The Tale of Taliesin by E.M. Wilmot-Buxton
Caridwen, wife of Tegid Voel, seeks wisdom for her ugly youngest son by brewing a Cauldron of Knowledge whose three drops will make its drinker wise. She appoints Gwion Bach to stir it and the blind Morda to tend the fire, secretly intending to kill Gwion when his service is done. Near the end of the brewing, the three drops scald Gwion’s finger; he sucks it and instantly gains wisdom, learning of Caridwen’s plan. He flees, while the neglected cauldron bursts and its poisonous liquid kills Gwyddno’s horses. Caridwen pursues Gwion through a series of transformations: he becomes hare, fish, bird, and finally a grain of wheat, while she becomes greyhound, otter, hawk, and a black hen. She finds him among the grain, but when he changes into a beautiful child she cannot kill him. Instead, she puts him in a leathern bag and casts him into the sea below Gwyddno’s weir. Gwyddno’s unlucky son Elphin is granted the weir’s May-day catch, but finds only the bag. Inside is the shining-faced child, whom Elphin names Taliesin. Taliesin consoles him with song and declares that he is wise; he recounts his escape from Caridwen and arrival in the weir. At Gwyddno’s house, Taliesin proves himself a marvellous poet-minstrel. After Elphin offends King Maelgwn and is imprisoned behind thirteen locked doors, Taliesin goes to the King’s palace to rescue him. He enchants the royal bards so that they can only make the sound “Bler-m!” and then sings of himself as Elphin’s chief bard. The King challenges his own four and twenty bards to outsing him, but they remain helpless. Taliesin announces his purpose and, when the King refuses to free Elphin, raises a wind-storm that terrifies the court. The King brings out Elphin, and Taliesin’s charm releases his chains. Taliesin frees the King’s bards and tests them with riddling questions which none can answer, yet the King still withholds Elphin’s freedom. Taliesin then advises Elphin to wager that his horse can outrun the King’s. By means of burnt holly twigs, Elphin’s rider slows every royal horse and wins the race. At the spot where Elphin’s horse stumbles, Taliesin has men dig up a cauldron full of gold, rewarding Elphin for rescuing and rearing him.
By E.M. Wilmot-Buxton · First published 1908 · Genre: Welsh mythology, Folklore, Fantasy · 2,493 words
First lines
Tegid Voel and Caridwen his wife lived on an island in the midst of Lake Tegid. (Nowadays the lake is called Bala, and there is no island to be seen.) They had an elder son, a fair and comely youth, and a very beautiful daughter; but their youngest son was uglier than anyone in the whole world. This troubled his mother Caridwen at first; but she said to herself: "If he cannot be handsome, he shall, at anyrate, be very learned. " Now, Caridwen was a witch, so she set to work to boil a Cauldron of Knowledge, of which the boiling must not cease for a year and a day. At the end of that time it would yield three drops of precious liquid, which would make whoever drank it wise for the rest of his life. She set Gwion Bach, who was passing by, to stir the cauldron, and a blind man named Morda to keep up the fire underneath; but, fearing that Gwion Bach had seen what she put into the cauldron, and would tell her secrets to others, she made up her mind to kill him directly he had done his work for her.
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Genres
- Welsh mythology — The tale draws on Welsh legendary tradition, featuring Ceridwen, the cauldron of inspiration, Taliesin, King Maelgwn, magical prophecy, and supernatural lore associated with medieval Wales.
- Folklore — It uses traditional oral-storytelling motifs: a magical cauldron, a persecuted child, animal transformations, charms, riddles, enchanted contests, and extraordinary rewards.
- Fantasy — Magic drives the plot through shape-shifting, spells, prophetic knowledge, enchanted winds, magical speech, and supernatural interference in human affairs.
- Legend — The narrative presents the wondrous origins and deeds of Taliesin, a celebrated Welsh bard, blending an ostensibly historical cultural figure with miraculous events.
Tags
Welsh mythology · Celtic folklore · medieval Welsh romance · legendary Wales · Lake Bala · Aberystwyth · mythic past · origin legend · shape-shifting · witchcraft · magic cauldron · wisdom and knowledge
What this Textopian page supports
The Tale of Taliesin is listed on Textopian as a short story by E.M. Wilmot-Buxton, dated 1908 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Short story
- Author: E.M. Wilmot-Buxton
- Date: 1908 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Welsh mythology, Folklore, Fantasy, Legend, Fairy tale
- Length: 2,493 words
- Structure: 1 section, 35 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
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- Work identity for The Tale of Taliesin by E.M. Wilmot-Buxton
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- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
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