Myths & Legends of the Celtic RaceRolleston, T. W. (Thomas William)
Religion
Myths & Legends of the Celtic Race
Rolleston, T. W. (Thomas William)
Celts -- Religion; Mythology, Celtic
A deity named Myrddin holds in Arthur’s mythological cycle the place of
the Sky- and Sun-god, Nudd. One of the Welsh Triads tells us that Britain,
before it was inhabited, was called _Clas Myrddin_, Myrddin’s Enclosure.
One is reminded of the Irish fashion of calling any favoured spot a
“cattle-fold of the sun”—the name is applied by Deirdre to her beloved
Scottish home in Glen Etive. Professor Rhys suggests that Myrddin was the
deity specially worshipped at Stonehenge, which, according to British
tradition as reported by Geoffrey of Monmouth, was erected by “Merlin,”
the enchanter who represents the form into which Myrddin had dwindled
under Christian influences. We are told that the abode of Merlin was a
house of glass, or a bush of whitethorn laden with bloom, or a sort of
smoke or mist in the air, or “a close neither of iron nor steel nor timber
nor of stone, but of the air without any other thing, by enchantment so
strong that it may never be undone while the world endureth.”(225) Finally
he descended upon Bardsey Island, “off the extreme westernmost point of
Carnarvonshire ... into it he went with nine attendant bards, taking with
him the ’Thirteen Treasures of Britain,’ thenceforth lost to men.”
Professor Rhys points out that a Greek traveller named Demetrius, who is
described as having visited Britain in the first century A.D., mentions an
island in the west where “Kronos” was supposed to be imprisoned with his
attendant deities, and Briareus keeping watch over him as he slept, “for
sleep was the bond forged for him.” Doubtless we have here a version,
Hellenised as was the wont of classical writers on barbaric myths, of a
British story of the descent of the Sun-god into the western sea, and his
imprisonment there by the powers of darkness, with the possessions and
magical potencies belonging to Light and Life.(226)
*Nynniaw and Peibaw*
The two personages called Nynniaw and Peibaw who figure in the
genealogical table play a very slight part in Cymric mythology, but one
story in which they appear is interesting in itself and has an excellent
moral. They are represented(227) as two brothers, Kings of Britain, who
were walking together one starlight night. “See what a fine far-spreading
field I have,” said Nynniaw. “Where is it?” asked Peibaw. “There aloft and
as far as you can see,” said Nynniaw, pointing to the sky. “But look at
all my cattle grazing in your field,” said Peibaw. “Where are they?” said
Nynniaw. “All the golden stars,” said Peibaw, “with the moon for their
shepherd.” “They shall not graze on my field,” cried Nynniaw. “I say they
shall,” returned Peibaw. “They shall not.” “They shall.” And so they went
on: first they quarrelled with each other, and then went to war, and
armies were destroyed and lands laid waste, till at last the two brothers
were turned into oxen as a punishment for their stupidity and
quarrelsomeness.
*The **“**Mabinogion**”*
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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