Preiddeu Annwfn orPreiddeu Annwn (English:The Spoils of Annwfn) is a cryptic poem of sixty lines inMiddle Welsh, found in theBook of Taliesin. The text recounts an expedition withKing Arthur to Annwfn orAnnwn, theOtherworld inWelsh.
Preiddeu Annwfn is one of the best known medieval British poems. English translations, in whole or in part, have been published by R. Williams (inWilliam Forbes Skene'sFour Ancient Books of Wales), byRobert Graves inThe White Goddess and byRoger Sherman Loomis,Herbert Pilch,John T. Koch, Marged Haycock, John K. Bollard,Sarah Higley. At points it requires individual interpretation on the part of its translators owing to its terse style, the ambiguities of its vocabulary, its survival in a single copy of doubtful reliability, the lack of exact analogues[clarification needed] of the tale it tells and the host of real or fancied resonances with other poems and tales.
A number of scholars (in particular, Marshall H. James, who points out the remarkable similarity in Line 1, of Verse 2 in "Mic Dinbych", from the Black Book of Carmarthen) have pointed out analogues in othermedieval Welsh literature: some[which?] suggest that it represents a tradition that evolved into thegrail ofArthurian literature. Haycock (inThe Figure of Taliesin) says that the poem is "about Taliesin and his vaunting of knowledge", and Higley calls the poem "a metaphor of its own making—a poem about the material 'spoils' of poetic composition".[1]
The poem is uniquely preserved in theBook of Taliesin (Aberystwyth, NLW, MS Peniarth 2), which has been dated to the first quarter of the 14th century.[2] The text of the poem itself has proved immensely difficult to date. Estimates range from the time of the bardTaliesin in the late 6th century to that of the completion of the manuscript. On the basis of linguistic criteria Norris J. Lacy suggests that the poem took its present form around AD 900.[3] Marged Haycock notes that the poem shares a formal peculiarity with a number of pre-Gogynfeirdd poems found in the Book of Taliesin, that is, thecaesura usually divides the lines into a longer and shorter section.[4] She contends, however, that there is no firm linguistic evidence that the poem predates the time of theGogynfeirdd.[5]
The poem may be divided into eight stanzas, each for the most part united by a single rhyme but with irregular numbers of lines. The first stanza begins and the last ends with two lines of praise to the Lord, generally taken to be Christian. In the last couplet of each stanza except the last the speaker mentions a dangerous journey into Annwfn withArthur and three boat-loads of men, of whom only seven returned, presumably with the "spoils" from Annwfn. Annwfn is apparently referred to by several names, including "Mound or Fairy Fortress," "Four Peaked or Cornered Fortress," and "Glass Fortress", though it is possible these are intended to be distinct. Whatever tragedy occurred is not clearly explained.
Each stanza except the last two begins in the first person; the first begins "I praise the Lord", the second and third "I am honoured in praise", the next three declare "I do not merit little men" who rely on books and lack understanding. The last two refer to crowds of monks who again rely upon the words and the knowledge of authorities and lack the type of experience the poem claims.
Between these beginnings and ends the first six stanzas offer brief allusions to the journey. In the first Gweir is encountered imprisoned in the fort's walls, a character whomRachel Bromwich associates with Gwair, one of "Three Exalted Prisoners of Britain" known from theWelsh Triads.[6] He is imprisoned in chains, apparently until Judgment Day, singing before the spoils of Annwfn. The second stanza describes the cauldron of the Chief of Annwn, finished with pearl, and how it was taken, presumably being itself the "spoils". The third and fourth allude to difficulties with the forces of Annwfn while the fifth and sixth describe a great ox, also richly decorated, that may also form part of Arthur's spoils.
The first stanza has already mentionedPwyll, the legendary prince of Dyfed who in the first branch of the Mabinogi becomes the Chief of Annwfn after helping its king,Arawn, and was credited with ownership of a cauldron.
The speaker may be intended to beTaliesin himself, for the second stanza says "my poetry, from the cauldron it was uttered, from the breath ofnine maidens it was kindled, the cauldron of the chief of Annwfyn" and Taliesin's name is connected to a similar story in the legend of his birth.[7] Song is heard in the fourfold fort, which therefore seems also to be Annwfn: Gweir was imprisoned in perpetual song before a cauldron that first gave out poetry when breathed upon by nine maidens, reminiscent of the ninemuses of classical thought. Just as, we are told, the cauldron "does not boil the food of a coward", so the song it is inspires is "honoured in praise", too good for petty men of ordinary mentality.
Two works in particular, the tale ofBran the Blessed in theSecond Branch of the Mabinogi and a tale included inCulhwch and Olwen in which Arthur's retinue sail to Ireland aboardPrydwen (the ship used inPreiddeu) to obtainthe Cauldron of Diwrnach, are frequently cited as narratives resembling that of the present poem.
In theSecond Branch Bran gives his magic life-restoring cauldron to his new brother-in-lawMatholwch of Ireland when he marries Bran's sister Branwen. Matholwch mistreats his new wife and Bran's men cross theIrish Sea to rescue her. This attack involves the destruction of the cauldron, which Matholwch uses to resuscitate his soldiers. There is a battle between the hosts and in the end only seven of Bran's men escape alive, including Taliesin and Pryderi.
InCulhwch and Olwen Arthur's retinue also sail to Ireland (aboard his shipPrydwen, the ship used inPreiddeu) to obtain the cauldron which, like that inPreiddeu Annwfn, would never boil meat for a coward whereas it would boil quickly if meat for a brave man were put in it. Arthur's warrior Llenlleawc the Irishman seizesCaledfwlch (Excalibur) and swings it around, killing Diwrnach's entire retinue. Taliesin is mentioned inCulhwch among Arthur's retinue, as are several Gweirs.
Preiddeu Annwfn is usually understood to say that a sword described either as "bright" or else "of Lleawch" was raised to the cauldron, leaving it in the hands of "Lleminawc" (cledyf lluch lleawc idaw rydyrchit/ Ac yn llaw leminawc yd edewit). Some scholars have found the similarity to this Llenlleawc compelling, but the evidence is not conclusive. Higley suggests a common story has influenced these various Welsh and Irish accounts.[7]
SirJohn Rhys was quick to connect these campaigns in Ireland with the symbolic "western isles" of the Celtic otherworld and, in this general sense,Preiddeu Annfwn may be associated with the maritime adventure genres ofImmram andEchtra. Rhys also noted that the Isle of Lundy was once known as Ynys Wair, and suggested that it was once accounted the place of Gweir's imprisonment.[8]
Culhwch also recounts Arthur's nearby rescue of another of the three famous prisoners,Mabon ap Modron,a god of poetry after whom theMabinogi are named, and gives details of another ruler of Annwfn,Gwynn ap Nudd, king of theTylwyth Teg - the fairies in Welsh lore - "whom God has placed over the brood of devils in Annwn lest they should destroy the present race". Gwynn is also made part of Arthur's retinue, though he isthe son of a god, after Arthur intervenes in his dispute overCreiddylad.
In theFirst Branch of the Mabinogi Pwyll marriesRhiannon and their sonPryderi receives a gift of pigs from Arawn. He later follows a white boar to a mysterious tower where he is trapped by a beautiful golden bowl in an enchanted "blanket of mist" and temporarily vanishes with Rhiannon and the tower itself. This motif has also been compared with that of Gweir/Gwair's imprisonment.[8]
Roger Sherman Loomis pointed out the similarities betweenPreiddeu's description of the "Glass Fortress" and a story fromIrish mythology recorded in both theBook of Invasions and the 9th-centuryHistoria Britonum, in which theMilesians, the ancestors to the Irish people, encounter a glass tower in the middle of the ocean whose inhabitants do not speak with them, just as, inPreiddeu, the Glass Fortress is defended by 6,000 men and Arthur's crew finds it difficult to speak with their sentinel. The Milesians attack and most of their force perishes.
Another fortress, "Caer Sidi", is often linked through its name withthe Irish fairyland, where live theTuatha Dé Danann, whom the Milesians eventually conquer.[9] it appears again in the same collection, in"Kerd Veib am Llyr", ("The Song of the Sons of Llyr"), in language that closely follows that ofPreiddeu;Complete is my chair in Caer Siddi/ No one will be afflicted with disease or old age that may be in it./ Manawyddan and Pryderi know it./ Three (musical?) instruments by the fire, will sing before it/ and around its borders are the streams of the ocean/ and the fruitful fountain is above it.... The poet, this time definitely speaking as Taliesin, also claims to have been with Bran in Ireland, Bran and Manawyddan being the sons ofLlŷr.
Higley affirms that Annwfn is "popularly associated with the land of the old gods who can bestow gifts, including the gift of poetry (awen)". She cites another poem in the same collection, called "Angar Kyfyndawt", which states that Annwfn is in the deeps below the earth, and that "It is Awen I sing, / from the deep I bring it". The great ox has "seven score links on his collar" while in "Angar Kyfyndawt" awen has "seven scoreogyruen“. Though this latter is not a well-understood term, it can be interpreted as - possibly - personification, attribute, characteristic or symbol.
In a third poem, "Kadeir Teyrnon", three "awens" come from theogyruen, just as in the birth legend Taliesin receives inspiration in three drops from the cauldron ofCeridwen, the enchantress who gives a second birth to the legendary Taliesin, and who is also mentioned other poems from the collection, "Kerd Veib am Llyr" and "Kadeir Kerrituen", and by another poet, Cuhelyn, in connection withogyruen.[10]
These poems draw freely upon a wide variety of otherworldly tales, representing the fateful voyage, the battle, imprisonment and the cauldron as allegories of a mystical poetic knowledge beyond the ordinary. Robert Graves aligned himself personally with the poets' standpoint, commenting that literary scholars are psychologically incapable of interpreting myth[11]
Early translators suggested a link betweenPreiddeu Annwfn (taken together with the Bran story) and the later Grail narratives, with varying degrees of success. Similarities are sometimes peripheral, such as that both Bran the Blessed and the Grail keeper theFisher King receive wounds in their legs and both dwell in a castle of delights where no time seems to pass. Thegraal portrayed inChrétien de Troyes'Perceval, the Story of the Grail is taken to be reminiscent of Bran's cauldron, and, as inPreiddeu, the Grail romances always result in initial tragedy and frequently in huge loss of life.
Earlier scholars were quicker to read Celtic origins in the Holy Grail stories than their modern counterparts. Whereas early 20th-century Celtic enthusiastJessie Weston unequivocally declared that an earlier form of the Grail narrative could be found inPreiddeu Annwfn, modern researcherRichard Barber denies Celtic myth had much influence on the legend's development at all.[12] R. S. Loomis, however, argued that it was more logical to search for recurrent themes and imagery found in both the Grail stories and Celtic material rather than exact ancestors; many or most modern scholars share this opinion.