The Search for Mabon
Son of Modron
(The Oldest Animals)
The Ousel of Cilgwri did not know
Though she had pecked at an anvil each day
She had lived and over the years
Had worn it away so long was her life.
So she took them to the Stag of Redynfre
Who did not know though he had watched
An oak grow from a sapling which now
Was a withered stump, so he took them to
The Owl of Cwm Cowlyd, who would tell if she knew
But though she had watched three forests
Rise and fall and her wings were stumps
She did not know, but she took them to
The Eagle of Gwernabwy who was so old
That the rock from which he once pecked the stars
Was now less than the height of a man
But he had not heard tell of Mabon
Once, though, he had caught the Salmon of Llyn Llyw
Who dragged him under the water
And would have drowned him, but they made a truce.
So they went to the Salmon of Llyn Llyw
The Salmon was so old that he remembered
The dungeon of Mabon at Caer Loyw
So Arthur besieged it and rescued Mabon
Son of Modron from out of the darkness into the light.
3 comments:
Dear Sir,
Culhwch and Olwen! I so love that story. I recently had the pleasure of teaching Arthurian Legend with my class, and so it was a great opportunity to pull out the Welsh tales to share with them Arthur's very first cameo. It was interesting how my class engaged in the Welsh tales much more than Geoffrey of Monmouth or the French Romances or Tennyson, or T.H. White.
!hy the change of ail-ddyfodiad to atgyfoadiad?! For paschal associations I imagine! Nice poem.
Thank you Algernon. Yes Culhwch and Olwen - your class clearly get exposed to some interesting reading matter.
Yes Bo, for paschal reasons! Actually 'ail-ddyfodiad' wasn't up there for very long and I hoped I'd got away with changing it before anyone noticed. But I think I might need a follow-up explanatory post about that So ....
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