The Spoils of Annwfn

The Spoils of Annwfn or Preiddiau Annwfn is a short Welsh poem (c. 9th century) found in the manuscript known as the Book of Taliesin.

The Book of Taliesin was ascribed to the 6th century Welsh bard, Taliesin. Though some of the poems might seem to be genuinely belonging to the 6th century, others were probably composed centuries later. The Spoils seemed to be composed in the 10th century, some time before the composition of Culhwch and Olwen. The Book of Taliesin itself was dated around 1275.

The Spoils of Annwfn attracted a lot of interest from modern scholars, because it is believed that the magic cauldron was the predecessor to the Holy Grail.

Though the narrator never named himself in the poem, it's a good assumption that the bard was Taliesin. It also seemed that Taliesin also took part in Arthur's campaign to steal the otherworldly cauldron, and he was one of the seven survivors, like in the tale of Branwen (from the Mabinogion).

Note that the Welsh word caer means "fort" or "castle".

Preiddiau Annwfn

The poem began with telling us that Pwyll and Pryderi were holding Gwair (Gweir) in an otherworldly prison at Caer Siddi (Fort of Glass). Gwair was a youth who probably joined Arthur in the enterprise, but was captured and bound in blue chains. Gwair was also mentioned in the Welsh Triads as one of "Three Exalted Prisoners". The names of Pwyll and Pryderi were mentioned and they had foretold of this event. Taliesin (his name is not mentioned here) sang how only seven survived, and that no others returned from Caer Siddi.

Then in the next stanza, we find out that Arthur went to a fort with four revolving towers (Caer Prydryvan, or a four-sided fort, like a Roman camp) with three loads of warriors on his ship called Prydwen. (In Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia, Arthur's shield was also called Prydwen.) Arthur came to this Caer with the intention of stealing the cauldron.

The poet then described how the magic cauldron had pearls around the rim and that the breath of nine maidens heated the cauldron. However, the cauldron would not boil meat for a coward. Lleminog (Lleminawg) thrust his flashing sword into the cauldron. This cauldron was possibly owned by Arawn, the Lord of Annwfn, who appeared in Pwyll Lord of Dyved (Mabinogion). Except for the seven, none had returned from Caer Fedwydd (Caer Vedwyd, the "Fort of Celebration").

They also went to an island fort with a radiant door, where bright wine was served before them. None but seven returned from Caer Rigour (Fort of Frustration).

Arthur and his men were confronted by 6,000 warriors at the top of the walls of the Tower of Glass (Caer Siddi or Caer Wydyr?). They could not converse with their leader. None but seven survived Caer Goludd (Fort of Riches).

Then it get a little confusing here, when he (Taliesin) spoke of the failure of other bards to know when a wondrous child was born; those who (the bards) have not made the journey to heaven. The bards knew not why an ox had been collared with a collar made of seven score of links. What is made clear (well, it seemed clear to me) was that Arthur had failed in his mission to steal the cauldron and he only returned with six other men from the Caer of Manawyddan ("Fort of the Sea", because Manawyddan is the name of the Welsh sea god; or it could be spelt Caer Vandwy).

The poet (Taliesin) berated clerks or readers who knew not the birth of their king, nor what the beasts guarded. Taliesin mentioned that they were with Arthur, but it turned out disastrously, because only seven returned from the Caer Achren (or Caer Ochren, "Fort of the Woods").

In another different translation, there was a bit more in the next verse, but I found it was rather confusing. It doesn't seem to have anything to with the other part of the poem. It appeared that the bard didn't like monks, because he compared them with a pack of wolves. The bard seemed to be ridiculing the monks for their lack of understanding about nature, because he spoke of wind and sea, sparks of the fire, the night and the dawn.

So what is the poem all about?

Arthur and his band of warriors tried to steal a magic cauldron by raiding the otherworld, which in the Welsh literature was called Annwfn. They raided several otherworldly fortresses, but the expedition was a failure. Arthur lost all but six of his men. Taliesin seemed to be one of its members who narrated the event, though his name never actually appeared in the stanzas.

This cauldron was described as heated by the breath of nine maidens, and it would only heat meat for brave warriors. There was also a sword mentioned in this same stanza. The cauldron was held at Caer Prydryvan or Caer Vedwyd.

A magic cauldron played a large part in several Celtic myths, such as Cauldron of Resurrection in Branwen Daughter of Llyr (Mabinogion) where the British king Bran went to war against the king of Ireland. Or Ceridwen's Cauldron of Inspiration, which was the cause of Taliesin's strange birth in Hanes Taliesin.

Strangely enough, there is some similarity between the Spoils of Annwfn and the war in Branwen Daughter of Llyr. Like the Spoils, only seven would survive the war and Taliesin was one of the survivors. However, Bran replaced Arthur as the king in the ill-fated expedition.

There are also similarity between the Spoils of Annwfn with the Irish myth in the Book of Invasions. Tuatha De Danann, the fifth invader of Ireland possessed four great treasure, each one come from an otherworldly city.

There was the Lia Fail. It was sometimes called ("Stone of Destiny") from Falias. Lugh's sword from the city of Gorias. The Cauldron of Dagda from Murias. And the powerful spear from Finias. The Cauldron of Dagda had the power of regeneration and sating hunger. In many ways, the Cauldron of Dagda seemed to have the same healing power as that of the Holy Grail in Arthurian legends.

The cauldron in the Spoils of Annwfn perhaps had the same power as that of the Cauldron of Dagda.