18 May 2026 – Welsh Folklore and Mythology.
We continued the topic of Welsh myths and legends, still looking at the gods and goddesses. We reminded ourselves that they are more humanised in the Welsh traditions and are more likely to be Kings and Queens, mothers of, sisters, brothers.
We are looking at some of the stories in the Four Branches of the Mabinogi tales.
We finished looking at Rhiannon and her origin story which may be linked to the characteristics and may have led to her unusual punishment of having to carry people on her back. She might have been a horse going back to times when Epona/Regina was a goddess venerated by the Celts and Roman cavalry. She was always a mare and was often accompanied by a foal. When Pwyll first saw her, she was riding a super horse. There are lots of references to it through the stories. She had two sides to her where she could provide comfort remove unhappiness and pain but could also wake the dead. This duality is a common aspect of Celtic goddesses.
The consensus is that she started as a horse goddess and that she may be part horse herself.
The rest of the session followed on from the Story of Bran and Branwen and the one of Pwyll, Lord of Dyfed.
We then looked in detail at the stories of Mannawydan and of Math, Son of Mathonwy.
These tales can be found online by doing a search on Four Branches of the Mabinogi. For example Wikipedia has a summary of each branch.
These were full of the tall tales, feasting, following the rules of hospitality etc. Finding treacherous ways around the rules. Getting punishments.
These covered the common themes of magical powers and shapeshifting, references to the other world, portals and alternative worlds which look almost the same but brighter, buildings never seen before. The gods having dual aspects to their characters, a light side and a dark side. A tradition of waiting a year or doing something for a year or several years. Women would be the most beautiful ever seen, shining white boars. The boars came from Dyfed which may be seen as an other world.
20 April 2026 – Welsh Folklore and Mythology.
We continued the topic of Welsh myths and legends, starting with the gods and goddesses. We reminded ourselves that they are more humanised in the Welsh traditions and are more likely to be Kings and Queens, mothers of, sisters, brothers.
We had started looking at some of the stories in the Four Branches of the Mabinogi tales last session. To recap these were compiled from the early oral traditions and survived in manuscript form in the in the mediaeval White Book of Rhydderch (c1325) and the Red Book of Hergest (c1400). These cover tales of the gods.
These tales can be found online by doing a search on ‘Four Branches of the Mabinogi’
One of the stories we had started to look at in detail was the Story of Bran and Branwen which we concluded this session and started the one of Pwyll, Lord of Dyfed.
These were full of the tall tales, feasting, following the rules of hospitality etc. Characters had special attributes which marked them out as being gods, for example Bran was so big he had to live in a tent as no house was big enough for him, he could wade across the Irish sea and lay down to provide access over the river Liffey. Pwyll’s tale had shapeshifting, references to the other world and following a tradition of waiting a year or doing something for a year. Women would be the most beautiful and horses would appear to be normal but unable to be caught up with.
We discussed what some of these stories may have links to in the folklore. There are links to creation myths and cycles of the season’s myths.
We shall conclude the story of Pwyll at the next session with why Rhiannon was punished for her (falsely accused) crime of killing and eating her newborn son Pryderi.
16 March 2026 – Rites and Rituals at Home – Marriage - and New Topic Welsh Folklore and Mythology.
We completed the final topic under rites and rituals in everyday life by looking at the customs and traditions associated with after the wedding, including the wedding cake. We then started the new topic of Welsh folklore and mythology.
1/. After the Wedding
The cake should be of the best ingredients which could be afforded, a rich mixture as it symbolised prosperity and abundance through married life. The bride should cut the first slice; the husband could help. Everyone one present should have some cake. The bride should keep a portion to ensure her husband is faithful. In Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, a plate of cake was thrown over a bride’s head, if the plate broke into many pieces, it would be good luck, if not it would be bad. If a young single woman slept with some of the wedding cake under her pillow, she would dream of her husband to be.
It was important that the new bride enter by the front door of her new home and was the first to enter. The groom should carry her over the threshold to ensure she moved safely into her new home, a symbolic move from one life state to another.
There was a tradition of putting the bride and groom to bed, the room could become very crowded.
The traditions are always being added to, for example throwing the bouquet to the single women guests to decide who would be the next bride is a relatively new tradition coming from the United States in the 1950’s.
2/. Welsh Folklore and Mythology.
We started a new topic looking at Welsh myths and legends. We had already covered quite a lot of them when we looked at the Irish myths and legends as they are Celtic based myths. The mainland Britain myths and legends are less complete than the Irish.
We started with Gods and Goddesses. These are more humanised in the Welsh traditions and are more likely to be Kings and Queens, mothers of, sisters, brothers.
There are a lot of similarities between the mainland and Ireland. The earliest stories personify elemental forces, include creation myths, the earth and sky, wind and sea etc.
We looked at two families, the Children of Don and the Children of Llyr.
2.1/. The Children of Don
We looked at a long list of family characters and found that there were common themes and links back to the Irish gods. Themes of craftsmanship, learning, knowledge and wisdom, protection, good fortune all came from the gods. We found creation myths, the cycles of the season. Magical powers, friends and helpers of humankind. Good and bad characters. Links to the other worlds. The Celts saw the sea as dark and destructive
For example
i/. Don was the equivalent of the Irish Danu, daughter of Mathonwy, Great Mother of the gods, Mother of the Celtic tribes, the Earth Mother.
ii/. Beli was the equivalent of the Irish Bile, Lord of the Realm of the Dead, Father of the Celtic Tribes, with links to the otherworld.
iii/. Mathonwy, father of Don, original sky god, weather god; father of the gods
All tribes came from the Celtic gods.
2.2/. The Children of Llyr
Again we looked for common themes and Irish equivalents
i/. Llyr was the equivalent of the Irish god Lir god of the sea.
ii/. Mannawydan the equivalent of the Irish god Manannan, son of Llyr. Associated with poetry teaching, magic art and crafts. Could have a darker side with enemies. Humanised in the folklore as a Prince of Dyfed.
iii/. Branwen, daughter of Llyr, of whom little is known, possibly originally a goddess of fertility and love.
iv/. Bran, Twin brother to Branwen. Possibly a god of fertility and love, features as a god of battle in folklore, patron of bards and musicians. Possibly guardian of the land like the Irish god the Daghda. He had a magic cauldron which could bring warriors back to life to fight but they could not speak.
The Four Branches of the Mabinogi tales which were compiled from the early oral traditions and survived in manuscript form in the in the mediaeval White Book of Rhydderch (c1325) and the Red Book of Hergest (c1400). These cover tales of the gods. We looked in detail at the Story of Bran and Branwen. This was an involved tale with political alliances, feasting, betrayal, happiness and mistreatment.
16 February 2026 – Rites and Rituals at Home – Marriage
We started the final topic under rites and rituals in everyday life by considering the customs and traditions associated with marriage. The early Christian church absorbed lots of rituals.
There is a lot of it.
1/. Unlucky days/months/dates
We looked at auspicious and inauspicious days. These included
May - Marry in May rue the day. We looked at why May. This is possibly linked to Celtic Mythology and the ‘good people’ who would be busy in May. It was feared that new brides were more likely to be abducted by the good people so a time would be selected which would draw less attention to the bride.
Periods of time such as Lent - Marry in Lent live to repent, Easter week, Advent.
A number of specific individual dates Childermas 28th December, St Swithins Day 15th July, St Thomas’ Day 21st December (bad in Yorkshire but good in Lincolnshire)
Days of the week Thursday, Friday and Saturday but these varied regionally
2/. Wedding Clothes.
New clothes were considered lucky, with the addition of something old and something borrowed. The bride was entering a new stage of life. A veil borrowed from a happily married woman was especially lucky.
The bride should not make her own dress nor to try on the full outfit before the wedding day and looking in a mirror was unlucky, the mirror being seen as a portal for fairy folk.
Some colours were considered lucky e.g. white or unlucky e.g. black. Blue was thought to be very lucky except in Yorkshire. Green was very bad due to its historic association with prostitutes and courtesans and fairy folk.
3/, Procession to Church.
The bride should leave by the front door, step over the threshold with her right foot.
Sunshine on the day was lucky.
Seeing a chimney sweep or black cat was lucky. To see a pig or a funeral was unlucky. Pigs may refer back to the wild boar and Celtic goddess. A carriage should be drawn by grey horses. Perhaps a reference to Norse myths, Odin’s horse was white/grey. It was a bad omen if the horses wouldn’t start or the coachman turned them straight-away at the church.
4/. Wedding rings
It was unlucky to drop the ring before or after the ceremony and unlucky to remove it once put on. If the bride dropped it she would die first and vice versa. If dropped and the ring rolled away from the altar it was extremely unlucky.
5/. After the ceremony – leaving the church.
If the bride steps out first she shall be master of the marriage.
Barring the way of the bride and groom was a tradition.
In some areas the groom lifted the bride over something, such as the threshold.
Wheat was thrown at the couple for good luck
We shall conclude the marriage customs with those related to the wedding cake at the next session. Then we shall start a new topic.
19 January 2026
No session held