LEGENDY WALIIWELSH LEGENDS

Autor: Karolina Niewiarowska

Welsh myths, legends and folk tales encompass a broad spectrum from the famous Mabinogion tales to historical legends and stories about early Christian saints. Celtic tradition is the basis of much of the writing. Many legends center on the Druids and their practices, mixing fact and fiction. 

The tales contain references to several types of legendary figures. Fairies play a large part in some plots. These fairies were not evil—except for the odd one or two—rather, they looked upon humans in a kindly way. Like most fairies they lived underground and were quite tiny. Mermaids feature in Pembrokeshire stories. Giants figure prominently in Welsh tales. King Arthur was considered a great Celtic hero, and he appears in many of the tales. The early Celtic Christian religion gave rise to many stories of miraculous doings by saints. 

Evil spirits, witches, and wizards also play their part in myths. Witches were believed to live everywhere and have power over living things. The practice of nailing a horseshoe over the door came from the belief it kept witches out of the house. One story told of a fairy cow and a witch. The cow never ran dry until a witch milked it.

MABINOGIONZbiór średniowiecznych walijskich sag. Nazwa została nadana przez ich pierwszą tłumaczkę na język angielski, lady Charlotte Guest. Pierwszą część Mabinogionu stanowią Cztery gałęzie Mabinogi (wal. Pedair Cainc y Mabinogi), wobec których stosuje się często nazwę Mabinogi. Zawierają one wiele elementów celtyckiej tradycji mitologicznej. W skład drugiej części wchodzą dwie walijskie legendy arturiańskie, dwa pseudo-historyczne opowiadania oraz opowieść „Taliesin”, w obecnych wydaniach często pomijana, jako nie pochodząca z tych samych manuskryptów co pozostałe opowieści. Część trzecia to trzy tzw. romanse arturiańskie, w których wyraźne są wpływy literatury obcej.

OPOWIEŚCI ZAWARTE W ZBIORZE MABINOGION

(Podane poniżej tytuły opowieści zgodne są ze

współczesną walijską pisownią.)

„Cztery gałęzie” MabinogiPwyll, Pendefig Dyfed - Pwyll, książę DyfedBranwen ferch Llŷr - Branwen, córka Llŷra

Manawydan fab Llŷr - Manawydan, syn LlŷraMath fab Mathonwy - Math, syn Mathonwy’ego

Legendy walijskieBreuddwyd Macsen Wledig - Sen Macsena WledigaCyfranc Lludd a Llefelys - Historia Lluda i Llefelysa

Culhwch ac Olwen - Culhwch i Olwena Breuddwyd Rhonabwy - Sen Rhonabwy’ego

Romanse arturiańskie Iarlles y Ffynnon / Owain - Pani Źródła albo Owain

Peredur fab Efrawg - Peredur, syn Efrawga Geraint ac Enid - Geraint i Enida

KRÓTKO O TREŚCI NIEKTÓRYCH LEGEND

TALIESIN

Taliesin began life as Gwion Bach, a servant to Ceridwen, the wife of a nobleman Tegid Foel, in the

days when King Arthur ruled. She was a magician who had three arts she learned: enchantment,

magic, and divination. Ceridwen had a beautiful daughter and an ugly son named Morfran, which

means "Great Crow", whose appearance no magic could cure. Later he became known as Afagddu,

which means "Utter Darkness". Ceridwen felt in order for him to gain respect and acceptance from

noblemen he had to have great qualities to compensate for his ugly looks, so she sought to give him

the gift of wisdom and knowledge. Through her arts she found a way of giving her son these special

qualities, so she found special herbs from the earth in order to do this Inspiration (Awen), which had

to be constantly stirred and cooked for a year and a day in a cauldron. A blind man, whose name we

do not know, was assigned by Ceridwen to stir the cauldron, while Gwion Bach, a young lad, stoked

the fire underneath it. The first three drops of liquid from this cauldron would give would be,

"extraordinarily learned in various arts and full of spirit of prophecy" (The Tale of Gwion Bach), and

the rest was a fatal poison. After all Ceridwen's hard work she sat down, and accidentally fell

asleep. While she was asleep the three drops sprang from the cauldron and Gwion Bach shoved

Morfran out of the way so he could get the three drops. Instantly, he gained wisdom. Knowing from

his wisdom that Ceridwen would be very angry once she found out what happened that he ran away.

All too soon he heard her fury and the

sound of her pursuit. He turned himself

into a hare on the land and she became a

greyhound. He turned himself into a fish

and jumped into a river: she then turned

into an otter. He turned into a bird in the

air, and in response she became a hawk.

Exhausted, Ceridwen managed to force

him into a barn, where he turned into a

single grain of corn and she became a

tufted black hen and ate him. She became

pregnant because of this. She resolved to

kill the child, knowing it was Gwion, but

when he was born he was so beautiful

that she couldn't, so she had him put into

a hide covered basket and thrown into the

lake, river, or sea, depending on which

version of this tale it is.

SEN MACSENA WLEDIGA

This account is so different from Geoffrey of Monmouth's account of

Maximian (as Geoffrey calls him) in Historia regum Britanniae that

scholars agree the Dream cannot be based purely on Geoffrey's

version. The Dream's account also seems to accord better with

details in the Triads, so it perhaps reflects an earlier tradition.

Macsen Wledig, the Emperor of Rome, dreams one night of a lovely

maiden in a wonderful, far-off land. Awakening, he sends his men all

over the earth in search of her. With much difficulty they find her in

a rich castle in Britain, daughter of a chieftain based at Segontium

(Caernarfon), and lead the Emperor to her. Everything he finds is

exactly as in his dream. The maiden, whose name is Helen or Elen,

accepts and loves him.

Because Elen is found a virgin,

Macsen gives her father sovereignty

over the island of Britain and orders

three castles built for his bride. In

Macsen's absence, a new emperor

seizes power and warns him not to

return. With the help of men from

Britain led by Elen's brother Conanus

(Welsh: Kynan Meriadec, French:

Conan Meriadoc), Macsen marches

across Gaul and Italy and recaptures

Rome. In gratitude to his British

allies, Macsen rewards them with a

portion of Gaul that becomes known

as Brittany.

PWYLL, KSIĄŻĘ DYFED

The first branch tells of how Pwyll, the

prince of Dyfed, exchanges places for a year

with Arawn, the ruler of Annwn (the

underworld), defeats Arawn's enemy

Hafgan, and on his return encounters

Rhiannon, a beautiful maiden whose horse

cannot be caught up with. He manages to

win her hand at the expense of Gwawl, to

whom she is betrothed, and she bears him a

son, but the child disappears soon after his

birth. Rhiannon is accused of killing him and

forced to carry guests on her back as

punishment. The child has been taken by a

monster, and is rescued by Teyrnon and his

wife, who bring him up as their own, calling

him Gwri of the Golden hair, until his

resemblance to Pwyll becomes apparent.

They return him to his real parents,

Rhiannon is released from her punishment,

and the boy is renamed Pryderi.

CIEKAWOSTKI

CADAIR IDRIS

Szczyt w Snowdonii ma

ponad 600 m. Nazwa

oznacza Tron Artura albo

Krzesło Idrysa. Legenda

mówi, że każdy, kto

spędzi noc na szczycie,

stanie się albo wieszczem,

albo szaleńcem.

WYSPA BARDSEY

Według legendy po

śmierci Artura Merlin

udał się na wyspę

Bardsey (Ynys Afallach)

w towarzystwie

dziewięciu bardów,

zabierając ze sobą

trzynaście skarbów

Brytanii. Zamieszkał on

podobno w szklanym

zamku, gdzie czeka

uśpiony na powrót króla.

ŚWIĘTY DAWID –

PATRON WALIIZ jego postacią wiążą się liczne

tradycje i legendy. Na przykład,

kiedy powstał, by przemówić na

synodzie w wiosce Llanddewi

Brefi, uniosła się ziemia pod jego

stopami, dzięki czemu, gdy stał na

tym niewielkim wzniesieniu,

usłyszał go cały zgromadzony

tłum. Mówi się także, że na jego

ramieniu usiadła gołębica o złotym

dziobie, co uznano za symbol jego

świętości.

Schody prowadzące do

maleńkiej kapliczki St

Govan w Pembrokeshire

zmieniają liczbę stopni w

zależności, czy się na nie

wchodzi, czy się z nich

schodzi.

INNE

Symbol czerwonego

smoka na fladze

pochodzi z legend

arturiańskich, gdzie był

symbolem celtyckiego

plemienia Brytów.

BIBLIOGRAFIA

http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mabinogion

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welsh_mythology

http://www.destinations-uk.com/articles.php?country=wales&id=84&articletitle=Welsh

%20Myths%20and%20Legends

http://maps.google.pl/maps?hl=pl&tab=wl

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