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LA TENÉ CULTURE Relics found in Austria developed into La Tène Culture. See also: BRAA, THE
BRONZE CAULDRON FROM. # 562 LABIANE The niece of King Mark, she was violated by him and, as a result, gave
birth to Meraugis. Mark murdered the unfortunate Labiane. # 30 -
156 LABRA THE MARINER See: MAON. LABRAID LONGSEACH He became dumb after having been made to eat his own father's heart by his
uncle. He lived in exile until one day his speech returned while playing
hurley. While in Gaul, he fell in love with Moriath, daughter of Scoriath the
King. He employed Craiftine to play a sleepinducing tune upon his harp and so
slept Moriath, whom he married. He returned to Ireland and became King of
Leinster. Like Mark of Cornwall, Labraid had horses' ears, for which he might
have been deposed as a blemished king. He was successful in hiding this defect
until his barber, though sworn to secrecy, told a tree, out of whose wood a
harp was fashioned for Craiftine; it subsequently revealed the secret when
played. # 208 - 454 LABRAID LUATH-LAM-AR-CLAIDIB (lou'ri loo'ah läv ar cliv') 'Lowry Swift-Hand-on-Sword.' A fairy king of
Mag Mell, husband of Liban. He sent her to CuChulain to beg for his help in
battle; in return for this he gave him his sister, Fand. # 166 - 266 -
454 LABYRINTHS AND SPIRALS Often scratched or carved on Stone Age monuments and grave sites, the
labyrinthine design apparently represented the soul's journey into the center
of the uterine underworld and its return toward rebirth. A labyrinth was not
the same as a maze. A labyrinth had only one path, winding but branchless,
heading inevitably toward the goal. Design of this type were common on ancient
coins, tiles, floor patterns, and especially tombs and sacred caves. The
expanding spiral that creates and protects the centre, and the contracting
spiral which dissolves it, are both concepts implicit in the labyrinth. By the
existence of the labyrinth, the centre is created and protected. When the
labyrinth is penetrated, the centre is dissolved. Entry and dissolution occur
only under the right conditions: only with the knowledge of the way. Although
often intricate in form, the labyrinth is a spiral, and one which returns. It
is a representation of the cosmos and all cosmoses, and hence of all ordered
entities which correspond on the descending scale of analogy. It is therefore,
at once the cosmos, the world, the individual life, the temple, the town, man,
the womb - or intestines of the Mother (earth), the convolutions of the bram,
the consciousness, the heart, the pilgrimage, the journey, and the Way. The
earliest known labyrinth is that dating from the nineteenth century BC in
Egypt; the most famous was in Minoan Crete. These, and some of the earliest
spiral rock engravings from Palaeolithic times, are reminders of man's
unceasing preoccupation with the spiral order and his own spiral development.
As the labyrinth creates and dissolves, expands and contracts, so it reveals
and conceals. It is cosmos to those who know the way, and chaos to those who
lose it. It is Aridne's thread, whose windings create the world and yet enable
us to unravel it - or ravel it: I give you the end of the golden string, This is the same thread that runs through the argument whose clue (the
'clew' or ball of thread) we follow; and, when we do not lose it, it leads us
to the point. Yet it also conceals the point, disorientates us, and is the
test of our endurance and knowledge. The point or centre, in those labyrinths
depicted in the pavement floors of many medieval cathedrals, is sometimes (as
it originally was at Chartres) a depiction of Theseus and the Minotaur. The
symbolism is that of the 'original' Cretan labyrinth - an initiatory hero
test, the overcoming of death at the centre, and a subsequent return or
rebirth into life, a regeneration on a higher winding. For, as it is
neccessary to be born from the womb to see this world, only he who is born
from himself sees the other world. 'He who is not twice born will not ascend
to the Kingdom of Heaven.' Other cathedral labyrinths depicted the architect
at the centre, sometimes symbolized in the person of Daedalus, builder of the
Cretan maze. Since treading the maze was a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in
miniature, Daedalus also represents the Divine Architect. In most labyrinths
the spiral continues, and having reached the goal and centre, it either
returns to the periphery and everyday life, or emerges on the other side, as
it would on the vortex sphere of which this is a two-dimensional version. In
classical times, the labyrinth, together with its ritual circumambulation, was
essential to the creation of a city. This ritual imitated or re-enacted the
original cosmic creation; for when a space is set aside or delineated it is
ordered, carved out from the surrounding chaos, and so sanctified. Troia, or
Troy, is still the name of many mazes - even those on English village greens.
The spiral movement made chaos into cosmos, and protected the holy space thus
formed from illicit entry. But according to the same law by which it both
concealed and revealed, it also both protected and destroyed: hence, whereas
the twice-yearly circuits of the Salii protected the city of Rome, it was
seven circumambulations that razed Jericho to the ground. The spiral or labyrinth, depicted in ancient tombs, implies a death and
re-entry into the womb of the earth, necessary before the spirit can be reborn
in the land of the dead. But death and rebirth also mean the continuous
transformation and purification of the spirit throughout life; the alchemists
use the word vitriol to stand for visita interiora terrae
rectificando invenies occultum lapidem. 'Visit the interior of the
earth; through purification thou wilt find the hidden stone.' Such a descent
into the underworld (the kingdom of Pluto) is the theme of most initiation
rituals, and is comparable to the passage through the wilderness, or the 'dark
night of the soul', which is experienced by mystics on their path. It is
furthermore nearly always symbolized by the spiral. Those on the columns of
the Treasury of Atreus (a relic of which is still to be found in the volutes
of the Ionic column) have a further correspondence; by passing between two
spiral columns, the initiate becomes the central axis or pillar of
consciousness and equilibrium, for he has thus passed between the two opposite
pillars of the Tree of Life, or between the coils of the serpents of the
caduceus, and has thereby come into direct contact with the Source of Being.
The labyrinth governs (and also constitutes) man's circuitous windings through
space and time, by ordering, guiding, checking and growing him both from and
to his source. It is none other than a model of existence as we know it, a
mandala, and a two-dimensional version of the spherical vortex. # 462 - 533 -
667 - 701 LAC King of Estregales and ruler of the Black Isles. He was a Knight of the
Round Table. # 156 LADIES OF THE LAKE Igraine, Guinevere and Morgan, who are Arthur's kindred; Argante, Nimue and
Enid, who bring the wisdom of the Otherworld; and Kundry, Dindraine and
Ragnell who manifest the compassion of the Grail. These are the Ladies of the
Lake in whom the ancient Celtic Goddess is fragmented and reflected. Just as
Arthur's knights assemble about the Round Table to discover their quest, so
the Arthurian Ladies gather about the deep upon their innate gifts. And just
as the mysterious element of water permeates all life, so does the influence
of the Ladies of the Lake permeate the whole Arthurian legend. They are the
empowerers, guardians and transformers whose wisdom is still accessible today.
From Caitlìn and John Matthews' envoi in their book LADIES OF THE LAKE we read
this: When we look closely at the stories of the nine Ladies of the Lake, we
see that a single theme unites them all. This is one of misunderstanding, of
the inability of the world of men to read the signs aright. Thus Igraine seeks
to transmit her knowledge to Arthur and to her male kindred, and when this
does not happen, due to her early separation from son and husband, she retires
to the Castle of Maidens, where men must actively seek that knowledge.
Guinevere is consistently portrayed as a betrayer, while she in fact
represents the ancient Sovereignty of the land, which becomes her secret
bower. Morgan mostly presents her dark face throughout the stories, only
appearing in her complete form as the land's guardian and the agent of
Arthur's inner transformation in Avalon. Argante's role is never wholly
revealed, for she remains within, guarding the secret motherland of the Lake.
Her seclusion lends her the objectivity of a neutral otherworldly observer who
has full knowledge of events and their patterns. Nimuë is seen as a sly and
sexually-insatiable woman rather than as her true self: the opener of the ways
and the true mate of Merlin. Enis is pitied as a poor, helpless victim, rather
than as the delivering messenger of love who restores joy to shuttered hearts.
Kundry's harsh tongue is feared, but she speaks the words that will change the
face of the land from waste land into abundant growth. Dindraine is spurned as
a weak woman with nothing to offer the Grail quest, but she perceives the
Grail's imminence and mediates its power to all. Ragnell is a compendium of
all that the world has hated: she is ugly, she is old, she is a woman. Yet she
is the bright joy at the heart of all women that longs to be unchained. Each Lady of the Lake has been misrepresented in her day. The time now
comes to set the record straight. The signposts to the magical realm of the
Lake have been boarded over too long and the old proscriptions about
travelling thither are beginning to lose their authority. The vital waters are
welling up within each of us and prompting us to seek out the realm of the
Lake and the ladies who sit about it. They gather about the otherworldly
waters just as the ninefold sisterhood of Celtic tradition stand about the
cauldron, each gifting the brew with a unique gift. Without the unique
ingredients which each of the Ladies of the Lake provides, the Arthurian
legends would be impoverished and savourless. These are figures as powerful as
any from Classical mythology, each representing an archetypal quality which is
accessible to us today. They are not, however, merely 'psychological'
archetypes: their faithful abiding transcends such a narrow definition.
Approach them with respect, learn to understand their message, give them
grateful thanks. Those who have voyaged to the Lake or drunk of the cauldron will already
know the truth and justice of this remark. We have followed a complex and
often winding path to recover the stories of our ninefold sisterhood. We hope
it will lead you to explore the inner life of the Arthurian legends and the
vitality which the Ladies of the Lake bring to them. #
443 LADIS Ruler of Lombardy in Arthurian romance. # 156 LADRA He was the pilot of Cessair's ship and the only other man in that invasion
of Ireland. He and his companion each shared the women between them, he with
sixteen, the other with seventeen, which he considered an unjust division.
However, he subsequently died from a surfeit of women, it was recorded. #
454 LADY See: BREAD. LADY OF THE FOUNTAIN Title of the mysterious countess in YVAIN by Chrétien de Troyes, and in THE
LADY OF THE FOUNTAIN in the MABINOGION. When her husband was killed by Owain,
she demanded that Owain become her husband; by this means she could remain
guardian of the fountain. # 272 - 418 - 454 LADY OF THE LAKE This mysterious female gave Arthur his sword Excalibur. She stole Lancelot
when a child and cured him when he went mad. She may be a Celtic lake divinity
in origin, perhaps of the same kind as the Gwragedd Annwn, the queen of an
isle of fairy maidens in the middle of an enchanted lake, where winter never
comes and no one knows sorrow, in modern Welsh folklore. In Ulrich, the fairy
who raised Lancelot is the mother of Mabuz. As Mabuz is probably identical
with the Celtic god Mabon, it would seem that the fairy must be Morgan Le Fay
who was, earlier, Mabon's mother, Matrona. A lady of the lake, perhaps a
different one, was killed by Balin. She is an Goddess of great antiquity and
is analogeous with Sovereignty as she guards the Hallows of the Land. From the
Otherworld she employ the power to the future kings. See also: LADIES OF THE
LAKE. # 100 - 156 - 418 - 686 LAEG (loy-h) CuChulain's friend and charioteer; sent by CuChulain to rouse men
of Ulster; visits Fairyland to report on Fand; the Grey of Macha resists being
harnessed by Laeg; slain by Lewy. # 562 LAERY (lay'ry) 1. Son of King Ugainy the Great; treacherously slain by his
brother Covac; 2. The Triumphant; shrinks from test for the Championship of
Ireland; 3. Son of Neill; sees vision of CuChulain. #
562 LAHELIN The brother of Orilus who robbed Herzeloyde of Wales and Northgalis after
Gahmuret's death. His name is a German form of the Welsh Llewelyn. # 156 -
748 LAILOKEN A wild man in Celtic tradition whose career bears some resemblance to that
of Merlin. He was for a time at the court of Rhydderch Hael, revealed to King
Meldred that his wife was adulterous and made a prophecy concerning his own
death. It is possible Lailoken was merely a nickname for Merlin, as Lailoken
resembles the Welsh word for twin and Merlin was thought to have a twin
sister. # 156 - 401 - 673 LAIRD O' CO, THE See: VIRTUES ESTEEMED BY THE FAIRIES. LAIRGNEN (lerg-men) Connacht chief, betrothed to Deoca; seizes the Children of Lir.
# 562 LAKE DISTRICT S. G. Wildman has suggested that this picturesque region of Cumbria was the
birthplace of Arthur or at least the place where he was brought up. # 156 -
729 LAKE MAIDENS See: GWRAGEDD ANNWN. LAKE OF THE CAULDRON Place where Matholwch met Llassar Llaesgyvnewid and his wife Kymideu
Kymeinvoll. # 562 LAKE OF THE DRAGON'S MOUTH Resort of Caer; Angus Og joins his love, Caer, at Lake of the Dragon's
Mouth. # 562 LAMBOR The King of Terre Foraine or Logres, he was killed by Brulan (Varlan) and
both his and Brulan's lands were blighted, forming the Waste Land of the Grail
stories. He may be identical with Lambord, Arthur's maternal great-grandfather
in the pedigree of John of Glastonbury. # 156 - 344 -
604 LAMBORD An ancestor of Arthur in the pedigree of John of Glastonbury. # 156 -
344 LAMBTON WORM The Norse and Saxon word for dragon was 'worm', so the Lambton Worm were
one of the North Country dragons. Even in Somerset some of the dragons were
called worms, as 'The Gurt Vurm of Shervage Wood'. Occasionally one hears of a
winged worm, and sometimes of a leggless one, but as a rule they are wingless
and lizard-like in form. The tale of the Lambton Worm is of particular
interest, for we hear of its life from the beginning to the end. William
Henderson put together the particulars in FOLK-LORE OF THE NORTHERN COUNTIES
from Sharpe's BISHOPRICK GARLAND. The son of Lord Lambton in the fourteenth
century was a wild youth, and delighted to outrage public opinion. One fine
Sunday morning he was sitting fishing in full view of all the tenants going to
Brugeford Chapel on the bridge over the Wear close to Lambton Castle. He had
had no luck, and just as the last of the church-goers were hurrying in, he
burst out into a stream of oaths. As the church-bell stopped he had a bite,
and after a fierce struggle he landed his catch. It was not a fish, but a
creature so horrible that he took it off the hook and threw it into the well
close at hand, still called 'Worm's Well'. A stranger passing asked what sport
he had had. 'I think I've caught the Devil,' said the heir. 'Look and see what
you make of him.' 'He looks like an eft,' said the stranger, 'except that he's
got nine holes round his mouth. I think he bodes no good.' And he went on. The
years went on, and the young lord seemed a sobered man, and after a while he
went to the Holy Land. The eft grew and grew, till it was too big for the well
and curled itself round Worm's Hill, whence it ravaged the country-side. They
put a great trough outside the castle gates, and filled it every day with the
milk of nine cows, but that did not content it. Brave knights came to destroy
the worm, but when it was cut in two it joined together again as worms do, and
it crushed the knights to death. At length the heir returned, a Knight of Rhodes now, and was horrified to
learn what his folly had done. He was determined to destroy the worm, but when
he heard how all earlier attempts had failed he went to a wise woman to learn
what he should do. She scolded him fiercely for the sufferings he had caused,
but in the end she told him exactly what he must do. First he must go to the
chapel and vow to kill the first living creature that met him on his return
from the battle with the worm. If he failed to carry this out, no Lord of
Lambton for nine generations would die in his bed. Then he must go to a smith
and have his armour covered with spikes, and thirdly he must take his stand on
the great rock in the middle of the river Wear, and there he must fight the
worm as he came down to drink at sunset. All this he did. He told the servants
to loose his favourite dog as soon as he blew his trumpet after the battle;
then he went down to the fight. At his first stroke the worm turned to
strangle him in its folds; but the more fiercely it squeezed the more it
wounded itself, till the Wear ran red with its blood. At last he cut it in
pieces, and the swiftly flowing river carried them away before they could
reunite. The heir staggered home with hardly strength to blow his horn. But
his old father, who had been waiting in terrible suspense, ran out to greet
him. The heir, in horror, blew his horn again, and the servants loosed the
dog. The heir killed it with one thrust, but the condition was broken, the
father had reached him first, and for nine generations no Lord of Lambton died
in his bed. See also: WORM. ># 100 - 302 LAMMAS Lammas means 'Feast of Bread' and derives from the pagan Lugnasad,
the Celtic 'Games of Lug'. Lug was the grain god sacrificed and resurrected to
honor the Harvest Mother at the beginning of August, the month of harvest. One
of the 'games' celebrated at Tailteann was the special temporary marriage,
supposed to last only a year and a day - the usual period of the ancient lunar
calendar - after which the married couple could separate and go their own
ways. - In Ireland, special 'Lammas towers' were built, and Lammas dancers
circled around a female effigy representing the Harvest Mother. Because August
was particularly sacred to the Goddess who gave life, the Scots considered it
a propitious month to be born. Augusta gave gifted children. For a Scot to say
someone was born in August was not a reference to a real birthday, but rather
a compliment to a 'wellskilled person.' # 701 p 186 LAMORAK Pellinore's son, Perceval's brother and a Knight of the Round Table. He
slept with Morgause and was killed by her son, Gawain. #
156 LANCE OF LONGINUS # 156: The weapon used to wound Jesus on the Cross. It was carried in the
Grail Procession and was also sought by Arthur's warrior daughter, Melora.
# 544: : For 2000 years the Spear of Destiny - the sword that pierced the
side of Christ on the cross - has been held by the rulers of the western
world. Herod the Great, Charlemagne, the Hapsburgs and, most recently and
ominously, Adolf Hitler, have used the legendary powers invested in the Spear.
Powers of both good and evil. Now the Spear lies in full view of all those who
wish to see it, and the spiritual realities which it symbolises are open to
all mankind. In his book, THE MARK OF THE BEAST, the sequal to THE SPEAR OF
DESTINY, Trevor Ravenscroft reveal the results of many years of research into
the history of the Spear and the history of good and evil in the western
world. Research pointing to a conclusion so nearly reached at the time of
World War II: that the critical phase of the apocalypse will culminate in the
reappearance of the Beast who will achieve total world conquest where Hitler
failed. And only then will the prophesy of the Revelation of St John be
fulfilled: 'All the inhabitants of the earth will worship the Beast...' See
also: GRAIL LANCE. # 156 - 543 - 544 LANCELOT # 118: The one knight of the Round Table everybody knows is not, as a
matter of fact, a member of the original cast at all. There is no trace of
Lancelot, or anyone like him, in the original British-Celtic legends of Arthur
and his famous group. No one really knows how Lancelot made his way into the
Arthurian cycle (and, of course, also into the MÉNAGE A TROIS which has become
the dominant feature, to many readers, of the Camelot story). He shows up
first in a twelfthcentury French manuscript as the hero of a series of amorous
adventures, none of them, however, involving anybody like Guinevere. As the
Arthurian cycle grew in popularity during the Middle Ages, Lancelot appears
simply to have moved in and taken over. # 156: 1. The grandfather of Sir Lancelot of the Lake. He married the
daughter of the King of Ireland. King Ban and King bors were his sons. 2.
Arthur's champion and right-hand man. He was the son of King Ban by his wife
Elaine. After his father's death, he was left near a lake by his mother and
was taken by the Lady of the Lake, who raised him. He became Arthur's trusted
companion and a Knight of the Round Table. He fell in love with Guinevere and
commenced to have an affair with her; he was also the object of the affections
of Elaine of Astolat who died of love for him. Another Elaine was the daughter
of King Pelles and, when Lancelot visited Carbonek, he saved her from a tub of
boiling water. Brisen, her nurse, arranged for her to sleep with him, while he
thought she was Guinevere. As a result, Galahad was conceived. When this
happened a second time, Guinevere discovered the pair IN FLAGRANTE and sent
Lancelot away from Camelot. He went mad, but was cured by the Grail. When
Guinevere was abducted by Meliagaunce, son of King Bagdemagus, Lancelot
pursued him in a cart, a humble mode of conveyance in which the knight was
reluctant to travel. He had to cross a sword bridge to reach the castle and
find Meliagaunce. The two fought, but Bagdemagus pleaded with Guinevere that
his son's life would be spared, so their combat was stopped, to be taken up
again in a year's time. Later, Meliagaunce accused Guinevere of adultery with
Kay. Lancelot fought the accuser as her champion and, once again, Bagdemagus
had to plead for his son's life. Eventually, Lancelot slew Meliagaunce in
combat at Arthur's court. When Lancelot and Guinevere were at last discovered
together, Lancelot fled, but returned to rescue Guinevere from the stake,
killing Agravain, Gaheris and Gareth in the process. War between him and
Arthur followed but was broken off when Arthur had to return to deal with
Mordred's rebellion. This version of Lancelot's adventures, found in French
sources and Malory, differs markedly from that of Ulrich who says he was the
son of King Pant of Gennewis and his wife, Clarine. Pant was killed in a
rebellion and Lancelot was stolen by a fairy and raised in Maidenland. The
fairy would not tell him his name until he had fought Iweret of Beforet.
Johfrit de Liez trained him in the use of weaponry and he married the daughter
of Galagandreiz. The fairy's son Mabuz, a wizard, was having his territory
raided by Iweret. Lancelot killed Iweret and married his daughter Iblis, with
whom he had four children. He eventually won back his father's kingdom. Did
Lancelot originate in Celtic imagination or was he a Continental invention? It
is popularly supposed that he has no Celtic counterpart. His name is generally
thought to be a double diminutive of the German word Land; but R. S.
Loomis has argued that Lancelot is the same character as the one called Llwch
Lleminawc in PREIDDEU ANNWFN, in which he accompanies Arthur to the
Otherworld. This expedition may be the same as the one to Ireland in CULHWCH in which
Llenlleawc, an Irishman, aids Arthur to steal the cauldron belonging to
Diwrnach. The identification of Lancelot with Llwch Lleminawc/Llenlleawc is
opposed by R. Bromwich who argues that neither of these forms was used to
translate Lancelot from other languages into Welsh; for this purpose the names
Lanslod and Lawnslot were employed. However, this may not be so severe an
objection as it might appear. It is possible that the Continentals could have
translated Lleminawc/Llenlleawc into the similar-sounding Lancelot but, when
Welsh writers came on this form, they may have failed to realize it
represented an original Welsh name and re-translated it as Lanslod/Lawslot.
Certainly the presence of Mabuz, who is probably the Celtic god Mabon,
indicates a Celtic origin for Ulrich's story. It is thought that the basis
saga of Lancelot may have dealt with the fairy captivity episode which is
common to French and German sources. See also: COLGREVANCE, ILLE ESTRANGE and TWENTY-FOUR KNIGHTS. # 104 - 118 -
156 - 401 LANCEOR A son of the King of Ireland whom Arthur sent to inflict retribution on
Balin for slaying the Lady of the Lake. Balin killed him and his distraught
lover Colombe committed suicide. King Mark of Cornwall came by, saw their
bodies and entombed them. # 156 - 418 LANCIEN The place of Mark's residence, now Lantyan (Cornwall). #
156 LAND FROM WHICH NO ONE RETURNS A mysterious realm ruled by Gundebald. # 156 LAND OF SHADOWS Dwelling-place of Skatha; CuChulain went overseas to find the Land of the
Shadows and Skatha. Owing to the similarity of the name the supernatural
country of Skatha, 'the Shadowy,' was early identified with the islands of
Skye, where the CuChulain Peaks still bear witness to the legend. #
562 LAND OF THE DEAD 'Spain' a synonymous term; the western extremity of Great Britain is Land
of the Dead, according to ancient writer cited by Plutarch, and also according
to Procopius. # 562 LAND OF THE LIVING Land of the Living = Land of the Happy Dead; When Lugh came from the Land
of the Living, he brought with him many magical gifts. There was the Boat of
Mananan, son of the Sea God, which knew a man's thoughts and would travel
whithersoever he would, and the Horse of Mananan, that could go alike over
land and sea, and a terrible sword named Fragarach (The Answerer), that
could cut through any mail. # 562 LAND OF THE WEE FOLK (otherwise Faylinn). See: WEE FOLK LAND OF THE YOUNG, THE See: TIR NAN OG. LAND OF YOUTH Identical with 'Land of the Dead', 'Land of the Living' q.v. see: MANANAN;
Cleena once lived in The Land of Youth; Connla's Well in the Land of Youth
visited by Sinend; to this day the Land of Youth and its inhabitants live in
the imagination of the Irish peasant; mystic country of People of Dana after
their dispossession by Children of Miled; lover from the Land of Youth visits
Messbuachalla, to whom she bears Conary; Oisin returns from the Land of Youth.
# 562 LANSDOWN HILL Near Bath, this is possibly the site of the battle of Mount Badon. It was
called Mons Badonicus in early times. In the Middle Ages what was said to be
Arthur's skeleton was found there. # 156 LANVAL One of Arthur's knights. He was approached by a mystery lady who became his
lover, but made him promise to keep the matter a secret. Guinevere tried to
seduce him and, when rebuffed, accused him of making overtures to her. He was
put on trial and told to produce his lover to prove he was enamoured of
someone other than the queen. He could not, but the mystery lady arrived at
the last moment to save him and they left for Avalon. His story is found in
Marie de France's LANVAL (twelfth century) and in the English works SIR
LANDEVAL (fourteenth century), SIR LAMBEWELL (sixteenth century) and SIR
LAMWELL (sixteenth century). See: BLANCHARD. # 156 - 425 LAPIS EXILLIS The name given to the Grail by Wolfram who regards it as a stone. The term
means 'worthless stone' and is probably an alchemical variant of the
philosopher's stone. # 156 - 748 LAPLAND According to Hakluyt's TRAVELS (sixteenth century), the eastern border of
Arthur's empire. # 156 LAR The dead husband of Queen Amene. His ghost guided Wigalois on his way to
aid Amene against the evil Roaz. # 156 - 746 LARIE Daughter of Lar and Amene, she married Wigalois. # 156 -
746 LARIS The son of Henry, Emperor of Germany, he is one of the heroes of CLARIS ET
LARIS and was in love with Marine, daughter of Urien. The rival suitor, King
Tallas of Denmark, besieged Urien, Arthur arrived and raised the siege, but
Laris was captured by the Danes and had to be rescued by Claris and others.
Tallas was defeated by Arthur, and Laris became King of Denmark. See: LIDOINE.
# 30 - 156 LAUDINE The Lady of the Fountain, widow of Esclados, who married Owain. # 152 -
156 LAUFRODEDD The knife of Laufrodedd was one of the Thirteen Treasures of the Island of
Britain. # 104 - 156 LAW GYFFES (low guff-EZ) LAWNSLOT See: LANCELOT. LAYAMON Translator. See: HISTORIA REGUM BRITANIAE. LEANAN SIDHE (lan-awn-shee) The Fairy Mistress who encounters poets and musicians
inspiring them with her muse-like power. She appears frequently in Irish
poetic tradition as the central figure of the aisling or vision, in which the
poet meets her on a hillside. The music and poetry which she inspires is
usually indicative of otherworldly sadness and regret for the past glories of
Ireland. # 100 - 454 LEAR King of Britain, son of Bladud. In his old age he gave away parts of his
kingdom as dowries to his daughters, in proportion to the amount of affection
they said they felt for him. Goneril and Regan both flattered him, but
Cordelia gave an honest answer, for which she was cast out, with no dowry.
Both Goneril and Regan gradually stripped him of his retinue until he had only
one retainer, whereupon he fled to Cordelia in France. He regained his kingdom
with her help but died. Cordelia had him buried 'in a four-sided grave' on the
banks of the Soar, in a chamber dedicated to Janus, to which craftsmen made
pilgrimage on the first day of the year. Lear is the same as Llyr.
Shakespeare's play follows the general course of the story. See also:
CORDELIA. # 243 - 454 LEBORCHAM (lyev'ar ham) A female satirist; the messenger of Conchobar; guardian of
Deirdre. # 166 LEGEND, THE CYCLES OF IRISH Irish mythical and legendary literature, as we have it in most ancient
form, may be said to fall into four main divisions. They are in chronological
order, the Mythological Cycle, or Cycle of the Invasions, the Ultonian or
Conorian Cycle, the Ossianic or Fenian Cycle, and a multitude of miscellaneous
tales and legends which it is hard to fit into any historical fra mework. #
562 LEICESTER See: LLYR. LEINSTER, BOOK OF De Jubainville draws attention most appositely to a passage from the TAIN
BO CUAILGNE, in the Book of Leinster, where the Ulster heroes declare to their
king, who wished to leave them in battle in order to meet an attack in another
part of the field: 'Heaven is above us, and earth beneath us, and the sea is
round about us. Unless the sky shall fall with its showers of stars on the
ground were we are camped, or unless the earth shall be rent by an earthquake,
or unless the waves of the blue sea come over the forests of the living world,
we shall not give ground.' The Book of Leinster is a manuscript of the twelfth
century. The version of the Tain given in it probably dates from the
eight. - Ancient tract, the 'Dinnsenchus', preserved in the BOOK OF LEINSTER;
traditional derivation of name, see CONNACHT; men of Leinster rally to Maev's
foray against Ulster; Mesroda, son of Datho, dwelt in province of Leinster. #
562 LEIX Reavers from Leix slay Ailill Edge-of-Battle; Maelduin's desire to avenge
his father send him on his voyage to Leix. # 562 LEN OF KILLARNEY Bôv the Red, brother of the Dagda had, it is said, a goldsmith named Len,
who 'gave their ancient name to the Lakes of Killarney, once known as Locha
Lein, the Lakes of Len of the Many Hammers. Here by the lake he wrought,
surrounded by rainbows and showers of fiery dew.' (O'Grady, LOC.CIT.)#
562 LEODEGRANCE King of Cameliard and father of Guinevere. It was he who gave the Round
Table to Arthur, and was one of his earliest supporters against the rebellious
kings. # 156 - 418 LEPRECHAUN LUPRECAN (lep'râ hôn) A pigmy= a leprechaun; the nation of pigmies. He is a
folk-variant of the Fir Dhearga or the Red Men and, like them, indulges in
jokes at mortals' expense. He is often the guardian of a treasure though, in
the way of things, he rarely allows mortal adventurers to get the better of
him. The modern leprechaun is almost totally obliterated under a welter of
cute Irish green-wash and has been devalued for tourist use. # 166 -
454 LETH CUINN (lyeh coo'in) 'Conn's Half.' The northern part of Ireland. #
166 LETHA (lye'ha) Brittany. Sometimes the Continent in general. #
166 LEUDONUS See: LOT. LEVANDER A servant of the King of Africa, he was sent by the King to help Arthur's
daughter Melora on her quest. # 156 - 406 LEVARCAM LEVARCHAM Deirdre's nurse; Conor questions Levarcam, re sons of Usna; See also:
LEBORCHAM. # 562 LEWY LUGAID Son of Curoi, CuChulain's foe; slays CuChulain outright; slain by Conall of
the Victories. See also: LUGAID. # 562 LEY LINES In Hamish Miller's and Paul Broadhurst's book THE SUN AND THE SERPENT, John
Michell writes in his introduction: ...Travelling west from Glastonbury
towards Taunton, we came across a great mound of a hill, the Mump at
Burrowbridge, also topped by a ruined church of St Michael. The road makes
directly for it and then skirts its base in a curve. From the summit of the
Mump, Glastonbury Tor is visible in the distance about 12 miles away. The
spiritual link between these two hills is obvious. They appear in some way to
be in communication, and not merely between themselves but as points in a more
extensive chain of communication, conveying a type of spirit which the early
Christians in Britain associated with St Michael. Visions of Michael, as
reported at St Michael's Mount in the fourth century, are traditionally in the
form of glowing apparitions, and this suggested a possible connection between
the Michael spirit and the strange lights which we had seen floating over
Glastonbury Tor. As well as both being dedicated to St Michael, the Tor and
the Mump have another feature in common, their orientation. The axis of the
Mump is directed towards the Tor, where the line is continued by the old
pilgrims' path along the ridge of the Tor to St Michael's tower. This line
drew attention to itself and demanded further investigation, so I extended it
further east, and the result confirmed its significance. The line went
straight to the great stones at the entrance to the megalithic temple at
Avebury. In the other direction, westward, it pointed towards St Michael's
Mount by way of other prominent Michael sanctuaries. The accuracy of this
alignment, precisely between the entrance to Avebury and the summits of the
Tor and Mump, was later confirmed through geodetic calculations by Robert
Forrest. Also on the line, a few miles east of Avebury, he located the church
at Ogbourne St George (St George, according to Rudolf Steiner and Tudor Pole,
representing an earthly aspect of St Michael), and his calculations showed
that the western end of the line was not St Michael's Mount, which it bypasses
a short distance to the north, but a point on the coast beside Land's End, the
extreme western tip of Cornwall. From there it runs across country to bulge of
East Anglia, virtually the extreme eastern point of England. Almost half-way
up the line is the great temple of Avebury. In his book on Avebury, first published in 1743, William Stukeley was
inspired to identify it as a winged serpent temple. The serpent was formed by
the two curved avenues of standing stones which met within the Avebury circle.
At the eastern end of the serpent was its head, represented by two concentric
stone rings which Stukeley called the Sanctuary. It stood on a ridge of
Hackpen Hill, a name which Stukeley translated as Serpent's Head. He
interpreted the overall design as an alchemical symbol of sacred energy,
created by the Druid priests as a means of attracting divine influences and
sanctifying the whole countryside. Other associations between the serpent, as
a symbol of the earth spirit, and the Avebury landscape are mentioned in
Michael Dames' very perceptive book of 1977, THE AVEBURY CYCLE. It seems
natural to extend the serpent imagery to the St Michael Line which has Avebury
as its mid-point. On an early visit to Glastonbury I painted a large mural
across a wall of Gino's Abbey Café, showing the line as the spine of a giant
earth figure, a reference to William Blake's ALBION, with its eye at Eye in
Suffolk, other CHAKRA points at Avebury and Glastonbury and its feet at Land's
End. Twirling round the spine were serpents symbolising its vital energies.
The only reason for mentioning this crude effort is that it was the first
illustration of the St Michael Line, and even at that early stage in its
conception it had attracted to itself the imagery of the serpent. This
appeared spontaneously and I sought for no particular meaning in it. In this
book the same symbolism reappears in connection with the St Micahel Line
across England, but this time it is shown that it does indeed have meaning.
Paul Broadhurst and Hamish Miller have opened a new dimension to studies of
the St Michael Line. THE SUN AND THE SERPENT is one of the strangest, most stirring books I have
ever read, and it may prove through its implications to be one of the most
important. For if the authors are correct in what they affirm, they have
uncovered in the English landscape the most remarkable of ancient secrets. If
the authors are correct... That is obviously the first thing one wants to know
on reading this amazing book. Are they deceiving us, or deluding themselves,
and can their findings be checked and reproduced by other people? The first
part of this question is easy to answer. I have known Paul and Hamish long
enough and well enough to be absolutely confident in saying that they are
entirely honest and straight-forward. Everyone I have met who also knows them
says just the same. They are without guile and quite incapable of wilfully
misleading anyone. Could they themselves, then, have been misled? Dowsing is
an intuitive practice and therefore to some extent subjective. Beginners soon
learn how easy it is for results to be conditioned by one's own, and even by
other people's thoughts and wishes. Hamish, however, is not a beginner. He is
an experienced, self-critical dowser, much respected by the dowsing
fraternity, and he is professionally alert to the constant possibility of
delusion. The fact that he is confident enough to stake his reputation on the
findings reported in this book is impressive to those who know the worth of
that reputation. Paul's good name is also at stake here. He is well aware of
this, and he has watched Hamish narrowly on their journeys along the St
Michael Line, needing to be sure in his own mind that the dowsing results were
genuine. Often, unknown to Hamish, he set him tests, taking him on unfamiliar
roads to see where he would pick up the line of energy. Always the spot found
was on the continuation of the line as previously established. I too have seen
Hamish at work on a section of the St Michael Line, and was impressed by his
certainty. On that occasion, other dowsers, who had acquired the 'feel' of the
energy line being followed, were able independently to confirm his results.
This brings us to the question of whether other, neutral dowsers, outside the
influence of our authors, will be able to detect the energies of the St
Michael Line as and where Hamish Miller has done. Science likes experiments to
be repeatable, and if the phenomenon here described is to have scientific
standing, other people also must find it. With that in mind, and to facilitate
detailed investigation of their claims, the authors offer to provide
interested readers with local maps, marked with the lines of current which
thay have found. From what has been said above, there is surely a case
prima facie for taking this book at face value and allowing that there
may be an energy pattern in connection with the St Michael Line. Some readers
will probably not be inclined to accept that without further evidence. Others
will hear in it the ring of truth and find that it coincides with their
intuition. Whatever one's attitude, there is plenty to enjoy in these pages. In the
entire literature of antiquarian ramblings there has never been one like this!
How lucky we are in England to inhabit such a diverse, mysterious,
symbolically rich landscape. Finally we must come down to brass tacks and ask
the hard question. It is, of course, about meaning. Granted that the straight
pole of St Michael Line, from the furthest western to the furthest eastern
point in England, is entwined by serpentine earth energies, what are we
supposed to think or do about it? Since I have been asked to write this
Introduction, I presume that I am allowed, even required, to contribute some
personal notions. Here they are, then. We are living through a period of
revelation. In response to the dire necessities of this apocalyptic time,
answering the demand for real knowledge and wisdom, our minds and senses are
receiving messages from nature - from Gaia as the Lovelockians have it. Jung
predicted this in his Flying Saucer book. In the thirty years since he wrote
it, the portents he foresaw have grown ever more numerous and insistent. The
UFO phenomenon has solidified from mere lights and rumours, now leaving its
physical marks every summer in the form of energized 'crop circles' in the
field around Avebury, Warminster and other ancient parts of Wiltshire. Here
again the question of meaning arises; and it arises also in connection with
modern discoveries of aligned sacred sites ('leys') throughout the world, of
temples orientated astrologically to receive light and energies from certain
heavenly bodies, of the mystical science of geomancy and of the cosmological
patterns and formulae which sustained ancient civilizations. Revelations
abound. Individually, and in terms of modern rationalistic conventions, they
appear meaningless. But together they amount to a statement, given directly by
nature; a statement that our present way of understanding and treating the
earth is wrong, that we inhabit a living planet and we must give it the
respect due to any living creature. From that follows a quite different
perception of our relationship to nature, leading to the rediscovery of the
ancient spiritual sciences. We do not know why serpentine energies spiral
around the course of the line of St Michael sites from the far west to the far
eastern end of England. Others before us have recognized the phenomenon, and
they have made their sanctuaries and pilgrimage routes in relation to the
earth energies. The ancients, as Plato reminds us, were simple people. They
did not ask reasons from nature, but accepted things as they were, so that if
a certain rock was known for giving dreams and true oracles, they listened to
it. Plato also emphasizes that everything, all human science, knowledge and
wisdom, originates in divine revelation. Those of us who, from a rational
point of view, have assessed the likelihood of human survival under the
present regime of thought reckon it a lost cause. Yet the rational point of
view gives no prospect of revelation, and thus prevents us from seeing what
has been going on in recent years. The signs of an approaching climax of
revelation are rapidly increasing, and this book is one of them. It was not
written by the authors' own decision or for their own benefit. They were
impelled to do it by those forces in nature which are now active in disclosing
knowledge, long hidden, to a generation that desperately needs it and is now
ready to accept it. "Is not that Sun thy husband and the Moon thy glimmering
veil? Are not the Stars of heaven thy children? art thou not Babylon? Art thou Nature, Mother of all?" William Blake. In the previous pages we have drawn from the text of only one specific book
about the subject, Ley Lines. We could easily have chosen several others just
as remarkable as the literature is rich and is rapidly growing. In the 1920s
the Danish writer, Martinus, experienced a cosmic baptism of fire through
which he became his own source of light, and where he saw the Earth as a
living being with the human's as its cerebral cells, and with energy-lines
throughout. What he saw through the years to come in his now permanent cosmic
conciousness, he wrote down in what is called THE THIRD TESTAMENT, LIVETS BOG
in seven volumes. This new world-picture also in details describes the
chemical processes of the living planet Earth. In 1992 the twelfth book about
Earth energies or Ley lines by Paul Devereux was published as SYMBOLIC
LANDSCAPES with the subtitle, 'The Dreamtime Earth and Avebury's Open
Secrets.' Its about ancient worldviews, how they differed from ours, and why.
This topic is taken both figuratively AND literally - how did our ancestors
ACTUALLY PERCEIVE the landscape. Ancient people are still offering us their
wisdom, through their sacred sites and landscapes where they have become
extinct, or through the knowledge and traditions still nurtured by their
decimated descendants. This in effect amounts to a kind of transcultural,
perennial manual of how to understand our minds and our planet - the two sides
of the same coin, as this book argues. The wisdom is being offered, if we are
prepared to pay attention. The baton is being passed on: can we take hold of
it? - If we do not, then we miss our last chance, for the time of traditional
and indigenous peoples is now drawing to a close, so let us from now study the
Earth as a living creature with the LEYS as its meridian lines. # 11 - 184 -
431 - 471 - 473 - 639 - 705 LIA (lee'a) Lord of Luachar, treasurer to the Clan Morna; slain by Finn; father
of Conan. # 562 LIA FAIL, THE (lee'a fawl) See: STONE OF DESTINY. LIADIN She was a poet whom Cuirithir fell in love with. He remarked that a child
of their union would be famous, which offended her so much that she forsook
poetry and became a nun. Cuirithir then became a monk. Both regretted their
hasty action and, though they loved each other until death, they were never
again united in the flesh. The cycle of poems telling of their pain and love
is as touching and bitter as that correspondence between the tragic lovers
Abelaird and Heloise. # 454 LIAGAN (lee'a-gan) A pirate slain by Conan mac Morna. # 562 LIANOUR A duke, ruler of the Castle of Maidens. # 156 LIATH MACHA (le'ah ma'ha) 'The Grey of Macha.' One of CuChulain's chariot horses. #
166 LIBAN (le'van) # 156: 1. A daughter of King Ban and mother of illegitimate twins
by Pandragus. # 166: Messenger of Fann; wife of Labraid. # 100: 2. Liban was
one of the daughters of Eochaid and presumably of Etain. In the year 90 a
sacred spring which had been sacrilegiously neglected overflowed its bounds
and formed the great water of Lough Neagh. Eochaid and all his family were
overwhelmed and drowned, except his two sons, Conang and Curman, and his
daughter Liban. Liban was indeed swept away by the waters, but she and her pet
dog were supernaturally preserved and carried into a subaqueous cave where she
spent a year in her bower with no company except her little dog. She grew
weary of this after a time, and prayed to God that she might be turned into a
salmon and swim around with the shoals of fish that passed her bower. God so
far granted her prayer as to give her the tail of a salmon, but from the navel
upwards she retained the shape of a beautiful woman. Her dog was turned into
an otter, and the two swam round together for 300 years or more. In this time
Ireland had become Christian and St Comgall had become Bishop of Bangor. One
day Comgall dispatched one of his clergy, Beoc, to Rome to consult Pope
Gregory about some matters of order and rule. As they sailed they were
accompanied by a very sweet voice singing from under the water. It was so
sweet that Beoc thought that it must be an angel's voice. At that Liban spoke
from under the water and said: 'It is I who am singing. I am no angel, but
Liban the daughter of Eochaid, and for 300 years I have been swimming the
seas, and I implore you to meet me, with the holy men of Bangor, at Inver
Ollarba. I pray you tell St Comball what I have said, and let them all come
with nets and boats to draw me out of the sea.' Beoc promised to do as she
asked, pressed on on his errand, and before the year was over had returned
from Rome, in time to tell St Comgall of Liban's prayer. On the appointed day
a fleet of boats was there, and Liban was drawn out of the water by Beoan, son
of Inli. They half-filled the boat in which she was caught with water, and
crowds of people came to see her swimming around. A dispute arose as to who
had the right to her. St Comgall thought she was his as she was caught in his
diocese; Beoc claimed her because she had made her appeal to him; and even the
man who had drawn her out of the sea staked his claim. To avoid dissension all
the saints of Bangor embarked on a night of fasting and prayer. An angel spoke
to them and said that on the next morning a yoke of two oxen would come to
them. They were to put Liban into a chariot and harness the oxen to it;
wherever they stopped, that was the territory. It was a method employed in
many saints' legends to settle the place where a church should be erected, and
the expedient did not fail this time. The oxen drew their chariot undoubtingly
to Beoc's church, Teo-da-Beoc. There she was given her choice whether to die
immediately and ascend at once to heaven or to stay on the earth as long as
she had lived in the sea, and to ascend to heaven after 300 years. She chose
immediate death. St Comgall baptized her by the name of Murgen, or 'sea-born',
and she made her entry into heaven. She was accounted one of the Holy Virgins,
and signs and wonders were done through her means in Teo-daBeoc. # 100 - 156 -
166 - 351 LIBEARN The stepmother of Alexander, Prince of India, she turned him by magic into
the Crop-Eared Dog. # 156 LICAT ANIR A mound at Archenfield which marked the burial place of Arthur's son, Amr.
The length of the mound was said to vary each time it was measured. # 156 -
494 LICONAUS See: ENID. LIDOINE In CLARIS ET LARIS, the sister of Laris and daugther of Henry, Emperor of
Germany. Her first husband was King Ladon of Gascony, a man of advancing
years, after whose demise she was captured by Savari, King of Spain. Arthur
rescued her and she married Laris' companion, Claris. # 30 -
156 LIGESSAC A fugitive from Arthur who took sanctuary with Saint Cadoc for ten years. #
156 LIGHT OF BEAUTY See: SGEIMH SOLAIS. LIGHTNING Lightning became the 'Golden Lance,' Lanceor, an archaic name for Lancelot
in the Grail cycle of myths. It was also the sword Excalibur, which Geoffrey
of Monmouth called Caliburn, from the Welsh Caledvwich, Irish Caladbolg: old
names for the lightning. # 701 p 343 LILE The lady of Avalon who brought to Arthur's court a sword that only Balin
could drawn from its scabbard. When he had done so, she asked him to return
it. When he refused, she foretold it would bring about his destruction and
kill his dearest friend. # 1 - 44 LINNUIS The scene of four of Arthur's battles in the catalogue of Nennius. It may
be identical with Lindsey. # 156 LINTON WORM A worm or dragon supposed in the twelfth century to have infested the small
parish of Linton in Roxburghshire. It was probably a legless worm and had a
poisonous breath, which destroyed the cattle and men which it devoured. It was destroyed by Somerville of Lariston, who thrust a peat dipped in
burning pitch down the throat of the monster. This not only neutralized its
poisonous breath but burned out its entrails. The spiral ridges on Wormington
Hill still bear witness to the worm's dying agonies. In the same way,
Assipatle killed the Meister Stoorworm. Further details of the Linton Worm are
given by William Henderson in FOLK LORE OF THE NORTHERN COUNTIES. # 100 -
302 LION Lions occur in various Arthurian tales. Although the animal is unknown in
Britain, Boece, a historian who lived in Scotland in the sixteenth century,
claims that lions once existed in Scotland. Breunor slew one, as did Gawain.
Owain had a lion as a companion and the story of Androcles may have been an
influence here. The lions mentioned as having been slain by Kay on Anglesey in
PA GUR may have been creatures of a supernatural nature. #
156 LIONEL The son of the elder Bors and the brother of the younger Bors, he was a
fierce character to whom Arthur gave the throne of Gaul. After Arthur's death,
he was slain by Melehan, son of Mordred. See: COLGREVANCE, and ILLE ESTRANGE.
# 156 - 418 LIONES The kingdom ruled by Meliodas, Tristan's father, thought by some to be
identical with Lyonesse. In the VULGATE VERSION, Lot is said to be its king;
if this is the case then Liones is also Lothian. Its early history is supplied
by the PROSE TRISTAN: one of its kings, Pelias, was succeeded by his son,
Lucius. Lucius was succeeded by Apollo who unwittingly married his mother but
later wed Gloriande. by whom he became the father of Candaces the later king
of Liones and Cornwall. # 156 - 243 - 604 - 712 LIONORS The daughter of Sevain, she was the mother of Arthur's son, Loholt. Malory
calls her the mother of Arthur's illegitimate son Borre, possibly identical
with Loholt. See: LOHOLT. # 156 - 418 - 604 LIR (leer) 1. Sea-god, father of Mananan, and Lodan and grandparent of Sinend.
2. Cymric deity Llyr corresponds with Lir. Lir appears in two distinct forms.
In the first he is a vast, impersonal presence commensurate with the sea; in
fact, the Greek Oceanus. In the second, he is a separate person dwelling
invisibly on Slieve Fuad in Co. Armagh. We hear little of him in Irish legend,
where the attributes of the sea-god are mostly conferred on his son, Mananan.
# 562 LISMORE In 'The Dean of Lismore's Book,' by James Macgregor, Dean of Lismore is
described. # 562 LISS An area surrounded by a wall; usually the enclosure between the wall and
the houses of a fortified place; the outer court of a chieftain's dun.#
166 LISTINOISE A kingdom that became the Waste Land when its monarch, Pellehan, was given
the Dolorous Stroke. # 156 LIT MERVEILLE A wondrous bed. Gawain went to rescue certain captives from a palace and,
on entering, he saw the bed scudding around on its own. Gawain jumped onto it
and it shot from wall to wall dashing itself against them. When it ceased its
gallivanting 500 pebbles were unleashed at Gawain from slingstaves. Crossbow
bolts were then aimed at him but happily his armour was sufficient to protect
him. # 156 LITTLE OLD MAN OF THE BARN, THE See: BODACHAN SABHAILL. LITTLE SALKELD STONE CIRCLE Near the village of Little Salkeld in Cumbria, is the ancient stone circle
dominated by a vast outlier called Long Meg. The circle of 65 stones was
probably constructed about 2,500 years ago, and is now associated with many
witchcraft legends, such as how Long Meg and her daughters, once living
witches, were petrified and stuck on this headland for all time. #
702 LITTLE WASHER BY THE FORD A euphemistic name for the Banshee and the Bean-Nighe. #
100 LLACHEU A son of Arthur mentioned in Welsh tradition. He was identified with
Loholt, but they were probably different characters originally. Arthur's
illegitimate son by Lysanor, according to ancient Welsh texts. Nothing is
known of him except for a later medieval story which tells of his murder by
Kay. His head was sent to Arthur and Guinevere in a wooden casket. He is also
called Borre or Boare in other versions. # 104 - 156 -
454 LLAMHIGYN Y DWR (thlamheegin er doorr) (The Water-Leaper) The Water-Leaper was the villain
of Welsh fishermen's tales, a kind of water-demon which broke the fishermen's
lines, devoured sheep which fell into the rivers, and was in the habit of
giving a fearful shriek which startled and unnerved the fisher man so that he
could be dragged down into the water to share the fate of the sheep. Rhys,
from a second-hand account of it given him by William Jones of Llangollen,
learned that this monster was like a gigantic toad with wings and a tail
instead of legs. # 100 - 554 LLAMREI Arthur's mare. # 156 LLASSAR LLAES GYFNEWID (HLASS-ar lyze GUNG-wud) Husband of Kymideu Kymeinvoll, giver of magic
cauldron to Bran. A giant who lived under a lake in Ireland and emerged
bearing the Cauldron of rebirth on his back. His wife Cymidei Cymeinfoll, was
twice as big as he and bore a child every six weeks. Within six more weeks
each child was as big as a fully-armed warrior. Matholwch took them both in
but soon grew tired of them and had the whole family confined in an iron house
which was then heated from without. Only Llassar and his wife escaped with the
cauldron, which they then gave to Bran, with whom they settled peaceably. #
272 - 439 - 454 - 562 LLENLLEAWC or LLWCH LLAWWYANAWC or LLEMINAWC or LLENLLAWC. The name of a companion of
Arthur in CULHWCH. An Irishman, he helped Arthur to seize the cauldron which
belonged to Diwrnach. He is to be identified with Llwch Lleminawc in PREIDDU
ANNWFN. There is a possibility he was the prototype of Lancelot. Equivalent to
Llew and Lugh. # 156 - 260 - 346 LLEU (hlye) See: LOT. LLEVELYS - LLEFELYS (hlev-ELL-iss) Son of Beli; story of Ludd (Nudd) and Llevelys. (THE
MABINOGION). King of France. See: DINAS EMRYS, and LLUDD. # 156 -
562 LLEW LLAW GYFFES (hluu hlow guff-EZ) Otherwise 'The Lion of the Sure Hand.' A hero the
subject of the tale 'Math Son of Mathonwy'; identical with the Gaelic deity
Lugh of the Long Arm; the flowerwife of Llew Llaw Gyffes, named Blodeuwedd;
slays Gronw Pebyr, who had betrayed him. The infant was brought up under
Gwydion's protection. Like other solar heroes, he grew very rapidly; when he
was four he was as big as if he were eight, and the comeliest youth that ever
was seen. One day Gwydion took him to visit his mother Arianrhod. She hated
the children who had exposed her false pretensions, and upbraided Gwydion for
bringing the boy into her sight. 'What is his name?' she asked. 'Verily,' said
Gwydion, 'he has not yet a name.' 'Then I lay this destiny upon him,' said
Arianrhod, 'that he shall never have a name till one is given him by me.' On
this Gwydion went forth in wrath. It must be remembered that Gwydion is, in
the older mythology, the father of Arianrhod's children. He was resolved to have a name for his son. Next day he went to the strand
below Caer Arianrhod, bringing the boy with him. Here he sat down by the
beach, and in his character of a master of magic he made himself look like a
shoemaker, and the boy like an apprentice, and he began to make shoes out of
sedges and seawood, to which he gave the semblance of Cordovan leather. Word
was brought to Arianrhod of the wonderful shoes that were being made by a
strange cobbler, and a couple of times she sent her measures for a pair. But
Gwydion either made them too big or too small, so that she eventually had to
show up herself to be fitted. While this was going on, a wren came and lit on
the boat's mast, and the boy, taking up a bow, shot an arrow that transfixed
the leg between the sinew and the bone. Arianrhod admired the brilliant shot.
'Verily,' she said, 'with a steady hand (llaw gyffes) did the lion (llew) hit
it.' 'No thanks to thee,' cried Gwydion, 'now he has got a name. LLew Llaw
Gyffes shall he be called henceforward.' We have seen that the name really
means the same thing as the Gaelic Lugh Lamfada, Lugh (Light) of the Long Arm;
so that we have here an instance of a legend growing up round a misunderstood
name inherited from a half-forgotten mythology. # 562 LLONGAD GRWRM FARGOD EIDYN The killer of Addaon, son of Taliesin. # 156 - 346 LLONGBORTH Arthur's men took part in a battle here. The Red Book of Hergest says
Gereint was killed in this fracas, but the preferred text of the Black Book of
Carmarthen does not mention this. # 156 LLUAGOR Caradoc Briefbras's horse. # 156 LLUDD (hlooth) (See also: NUDD.) Son of Beli, brother to Llefelys. He was King of
Britain and rebuilt London Town, which is named after him. Three plagues came
upon Britain: a race called the Coronians who knew what-ever was spoken; a
shriek which was heard on May Eve and which blighted crops, killed animals and
children and made women barren; and the disappearance of the King's
provisions. Lludd sought the counsel of Llefelys, who told him that the
Coronians could be overthrown by their drinking an infusion of crushed insects
in water; that the shriek was caused by dragons who were trapped at the exact
centre of Britain, and who could be overcome by strong mead then buried there;
and that the thief of the provisions was a man of power who cast sleep on the
court and stole the food. Lludd overcame all three. - The story of the dragons
is analogous to those in Merlin's story, while the thief of provisions is
perhaps associated with Gwyddno Garanhir. These plagues are due to the reign
of an unworthy king. # 272 - 454 LLWCH LLEMINAWC See: LANCELOT, and LLENLLEAWC. LLWYD AP CIL COED # 454: The cousin of Gwawl. He set the land of Dyfed under enchantment and
spirited away both Pryderi and Rhiannon to a period of servitude in the
Underworld. He was defeated by Manawyddan. # 562: Son of Kilcoed, an enchanter; removes magic spell from seven
Cantrevs of Dyfed, and from Pryderi and Rhiannon. # 454 -
562 LLYCHLYN Welsh name for Scandinavia but, like the analogous Irish Lochlann, it may
originally have signified an Otherworld realm. Blaes, a character in the
TRIADS who is apparently identical with Blaise, the master of Merlin, is
called the son of the Earl of Llychlyn. # 156 LLYN BARFOG A lake in Gwynedd where Arthur is said to have fought an afanc. #
156 LLYR # 562: (thleer) In Welsh legend, father of Manawyddan; Irish equivalents,
Lir and Mananan; Llyr-cester (now Leicester) once a centre of the worship of
Llyr; house of Llyr corresponds with Gaelic Lir; Penardun, daughter of Dôn
(Don), wife of Llyr. # 454: Also the father of Bran, Branwen, Efnissien and
Nissien, according to BRANWEN, DAUGHTER OF LLYR. His name means 'of the sea'.
He is cognate with the Irish Lir and King Lear of Geoffrey of Monmouth and
Shakespeare, but there seems to be no correspondence in the stories of Llyr
and King Lear by Shakespeare. He is said to be one of the three notable
prisoners of Britain in the TRIADS. He is also called Lludd Llaw Ereint
(Silver Hand), analogous to Nuadu and Nodens. # 100 - 104 - 272 - 439 - 454 -
562 LLYR MARINI An ancestor of Arthur, both paternal and maternal, who occurs in Welsh
pedigrees. In origin he may have been a divinity of the sea (Welsh: llyr) who
was regarded as the ancestor of a number of royal houses. He would seem to be
the original of Shakespeare's King Lear. See: CARADOC - and CARADOC BRIEFBRAS
- and MANAWYDAN. # 57 - 156 LLYS Llys is an old Briton word for court-designating either the place of
meeting, or the meeting itself. # 383 p 166 ff LLYWARCH HEN A celebrated Welsh poet who may have flourished about the year AD 600. He
was said to have been a cousin of Urien of Rheged. Traditions variously place
him among the North Britons or in Powys. He may once have figured in
independent tales but later been drawn into the Arthurian circle. He was
listed as one of the Twenty-Four Knights of Arthur. #
156 LOATHLY LADY The figure of the hag, cailleach or Loathly Lady is widespread in Celtic
literature from early times up to the Arthurian cycle. Her appearance in these
later stories attests to the persistent tradition of Sovereignty, who is the
personification of the land and in whose gift lies its kingship. She appears
to the kingly-candidate as a hag of hideous appearance and asks him to kiss
her: his acceptance as king is thus shown, since he is willing to embrace all
that kingship entails, and the Loathly Lady becomes a fair maiden once more,
becoming his consort. In later Arthurian tradition, she appears as the Grail
messenger: Sovereignty disguised as a hag who walks the land, guiding and
testing the Grail candidate. She rebukes Perceval for failing to ask the Grail
Question. She appears as Ragnell and marries Gawain (Arthur's champion and
heir), helping Arthur to successfully answer the question 'What is it women
desire most?' - the answer being Sovereignty (diminished to 'her own way' in
later versions). In Parzival she becomes Cundrie in whom her capacity for
wisdom is most marked. See: NIALL OF THE NINE HOSTAGES, and LADIES OF THE
LAKE. # 152 - 185 - 438 - 454 - 461 - 507 LOCH Son of Mofebis, champion sent by Maev against CuChulain; wounds CuChulain,
but is slain by him. # 562 LOCH ASHIE, HIGHLAND To the north-western end of Loch Ashie (north-east of Dores) is a large
boulder called by the locals 'Fingal's Seat'. It is said that in ancient times
the legendary Fingal (see STAFFA) led his Fianna into battle at this spot
against the Norsemen (the men of Lochlann) under their leader Ashie. According
to local tradition, this battle is re-enacted as a silent phantom-play soon
after dawn on the first of May. When the ghostly battle was observed in 1870,
the curious happening was 'explained' in terms of its being a long-distance
'mirage reflection' of men who were even at that time fighting in the
Franco-Prussian war. The same phantom battle was also seen during the First
World War. An equally 'phantom' battle was said to have been seen near a small
well on the road from Uig to Portree in Skye, on 15 April 1746, with the ghost
of a young man watching the battle and lamenting. On the following day the
battle of Culloden was fought, and the Scots defeated. A few days later, the
fleeing Prince Charles drank at the same small well, and the locals
immediately took the earlier vision as a presage of the disaster which
occurred at Culloden. # 702 LOCH DERGDEIRC See: PLACE NAME STORIES. LOCH GARA Lake in Roscommon; mac Cecht's visit to Loch Gara. #
562 LOCH RURY Fergus mac Leda was never tired of exploring the depths of the lakes and
rivers of Ireland; but one day, in Loch Rury, he met with a hideous monster,
the MUIRDRIS, or river-horse, which inhabited that lake, and from which he
barely saved himself by flying to the shore. With the terror of this encounter
his face was twisted awry; but since a blemished man could not hold rule in
Ireland, his queen and nobles took pains, on some pretext, to banish all
mirrors from the palace, and kept the knowledge of his condition from him. One
day, however, he smote a bondmaid with a switch, for some negligence, and the
maid, indignant, cried out: 'It were better for thee, Fergus, to avenge
thyself on the river-horse that hath twisted thy face than to do brave deeds
on women!' Fergus bade fetch him a mirror, and looked in it. 'It is true,' he
said; 'the river-horse of Loch Rury has done this thing.' The conclusion may
be given in the words of Sir Ferguson's fine poem on this theme. Fergus donned
the magic shoes, took sword in hand, and went to Loch Rury: 'For a day and night This fine tale has been published in full from an Egerton MS., by Standish
Hayes O'Grady, in his SILVA GADELICA. The humorous treatment of the fairy
element in the story would mark it as belonging to a late period of Irish
legend, but the tragic and noble conclusion unmistakingly signs it as
belonging to the Ulster bardic literature, and it falls within the same order
of ideas, if it were not composed within the same period, as the tales of
CuChulain. # 504 - 562 LOCH RYVE Maev retires to island on Loch Ryve, and is slain there by Forbay. #
562 LOCRINUS Eldest son of Brutus. He ruled over Loegria or England. He fell in love
with Estrildis, daughter of the King of Germany, forsaking his wife Guendolena
who subsequently defeated him in battle. His name is the basis for the name of
England which is used in Arthurian legend and in modern Welsh: Loegres or
Logres. # 243 - 454 LODAN Son of Lir, father of goddess Sinend. # 562 LOEG (leekh) LOEGAIRE # 454: He was CuChulain's charioteer and, with him, one of the heroes whom
Bririu baited at his feast, he visited Mag Mell and there rescued its queen,
Fiachna's wife from abductors. In reward, Loegaire was given Sun-Tear for his
wife. He remained in the Otherworld for a year before becoming homesick.
Fiachna gave him a horse on which to return home but before he dismounted, he
realized how much better was Mag Mell. In a variant text, he stopped a spear
intended for CuChulain and died. # 166: Sedland, son of Riangabar, was the
charioteer of Loegaire, and Loeg mac Riangabra, Sedland's brother was
CuChulain's charioteer. See also: LOEGAIRE BUADACH and LOEGAIRE MAC NEILL. #
166 - 266 - 454 LOEGAIRE BUADACH (la'â re boo'yah) 'Leary the Triumphant.' A famous hero of Ulster; son of
Connad mac Iliach. # 166 LOEGAIRE MAC NEILL (la'â re moc na'il) Leary mac Neil, king of Ireland in the fifth century;
converted by St Patrick. # 166 LOGRES The name of England in Arthurian romance. It comes from Lloegr, the Welsh
name for England, perhaps derived from Anglo-Saxon Legor, an element
found in the place name of Leicester (See also LLYR). The derivation of this
Legor is puzzling. Logres remains the name for the 'inner' Britain as
the secret heart of the land. See: LOCRINUS. # 153-156 - 185 - 434 - 454 -
461 LOHENGRIN # 156: The son of Perceval in Wolfram and one of the Grail community.
Lohengrin went to Brabant in a boat drawn by an angel, disguised as a swan, to
aid Elsa the duke's daughter against Frederic de Telramund, who claimed she
had promised to marry him. Lohengrin defeated Telramund in combat and married
Elsa but cautioned her not to ask his name. They had two children but Elsa
eventually posed the forbidden question, whereupon Lohengrin left her.
Lohengrin subsequently married Princess Belaye of Lizaborye, but he was
murdered by armed men sent by her parents who thought he had enchanted her.
Belaye died of grief. The country's name was changed to Lothringen (Lorraine)
in his honour. Lohengrin's adventures are told by Wolfram and in a subsequent
anonymous poem (RIGOMER). # 562: Loherangrain, Knight of the Swan. Son of
Parzival. # 156 - 562 LOHOLT A son of Arthur, he was a Knight of the Round Table. He is variously called
the son of Guinevere or of Lionors. He was murdered by Kay in PERLESVAUS, the
author of which may have invented this episode. See: LLACHEU. #
112-156 LOMBARDY In Arthurian romance, the territory of King Ladis. This region had not yet
been conquered by the Lombards, however, in the Arthurian period. #
156 LONDON, LEGENDARY HISTORY In 'The Aquarian Guide to Legendary London' (p 21), Nigel Pennick says:
Various London legends exist concerning the prehistoric kings of Britain, who,
although recorded in medieval chronicles, are considered by the historians of
today to be nothing more than fables. For example, Bladud, father of Leir,
prototype of Shakespeare's King Lear, was reputed to be the first British
monarch to die in an aviation accident. According to THE BRITISH HISTORY,
TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH FROM THE LATIN OF JEFFREY OF MONMOUTH by Aaron
Thompson, London 1743, 'This prince was a very ingenious Man, and taught
Necromancy in his Kingdom, nor left off pursuing his Magical Operations, till
he attempted to fly to the upper Region of the Air with Wings he had prepared,
and fell down upon the Temple of Apollo in the City of Trinovantium
(London), where he was dashed to pieces.' His burial-place is not recorded,
but that of King Lud is. In the nineteenth century, 'King Lud' was the
pseudonym used by machinebreakers in their vain attempts to stem the tide of
the Industrial Revolution. But, unlike an alternative name for
machine-breakers, 'Captain Swing', this name was taken from one of the
prehistoric kings of Britain, after whom London was supposed to be named.
According to Geoffrey of Monmouth, 'When Lud died, his body was buried in the
above-mentioned city (London), near the gateway which in the British language
is still called after him "Porthlud", though in Saxon it bears the name
Ludgate.' Although the legend is discounted now, in 1260 the gate was repaired
and statues of Lud and his two sons, Androgeus and Tenuantius, were erected
there. Not far away, Billingsgate, for many centuries London's fish market, is
said to be named after King Belinus, for, when he died, his ashes were placed
in a bronze (or golden) urn on top of the gate. It is probable that the site of Lud's burial was the sepulchre of the old
kings of Britain, now occupied by the church of St Martin's within-Ludgate.
This is indicated by a strange legend which tells of the body of the Welsh
king, Cadwal II (Cadwallon II of Gwynedd), penultimate King of Britain, being
taken there for burial after his death in battle. He fell with his Welsh
warriors fighting on the side of the pagan Mercians against the Christian
Northumbrians at the Battle of Hefenfelth in the year 634. At the time, London
was officially pagan, having expelled Mellitus, the Archbishop, on the death
of King Sebert, first Christian king of the East Saxons, when London was
re-paganized. Because of this, the archbishopric of the south of England,
which followed the old Roman imperial organization in having London as its
centre, was set up at Canterbury, where it remains to this day. If the Cadwal
story is true, then it was the last recognition that a British king should be
buried at the traditional site, despite the change in rulership of London from
Britain to Saxon. An earlier royal burial, that of the Icenian queen,
Boudicca, is reputed to be located under platform 10 at King's Cross main-line
station. The place where the station was built by the Great Northern Railway
in 1852 was called Battle Bridge, the alleged site of her last, fatal, battle
with the Roman army. Another of her reputed sepulchres, however, was a tumulus
on Primrose Hill which in 1811 was used by the Masonic architect John Nash as
a survey-point for laying out Regent's Park. # 460 LONDON, WILLIAM BLAKE'S Bernard Nesfield-Cookson contribute with an essay entitled 'William Blake's
Spiritual Four-fold City', in The Aquarian Guide to Legendary London (p 48).
William Blake born 28 November 1757, in London, and died, in London, on 12
August, 1827, saw the city of London as being ruled by a rigid system of
oppression, as a manifestation of a closed system in which every aspect of
life is codified. No freedom of expression, creative energy, individual
feeling, thought and will, is permitted. Thus, for instance, the priest of
organized religion in Blake's poem, 'A little Boy Lost', makes a martyr of a
child who cannot comprehend and accept an abstract God somewhere above the
clouds, but sees the divine both within himself and in 'the little bird/That
picks up crumbs around the door'. Any attempt to break through the rigid
boundaries of dogma and tradition is regarded by the Establishment as being
dangerous. It is impossible to know whether Blake had already begun the poem at
Felpham, and, if so, how much was written there. But as surely as Milton
breathes the atmosphere of the paradisal cottage, JERUSALEM reflects the
sombre grandeur of London: In Felpham I heard and saw the Visions of Albion This great poem, with its superb engraved pages, was to be Blake's
companion over many years. During the years in South Molton Street, JERUSALEM
was Blake's life, but not his livelihood. When he left Felpham it was
understood that he was to continue to work for Hayley, and there was much
correspondance on the plates of the LIFE OF ROMNEY which was to follow
Cowper's LIFE. The bitterest irony in the story of Blake's failures and humiliations is
that he was never unknown; on the contrary, he was in the heart of London's
art world, and knew all the most famous artists and engravers of his day. And
yet he failed where they succeeded, ousted by men of inferior talents and
passed over by lifelong friends. Against the really new the passive resistance
of every society is mustered; and Blake's (or Swedenborg's) New Age is even
now still only in its birth-pangs. One of the stories of his last days tells
us - 'his glance fell on his loving Kate, no longer young or beautiful, but
who had lived with him in these and like humble rooms, in hourly
companionship, ever ready helpfulness, and reverent sympathy, for now
forty-five years... "Stay!" he cried, "Keep as you are! YOU have ever been an
angel to me: I will draw you!" And a portrait was struck off by a hand which
approaching death - few days distant now - had not weakened nor benumbed.' The
last work to come from Blake's hand was this hasty pencil drawing (now lost)
of the faithful companion of his life's hard journey. He died singing his own
songs of praise and joy in the vision which illuminated his death, as it had
sustained and inspired his life. # 460 - 538 LONGHCREW Great tumulus at Loughcrew supposed burying-place of Ollav Fola. #
562 LORD See: BREAD LORETE The sister of Griflet. # 156 LORICA LUIRECH A breastplate. # 166 LOST CELTIC CHRISTIANITY See: CELTIC CHRISTIANITY, LOST. LOST LANDS AND SUNKEN CITIES 'Everyone who has ever studied geography at school knows the familiar
outline of the British coast; an outline that appears on modern maps showing
topographical, meteorological, administrative and historical information. But
although we can be certain that on historical maps, every place-name, road and
trackway has been painstakingly checked and re-checked by eminent
archaeologists, historians and archivists, the familiar coastal outline is
ever-present. Despite the meticulous research behind them, modern historical
maps of prehistoric or Roman Britain are invariably inaccurate for they fail
to take account of far-reaching changes in the coastline. Apart from the
more-or-less legendary lost lands like Lyonesse, which is said to have existed
between Cornwall and the Scillies, large tracts of coastal land have vanished
from mainland Britain over the last two thousand years.' These words commences
the introduction in Nigel Pennick's book LOST LANDS AND SUNKEN CITIES (1987),
and the author continues: 'Whilst some of these territories are remembered
only in folklore or legend, others are well documented, having disappeared in
the last few centuries. In some places the coastline is now several miles
inland of its former position. Flourishing towns have been obliterated,
coastal farmland overwhelmed, and forest eradicated. The singular lack of
readily available information on coastal changes has made historians loath to
admit their far-reaching significance, yet, without the study of lost legends,
many historical documents remain incomprehensible, and the peculiar
geographical patterns inland of now-lost territories remain anomalous. This
lack of recognition may have been born of ignorance of geophysical processes,
of a false assumption that the status quo represents an eternal state,
or even from reasons of nationalistic pride; for what patriot would care to
admit that Britain, in whose defence he would die rather than yield a square
inch of territory, annually lost many acres to the sea? Whatever the reasons
for this serious omission, it is a fact that the coastline has altered
drastically over the years. The data in this book has been collated from many
sources: old chronicles, ancient legends, folk-tales, Inquisition and surveys,
old maps and hydrographic charts, parish records and county histories.
Sometimes fragmentary, sometimes with a wealth of detail, these accounts all
testify to the incessant battle of the sea against the land, a battle
continuing at this very moment. Modern scholarship has often found it
fashionable to attempt to discredit the testimony of tradition, yet time and
again local lore has been exonerated by archaeological excavation. In the case
of legendary 'treasures' in burial mounds, this verification has been easy,
but with lost lands and vanished towns the gleaning of evidence of that kind
is much more difficult. Sometimes, actual fragments of buildings are found.
In June 1981, divers studying the site of the lost city of Dunwich found a
stone capital from a medieval building over a quarter of a mile from the
present shore. But such finds are rare (# 515). Comparison of old maps with
the present-day geography is usually more fruitful. Many ancient maps, despite
the relative unsophistication of ancient instruments, were tolerably accurate,
and provide indicators towards areas of study. Ptolemy's map of the British
Isles, for instance, whilst considerably inaccurate for the coast of Scotland,
tallies reasonably well with the rest of the country, and has the added bonus
of possessing a record of latitudes and longitudes for important promontories.
From Ptolemy's map we can adduce some interesting observations pertinent to
the understanding of coastal changes since 150 AD. Although the map shows the
Isle of Wight, it omits Anglesea, which in Roman times was separated from the
mainland only by a fordable creek. Cornwall, too, is shown considerably larger
than at present, presumably because Lyonesse was in existence then. The Merceyside geomantic researcher Edward Cox showed the correspondences
between Ptolemy's map and the traditional extent of the lost lands bordering
the Irish Sea: Morecambe Bay, too, is scarcely shown on Ptolemy's map, which
fit in precisely with the known late date of its formation. Many ancient and
Renaissance maps show a geography considerably different from that of today.
During the last couple of centuries, this varience has been viewed as fanciful
invention or just plain inaccuracy, yet several modern archaelogical
cartographers have pointed out the uncanny correspondences between these
ancient maps and the Earth's geography thousands of years ago. The maps of
Ptolemy, Piri Re'is, Andreas Benincasa, Oroniaus Finaeus and Haji Ahmed have
all been shown to contain features lost to knowledge in their day but
re-discovered during the twentieth century. The Zeno brothers' Map, dating, it
is said, from an exploratory voyage undertaken by the Venetians in 1380, shows
much of the coastline of northern Europe including Iceland and Greenland. In
the seas around Iceland, the Zeno brothers depict several islands that today
are no more than sandbanks known for their fishing potential. According to the
map, some of these islands were inhabited with towns and cities. Perhaps we
have here the last relics of more ancient maps from which were copied the
sites of Thule, Numinor and Hy-Brasil, now lost beneath the waves and
relegated to the realm of myth. In addition to maps, there are written
sources. For example, it is recorded that as late as the fourth century, the
Scillies, now an archipelago of many islets, was but a single large island. In
the year 387, a heretic was banished there by the would-be Emperor Maximus.
Geomantic and geographical evidence is found in the patterns formed by seaside
roads that now lead nowhere but to the cliff or beach, which, formerly, were
access to towns. The unusual distribution of megalithic chambered tombs in
Wales and Lancashire also points to the existence of lands now engulfed by the
ocean. Relics of lost lands may still be found today in the intertidal zone at
low tide. The remains of forests, universally termed 'submarine forests' have
been reported on the coasts of Wales, Lancashire, Holderness, Lincolnshire,
Norfolk, Kent and Sussex. The anchorage of Selsey Bill in Sussex, known as the
Park, was formerly real parkland, full of game, presided over by a great Saxon
cathedral that has long since sunk beneath the waves. The notorious Goodwin
Sands, graveyard of many a ship, formerly farmland, was overwhelmed in a great
flood, and all around the coasts were towns which once flourished and lived
the colourful lives of ports, trading centres and fishing communities. Some
perished rapidly, engulfed by the raging elements, whilst others fought a
protracted rearguard action against the inexorable onward march of the waves,
until the last building was grudgingly abandoned to the victorious sea. With
all the lost villages, towns and cities documented here, it is not surprising
that a whole mythology and folklore of lost lands has been built up. Despite
sometimes fanciful details, the legends almost certainly record actual events.
For example, several tell of a man riding on horseback in front of a
rapidly-advancing tidal wave overwhelming his homeland. Such a tale may appear
to be an embellishment until one finds that comparable details were recorded
about the 1953 and 1978 East Anglian flood disasters. Unless they had occurred
in modern times and had been documented, they would have been dismissed as
myth; like those towns whose sole relics are their names, handed down from
antiquity to the present day. Even though the construction of
scientifically-designed sea walls over the last hundred years or so has
diminished the incidence of coastal destruction, there is still much evidence
of erosion. Villages stand on cliff-tops, pale fragments of their former
selves. Roads lead nowhere but over the edges of cliffs. Parishes, without
churches, are reduced to a handful of fields, and cliff-falls periodically
inform us that part of these islands are still disappearing into the sea.
During the nineteenth century, it was estimated that the sea around the coast
of Britain washed away land equivalent in area to that of the old county of
London. Worldwide, the estimate is twelve square miles a year. In an era when coastal defences were less perfect, even absent, it is
apparent that a not inconsiderable area of our coastline has been claimed by
the sea, and with a large number of towns and villages, each with their own
peculiar history and character. Perhaps in the distant future, some British
coastal cities, whose names are familiar in every household, might also be
remembered only as 'lost cities', engulfed in some cataclysm yet to come.
There is a wealth of lore and recorded history concerning lost Britain, but
space precludes comprehensive details of every known event and anecdote. In
the following pages, however, beginning at Chapter Six, we explore the major
areas of coastal losses, with their associated legends and histories, and
attempt to mention most of the known lost towns and villages that once graced
these inconstant shores.'# 515 - 521 LOT The King of Lothian, Orkney and Norway, father of Gawain and his brothers,
husband of Arthur's sister Anna (according to Geoffrey) or Morgause (according
to Malory). In Geoffrey he is represented as a supporter of Arthur, already
King of Lothian, whom Arthur placed on the throne of Norway. The idea that he
was King of Orkney seems a later development. Elsewhere, however, it is stated
that he took part in the rebellion against Arthur at the start of his reign.
He was killed by Pellinore and a resultant discord existed between Lot's sons
and those of Pellinore. - The name Lot (in its earlier form Leudonus) simply
means 'Lothian-ruler' and need not to be taken as a personal name (see also
GWYAR). It seems certain that there was a king in the Lothian area in the
fifth century whose headquarters were at Traprain Law, near Edinburgh. - Lot's
sons in Arthurian lore included Gawain, Gaheris, Agravain, Gareth and Mordred,
and his daughters were Soredamor and Clarrisant. The ENFANCES GAUVAIN says
that the young Lot was a page at Arthur's court and that he had an intrigue
with Morgause, as a result of which Gawain was conceived. The LIFE OF ST
KENTIGERN says that he was the father of Thaney, Kentigern's mother - assuming
that the same Lot is being referred to. Boece claims Lot was the king of the
Picts. As to his ancestry, John of Fordun in his CHRONICA GENTIS SCOTORUM
claims he was descended from Fulgentius, one of Geoffrey's early kings of
Britain. However, John of Glastonbury gives the line of descent from Petrus,
one of Joseph of Arimathea's companions. # 156 LOVEL A son of Gawain who was one of the party that surprised Lancelot and
Guinevere together. He was slain by the escaping Lancelot. #
156 LUCAN # 562: Triad of deities mentioned by Lucan. # 156: Arthur's butler and one
of his knights. He was the Duke of Gloucester and brother of Bedivere. After
Arthur's final battle, he tried to help Bedivere to lift the king but as he
was so badly wounded, he fell dead. A variant of this is that Arthur embraced
him but he was so badly wounded that the embrace killed him. # 156 - 418 -
562 LUCHAD (loo-chad) Father of Luchta. # 562 LUCHTA (looh-ta) Son of Luchad; the carpenter of the Danaans. #
562 LUCIUS 1. The Roman emperor who fought against, and was defeated by Arthur.
Geoffrey is rather vague as to his actual status and calls him PROCURATOR; he
implies he was inferior to the Emperor Leo in Constantinople. Wace and Malory
both style him emperor. 2. An early King of Liones, son of Pelias. See:
ALIFATIMA.# 156 - 243 - 418 LUD See also LLUDD. He was the eldest brother of Cassivelaunus. He renamed
Trinovantum as Caer Lud or Caerlundein, later called London. He was buried
near a gateway in the capital called Porthlud or Ludgate. # 243 -
454 LUDGATE For derivation see: NUDD. # 562 LUGAID LEWY (loo'he) Son of Cu Roi and Blanaid. He was known as the 'Son of Three Dogs'
because Blanaid was believed to have lain with Conall Cernach and CuChulain as
well as her husband (Cu or Conn means dog). He gave the death blow to
CuChulain but as he struck off his head, the sword fell and cut off his own
hand. Conall Cernach avenged CuChulain's death by fighting Lugaid in single
combat during which, for fairness, he agreed to have one hand tied behind his
back. See also: LEWY. # 166 - 266 - 454 LUGAID SRIAB NDERG (loo'he sre'av nyârg) 'Lugaid of the Red Stribes.' An Ulster warrior who
married Dervogil, daughter of Ruad; later king of Ireland. #
166 LUGH (looh), or Lugus. # 562: 1. See Apollo; the god of Light in Gaul and
Ireland as Lugh; 2. Son of Cian, the Sun-god PAR EXCELLENCE of all Celtica,
the coming of Lugh; other names, Ildánach (The AllCraftsman) and Lugh Lamfada
(Lugh of the Long Arm); his eric from sons of Turenn for murder of his father,
Cian; slays Balor and is enthroned in his stead; fiery spear of Lugh; his
worship widely spread over Continental Celtica; father, by Dectera, of
CuChulain; Cymric deity Llew Llaw Gyffes corresponds with Lugh. # 238: Lugh,
the Lord of Light! - The Celtic Mercury played an important part in the lives
of the Celts, being patron of (according to Caesar) all the arts, travelling
and influence in commerce. A god of many skills, or perhaps the god of the
essence and distribution of skill, as war was included as an artistic skill by
the Celts; we can see this in the CuChulain saga, where the warrior's ability
and his weapons and costume are described in high poetry. # 454: The grandson of Balor, born of Ethniu and Cian, and fostered by
Manannan and Tailtiu. He was the guardian of the spear of Gorias which killed
all opponents. When the Tuatha de Danaan were oppressed by the Fomorians, he
came to their aid. He was refused entrance to the hall of their king, Nuadu,
but eventually was allowed in because he combined many skills in one person,
for which he was called Samildanach (Many-Skills). He became the Tuatha's
substitute king in place of Nuadu who was a blemished or Wounded King because
he had lost his hand in battle. After Nuadu's death Lugh himself became the
Tuatha's rightful king. He killed his grandfather Balor by piercing him
through his baleful eye. He was the spiritual father of CuChulain, and fought
in his son's place in order to give him rest during his lone combat at the
ford. Lugh is analogous to Llew and to the warrior Llwch Llawwynawc who helped
Arthur obtain the cauldron from Annwn. His mythos passed partially into that
of Lancelot. His many epithets describe him as being skilful with weapons and
crafts. Everything about him is of the light and of the victorious sun over
darkness. # 166: Lugh was called Lamfhada ('of the long arm') or Samildanach
('many-skilled'). He was handsome and polished, unlike his father, the Dagda,
who was a more primitive deity. # 100 - 166 - 173 - 238 - 439 - 454 - 469 -
562 LUGH OF THE LONG ARM See also LUGH. Invincible sword of Lugh; Bres, son of Balor, and Lugh;
husband of Dectera and father of Cuchulain; appears to Cuchulain and protects
the Ford while his son rests; fights by his son's side; Cymric hero Llew Llaw
Gyffes corresponds with Lugh of the Long Arm. # 562 LUGH, THE BIRTH OF On Tory Island dwelt a robber, Balor, who had one eye in the middle of his
forehead and another, which would cause the death of those he looked upon, in
the back of his head. It had been revealed, by a druid, that he would be slain
by his grandson, and so confined his daughter Ethne (Ethniu) in a high tower
and set twelve women to see that she learned nothing about men. Balor coveted
Glas Gaivlen, the marvellous cow of Gavida the smith who lived on the mainland
with his two brothers, Mac Samthainn and Mackinealy (Mac Cennfaelaidh), the
latter being the lord of that district. By trickery, Balor stole the cow. Then
Mackinealy, helped by a druid and a fairy, succeeded in gaining access to
Ethne and in due time she gave birth to three boys. These Balor gave to a
servant to drown, but one of them fell out of the sheet in which they were
wrapped and he was taken to Mackinealy and brought up as a smith by Gavida.
Mackinealy was captured by Balor and killed. (In another version, Mackinealy
sleeps with the twelve women as well; their children fall into the water and
become seals. Ethne's child does not thrive until it is taken back to Tory
Island to be nursed. In yet another version, Cian, the child's father, is told
by his druid helper that the boy will not thrive until his grandfather calls
him by name. Cian engages himself as a gardener to Balor who, however, does
not like having any child near him. One day the boy very nimbly picks up some
apples that have fallen to the floor and Balor cries 'Away with you Lui*
Lavada ('little longhand').' 'Oh, he has the name now,' says Cian. After
that, the boy grows wonderfully.) The remainder of the story is concerned with
the death of Balor. See also: LUGH. * Lui=Lugaid, a derivative of Lug. # 270 -
548 LUGHNASAD Harvest time, marked by the Autumn games of Sovereignty, when the Summer
and Winter Kings often fight. Celebrated on 1 August, this Celtic festival
marked the season of harvest. Although it is named after the god, Lugh, its
origins are more closely associated with Lugh's foster-mother, Tailtiu, who
laboured to clear the plains of Ireland for agrarian use and so died. Sacred
games were held in her honour at Teltown and temporary marriages were lightly
entered into, with no binding contract, though many such unions endured.
Farm-hands were hired and animals sold at this time. The reason for attaching
Lugh's name to this feast is presumably due to his association with the
goddess of Sovereignty, with whom he mystically entered into marriage and with
whom he ruled from the Otherworld. Tailtiu was clearly a type of the Goddess
of the Land. # 438 - 454 LUIDEAG (lootchak) This name, which means 'The Rag', belonged to a murderous female
demon who haunted a lochan (the Lochan of the Black Trout) in Skye. She was as
squalid in appearance as she was evil in disposition and an account of her can
be found in Mackenzie: SCOTTISH FOLK LORE AND FOLK LIFE. # 100 -
415 LUIN (loo'in) The name of a famous spear found at the Battle of Moytura and
owned, at various times, by Celtchair and other warriors. #
166 LUNANTISHEE Evans Wentz was told by an informant, Patrick Waters, who was enumerating
the different types of fairies, that the Lunantishee are the tribe that guards
the blackthorn bushes, and will allow not a stick to be cut on 11 November
(originally All Hallows Day) or on 11 May (originally May Day).
If you cut blackthorn on those days, some misfortune will befall you.
Blackthorn is one of the Fairy Trees. # 100 - 711 LUNED LUNET LINET Maiden who rescued Owain; Owain rescues her. In YVAIN by Chrétien de Troyes
and LADY OF THE FOUNTAIN in the MABINOGION, she is the servant of the Lady of
the Fountain who frequently rescues the hero from death and who appears to be
possessed of magical powers. She is in turn rescued from imprisonment under a
stone by Owain/Yvain. # 153 - 272 - 454 - 562 LUNETE Nimue's cousin. She learned magic from Nimue and put up a fountain in the
Forest of Broceliande, to be defended by her lover. #
156 LYBIUS DESCONUS An illegitimate son of Gawain, his mother kept his ancestry a secret. He
went to Arthur's court and was made a knight. He was sent to rescue the Lady
of Sinadone, which he did, accompanying the damsel Ellen. This character is
identical with Guinglain, Lybius being his nickname. Lybius Desconus means
'the Fair Unknown One'. # 156 LYNETTE Her sister, Lyonesse, was besieged by the Red Knight of the Red Lands. She
obtained Gareth from Arthur's court to rescue her but at first her manner
towards Gareth was derisory, and improved only as the adventure progressed.
See: LAUREL. # 156 - 418 LYONESSE 1. A lady besieged by the Red Knight of the Red Lands. Gareth rescued her
and in due course she married him. 2. A lost land said to have existed beyond
Cornwall. Some thought it identical with Liones, the kingdom of Tristan's
father, but this may originally have been Lothian (Leoneis), later confused
with a region of Brittany (Leonais). As to the lost land itself, a legend told
that, when Arthur had fallen in his last battle, Mordred pursued the remnant
of his army into Lyonesse. The ghost of Merlin appeared, the land sank and
Mordred's forces were destroyed. Arthur's men, however, reached what are now
the Isles of Scilly and survived. Did such a land exist? Reference is made to
it in Camden's SURVEY OF CORNWALL (1602). Earlier, the medieval Arab
geographer Idrisi uses the word Dns for a place that is perhaps the Scillies.
Dns may be a scribal mistake for Lns (Lyonesse). In Roman times the Scillies
seem to have been a single island partially overrun by the sea. Maybe the
legends origin? See also: LOST LANDS AND SUNKEN CITIES. # 156 -
418
Only wind it into a ball,
It
will lead you in at Heaven's Gate
Built in Jerusalem's wall.
William Blake, JERUSALEM.
Beneath the waves he rested out of sight,
But
all the Ultonians on the bank who stood
Saw the loch boil and redden with
his blood
When next at sunrise skies grew also red
He rose-and in his
hand the MUIRDRIS' head.
Gone was the blemish! On his goodly face
Each
trait symmetric had resumed its place:
And they who saw him marked in all
his mien
A king's composure, ample and serene.
He smiled; he cast his
trophy to the bank,
Said, 'I, survivor, Ulstermen!' and sank.'
I write in South Molton
Street what I both see and hear
In regions of Humanity, in London's opening
streets.