Gwion Bach and the cauldron of Cerridwen







Anouther Welsh legend tells of a young hero, Gwion Bach, who suddenly found himslef at the bottom of Lake Bala in northern Wales. Here lived a giant Tegid and his wife Cerridwen, goddess of crops, poetry and great magick. The goddess owned a potent magick cauldren in which she planned to brew a special liquid.

For a year and a day Gwion Bach was made to stir the cauldron while Cerridwen gathered the necesary herbs and chanted incantations. At the end of that time, there were only three drops left. These flew out of the cauldron, burning Gwion's finger. Instinctively, the young man thrust his finger into his mouth aand instantly knew the power of Cerridwen. He fled the lake in terror.

Furious, Cerridwen went after him. The two repeatedly changed formes, Gweion to escape, and Cerridwen in the attempt to capture him. At last Gwion spied a pile of wheat and, changing himself into a grain, fell down among the others. Cerridwen would not give up. She changed into a hen, scratched around until she found him, and promptly swallowed him. Upon returning to her own shape, she discovered that she was pregnant. When Gwion was reborn, Cerridwen found she could not kill him, but instead cast him into the sea, leaving him to his fate.

Elphin, son of a wealthy landowner, rescued the boy and called him Taliesin (radiant brow). Gwion Bach, now Taliesin, remembered all the knowlege he had gained from Cerridwen's magick potion. He became a great bard, magician and counselor of kings.


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