CERIDWEN

CERIDWEN: A Welsh Goddess who was a bit on the witchy side.

She had the ugliest son in the world. He was called Afagddu, which is a pretty ugly name. She also had a cauldron, and set to work boiling up knowledge for a year and a day so she could give her son brains, if not beauty.

A young scullion called GWION-BACH was given pot-watching duties, and just as the brew was due, a blob fell on his finger so he licked it off.

It's first come, first served with knowledge and it was all concentrated in this blob. CERIDWEN was so furious she chased and ate him even though he had the knowledge to change into various animals first in an attempt to escape.

Later she relented and regurgitated him as her son, but he escaped into a river and later became TALIESIN the Great Bard. Poor old Afagddu stayed ugly ever after.

And after that CERIDWEN had another son called Morfan. He went on to be a warrior, but no one would fight him because he was too ugly.