The Seven Survivors of Prydein

In The Mabinogion's tale of "Branwen uerch Llyr," There is a horrific battle which is said to have killed all of Ireland except for five pregnant women, and all of the army of Prydein (Welsh Britain), except for seven men and one woman:

• Bran: though he doesn't survive, his head does, and leads them to a paradise for eighty years.
• Manawyddan ap Llyr: the brother of King Bran and next in line for the throne (which is stolen from him by Caswallawn.
• Pryderi ap Pwyll: nephew to Bran and stepson to Manawyddan
• Taliesin: the famous bard
• Glineu Eil Taran
• Ynawc
• Grudyen ap Muryel
• Heilyn ap Gwynn Hen
• and Branwen

Now, as much of the battle was over a Cauldron of Rebirth, I feel it necessary to bring up a poetic curiosity: In the 9th century poem "Prieddu Annwn" aka "The Spoils of Annwn," attributed to Taliesin, the refrain is "Save only seven, none returned from..." whatever name he was using in that stanza for the Otherworld. This is curious because in the poem, the quest is to steal a cauldron from the Underworld/Otherworld. But leading this quest isn't Bran, but King Arthur. The seven aren't specifically listed, but one can assume at least Arthur and Taliesin (though it takes one up to eight men and not seven, keep in mind King Arthur is perhaps doubling the role of Bran):

• King Arthur: in the role of Bran?
• Taliesin: as he includes himself on the trip
• Llwch Lleminawg: who is mentioned briefly as having a magic spear (Lance of the Grail quest?)
• Manawyddan: who is mentioned as going on a similar quest with Arthur in "Culhwch ac Olwen"
• Pryderi: same as Manawyddan, under his name Gwri
• Bedwyr: also mentioned in the quest in Culhwch ac Olwen
• Gwalchmei ap Gwyar: same as Bedwyr
• Cei: same as above two; moreover, the names Bedwyr, Gwalchmei, and Cei tend to appear together in the early Welsh tales of Arthur.

Now, I use the story of "Culhwch ac Olwen" because it specifically tells of a raid on Ireland (which stands in for the Otherworld) for a magic cauldron, very similar to the one in Taliesin's poem. And who is said to go on this voyage but Arthur, Taliesin, Manawyddan, Pryderi, Bedwyr, Gwalchmei, Cei, and Llwch Lleminawg, among others. It is likely that whoever wrote the "Prieddu Annwn" may have been thinking of both tales--"Branwen uerch Llyr" and "Culhwch ac Olwen" when he wrote the poem. (Obviously Taliesin didn't write it, because he died in the sixth or seventh century.)

In the grail romances, the prominent seekers of the grail are usually:

• King Arthur
• Lancelot
• Galahad
• Perceval: who can be linked to Peredur
• Bors
• Gawain: who is Gwalchmai ap Gwyar
• Perceval's sister

Most curiously, there was apparently a tradition, recorded in one of Evan Evans' notebooks (Panton MS 13), about there being seven survivors of the Battle of Camlann:

• Sandde Angel's Form
• Morfran son of Tegid
• St. Cynfelyn
• St. Cedwyn
• St. Pedrog
• Derfel Gadarn
• Geneid Hir

According to Bromwich, Evans' text is a copy of Lewis Morris' copy of Peniarth 185, a seventeenth-century manuscript.

The significance of seven may be the numerological concept of completeness.

SOURCES
Bromwich, Rachel. Trioedd Ynys Prydein. Cardiff: UWP, 2006. p. 169.

Ford, Patrick. The Mabinogi and Other Medieval Welsh Tales. 1971

Loomis, R.S. Celtic Myth and Arthurian Romance. Constable, 1993

Taliesin. "Prieddu Annwn." The Four Ancient Books of Wales. ed. & trans. W.F. Skene. Edinburgh, 1868.

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