Taliesin
tawl-YES-een
Also: Talyesin, Talyessin, Taliessin, Thelgesinus from Tâlyessin
tâl: brow
yessin: shining "As soon as Elphin saw the forehead, he said, 'behold the radiant forehead!' (i.e. tal iesin)."
Ystoria Taliesin, 16th C. The figure of Taliesin is a complex one, as it seems to encompass both a god and a sixth century bard, both of whom seem to have been combined into one figure. He is the ultimate bard in Welsh myth and legend, and his story of transformation is one of the great Celtic tales. The first written reference to Taliesin is found in Nennius' Historia Brittonum , from the ninth century: §62. ...At that time, Talhaiarn Tataguen was famed for poetry, and Neirin, and Taliesin and Bluchbard, and Cian, who is called Guenith Guaut, were all famous at the same time in British poetry. The great king, Mailcun , reigned among the Britons, i.e. in the district of Guenedota[.] Here we see reference to Taliesin, Aneirin, and Talhaiarn, placed in the time of Maelgwn Gwynedd, which is later corroborated in the Hanes Taliesin . As Maelgwn is said to have died in 547, this puts Taliesin squarely in the middle part of the sixth century. At this time, Urien of Rheged is also said to have lived (ca. 530-590), and thus the hypothesis that Taliesin served as bard to Urien (as is demonstraited by the poems in the | |
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