the folk of the Mabinogion and other tales.  These are associated with Arthur in Kulhwych, and the Don group mingles with that of Taliesin in the Taliesin poems.[336] Hence Welsh literature, as far as concerns the old religion, may be regarded as including both local Goidelic and Brythonic divinities, of whom the more purely Brythonic are Arthur, Gwynn, Taliesin, etc.[337] They are regarded as kings and queens, or as fairies, or they have magical powers.  They are mortal and die, and the place of their burial is pointed out, or existing tumuli are associated with them, All this is parallel to the history of the Tuatha De Danann, and shows how the same process of degradation had been at work in Wales as in Ireland.

The story of the Llyr group is told in the Mabinogion of Branwen and of Manawyddan.  They are associated with the Pwyll group, and apparently opposed to that of Don.  Branwen is married to Matholwych, king of Ireland, but is ill-treated by him on account of the insults of the mischievous Evnissyen, in spite of the fact that Bran had atoned for the insult by many gifts, including that of a cauldron of regeneration.  Now he crosses with an army to Ireland, where Evnissyen throws Branwen’s child, to whom the kingdom is given, on the fire.  A fight ensues; the dead Irish warriors are resuscitated in the cauldron, but Evnissyen, at the cost of his life, destroys it.  Bran is slain, and by his directions his head is cut off and carried first to Harlech, then to Gwales, where it will entertain its bearers for eighty years.  At the end of that time it is to be taken to London and buried.  Branwen, departing with the bearers, dies of a broken heart at Anglesey, and meanwhile Caswallyn, son of Beli, seizes the kingdom.[338] Two of the bearers of the head are Manawyddan and Pryderi, whose fortunes we follow in the Mabinogi of the former.  Pryderi gives his mother Rhiannon to Manawyddan as his wife, along with some land which by magic art is made barren.  After following different crafts, they are led by a boar to a strange castle, where Rhiannon and Pryderi disappear along with the building.  Manawyddan, with Pryderi’s wife Kieva, set out as shoemakers, but are forced to abandon this craft on account of the envy of the craftsmen.  Finally, we learn how Manawyddan overcame the enchanter Llwyt, who, because of an insult offered by Pryderi’s father to his friend Gwawl, had made Rhiannon and Pryderi disappear.  They are now restored, and Llwyt seeks no further revenge.

The story of Branwen is similar to a tale of which there are variants in Teutonic and Scandinavian sagas, but the resemblance is closer to the latter.[339] Possibly a similar story with their respective divinities or heroes for its characters existed among Celts, Teutons, and Norsemen, but more likely it was borrowed from Norsemen who occupied both sides of the Irish Sea in the ninth and tenth century, and then naturalised