of the Lake and No Galahad either.

Arthur assumes the throne through normal means - No Sword in the Stone or Sword from the Lake. Kings Lot and Urien are allies all they way. Excalibur/Caledfwlch is part of a set of Three Holy Weapons, the others being Rhongomyniad and Carnwennan.

Exceptions to the "No Affair" rule: Edern ap Nudd as Guinevere's lover. Highly unrecommended, either for potentially establishing a Love triangle (defeating the whole purpose of removing Lancelot) and for potentially resulting in Arthur's early, non-Camlann death.

Trystan and Essyllt potentially do not end in tragedy (Total omission of Brittany, Isolde White Hands and the Black Sails motif) (Writer's choice). Although Mark could still treacherously kill them both, ala Prose Tristan.

King Mark as potentially Conomor the Cursed.

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I did three illustrations for the story of Branwen for a children's television programme project :}

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Mari Christmas!

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She's just vibing!

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Happy Holidays! I finally drew Mari lwyd and I'm happy with how she came out. Needed a break so drew something without stress or worrying about how it looks. Just having fun.

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It’s that time of year once again. Mari has emerged and she’s ready for a night out on the town!

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let her in

I've got two Mari Lwyd drawings for you this year that were half finished for a few years. This is the one I started in 2022. I will probably print her as a seasons greetings card for next year.. and add glitter.

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[playfully menaces your children]

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"Let me in, let me in!"

Mari Lwyd for this year's holiday card~✨

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Notable Sorcerers of British Mythology (other than Merlin)

King Bladdud, from Historia Regum Britanniae. Father of King Leir and Grandfather of Gonoril, Regan and Cordelia. The earliest known necromancer in Britain.

[...]

Celidoine, King of Scotland and North Wales, son of Nasciens and ancestor of Sir Lancelot and Galahad. Buried in Camelot.

From the Red Book of Hergest Welsh Triads: Math ap Mathonwy, King of Gwynedd, brother of Don, and uncle of his protege, Gwydion, the magician-trickster hero of the Mabinogi. Amongst other things, punished his wayward nephews for raping Goewin by shapeshifting them, tested Arianrhod's virginity with his wand (which she failed), and is co-creator of Blodeuwedd, the flower-bride of Lleu Llaw Gyffes. Uther Pendragon, King Arthur's father, who mentored Menw, one of Arthur's own enchanter-knights. Infamous for using shapeshifting to seduce Igraine, siring Arthur. This triad implies Uther himself was a practicioner of the magical arts and has his own apprentice, with the assistance of Merlin in Historia being Geoffrey of Monmouth's spin. Gwythelyn the Dwarf. Unknown, but his nephew-protege, Coll ap Collfrewy, is one of the mighty swineherds of Britain and the owner of the magical sow, Henwen.

From Iolo Morgannwg's own dubious triads (so take them with a grain of salt): Idris Gawr of Merionydd, of Cadair Idris fame. A huge giant learned in poetry, astronomy and philosophy, who's throne/chair is a mountain said to be able to grant poetic skill or madness. Gwydion fab Don, the trickster figure of the Mabinogi and student of his uncle Math. The Milky Way Galaxy is said to be his fortress. Gwyn ap Nudd, Lord of the Wild Hunt and King of the Fairies of Glastonbury. King Arthur's cousin and huntsman. Doomed by Arthur to fight Gwythyr ap Greidawl for the hand of Creiddylad until the End of the World.

*(Not included are Klingsor and Gansguoter of the German Arthurian Tradition)

It is very notable that many of these Sorcerers are Kings, lordly rulers in their own right.

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Arthur's Immense authority over divinities. Some believe this myth is a retelling of how the seasons came to be...

(Source: Culhwch and Olwen)

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Mari Lwyd Demonstration at St Fagans, National History Museum

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Tino Rodríguez, Blodeuwedd, 2024, gouache on board, 17 × 17 inches.