š Starting a thread to track my reading journey ā Iāll keep updating it as long as Iām here on Mastodon.
Right now Iām about to finish Kierkegaardās The Sickness Unto Death (having already read Fear and Trembling, which Iāll reflect on alongside it). Iām also working through Dostoevskyās The Brothers Karamazov, Barthesā Mythologies, and an intro to medieval philosophy (Basic Concepts).
Iāll be dropping thoughts, quotes, and reflections here as I go ā philosophy, literature, history, whateverās on my shelf.
Itās wild how similar narrative patterns echo across totally different myth systems.
In Greek myth, we get Aphrodite / Hephaestus / Ares ā a love triangle where the goddess of beauty is pulled between the cold logic of craftsmanship and the raw pull of war. Sheās watched, judged, possessed, but still shapes the divine world through her choices.
Part of the fun of reading The Mabinogion is confidently pretending I know how to pronounce names like Manawydan, Llwyd, and Pryderiāwhen in reality, Iām just mumbling fantasy syllables like Iām casting spells.
If it sounds mythic, thatās good enough.
#Mabinogion #WelshMyth #ReadingLife #FakeItTilYouSoundCeltic
Reading The Mabinogion:
āThe hero travels to a strange land to retrieve a cauldronā¦ or a woman.ā
Me, immediately:
Ian McKellen in The Da Vinci Code whispering:
āLook at the negative space between them. What do we see?
A cup.ā
Itās not my fault. Thatās just how my brain mythologizes.
Reading about Peredur in the introduction and just now realizing:
This is where the Fisher King myth comes from.
A wounded king. A cursed land. A missing question.
BrĆ¢n the Blessed: hurt through the thighs, bound to the land, keeper of a sacred cauldron.
I can see what George R.R. Martin was reaching for with Bran Stark.
The mythic echoes are there.
But when the time came, the arc didnāt land ā no redemption, no Grail.
Just realized that the First Branch of the Mabinogi starts with Pwyll and Arawn doing some ancient version of Freaky Friday.
Arawn says: āYouāll rule my kingdom, sleep beside my wife, and wear my face for a year.ā
Pwyll: āSeems legit.ā
Mythic body-swapping, divine trust exercises, and magical honor codes ā glad to know Lindsay Lohan has a clear mythological ancestor.
While thinking about Branwen ferch LlÅ·r, I couldnāt help but get Baldur & Hodr vibes ā even a bit of Loki in Efnisienās chaos.
But the moment Bran lays his literal giant body across the Irish Sea so his army can march across him? Thatās where the myth goes full-on Bran the Builder meets Fever Dream.
This is peak mythic absurdity and poetic grief rolled into one.
š https://youtu.be/Y_uLg3oW9Vc?si=PQ4StyTVzEv6a0CU
Check out David Lightbringerās video where he dives into Bran lore and its deep connections to Game of Thrones, Bran the Broken, and the Nightfort.
Davidās always worth highlighting ā his myth analysis is š„
#WelshMythology #Mabinogion #Branwen #GameOfThrones #MythicConnections #DavidLightbringer
Been thinking about Manawydan fab LlÅ·r ā how a Welsh king becomes a shoemaker, saddle-maker, and shield-maker in exile. What strikes me is how each craft reflects a fragment of lost sovereignty: shoes for movement, saddles for control, shields for protection.
The horse, always just out of reach, becomes this quiet symbol of power. In myth, to ride is to rule.
Makes you wonder how early we equated wealth with power ā or more precisely, how tools of wealth (horses, land, mobility) became stand-ins for authority itself.
Maybe the myth is reminding us: kingship isn't innate. It's just someone who used to ride.
#Mythology #WelshMyth #CelticStudies #Mabinogion #Folklore #PowerAndWealth #PoliticalPhilosophy #IndoEuropeanMyth #HorsesInMyth #MythicSymbolism #OralTradition #DeepHistory #SlowThought
Well, considering I spent the last 6 days in a crisis center, I got the opportunity to catch up on my Mabinogion readings.
While trapped in my own Winterfell crypt, I read The Dream of Macsen ā and I swear GRRM has read it front to back.
Roman emperor dreams a woman into power
Marries her
Her brothers get roads and kingdoms
Seven years pass like a spell
Itās Lannister-coded as hell.
Tywin wouldāve built those roads himself.
#Mabinogion #Mythology #Arthurian #GameOfThrones #CelticLore
Lludd and Llefelys is only 6 pages, but it goes deep:
Castor & Pollux meets Moses & Aaron
Red vs white dragons = spiritual warfare
A scream that causes miscarriages
A sleep-spell thief who steals feasts
Maybe even mythic surveillance
These old myths carry bloodlines of meaning. Wealth, power, fear ā all wrapped in story.
#Mabinogion #Mythology #Arthurian #Dragons #Folklore #SpiritualWarfare #BrotherKings
How Culhwch Won Olwen is like if Perseus, Achilles, and Hercules merged into one guy ā and then outsourced all their quests to King Arthur.
Culhwch does nothing. Arthur assembles the mythic Avengers.
Tasks include:
Fighting a giant boar with scissors in its ears
Rescuing a demigod from time itself
Borrowing a barber
Peak mythic sidequest energy.
#Mabinogion #Arthurian #CelticLore #Mythology #HimboEnergy #ArthurianMultiverse #WelshMyths
Okay, I mixed up The Dream of Maxen and The Dream of Rhonabwy ā easy mistake.
Oneās a mythic honeymoon.
The otherās a beautiful, empty nightmare.
Rhonabwy dreams of Arthurā¦ whoās just playing chess while messengers beg him to act.
Itās Tywin Lannister energy.
Cold. Regal. Absolutely useless.
And screw it ā you try pronouncing Gwalchmei.
#Mabinogion #Arthurian #MythicDecay #Power #Gwyddbwyll #WelshMyth #LannisterVibes
Peredur Son of Efrawg might be my favorite of the Mabinogion.
Itās Macbeth meets Parzival meets blood magic noir.
Peredur moves through madness, prophecy, severed heads, and witches ā and never asks if he might be wrong.
Arthur says: āBecause you never stopped to ask ā look what youāve done.ā
That hit.
#Mabinogion #Arthurian #Peredur #MythicTrauma #Macbeth #GrailButMakeItViolent
Finished the final tale in The MabinogionāGeraint and Enid.
The most straightforward of the bunch: less magic, more chivalry. Arthur shows up strong, and itās long, but never dull.
Definitely felt some Orpheus & Eurydice vibes, a little Samson too.
Not my favorite, not my least. Just solid, noble storytelling. A fine end to this wild Welsh ride.
šæšš”ļø
#Mabinogion #WelshMythology #ReadingLife #Arthurian #AfternoonArtCritic #MythosAndMeaning
Wittgenstein's Monster