Tricked into giving birth to him, the sorceress Arianhod swore that the child should be nameless until she named him...that he should not bear arms until she herself bestowed them...and that he should never love a woman of the human race.
But her brother and lover Gwydion tricked her into bestowing a name, Liew...and Gwydion's wiles brought her to arm him...and then Gwydion called upon his craft to produce a woman who was supremely lovely and ardent in her passion for Liew..yet not human. (less)
My Review:
If you are a fan of mythology in general then read this book. If you are a fan of, more specifically, English and Welsh mythology/literature then you definitely need to read this. Evangeline Walton takes from the Welsh cycle of legends, called the Mabinogion, and creates an amazingly vivid narrative. And for the super nerd, she sprinkles footnotes and various references throughout the book that refer to these ancient stories. You can definitely get a sense of Walton's love and knowledge of the legends. She uses all of it to bring each character to life with language that is flowery but intelligent. I absolutely loved this book and look forward to reading the rest in the series.
If you'd like to read more about the Mabinogion: http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/mab/index.htm
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