Bran the Blessed

Bran the Blessed (Welsh: Bendigeidfran, literally "Blessed Crow") is a giant and king of Britain in Welsh mythology. He appears in several of the Welsh Triads, but his most significant role is in the Second Branch of the "Mabinogion", "Branwen, daughter of Llyr". He is a son of Llyr and Penarddun, and the brother of Branwen, Manawydan, Nisien and Efnysien. The name "Bran" translates from Welsh as "Crow", often translated in the context of this tale as "Raven"; both are members of the genus Corvus and the family Corvidae.

Role in the "Mabinogion"

Matholwch, King of Ireland, visits Bran to ask for the hand of his sister Branwen in marriage. Bran agrees to this, but during a feast to celebrate the betrothal, Efnisien, a half-brother of Branwen and Bran, arrives and asks what was going on. When told, he is furious that Branwen has been given in marriage without his permission, and vents his spleen by mutilating Matholwch's horses. Matholwch is deeply angered until Bran gives him a magic cauldron which restores the dead to life.

Once in Ireland, Branwen is treated cruelly by her husband, Matholwch, and is forced to work in the kitchen. She tames a starling and sends it across the Irish Sea with a message to her brother Bran, who sails from Wales to Ireland to rescue her with his brother, Manawydan. When Matholwch sees the giant, he asks for peace, and as a show of good faith, builds a house big enough for Bran to enter. Matholwch agrees to let Bran live with them and to give his kingdom to Gwern, his son by Branwen. The Irish lords do not like the idea, so they hide themselves in flour bags to attack the Welsh. Efnisien guesses what is happening and kills them in their bags, then throws Gwern into the fire.

In the ensuing war, the Irish at first have the advantage because of the magic cauldron. When the Irish dead are placed in it, they came to life and were able to fight as well as ever, though they cannot speak. Efnisien lays down among the dead and is placed in the cauldron, then breaks it, bursting his heart and dying in the process. The Welsh eventually win the war, but only seven men survived. Bran himself is dying from a mortal wound in the foot, and orders that his head should be cut off and buried in London. When the survivors return to Britain, Branwen dies of grief from believing that she was the cause of the war; she is buried beside the River Alaw in Anglesey.

For seven years the seven survivors, amongst them Manawydan and Pryderi, stay in Harlech, where they are entertained by Bran's head, which continues to speak. They later move on to Gwales (often identified with Grassholm Island off Dyfed) where they live for eighty years without perceiving the passing of time. Eventually, one of the men opens the door of the hall facing Cornwall and the sorrow of what had befallen them returns. As instructed they take the now silent head to the "Gwynfryn", the "White Hill" (thought to be the location where the Tower of London now stands), where they bury it facing France so as to ward off invasion. The imagery of the talking head is widely considered to derive from the ancient Celtic "cult of the Head"; the head was considered the home of the soul.

Other associations

According to the Welsh Triads, Bran's head was buried in London where the White Tower now stands. As long as it remained there, Britain would be safe from invasion. However, King Arthur dug up the head, declaring the country would be protected only by his great strength. [Triad 37. Bromwich, "Trioedd Ynys Prydein", pp. 94–102.] There have been attempts in modern times to link the still-current practice of keeping ravens at the Tower of London under the care of Yeomen Warder Ravenmaster with this story of Bran, whose name means Raven.

Several scholars have noted similarities between Bran the Blessed and the Arthurian character the Fisher King, the keeper of the Holy Grail. The Fisher King first appears in Chrétien de Troyes's 12th century French romance "Perceval, the Story of the Grail"; he has been dealt a mortal wound in the leg (Bran's wound was in his foot) but stays alive in his mystical castle due to the effects of the Grail, waiting to be healed by Percival. A later author who took up the story, Robert de Boron, describes the history of the Grail in ancient times, and says the first Fisher King was a man called "Bron". Additionally, the Welsh story "Peredur son of Efrawg", a version of the Percival story with several striking deviations, featurs the hero visiting a mysterious castle, but he does not find the Grail there, but rather a severed human head. Additionally, some works attribute to the Grail the power to restore the fallen, making it somewhat similar to Bran's cauldron.

Name

All the Welsh mythological texts of the "Mabinogion" were recorded between the 14th and 15th centuries in Middle Welsh. As a result there are discrepancies regarding the spelling of names, because English translations maintain Middle Welsh orthography whereas Modern Welsh versions use Modern Welsh orthography. In Middle Welsh, there was some variation on the name Bran; other forms include "Vran" and "Uran".

In the "Mabinogion", the character is referred to virtually exclusively as "Bendigeituran"; that is, with the epithet "Bendigeit" (blessed or praiseworthy) attached. The only exceptions are in the patronymic of his son Caradog ap Bran and a single reference to his gathering in Ireland as "Gwledd Brân", "The feast of Brân (or 'Crow')". This usage is followed in the Welsh Triads. Bendigeituran becomes "Bendigeidfran" or "Bran Fendigeid" in Modern Welsh; Bendigeidfran is the form used in many Modern Welsh adaptations of the "Mabinogion". [For instance, Dafydd & Rhiannon Ifans' "Y Mabinogi".] However, earlier references generally do not include the epithet, instead calling the character "Bran fab Llŷr" or simply "Bran".Bromwich, "Trioedd Ynys Prydein", pp. 290–292.] Ifor Williams thought "Bendigeit" was a late addition, perhaps a replacement for a word that had become obsolete by the time the "Mabinogi" was recorded. "Vran" appears in an old poem in the Book of Taliesin, ["Book of Taliesin" XIV, [http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/t14w.html "Kerd Veib am Llyr"] . From [http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/llyfrtaliesin.html Llyfr Taliesin] at maryjones.us. Retrieved February 7, 2007.] while Cynddelw Brydydd Mawr and Prydydd y Moch mention "Bran fab Llŷr" several times in their poetry, under different spellings. However, Bleddyn Fardd refers to "Benigeitran" in his elegy for Llywelyn the Last, demonstrating that the epithet "Bendigeit" had been attached to Bran since the late 13th century.

Notes

References

*Bromwich, Rachel (2006). "Trioedd Ynys Prydein: The Triads of the Island of Britain." University Of Wales Press. ISBN 0-7083-1386-8.
*Gantz, Jeffrey (translator) (1987). "The Mabinogion." New York: Penguin. ISBN 0-14-044322-3.
*Ifans, Dafydd & Rhiannon, "Y Mabinogion" (Gomer 1980) ISBN 1 85902 260 X