hi thanks for friend request,
a piece of prose in which a real river is imagined as a woman
Elwy
In North Wales, high on the mountain Moel Seisog there is a sacred cauldron in which there is the green lake, the Alwen. Here this mother lake gives birth to a baby girl and names her Elwy.
To protect her from evil forces in the early stages of her life she is given a cloak name, Cledwen
The baby grows, crawls, then toddles, then... Show more
hi thanks for friend request,
a piece of prose in which a real river is imagined as a woman
Elwy
In North Wales, high on the mountain Moel Seisog there is a sacred cauldron in which there is the green lake, the Alwen. Here this mother lake gives birth to a baby girl and names her Elwy.
To protect her from evil forces in the early stages of her life she is given a cloak name, Cledwen
The baby grows, crawls, then toddles, then walks. Her mother tells her she must set off on her life journey and fulfill her destiny to meet her grandmother, while on the way giving life to many creatures.
She the sets of on her life journey.
At first she is small and fast. She gives life to dippers, drinking foxes, trout, and hill sheep.
By Gwyherin she has grown into a fine girl running free in the pasture; minnows play in her shallows and kingfishers dive in the clear water. Cattle drink from her clear water.
For now she still uses her cloak name, Afon Cledwen. But by Llangernwy she flowers out and uses her magical name Elwy.
She is a young woman gathering her powers; otters dive in her pools.
She has affairs with the Collen,and the Gallen gathering to her their strength.
By Llanfairtalhairn she is courting and yearning She has a love affair with the Afon Aled and joins with him.
Swallows swoop over her flow and herons poke in the shallows. Sea trout and salmon swim in her waist.
But by Llanelwy (St Asaph) she is passionate, in need of a husband , a real man. Her passion overflows, she enters houses seeking him.
Then the salmon tell her of the Clwydd, a strong and manly river.
After Llanelwy she can feel the close presence of the Clwydd and aims to marry him, sending bird messengers with feelings of love.
She joins with the Clwydd at Rhuddlan.
In their embrace they slow a little. Coots and ducks break their surface. Swans glide over their faces.
She begins to meet the power of her grandmother, the sea. When her grandmother visits them the arguments can be great and they flow over the land together.
But the Elwy and the Clwydd gain in power and they flow on together to Rhyl and to the ocean.
Here they merge with her grandmother at last, spreading out their fresh water into the salt.
They rest for a while then in time,they rise again as rain drops, fog, and mist and snow and are blown inland, back to the high mountains and here they fall.
Elwy re-enters her birth mother, the Alwen, the green lake, in the sacred cauldron , and is reborn, again.
end
notes
Elwy; means in welsh, smooth flowing river.
Cledwyn; means in welsh, hardy (or rough) and fair
The River Elwy (Afon Elwy in Welsh) is a river in Wales and is a tributary of the River Clwyd. The source of the river is sometimes said to be on the northern flank of Moel Seisiog, south-east of Llanrwst, at Ordnance Survey grid reference SH853593. However the river is only actually called the Elwy at the village of Llangernyw, where three rivers, Afon Cledwen, Afon Collen and Afon Gallen, meet to form the Elwy. It flows eastwards through Llanfair Talhaiarn and a few miles downstream from this village it is joined by a tributary, the River Aled (Afon Aled) which has its source in Llyn Aled.
After passing through Bont-newydd, the river turns northwards again and flows through St. Asaph (Llanelwy or "the church enclosure on the Elwy" in Welsh). It joins the River Clwyd about half way between St. Asaph and Rhuddlan, and the waters of the two rivers can often be seen flowing side by side for several miles.
A number of caves along the lower valley of the Elwy are of great archaeological interest and are considered one of the most important groups of Palaeolithic and later caves and rock shelters in Britain. In particular Pontnewydd Cave contained remains of Neanderthal people and is the most north-westerly site at which Neanderthal remains have been found.[1]
The Elwy is also well known for its sea trout fishing, and also has a small run of Atlantic Salmon.
Wow that's deep.... No thank you for accepting my friend request..
well, its more interesting than just hi. Its a real river, and in the past people were connected to their mountains and rivers in a spiritual way.
In the book song lines Bruce Chatwin describes how the Aborigines of Australia sang their landscape into being .
There is a concept... Show more
well, its more interesting than just hi. Its a real river, and in the past people were connected to their mountains and rivers in a spiritual way.
In the book song lines Bruce Chatwin describes how the Aborigines of Australia sang their landscape into being .
There is a concept called geopoetics ( started by a guy named (Kenneth White) where you relate your writing to landscape.
wildgoose