Hen's Teeth and Other Attempts

Today's prompt was to write about a mythical character doing a mundane thing. I wrote a little essay (as in attempt) about the Welsh goddess, Ceridwen, at the dentist. 

Ceridwen's story is as quirky and convoluted as most old Welsh legends. I'm going to quote straight from wikipedia, in the interest of time (it being already too late for me to be up, knowing I have an alarm set for 5:20 AM):

According to the late medieval Tale of Taliesin, included in some modern editions of the Mabinogion, Ceridwen's son, Morfran (also called Afagddu), was hideously ugly – particularly compared with his beautiful sister Creirwy – so Ceridwen sought to make him wise in compensation. She made a potion in her magical cauldron to grant the gift of wisdom and poetic inspiration, also called Awen.

The mixture had to be boiled for a year and a day. She set Morda, a blind man, to tend the fire beneath the cauldron, while Gwion Bach, a young boy, stirred the concoction. The first three drops of liquid from this potion gave wisdom; the rest was a fatal poison. Three hot drops spilled onto Gwion's thumb as he stirred, burning him. He instinctively put his thumb in his mouth, and gained the wisdom and knowledge Ceridwen had intended for her son. Realising that Ceridwen would be angry, Gwion fled. Ceridwen chased him. Using the powers of the potion he turned himself into a hare. She became a greyhound. He became a fish and jumped into a river. She transformed into an otter. He turned into a bird; she became a hawk. Finally, he turned into a single grain of corn. She then became a hen and, being a goddess (or enchantress, depending on the version of the tale), she found and ate him without trouble. But because of the potion he was not destroyed. When Ceridwen became pregnant, she knew it was Gwion and resolved to kill the child when he was born. However, when he was born, he was so beautiful that she could not do it. She threw him in the ocean instead, sewing him inside a leather-skin bag (or set him in a coracle, depending on the story). The child did not die, but was rescued on a Welsh shore – near Aberdyfi according to most versions of the tale – by a prince named Elffin ap Gwyddno; the reborn infant grew to become the legendary bard Taliesin.

Given her history, I thought if Ceridwen were in a position to visit a dental hygienist while pregnant, she might very well be trying to avoid the banality of Muzak by musing on the number of teeth that are typically in the mouth of a greyhound, otter, hawk and hen. Hence the excuse to use "hen's teeth" in a poem. Because why not?  Also, I like the connection to Taliesin, because of Taliesin's connection with Frank Lloyd Wright (it was the name of his home and studio). And to clarify, it's some of Wright's work I like. Not so much the man.  

But back to the legend. What, you may ask, of Morfan? He apparently remained "ugly and despised" That hardly seems fair, and speaking of "fair," I am especially disturbed by references to his darker complexion. What the hell, Welsh mythology? I'm sorry to see, even here, darker skin equated with unattractiveness or worse. I know, I know: product of the time, etc. etc. But still, the more aware I become of the horrible consequences of racism, the more it disturbs me to find it so pervasive. As, I believe, it should.