Morfran (Middle Welsh:Moruran "cormorant"; literally "sea crow", frommôr, "sea", andbrân, "crow", fromCommon Brittonic *mori-brannos, as inFrenchcormoran < Lcorvus marinus)[1] is a figure inWelsh mythology. Usually portrayed as a warrior underKing Arthur, he is noted for the darkness of his skin and his hideousness. He appears in the narratives about the bardTaliesin and in theWelsh Triads, where he is often contrasted with the angelically handsomeSanddef.
The character appears in theTale of Taliesin, where he is depicted as the son ofCeridwen andTegid Foel, and is given an extremely beautiful sister namedCreirwy. In later versions of this tale his characteristic ugliness is transferred to a brother,Afagddu (Middle Welsh:Avagddu; fromy fagddu, "utter darkness"), thoughIfor Williams suggested this name arose as a nickname for the famously gruesome Morfran.[2] In the story, Ceridwen tries to help her son make his way in the world by creating a potion whose first three drops would bestow the drinker with knowledge of the future. She gives Gwion Bach (the bard Taliesin) the job of stirring the brew; he splashes three drops on his fingers and licks them, whereupon he gains the knowledge intended for Morfran/Afagddu, who remains ugly and despised. The story has a parallel in the Irish taleThe Boyhood Deeds of Fionn, in which the young heroFionn mac Cumhaill receives prophetic wisdom intended for his masterFinn Eces by consuming theSalmon of Knowledge.[3]
Morfran eil Tegid (Morfran son of Tegid) appears in several of theWelsh Triads. In Triad 24 he is recognized as one of the "Three Slaughter-Blocks of the Island of Britain",[4] while Triad 41 celebrates his horse Guelwgan Gohoewgein (Silver-White, Proud and Fair) as one of the "Three Lover's Horses of the Island of Britain".[5] Other manuscripts attribute this horse to Drystan (Tristan) andCeredig ap Gwallawg. In other triads he is associated withSanddef, whose beauty is as notable as Morfran's ugliness. In a triad preserved in the prose taleCulhwch and Olwen, Morfran and Sanddef are named as two of the three men who survived theBattle of Camlann, in Morfran's case because his ugliness led everyone to believe he was "a devil helping, for there was hair on his face like the hair of a stag."[6] This triad was adapted in the 15th-century triad collection known as "The Twenty-four Knights of Arthur's Court"; the pair are two of the "Three Irresistible Knights", as their peculiarities made it "repugnant to anyone to refuse them anything."[7]
Morfran is further mentioned in the 12th-century prose taleThe Dream of Rhonabwy.[8]Rachel Bromwich notes that a 12th-century poem byCynddelw Brydydd Mawr contains a reference to an otherwise forgotten early poet named Morfran, and suggests a connection with the Morfran ofThe Tale of Taliesin who was the intended recipient of the cauldron of poetic inspiration.[3] Scholar Caitlin Green further suggests a connection with the character called "Osfran's Son", who is buried at Camlann according to theEnglynion y Beddau (Stanzas of the Graves).[9]