The figures beneath each entry give reference numbers for the Bibliography
(bran and shkeolawn) Bran and Sceolan were the two favourite hounds of Finn Mac Cumhal. They were so wise and knowing that they seemed human in knowledge, and so indeed they were. According to the Irish story, this was how they were born. One time Finn's mother Muirne came to stay with him in Almhuin (Allen) which was the headquarters where he lived with the Fianna, and she brought her sister Tuiren with her. And Iollan Eachtach, an Ulster man and one of the chiefs of the Fianna there, was with him at the time, and he asked Tuiren's hand in marriage from Finn, and Finn granted it, but he said that if Tuiren had any reason to be displeased with her bargain, Iollan should allow her to return freely, and he made Iollan grant sureties for it and Iollan gave sureties to Caoilte and Goll and Lugaidh Lamba before he took Tuiren away.
Now, whether Finn had any inkling of it or not it is certain that Iollan had already a sweetheart among the Sidhe and she was Uchtdealb of the Fair Breast, and when she heard that Iollan was married she was bitterly jealous. She took on the appearance of Finn's woman messenger and, going to Ulster to Tuiren's house, she said: 'Finn sends all good wishes and long life to you, queen, and bids you prepare a great feast, and if you will come aside with me I will tell you how it must be.' Tuiren went aside with her, and when they got out of sight Uchtdealb took out a rod and smote her with it, and at once she turned into a most beautiful little bitch, and she led her away to the house of Fergus Fionnliath, the king of the harbour of Gallimh. She chose Fergus because he hated dogs more than anything in the world, and, still in the shape of Finn's messenger, she led the little bitch in to Fergus and said to him: 'Finn wishes you to foster and take charge of this little bitch and she is with young, and do not let her join the chase when her time is near'; and she left the hound with him. Fergus thought it a strange thing that this charge should have been put on him, for everyone knew what a hatred he had of dogs, but he had a great regard for Finn, so he did his best, and the little hound was so swift and so clever that soon he changed his notions altogether and began to like hounds as much as he had hated them. In the meantime it became known that Tuiren had disappeared, and Finn called Iollan to account for it, and Iollan had to say that she was gone and that he could not find her. At that his sureties pressed him so hard that he begged for time to search for her. When he could not find her he went to Uchtdealb and told her in what danger he stood, and she consented to free Tuiren if he would be her sweetheart for ever. She went to Fergus' house and freed Tuiren from her shape, and afterwards Finn married her to Lugaidh Lamha. But the two whelps were already born, and Finn kept them and they were always with him. The Highland version is different. In this Bran and Sceolan are monstrous dogs, won by Finn from a kind of Celtic version of the monster Grendel in BEOWULF, who had been stealing babies from a young champion's house. There is something monstrous about them - a strange mixture of colours and great savagery in other versions.
# 100
(bran mock feval)An otherworld woman invited Bran to set sail for the Blessed Islands where he would find the Land of Women TIR NA MBAN.The hero of this legend is somewhat similar to that of Oisin and even closer to the story of King Herla. Bran was summoned by Manannan Son of Lir to visit one of his islands far over the sea, Emhain, the Isle of Women. And this was the way in which he was summoned. He was walking one day near his own dun when he heard a sound of music so sweet that it lulled him to sleep, and when he woke he had a silver branch in his hand covered with silver-white apple blossom. He carried the branch with him into his dun. And when all his people were gathered round him, suddenly there was a woman in strange clothing standing in front of him, and she began to sing him a song about Emhain, the Isle of Women, where there was no winter or want or grieving, where the golden horses of Manannan pranced on the strand and the games and sports went on untiringly. She summoned Bran to seek out that island, and when her song was over she turned away, and the apple branch jumped from Bran's hand into hers, and he could not retain it. On the next morning he set out with a fleet of curraghs. They rowed far across the sea until they met a warrior driving a chariot as if it might be over the land, and he greeted them and told them that he was Manannan son of Lir, and he sang about the island of Emhain, inviting Bran to visit it. On the way they passed the Island of Delight and tried to hail the inhabitants, but got nothing but shouts of laughter and pointing hands. So Bran put one of his men on shore to talk to them, but he at once burst out laughing and behaved just as the inhabitants had done. So in the end Bran went on, and they soon got to the Isle of Women, where the Chief Woman was waiting for them and drew them ashore. They enjoyed every delight on the many-coloured island, but after what seemed a year Bran's companions began to pine for Ireland, and Nechtan son of Collbrain was urgent to return. The woman who was Bran's lover warned them that sorrow would come of it, but Bran said he would just visit the land and return to it. At that she warned him, as Niam had warned Oisin, that he could look at Ireland and talk to his friends, but that no one of his party could touch it. So they sailed away and approached the shores of Ireland at a place called Srub Bruin. People on the shore hailed them, and when Bran told them his name they said that no such man was now alive, though in their oldest stories there were mentions of how Bran son of Febal had sailed away to look for the Island of Women. When Nechtan heard this he leapt out of his curragh and waded through the surf; but as he touched the strand of Ireland his mortal years came on him and he crumbled into a handful of dust. Bran stayed awhile to tell his countrymen of all that had befallen him; then he turned his fleet of curraghs away from the shore, and he and his companions were never seen in Ireland again. This story is told in Lady Gregory's GODS AND FIGHTING MEN, and a comparative study of the legend is to be found in Alfred Nutt's THE VOYAGE OF BRAN, with beautiful translations of the Irish by Kuno Meyer.
# 100 - 267 - 416 - 454
In romances as THE WOOING OF ETAIN, THE SICK-BED OF CUCHULAIN, and others, we have seen the visit to the Happy Otherworld appearing incidentally. In this tale it constitutes the main purpose of the story. Of the chief traditional characters in Irish literature, the only ones referred to in THE VOYAGE OF BRAN are Manannan mac Lir and Mongan. Its literary importance lies in the fact that it is representative of a class of Irish stories called Imrama 'voyages,' that seem to have been rather widely known in other parts of Europe. The voyage literature is also noteworthy in that it frequently appears in ecclesiastical guise; in fact, some authorities are inclined to place the ecclesiastical form earlier than the secular. THE VOYAGE OF BRAN belongs to the early period of Irish literature, being ascribed usually to the eighth century. Though reminding us of the 'Odyssey,' the Irish narrative is probably based in large part on fantastic stories brought back by sailors who had ventured far out into the Atlantic Ocean long before the discovery of America.
# 166
or BENDIGEID VRAN (brarn)
# 562: King of the Isle of the Mighty (Britain). Manawyddan, his brother; Branwen, his sister; he gives Branwen as wife to Matholwch; makes atonement for Evnissyen's outrage by giving Matholwch the magic cauldron; invades Ireland to succour Branwen. The wonderful head of Bran the Blessed buried in the White Mound.
# 156: A hero of Welsh legend, originally a god, who was demoted after the advent of Christianity. Some of the information we have about him suggests that part of his legend went into the formation of the Arthurian tales. For example, he had a cauldron of plenty and was wounded in the foot by a poisoned spear, suggesting connections with the Grail and the Fisher King. Tradition states that his head was buried under the White Hill in London to protect the country, but Arthur dug it up, as he wanted to be the sole guardian of Britain. Bran had a son called Caratacus who was identified with the British leader of that name who opposed the Romans at the time of the Claudian invasion (AD 43). Bran himself - though not, perhaps, in an early tradition - was thought to have introduced Christianity to Britain. His father was Llyr and his mother Penardun. In BONEDD YR ARWYR, Bran is made both of paternal and maternal ancestor of Arthur. (See also: BAN and THIRTEEN TREASURES).
# 454: In Welsh: Bendigeid Fran. The Titanic-sized Bran has become deeply incorporated into British mythology. His story appears in 'Branwen Daughter of Llyr' where he is the possessor of a life-restoring cauldron. On the marriage of his sister, Branwen to Matholwch, King of Ireland, he gives up the cauldron to the Irish, in recompense for the insults they have suffered at the hands of Bran's brother, Efnissien. He subsequently has to rescue Branwen from her servitude in the Irish kitchen after he has her imprisoned there. He wades across the Irish sea, leading the British fleet and defeats the Irish who offer to depose Matholwch and make Gwern, Branwen's son, king in his place. At the feast to celebrate the truce and Gwern's accession, Efnissien throws Gwern into the fire and hostilities are resumed.
The Irish resusticate their dead in the cauldron, but neither side is triumphant; only seven Britons escape alive but Bran is mortally wounded in the heel. He requests that his head be cut off and buried at the White Tower (of London). The seven survivors do so, first bearing the head to Harlech for seven years and then to Gwales (Grassholm, Pembrokeshire) for eighty years, where the head of Bran converses with them and where they have no sense of time passing, nor of the happenings they have experienced. They are asked not to open the door of the hall. Eventually one of the company does so and they become aware of the passing of time and of their sufferings. Bran's mythos can be traced to that of Cronos, as well as becoming incorporated into the Grail legends where Brons is the guardian of the Grail a development of the life-restoring cauldron. The Triads relate how Arthur dug up Bran's head where it had been set to fend off enemy invasion, because he alone wished to be his country's bastion. This feature can still be seen in the legend that if the Ravens leave the Tower of London Britain will be invaded ( for which reason their wings are kept clipped). Bran's name means 'raven'.
# 100: There are three Brans mentioned in Celtic mythological and legendary matter: Bran, the famous hound of Finn; Bran Son of Febal, the Irish hero who was allured away to the Isle of Women, the Western Paradise of Manannan Son of Lir; and Bran the Blessed, the brother of Manawyddan and the son of Llyr, whose story is told in the MABINOGION. It is clear that the Irish and the Welsh mythologies are closely connected in these two groups, but Bran the Blessed represents a much earlier and mythological strain of belief, obviously a primitive god. It has been surmised by Professor Rhys that he was a Goidelic or even pre-Goidelic divinity who was grafted on to later Celtic tradition. We should remember that Bran was of monstrous size, so large that no house could contain him, but he was one of the beneficent Giants and had magical treasures which enriched Britain, and chief among them was the Cauldron of Healing which came from Ireland and was destined to return to it.
# 57 - 100 - 104 -156 - 272 - 346 - 439 - 454 - 562 - 589
King of Stranggore. One of the kings who rebelled against Arthur at the outset of his reign. It has been argued that his name means 'Bran of Gore' and that he was originally identical with the god Bran. See: ELYAN.
# 156 - 243
Knight of the Round Table. His father was Sir Gilbert. He is mentioned in the Second Continuation of Chr‚tien's PERCEVAL and the GEST OF SIR GAWAIN in which he fought with Gawain, who had defeated his father and two brothers, as well as seducing his sister. In the GEST, this fight was stopped to be resumed later, but the two never met again. In the Second Continuation, there was a second fight between the two which was haunted by Brandiles's sister. See: BRIAN DES ILLES.
# 156
He was King of Leinster in the seventh century who lusted after Mongan's wife, Dubh Lacha. He tricked Mongan into giving her up, but was finally defeated by Mongan's supernatural powers. The name is also of an Irish boardgame, meaning Black Raven, played between two players.
# 454
The maidservant of Iseult who, according to Gottfried, was very goodlooking. When Iseult was on her way to Mark, Iseult's mother gave Brangien and Gouvernail a love potion to administer to the couple. Unfortunately, owing to a mistake, Tristan and Iseult drank it, thus precipitating their affair. On the night of her wedding Iseult substituted Brangien for herself so Mark would not guess she had already lain with Tristan. Subsequently, Iseult tried to have Brangien murdered to ensure her silence, but the attempt was unsuccessful and Iseult repented of it. Brangien later had an affair with Kaherdin, son of King Hoel of Brittany.
# 64 - 156 - 256
# 562: Given in marriage to Matholwch; mother of Gwern; degraded because of Evnissyen's outrage; brought to Britain; her death and burial on the banks of the Alaw. - # 454: Daughter of Llyr. She was married to Matholwch, King of Ireland, and bore him Gwern, but the Irish people had suffered at the hands of Efnissien, her brother. She was made to serve in the kitchens and was there struck by the cook. She tamed a starling to bear a message to Bran in Britain who came with a fleet to rescue her. Efnissien threw Gwern upon the fire and after the ensuing battle between the British and Irish, she died of a broken heart and was buried in a 'four-sided grave' on the river Alaw, in Anglesey. Her mythos bears a striking resemblance to that of Cordelia, also a daughter of Lear. Branwen is a type of Sovereignty, as becomes obvious if this story is investigated thoroughly. As for Ireland, all that were left alive in it were five pregnant women, And through them Ireland was repeopled,and they founded the Five Kingdoms.
# 100 - 272 - 439 - 454 - 562
Chamberlain of Antichrist. The poet Huon de Mery in his work LE TORNOIEMANT DE L'ANTECHRIST tells how he went to the enchanted spring in Broceliande and Bras-de-Fer rode up. They went to a battle where the forces of Heaven fought against the forces of Hell. Arthur and his knights fought on the side of Heaven.
# 142 - 156
# 156: One of Arthur's Knights who was made a warden in the north of England and who fought at Bedegraine. He had originally been in the service of the Duke of the Tintagel. # 454: Originally a knight in the service of Gorlois of Cornwall, Brastias became an ally of Merlin in the episode where Uther is changed into the likeness of his master in order to sleep with Igraine. When Arthur became King, Brastias was one of his first and most able captains, and became warden of the North.
# 156 - 418 - 454
(bray) When Oisin returned to Ireland from the Otherworld, he was told that Finn mac Cumhal died in the Battle of Brea, three hundred years ago.
# 562
# 701: The plea for daily bread incorporated into the Lord's Prayer must have been a plea to the Goddess in earlier times, for she was always the giver of bread, the Grain Mother, the patron of bakers, mills and ovens. The English word Lady was derived from Hlaf-dig (hl'fdige - Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Clark, Hall & Meritt (ed.rmk.)), the 'giver of daily bread,' while Lord descended from Hlaf-ward (hlafweard), the guardian (or steward) of her storehouses.
# 100: The prototype of food, and therefore a symbol of life, bread was one of the commonest protections against fairies. Before going out into a fairy-haunted place, it was customary to put a piece of dry bread into one's pocket.
# 100 - 701 p 482
Was considered to be the King of the World in Irish tradition and although a fortress was supposed to have been built by him in Leinster, his real dwelling was in the lands to the west, called Hy Breasil, the otherworldly place whose name was used in the mapping of South America as Brazil.
# 454
A knight who assisted Arthur in the story of KING ARTHUR AND THE KING OF CORNWALL. When Arthur, Tristan, Gawain and Bredbeddle, went to visit the King of Cornwall's abode, Bredbeddle, with the aid of a holy book, controlled a friend whom the king had sent to observe them.
# 156
Bregia was the great plain lying eastwards of Tara between Boyne and Liffey, which was mentioned in one of the long list of Conary's geise given to him by Nemglan. 'The bird-reign shall be noble,' said he, 'and these shall be thy geise: 'Thou shalt not go right-handwise round Tara, nor lefthandwise round Bregia,...' At CuChulain's first foray his charioteer pointed out to him, while he was looking over the plains of Bregia, Tara and Teltin, and Brugh na Boyna and the great dun of the sons of Nechtan...
Saint Patrick says to Keelta, he has a boon to crave of him - he wishes to find a well of pure water with which to baptize the folk of Bregia and of Meath. Bregia is a latinized form of Breg. See: MAG BREG.
# 562
# 562: Son of Miled, father of Ith. Tower of Breg'on perceived by Ith.
# 454: Scythian noble, ancestor of the Milesians. He was exiled from Egypt and settled in Spain from whence his two sons, Ith and Bile set sail for Ireland.
# 454 - 469 - 562
One skilled in the ancient laws and legal institutions of Ireland.
# 166
(c.489-583) Born in Kerry, this saint takes his place in Irish legend for his wondrous voyages to the Promised Land of Saints - a christianized version of the Blessed Isles of the West. He was inspired to take this voyage by Saint Barrind (see Barinthus) who had just returned from there. Together with seventeen monks, Brendan set sail in a skin-covered boat and spent many years travelling from island to island, including a hazardous landing on a whale, where he said mass and his monks attempted to heat a cauldron. There are many parallels and overlaps with the voyage of Maelduin.
# 454 - 507
Brother of Belinus, with whom he quarrelled and fought. Both were reconciled by their mother, Tonuuenna, and together they marched on Gaul which they conquered, and then besieged Rome which Brennius sacked.
# 243 - 454
Under this form, was the god to whom the Celts attributed their victories at the Allia and at Delphi.
# 562
This Somerset hill was the site of a battle between Yder and three giants who lived there. Accompanying Arthur, who sent him on ahead, Yder encountered the giants alone on the hill and, when Arthur and his followers arrived, the giants were dead, but so was Yder.
# 156
# 562: (brés'moc el'ô-ha)
# 454: The son of Eriu, begotten of her by an otherworld youth, Elatha who was of the Fomorians. Eriu herself was of the Tuatha de Danaan. Although he was a child of mixed parentage, he was elected king on the understanding that he would relinquish sovereignty if any misdeed should give cause. But Bres treated his mother's people poorly, inflicting grave insults upon the Tuatha. He created a monopoly over the food supplies of Ireland, making the Tuatha obliged to serve him in order to be fed. He was then satirized by the Tuatha's poet. (A poet's satire could cause personal disfigurement, in the case of Bres the King, he was considered maimed and therefore unfit to reign.) Eventually the Tuatha rose against him and Bres joined the Fomorian side during the second Battle of Mag Tuired. Here he bargained with Lugh in a magical contest which he lost. He was forced to drink 300 buckets of tainted milk and died.
# 166 - 454 - 562
Of the birth of Bres it is said in 'The Second Battle of Mag Tuired' that Ériu daughter of Delbaeth, a woman of Tuatha De Danann, was looking out to sea one morning and she saw a silver ship which brought a fair-haired youth, wearing a gold-adorned mantle, who greeted her with: 'Is this the time that our lying with thee will be easy?' They lay down together and the youth then told her he was Elatha son of Delbaeth, king of the Fomoire. He gave her a ring which she should give only to one whose finger it fitted, and he prophesied the birth of a beautiful boy who should be called Eochaid Bres. The boy was duly born and grew twice as rapidly as other boys.
# 548
# 156: One of Arthur's enemies, whom Gareth slew. P. A. Karr's KING ARTHUR COMPANION comments on his ubiquitousness. He had originally been knighted by Arthur.
# 454: The knight who became a byword in the Arthurian world as the most thoroughly evil-hearted villain living at that time. He captured and killed many of Arthur's knights, and was responsible for the discomfiture of many others. He does not seem to have ever been either caught or punished for his crimes unusual in the Arthurian world - but simply fades from the scene in the various texts which mention him.
# 156 - 418 - 454
Called the Black, Breunor arrived at Arthur's court wearing a coat that fitted him badly. He was given the nickname 'La Cote Male Tailée' (The badly-cut coat) by Kay. He would not take off the coat until he had avenged his father. He rendered assistance to the damsel Maladisant who at first hurled abuse at him, but eventually married him. He became lord of Pendragon Castle. See: DANIEL, and DINADAN.
# 156 - 418
(bré) A hill.
# 166
(bré la'ith) Fairy palace of Midir the Proud (otherworld lover of Etain) at Bri Leith in Co. Longford; Etain carried to Bri Leith.
# 166 - 562
(bree an)
# 454: With his brothers Iuchar and Iucharba, the sons of Tuirenn, he slew Cian mac Cainte, the father of Lugh. Lugh discovered the body of Cian, exhumed it and then set out to avenge him. He ordered that the sons of Tuirenn should pay an impossible compensation for their crime, including the three apples of the Hesperides and many other otherworldly treasures. They obtained everything asked by Lugh but died at last in the achieving of the last task. There is an obvious overlay between this story and that of Culhwch, who performed impossible tasks for Yspaddaden. Lugh's lack of mercy in not sparing the sons of Tuirenn is like that of Llew to his wife's lover, Gronw Pebr.
# 562: One of the three sons of Turenn. Equivalent, Brenos, Son of Brigit (Dana).
# 166 - 267 - 454 - 562
(926- 1014) King of Ireland. He successfully defeated the almost universal scourge of the Danes which afflicted Ireland and Britain at that time, at the Battle of Clontarf, however, he lost his own life in the process. Like Alfred the Great, he liked to do his own reconnoitring. On one such foray, he encountered an Irish woman crying because her Danish husband had bidden her kill her child for food, there being none to cook due to ravages of war. Brian gave her food and in return she was able to give the password of the stronghold, which enabled him to overcome his foe. He was said to have introduced the plover into Ireland because of its facility for warning of enemy attack.
# 454 - 469
In PERLESVAUS we are told that, aided by Kay who had slain Arthur's son Loholt, he attacked Arthur's realm. He laid siege to Carduel but was eventually driven off by Lancelot. He was subsequently defeated by Arthur and then became his seneschal. He is perhaps identical with Brandiles in origin. It has been suggested that Brian is based on a historical person, Brian de Insula, illegitimate son of Alan Fergeant (eleventh century).
# 112 - 156
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