As you well know, our most recent publication is a retelling of the Mabinogi stories. But as some of you may not be familiar with this part of Welsh culture (like I was!), we wanted to give you some more context for the book.
Each of these women are considered a goddess in her own right. The women each have their own symbols and associations, which can be seen on our cover. The power these women possess was given to them through the associations of their stories, and Alys wanted to give them the representation they deserve by rewriting their tales.
Arianrhod’s story is actually covered at the beginning of our retelling; her brother offered her to King Math (her uncle), who required his feet be kept in the lap of a virgin. When she was presented to him, the king demanded proof of her virginity by having her step across a magic rod; doing so caused her to give birth to two children. The first was named Dylan, a merman, who became the God of the Sea, and the second was Llew, who became God of the Sun. Arianrhod assumed that her brother, Gwydion, betrayed her, and so cursed the son he took (Llew) thrice – she denied him a name, denied him the right to bear arms (which at the time was the right of Welsh mothers), and denied him a wife. Gwydion was a trickster, however, and worked his way around these curses with his tricks, including creating Llew a wife out of flowers.
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Olwen’s story is heavily embedded in the story of her male counterpart, Culhwch. Olwen is allowed to do very little in the original tale, as her position as a maiden pushes her to be passive in her own story. She is protected by her father, the giant Ysbaddaden, who tasks Culhwch with some impossible tasks when he asks for Olwen’s hand in marriage. Culhwch completes the tasks, which lead to Ysbaddaden’s death and the eventual marriage between Culhwch and Olwen.
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Branwen, much like Olwen, is a maiden who was married off to the king of Ireland to solidify a treaty between the Irish and the Welsh. One of Branwen’s brothers, King Bendigeidfran, oversaw the event without consulting Branwen’s other brother, Efnisien, who was angered at this arrangement and took his revenge on the Irish king’s horses. As the king was leaving, Bendigeidfran offered more horses as substitutes, as well as a magic cauldron that would revive the dead. Branwen was punished for her brother’s actions when in Ireland, and following the birth of her child, Gwern, she was made to be a servant in the king’s house. Needing to tell her brothers of her plight, Branwen trained a starling to deliver a note over the sea. When he learned of her despair, Bendigeidfran summoned an army to rescue her, acting as a bridge over the rivers that led to the king’s fort. A battle breaks, and all involved perish.
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Rhiannon, unfortunately, does not have a happy sapphic ending like in our version. Her story begins by being chased by Pwyll for three days before allowing him to catch up. Pwyll desired to marry her for her beauty, and Rhiannon agreed only because it would get her out of her current engagement to a man called Gwawl. All was well in their marriage, and Rhiannon gave birth to a son, but the child disappeared one night; the maids around her created a ploy that involved killing a puppy and spreading the blood over Rhiannon as if she had killed and eaten her own child. Upon discovering this, Pwyll imprisoned Rhiannon. Her only reprieve was when a lesser lord brought their grown son before them with a story of how he was saved from a monster and raised as though he were his own son.
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Thank you so much for your kind words!
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Thank you so much! We want to make sure our readers have all the information they could need!