Gofannon

[lorna]

Hello, I'm wondering whether any of you have had any experiences with Gofannon? His name has been coming up for me with increasing frequency - as the smith who sets Amaethon's plough in Culhwch and Olwen and in relation to Govan near Glasgow.

I'm asking because (perhaps because I'm a Smithers?) I've had a male smithing presence in the background for a while. Years ago when I was writing fantasy, my main character was a warrior and blacksmith who used fire magic.

When I was doing some work on a modern vision of the Oldest Animals for my next book and I started writing about the Blackbird of Cilgwri and his anvil, something came through that certainly wasn't 'just' a blackbird -

'The Blackbirdsmith

stands at his anvil at the end of the world. His forge is his yellow-rimmed burning eye devouring all matter it is the Ring of Fire, the eclipse of our hot burnt out sun, the penumbra of a nuclear blast. His black feathered cloak was sewn by the tailor who dressed the earth in cool rippling blues and earthy browns. Each feather was stitched to his skin. His sunlit beak is his hammer smashing down cruelly on the shells of time, ripping out each aeon, wiping off the slime, devouring the slippery squirming soft creatures. He takes a worm in his tongs, hammers out the folds, sends it flying on bat’s wings as his final messenger. As he works he sings and we all know that voice echoing from the edges so mellow and sweet as he forges our dreams and black horses slide out of the sea, allan o'r mor, to gallop through our nightmares. There are furies in the hedgerows of our suburbs, apocalypses swerving across our roads. There is a half-beat between death and waking when hearts stand still.'

I finally realised he was Gofannon when he re-appeared with that name whilst I was writing another poem as the forger of Caledfwlch, Arthur's sword, which has two serpents on it, maybe relating to my vision of the 'worm'? From Rhonabwy's Dream - 'the image of two golden serpents on the sword. When the sword was drawn from the sheath, it was like seeing two flames of fire from the serpents’ jaws. And it was not easy for anyone to look at that, because it was so terrifying.’


Thoughts? Any experiences of him you'd like to share?

[Heron]

That's a vivid piece of writing Lorna, and I can see the link with the recent blackbird poem on your blog for this as a current area of exploration (though the mythological emphasis there is different!)
You might want to consider inserting a definite article in that Welsh phrase to make it 'allan o'r mor' or mutating the 'm' to 'f' if you want to leave it as 'out of sea'.

I've no personal experience of Gofannon. The River Gavenny in South Wales is supposed to be named after him and the town of Abergavenny where the river flows into the Usk apparently has an earlier (Brythonic?) name of Gobannio. There's also a Llyn Gofannon in Gwynedd. The Irish smith god Goibniu, in addition to his smithing activities, is also said (I think in later tradition, which Megli can confirm?) to be the provider of a feast which ensures the immortality of the Túatha Dé.

[lorna]

@ Heron, thanks for the Gofannon place-names in Wales. If Gofannon is linked to Govan, then we have another set of Wales - Old North links!

As far as I know, the only other place in Brythonic lore, aside from Culhwch, where Gofannon is mentioned is the Fourth Branch, where he kills Dylan. Somewhat confusingly it says this is one of Three Unfortunate Blows, yet in the Triads, under Three Unfortunate Hatchet-Blows, Gofannon isn't included. Maybe looking Goibnu's stories would provide some clues?...

Thanks for the grammatical correction!