The Lesser Prophecy of Britain
Book of Taliesin XLVII
My awen foretells the coming of a multitude
Possessed of wealth and peace;
Of a generous sovereign, and eloquent princes —-
But after this tranquillity, commotion in every place.
The seven sons of Beli will arise.
Caswallawn, Lludd, and Custennyn.
They will crack the heart of Prydein.
The Country in uproar as far as Blathaon:
Exhausted warriors, tired mounts,
A country ravaged to its borders.
The Cymry will loose all their bounty,
And their servant seek new masters.
Lleminawg will come,
An ambitious man,
To subdue Mona,
To ruin Gwynedd.
From its borders to its heartland,
Its beginning to its end,
He will take its pledges.
Furious his face,
Submitting to no one,
Cymry or Saxon.
Another will come from concealment
Bringing universal slaughter:
How extensive his armies,
A triumph to the Britons!
This poem, like its companion, "Armes Prydein Vawr," depicts the Britons throwing off the Saxons. Here, they are led by the sons of Beli, who is seen as a historical king, though in fact he and his sons are euhemerized gods.
Lleminawg: a figure from other Taliesin poems, namely "The Spoils of Annwn," where he has a flaming sword, plunged into the cauldron of Annwfn. In "Culhwch ac Olwen" he is a knight of Arthur's. R. S. Loomis theorized that he is a form of Lugh Lamhfada, and influenced the figure of Lancelot.