Taliesin's Battle Of The Trees

I set Taliesin's Battle Of The Trees (as per Robert Graves Cad Goddeu ) within Tacitus' ac Roman invasion of the Druid island of Angelsey and another poem by Taliesin which had been mixed in with The Battle of The Trees in a method of concealment to hide the poems meaning from those without understanding.

For the written poem and more details about its meaning, please see my Blog;
( http://celestialelfdanceoflife.blogspot.com/2011/07/battle-of-trees.html )

The Book of Taliesin is attributed to the 6th C. poet Taliesin and preserves a few hymns, a small collection of elegies and also enigmatic poems such as The Battle of Trees and The Spoils of Annwfn, in which the poet claims to have sailed to another world with King Arthur and his warriors.

The Battle of the Trees poem itself famously details the legendary Gwydion's account of the trees of the forest which he enchanted to fight as his army against Arawan.
Within the ranks of Arawn's forces were a number of mighty warriors, and one of these was invincible as long as his name remained a secret.
Gwydion the enchanter rightly guessed the secret name and won the battle saying these words:

Sure-hoofed my spurred horse,
On your shield Alder sprigs,
Bran is your name, Bran of the branches.

Sure-hoofed my horse of war,
On your hand are sprigs of Alder,
Bran you are, by the branch you bear.

However as Robert Graves explores in his book 'The White Goddess'
( http://www.amazon.co.uk/White-Goddess-Historical-Grammar-Poetic/dp/0571174256 )
the poem is particularly notable for its striking and enigmatic symbolism and the wide variety of interpretations this has occasioned.
Graves suggests that the trees in this poem correspond to the ancient Ogham alphabet, in which each alphabetic character represents a specific musical note, seasonal cycle, mythological tale and deity.

Graves thus argued that the original poet had concealed Druidic secrets about an older matriarchal Celtic religion for fear of censure from Christian authorities, that Arawn and Bran were names for the same underworld god and that the battle was probably not physical but rather a struggle of wits and scholarship: Gwydion's forces could only be defeated if the name of his companion, Lady Achren ("Trees"), was guessed, and Arawn's host only if Bran's name was guessed.

Cast;
As Taliesin and The Bagpipes, Celestial Elf.
As Witches: Brooke Baran, Minxy Kimono, Sienna Panthar, Wicked2712 Bearsfoot,
As Druids: Mikee Martian, Obizoth, Yichard Muni,
As Celtic Warriors: Azzaro, Donjulio Siamendes, Scheer Eberhatz.
All Also doubled as Tree Avatars.

Grateful Thanks to Taliesin the Bardic Poet, and to Robert Graves for his inestimable research,
to Tacitus for recording Cornelius Tacitus historical account of the Roman attack on Angelsey, Tacitus Annals XIV,
( http://www.roman-britain.org/places/mona.htm )

Also to Freesound.org/
for use of their music and audio samples from which I created the soundtrack
Creative Commons Sampling Plus 1 License
( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/sampling+/1.0/ )

Many thanks to ;
Sliver Gray for providing Dryad Avatars, Auburn, Sapling, Nelroth and Auranox,
Lazrith Fardel for providing Alder and Dark Treant avatars,

Other props include;
Bagpipe Bird Avatar by Nowhere Phobos,
The Ent by Papadopoulus Barzane,
Piscium Navis Houseboat by Marcus Parrott.

Filmed at;
Gaia, co Enchantress Sao,
Ruins Falls, co Sliver Gray,
Tir Na nOg at Mystica co FreeSky Republic

Filmed on SecondLife via Phoenix 1.5.2.908,
On Windows XP using Fraps and Serif MoviePlus X3.
Casting Coordinator Sienna Panthar,
Conceived, Directed and Produced by Celestial Elf 2011

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• Taliesin
• The Battle Of The Trees
• Cad Goddeu
• Robert Graves
• Druid
• The White Goddess
• Book of Taliesin
• Prydain
• Merlin
• Myrddin
• Elphin
• Gwydion
• Cerridwen
• Wales
• Cumbria
• Celtic
• Mythology
• Bard
• Poem
• Poetry
• Avalon
• Magic
• Mystical
• Mabinogion
• Ogham
• Angelsey
• Tacitus
• Robin Williamson
• Tolkien
• LOTR
• Ent
• Dryad
• Dryads
• Treant
• Tree People
• Shaman
• Seer
• Spirit
• Sacred
• Spirituality

[WorldTreeMusic]

Gretchen Cornwall Thank you for posting this - I was very taken with the artistry and vision. It was refreshing to be surprised with a variety of imagery. The trees were a feast to the eye and left me wanting more. The detail in this film is fantastic. You've out-done yourself here. Well done and beautiful! The voice of the narrator was also very rich and gripping to listen to. All the elements were there for a captivating short film!

[thetarafae]

WOW.... Really pleased to have found your channel x

[HobbyhorseMusic]

Wonderful!

[JohnPaulPatton]

Brilliant!

[Clematisian]

……. Wondrous storytelling, CelestialElf … Thank you & remain ye & yours thrice blessed ~ (•8-o

[2SenseProductions]

What a fine reading and as usual your imagery is especially limpid and revels in color

[cffbaddcde]

excellent, well done

[Mix9283]

I really enjoyed this!!! - Dolce Baxton

[sionnansinn]

Thank you Celestial Elf :-)

I appreciate your feedback on livinglibraryblog. I watched your video and loved it! Your work is both beautiful and inspiring. I especially loved the tree people! This is a must see for any Celtic myth enthusiast!

[delphiccrypt]

Very cool