The magical Welsh cauldron that inspired The Black Cauldron

Illustration by T. Prytherch, public domain

The Pair Dadeni - or Cauldron of Rebirth - is a magical object from Welsh mythology that makes an appearance in the Mabinogion. Basically, if a corpse is placed in the Pair Dadeni, the corpse will be resurrected, but it will not be able to speak.

In the story, the cauldron is gifted to Matholwch, King of Ireland to appease him after his new wife's (Branwen's) half-brother Efnysien insults him during his and Branwen's wedding celebration.

Efnysien was angry that he was not consulted about Branwen's marriage to the King of Ireland, and so he cut off the ears, eyelids, lips, and tails of Matholwch's horses. Of course, Matholwch is furious that his horses have been mutilated.

To make things fair, Branwen's brother Bran the Blessed (a giant and the King of Britain) replaces the horses. But this isn't enough for Matholwch, so Bran also gifts him the Pair Dadeni.

Later on, after Matholwch and Branwen have returned to Ireland, Matholwch decides that even the gift of the Pair Dadeni is not enough to remedy Efnysien's insult. He takes out his anger on Branwen, banishing her to the kitchens to work as a maid.

Branwen makes friends with a starling and trains it to fly home with a message for Bran the Blessed. In the message, she explains all that Matholwch has done to her.

As you can expect, Bran is not happy when he reads about how Matholwch is treating his sister, and he wages war on the Irish.

There's a lot more to the story - bloodshed mostly - and during the battles, Matholwch uses the Cauldron of Rebirth to resurrect his fallen soldiers so they can continue fighting for Ireland.

Efnysien realizes what Matholwch is doing. He knows they'll never defeat Matholwch if the Irish king keeps it up, and so he jumps into the cauldron and destroys it from within, sacrificing his own life in the process.

Inspiration for The Black Cauldron

If you've ever read the Chronicles of Prydain book series by Lloyd Alexander (my very favorite children's books) or watched the Walt Disney animated film that was loosely based on the series, then I'm sure you've already drawn some parallels between the Pair Dadeni and the Black Cauldron.

In fact, Lloyd Alexander himself said that Chronicles of Prydain is inspired by Welsh mythology, so I think it's safe to say that his inspiration for The Black Cauldron could have been the Pair Dadeni's story.

The Pair Dadeni has also inspired me as I write my new dark fantasy book series, Children of the Death Gods. I would say the cauldron and its history are an important part of the plot, actually.

Stay tuned, because The Bone Faerie (Children of the Death Gods, #1) is coming soon!

I hope you enjoyed July 2023's favorite folktale!