Editing Ceridwen (section)

==Later interpretations==
It has been suggested that Ceridwen first appeared as a simple sorceress character in the ''Tale of Taliesin''. Its earliest surviving text dates from the mid-16th century, but it appears from its language to be a 9th-century composition, according to Hutton. References to Ceridwen and her cauldron found in the work of the 12th century {{Lang|cy|Gogynfeirdd}} or Poets of the Princes (such as [[Cynddelw Brydydd Mawr]]) he thus considers later, derivative works. In them, according to Hutton, Ceridwen is transformed from a sorceress into a goddess of poetry. Citing this and a couple of other examples, Hutton proposes that the {{Lang|cy|Gogynfeirdd}} substantially created a new mythology not reflective of earlier paganism.<ref name = "ron">Ronald Hutton, ''The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles: Their Nature and Legacy'', Blackwell Publishing, 1993, p. 323</ref> Nonetheless, references to Ceridwen's cauldron (''pair Ceridwen'') are also to be found in some of the early mythological poems attributed to the legendary Taliesin in the ''[[Book of Taliesin]]''.<ref>J. Gwenogvryn Evans (ed.), ''The Book of Taliesin'' (Llanbedrog, 1910), 33.10; 27.13–14; 33.10.</ref>

The Victorian poet [[Thomas Love Peacock]] also wrote a poem entitled the ''Cauldron of Ceridwen''.<ref>Thomas Love Peacock, ''The Works of Thomas Love Peacock: Including His Novels, Poems, Fugitive Pieces, Criticisms'', R. Bentley and Son, 1875, p. 113.</ref> Later writers identified her as having originally been a pagan goddess, speculating on her role in a supposed Celtic pantheon. [[John Rhys]] in 1878 referred to the Solar Myth theory of [[Max Müller]] according to which "Gwenhwyfar and Ceridwen are dawn goddesses."<ref>John Rhys, ''Lectures on Welsh Philology'', Trübner, 1879, p. 305</ref> Charles Isaac Elton in 1882 referred to her as a "white fairy".<ref>Charles Isaac Elton, ''Origins of English History'', B. Quaritch, 1882, p.253.</ref> [[Robert Graves]] later fitted her into his concept of the [[Triple Goddess (Neopaganism)|Threefold Goddess]], in which she was interpreted as a form of the destructive side of the goddess.<ref>Ronald Hutton, ''The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft'', Oxford University Press, 2001, p. 192.</ref> In [[Wicca]], Ceridwen is a goddess of change and rebirth and transformation and her cauldron symbolizes knowledge and inspiration.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://paganwiccan.about.com/od/godsandgoddesses/p/Cerridwen.htm |title=Cerridwen: Keeper of the Cauldron<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=2008-03-14 |archive-date=2009-02-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090211114221/http://paganwiccan.about.com/od/godsandgoddesses/p/Cerridwen.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>