Bran the Blessed ( Eng. Brân the Blessed , literally "Blessed Raven", also Welsh . Brân Fendigaidd ) - King of Britain in Welsh mythology . He appears in several Welsh Triads , but his most significant role belongs to the Second Branch of the Mabinogion , Branwen , daughter of Llyr ( Wall. Branwen ferch Llyr ). In the story, he is the son of Llira and brother Branven.
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The name Bran, translated from Welsh, means " Crow " (Eng. Crow), but in the context of this story is often translated as " Raven " (Eng. Raven).
According to legend, Bran the Blessed ordered to bury his head on the hill after his death, where the Tower of London was later built so that the British land would not know wars and disasters. However, King Arthur , who believed that England did not need any other protection besides him and the Knights of the Round Table, ordered that the head of Bran the Blessed be torn open. As a result, King Arthur himself was killed by his son Mordred , and the Round Table fell apart.
The crows guarding the Tower of London and the whole of Great Britain are birds of the Blessed Bran.
Content
Mabinogion role
The King of Ireland comes to Bran to ask for the hand of his sister Branwen. Bran agrees, but during the engagement celebration, Efnisin, half-brother of Branven and Bran, arrives and asks about what happened. After all the explanations, Efnisin, furious that Branwen was married without his permission, retaliates by mutilating the king’s horses. The king is indignant until Bran gives him a magic cauldron that brings the dead back to life.
Once in Ireland , Branwen, mercilessly oppressed by her husband, is forced to work in the kitchen. She tames the starling and sends it across the Irish Sea with a message to her brother Bran, who is sailing with their brother, Manavidan, from Wales to Ireland to save her. When the king sees the giant, he prays for peace, and to prove his honesty, he builds a house large enough to accept Bran. The king agrees to allow Bran to live with them and give his kingdom to Gwern, his son from Branwen. However, the Irish Lords did not like this idea, so they hide in sacks of flour to attack the Welsh. Efnisin unravels the plan and kills them in bags, then throws Gwern into the fire.
Because of the magic cauldron, the Irish first have an advantage in the next war. When the dead Irish warriors were put in a cauldron, they came to their senses and were able to fight as before, although they could not speak. Efnisin lies among the dead, and he is placed in a cauldron, after which he breaks it, breaking his heart and dying in the process. The Welsh people ultimately win the war, but only seven men survive. Bran himself dies of a fatal leg wound, and orders his head to be separated and buried in London . When the survivors return to Britain , Branwen dies of grief, believing that she was the cause of the war. They buried her near the River Alou in Anglesey.
For seven years, the seven survivors, including Manavidan and Pryderi, remain in Harlech , where they are entertained by the head of Bran, who continues to speak. Later they move on to Gwales (often identified with Greshholm Island in Wales ), where they have lived for eighty years without feeling the passage of time. Ultimately, one of the men opens the door to the possessions facing Cornwall, and the grief of what happened to them returns. As they were told, they bring the silent head to the White Hill (it is believed that this is the place where the Tower of London now stands), and they bury it with its face to France in order to repel the invasion. The image of the talking head is believed to come from the ancient Celtic "cult of the head." The Celts considered the head "the house of the soul."
Other sources
According to the Welsh Triads, Bran's head was buried in London , where the White Tower of the Tower is now standing. As long as she stays there, the UK will be protected from the invasion.
However, King Arthur dug up his head, announcing that only his great strength would protect the country. [1] Many associate the current tradition of keeping ravens in the Tower of London under the care of the Ravenmaster (Yeoman Warder) Ravenmaster , one of the employees of the Yemeni Guard of the Tower) with the legend of Bran, whose name means "Raven".
Some scholars have noted common features between Bran the Blessed and the King Fisher - the character of the Arthurian cycle, the keeper of the Holy Grail .
King Fisherman first appears in the 12th-century novel by Chretien de Troyes , Perceval, or The Grail Story . In the novel, the King suffers from a mortal wound in his leg (Bran also had a wound in his leg), but remains alive in his mystical castle due to the properties of the Grail, waiting for a cure from Percival .
A later author, Robert de Boron , describes the history of the Chalice from ancient times, and says that the first King Fisherman was a man named Bron.
Also, the Welsh legend about Perdur, son of Ephraug, is a version of the story of Percival, but with some significant deviations: the hero visits a mysterious castle, but does not find the Grail, but rather a separated human head. Some works attribute to the Grail the power to resurrect the fallen, like the cauldron of Bran.
Notes
- ↑ Triad 37. Bromwich, Trioedd Ynys Prydein, pp. 94-102.
Literature
- Triad 37. Bromwich, Trioedd Ynys Prydein, pp. 94-102.