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In Welsh medieval legend, Ceridwen was an enchantress, mother of Morfran and a beautiful daughter Creirwy. Her husband was Tegid Foel, and they lived near Bala Lake (Llyn Tegid) in north Wales. Medieval Welsh poetry refers to her as possessing the cauldron of Poetic Inspiration (Awen) and the Tale of Taliesin recounts her swallowing her servant Gwion Bach who is then reborn through her as the poet Taliesin.



There are several possible interpretations of the name 'Ceridwen'. The earliest recorded form, found in the Black Book of Carmarthen, is Cyrridven. This was interpreted by Sir Ifor Williams as "crooked woman" (cyrrid cwrr "crooked or bent ben woman, female), although the precise meaning of cyrrid is uncertain. Another possible meaning for the second element, based on the much more common form 'Ceridwen', is "fair, beloved" or "blessed, sacred" (gwen, mutated here to -wen, is a common element in female saints' names, e.g. Dwynwen).



According to the late medieval Tale of Taliesin, included in some modern editions of the Mabinogion, Morfran (also called Afagddu) was hideously ugly, so Ceridwen sought to make him wise. She had a magical cauldron that could make a potion granting the gift of wisdom and poetic inspiration. The mixture had to be boiled for a year and a day. Morda, a blind man, tended the fire beneath the cauldron, while Gwion Bach, a young boy, stirred the concoction. The first three drops of liquid from this cauldron gave wisdom; the rest was a fatal poison. Three hot drops spilled onto Gwion's thumb as he stirred, burning him. He instinctively put his thumb in his mouth, and instantly gained great wisdom and knowledge.



Ceridwen chased Gwion. He turned himself into a hare. She became a greyhound. He became a fish and jumped into a river. She turned into an otter. He turned into a bird; she became a hawk. Finally, he turned into a single grain of corn. She then became a hen and ate him. When Ceridwen became pregnant, she knew it was Gwion and resolved to kill the child when he was born. However, when he was born, he was so beautiful that she couldn't do it. She threw him in the ocean instead, sewing him inside a leather-skin bag. The child did not die, but was rescued on a Welsh shore - near Aberdyfi according to most versions of the tale - by a prince named Elffin ap Gwyddno; the reborn infant grew to became the legendary bard Taliesin.

One of the best known, and loved, folk-tales in Wales is the story of a faithful hound.



The story goes that in the thirteenth-century, Prince Llywelyn the Great had a palace at Beddgelert in Caernarvonshire, and as the Prince was a keen hunter, he spent much of his time in the surrounding countryside.



He had many hunting dogs, but one day when he summoned them as usual with his horn, his favourite dog Gelert didn't appear, so regretfully Llywelyn had to go hunting without him.



When Llywelyn returned from the hunt, he was greeted by Gelert who came bounding towards him …his jaws dripping with blood.



The Prince was appalled, and a horrible thought came into his mind …was the blood on the dog's muzzle that of his one-year old son?



His worst fears were realised when he saw in the child's nursery, an upturned cradle, and walls spattered with blood! He searched for the child but there was no sign of him. Llywelyn was convinced that his favourite hound had killed his son.



Mad with grief he took his sword and plunged it into Gelert's heart.



As the dog howled in his death agony, Llywelyn heard a child's cry coming from underneath the upturned cradle. It was his son, unharmed!



Beside the child was an enormous wolf, dead, killed by the brave Gelert.



Llywelyn was struck with remorse and carried the body of his faithful dog outside the castle walls, and buried him where everyone could see the grave of this brave animal, and hear the story of his valiant fight with the wolf.



To this day, a cairn of stones marks the place, and the name Beddgelert (pronounced Bathe Gell-urt) means in Welsh 'The grave of Gelert'.