WELSH MYTHOLOGY

Prior to the defeat of the last Welsh-born monarch by Edward I, the Welsh largely enjoyed an independent life from the rest of Britain. They were never completely pacified by the Romans, Saxons or Angles during the waves of invasion taking place over the previous millennium in the British Isles.

Even today, at the beginning of the second millennium following Edward’s conquest of Wales, the language and culture of the country survives and continues to thrive.

Welsh mythology is rich with ancient tales, gods and goddesses,

The books of the Mabinogion, sometimes called the Maginogi, detail the stories of the gods, princes and people who were believed to rule and determine the future of Wales and its people. Mixed into the context of the Mabinogion are the Druids – the priests of Wales.  The Druids held to the ancient traditions and through them the Mabinogion initially survived the turbulence of a country undergoing both political pacification by the English and religious pacification by the Roman Catholic, and later Anglican, churches.

Within the Mabinogion, the tales of the likes of Bran, Rhiannon and Pwyll are sagas of heroic accomplishment full of sweeping color, scale and archetypes – some of which are similar to other mythology and belief systems in the world and some are uniquely Welsh.