Caad Goddeu

The first existence of time, life/creation, words came “not from a father or a mother” (Ford, p.185), but from the world: unknown, ancient, or new, flowers, soil, or fruit, Math, Gwydion, or God- no matter one’s personal beliefs, each of these three concepts, particularly that of language, came to being, came to vitality and mobility when they first existed, even when there was no human to experience them, to name them the way they are known today. This is further attested by the changing focus on objects to human-like features in the poem (Ford, p.184-186). Each of these fit into what Ford calls the persona of the “shapeshifting archetypal poet” from “Cad Goddeu”; Like the prophecies and poems of “Gwion Bach and Taliesin”, “Cad Goddeu” balances between classical references, biblical references, and what appears to be references to tales we no longer have access to. At the same time, it appears to be making comments in regards to other Welsh tales, especially the fourth branch of the Mabinogi, “Math son of Mathonwy”. “Cad Goddeu” is written stylistically similar to the other Welsh stories in Ford’s book. There is an
4, over all other tales, makes the strongest appearance. The text pulls in Math and Gwydion in their role of magicians and even makes a mention of Dylan, who barely shows up in the tale. “CD” may refer to Lleu in the narrator’s existence in an eagle and simultaneously, his traitorous wife Bloddued in his creation from “flowers of the hill” and “blooms from the woods” (Ford, p.185). Lleu’s tale is further mentioned in the singular attack by Goronwy, sometimes, like in “Thematic Structure in the Four Branches of the Mabinogi” translated to be Gronw (Gantz, p.266), killer of Lleu. If the audience were to accept the narrator’s experiences at face value, his life through Mab 4 follows the magic of creation and language from the transformation of one character to another and the meeting of the magicians, whose strongest skills are in their