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Post by llunamaton on Aug 4, 2009 8:29:43 GMT -1
One of my perennial musings is about Aber Henvelen.
As far as I know there are two references to it:
In the tale of Branwen, at the entertaining of the head of Bran in Gwales, someone opens the door which "looks towards Aber Henvelen, and towards Cornwall" and so ends the magical feast.
There is another reference in one of Taliesin’s poems, Song to the Sons of Llyr: "A battle at the feast over joyless beverage, A battle against the sons of Llyr in Ebyr Henvelen."
My uninformed speculations are as follows -
Going by geography, if Gwales were Grassholm island off St Davids, then looking from there towards Cornwall would be to look across the Bristol Channel. Going by the name, I’d expect Aber Henvelen to be on a coast, at the mouth of a river called Henvelen. Is it possible that it refers to somewhere on the north coast of Cornwall? Or maybe it just means the Bristol Channel?
I was also wondering if the name Henvelen might derive from hen melen (old yellow)... in which case maybe we'd be looking for a 'yellow' river?
Any thoughts gratefully received!
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Post by megli on Aug 4, 2009 8:43:01 GMT -1
There is another reference in one of Taliesin’s poems, Song to the Sons of Llyr: "A battle at the feast over joyless beverage, A battle against the sons of Llyr in Ebyr Henvelen." Its a poem called 'I petition God' after the first phrase, 'Golychaf-i Gulwyd'. The relevant quotation is: I sang in a feast over sad drink I sang before Llyr's sons in Ebyr Henfelen.It--or they, if we take 'ebyr' as a plural and not as an old oblique case--is normally taken to be the Bristol channel, or 'that part between Penfro and Cornwall', as Haycock says. The poet Cynddelw refers to 'Llyr of Henfelen', suggesting that this area was especially associated with the family of Llyr. The 'melen' (fem.) perhaps refers to the sands or the colour of the silty water.
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Post by llunamaton on Aug 5, 2009 8:20:16 GMT -1
Thanks megli!
This is the first time I've managed to get any information on it.
And also thanks for the mention of Haycock's book which I have now ordered. For most of Taliesin's poems the only translations I've had access to are quite old and unreliable, so I'm looking forward to reading it.
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