Editing Brân the Blessed (section)

== Other associations ==
According to the [[Welsh Triads]], Brân's head was buried in London where the [[White Tower (Tower of London)|White Tower]] now stands. As long as it remained there, Britain would be safe from invasion. However, [[King Arthur]] dug up the head, declaring the country would be protected only by his great strength.<ref>Triad 37. Bromwich, ''Trioedd Ynys Prydein'', pp. 94–102.</ref> There have been attempts in modern times to link the still-current practice of keeping ravens at the Tower of London under the care of [[Yeomen Warder]] Ravenmaster with this story of Brân. The connection can still be seen in several Celtic languages, in Welsh brân means crow, and bran means raven in both Cornish and Irish.

Several scholars have noted similarities between Brân the Blessed and the Arthurian character the [[Fisher King]], the keeper of the [[Holy Grail]]. The Fisher King first appears in [[Chrétien de Troyes]]'s 12th century French romance ''[[Perceval, the Story of the Grail]]''; he has been dealt a mortal wound in the leg (Brân's wound was in his foot) but stays alive in his [[Corbenic|mystical castle]] due to the effects of the Grail, waiting to be healed by [[Percival]]. A later author who took up the story, [[Robert de Boron]], describes the history of the Grail in ancient times, and says the first Fisher King was a man called "Bron". Additionally, the Welsh story ''[[Peredur son of Efrawg]]'', a version of the Percival story with several striking deviations, features the hero visiting a mysterious castle, although he does not find the Grail there, but rather a severed human head. Additionally, some works attribute to the Grail the power to restore the fallen, making it somewhat similar to Brân's cauldron. Others have identified Bendigeidfran with the [[Irish mythology|Irish]] hero [[The Voyage of Bran|Bran mac Febal]].<ref name="Bromwich, Rachel p. 290">Bromwich, Rachel. ''Trioedd Ynys Prydein'', p. 290</ref>

[[John T. Koch]] proposes a number of parallels between the mythological Bendigeidfran and the historical Celtic chieftain [[Brennus (3rd century BC)|Brennus]], who [[Gallic invasion of the Balkans|invaded the Balkans in the 3rd century BC]].<ref>[Bromwich, Rachel. ''Trioedd Ynys Prydein'', p. 290</ref> He goes on to suggest an association between Brân and [[Brancaster]], a fort on the Norfolk coast, while Rachel Bromwich suggests that [[Castell Dinas Brân]] in Denbighshire is similarly related.<ref name="Bromwich, Rachel p. 290"/> [[Nikolai Tolstoy|Count Nikolai Tolstoy]] proposes that Brân's original function was that of a [[psychopomp]], guiding the souls of the dead to the [[Otherworld]].<ref>Tolstoy, Nikolai. ''The Oldest British Prose Literature: The Compilation of the Four Branches of the Mabinogi'', p. 290</ref>

Brân is praised in the poetry of 12th century bard [[Cynddelw Brydydd Mawr]], in which he is described as "a good commander of the host; in battle, in hostile territory, in the contest, in stress", while, in his elegy for [[Llywelyn ap Gruffudd]], Prince of Wales, [[Bleddyn Fardd]] compares the overthrow of the prince to the deaths of [[Llywelyn Fawr]], [[King Arthur]] and Brân.<ref>Bromwich, Rachel. ''Trioedd Ynys Prydein'', p. 291</ref> A poem found in the [[Black Book of Carmarthen]] refers to Bendigeidfran's death in Ireland, claiming that [[Gwyn ap Nudd]] was present at the battle, either as a warrior or in his traditional role as a [[psychopomp]].<ref>[http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/bbc33.html ''The Dialogue of Gwyddno Garanhir and Gwyn ap Nudd'']
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The novel series ''[[The Chronicles of Prydain]]'' by [[Lloyd Alexander]], whose second installment is named The Black Cauldron, is based on [[Welsh mythology]]. The Disney film ''[[The Black Cauldron (film)|The Black Cauldron]]'', based loosely on the novel series, features a  cauldron that can bring the dead back to life.

The novel series ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'' by [[George R. R. Martin]] includes several characters named Brandon (Bran) Stark.  Many of them have epithets commonly associated with their names, such as Brandon the Builder, Brandon the Breaker, Brandon the Shipwright, Brandon the Burner, Brandon the Bad, and Brandon the Daughterless.  The television series ''[[Game of Thrones]]'' is based on the Martin novels.  One of the Brandon Starks is associated with crows in the novels, and with ravens in the TV series.