The Mabinogion · 190 of 191 · tr. Lady Charlotte Guest
Tale TALIESIN-l
And then said Taliesin, “Elphin, behold a payment and reward unto thee, for having taken me out of the weir, and for having reared me from that time until now.” And on this spot stands a pool of water, which is to this time called Pwllbair.
After all this, the king caused Taliesin to be brought before him, and he asked him to recite concerning the creation of man from the beginning; and thereupon he made the poem which is now called “One of the Four Pillars of Song.” “The Almighty made, Down the Hebron vale, With his plastic hands, Adam’s fair form: And five hundred years, Void of any help, There he remained and lay Without a soul.
He again did form, In calm paradise, From a left-side rib, Bliss-throbbing Eve.
Seven hours they were The orchard keeping, Till Satan brought strife, With wiles from hell.
Thence were they driven, Cold and shivering, To gain their living, Into this world.
To bring forth with pain Their sons and daughters, To have possession Of Asia’s land.
Twice five, ten and eight, She was self-bearing, The mixed burden Of man-woman.
And once, not hidden, She brought forth Abel, And Cain the forlorn, The homicide.
To him and his mate Was given a spade, To break up the soil, Thus to get bread.
The wheat pure and white, Summer tilth to sow, Every man to feed, Till great yule feast.
An angelic hand From the high Father, Brought seed for growing That Eve might sow; But she then did hide Of the gift a tenth, And all did not sow Of what was dug.
Black rye then was found, And not pure wheat grain, To show the mischief Thus of thieving.
For this thievish act, It is requisite, That all men should pay Tithe unto God.
Of the ruddy wine, Planted on sunny days, And on new-moon nights; And the white wine.
The wheat rich in grain And red flowing wine Christ’s pure body make, Son of Alpha.
The wafer is flesh, The wine is spilt blood, The Trinity’s words Sanctify them.
The concealed books From Emmanuel’s hand Were brought by Raphael As Adam’s gift, When in his old age, To his chin immersed In Jordan’s water, Keeping a fast, Moses did obtain In Jordan’s water, The aid of the three Most special rods.
Solomon did obtain In Babel’s tower, All the sciences In Asia land.
So did I obtain, In my bardic books, All the sciences Of Europe and Africa.
Their course, their bearing, Their permitted way, And their fate I know, Unto the end.
Oh!
what misery, Through extreme of woe, Prophecy will show On Troia’s race!
A coiling serpent Proud and merciless, On her golden wings, From Germany.
She will overrun England and Scotland, From Lychlyn sea-shore To the Severn.
Then will the Brython Be as prisoners, By strangers swayed, From Saxony.
Their Lord they will praise, Their speech they will keep, Their land they will lose, Except wild Walia.
Till some change shall come, After long penance, When equally rife The two crimes come.
Britons then shall have Their land and their crown, And the stranger swarm Shall disappear.
All the angel’s words, As to peace and war, Will be fulfilled To Britain’s race.” He further told the king various prophecies of things that should be in the world, in songs, as follows.
* * * * * FOOTNOTES It is also stated, that there is in the Hengwrt Library, a MS.
Attributing human characteristics, emotions, or form to the divine; embodied divine imagery.
The text explicitly attributes human physical characteristics to the divine, describing God creating with 'plastic hands'. [quarantine-w2: anthropomorphism x celtic — see rellm data/quarantine/dossiers.jsonl]
Narratives or doctrines of cosmic origin — how heaven, earth, and the primordial deities first came into being. The Kojiki's deities born alone on the Plain of High Heaven, Voluspo's Ginnungagap, Genesis's tohu wa-bohu, the Timaeus's Demiurge fashioning the Receptacle, the Hesiodic Theogony, the Kalevala's egg-cosmogony, Egyptian Nun-and-Atum. Distinct from emanation_hierarchy (structural-ontological cascade), letters_of_creation (mechanism of creation), and apocatastasis/frashokereti (end-state restoration); cosmogony is temporally-narrative beginning.
The passage centrally features a narrative of cosmic and human origin, detailing the creation of Adam and Eve by the Almighty.
A binding agreement or relationship between the divine and a people or individual, establishing mutual obligations.
The text establishes a requisite obligation for all men to pay tithe unto God following Eve's transgression. [quarantine-w3: covenant x celtic — see rellm data/quarantine/dossiers.jsonl]
Pronoia — the doctrine that the divine actively orders the unfolding of the cosmos and human affairs toward intelligible ends, against pure chance or blind necessity.
The passage asserts that angelic words and prophecies regarding history and nations will be fulfilled by divine order. [quarantine-w1: divine_providence x celtic — see rellm data/quarantine/dossiers.jsonl]
Ascetic disciplines that prepare the body and mind for spiritual receptivity or purification.
The passage mentions Moses obtaining aid in Jordan's water while 'Keeping a fast'. [quarantine-w4: fasting_and_prayer x celtic — see rellm data/quarantine/dossiers.jsonl]
Esoteric teachings reserved for those ready to receive them; outer meaning conceals an inner liberating truth.
The passage references 'concealed books' brought by Raphael as a gift to Adam, implying esoteric knowledge. [quarantine-w2: hidden_sayings x celtic — see rellm data/quarantine/dossiers.jsonl]
The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality.
The Almighty is depicted as an active agent who creates, sanctifies, and fulfills prophecies through the Trinity. [quarantine-batch-1: living_god x celtic — see rellm data/quarantine/dossiers.jsonl]
Divine names or formulas that carry ontological power, used in prayer, liturgy, or magical practice.
Divine and angelic names such as Emmanuel, Raphael, and Alpha are invoked with significance. [quarantine-w3: sacred_names x celtic — see rellm data/quarantine/dossiers.jsonl]
The felt condition of exile from one's divine origin — Rumi's reed flute torn from its bed, Plotinus's 'we have forgotten,' the Gnostic forgetfulness; the affective wound that complements return_to_source and gives the return its motive.
The narrative describes Adam and Eve being driven from paradise into the world, representing an exile from their divine origin. [quarantine-w4: separation_from_source x celtic — see rellm data/quarantine/dossiers.jsonl]
The doctrine and practice that spoken or sung word carries causal-magical force — that uttering names, formulas, songs, or incantations alters reality directly rather than merely communicating about it. Vainamoinen's runo-songs that move mountains and command iron, Norse galdr, Vedic mantra, Shinto kotodama, the magician's barbarous names in the Greek Magical Papyri, Iamblichean arcane signatures and inexplicable symbols, biblical creation-by-word. Distinct from sacred_names (the ontological power of names themselves) and prayer (address to the divine); word_power_incantation is the magical-causal efficacy of the spoken word as such.
The text states that the Trinity's words sanctify the wafer and wine, attributing ontological power to divine speech.