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Three Celtic Tales
Three Celtic Tales is a compilation of three traditional Welsh folk tales, drawn from the Mabinogion and retold by Moyra Caldecott. The Twins of the Tylwyth Teg is based on the well-known story of a herd boy who marries a faery from under the lake. Before her father will allow her to marry him, however, he has to choose between her and her identical twin sister. Taliesin and Avagddu is based on the tale from the Welsh Mabinogion. Ceridwen brews up a cauldron of magic to give her misshapen son Avagddu extraordinary wisdom, but the village boy who is employed to stir the cauldron sips it instead and becomes the greatest prophet and bard of all Taliesin. Bran, Branwen and Evnissyen is based on a story from the Mabinogion about the war between mainland Britain and Ireland in mythic times. Evnissyen, the bitter and disgruntled half-brother of Bran, the Blessed, stirs up trouble that almost destroys both nations.
- GenresFantasy
107 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 1, 2001
1 person is currently reading
13 people want to read
About the author
Moyra Caldecott
61 books29 followersStarted academic career by obtaining degrees in English Literature and Philosophy.
* Briefly lectured in English Literature at university level.
* Raised three children and had a most interesting and stimulating life as the wife of Oliver Caldecott in London from 1951 to 1989. (Oliver was an editor at Penguin, Readers Union, and Hutchinson and founded his own publishing firm Wildwood House with his partner Dieter Pevsner. His last editorial post was at Rider, for Century Hutchinson. He was also a very good artist.)
* Took evening classes in palaeontology (geology always a favourite subject), religious studies and mythology.
* Was secretary of the Dulwich Group in the ’sixties, a most successful poetry reading group. Read a lot. Wrote books. Met many interesting people and had many interesting discussions. Travelled a lot.
* Her life has also been enriched by the interests of her children: Religion – Conservation – Art.
* She has had various experiences she considers to be ‘paranormal’, including a dramatic healing from angina. She gives talks to various personal growth and consciousness raising groups, and groups interested in the ancient sacred sites of Britain.
* Her most successful book so far, Guardians Of The Tall Stones, is set in ancient Bronze Age Britain, and is required reading for some groups visiting the sacred sites of Britain from America. It has been in print continuously since 1977.
* Myths and legends are a particular passion and she follows Jung and Joseph Campbell in believing that they are not ‘just’ stories but actually deep and meaningful expressions of the universal and eternal in the human psyche.
* Briefly lectured in English Literature at university level.
* Raised three children and had a most interesting and stimulating life as the wife of Oliver Caldecott in London from 1951 to 1989. (Oliver was an editor at Penguin, Readers Union, and Hutchinson and founded his own publishing firm Wildwood House with his partner Dieter Pevsner. His last editorial post was at Rider, for Century Hutchinson. He was also a very good artist.)
* Took evening classes in palaeontology (geology always a favourite subject), religious studies and mythology.
* Was secretary of the Dulwich Group in the ’sixties, a most successful poetry reading group. Read a lot. Wrote books. Met many interesting people and had many interesting discussions. Travelled a lot.
* Her life has also been enriched by the interests of her children: Religion – Conservation – Art.
* She has had various experiences she considers to be ‘paranormal’, including a dramatic healing from angina. She gives talks to various personal growth and consciousness raising groups, and groups interested in the ancient sacred sites of Britain.
* Her most successful book so far, Guardians Of The Tall Stones, is set in ancient Bronze Age Britain, and is required reading for some groups visiting the sacred sites of Britain from America. It has been in print continuously since 1977.
* Myths and legends are a particular passion and she follows Jung and Joseph Campbell in believing that they are not ‘just’ stories but actually deep and meaningful expressions of the universal and eternal in the human psyche.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 1, 2012
the 3 tales have unique adapted endings by the author,Ceridwens Cauldron, and the children of Llyr Welsh, in favourite re-telling,
May 19, 2017
This short collection of three Celtic tales was a nice break from what I've been reading of late. I immensely enjoyed the last two stories, but the first story (Bran, Branwen, and Evnissyen) felt like two different tales awkwardly sewn together. They were connected by one character, Bran, but linking them together diminished the first part and made the second part feel anticlimactic, as if the storyteller was suddenly distracted and went off on a tangent. The first part felt like a tale from Celtic heroic fantasy, and the second felt like Christian assimilation of an ancient tale in the effort to give it religious meaning—which it probably was. Still, there was some wonderful imagery in the tale, and I was surprised to read an ancient Celtic tale of mindless warrior zombies. I didn't realize that concept was so old. This story was ancient in the 1300s. I found this passage memorable: ‘“the body is a seamless garment... and the individual soul is a bird of passage... but the spirit,” sang the birds, “the spirit lives forever... Yes! the spirit lives forever...”’ It shows the Christian influence inserted into the tale, but it's still vividly poetic.
Although I enjoyed the tale of “The Twins of the Tylwyth Teg”—a Welsh story of the fairy kingdom under a lake where one twin pretends to be the other to gain a fairy prince as a husband while the other seeks love in the mortal realm—“Taliesin and Avagddu” stood out as the best. The story was more epic in nature than the others, with metaphysical aspects, philosophy, and lyrical magic to take the story to a higher, narrative level. Celtic tales often focus on the repercussions of rage, jealousy, and other negative passions. They were morality tales used to teach people right from wrong within the cloak of entertainment. This story is no different, but there are unexpected twists to the tale that delighted me, especially during the conflict between the child, Gwion, and the Earth Mother, Caridwen.
The introduction makes mention of ancient folklore compilations I want to track down, but most importantly, it specifies where the author embellished and took liberties with the stories. I enjoyed her addition in “Taliesin and Avagddu”, which gave the disfigured Avagddu a happy ending, and found her addition to “The Twins of the Tylwyth Teg” perfectly in spirit with the original story.
Lastly, there were some gruesome bits in the first tale that I should warn you about. The story was told in such an authentic way that I could not tell if they were modern intrusions or surprising peeks into the non-idyllic past. Fortunately, they were brief.
I'll leave you with my favorite passage from “Taliesin and Avagddu”: “He sang of the heart that is a bag of blood yet gives the sweetest feelings”. Gruesomely worded, but true.
Although I enjoyed the tale of “The Twins of the Tylwyth Teg”—a Welsh story of the fairy kingdom under a lake where one twin pretends to be the other to gain a fairy prince as a husband while the other seeks love in the mortal realm—“Taliesin and Avagddu” stood out as the best. The story was more epic in nature than the others, with metaphysical aspects, philosophy, and lyrical magic to take the story to a higher, narrative level. Celtic tales often focus on the repercussions of rage, jealousy, and other negative passions. They were morality tales used to teach people right from wrong within the cloak of entertainment. This story is no different, but there are unexpected twists to the tale that delighted me, especially during the conflict between the child, Gwion, and the Earth Mother, Caridwen.
The introduction makes mention of ancient folklore compilations I want to track down, but most importantly, it specifies where the author embellished and took liberties with the stories. I enjoyed her addition in “Taliesin and Avagddu”, which gave the disfigured Avagddu a happy ending, and found her addition to “The Twins of the Tylwyth Teg” perfectly in spirit with the original story.
Lastly, there were some gruesome bits in the first tale that I should warn you about. The story was told in such an authentic way that I could not tell if they were modern intrusions or surprising peeks into the non-idyllic past. Fortunately, they were brief.
I'll leave you with my favorite passage from “Taliesin and Avagddu”: “He sang of the heart that is a bag of blood yet gives the sweetest feelings”. Gruesomely worded, but true.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews