The second branch of the Mabinogion: bran the blessed (Bendigeidfran) and the wars in Ireland

The second branch of the Mabinogion is one of my favourites. concerning the giant King of the Britons, Bendigeidfran (Bran the blessed or Blessed Raven in English) hopes to bring peace between the island of the mighty (Britain) and the island of Ireland. All is going well until the trickster Efnysian, affronted by the idea of peace between these islands offers the Irish king an insult he cannot easily forget. Bran manages to borker peace still, offering his beloved sister to the Irish king. However, on returning to Ireland te kings nobles hear of the insult offered to him whilst in the Brythonic kingdoms and order the king reject his new bride. In her destitution and misery, she befriends the only creature in Ireland who will hear her, a small bird. she tells the bird to find her brother Bran, and begs for help. Upon hearing of the fate of his sister Bran is insulted beyond measure, and so musters the armies of all the land and sets out for Ireland. for a better look into the meaning behind these amazing stories that inspired the great fantasy writers such as Tolkien, check out the other videos on my channel where I try to uncover the deeper meaning behind them, like was Ireland in fact the fey realm, but later changed by Christian monks? was Efnysian the trickster god of the celts. Remember to check out the tales of albion instagram for daily myth nuggets. a special thanks to the artists creditted below, if you are not creditted, its because i couldn't find the original content, please mesage me and let me know! Gambargin - warriors alan lee - the legendary Samarskiy - undead RagamuffinRose -= branwen Margaret Jones - couldron X-Diade-X - dark twins peter diamon illustration - bran the blessed