Power
Marsh Harrier
Spring (the Season)
Gwlad
Gweledydd
Gwen-hwyfar Gwrach
Gwraig Annwn
Gwrol
Gwyn ap Nudd Hafren
Hiraeth
Huan
Hynafgwr Iudde
Iuddic
Iwerydd
Iwrch
Llan y gelli
Llecychod
Llefrith
Llyf
Llyffant
Llyr
Llyn y Aberthau Llyn y Cysgodion Llyn Hydd
Llynwen
Modryb
Mor-forwyn
Morla
Morwyn
Mwswgl
Offrwm
Oriog
Country, Land
Seer, Shaman
White Spirit
Wisewoman, Witch
Woman (Bride) of the
Underworld (pl. Gwragedd) Manly
King of the Fairies
River Severn
Deeply felt longing of
homesickness
Sun, Sun God
Elder, Old Man
Jew
Jewish
Atlantic, the wide encircling ocean
Roebuck
Village in the Woods, Silure hillfort capital
Place of Boats
Milk, Sweet Milk
Current (in water)
Frog (pl. Llyffaint)
Sea God
Lake of the Sacrifices (fictional) The Lake of Shadows
Hart Lake
White Lake
Aunt
Sea Maid (e.g. Mermaid)
Bitter, or Marshwoman
Maiden
Bog Moss
Offering
Pentreflyn
Plwm
Pridd
Prydde
Pwysi
Salis Plain
Tan
Teg
Tresglen
y Tylwyth Teg Wirrheal
Vivian
Wye
yr Wyddfa
Ynys Bragwair
Ynys Calchfaen
Ynys y Cysgodion Ynys y Ywen
Ynys Llefrith
Ynys Mawr
Ynys Mon, Mona Ynys y Niwl
Ynys Witrin
Ynisig
Lake Village (Meare)
Lead (metal)
Earth, Goddess of Earth
Earth (Priddy, in the Mendips) Bouquet
Salisbury Plain
Fire, Goddess of Fire
Fair
Thrush
The Fair Folk, fairies
Hill of Myrtles (Wearyall Hill) Giver of Life, the Lady of Avalon River Wye on east border of Wales
The Tomb, Mount Snowdon in Wales
Isle of Moorland Grass
(high ground west of Meare) Limestone Island
(Meare in Somerset)
The Isle of Shadows
Isle of the Yew, Iona
Ilse of Milk
(high ground west of Meare) Big Island
Mother Isle (Anglesey)
Isle of Mist (Glastonbury)
Isle of Glass (Glastonbury) Little Isle, Morla's Belly
Acknowledgements to the Second Edition
It is not possible to write a mythology spanning millennia without involving a few other people along the way. I am especially grateful to Emma Restall Orr of the Druid Network, my colleague and co-author of The Apple and the Thorn, who originated the character of Fianna, the phrase Marsh Tales, and the first version of Morla's Tale. I thank her for the kind permission to further develop those contributions in this second book, and for the inspiration she has provided to me. Many thanks go to authors Bobbie Pell and Wendy Webb, who critiqued my work at the Campbell Folk School in North Carolina. To supplement my meager knowledge of Welsh, I made much use of the Searching Lexicon and Mark Nodine's Welsh Course online. I thank Cardiff University for making such a valuable resource available to the public. To my children and step-children Jennifer, David, Drew, and Tom, I give thanks for the hours of reading J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis aloud after dinner and at bedtime, helping to keep alive a love of myth and mystery into my adult life. But mostly I am thankful for the love, support and companionship of Glyn Lorraine Ruppe-Melnyk, my wife of twenty-two years, and the love of my life, for believing in me, inspiring me, and teaching me the wonderful mysteries of womankind.
In the second edition, published in 2010, the title is changed to Tales of Avalon: Wisdom of the Ancient Marshes. Thanks to Wayne Avanson for that suggestion, and also for his work as artist for the new cover, and the map of Affalon. Thanks also to Anita Shaw for her magical portrayal of the Lady of the Lake on the cover.
Walter William Melnyk Spring Equinox, 2010
Also from Walter William Melnyk The Apple and The Thorn
with Emma Restall Orr
Thoth Publications
ISBN: 978-1-870450-68-3
The Apple and the Thorn stands upon the tradition of two mythical characters: the Lady of the Lake, and Joseph of Arimathea (Eosaidh, in this tale.). Yet the land itself is a living character in the tale, as is the surrounding marsh, the invading Roman legion, and a very special cup of blue glass that unites them all.
This story is not true in the sense that most people use the word. It emerges out of the mists of time, rooted deep in the heritage of Britain. It is a weave of mythologies, theologies, and histories. It is the story of two people, and a story of all peoples. It has no beginning and it has no ending.
As the tale unfolds, Vivian and Eosaidh debate the story of Eosaidh's young nephew, Jesus, exploring questions of God and the gods, humanity, gender, honour, hope, history, ethics, spirituality and, always, the underlying presence and meaning of the land. They alternately succeed and fail in understanding each other. The growing depth of their intellectual connection is matched by the growing depth of their friendship.
For the authors, there is much in this tale that emerges from their own separate stories, brought together here in a literary collaboration to craft a mythic tale of human struggle and hope in the midst of a violent world.
Melnyk and Restall Orr draw deeply from their own lives to tell a fresh version of the Avalonian myth, yet one that seems the most ancient of all - of a woman and a man who seek honour, and find love. But readers will find only themselves in Eosaidh of Cornualle and Vivian of the Marshes.
Available online through bookstores everywhere.