welsh folk tales
TRANSCRIPT
Discuss the practice of humanizing animals in folk tales.
Mary E. Brown
CYCS7004
University of Wales, Trinity Saint David
16 January 2014
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Welsh folk tales are rich with magic and illusions. From
disappearing Otherworld portals, to giants that can wade across
the sea and magic cauldrons that bring the dead back to life,
these tales never fail to capture one’s imagination and
delightfully entertain while teaching the audience ancient
customs, values, and morals. These folk tales blend ancient
Celtic beliefs with Welsh customs to provide the community with a
moral compass and an understanding of who they are and why they
value and respect the things they do. Not the least of the
things revered are nature and animals. The Celts have always
been deeply connected to the land and its animals, so it should
come as no surprise to see animals humanized in their folk lore.
The Celts identified with animals; they used specific animals as
totems, mimicked their behaviour and hunted them for survival.
Even their four seasonal festivals revolved around animal
husbandry, and their gods and goddesses were often associated
with particular animals. Rather than viewing themselves as
masters of nature, as we tend to do today, they saw themselves as
part of nature – at best equal to the animals and vegetation
their very survival depended on. The practice of humanizing
animals in Welsh folk lore would be a natural progress from
ancient customs, for by portraying animals in this manner the
audience, like their Celtic ancestors, is preserving ancient
customs, learning the value of animals in human terms and
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learning to respect their lives as they would respect another
human.
The Celtic identification with animals survived from ancient
times well into the Middle Ages, and can be best seen in their
use of totem animals. The Orkney Islands, for example, literally
means ‘the island of the Boar tribe’ while the Caereni and Lugi
tribes translate, respectively, to the Sheep Folk and the Raven
People.1 Their connection to their totem animals was not simply
an animal that was adopted as a mascot; the animal was part of
them, part of who they were as a people. The people of the
Orkney Islands, for example, saw the boar as more than just a
powerful animal; the boar was a divine symbol in Celtic lands.2
This belief is further demonstrated by the inclusion of their
totem animal in burial sites, such as at Isbister, and seen in
the ancient ‘deer dance’ ritual still performed in Staffordshire,
England by the descendants of the Cornovii tribe (the ‘horned
people’).3 This ancient ritual, where men attach deer antlers to
their heads and attempt to mimic the deer, is reminiscent of the
Welsh Mari Lwyd custom where men would dress as a horse or a deer
and attempt to gain access to a woman’s home. Both the deer
dance custom in Staffordshire and the Mari Lwyd custom in Wales
immediately bring to mind the Celtic god, Cernunnos, and thus
provide a connection between these rituals, the people performing
1 Alistair Moffat, Before Scotland: The Story of Scotland Before History. Thames & Hudson, pg. 123-1242 Christopher Snyder. The World of King Arthur. Thames & Hudson, pg. 243 Alistair Moffat, Before Scotland: The Story of Scotland Before History. Thames & Hudson, pg. 82
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them, and the animal deity their ancestors likely worshiped.
When you add to this the Irish story of Oisín – whose mother was
originally a deer and who could himself change between human and
deer forms – one is struck by the underlying consistency between
the customs in various Celtic societies regarding the humanizing
of deer. Given the Celtic ancestry these three regions share, as
well as some of the deities they have in common, it is difficult
to ignore the role these deities – such as Cernunnos – play in
the practice of humanizing animals in their folklore. It is quite
likely that this is a practice passed down from their Celtic
ancestors as a way to preserve the roles of their pagan gods well
into the Christian period.
While the origins of these customs have been lost, the
imagery of deer and horses is prevalent in Welsh Folk lore, and
may provide clues as to the original meaning behind these
rituals. In The Mabinogi, for instance, Rhiannon is portrayed to
represent the Celtic goddess Epona, and is therefore repeatedly
associated with horses. The first time she appears she is riding
a horse which Pwyll is inexplicably unable to overtake; her
punishment for allegedly killing her son is to act as a horse and
carry visitors on her back; and when she and her son are captured
in an Otherworldly fort, she is forced to wear a collar from a
donkey that had been carrying hay. In her role in The Mabinogi,
Rhiannon is portrayed as a human but is implicitly understood to
be one of the many Celtic animal deities,4 reinforcing the
4 Patrick Ford. The Mabinogi and Other Medieval Welsh Tales. University of California Press, pg. 36.
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connection for the audience between humans and nature. This
connection with the horse would have been significant in Celtic
societies; historically Celts went into battle mounted on
horseback, and coinage from Iron Age Briton depicts many Celts
riding bareback, indicating they were so in tune with the horse
that they did not need reins to guide the animal in battle.5
Even today the horse is considered to be a majestic animal,
possibly a lasting effect of the way they were portrayed in The
Mabinogi through the beautiful and majestic Rhiannon. By
presenting an animal deity as a human the audience subliminally
learns to revere that animal – in this case the horse – and to
offer the same considerations to the animal as it would a human,
in the way of their Celtic ancestors.
This lesson is reinforced throughout The Mabinogi. For
example, after Rhiannon’s son disappears the night of his birth,
his reappearance is connected with the birth of a stout colt;
when Teyrnon saves his colt he also, inadvertently, saves
Pryderi. Because her son’s survival ultimately rescues Rhiannon
from the punishment and humiliation she was suffering from due to
the false accusations, it can be inferred that the dedication
Teyrnon displays in saving his colt on the night of its birth is
what also saves Rhiannon and restores her status in society.
Moreover, in the fourth branch of The Mabinogi it is Gwydion’s
disrespectful act of a fraudulent gift of horses that leads to
Pryderi’s demise, thus reinforcing the connection that - whether
5 Lloyd Laing. Celtic Britain. Charles Scribner’s Sons, pg. 30-31. 5 | P a g e
negative or positive - the manner in which one connects
themselves to an animal will correspond to the outcome. The
second branch of The Mabinogi provides more reinforcement that
there will be disastrous results when horses are mistreated.
When Efnysien mutilates Matholwch’s horses it sets into motion a
series of malicious acts in which everyone loses. By the time
the battles are over two islands have been set to waste and
countless lives had been lost. So horrific was the outcome that
Bran’s heart broke and she also died.
The humanization of animals abounds with Gwydion’s role in
Welsh folk lore. First he uses magic to create horses and dogs
out of fungus,6 which he then uses as a ruse to trick Pryderi
into giving him his herd of swine. As a punishment for his
treacherous acts, he and his brother are transformed into various
beasts, once again reaffirming the concept of the
interchangeability between humans and animals. They are first
turned into a stag and hind and through the course of the year
they mate and a produce a fawn. This fawn is transformed into a
human boy, and the brothers are then transformed into a boar and
sow, which once again mate and produce a piglet. The piglet
becomes another boy, and the brothers become a breeding wolf and
bitch. Once again, the wolf cub they produce is turned into
human child and the brothers finally are turned back into their
human form. It cannot be coincidental that the three animals
that became human boys were three of the most revered animals in
6 Charles Squire. Celtic Myth and Legend. New Page Books, pg. 309.6 | P a g e
Celtic culture – the stag, the wolf, and the boar. Though The
Mabinogi does not elaborate on what becomes of these three boys,
we cannot exclude the possibility that there were other folk
tales that have since been lost, elaborating on the lives of
these boys and their association with their totem animals.7
Could these be the origin tales of three animal deities? It is
very possible, but short of a discovery of new literary evidence,
we will never be able to answer that question. The tales in The
Mabinogi never again mention them and the audience is left to
accept the fact that these three boys have animal origins, and
the story continues with further humanization of animals in
Gwydion’s adventures. His sister gives birth to twin boys, one
of whom immediately takes to the water and provides a human
element to the fish in the sea. The other boy, Lleu, is raised
by Gwydion, but through his wife’s betrayal he becomes an eagle.
Interestingly, it is a pig that eventually leads Gwydion to Lleu,
whence Gwydion is able to transform him back into his human form
and punish the wife – whom Gwydion himself had created from
flowers - by changing her into an owl. Blodeuedd, then, had
taken three different forms in her lifetime: she started as a
flower, became human, and then turned into an owl. This
reaffirms the notion that everything – nature, animals and humans
– is equal and therefore interchangeable. The role these forms
of animals play in the tale are also representative of the way
they are viewed in Celtic society. The pig was a powerful and
7 Patrick Ford. The Mabinogi and Other Medieval Welsh Tales. University of California Press, pg. 90.
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valued animal in Celtic societies, the eagle is considered wise
and noble, and the owl is a dishonourable bird of the night.
Like Gwydion in Welsh folk lore, the Irish Tuan takes the
form of several different animals, including a deer, a boar, an
eagle and a salmon, showing that this theme is common in all
Celtic lore, not just that of the Welsh. Tuan, while in the form
of a salmon, is said to have been consumed by the wife of King
Cairell, thereby impregnating and being reborn to her, thus
linking the Irish character of Tuan not only to the Welsh Gwydion
but also to the Welsh story of Taliesin.8 Taliesin is said to be
Gwion, reincarnated and reborn to Ceridwen after she ate him at
the conclusion of a long chase in which they each changed forms
four times (he becomes a hare, a fish, a bird and finally a grain
of wheat while she chases him in the form of a greyhound, an
otter, a hawk and finally a hen, whence she ate the grain of
wheat). Taliesin then claims to have been many things, including
a stallion, an eagle, a dog and a salmon, among many other
animals and objects. Once again, we see Welsh folk lore
humanizing some of the more revered animals in society by linking
them to a person, teaching the audience that not only are these
animals equal in status to people as noble as Gwydion, Lleu,
Rhiannon, or Taliesin, they are interchangeable with them. In
other words, at any given point a respected member of society, or
a goddess or deity of some sort, may come to you in the form of
an animal. The obvious lesson is that one should not view these
8 Anlwyn Rees and Brinley Rees. Celtic Heritage: Ancient tradition in Ireland and Wales. Thames and Hudson, pg. 229
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animals as being subservient, but rather respect them and see
their qualities as you would a human. In doing so, you recognize
the strength, courage, and wisdom in an animal. You learn to
identify with specific animals based on shared attributes, and
mimic other animals that have qualities you admire. The animals
are members of the community; idealistic members whose qualities
should be emulated and their lives valued.
This theme is especially pronounced in the story of Culhwch
and Olwen. In order to wed Olwen, the daughter of the giant
Ysbaddaden, Culhwch must perform a series of impossible feats.
These feats are accomplished with the help of the legendary
Arthur, as well as some intermittent assistance from animals who
serve as guides. One of the many tasks to complete is that he
must free Mabon, son of Modron, from his imprisonment. The names
Mabon and Modron, once again, connect the story to the gods; for
‘Mabon’ is derived from the Celtic god Maponos and ‘Modron’ from
the goddess Matrona.9 As the task is undertaken by Arthur and
his entourage, he brings with him an interpreter who is able to
speak with all the animals of which they are to encounter. The
first animal to offer assistance was a bird, who led them to a
stag. The stag in turn led them to the owl who led them to the
eagle. The eagle brought them to the salmon, which then carried
two of Arthur’s men on its shoulders to the prison in which Mabon
was being held. Throughout the adventure, not only were the
animals able to speak to Arthur’s men, they were willing and
9 A.O.H. Jarman. ‘The Arthurian Allusions in the Black Book of Carmarthen’, The Legend of Arthur in the Middle Ages. Pg. 106.
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eager to assist in any way possible, reinforcing a positive
connection between nature and the gods for the audience. The fact
that it was the salmon who ultimately had the knowledge they were
looking for is reminiscent of the Irish folk lore regarding Fionn
Mac Cumhal and the Salmon of Knowledge, which shows another
connection to the two society’s common Celtic heritage.
Following the release of Mabon, Arthur and his men undertake the
task to seek two whelps from Rhymhi. The narrative goes on to
explain that Rhymhi has taken the form of a wolf-bitch, but once
she and her whelps were surrounded by Arthur and his men they
were disenchanted and restored to their own shapes,10 once again
reaffirming the notion that animals and humans were
interchangeable in Celtic societies. The entire tale of Culhwch
and Olwen is laced with portrayals of humanized animals until it
culminates with the elaborate pursuit of Twrch Trwyth; a pursuit
which causes great carnage and provides no clear victor. Even
the legendary Arthur was apparently unable to capture or kill
this great boar! This detail supports the claim that Twrch
Trwyth was a king who had been transformed into a boar for his
sins.11 Moreover, as Patrick Ford has pointed out, the name
Culhwch itself means ‘swine’ or ‘pig’, and therefore this story
was perhaps once part of a Celtic folklore regarding the swine
god.12 If he is correct, we have yet another example of Welsh
10 Patrick Ford. The Mabinogi and Other Medieval Welsh Tales. University of California Press, pg. 149.11 Christopher Snyder. The World of King Arthur. Thames & Hudson, pg. 24.12 Patrick Ford. The Mabinogi and Other Medieval Welsh Tales. University of California Press, pg. 119.
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folklore using the humanization of animals to provide a
connection between humans, animals and gods.
Swine are featured throughout The Mabinogi, as is the idea of
animals helping humans and humans changing into animal form. In
the example already discussed, regarding Gwydion’s fraudulent
gift of horses given to Pryderi in the fourth branch, it was in
exchange for Pryderi’s swine that Gwydion created his ruse. In
the tale the swine are described as a new type of animal whose
meat is better than beef.13 The theft of these swine, and
Gwydion’s attempt to escape with them, is offered as explanation
for several place-names in Wales, and it was to regain possession
of these swine for which Pryderi led his men into war. In the
second branch of The Mabinogi, Bendigeidfran led his men to wage
war on Ireland after a starling delivered a message to him from
his sister, Branwen. Here again we not only see an animal
intentionally helping a benevolent character in the tale – which
is reminiscent of the series of animals who helped Arthur and his
men in the tale of Culhwch and Olwen – but it is also implied that
Branwen was able to communicate with the bird, for how else could
she have taught the starling to recognize Bendigeidfran – a man
the bird had never before seen? Then, in the third branch, in
addition to Rhiannon’s horse-like treatment while she was held
captive in the Otherworld, we see Manawydan treat a mouse as a
human criminal – complete with his construction a noose in order
to execute the mouse for her crime – only to then discover that
13 Patrick Ford. The Mabinogi and Other Medieval Welsh Tales. University of California Press, pg. 92.
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the mouse was in fact a pregnant woman who had been transformed
into the form of a mouse. In addition to the moral lessons that
can be inferred from this passage, this story further provides
guidance to the audience on proper methods regarding the
harvesting of wheat and corn; for there is archaeological
evidence that these crops were stored in granaries on top of
stilts which served to keep it safe from vermin.14
The crime the mouse of the third branch of The Mabinogi had
committed was that she partook in the destruction of Manawydan’s
crops, which illustrates the importance of nature, agriculture
and farming in Celtic society. This is also attested to by
Geoffrey of Monmouth in his History of the Kings of Britain when he claims
the Welsh are descendants of the Trojan, Brutus, who chose to
live a pastoral life in the wilderness, and compared them to the
likes of wild animals.15 Peredur, in the tale of Peredur son of Efrog
is also said to have been taken to the wilderness by his mother
when he was a small boy in order to raise him and ensure his
survival.16 Likewise, Welsh poems regarding the life of Myrddin
describe him as a wild man living in the Caledonian Forest17
“keeping fellowship with animals”,18 and in the magical world of
King Arthur, Arthur himself is depicted as a part of the
wilderness. He is portrayed as a man with no genealogy, who
14 Lloyd Laing. Celtic Britain. Charles Scribner’s Sons, pg. 40.15 John Gillingham. ‘The Context and Purposes of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s History of the Kings of Britain’, Anglo-Norman Studies 13. pg. 11016 Sioned Davies. The Mabinogion. Oxford University Press, pg. 6517 A.O.H. Jarman. ‘The Arthurian Allusions in the Black Book of Carmarthen’, The Legend of Arthur in the Middle Ages. Pg. 103.18 Christopher Snyder. The World of King Arthur. Thames & Hudson, pg. 95.
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lives outside the norms of society with his warriors, and whose
adventures explain the place-names in nature19 of which ‘Carn
Cafall’, ‘Arthur’s Seat’, and ‘Arthur’s Oven’ are just a few
examples. Perhaps the most convincing detail that suggests
Arthur represented nature is the name of his court, ‘Kelli Wic’,
which literally means ‘the forest grove’.20 The great King
Arthur, therefore, was akin to the king of the forest; the king
of the animals’ domain. This is consistent with the pre-
Christian Celtic religion in which one of the most fundamental
features were the sanctuaries associated with the land’s natural
topography,21 not to mention the sacred oak groves in which pagan
religious ceremonies were said to have taken place.
The Welsh folklore surrounding Arthur is remarkably similar
to that of the Irish Fionn Mac Cumhal. Both of these Celtic
legends led their band of warriors on magical adventures through
the wildest parts of the country and were considered two of the
bravest heroes in their society. This is perhaps an elaborate
representation of the common Celtic custom of emulating wild
animals and viewing them as part of society despite their living
apart from the people. For even their greatest heroes, who were
larger than life and could perform impossible feats, lived with
the wild animals. Furthermore, while the Welsh Arthur has his
Irish parallel in Fionn, Arthur’s companion, Cai, can be the
Welsh counterpart to Ireland’s Cú Chulainn, showing once again
19 O.J. Padel. ‘The Nature of Arthur’, Cambrian Medieval Celtic Studies 27. pg. 12-13.20 O.J. Padel. ‘The Nature of Arthur’, Cambrian Medieval Celtic Studies 27. pg. 12.21 Myles Dillon and Nora Chadwick. The Celtic Realms. Castle Books, pg. 137
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the ancient Celtic roots to these Welsh tales. Like Cú Chulainn,
Cai could hold his breath for days, he could make himself as
large as the trees, and exhorted enough heat from his body to
keep dry even in the rain.22 They were beyond human. They were
heroes who lived in the woods with the animals, who emulated,
stalked, and hunted the animals. They were successful because
they – both figuratively and literally – became the animals.
They mimicked the animal’s behaviour and thought process in order
to gain the animal’s stealth and strength, and often when one
looked into the eyes of these heroes, they could see the soul of
an animal.
In Celtic societies animals were an integral part of life.
The survival of their community depended on their relationship
with animals and nature and a person’s wisdom, strength and
bravery seems to have come from their inner animal. At least as
far back as the Bronze Age, the British Celts were farmers.23
Sheep, ponies, pigs and dogs were all raised on the Celtic farm,
which found natural adversaries in wolf, bear, lynx and
wildcats24 – which happen to be many of the same animals we now
find humanized in Welsh folklore. The people acquired everything
they needed from their farms – milk, butter, wool, etc. – and
they supplemented their diet with hunting. The four seasons were
determined by phases of animal husbandry and wealth was measure
in terms of cattle. The first (or last, depending on one’s point22 A.O.H. Jarman. ‘The Arthurian Allusions in the Black Book of Carmarthen’, The Legend of Arthur in the Middle Ages. Pg. 108.23 Lloyd Laing. Celtic Britain. Charles Scribner’s Sons, pg. 37.24 Lloyd Laing. Celtic Britain. Charles Scribner’s Sons, pg. 39.
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of view) festival of the year was Samhain. Samhain was perhaps
the most important of the four festivals, for it marked the end
of one year and the beginning of a new one, therefore being a
somewhat liminal festival; not belonging to either the old or the
new.25 Not surprisingly then, this is also the festival in which
spirits are believed to roam free, and the custom from which the
modern Halloween was derived. Its significance in regards to
the interaction with animals, however, is that this was the time
in which the majority of animals were slaughtered in order to
keep the people fed – thereby kept them alive - over the long
winter. During Samhain the spirits of the Otherworld were able
to roam free and interact with the living.26 The feast of
Samhain marked the end of summer when the community prepared for
winter.27 Samhain was followed by Imbolc, which celebrated the
first signs of new life in the animals. This undoubtedly gave
the people hope that the winter was nearing the end; the
lactation of the ewes symbolized life – not only for the lambs
soon to be born but also for the people themselves. The rituals
of Imbolc were believed to purify, or protect, the ewe and the
lambs.28 The next major celebration was Beltane, which was when
the herds were moved to the upland pastures. The mere fact that
the Celts would have a festival to celebrate the rotation of
cattle to their grazing fields speaks volumes of their importance
25 Lloyd Laing. Celtic Britain. Charles Scribner’s Sons, pg. 40.26 Miranda J. Green. The World of the Druids. Thames and Hudson, pg. 36.27 Alistair Moffat, Before Scotland: The Story of Scotland Before History. Thames & Hudson, pg. 184 – 186.28 Miranda J. Green. The World of the Druids. Thames and Hudson, pg. 35.
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in society. The last festival was that of Lughnasa, which
celebrated the harvesting of both crops and animals. Thus, every
major feast and festival in Celtic societies revolved around
livestock. It is not surprising, therefore, that they attached
such a high value on their animals.
Perhaps the most significant of these festivals, for our
purpose, is that of Beltane. During these festivals, large
bonfires would be lit and the cattle would be led through these
fires in order to protect them from disease.29 But could it
have meant more than that? Given the role animals play in
folklore – not just their humanization, but also how they are
often used in connection with an otherworldly encounter – perhaps
the custom was a ‘trial by fire’, so to speak. Perhaps it was
meant not only to prevent disease, but also to ensure the people
of the animals’ purity; perhaps it demonstrated to them that
these were not animals of the otherworld. For instance, in the
first branch of The Mabinogi Pwyll is out hunting when he comes
upon a pack of red and white otherworldly hounds and the
encounter leads to him having to spend a year in Annwfn. In the
third branch of The Mabinogi Pryderi is lured into a fort – which
turns out to be a portal to the Otherworld – by a white boar and
as a result he and his mother are held captive. The legendary
Arthur also has numerous encounters with the Otherworld and its
animals. Some of these encounters – such as Prieddeu Annwn – are
obvious encounters with the Otherworld. Other encounters,
29 Lloyd Laing. Celtic Britain. Charles Scribner’s Sons, pg. 41.16 | P a g e
however, are more discrete, the Otherworld connection almost
hidden in the tale. In these cases the scenarios are not so
obviously related to the Otherworld, nor are the details as
elaborate. First, in the story of Geraint son of Erbin, Arthur and his
men are in pursuit of majestically appearing white stag when the
stage is set for the heroic actions of Geraint, who ultimately
wins the head of the stag which sets into motion a series of
incredible events.30 In yet another tale, Arthur is affected
more directly by an encounter with Otherworldly cattle. The
evidence of Arthur’s encounter comes from an unlikely source,
considering the implications. In the Life of St Cadog there is an
episode in which Arthur was said to have refused a git of cattle
because they were not of a particular colour – red in front and
white behind.31 It is the colour scheme that indicates the
cattle he sought were Otherworldly, for the red and white
combination on animals was frequently used in Celtic folklore as
a clue to the audience that this was to be an Otherworld
encounter. This example is particularly interesting for its
relevance to the Beltane custom previously discussed. When Saint
Cadog produced the red and white cattle Arthur had requested they
turned to bracken as soon as Arthur took possession of them.32
Thus, Arthur had been fooled by cattle that were not of this
world; cattle that had not been ‘purified’ by fire. This
particular legend of Arthur also supports the connection between
30 Sioned Davies. The Mabinogion. Oxford University Press, pg. 139-178.31 O.J. Padel. ‘The Nature of Arthur’, Cambrian Medieval Celtic Studies 27. pg. 7.32 O.J. Padel. ‘The Nature of Arthur’, Cambrian Medieval Celtic Studies 27. pg. 7.
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animals and Celtic religion. It is ironic that this story comes
from a saint’s biography, even more so since it was supposedly
the saint himself who conjured up the Otherworldly cattle. Once
again this suggests that these folklores were a way to preserve
pagan Celtic beliefs in Christian times; for the cattle in this
particular story represent the pagan Otherworld despite having
been associated with a Christian saint. However, it should be
noted that it was not unusual for early Christian poetry to
include Celtic nature poems as a major topic;33 which serves as
further evidence that pagan religious beliefs continued to be
represented into the Christian era, however discrete this
representation may have been. The use of nature to do so
supports the theory that the humanization of animals in folklore
may have also been for this purpose.
From preservation of pagan Celtic customs to origin myths,
the practice of humanizing animals in Welsh folklore served many
purposes, but the common underlying theme was that they taught
the audience something about their heritage. The use of totem
animals, such as the boar people of the Orkney Islands and the
Cornovii ‘horned people’, humanized animals as a way of
preserving their ancient Celtic animal deities and pagan gods.
Likewise, Rhiannon represented the horse goddess Epona in The
Mabinogi for a similar purpose. Her role in story provided the
audience with a human connection to an animal that held great
importance in their society. This is underlined by the role of
33 A.O.H. Jarman. ‘The Arthurian Allusions in the Black Book of Carmarthen’, The Legend of Arthur in the Middle Ages. Pg. 102.
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Rhiannon’s son, Pryderi; his life was saved as an infant because
Teyrnon cared enough to save his colt, and his life ended as a
result of Gwydion misusing his magic to present him with a false
gift – a mirage of horses. Gwydion and his brother, in the
fourth branch of The Mabinogi possibly provide us with the origin
tales of three animal deities – the stag, wolf and boar. While
this is merely an unproven theory, Gwydion’s ability to shape-
shift into various animals provides a further connection to other
Celtic societies, by linking him to the Irish Tuan and the Welsh
poet, Taliesin, thus providing evidence that the humanization of
animals in folklore is a method of keeping ancient Celtic
traditions alive. It teaches generations of Celts the ancient
custom of being able to recognize the strength and wisdom in
animals and to emulate these attributes. This is demonstrated by
Manawydan in the third branch of The Mabinogi through his
encounter with the pregnant woman in the form of a mouse. The
manner in which he handles the situation teaches the audience the
importance of patience, determination and wisdom; for Manawydan
was able to use these traits to turn the situation to his
benefit. It also is an example of the use of folklore to portray
the importance of agriculture in their society; the mice ravaging
Manawydan’s crops teach the audience of proper storage and
harvesting techniques and demonstrate the value of those crops.
In this way the humanization of animals keeps people in touch
with their history, for they descend from people who allegedly
preferred to live a pastoral life in the woods with the animals.
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Likewise, the four seasonal festivals were a reminder to the
people of the importance of animals in such a society. Finally,
the use of colour in animals in folklore keeps the audience in
touch with the pagan concept of the Otherworld, and thereby also
maintaining knowledge of the pagan Celtic pantheon of gods and
goddesses. Overall, the practice of humanizing animals in Welsh
folk lore was a natural progress from ancient customs, a way to
preserve their Celtic customs, values and beliefs despite the
changing world around them.
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Bibliography
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