Cauldrons and Wells in Norse and Celtic Myth Quiz

Answer: Cauldron of Diwrnach the Giant

The Cauldron of Diwrnach has also been called the Cauldron of Llauyntiauc (in the poem "The Spoils of Annwfn" from the 12-13th century Book of Taliesin (Lyfr Taliesin)). It would not boil the food of a coward, but would cook food for a brave man; most of the so-called Hallows possessed characteristics betraying an interest in the worthiness of the possessor of the item.

The Cauldron appears to have been the main item Arthur sought when he set out to harrow the otherworld, and is the only one recorded with certainty to have been recovered by him.

The thirteen Hallows are usually given as Dyrnwyn, the Sword of Rhydderch the Generous (possessing the ability to burst into flame); the Hamper of Gwyddno Garanhir (possessing the ability to turn food for one man into food for a hundred men); the Horn of Bran (possessing the ability to provide any drink the owner desires); the Chariot of Morgan the Wealthy (possessing the ability to travel anywhere almost instantly); the Halter of Clyno Eiddyn (possessing the ability to provide any particular horse desired by its owner); the Knife of Llawfronedd the Horseman (possessing the ability to carve enough food for twenty-four men); the Cauldron of Diwrnach the Giant; the Whetstone of Tudwal Tudglyd (a sword sharpened with the stone by a brave man would always kill, although a sword sharpened by a coward would remain unchanged); the Coat of Padarn Red-Coat (which would only and always fit a man of noble birth); the Crock of Rhygenydd; (possessing the ability to provide its owner's favorite food); the Dish of Rhygenydd (with the same ability as the Crock); the Chessboard of Gwenddolau (possessing the ability to play by itself; when Peredur set up the board and "his" side lost he cast the board into a lake); and the Mantle of Arthur (possessing the ability to make its wearer invisible).

Answer: Cauldron of Dagda

The Cauldron of the Dagda was a cauldron of "plenty": none would come away from it with hunger unsatisfied. The other three Hallows were the spear of Lugh, which gave victory in battle; the sword of Nuada, which none could escape unwounded; and the Stone of Fal, on which kings were inaugurated. Spear, Sword, Stone and Cauldron became Staves (or Wands), Swords, Pentacles (or Coins) and Cups in the suits of the Tarot minor arcana, and later became Clubs, Spades, Diamonds and Hearts in the suits of modern playing cards.

However, for the sake of completeness I should mention that the very oldest references to the Hallows of Ireland describe them as being contained in a bag of crane-skin (fashioned from the hide of Aoife, a woman transformed into a crane to punish her for displaying jealousy) under the stewardship of Manannan mac Lir, and being comprised of Manannan's house; the shirt, knife, belt and smith's hook of Goibniu, the shears of the King of Alba, the helmet of the King of Lochlann, the belt of fish-skin, and the bones of Asal's pig.

Answer: Thor drinks from a horn containing the ocean

The gods decide they need the ale cauldron of the savage giant Hymir, father of the god Tyr. Tyr and Thor set out to take the cauldron. When they arrive at Hymir's hall, they first meet Tyr's nine-hundred-headed grandmother, but are recognized by Tyr's lovely mother, who helps them several times.

But despite her efforts at subterfuge, Hymir works out who Thor is, and seeks to intimidate him. Hymir is intimidated in turn, when Thor eats two of three whole oxen the giant had set out for their meal. Hymir then demands that Thor accompany him fishing, and sends him out to his herd to find bait; Thor breaks the biggest bull's horns and decides to use the whole animal on his hook. Thor and Hymir take a boat out, and Hymir catches two whales. Thor then casts his line only to hook Jormungand, the world-serpent, brother of Fenris. Hymir is frankly terrified. Hymir has only one more piece of bluster in his repertoire, and tells Thor he can only have the cauldron if Thor can break Hymir's magical goblet. Thor throws it at a stone pillar, but the pillar breaks, leaving the goblet unharmed.

Then Tyr's mother intervenes again, telling Thor that the only thing harder than the goblet is Hymir's own head, so Thor bashes Hymir's skull, shattering the goblet. Hymir, feeling very hard-done by at the loss of his magic cup and imminent loss of his ale cauldron, tells the gods they can have the cauldron provided they can lift it. Tyr tries and fails twice. Then Thor heaves it up, his feet smashing through the stone floor under the weight, and staggers off with it on his head, its handle dragging on the ground behind him. (The drinking-horn episode is a part of the story of Thor and Loki's visit to the hall of the giant "Outland-Loki.")

Answer: Dead warriors would be reborn in it

The Cauldron of Rebirth (or Cauldron of Regeneration) was given to Bran (or Branwen) by the giant Llassar Llaes Gyfnewid, who brought it up from under a lake (or it was brought up by Bran himself). Llassar's wife was a giantess twice as big as Llassar, who bore a child every six weeks; each child would require only six weeks to reach warrior-size.

Answer: The Mead of Poetry

Kvasir was the wisest of the Vanir. He was murdered by the dwarven brothers Fjalar and Galar, who mixed his blood with honey and therewith brewed the Mead of Poetry. They stored the Mead in the cauldron Odhrerir and in two smaller vats called Bodn and Son. Later Fjalar and Galar slew the mother of the giant Sutttung, who used the incident as an opportunity to extort the Mead from them as her deathprice. Suttung stored Odhrerir, Bodn and Son under a mountain, with his daughter Gunnlod to guard them. Odin, always keen to experiment with mind-altering substances and (more to the point) always looking for a new short-cut to wisdom, took the form of a serpent and infiltrated Gunnlod's cave. Odin shared Gunnlod's bed for three nights; each night she let him drink one draught of the Mead. On the first night Odin drained Odhrerir, on the second Bodn, and on the third Son.

The all-father then escaped as an eagle, with Suttung in hot if futile pursuit.

Answer: Taliesin

Taliesin is a Welsh Fionn mac Cumhail, for his birth name was Gwion Bach (Gwion is the Welsh equivalent of Fionn or Finn) and he achieved wisdom in a manner very closely parallel to that of Fionn. Ceridwen was delivered of a very ugly son, and she decided that his only chance to become great was if he were to become a man of exalted merits and intelligence.

She therefore set out to brew a "Cauldron of Inspiration," a process which required the boiling of many magical herbs over a year and a day until they were reduced to just three drops.

She set Gwion to stir the cauldron for a full year, and the blind man Morda to keep the fire beneath kindled. Close to the end of the year, three drops flew out of the cauldron and burned Gwion's hand; instinctively, Gwion put his hand in his mouth, and became infused with Mystic Knowledge. Realizing he was in danger from Ceridwen, he immediately fled; the cauldron behind him quickly burst, for its remaining contents were poisonous, and indeed a nearby stream ran so foul that the horses of Gwyddno were killed by it. Ceridwen beat Morda until one of his eyes popped out, then pursued Gwion, who now had the power to change his shape.

He fled as a hare, but she became a greyhound; he fled as a fish but she became an otter; he fled as a bird but she became a hawk; so finally he hid as a grain of wheat, but she became a hen and ate all the wheat, Gwion included. Gwion remained within her for nine months until he was born again; Ceridwen intended to kill him when he was born, but could not bring herself to because of his beauty. Instead, she threw him into the sea in a leather bag. The bag was found by Gwyddno's son Elphin, and when it was opened the infant boy had such a radiant brow they immediately decided to call him "Taliesin" (which means "Radiant Brow.") Taliesin could already speak and compose quality extemporaneous verse, and grew up to be a famous warrior and the very prototype of the bard.

Answer: whoever drank from it would gain instant wisdom

The standard version of the story by which Fionn (or Finn) mac Cumhail achieved mystic, poetic wisdom, runs thus: Fionn asked to become the pupil of the druid Finegas. Finegas had spent the previous twenty years in pursuit of Fintan, the salmon who ate the hazel nuts of knowledge that fell into the Boyne, of whom it had been foretold that the first to eat of its flesh would gain mystical knowledge. Finegas set the boy to cook the fish, but told him not to eat any of it. Fionn did as he was told, but burned his thumb on Fintan's juices.

He therefore put his thumb in his mouth to ease the pain, thereby tasting its flesh. When Finn told Finegas what had happened, the druid realized that his own chance was lost, so instructed the lad to finish the fish, then sent him away.

In an alternate version, Fionn sought to drink from Beag's well. Beag's three daughters attempted to stop him by splashing him, but some of the water went in his mouth and he gained the wisdom he was seeking.

Answer: Mimir

The Well of Knowledge, at one of the three roots of Yggdrasil (the World-Tree or World-Ash), was also called Mimisbrunnr (Mimir's Well) because it was guarded by the Vanir Mimir. Odin, desperate for knowledge of Ragnarok (the Norse eschaton), traded his eye for a drink from the well.

There is also a reference, in the Voluspa, in which Heimdall (who had hearing so keen he could hear grass growing on the ground and wool growing on sheep, and everything louder than that) has left his "hljod" at Mimir's well. "Hljod" is "hearing" or "ear," and Snorri himself argued that this was a metonymic reference to Heimdall's horn, which he left at the well after using it as a drinking vessel.

However, other references indicating that Heimdall was quite ugly, perhaps disfigured, and analogy with Odin's sacrifice, imply strongly that the god of keen hearing was required to tear off his own ear for wisdom, just as all-seeing Odin was forced to gouge out his own eye. Thanks to quiztaker ensiform for pointing me to some scholarly discussion of Heimdall's sacrifice.

Answer: The goddess Sinend

The goddess Sinend sought Connla's Well "under the sea" (that is, in the Irish Otherworld). However, just because magical knowledge can come in a bottle doesn't mean it is safe to approach casually. Sinend failed to make the right preparation or sacrifice or rituals, and the well rejected her approach, drowning her and casting her up on the shores of the River Shannon (Sionnain) which now bears her name.

The Dinnshenchas describe Connla's Well thus: "a well at which are the hazels and inspirations of wisdom, that is, the hazels of the science of poetry, and in the same hour their fruit, and their blossom and their foliage break forth, and these fall on the well in the same shower, which raises on the water a royal surge of purple.

Then the salmon chew the fruit, and the juice of the nuts is apparent on their purple bellies. And seven streams of wisdom spring forth and turn there again." (Stokes translation.) (Conary Mor died of thirst due to the operation of a magical curse; Macha died in childbirth, having just won a footrace against a horse-drawn racing chariot; Nuada was slain by the evil eye of Balor, the Fomorian king, at the second Battle of Moytura.)

Answer: It led to the underworld

Fionn (or Finn) mac Cumhail was traveling to recover some lost comrades when they came to an island. Dermot scaled some cliffs to get a look around, and came upon a well. When he drank from the well, a knight appeared and fought Dermot all day until sundown, when the knight jumped into the well and disappeared.

The next day the knight reappeared and fought Dermot all day until sundown, when he disappeared down the well again. The following day the knight reappeared again and again fought Dermot all day, but at the end of the day Dermot seized hold of the knight and was carried with him down the well to the land of the faerie folk. Fionn and the other "Fianna" reached the same place by descending through a cave.