Ireland's OWN: Myths & Magic Welsh Folklore: Cardiwen's Cauldron*   Cardiwen (or Cerridwen) is one of the Celtic names for the Triple Goddess, although in the following tale she is disguised as a witch. Tegid Foel was the Goddess' consort and the father of Afagddu, the world's ugliest man, and of Morfan, a warrior so ugly that no man would fight him a Camluan (the battle where Arthur and Mordred were slain). The Welsh bard Taliesin is said to have been born of Cerridwen and gained his poetic inspirations from her mystical cauldron. In times past there were enchanted islands in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Wales, and even now the fishermen sometimes think the see them. On one of these, there live a man named Tegid Foel and his wife called Cardiwen. They had a son, the ugliest boy in the world, and Cardiwen formed a plan to make him more attractive by teaching him all possible wisdom. Cardiwen was a great magician and resolved to boil a large cauldron full of knowledge for her son, so that he might know all things and be able to predict all that was to happen. She thought people would begin to value him in spite of his ugliness if he were wise. But the spell was a long time in the making, and the cauldron had to burn a year and a day without ceasing, until three blessed drops of the water of knowledge were obtained from it. So Cardiwen ordered a boy name Gwion to stir the cauldron and a blind man named Morda to feed the fire; and she made them promise never to let it cease boiling for a year and a day. Cardiwen herself continued to gather herbs to add to the broth. One day, when the year was nearly over, it chanced that three drops of the broth bubbled up out of the cauldron and fell on the finger of Gwion. They were fiery hot, and he put his finger in his mouth to soothe the pain. The instant he tasted them he knew that there were the enchanted drops for which so much trouble had been taken. By their magic, he at once foresaw all that was to come, and especially that Cardiwen the enchantress would never forgive him. Gwion fled. The cauldron burst in two, and all the broth flowed forth. Cardiwen came in and saw the toil of the whole year lost. She seized a stick and threatened Morda, but all he said was, "I am innocent. It was not I who did it." "True," said Cardiwen. "I see it now. It was the boy Gwion who robbed me." She rushed to pursue him. He saw her and fled, changing into a hare. But she became a greyhound and followed him. Running to the water, Gwion became a fish. But she became another and chased him below the waves. Gwion turned himself into a bird, and she became a hawk and gave him no rest in the sky. Just as Cardiwen swooped on him, he espied a pile of winnowed wheat on the floor of a barn, and dropping upon it, he became one of the wheat grains. Cardiwen changed herself into a high-crested black hen, and scratched him up and swallowed him. Then she changed back into the form of a woman, and Gwion found himself in the darkness of her womb. When the child was reborn, Cardiwen found him so beautiful that she could not kill him outright, but wrapped him in a leather bag and cast him into the sea, committing him to the mercy of the waves. Now a certain king named Gwyddo had a weir for catching fish on the sea-strand near his castle. Each morning would find him at the water�s edge and he was known to take a hundred pounds� worth of fish each time. But on this particular occasion, he sent his son Elphin to the salmon weir. Elphin was always an unlucky one, and the king hoped that he would be able to find something of value. "Oh Dafi," the prince called to the man tending the weir. 'What has the sea brought us today?' 'Nothing of value," he replied. "There is nothing in the weir but a leather bag which is caught on one of the poles.' "How do you know it has no value?" questioned Elphin. "Perhaps it contains gold.' Taking up the bag, he opened it, and to his great sadness, he saw that it did not contain any wealth, only a small boy. "What a radiant brow he has," exclaimed Dafi. "Then let him be called Taliesin, which means radiant brow," declared Elphin. He lifted the boy and placed him before him on his horse, and together they rode back to the castle. On the way, Taliesin made up a song: Never in Gwyddo's weir  Was there such good luck as on this night.  Fair Elphin, dry your tears!  Being too sad will not avail,  Although you may think you have gained nothing.  Too much grief will do you no good--  Do not doubt the miracles of the one most high.  Although I am but little, I am highly gifted.  From seas, and from mountains,  And from the depths of the rivers,  Wealth comes to the fortunate man.  Elphin of lively qualities,  Your resolution is unmanly.  You must not be over sorrowful.  Better to trust in god than to forebode ill.  Weak and small as I am  On this foaming beach of the ocean In the day of trouble  I shall be Of more service to you than three hundred salmon.  Elphin of notable qualities,  Be not displeased at your misfortune.  Although I seem weak here in my bag  There lies virtue in my tongue.  While I continue as you protector,  You will have no reason to fear. Elphin stared at him in amazement, and he asked, "Are you man or spirit?" In answer, the boy sang to him of his flight from Cardiwen: I have fled with vigor, I have fled as a frog, I have fled in the semblance of a crow scarcely finding rest. I have fled vehemently, I have fled as a chain of lightning; I have fled as a roe into an entangled thicket. I have fled as a wolf cub, I have fled as a wolf in the wilderness; I have fled as a fox used to many swift bounds and quirks; I have fled as a martin, which did not avail; I have fled as a squirrel that vainly hides; I have fled as a stag's antler, or ruddy course; I have fled as a fierce bull bitterly fighting; I have fled as a white grain of pure wheat. Into a dark leather bag I was thrown And on a boundless sea, I was sent adrift. To me it was an omen of being tenderly nursed And the lord god then set me at liberty, Elphin came with Taliesin to the house of his father, and Gwyddo asked him if had a good haul at the fish weir. "I have something better than fish," Elphin proudly declared. "Better than fish?' asked his father. 'Whatever do you mean?' "I have a bard," said Elphin. Gwyddo looked at the small boy critically. "Alas, what will he profit you, Elphin?" Taliesin said, "I will profit him more than the weir ever profited you." Gwyddo's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Are you able to speak, and so little a boy?" "I am better able to speak than those who question me," replied Taliesin. From that time on Elphin prospered, and he and his wife cared for Taliesin tenderly and lovingly, and the boy dwelt with them until he was 13 years old. That winter Elphin went to pay a visit to his uncle Maelgwyn, who was a great king and held open court. There were four and twenty bards there, and all of them proclaimed that there was no king who had a wife as beautiful as Maelgwyn's queen. Elphin, well into his cups, called out, "I myself have a bride prettier than yours, Maelgwyn and what is more, I have a bard who is the wisest in all the land.' "Then he should have better counseled your words, Elphin," said the king coldly, and he locked the boastful young man in prison. Taliesin learned of the matter, and he set forth at once to try to free his adoptive father. In those days, it was the custom of kings to sit in the hall and dine in royal state with lords and bards about them who should keep proclaiming the greatness and glory of the king and his knights. Taliesin placed himself in a quiet corner, waiting for the four and twenty bards to pass, and as each one passed by, Taliesin made an ugly face, and gave a sound with his finger on his lips, like so: "Blerwm, blerwm!" Each bard went by and bowed low before the king, but instead of chanting his praises, each could only say, 'Blerwm, blerwm!" The king thought they were intoxicated, and he had the squire strike the chief bard with a broom. The chief bard came to his senses, shook his head, and said, "There is spirit which sits in the corner of your dun, in the form of a child. It was he that enchanted us." The king asked that Taliesin be brought forward, and he demanded to know who he was. "Primary chief bard I am to Elphin, And my native land is the region of the summer stars. I am a wonder whose origin is not known. I have fostered in the womb of Cardiwen, I have teacher to all intelligences, I am able to instruct the whole universe. Before that, I was little Gwion, Now I am Taliesin." When he was done speaking, silence reigned in the hall. Maelgwyn was the first to speak. "A fine song, indeed, little man," he smiled. He looked at his chief bard and said, "And what will you sing for us?" The chief bard nervously lifted his harp and struck an opening cord, but as before, all he could sing was : "Blerwm, blerwm!" "Charming," frowned the king. He turned to Taliesin and asked, "Will you sing for us again?" Taliesin took a deep breath, feeling the power of the cauldron coursing through his veins. He sang:   "Discover what it is,  The creature from before the flood.  Without flesh, without, bone,  Without vein, without blood,  Without head, without feet.  It will neither be older nor younger  Than at the beginning.  How the sea whitens  When it first comes!  It is in the field It is in the wood,  Without hand and without foot.  Without signs of old age.  It is as wide As the surface of the earth.  It was not born,  Nor was it seen.  It will cause consternation  Wherever god wills it.  On sea and on land It neither sees, nor is seen.  Its course is devious,  And it will not come when desired.  On land on sea It is indispensable.  It is without equal. It is not confined.  It is incomparable.  It comes from four quarters  It is noxious, it is beneficial,  It is yonder, it is here, It will destroy  But it will not repair the injury,  It will not suffer for its doings,  Seeing it is blameless.  One being has prepared it  Out of all creatures  To wreak vengeance  On Maelgwyn Gwynedd." And while Taliesin sang, there came suddenly a mighty storm of wind, so that the king and all his nobles thought the castle would fall on their heads. They saw that the young boy had not merely been singing the song of the wind, but seemed to have power to command it. The king grew pale, and he hastily ordered that Elphin should be brought from his dungeon and placed before the young bard. Taliesin spoke a few words in an ancient language, the chains came loose from Elphin's feet and he was free. Together they mounted upon their horses and rode back home, leaving the evil and all his court in fearful awe. *From "The Celtic Wheel of the Year" in Celtic Folklore and Cooking by Joanne Asala. Llewellyn Publications. 2001.  Page last updated 22 Jul  2008 Website Design and Myths & Magic logo by Míchealín Daugherty Copyright © 2008 Ireland's OWN All Rights Reserved.