Mother: Don (DOHN). mother
of deities. sister of Math; mother of Arianrhod,
Gwydion, Amaethon, and Gofannon.
Sister
of
Gofannon (goh-VAHN-nohn). god of the forge. son of
Don; brother of Arianrhod, Gwydion, and Amaethon.
Sister
of Gwydion
(gooih-DEE-uhn). poet-wizard. son of Don; heir of
Math; brother of Arianrhod, Amaethon, and Gofannon;
foster father of Lleu.
Her
own consort Nwyvre ('sky, space,
firmament') has survived in name only.
Her Sons:
Dylan (DIH-lahn). a god of the sea, who immediately went to
live in the sea.
Lleu Llaw Gyffes (TLAY-ee TLAH-oo GUH-fehs). the
young lord; foster son of Gwydion.
The
only remaining source is a story in the Mabinogion:
It is the
story of Math ap Mathonwy (MAHTH ap mah-THOHN-wee),
who is king, teacher, and wizard, brother of Don;
uncle of Arianrhod, Gwydion, Amaethon, and Gofannon.
After the rape
of the maiden Goewin (goh-AY-win) by Arianrhod's
brothers Gwydion and Gilfaethwy, Math, the lord of
Gwynedd, was without a royal virgin footholder.
Trying to regain Math's good graces, Gwydion put
forth his sister Arianrhod for the position.
The post could
only be held by a virgin and Arianrhod answered: I
know not, lord, other than that I am. (These words
mean that she knew no master. The word morwyn may
mean either 'virgin' or 'free young woman', but it
also indicates her divine status.)
But Math
required a magical test : Arianrhod was to perform
the rite of stepping over a wand, which would either
confirm or deny her maiden state. When she stepped
over the wand, two small bundles fell from her;
Arianrhod only
saw one of them. This was the golden child, Dylan
(DIH-lahn). a god of the sea, who immediately went to
live in the sea.
The other
bundle was grabbed up by her brother Gwydion, who had
espied it while Arianrhod was busy fuming over the
other child ("Um, gosh, I don't know how that
got there, Math, really I don't...yes, I know Gwydion
said I was a virgin...").
The sub-text
of the story and earlier references suggest that both
her children were incestuously conceived with Gwydion
her brother.
Several years
hence, Gwydion showed the boy to his mother.
Arianrhod was furious being reminded of her shame,
and thus cursed the boy with a geis. She decreed that
he would have no name until she herself should give
him one.
As she had no
intention of doing this, she denied him the
"real life". It seemed the child was
destined for a life of anonymity.
But his Uncle
Gwydion tricked the goddess into bestowing a name
upon the child.
He and the boy
went to the castle of Arianhrod looking like
shoemakers. When Arianhrod came herself to have some
shoes made, a wren came and lit on the boat's mast,
and the boy, taking up a bow, shot an arrow that
transfixed the leg between the sinew and the bone.
Arianrhod
admired the brilliant shot. " Verily with a
steady hand ( llaw gyffes) did the lion (llew) hit
it. " Her brother said: " Llew Llaw Gyffes
(the lion with the steady hand) shall he be called
hence forward. "
Arianrhod
was furious at being tricked thus, particularly since
Gwydion could not resist taunting her about it. And
so, grandly miffed, she cursed the boy again. This
time, she decreed that he would never bear arms until
she herself bestowed them on him.
But Gwydion
made by magic art the illusion of a foray of armed
men around the castle of Arianrhod. Arianrhod
therefore gives everyone weapons to help in the
defense; thus LLew got his arms.
The final curse decreed against the boy by Arianrhod
was: "He shall ever have a wife of the race that
now inhabits the earth."
Gwydion teamed
up with Math on this one, the two of them creating a
beautiful maiden out of the flowers of oak, broom,
and meadowsweet, named Blodeuwedd ("flower
face"). But Blodeuwedd betrayed Llew and was
transformed into an owl.
(You can read
the whole story in Ranke-Graves: The White Goddess,
p. 304-313)
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