Archives   In Search of the Green Isles of the Flood revised: November 18, 2004 Introduction Can the Welsh Triads be used to discover the truth behind the lost lands of the British Isles? Mythology is admittedly an imperfect window to the past as ancient stories of past events become embellished or destroyed at the whim of the chroniclers; subject to how a culture views itself and its origins. The Trioedd Ynys Prydein or as they are called in the English, The Triads of the Island of Prydein are no exception. In order to understand the background it was necessary to review the works of the many researchers who have drawn wildly differing theories from the source material. It is best not to expect any new or startling conclusions, at a minimum I hope to present a synthesis and correct some of the more glaring errors that have crept into the narrative. (And have probably introduced a few errors of my own, this is truly speculative. In order to gain as much insight as possible to the Welsh Triads, The Irish narrative known as the Book of Invasions and the Historia Brittonum were used to crosscheck references taken into account. Only the Triads that deal directly or indirectly with the subject of lost lands will be addressed. Who are the Cymri? "The inland part of Britain is inhabited by tribes declared in their own tradition to be indigenous to the island, the maritime part by tribes that migrated at an earlier time from Belgium to seek booty by invasion. ..." (Caesar De Bello Gallico v.12) The winners write history. Much as the American Lakhota resent being called the Sioux (from the French mistranslation of an Ojibwa word meaning "treacherous snake.") surely the Welsh dislike being called the Welsh. The name comes from the Anglo-Saxon invaders of the 5th and 6th century AD who called them Wealhas, which means foreigners, by inference a people of either Latin or Celtic extract, and not of Germanic blood. The tribes mentioned by Caesar and later Cornelius Tacitus, who had previously inhabited the island had been pushed into the rugged hilly terrain of the west by the Anglo-Saxons, United in common cause as a federation against the invaders they became the Cymri. The exact meaning of the word has been debated, but is thought to mean fellow countrymen or compatriots. They were an agglomeration of peoples; the Silures, the short, dark Iberian stock whose roots could go back as far as the stone-age Asturians of Spain and whose genetic link to that region has been proved through the DNA testing of Daniel Bradley. The Gaelic Celts of the first Celtic migration, whose racial identity is akin to the Irish, Highland Scots and the inhabitants of Manx. The Brythonic Celts who were known to Caesar in Gaul as the Veneti (The Atlantic Veneti from the Gallic vindu, the Welsh gwyn - ie. Gwynned. The White Land ) and Belgae. The History of the Welsh Triads The Triads are composed in groupings of three, a mnemonic aid for the bards and poets of the Cymri working in the oral tradition. They came together as a cohesive whole during the 6th century, when the Cymri formed their federation. How many Triads there were originally is unknown, but 86 of them were later collected and saved by monastic scribes in the 13th century in four different manuscripts. The Peniarth 16, the Peniarth 45, the White Book of Rhydderch and the Red Book of Hergest, which share a common version clearly different from the version in the Peniarth manuscripts. The manuscripts were forgotten and ignored, ignored by the English who relied instead on the Historia Brittonum as their ancient history. Rachel Bromwich is most responsible in the modern era for reviving interest in the ancient tales of the Cymri in the popular retelling known as The Mabinogion. Contrary to later belief, the Celtic nations were literate. From the accounts of Pliny and Aethicus we know that Ireland for example possessed numerous libraries in the 2nd century. These pagan documents were deliberately destroyed, St. Patrick during the conversion of Ireland three hundred years later, was responsible for the burning of over 400 books at Tara. On one hand we owe a debt to those medieval scriveners, who fascinated by the old tales put them to paper before the oral tradition was lost (and possibly at the risk of their own life.) On the other hand, Christian zeal drastically altered or changed the content to reflect the church orthodoxy of the time. In no other way could the Triads survive. The Relevant Triads The Triads themselves are not designed to be chronologically correct. It appears that events that could be thousands of years apart in time are lumped together with events that happened during the time of their final composition. This makes the task of deciperhing the meaning all the more challenging. For easier interpretation, I have also broken each of the Triads so the three separate statements stand on their own. Not all of the chosen Triads deal directly with the Green Islands of the Flood but do provide a good background for the narrative. ___________________________ Triad 1: There were Three Names Given to the Isle of Prydein. Before it was inhabited it was called the sea-girt green land. Later it was called the Honey Island. The people formed a tribe called the Cymri on the Isle of Prydein after Prydein ap Aedd the Great. And no one has any right to it but the tribe of the Cymri for they first took possession, and before this time there were no persons living on it; but it was full of bears, wolves, crocodiles and bison. Commentary: Does the "... the sea-girt green land." refer to a time barely remembered when the first groups of humans of the The Old Stone Age came up the coastland from the Iberian peninsula? If the new migration model proposed by Tom Koppel for the Americas is valid, then it is equally valid that the first pioneers of Europe in the wake of the glacial retreat would have been sea-farers, living in temporary encampments and taking advantage of the maritime ecosystem. It is a stretch, but evidence for such a migration is seen during the later Mesolithic period. Primeval Wales is described vividly by this writer: "Dark forests of spruce and pine frowned on the mountains, save where the peaks were so elevated that they wore all winter long a mantle of snow. Savage and desolate heaths were spread out here, undulating and richly-clothed prairies there. The beaver constructed his dams across the streams; the tail-less hare of Siberia sported over the plains; the Lithuanian bison and the forest ox . . . fed in countless herds. Deer of incredible stretch of antlers were in the wastes; the reindeer, the Artic elephant . . . the Siberian rhinoceros . . . roamed through the country in the winter time. Horses like those of the Tartarian steppes, foxes and wolves, wild boars and bears, shared with them the possession of the soil. With every advancing summer came droves of migratory animals from the South, amongst which the lion, a kind of leopard now unknown, and hyænas . . . bore the sway." An interpretative (and a very imaginative ) map of the coastline of Ireland and Britain around 13,000 BC to possibly 7190 BC based on the research of K. Lambeck, P. Johnston, C. Smither, K. Fleming and Y. Yokoyama from this webpage.  The map does indicate the dynamic effects of the sea-level changes and erosion that have taken place since the end of the last Ice Age.This theory could also explain why Ireland claims a longer history of inhabitation (as told in the Invasions of Ireland) than the British Isle. These maritime people would have continued along the coast instead of penetrating the interior, an unneccessary risk. What started with this initial migration held. Archaeology shows us that Ireland was settled from the southwest, from Spain - and then into Britain as the Isles took shape. Britain on the other hand would have to deal with the incursions of tribes from the north of Europe. ____________________________ Triad 2 There were Three Primary Divisions of the Isle of Prydein: Cymru, Lloegria or Lloeygr Alban. Commentary: Cymru is the Welsh name of the land now known as Wales (also Gwalia), but as described in the 2nd Triad would have also encompassed the land of Kernow, present day Cornwall. Lloegria or Lloeygr: present day England. Alban: present day Scotland. Also called Caledonia. Worth noting that until the eleventh century AD the name Scotia was applied to Ireland. ____________________________ Triad 4 There are Three Pillars of the Nation of the Isle of Prydein. The first was HU the Mighty, who brought the nation of the Cymri first to the Isle of Prydein; and they came from the Summer Country, which is also called Defrobani, the Summerland "or Atlantis"; and they came over the hazy sea to the Isle of Prydein where they settled. The second was Prydein, who first organized a social state of sovereignty in the land of Prydein; for before that time there was no justice but what was done by favour; nor any law, except that of superior force. The third was Dyvnwal Moelmud. Commentary: When we speak of the whims of chroniclers, here is the most blatant - and also the most recent insertion - very popular on Internet sites concerning Druidism. The phrase "or Atlantis" does not exist in the written chronicles. Other sources describe how the Cymri dwelt in the Summer Country. Among their number was Hu Gadarn, Hu the Mighty. Hu does not appear to be a mortal hero. What else is known of him claims that he led the Cymri (possibly the Morauian tribe that came across the North Sea from South-east Europe.) The contintental Celts knew him as Hu'Hesu. The dying God. He is equated with either Roman deities, Mars or Mercury. Human sacrifices to Hu'Hesu were hanged and then impaled with a sword. For unknown reasons he is depicted as a woodcutter. Hu was responsible for the invention of the plow, and taught the Cymri the arts of cultivation. Under his guidance they were divided into communities and given laws. He then led them to the Honey Island by crossing the Mor Tawch in coracles. He then established religious rites and the bards who through songs preserved the history until writing was discovered. According to Brian Branston and other authorities, the Celts incorporated elements of the older religions into their beliefs. Hu'Hesu appears to be a deity of the original inhabitants. In Ireland the wooden plow appears around 3000 BC, a date associated with the pre-Celtic Nemedians of mythology. Prydein appears to be a mortal personage and of the pre-Celtic Nemedians. The Irish chronicles describe how "Fergus Red-Side and his son, Britain Mael of whom are all the Britons in the world, they took Moin Conain and filled with their progeny the great island, Britannia Insula." ____________________________ Triad 5 There were three social tribes on the Isle of Prydein. The first was the tribe of Cymri, who came to the Isle of Prydein with HU the Mighty, because he would not possess a country and lands by fighting and pursuit, but by justice and tranquility. The second was a tribe of Lloegrians, who came from Gascony, and they were descended from the tribe of the Cymri. The third were the Brythons, who came from Armorica, and who were descended from the tribe of the Cymri. These were called the three peaceful tribes because they came by mutual consent and tranquility; and these tribes were descended from the primitive tribe of the Cymri, and all three tribes had the same speech. ____________________________ Triad 6 There were three refuge seeking tribes that came to the Island of Prydein and they came under the peace and permission of the tribe of the Cymri, without arms and without opposition. The first was a tribe of Caledonians in the north. The second was the Gwyddelian Race, which are now in Alban (Scotland). The third were the people of Galedin, who came in naked vessels to the Island of Wight, when their country was drowned, where they had land granted them by the tribe of Cymri. Commentary: The "people of Galedin" were probably refugees from the lowland regions of Holland when it suffered one of its usual inundations. The "naked vessels" would refer to the type of boat used in the migration, the Dover boat. ___________________________ Triad 7 There were three invading tribes that came to the Island of Prydein and who never departed from it. The first were the Coranians or Coranied, who came from the country of Pwyl. The Gwyddelian Ffichti (Irish Picts?, who came into Alban over the sea of Llychlyn (Denmark) - North Sea. The third were the Saxons. The Coranians were settled about the River Humber, and the shore of the German Ocean. The Irish Picts are in Alban about the shore of the Sea of Denmark. The Coranians and the Saxons united, and by violence and conquest brought the Loegrians into confederacy with them; and subsequently took the crown of the monarchy from the tribe of the Cymri. There remained none of the Loegrians that did not become Saxons, except those that are found in Cornwall, and the Commot of Carnoban in Deria and Bernicia in this period. In this manner the benevolent tribe of the Cymri, who preserved both their country and their language, lost the sovereignty of the Island of Prydein on account of the treachery of the refuge-seeking tribes, and the pillage of the three invading tribes. Commentary: "The Triads," according to Skene "appear distinctly to have been written previous to the Scottish conquest in the ninth century, and they mention among the three usurping tribes of Britain the ‘Cwy’ddyl Ffichti,’ and add immediately afterwards, ‘and these Gwyddyl Ffichti are in Alban, along the shore of the sea of Llychlyn.’ In another place, among the treacherous tribes of Britain, the same Triads mention the ‘Gwyddyl coch o’r Werddon a ddaethant in Alban,’ that is ‘the Red Gwyddyl from Ireland, who came into Alban,’ plainly alluding to the Dalriads, who were an Irish colony, and who have been acknowledged by all to have been a Gaelic race. It will be observed from these passages that the Welsh Triads, certainly the oldest and most unexceptionable authority on the subject, apply the same term of Gwyddyl to the Picts and to the Dalriads, and consequently they must have been of the same race, and the Picts a Gaelic people. Farther, the Welsh word ‘Gwyddyl,’ by which they distinguish that race, has been declared by all the best authorities to be exactly synonymous with the word Gael, the name by which the Highlanders have at all times been distinguished, and the Welsh words ‘Gwyddyl Ffichti’ cannot be interpreted to mean any thing else than ‘The Gaelic Picts,’ or ‘ Pictish Gae." The Coranians are something of a mystery, based on their settlement in the Humber they may have come across the North Sea from Denmark. They had a reputation as sorcerers which makes them analogous to the mythical Tuatha de Danaan of Ireland, but there are no correlating dates to establish this possibility. Additional Commentary: "In Triad 7, you comment that the Coranians are a mysterious group. I may be able to clarify that issue. There was a Baltic langage known as Curonian, which was spoken between Latvia and Poland/Prussia. These people were a sea-going people. Their name survives today in the Curonian Spit, and the Curonian Lagoon of western Lithuania. But during the classical era they were more extensive, and consequently the whole North Sea was called the Cronian Sea in their honor. "Some of their earlier region was called Pomorania (in coastal Poland). And that seems to be where the Triads place them. Triad 7 says they invaded Britain from Pwyl (=Poland?). "Here is a link which discusses the Curonian Spit, the Curonian Lagoon, and the boating people of that region. It also mentions that the Curonian peoples were at their peak during the 10th and 11th centuries AD, which is what would be expected if some of them invaded Britain at roughly that time. " - Atalante, Atlantis Rising -  10-03-2004 http://www.nerija.lt/en/zmogus/paveldo.php ___________________________ Triad 10 There were three disappearances by loss in the Isle of Prydein. The first were Gavran and his men, who went in search of the Green Islands of the Floods, and were never heard of again. The second were Merddin, the bard of Emrys, and his nine attendant bards, who went to sea in a house of glass, and the place where they went is unknown. The third was Madog, ap Owain, king of North Wales, who went to sea with 300 persons in 10 ships, but the place to which they went is unknown. Commentary: Even to the ancient Britons, the question of what and where the Green Islands of the Flood, called in the Welsh Gwerddonau Llion, had gone was an issue. "In the fifth century a voyage was made, by the British king Gavran, in search of these enchanted islands; with his family he sailed away into the unknown waters, and was never heard of more. This voyage Is commemorated in the triads as one of the Three Losses by Disappearance, the two others being Merlin's and Madog's. Merlin sailed away in a ship of glass ; Madog sailed in search of America and neither returned, but both disappeared for ever. In Pembrokeshire and southern Carmarthenshire are to be found traces of this belief. There are sailors on that romantic coast who still talk of the green meadows of enchantment lying in the Irish channel to the west of Pembrokeshire." An interesting quotation from this account: "That isolated cape which forms the county of Pembroke was looked upon as a land of mystery by the rest of Wales long after it had been settled by the Flemings in 1113. A secret veil was supposed to cover this sea-girt promontory; the inhabitants talked in an unintelligible jargon that was neither English, nor French, nor Welsh; and out of its misty darkness came fables of wondrous sort, and accounts of miracles marvellous beyond belief. Mythology and Christianity spoke together from this strange country, and one could not tell at which to be most amazed, the pagan or the priest." - Wirt Sikes ___________________________ Triad 13 There were three awful events in the Island of Prydein. The first was a bursting of the lake of floods, and the rushing of an inundation over all the lands, until all persons were destroyed, except Dwyvan and Dwyvach, who escaped in an open vessel; and from them the Island of Prydein was peopled. The second was a trembling of the fiery torrent, until the earth was rent to the abyss, and the greatest part of all life was destroyed. The third was the hot summer, when the trees and plants took fire by the burning heat of the sun, and many people and animals, various kinds of birds, vermin, trees and plants, were entirely destroyed. Commentary: Now we come to the main course! The Triads are very specific about the "bursting of the lake of floods." This is not an addition put in by the Christian monks in later times, though they must have viewed it as proof of the Biblical Flood. If the map is correct, Llyn Llion - the Lake of Floods would have been a large freshwater lake between present day Ireland and the British Isle. The melting of the glacial ice cap that blocked the Northern Channel between Ireland and Scotland could have caused "the rushing of an inundation over all the lands." Most importantly: the source of this myth, the story of Dwyvan and Dwyvach is of Silurean origin. These are the people mentioned whose ancestry is the oldest and whose racial memory would stretch back to such an occurrence, long before the Celtic presence. The Irish have a memory of this time in the story of Cessair. A closer look at the Lebor Gabála Érenn indicates that Cessair escaped fifty women and three men to the Western shore of Ireland, two other ships were lost. If the Christian bias is removed, it is revealed that Cessair did survive, wandering to Cul Cessrach in Connachta where she died. Cessair is also known as Banbha, a mother-goddess of the Fomorians who mysteriously never took part in the Invasions of Ireland - they were always there. The best estimate given to when such an inundation took place have a wide range. Anywhere from 10,000 BC to 5700 BC. (Can't help but point out that "Radiocarbon dating of sediments taken from the coastline of eastern Scotland put the date of the Storegga Slide at about 5,800 BC." Was this another consequence of that event? "The trembling of the fiery torrent..." - there are no volcanoes in Ireland or Britain. The best guess could be a catastrophic volcano such as one of the frequent eruptions of Hekla in Iceland - but the Triad is specific about awful events on the Island of Prydein, not somewhere else... "...the hot summer..." At St Peter's Church in South Wales (again the Silurean homeland) it has been reported that at an exccavation at the church in 1990 AD, human bones had been discovered that had melted onto the stones. Quite a grim thought. Some believe the hot summer happened in conjunction with the Yellow Plague of Rhos, one of the direful plagues that struck Wales 552-563 AD - this would then indicate a linkage with the supervolcano Kapi Krakatau that erupted in the Sunda Straits of Sumatra. That theory does not adequately explain how Wales could have been so afflicted. There's nothing that ties the three awful events together so we do not know if they were all part of the same catastrophe, or occurred separately. Without drawing any conclusions here are more details not covered in the Triad: Addanc was a primordial creature, often characterized as a dragon, who created and rode (surfed) the crest of the great flood near his home on Llyn Llion, the Lake of Waves. The flood overflowed and and submerged all Prydein killing all the people except for Dwyvan, and his wife Dwyvach, who escaped the flood in an open boat. As the sea levels did not rise instantly in the wake of the ice barrier, the Celtic Sea between the now separate Ireland and British Isle would have been an unnavigable plain of mud, a phrase mentioned by Plato in Timaeus. Could the tale have been told to the Egyptians by the sea-faring Phoenicians who heard it from the Silureans? Tenuous, but a possibility worth considering. ___________________________ Triad 37 The three disgraceful drunkards on the Island of Prydein: First, Ceraint, the drunken king of Siluria, who in drunkenness burned all the corn far and near over all the country, so that a famine for bread arose. Second, Vortigern, who in his drink gave the Island of Thanet to Horsa that he might commit adultery with Rowena his daughter, and who also gave a claim to the son that he had by her to the crown of Lloegria; and added to these treachery and plotting against the Cymri. Third, the drunken Seithynin, ap Seithyn Saida, king of Dimetia, who in his drunkenness left the sea over the hundred of Gwaelod so that all the houses and land which were there, were lost; where before that event 60 fortified towns were reckoned there, superior to all the towns and fortifications in Cymru, with the exception of Caerllion upon Usk. The hundred of Gwaelod was a dominion of Gwydnow Garanihir, king of Cardigan. This event happened in the time of Ambrosius. Commentary: The sinking of the Lowland Hundred refers to a later, more localized inundation that occurred in the 5th century AD. I have indicated the location of Caer Wyddno on the map. As late as 1770 AD the ruins were supposedly still visible. To my knowledge there have been no attempts at marine archaeology to confirm these reports. The existence of the Sarn Badig, the sea wall indicates a higher level of hydraulic civilization in the Cymric area than has been acknowledged. The full tale is told here. ___________________________ Triad 67 The three primary Islands attached to the Isle of Prydein: Orkney Man Wight At a later period the sea broke through the land, and Anglesea became separate from Wales; and in a like manner the Orkney Isle was broken, and many Islands were formed in consequence, and other parts of Wales and Prydein became Islands. Commentary: Submerged tree stumps around the Orkneys indicate this is true. ___________________________ Triad 79 There were three kingdoms destroyed by the sea: The kingdom of Teithi Hen, ap Gwynnan, King of Kaerrihog. That kingdom was called at the time, the Realm of Teithi Hen; it was between St. David's and Ireland. No one escaped from it, neither men nor animals, except Teithi Hen alone with his horse; afterwards for all the days of his life he was weak with fear. The second kingdom was that of Helig ap Glannog, it was between Cardigan and Bardsey, and as far as St. Davids. That land was very good, fertile and level, and it was called Maes Maichgen; it lay from the mouth of the Ystwyth to Llyn, and up to Aberdovey. The sea destroyed the third kingdom: the kingdom of Rhedfoe ap Rheged. Commentary: Based on the locations of these kingdoms, they could have been part of the Lowland Hundred Inundation. Possibly minor fiefdoms. ___________________________ Triad 99 The three primary and extraordinary works of the Isle of Prydein: The ship of Nwydd Nav Neivion, which brought in it a male and female of all living things when the lake of floods burst forth; The large horned oxen of Hu the Mighty, that drew the crocodile from the lake to the land, so that the lake did not burst any more; The stone of Gwyddon Ganhebon, upon which all the arts and sciences in the world are engraved. Commentary: Was the ship called the Nwydd Nav Neivion, or was it a ship belonging to Nwydd Nav Neivion. This is usually connected with Dwyvan and Dwyvach, but may be a survivor from a different clan other than the primary Silurean tale. The oxen of Hu the Mighty took drew the crocodile ( more correctly Addanc) from the waters of the Lake of Floods and imprisoned him. In such manner did Zeus defeat the Chronus, supplanting him in the order of creation. Loose Ends The Lyoness of Arthurian legend lay northwest of Cornwall in the region shown to have been above the Atlantic. William Camden, the English geographer of the 16th century AD said it was located between St. Michael's Mount and the Scilly Isles and that it was lost due to the gradual rise of the sea level. With the Triads as the focal point, Cornish myth wasn't addressed specifically in the above commentary. According to Camden, it was heavily forested with many prehistoric monuments. Llion, Gwerddonau Llion, Lyoness - probably all refer to the land and islands that have been lost over the ages between Ireland and the British Isle. In 1997, the Russian scholar Viatcheslav Koudriavtsev applied to the UK Foreign Office for permission to conduct an underwater archaeological survey of Little Sole Bank, a site 165 feet deep, some 100 miles off the Cornish coast of south-west Britain. He believed that the Little Sole Bank was the location of fabled Atlantis. (I was unable to find out if this survey was attempted... - John) Another mythical island lay to the northwest of Ireland, known either as Tir fo-Thuin or Hy-Brasil, the medieval fabulists claimed it was the island was circular with a channel cut through the middle. Avalon, has been confused in modern times with Lyoness. I strongly recomend this article about Avalon and the changes in the topography and aquatic environment of the Somerset Levels since the last ice age. Last, but not least: On the issue of boats. I must admit when I read the description of Hu the Mighty leading his people forth across the Mor Tawch in coracles, I had a bit of a laugh. Here's why. Then again, when you're at this site, check out the region where coracle making is still being done. I would like to think Hu the Mighty crossed the Mor Tawch in this instead...  Back

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