In the Romance of Branwen, Bran is the keeper of a magical cauldron which he gives to Branwen's new husband, the king of Ireland:
"I will give you a cauldron, with the property that if one of your men is
killed today, and be placed in the cauldron, then tomorrow he will be as well
as he was at his best, except that he will not regain his speech."
Bran tells the king that a giant hag had given him the cauldron after she and
her husband had escaped from a burning house of Iron in Ireland. Later in the
story the Irishmen use the cauldron to revive their warriors in the battle against
Bran until Bran's half-brother breaks it at the cost of his life.
There are other cauldrons in British myth with connections to Bran. One is the
cauldron of Cerridwen, the fount of inspiration from which Taliesin obtains
his bardic gifts. Another is the cauldron which provides endless food for the
brave, a prototype of the grail. A verse from Taliesin's poem The Spoils of
Annwn refers to the cauldron of the chief of Annwn, the underworld:
"I am renowned, resplendant is my song that was heard.
In the four-cornered fort, four sided,
my poetry was uttered from the cauldron.
By the breath of nine maidens it was kindled.
It was the cauldron of the Chief of Annwn that was sought -
a ridge of pearls around its brim.
It does not boil a coward's food: it was not destined (to do so)."
adapted from Koch & Carey, The Celtic Heroic Age
The cauldron myths are connected to the idea of a fecund underworld, a hidden
source of growth and richness. The cauldron of inspiration bestows wisdom and
knowledge, the cauldron of plenty is a source of sustenance and healing, and
Bran's cauldron is a source of life itself. The cauldron is perhaps symbolic
of the mother's womb, a gateway to the underworld, from which new life emerges,
and to which the dying return. Rituals of initiation can be a second birth,
achieved after a visit to the underworld. Of course the newly-born cannot speak,
so that the mysteries of the underworld remain hidden to all but those who dare
to enter.
The king 'cooked' in the cauldron
Giraldus Cambrensis describes the initiation of a king in Ulster:
"...a white mare is led into the middle of the assembly. The one who is
to be raised up ... while having intercourse with the mare like a beast, proclaims
that he is also a beast. Immediately after, with the horse having been killed
and cooked in water, a bath is prepared for the new king in the same water.
He sits in the water, surrounded by his people, all eating the meat of the mare
which is brought to them. He doesn't use a cup or even his hands to drink the
broth, but puts his mouth in the broth all around and swallows."
Giraldus Cambrensis, Topographia Hibernie, tr Philip Freeman, from Koch &
Carey, The Celtic Heroic Age
Bran the healer
Robert Graves finds remarkable resemblances between Bran and Asclepius, the
Greek god of medicine. Like Bran, Asclepius is associated with the crow, or
raven - a scavenging bird with the gift of prophesy. As a child, Asclepius was
rescued from a bonfire in which his mother and her paramour perished, which
echoes both Gwern's fate in the Romance and the story of the giant hag who gave
the cauldron to Bran. After a life devoted to healing, Asclepius raised a man
from the dead, and was struck down by Zeus in a fit of jealousy. Asclepius is
represented in Greek art with a dog beside him and a staff in his hand around
which twine oracular snakes. A supplicant would visit the temple of Asclepius,
and after fasting and purification, would spend the night sleeping in the temple,
in what was called incubation, and Asclepius would send a dream which was interpreted
to give the remedy.
(Source: Robert Graves, The White Goddess, p.52)
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