Gwydion and Taliesin

[Alasdair]

Just curious: I was thinking last night of the Welsh 'magician' Gwydion, and how similar he may or may not be to Taliesin. Is it possible that these two characters are one and the same? They share this mystical-poetic quality, and the Cad Goddeu has some interesting material.

I can remember coming across more information, but alas, my memory has gone blank on me .

Can anyone help me out?

[DJ Droood]

Just curious: I was thinking last night of the Welsh 'magician' Gwydion, and how similar he may or may not be to Taliesin. Is it possible that these two characters are one and the same? They share this mystical-poetic quality, and the Cad Goddeu has some interesting material.

I can remember coming across more information, but alas, my memory has gone blank on me .

Can anyone help me out?

I'm no expert..not even very knowledgeable....but isn't Taliesin considered the poet who invented Gwydion, or at least wrote about him? Perhaps like many artists, he couldn't help injecting himself into his work.

[Welsh Mythology]

Taliesin and Gwydion both have supermatural powers and are bards. That is the only similarity. They both have very different roles in very different myth cycles. Taliesin is very much an ethical figure, Gwydion is the antithesis of an ethical figure, he is largely amoral. Taliesin succeeds in his role as bard to Elphin, Gwydion fails Lleu. They represent very different archetypes.