Culhwch ac Olwen, A Cinderella Story Part 2: The Heroine

‘O Chieftain, I have never heard about the maiden of whom you speak…’ ⁃ Parker, Culhwch ac Olwen

Culhwch ac Olwen, A Cinderella Story: Part One, The Problem and The Hero

The tale of Culhwch ac Olwen commands high placement in the pantheon of Arthurian titles. Little else of the broad, surviving corpus of literature can claim to rival the text in magnitude or in antique character. The text’s significance as a source of information concerning Brythonic Arthurian tradition has been described as ‘a fascinating and

The Exalted Prisoner

“Mabon… is the immemorial prisoner whom the world has forgotten…,” ⁃ W. J. Gruffyth, Rhiannon, (1) In his immense work Rhiannon, W.J. Gruffyth labored to piece out the ancient myth of the Brythonic Mother goddess and her son. He believed that the nucleus of the myth concerned the birth and abduction of the divine child

Water Horses Ride Again

Sea-horses glisten in summer As far as Bran has stretched his glance: Rivers pour forth a stream of honey In the land of Manannan son of Ler. ⁃ The Voyage of Bran, 7th/8th c

The Goddess Whom The Blacksmiths Adored Part One: The Cook-pit of the Carrion Birds

…’This is a cooking-place,’ said Finnachaidh, ‘and it is a long time since it was made.’ ‘That is true,’ said Caoilte, ‘and this is the cooking-place of the Great Queen.’ ⁃ Colloquy of the Ancients (1)

The Hunters of Souls Part Two: Saint Vortigern and The Mystery of the Maniac of the Woods

*** The Hunters of Souls: Part One can be found here: https://theburntthumb.wordpress.com/2020/10/13/the-hunters-of-souls-part-one-an-old-irish-curse/ (I) Giraldus Cambrensis’ Itinerarium Cambriae– 1191 A.D. (H) Nennius’ Historia Brittonum– Between the 9th-11th centuries (V) Geoffrey’s Vita Merlini– 12th century (K) Jocelyn’s Life of St. Kentigern– 12th century (G) Vita sancta Gurthierni– 12th century (L) Lailoken and Kentigern– 15th century (Q) The

The Hunters of Souls Part One: An Old Irish Curse

So… as I read more and more excellent posts by fellow bloggers I get more ideas for topics here, and it’s become something of a heaping backlog; I still need to write about the Irish blacksmith goddess, water horses, Edern ap Nudd, portrayals of the cyclops in Celtic literature, and a host of others things