Stories in the landscape
(Nimue)
Recently I read an article about appropriation of Welsh culture (over here if you’re curious – https://nation.cymru/culture/mari-lwyd-and-the-appropriation-of-welsh-mythology).
I heartily agree with the writer that the use of ‘Mabon’ as a name for the autumn equinox is really problematic. Mabon is a Welsh figure from myth and very probably an ancient Pagan God. However, there’s a critically important detail missing from that original article. Mabon’s story is set in Gloucester.
At the moment, Gloucester isn’t part of Wales, but the border has shifted a lot through history. Gloucester is the place Mabon was imprisoned and the Severn is the river where the oldest Salmon swam. The Severn has often been the border with Wales. But not always.
In another Welsh myth, Bran the Blessed’s head ends up in London. Welsh God Gwyn ap Nudd is supposed to live under Glastonbury Tor – also not currently part of Wales, while the Nudd he is son of is probably Nodens, whose temple sites in Lydney, Gloucestershire and in Lancashire – which also aren’t in Wales.
Stories an be really important parts of how we understand and relate to landscapes. Our sense of connection with place has so much to do with what kinds of stories we have to tell about it. Disconnection and disenchantment are the consequences of not having those kinds of stories. The stories that come from Wales do not speak only of the Welsh landscape, they range across this landmass, and into Ireland. This is often the way of it, because traditions and stories often don’t respect physical or political borders.
There’s a tension here between the ancestors of blood, land and tradition that we might look to. There’s a need for respect, and for treating living cultures respectfully. At the same time, many of us live in parts of the UK that have been part of Wales in the past but aren’t at the moment. Many of us have Welsh ancestry and the relationships between people, landscapes and traditions are not as simple as the coloniser/oppressed people narrative the article I’ve linked to wants to suggest.
