The Mabinogi of Branwen - Arts and Humanities Assignment Help

Assignment Task

Bendigeidfran[1] son of Llyr[2] was the crowned king of this Island, and exalted with the crown of London.[3] One afternoon he was at Harlech in Ardudwy, a court of his. Seated on the rock of Harlech above the ocean[4] were [Bendigeidfran] with his brother Manawydan son of Llyr[5]; his two half brothers from his mother's side (Nisien and Efnisien); and such noblemen about them as was befitting around a king. His two maternal half-brothers were the sons of Euroswydd by his mother Penarddun [6] daughter of Beli[7] son of Mynogan. One of these young men was a good young man: he would make peace between two hosts, even when they were at their most incensed - that was Nisien. The other one would provoke conflict between two brothers, [even] while they were at their most amicable[8].
As they were seated thus, they could see thirteen ships, coming [up] from the South of Ireland[9], heading towards them with a swift and ardent motion, the wind behind them, drawing towards them swiftly.
'I see ships yonder,' said the king 'brazenly coming to land. Tell the men of the court to arm themselves., and go and see what their intention is.'
The men armed themselves and went down to them. When they could see the ships at close quarters, it was clear to them they had never seen vessels in more perfect[10] condition than those. Banners of brocaded silk - bold, seemly and beautiful - were upon them.
Then, lo! one of the ships came out ahead of the others, and they could see a shield raised above the deck - the point of the shield turned upwards as a sign of peace. The men went out towards them, so they might hear each other's conversation. For their part, [the ships] put out boats [which] made for land, and they greeted the king.
The king could hear them from the place where he was, on the rock high above.
'God give well to you,' he said 'and may you be welcome. To whom does this fleet of ships belong, and who is their captain?'
'Lord,' said they 'Matholwch king of Ireland is here: and it is to him that these ships belong.'
'What is his desire?' asked the king 'Does he wish to come to land?'
'He has a petition for you, my Lord' said they 'he does not wish to land unless he can have his petition satisfied.'
'What kind of petition does he have?' asked the king.
'He wishes to ally himself by marriage[11] to you, my lord' said they 'To ask Branwen daughter of Llyr he has come, and - if it is agreeable to you - he wishes to bind the Isle of the Mighty[12] and Ireland together, so that they [both] become stronger.'
'Aye,' he replied 'Let him come to land and we will take council on this.'
(That answer went [out] to him).
'I will go [to land], gladly'  he responded.
He came to land, and there was a joy at his coming, and there was a great throng in the court that night with both his host and the host of the court.
First thing the next day, they took council. The decision they made[13] was the giving of Branwen to Matholwch. She was one of the three High Matriarchs[14] of this Island, and the most beautiful maiden in the world. He was to sleep with her at Aberffraw[15], and they set out thence. The retinues also set off towards Aberffraw - Matholwch and his retinues by ship, Bendigeidfran and his host by land - until they reached Aberffraw.
In Aberffraw the feast and the gathering[16]  began. This is how they were seated: the king of the Island of the Mighty with Manawydan son of Llyr on one side and Matholwch on the other, with Branwen daughter of Llyr next to him.  They were not in a house, but rather in pavilions - Bendigeidfran had never been contained within a house.[17]
So they began the festivities. They continued feasting and conversing until sleep seemed more attractive than continuing drinking - then they went to sleep. That night Matholwch slept with Branwen.
The following day, the entire host of the court arose. The stewards began to discuss the billeting of the horses and the servants. They were quartered in every place as far as the sea.
Then one day, lo, there was Efnisien - that quarrelsome man we spoke of above[18], coming across the billets of the horses of Matholwch. He asked to whom the horses belonged.
'These are the horses of Matholwch king of Ireland' they said.
'What are they doing here?'  he demanded.
'The king of Ireland is here, and he has slept with your sister Branwen. These are his horses.'
'So this is what they have done with a girl as good as her, my own sister - giving her away without my consent! They could not have insulted me more!'[19]
With that he [started] striking up at the horses. He sliced their lips back to their teeth, and their ears back to their heads, and their tails to their backs - and wherever he could get a grip on their eyelids, he would cut these back to the bone. And the horses were mutilated thus, to the extent that no further use could be got from the horses[20].
The news came to Matholwch like this: he was told how his horses had been mutilated, how they had been ruined to the extent that there was no longer any joy to be had from them.
'Aye Lord'  said one 'your humiliation has been wrought. And that is the intention of whoever did this to you.'
'God knows, it seems strange to me - if they wanted to insult me - that they should give me a girl as good as her, and of such high rank and so beloved to her kindred, as the one they gave me.'
'Lord,' said another 'its obvious. There is nothing you can do except go back to your ships.'
With that they made for their ships.
The news came to Bendigeidfran that Matholwch was leaving the court, without asking or taking his leave. Messengers went back to ask him why this was. The messengers that went were Idic son of Anarawd and Hefeydd Hir. These men overtook him and asked him what he intending, and why he was going away.
'God knows,' he replied 'if I had known [what would happen] I would never have come here. I have been thoroughly insulted[21]. Never did anyone come out as badly as I have done here. And a strange thing has befallen me.'
'What is that?' they asked.
'Branwen daughter of Llyr was given to me, one of the High Matriarchs of this Isle, and a daughter of the king of Island of the Mighty[22], I slept with her - and after [all] this I'm insulted. It seems strange to me that it wasn't prior to such a great maiden as her being given to me, that the insult which was done to me was committed."[23]
'God knows, my Lord,' they replied 'it was not [through] the will of him who ruled the court, nor that of any of his council, that this insult should be put upon you. And though it may be that you have been insulted by that, greater is the insult to Bendigeidfran than to you from this mockery.'[24]
'Aye,'  conceded Matholwch 'I suppose so, [but] he will never be able [to do anything about] the dishonour that has left me with[25].'
Those men returned with that answer to the place where Bendigeidfran was, and asked him the reply that Matholwch had spoken.
'Aye,' said the King 'there is no advantage in him leaving in a quarrelsome mood, and we will not allow it.'
'Aye, Lord,' said they 'send messengers after him!'
'I will send [them],' he replied 'arise Manawydan son of Llyr, Hefydd the Tall and Unig Strong Shoulder, and go after him. Tell him he will get a healthy horse for each on of his that are ruined; and together with that, as an honour payment, he will get a silver rod as thick <as his little finger>[26] and as tall as himself and a gold plate as broad as his face. Tell to him the kind of man it was that did this, and [that] it was against my will that it was - [that] it was my [own] half-brother who committed that [atrocity] and [that] it is not easy for me to kill or destroy him. Let him come and meet me,' he continued 'and I will make peace on [whatever] terms he might desire.'
The messengers went after Matholwch and politely relayed that conversation to him, and he listened to them.
'Men,' he said 'let us take council.'
And [so] he went into council. What the council resolved was this: if they refused, they would be more likely to incur greater shame than get a better compensation. He settled on that council and came to the court in peace. Tents and pavilions were arranged for them, in the style of a hall - and they went to eat.
Matholwch and Bendigeidfran started making conversation and, lo! the conversation he was getting from Matholwch seemed [so] dreary and sad to Bendigeidfran, from one who had always been constantly cheerful before that. He wondered if the chieftain was in bad spirits over the meagreness of the compensation he had received for his injury.
'Man', ventured Bendigeidfran 'you are not such a good talker as you were the other night. If it seems to you that the compensation was too small, you will get it increased to your liking, and tomorrow your horses will be paid.'
'Lord,' replied the other 'God repay you.'
'I'll augment your compensation further,' Bendigeidfran continued 'I will give you this cauldron, and the peculiarity of the cauldron is this: a man who is killed today and thrown in the cauldron, by the next day he will be as good as he was at his best, except he will not be able to talk.'[27]
Matholwch, for his part, thanked him for that and was greatly cheered by it. The next day, the horses were paid to him [to be kept] as long as tame horses last - until the tally was complete in his eyes. And they journeyed with him into another commote, and this commote was thereafter known as the Tal Ebolyon.[28]
On the second night they sat down together.
'Lord' asked Matholwch 'where did that cauldron you gave to me [originally] come  from?'
'It came to me from a man who was from your land, ' replied [Bendigeidfran] ' and for all I know he may have acquired it there'
'[And] who was that?' he asked.
'Llasar Llaes Gyfewid" said the other 'he came here from Ireland and his wife Cymidei Kymeinvoll together with him, and they had escaped from the Iron House in Ireland, when it had been made white hot around them, and they had escaped thence. I find it strange that you know nothing about this.'
'I do know [something], my Lord,'  he replied 'and what I know I'll tell you[29]:
'One day, while hunting [back] in Ireland, I was on top of a tumulus above a lake in Ireland, called "The Lake of the Cauldron". Then I saw a large, reddish-yellow [haired] man coming out of the lake with a cauldron on his back. Furthermore, the man was large and monstrous with an evil, anorles[30] look about him, and [he had] a woman following after him. And large as he was - twice as big as him was the woman. They made their way towards me and greeted me.
' "Aye," said I "how goes it with you?" 
' "This is how it goes with us, Lord" said he "this woman, at the end of a month and a fortnight will become pregnant: and the boy that will be born from that wombful - after a month and fortnight - will be a fully-armed fighting-man"
'For my part I took them in and maintained them: they were with me for a year. For a year they were no problem, but after that it became a disgrace for me. Four months later they had caused themselves to be hated and unwelcome throughout the land: by committing insults, and pestering and injuring the noble men and women. After that my people rose up around me to bid me to part with them and presented me with a choice: my country or them[31].
'I placed [the matter of] what should be done about them to the council of my people: they would not go of their own accord, nor did they have any cause to leave against their will by force. Then, from this compromised position, they decided to forge a solid iron chamber[32]; and once the chamber had been prepared, all the smiths in Ireland were summoned - all of those who were in possession of tongs and a hammer - and they piled charcoal up to the roof of the chamber. They had them - the man, the woman and their children - abundantly served with food and drink. And once it was clear that they were drunk[33], [the smiths] began to light a fire from the charcoal around the chamber and bellows were blown from every side of the house, a pair of bellows for every man: and they kept blowing the bellows until the house was white hot around them. Then there was a council among them, in the middle of the floor of the chamber, and he [the man] waited until a panel of the chamber was white [hot]. And because of its extremely great heat he charged it with his shoulder and broke his way out, and his wife came after him. And none of them escaped except for him and his wife. And then, I suppose, they came over to you, lord.'
'[It was] then, God knows,'  he replied 'they came here and gave the cauldron to me.'
'In what manner did you accommodate them, Lord?'
'They were quartered in every corner of the kingdom, and became numerous: raising up every area, and strengthening every place that they happened to be with men and arms that were the best that had ever been seen.[34]'
They made conversation that night, as long as they pleased, and [indulged in] song and carousal. And when they could see it was more beneficial to sleep than to stay up any longer, they went to bed. Thus they spent that feast in good spirits. At the end of it, Matholwch, together with Branwen, set out for Ireland. For that, the thirteen ships set out from Aber Menei, and came to Ireland. In Ireland, there was great joy at their arrival. Not one great man or noble lady would come to visit Branwen to whom she would not give a clasp, a ring or a royal jewel to them: which was matchless to see as it was given away.[35] In the meantime, that year brought her great fame, and she prospered with honour and friends. After that, it came to pass that she fell pregnant. And after the passing of the due period of time, a boy was born to her. This is the name that was given to the boy: Gwern[36] son of Matholwch. The boy was placed in fosterage in the very best place for men in Ireland.
Then, in the second year, there was a murmuring in Ireland about the humiliation Matholwch had received in Wales, and the shameful thing he had suffered on account of his horses. [About] that, his foster brothers and men closest to him [started] to mock him openly. And lo! [there was] such a throng in Ireland that he would get no peace until he would revenge that insult.
The revenge they took was this: driving Branwen out of the room she shared with [the king], and forcing her to bake in the court: and having the butcher - after he had been tearing up meat - to come and box her ears every day. In this way her punishment was wrought.[37]
'Aye, Lord,' said the men close to Matholwch 'Order an embargo of ships, small boats and coracles - so that nothing might go to Wales; and any that come here from Wales: imprison them so they cannot return, in case they find out about this.' And on that [decision] they settled[38].
No less than three years did they spend like this. In the meantime, what she did was rear a starling-bird on the edge of her kneading trough. She taught it speech and described her brother to the bird[39]. And she submitted in a letter the punishments and disgrace which she was enduring. This letter was tied around the base of the bird's wing and sent to Wales - and the bird came to this Island. The place where it found Bendigeidfran was in Caer Seint in Arfon, at an assembly of his one day. It alighted on his shoulders and ruffled its feathers until the letter could be seen, and it was realised that the bird was reared among dwellings.
The letter was then taken and examined[40]. When the letter was read, he was aggrieved on hearing about the punishment that was being endured by Branwen.  Then he had messengers sent to muster the Island. (Then) he ordered the bringing together of the full levy of the seven-score and fourteen districts, and personally declaimed before it about the punishment that was upon his sister[41]. Then they took council. The decision they made was this: to attack Ireland, and leave seven men as elders[42] here: with Cradawg son of Bran as their chief, with his seven riders.[43] These were the men that were left in Edeirnon: and hence the name 'Seven Riders' was given to the township. The seven riders were: Caradog son of Bran, Hefydd the Tall, Unig Strong- Shoulder, Idig son of Anarawd Walltgewm, Fodor son of Erfyll, Ulch Bone-Lip and Lashar son of Llayssar Llaesgygwyt - with Pendaran Dyfed as a serving-boy to them[44]. These seven remained as the seven governing elders over these Islands, and Caradog son of Bran as the chief elder among them.
Bendigeidfran, and the aforementioned hosting sailed towards Ireland. The ocean was not extensive [back] then: he went by wading. There used to be nothing except two rivers called the Lli and the Archen. And after that the ocean spread out, and the sea flooded the kingdoms. Then he advanced, carrying all the string-minstrels on his back, making for the land of Ireland[45].
Some swineherds of Matholwch were on the shore of the ocean one day, doing the rounds with their pigs. Because of the sight they saw on the ocean, they came to Matholwch.
'Lord' said they 'may you prosper'.
'And may God give kindly to you,' he replied. 'Do you have tidings?'
'Lord,' said they 'we have some strange tidings: we have seen a forest on the ocean, where we had never [before] seen a single tree.'
'That is a peculiar thing,' said he 'could you see anything other than that?'
'Lord,' they replied 'a great mountain beside the forest, and that was moving; and a soaring ridge on the mountain, and a lake on each side of the ridge; and the forest, and the mountain and all of that was moving.'
'Well,' said [Matholwch] 'there is no-one here who's going to know anything about this, if Branwen doesn't know. Ask her.'
Messengers went to Branwen.

This Arts and Humanities Assignment has been solved by our Arts and Humanity Experts at My Uni Paper. Our Assignment Writing Experts are efficient to provide a fresh solution to this question. We are serving more than 10000+ Students in Australia, UK & US by helping them to score HD in their academics. Our Experts are well trained to follow all marking rubrics & referencing style.

Be it a used or new solution, the quality of the work submitted by our assignment experts remains unhampered. You may continue to expect the same or even better quality with the used and new assignment solution files respectively. There’s one thing to be noticed that you could choose one between the two and acquire an HD either way. You could choose a new assignment solution file to get yourself an exclusive, plagiarism (with free Turnitin file), expert quality assignment or order an old solution file that was considered worthy of the highest distinction.