The
Goddess Ceridwen lived in the mountains of Snowdonia in Wales. She
had a beautiful daughter, Creirwy and a son, Avagddu, who was very,
very ugly. Ceridwen believed that, despite his poor looks, he could
at least have great wisdom.
She
was gifted in many magical arts and alchemy and gathered rare and
special ingredients to make an elixir of wisdom for her son. It was
to be brewed in a cauldron for a year and a day. Ceridwen chose a
blind man to make sure the flames kept the liquid boiling and
appointed a young boy named Gwion to stir the elixir.
Close
to the end of the year of brewing, a boiling bubble in the centre of
the cauldron burst, splashing three drops of the precious liquid onto
Gwion's finger. He immediately licked it to soothe the hot skin and
in that moment was filled with all the wisdom contained in the
elixir. The nature of the magic within the brew meant that the
remaining liquid was useless and it burned through the cauldron and
scorched the ground beneath. Gwion knew that Ceridwen would be raging
with fury, so he fled.
The
Goddess chased the boy. He was able to change himself into a hare and
escape, but she transformed into a greyhound and ran after him. On
reaching a river, Gwion turned himself into a fish, but Ceridwen
became an otter, continuing the chase. He leaped out of the water
changing into a bird and she transformed herself into a hawk to hunt
him down. The boy made another change, this time into a grain of
wheat – whereupon, Ceridwen turned into a black hen and ate him.
Nine
months later she gave birth to a baby boy. She had intended to kill
him, but on seeing his beauty, placed him in a leather bag and cast
him into the sea. The bag was swept into the river Conwy and was
discovered by a man named Elphin, who fostered him. Taking in the
infant's beauty, Elphin named him Taliesin, meaning 'Radiant Brow'
and Taliesin became the finest Bard.
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