Sacred Texts Legends/Sagas Celtic Barddas Index Previous Next
Buy this Book at Amazon.com
The Barddas of Iolo Morganwg, Vol. I., ed. by J. Williams Ab Ithel, [1862], at sacred-texts.com
There are three principal elements: water; fire; and nwyvre. From the water comes the earth, that is, the water was dried of its humidity by fire; and from the water, scattered or liquefied by fire, is the air, or firmament; and from the union of water, fire, and nwyvre, is life.
Others say:--
There are five elements: earth; water; firmament; fire; and nwyvre. From the nwyvre are all life and power; from the fire is all affection; from the firmament is all motion; from the earth is all corporeity; and from the water are all growth, form, and habit.
It is thus, according to another mode, in the Triads of Ionabwy:--
There are five elements: earth; water; air; 2 fire; and nev. From nev are all animation and life, and from it are God and every soul and spirit; and when it is separated from the other elements, they die, whereas God cannot die, for He has no body formed from the dead elements. On that account, He is not subject to form, size, or measure, nor to place or time; wherefore He is beyond every measure, place, and time, for ever and ever, without cessation, without end. Nev is an element of life, and, from its union with the dead ones, life takes place in a body; from the union of the dead ones is every corporeity; from the earth is every thing hard; and from the water are all growth, form, and habit, because with water principally, and from its species, augmentation and diminution take place; from the air is every motion; from the fire are all affection and lust; and from nevoedd 3 is all life. It was thus that the ancient teachers arranged them, before the nation of the
[paragraph continues] Cymry lost their sciences and arts. And when corporal things die, the elements separate, and each one goes to what pertains to it, namely, earth to earth, water to water, air to air, fire to fire, and life to life, that is, to God; that is to say, all things go to their beginnings and originals, where they rest.
There are five elements: calas; fluidity; breath; uvel; and nwyvre; of which the first four are dead, and the fifth is life.
385:3 The plural of nev,--"heavens."