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_ Gwyddno Garanhir was sovereign of Gwaelod, a territory bordering
on the sea. And he possessed a weir upon the strand between Dyvi
and Aberystwyth, near to his own castle, and the value of an
hundred pounds was taken in that weir every May eve. And Gwyddno
had an only son named Elphin, the most hapless of youths, and the
most needy. And it grieved his father sore, for he thought that he
was born in an evil hour. By the advice of his council, his father
had granted him the drawing of the weir that year, to see if good
luck would ever befall him, and to give him something wherewith to
begin the world. And this was on the twenty-ninth of April.
The next day, when Elphin went to look, there was nothing in the
weir but a leathern bag upon a pole of the weir. Then said the
weir-ward unto Elphin, "All thy ill-luck aforetime was nothing to
this; and now thou hast destroyed the virtues of the weir, which
always yielded the value of an hundred pounds every May eve; and
to-night there is nothing but this leathern skin within it." "How
now," said Elphin, "there may be therein the value of a hundred
pounds." Well! they took up the leathern bag, and he who opened it
saw the forehead of an infant, the fairest that ever was seen; and
he said, "Behold a radiant brow?" (In the Welsh language,
taliesin.) "Taliesin be he called," said Elphin. And he lifted the
bag in his arms, and, lamenting his bad luck, placed the boy
sorrowfully behind him. And he made his horse amble gently, that
before had been trotting, and he carried him as softly as if he
had been sitting in the easiest chair in the world. And presently
the boy made a Consolation, and praise to Elphin; and the
Consolation was as you may here see:
"Fair Elphin, cease to lament!
Never in Gwyddno's weir
Was there such good luck as this night.
Being sad will not avail;
Better to trust in God than to forbode ill;
Weak and small as I am,
On the foaming beach of the ocean,
In the day of trouble I shall be
Of more service to thee than three hundred salmon."
This was the first poem that Taliesin ever sung, being to console
Elphin in his grief for that the produce of the weir was lost, and
what was worse, that all the world would consider that it was
through his fault and ill-luck. Then Elphin asked him what he
was, whether man or spirit. And he sung thus:
"I have been formed a comely person;
Although I am but little, I am highly gifted;
Into a dark leathern bag I was thrown,
And on a boundless sea I was sent adrift.
From seas and from mountains
God brings wealth to the fortunate man."
Then came Elphin to the house of Gwyddno, his father, and Taliesin
with him. Gwyddno asked him if he had had a good haul at the weir,
and he told him that he had got that which was better than fish.
"What was that?" said Gwyddno. "A bard," said Elphin. Then said
Gwyddno, "Alas! what will he profit thee?" And Taliesin himself
replied and said, "He will profit him more than the weir ever
profited thee." Asked Gwyddno, "Art thou able to speak, and thou
so little?" And Taliesin answered him, "I am better able to speak
than thou to question me." "Let me hear what thou canst say,"
quoth Gwyddno. Then Taliesin sang:
"Three times have I been born, I know by meditation;
All the sciences of the world are collected in my breast,
For I know what has been, and what hereafter will occur."
Elphin gave his haul to his wife, and she nursed him tenderly and
lovingly. Thenceforward Elphin increased in riches more and more,
day after day, and in love and favor with the king; and there
abode Taliesin until he was thirteen years old, when Elphin, son
of Gwyddno, went by a Christmas invitation to his uncle, Maelgan
Gwynedd, who held open court at Christmas-tide in the castle of
Dyganwy, for all the number of his lords of both degrees, both
spiritual and temporal, with a vast and thronged host of knights
and squires. And one arose and said, "Is there in the whole world
a king so great as Maelgan, or one on whom Heaven has bestowed so
many gifts as upon him;--form, and beauty, and meekness, and
strength, besides all the powers of the soul?" And together with
these they said that Heaven had given one gift that exceeded all
the others, which was the beauty, and grace, and wisdom, and
modesty of his queen, whose virtues surpassed those of all the
ladies and noble maidens throughout the whole kingdom. And with
this they put questions one to another, Who had braver men? Who
had fairer or swifter horses or greyhounds? Who had more skilful
or wiser bards than Maelgan?
When they had all made an end of their praising the king and his
gifts, it befell that Elphin spoke on this wise. "Of a truth, none
but a king may vie with a king; but were he not a king, I would
say that my wife was as virtuous as any lady in the kingdom, and
also that I have a bard who is more skilful than all the king's
bards." In a short space some of his fellows told the king all the
boastings of Elphin; and the king ordered him to be thrown into a
strong prison, until he might show the truth as to the virtues of
his wife, and the wisdom of his bard.
Now when Elphin had been put in a tower of the castle, with a
thick chain about his feet (it is said that it was a silver chain,
because he was of royal blood), the king, as the story relates,
sent his son Rhun to inquire into the demeanor of Elphin's wife.
Now Rhun was the most graceless man in the world, and there was
neither wife nor maiden with whom he held converse but was evil
spoken of. While Rhun went in haste towards Elphin's dwelling,
being fully minded to bring disgrace upon his wife, Taliesin told
his mistress how that the king had placed his master in durance in
prison, and how that Rhun was coming in haste to strive to bring
disgrace upon her. Wherefore he caused his mistress to array one
of the maids of her kitchen in her apparel; which the noble lady
gladly did, and she loaded her hands with the best rings that she
and her husband possessed.
In this guise Taliesin caused his mistress to put the maiden to
sit at the board in her room at supper; and he made her to seem as
her mistress, and the mistress to seem as the maid. And when they
were in due time seated at their supper, in the manner that has
been said, Rhun suddenly arrived at Elphin's dwelling, and was
received with joy, for the servants knew him; and they brought him
to the room of their mistress, in the semblance of whom the maid
rose up from supper and welcomed him gladly. And afterwards she
sat down to supper again, and Rhun with her. Then Rhun began
jesting with the maid, who still kept the semblance of her
mistress. And verily this story shows that the maiden became so
intoxicated that she fell asleep; and the story relates that it
was a powder that Rhun put into the drink, that made her sleep so
soundly that she never felt it when he cut off from her hand her
little finger, whereon was the signet ring of Elphin, which he had
sent to his wife as a token a short time before. And Rhun returned
to the king with the finger and the ring as a proof, to show that
he had cut it off from her hand without her awaking from her sleep
of intemperance.
The king rejoiced greatly at these tidings, and he sent for his
councillors, to whom he told the whole story from the beginning.
And he caused Elphin to be brought out of prison, and he chided
him because of his boast. And he spake on this wise: "Elphin, be
it known to thee beyond a doubt, that it is but folly for a man to
trust in the virtues of his wife further than he can see her; and
that thou mayest be certain of thy wife's vileness, behold her
finger, with thy signet ring upon it, which was cut from her hand
last night, while she slept the sleep of intoxication." Then thus
spake Elphin: "With thy leave, mighty king, I cannot deny my ring,
for it is known of many; but verily I assert that the finger
around which it is was never attached to the hand of my wife; for
in truth and certainty there are three notable things pertaining
to it, none of which ever belonged to any of my wife's fingers.
The first of the three is, that it is certainly known to me that
this ring would never remain upon her thumb, whereas you can
plainly see that it is hard to draw it over the joint of the
little finger of the hand whence this was cut. The second thing
is, that my wife has never let pass one Saturday since I have
known her, without paring her nails before going to bed, and you
can see fully that the nail of this little finger has not been
pared for a month. The third is, truly, that the hand whence this
finger came was kneading rye dough within three days before the
finger was cut therefrom, and I can assure your highness that my
wife has never kneaded rye dough since my wife she has been."
The king was mightily wroth with Elphin for so stoutly
withstanding him, respecting the goodness of his wife; wherefore
he ordered him to his prison a second time, saying that he should
not be loosed thence until he had proved the truth of his boast,
as well concerning the wisdom of his bard as the virtues of his
wife.
In the meantime his wife and Taliesin remained joyful at Elphin's
dwelling. And Taliesin showed his mistress how that Elphin was in
prison because of them; but he bade her be glad, for that he would
go to Maelgan's court to free his master. So he took leave of his
mistress, and came to the court of Maelgan, who was going to sit
in his hall, and dine in his royal state, as it was the custom in
those days for kings and princes to do at every chief feast. As
soon as Taliesin entered the hall he placed himself in a quiet
corner, near the place where the bards and the minstrels were wont
to come, in doing their service and duty to the king, as is the
custom at the high festivals, when the bounty is proclaimed. So,
when the bards and the heralds came to cry largess, and to
proclaim the power of the king, and his strength, at the moment
when they passed by the corner wherein he was crouching, Taliesin
pouted out his lips after them, and played "Blerwm, blerwm!" with
his finger upon his lips. Neither took they much notice of him as
they went by but proceeded forward till they came before the king,
unto whom they made their obeisance with their bodies, as they
were wont, without speaking a single word, but pouting out their
lips, and making mouths at the king, playing, "Blerwm, blerwm!"
upon their lips with their fingers, as they had seen the boy do.
This sight caused the king to wonder, and to deem within himself
that they were drunk with many liquors. Wherefore he commanded one
of his lords, who served at the board, to go to them and desire
them to collect their wits, and to consider where they stood, and
what it was fitting for them to do. And this lord did so gladly.
But they ceased not from their folly any more than before.
Whereupon he sent to them a second time, and a third, desiring
them to go forth from the hall. At the last the king ordered one
of his squires to give a blow to the chief of them, named Heinin
Vardd; and the squire took a broom and struck him on the head, so
that he fell back in his seat. Then he arose, and went on his
knees, and besought leave of the king's grace to show that this
their fault was not through want of knowledge, neither through
drunkenness, but by the influence of some spirit that was in the
hall. And he spoke on this wise: "O honorable king, be it known to
your grace that not from the strength of drink, or of too much
liquor, are we dumb, but through the influence of a spirit that
sits in the corner yonder, in the form of a child." Forthwith the
king commanded the squire to fetch him; and he went to the nook
where Taliesin sat, and brought him before the king, who asked him
what he was, and whence he came. And he answered the king in
verse:
"Primary chief bard am I to Elphin,
And my native country is the region of the summer stars;
I have been in Asia with Noah in the ark,
I have seen the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah,
I was in India when Rome was built,
I have now come here to the remnant of Troia."
When the king and his nobles had heard the song, they wondered
much, for they had never heard the like from a boy so young as he.
And when the king knew that he was the bard of Elphin he bade
Heinin, his first and wisest bard, to answer Taliesin, and to
strive with him. But when he came he could do no other than play
"Blerwm!" on his lips; and when he sent for the others of the four
and twenty bards, they all did likewise, and could do no other.
And Maelgan asked the boy Taliesin what was his errand, and he
answered him in song:
"Elphin, the son of Gwyddno,
Is in the land of Artro,
Secured by thirteen locks,
For praising his instructor.
Therefore I, Taliesin,
Chief of the bards of the west,
Will loosen Elphin
Out of a golden fetter."
Then he sang to them a riddle:
"Discover thou what is
The strong creature from before the flood,
Without flesh, without bone,
Without vein, without blood,
Without head, without feet;
It will neither be older nor younger
Than at the beginning.
Behold how the sea whitens
When first it comes,
When it comes from the south,
When it strikes on coasts
It is in the field, it is in the wood,
But the eye cannot perceive it.
One Being has prepared it,
By a tremendous blast,
To wreak vengeance
On Maelgan Gwynedd."
While he was thus singing his verse, there arose a mighty storm of
wind, so that the king and all his nobles thought that the castle
would fall upon their heads. And the king caused them to fetch
Elphin in haste from his dungeon, and placed him before Taliesin.
And it is said that immediately he sung a verse, so that the
chains opened from about his feet.
After that Taliesin brought Elphin's wife before them, and showed
that she had not one finger wanting. And in this manner did he set
his master free from prison, and protect the innocence of his
mistress, and silence the bards so that not one of them dared to
say a word. Right glad was Elphin, right glad was Taliesin. _
Read next: C. HERO MYTHS OF THE BRITISH RACE: Beowulf
Read previous: B. THE MABINOGEON: Chapter XII. Kilwich and Olwen (Continued)
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