Branwen

Her story

Branwen's story begins when her brother, the giant king Brân the Blessed, spots ships from Ireland approaching the coast of Harlech while sitting on a seaside rock. The Irish king Matholwch has come to propose marriage to Branwen. Brân accepts the offer, and a betrothal feast is held. During the celebration, Efnysien, a half-brother to both Branwen and Brân, arrives at the stables and learns what is happening.

Enraged that his half-sister was given away without his approval, he attacks the Irish horses, mutilating them. Matholwch is insulted, but Brân calms him by presenting a magical cauldron that can revive the dead, though those brought back will be deaf and mute. Once Matholwch returns to Ireland with Branwen, he discusses the incident with his nobles. They feel the compensation was inadequate and demand action.

To restore his honor, Matholwch sends Branwen to work in the kitchens, treating her harshly. Before this punishment, she gives birth to a son and heir, Gwern. Branwen manages to tame a starling and sends it across the Irish Sea with a message for her brother. Brân gathers a Welsh army and sets out to rescue her.

Irish swineherds spot the giant Brân wading through the sea and alert Matholwch, who retreats behind a river and destroys the bridges. Brân lies down across the river, allowing his men to cross over him, saying that a leader should be a bridge. Fearing war, Matholwch attempts to make peace by building a house large enough for Brân to enter. He also agrees to give the kingdom to his son Gwern to satisfy Brân.

The Irish lords oppose this plan, and many hide inside flour sacks tied to the pillars of the new house, waiting to ambush the Welsh.

War against Ireland

In the ensuing war, all the Irish are killed except for five pregnant women who lived in Wales and repopulate the island, while only seven of the Welsh survive to return home with Branwen, taking with them the severed head of Bendigeidfran. On landing in Wales at Aber Alaw in Anglesey, Branwen dies of grief that so much destruction had been caused on her account, crying, 'Oh Son of God, woe to me that I was born! Two fair islands have been laid waste because of me!'

She was buried beside the Afon Alaw. Brân had commanded his men to cut off his head and bear it to the White Mount in London and bury it there with the face toward France. For seven years, his men feasted in Harlech, accompanied by three singing birds and Brân's head. After seven years they went to Gwales in Penfro, where they remained for eighty years.

Eventually they went to London and buried the head of Brân in the White Mount. Legend said that as long as the head was there, no invasion would come over the sea to Britain.

Did You Know?

• At Llanddeusant, Anglesey on the banks of the Alaw can be found the cairn called Bedd Branwen, her supposed grave.
• The cairn was dug up in 1800 and again in the 1960s by Frances Lynch, who found several urns with human ashes.
• If the story of Branwen is based on real events, these must have taken place during the Bedd Branwen Period of Bronze Age British history.