Branwen and Bran

Branwen and Bran were siblings. Branwen was good, kind, and loving. Her brother, a giant and the King of Britain, gave her in marriage to the King of Ireland. Sadly, he was not kind and she was badly mistreated until she managed to train a starling to send a message to Bran, telling him of her plight. He came to her rescue, but he had also given the evil Irish king a magic cauldron that could resurrect dead soldiers as a wedding gift. Bad move.

Here we see the result. After all but seven of his soldiers were defeated by the zombie army, Bran escaped by having the last of his men cut his head off his dying body to carry home. Bran loved to tell stories, so at least he still had that. Things did not go so well for Branwen, who we see dead on the shores of Wales, where she succumbs to a broken heart on the way home after the slaying of her son. The white raven, her spirit animal, guards her body.

Bran and Branwen, welsh, celtic, british, mythology, goddess, cauldron

Bran and Branwen original painting, prints, and merch available in shop or through RedBubble or Fine Art America.

Judith Shaw examines this story from a feminist perspective. She writes, "Branwen (“white raven”), is most likely an ancient Goddess whose sacred spot is Cadair Bronwen (Branwen’s Seat), a mountain peak in the Berwyn range of Wales. Cadair Bronwen is topped with a cairn that resembles a nipple from afar. Branwen’s story falls within the category of the ‘Slandered Wife’. Parallels can be drawn with the story of Rhiannon from the first branch of the Mabinogion, in that both Goddesses are falsely accused and suffer persecution after their marriages to men from a world different than their own. These types of tales are numerous in a time when the old way of feminine autonomy and sovereignty was giving way to a male-dominated world."

Prior to her death by patriarchy, Judith Shaw writes, "As Mother of the king to come in the tradition of the Old Tribes of the British Isles, she is the embodiment of Sovereignty. She is the Center from which all life emerges. She rules over the Land, both its spirit and its manifestation." As I was typing this, I thought, perhaps I should paint her again.

Branwen, the white raven, with Branwen's Seat, Cadair Bronwen, in the distance. Original painting, prints, and merch available in shop or through RedBubble or Fine Art America.

Since I wrote this post, I've considered Branwen even more, and reinterpreted her in another long post.

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Asherah

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Branwen, Reinterpreted

I started painting Goddesses in December 2020 as part of a Goddess art challenge, one Goddess per day from a prompt list. Many were new to me, so I had to research. Branwen was Goddess #7. Her story was mostly about her brother, Bran, as was my Branwen painting . She ended up dead of a broken heart. Death by patriarchy. After I had read more feminist angles, I repainted Branwen, and referenced an article by Judith Shaw, reinterpreting her (included in link above). It was a better interpretation than my first, but, I just read another section of The Living Goddesses by Marija Gimbutas , and I need to reinterpret her again. Branwen with her white raven, in front of Cadair Bronwen. Original painting, prints, and merch available in shop or through RedBubble or Fine Art America . Branwen is associated with the white raven. She is a Welsh goddess of sovereignty, and in the landscape she is represented by Cadair Bronwen, a rounded mo...

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