Category:Welsh
The Welsh Pantheon is the official pantheon of MoonShine. The stories of the Gods and Goddesses of Wales are described in the Mabinogion, a collection of stories recorded in the 11th and 13th centuries.
The Mabinogion[edit]
It is in the Mabinogion that we meet the gods and Goddesses of the Welsh Pantheon. When reading the tales, we must keep in mind that the ancient Celts did not have a written language, all stories were passed down through an oral tradition. It was Christian monks who first committed these stories to paper in the 13th century, so we must look beyond the patriarchal and Christian overlays to grasp the real meaning within.
The stories are meant to be read in order, it is the responsibility of the seeker to find the true power of the Divine in each of the gods and goddess of the Welsh cycle. The seeds are there for all to see, but let him (or her) who truly hears to Hear. [1]
Dates for the tales in the Mabinogion have been much debated, a range from 1050 to 1225 being proposed, with the consensus being that they are to be dated to the late 11th and 12th centuries.[28] The stories of the Mabinogion appear in either or both of two medieval Welsh manuscripts, the White Book of Rhydderch or Llyfr Gwyn Rhydderch, written circa 1350, and the Red Book of Hergest or Llyfr Coch Hergest, written about 1382–1410, though texts or fragments of some of the tales have been preserved in earlier 13th century and later manuscripts. Scholars agree that the tales are older than the existing manuscripts, but disagree over just how much older. It is clear that the different texts included in the Mabinogion originated at different times (though regardless their importance as records of early myth, legend, folklore, culture, and language of Wales remains immense).[2]
White Book of Rhydderch[edit]
The White Book of Rhydderch (Welsh: Llyfr Gwyn Rhydderch, National Library of Wales, Peniarth MS 4-5) is one of the most notable and celebrated surviving manuscripts in Welsh. Mostly written in southwest Wales in the middle of the 14th century (c. 1350) it is the earliest collection of Welsh prose texts, though it also contains some examples of early Welsh poetry. It is now part of the collection of the National Library of Wales, having been preserved in the library at Hengwrt, near Dolgellau, Gwynedd, of the 17th century antiquary Robert Vaughan, who inherited it from the calligrapher John Jones and passed it to his descendants. The collection later passed to the newly established National Library of Wales as the Peniarth or Hengwrt-Peniarth Manuscripts.
The White Book was copied in the mid 14th century, most probably for Rhydderch ab Ieuan Llwyd (c. 1325–1400) from Parcrhydderch in the parish of Llangeitho in Ceredigion. Rhydderch, who came from a family with a long tradition of literary patronage, held posts under the English Crown but was also an authority on native Welsh law. The hands of five scribes have been identified in the manuscripts, very likely working in Strata Florida Abbey, not far from Rhydderch's home, and certainly in South Wales based on the dialect used by the scribes. The remainder of the name refers to the book being bound in white.[3]
Red Book of Hergest[edit]
The Red Book of Hergest (Welsh: Llyfr Coch Hergest), Oxford, Jesus College, MS 111, is a large vellum manuscript written shortly after 1382, which ranks as one of the most important medieval manuscripts written in the Welsh language. It preserves a collection of Welsh prose and poetry, notably the tales of the Mabinogion and Gogynfeirdd poetry. The manuscript derives its name from the colour of its leather binding and from its association with Hergest Court between the late 15th and early 17th century.
The manuscript was written between about 1382 and 1410. One of the several copyists responsible for the manuscript has been identified as Hywel Fychan fab Hywel Goch of Buellt. He is known to have worked for Hopcyn ap Tomas ab Einion (c. 1330–1403) of Ynysforgan, Swansea, and it is possible that the manuscript was compiled for Hopcyn.
The first part of the manuscript contains prose, including the Mabinogion, for which this is one of the manuscript sources, other tales, historical texts (including a Welsh translation of Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae), and various other texts including a series of Triads. The rest of the manuscript contains poetry, especially from the period of court poetry known as Poetry of the Princes (Welsh: Gogynfeirdd or Beirdd y Tywysogion), including the cycles Canu Llywarch Hen, Canu Urien, and Canu Heledd. It contains also poems by Myrddin Wyllt. The Red Book is similar in content to the White book of Rhydderch, of which it has at times been supposed to be a copy. Both are now thought, however, to descend from a lost common ancestor or ancestors.
The manuscript also contains a collection of herbal remedies associated with Rhiwallon Feddyg, founder of a medical dynasty that lasted over 500 years – 'The Physicians of Myddfai' from the village of Myddfai just outside Llandovery.[4]
Pantheon[edit]
Genealogy[edit]
House of Don[edit]
Descended from Don and Beli:
House of Llyr[edit]
Descended from Beli and Penardun:
Others[edit]
These Deities are no less important, even though they do not have lineage directly from Beli Mawr.
These three are not considered Deity, but represent notable archetypes:
Citations[edit]
Pages in category "Welsh"
The following 17 pages are in this category, out of 17 total.