Which British Myths would you like to hear more about? King Arthur? The Mabinogion? Something else?

Wow, this video really hit home for me when you were discussing "water spirits" and beasties. My mother's family has lived in America and Canada since before 1620, having immigrated from England, Scotland, and Brittany. I remember growing up in the big woods with the closest big town over 40 miles away. The tradition was that in the evenings, especially Sundays, the adults would tell "The Stories"... They were a mix of family history, local history, and best of all, ones about ghosts and spirits, dogs barking in the night, everything! But they all would tell stories about the ghosts that come out of the dark water and drains, stagnant places. If you didn't cap your basement well and drain. One story told of how a family woke up to sounds of their baby crying, but when they went to comfort it, the cradle was empty! Following it's cries they were led to the root cellar where the well and drain was... Just as they entered the cellar they saw a spirit going down the drain, with the baby on the floor next to it. They had got there just in time, the baby was saved. This story always had me wondering where the roots of it came from, now I know... my family took their stories with them. Thanks so much for helping me figure it out.🤗

Building on the Tolkien reference, Underhill (the sleeping king who would return when needed most) was the fake name that Frodo took when escaping the Shire. Of course it would indeed be Frodo who would destroy the Ring, but it is interesting to note also that Gandalf gave Frodo the name Underhill during the time when he would meet Aragorn, a king-to-return by actual title. Perhaps Gandalf chose this name because he knew Aragorn would see meaning in it?

The dating method referred to is called thermoluminescence and measures the light emitted from quartz grains in soil when exposed to X-rays. The amount and quality of light emitted depends on how long it has been since the quartz grains were last exposed to sunlight and hence can be used as a dating method from the time of burial. The same method can be applied to ceramics to determine how long since they were fired.

This is great. Love the passion in this man's telling

Amazing how many amazing information lurks in the background waiting to be discovered. Great job!

I loved this collaboration... So much stories that I never heard of. Thank you Crecganford, for teaching me more about British myths and stories!

And Danu the Vedic mother of the Danavas...my first hint that the gods of your enemies were cast as evil. Water and rivers are natural boundary markers thus in between places and natural points of conflict as well.

A great conversation

Yes, the Jungian archetypes. Isn't it wild how it all seems to be a continuum, all tied together. And at least partly able to be reconstructed backward to the original. Absolutely amazing. Thanks guys for doing the work.

Love to hear him talk about more Irish ones

Pryderi's abduction as an infant also recalls this as he is saved when the same creature that stole him has his arm lopped off by a chieftain when it attempts to steal a foal. The creatures loss of an arm is reminiscent of Beowulf taking the arm of Grendel, who is also also a dweller in marshes and fens, so has some link to the watery foe of Indo-European heroes.

This is awesome, I'm binge watching all your videos. Excellent stuff

Shetland has a relatively harmless version of water-horse called a Nuggle while Orkney's truly demonic version is the Nukkelavee.

I really enjoyed this chat, and I'm glad I discovered your channel!

Great video Jon.so interesting thoroughly enjoyed it.

Votive offerings of swords are common in all Celtic areas. In Portugal and Northern Spain there are many findings of these offerings in lakes.

Nuckers, Nixies, and NESSIE!!! :D

Please oh please cover more Celtic beliefs and practices. There are sp few sources. I'm especially interested in Bran the Blessed. One on Brigid would be nice too. Oh there are so many things. The druids themselves are super mysterious even. I hope you will take the fact that Celtic sources are few and far between into consideration as well as my request.

So much wealth of knowledge among the two of you. Would be interesting if you would consider making a video about how to revive Celtic culture.

I love the amount of love we can see from him about his job and research. There is a little delay in the video which ruin a bit the experience but still good content.

Earlier this year I read a paper on Bronze Age symbols and the author said there was one set of symbols found from Egypt to the Celts, all across Europe. Nobody knows what they mean. The Celts were the last to use them, in historical times. Double spirals kind of stuff.

56:50 sounds similar to West African Ninki Nanka

I disagree with this gentleman, in regard to his telling of that it was the Fomorians who went into the mounds. It was the Tuatha Dé Danann who went into the mounds after agreeing to concede half of Ireland to the Gaels. The Gaels taking the half of Ireland above ground and giving the half of Ireland below ground to the Tuatha Dé Danann. However, the land did not respond to the Gaels and so they went to the Dagda and struck a deal to make the land prosper again. For me, the way the Fomorians are described, and how they show up several times over large distances of time in the Lebor Gabála Érenn, always made me wonder if they represent a vestigial memory of one of the last remaining Western Hunter Gatherer populations.

It always intrigued me how the ancient Britons called their island Albion while the Welsh elfydd meaning 'world' derived from the same Celtic source. The tradition that the island was named after a giant is pretty old, but I'm not sure where William Blake got the idea that Albion was a primeval giant who was divided up like Ymir and Purusha. Did he know of such a division or did he come up with it himself?

Loving your work as always! One moment from your entertaining guest made me harrumph: "Uffington is a hill in Berkshire". As immediately acknowledged, it's not been in Berkshire since 1974... But it's not in Wiltshire either; he guessed the wrong way - it's in Oxfordshire. And then, Uffington is not the hill - it's the village at the foot of the hill. Never heard the hill called "Uffington" before - I mean, the name has a classic Saxon settlement etymology, right? The hill's never been anything but "White Horse Hill" in my experience, having grown up not far from it. If one said "Uffington Hill", it would be obvious which hill was meant (so perhaps my nitpick is uncharitable) - the village is associated with the hill, despite not being the closest village to it. I don't think I've ever heard it said though.

i live near the cerne abbas giant chalk 'drawing' and we also looked at the various other ancient chalk drawings at school. i was told that they were typically used to mark a tribes territory regards cerne abbas giant, up until WW2 from at least medieval times, it was used to enhance fertility. in some era's women would sit and pray, in others you would've found couples having sex on the giant's penis. only the penis gave fertility however. The giant has been found to have a grown over severed head in the hand not holding a club, which is not visible to the naked eye. I would like to hear about the giant mythology of the british isles, namely the 2 associated with the coronation (i heard ages ago and cannot recal details)

A few days ago I wrote to you about the Don / Dan connection, to which you responded. I was unaware at that time of this Jon Mason video and it is pleasing to see he made the same connections with Eastern European and British Rivers that I set out in that comment. To be honest I had forgotten about the Tuatha de Danaan, which clearly has the same connection and the agreement between the Tuatha de Danaan and Formorians that cedes the Underground to the Formorians and is, in fact, the Land of Faerie. Underworld connections are part of the whole skein of myth that connects magic with the supernatural (as above, so below) hence caves and the reflective abilities of ponds, meres (glaciated mountain pools, thus doubly magic) lakes, rivers and thus magic mirrors, cauldrons, etc and explains why ancient waters were the recipients of countless gifts to the gods & spirits of even the not so ancient world. And not just made objects: bog bodies and ''triple death'' sacrifices from European bogs to the snows of the High Andes are clearly related to times when human sacrifices of the willing were required to sustain fertility.

Flag Fen is the wooden causeway in Norfolk - project was run by Francis Pryor I think... I've only just come across this channel in the past few days, and it is SO refreshing to find people who think about these things like I do - I thought I was an odd one out - HAHAHA!

I would say it might be worth considering that the sovereignty goddess is saving her consort (who may also be her son). I would refer you to Cybele and Attis (the whole great mother tradition). So it is the king, who is a son of the land, united with the land via the goddess and when they are seperated she seeks to return him (I suspect the mantle of kingship rather than the individual) to his position of authority (conferred upon a new host).

there's a River Don (Deathan) in Scotland, Aberdeen, too

Linguist Theo Vennemann posits "Vasconic (Basque)" and "Semitidic" language influences from prehistoric times, and he may attribute "Danube / Dneiper / Don / Danu" to one of those pre-IE linguistic layers, which may reflect in non-IE cognates like Germanic "folk" and Irish "bolg", "Belgium", Gaulish "Volcae"

"Batar an Tuatha de Dannan am tuascairtechaip am domham, agus foghlam feasa an eolais..." Boated they the Tuatha de Dannan from out the north-west corner of the house/dwelling/earth where great wisdom they studied.. Are the opening lines of the lebor gabala Erinn (the book of invasions of Ireland) A Ghaedhilg, in the Gaelic Fo=under, muir=sea i=the Gaelic indicator....fomuir means under sea, Fomhuiri is conjugated to Fomhoire, the under-sea people. It is believed they got this monichre when they were defeated in the first battle of mag Tuireadh (moyrura in the saxon) and their bodies were thrown Into the sea, not being considered worthy of land burial having fought against the inhabitants of the land. This is recorded in the leabhar gabala Erin (which I can provide links to if required) which is "the book of invasions of Erin/Ireland/Banba/Fodla). It is said the Druids had no primordial myth (setting them apart from all other cultures, I had a feeling they did have one. In Barddas [the "forgeries" of Iolo Morgannwyg/Iolo Gawch(sp) hints at one in tale of the Giant Yspaddaden (sp)]). Nuala and Nodens are often co-related, but Nuada's was struck from him in the second battle of Moytura (Dha Catha MagTuirradh) by Sreng MacSengain of the Fomhuire. The burial mounds were a result of the conquest of the Gaelic kings over the Tuatha De Dannan (as related by Turan MacCarill to Beannachd Padraig/st patric). When the irony weilding Celts came from Iberia (Ir, Eber,Erimond, and Donn by name) they encountered the bronze age Celts of Erin. The battle was quick, bloody, and decisive. There was little left of the Tuatha de Dannan who were buried in the Fear-righ (pronounced farie, meaning "men of the King") mounds. 2 generations later they were deified. It is said of Nuada's Airgeadlamh, that the son of the head physician Diancecht, Miach by name, regenerated the flesh arm by buring it in a leather bag and chanting "flesh to flesh, and sinew to sinew" over it so that it was healed. It is said that his father killed him out of jealousy, but it could be that it was because had used a "dark magic" to effectuate his cure. What I believe we need now is a fine-bard to recompose a modern version of that creation tale, similar to how Fergus MacRoy was raised from the dead in order to recite the Tain Bo Cuailgne (cattle raid of Cooley [the national epic of Erin, famous for it's main character CuChulain] as the original had been lost. As to the white horse... Epona/Rhiannon is the Goddess of territory, rulership, and horses (I won't cite Gerald's Cambrensises kingly induction ritual here, though I could...which i see that you've already done). To reel myself back in my reactionary commentary, just to touch on the amalgamation of the new faith (ie:Christianity). In the Gaelic the sun God is often referred to as Grian Aiche (sun faced), this is not his name it is his title, his name is Esus... "the Esus" is Gaelic would be written .I.Esus...i can see how the Roman missionaries would have half their work already done for them. Your point still holds speculative as I may be

Don in Britanny and Russia Dnĕpro in Ukraine, the Danube Lydney Lludd Lloyd It's a long walk from Lydney to the Temple of Nodens Check out the lamiak in Basque mythology, for yon lake maidens

Hi. An alternative, utterly speculative, thought on the white horse and the hero under the hill. I wonder if the white horse was seen as a chthonic figure related to the moon. A figure, not of a hero's overcoming of the underworld and strong return, but with emphasis on their defeat and death with hopeful promise of eventual return. In this way the moon white horse could be seen culturally as a symbol for the people getting through heavily harsh times. Certainly one could see how, in a time when being culturally and militarily overtaken, this myth may be refreshed as a king (a symbol of the land and the people [the culture]) dying but somehow returning. Two aspects may support this. 1. A perspective of long view change of culture (stories of moving from their land to a land of wonder [an otherworld] before returning and facing the truth of time destroying them, and stories from nearby Irish on cultural groups being pushed underground), and 2. a mythological view of a horse as a chthonic or deathly agent (stories of horses carrying people to drown in water, often spoken off with danger but not hatred). Through this it would mean that it is not a chthonic hero-king who will return to save Britain but rather that, through the white horse (the moon), the culture and people are chthonic, which makes the Pendragon under the hill not a hero story. Instead it's a eulogy with hope.

so, was the first invasion in the Irish stories the Bell Beakers? Just started the video and havent watched all of it yet.

Would I be alright to use this material for a song, please?

Ohh I see so many paralells between brittish/gaelic folklore and Scandinavian (especially Swedish, becaus I know that best) folktales. The welsh Lady of the Lake stories have many equvalent i Scandinavia. She do not usually appere from the lakes but she is of "the others", the hidden, and there are almost always this ritual condition (which is often broken in the story to create drama where the fallout looks diffefent from tale to tale). Also the notion of "fairy cattle" with connection to lakes and grassing on the bottom of the lakes are also very common motifs (one way of gaining/capture such a cattle is to throw steel over it). Swedes have also done offerings in lakes, bogs, pools and wells (both people and destroyed weapons). Seeing them kind of a portal to an under-/otherworld. Still there are stories of mystical "bottomless pits" in small mires that has spooky stories. One where I grew up was called "cat-mire" and was said to hold the bodies of dissapeared people. The "hole" was less the 2 meters in diameters filled with black water and placed in the middle of the forest. We also have the being called "näcken" (the "näck") which grab people close to the water and drag them under. The "what" is concistant (they drown people) but the "how" and "why" varies from tale to tale. At times he is a gorgious naked man sitting rapids playing the fiddle or flute, seducing women, luring them near. In those stories he is at times lonely and want to show her his home at the bottom. In others he is much more predetory. Later it is one of the shapes the devil takes. Master musicians, especially fiddlers, can sell their soul to him in order to get really good at their craft. Another form is the "brook horse" who especially children can come across close to waters which is a magificet horse, not uncommonly white. If the climb up on its back playing they can not climb down and the horse can get longer and longer to fit as many children there is at the spot, and then it rushes down into the water drowning all of them. The third variant he can sink boats crossing a body of water, demanding the lives in it as tribute, and some stories have him attacking from underneath tocking the boat and drag people down. So quite different apperencies, methods and reasons but it is still seen as the same entity, Näcken ("näck" and "naken" means nude in Swedish, and the slang verb "näcka" means to get nude). At the same time you have the "lake mistress", the queen and protector of the lake (or boats), which is a very stern and unforgiving being that demands respect (like any other such "rulers"/"protectors" in Swedish folklore) but who can give you gifts (like biting fish) if you are respectful to her. I know fishers that still share their sandwich with her when fishing for example. So not all that comes out of the water is beastly. Another interesting thing is the walkway to the "grave side" mentioned in the video. Made me think of Norse mythology and the road to hell where a bridge over a river really marks the boundery between the realm of the living and the realm of the dead...

@Crecganford: So, are the stories discussed in this video actual British mythology, going back multiple thousands of years? Or are they completely modern(ized) stories, perhaps inspired by legitimate British mythology? Or are they a combination of the two?

Silver hand is likely to come from Nodens the Catcher and likely has PIE connotations with fishing or fisherman similarly Eraint in welsh can also mean cup or bowl , it's pretty much then recycled in the fisher king in Perceval and the Grail in Arthurian cycles, the grail is speculated to come from the story of the cauldron and Bran the Blessed and of course the common connection associated and usually made with the Eucharist traditions, as for the horse, look up Mari Lwyd for some fun though it's not backed up by any written evidence just folklore, as for Nukkers i'm going to go with conger eels, classic rock pool haunter.

Trundholm chariot = Uffington white horse; same thing, different scales. Winter solstice myth, same as the "three wise men" following the bright star in the east. It's solar standstill and rebirth stuff, three days static on the horizon of "death" at the darkest time of the year etc.

15:05, oh so like thr Arthurian Fischer King.

Check out the pictures of ( the deep pond adversary):" nøkken by the Norwegian the artist Theodor Kittelsen ". Gives you an idea. Very interesting to hear that it exists outside Scandinavia.

Doncaster was Danum in Roman times and Danceastre in old English.

Love those Venus's!

Gwilliam Morris Baird is amazing. You can take a class with him online.

Brilliant! Rhiannon is linked to Morrigan. Both names mean Great Queen. Links to Neolithic figures.

Is blood and kidney pie part of the myth? I feel that that would be fitting. Also football.

When he connects the Maya and the solar pyramids, he touches on the truth, Hail Atlantis

Hey m8, do you follow archeo-genetics at all? Neanderthal, Denisovan, etc. Have you heard about Denisova cave and the things they find there?

Who still releases CD's? I don't own a cd player anymore.

Wikipedia: The "hypothetical" name Danu "is a reconstruction by modern scholars based on the genitive Danan." Keywords being HYPOTHETICAL and RECONSTRUCTION. "Danu has no surviving myths or legends associated with her in any of the medieval Irish texts." I believe that the Tuatha Dé Danann are the biblical Tribe of Dan.

Knuckles to me sounds like nagas. Great show BTW.!

So the Romans are fairies now... Well Italians are pretty but not that much!

@42 minutes: Interesting that in certain depictions egyptian high priests are wearing leopard skin.

OMG this is where Johny Silverhand from Cyberpunk 2077 came from!

The way he used the feminine form of chat at around 13:25, I know he used it to make it easier to hear but lmao it sounded so bad 😂 the feminine form of that word has a connotation similar to another word for cat in English, that is usually used to refer to feminine anatomy lmao *a francophone

LMAO king is married to the land that reminds me of Japanese Noval called twelve kingdoms

Nodens=Nuada=Ludd.

The Wanax (Proto Indio European word for King) needed the Sacral Grace of the Goddess and was symbolically married to her.

I recommendrobert sephers work to all in the comments

There are stories of the people under the hill in Sweden as well. See allmogens.se/en/tale/ljungby-horn-och-pipa/ And we have the Näck, which is a water-spirit who plays the fiddle.

It's not generally accepted by academics than 'Danu' is a mother goddess, perhaps 20 years ago. But not now. I will cite Mark William's book Ireland's Immortals, who is an academic. Great book very worth the time to read it. There is no such goddess in Irish myth and the only time Danu appears as a name - it's masculine.

And where was the British creation story in this interesting spiel?

Ugh, not the white horse thing again… Fortress of Lugh offers a very compelling Celtic cosmogony narrative.

Has he ever heard of Ludgate on the west wall of London? or Ludgate hill right next to it? And please don't call the British "Celts" they never were, they were Britons.

So is there a British creation myth?

You're a little mixed up with the Legends, Kali was the "Indian Goddess", Nia means Heavenly Anointed (Queen), Ka-Li-For-Nia....... For-Mu-Ri-Ans....... You're light years behind/Out.

This has to be the most babbling bunch of nothing I heard in a long time. Just loosely grabbing from here and there and slamming a bunch of nothing together. Yes it is very suggestive and speculation. And stating, I don't know if it is true...

Rambling, rambling! Why can't he speak clearly and stay focused on subject? It is too bad, this is why so many people are turned off by History. I really like the way you express yourself.