Editing Brân the Blessed (section)

==Name==
The Welsh mythological texts of the ''Mabinogion'' were recorded between the 14th and 15th centuries in [[Middle Welsh]]. As a result, there are discrepancies regarding the spelling of names, because English translations maintain [[Middle Welsh]] orthography whereas [[Welsh language|Modern Welsh]] versions use Modern Welsh orthography. In Middle Welsh, there was some variation on the name Brân. In modern Welsh, the ''treiglad meddal'' (soft mutation) is Frân, but in Middle Welsh documents, this might be rendered as ''Vran'' or ''Uran'' (the latter arising because U and V represented the same letter in Latin).

In the ''Mabinogion'', the character is referred to virtually exclusively as "Bendigeituran"; that is, with the epithet "Bendigeit" (blessed or praiseworthy) attached (a terminal D is pronounced similarly to T in Welsh, and in early documents was also spelt with T). The only exceptions are in the [[patronymic]] of his son [[Caradog ap Bran|Caradog ap Brân]] and a single reference to his gathering in Ireland as ''Gwledd Brân'', "The feast of Brân (or 'Crow')". This usage is followed in the Welsh Triads. Bendigeituran becomes "Bendigeidfrân" or "Brân Fendigeid" in Modern Welsh; Bendigeidfran is the form used in many Modern Welsh adaptations of the ''Mabinogion''.<ref>For instance, Dafydd & Rhiannon Ifans' ''Y Mabinogi''.</ref> However, earlier references generally do not include the epithet, instead calling the character ''Brân fab Llŷr'' or simply ''Brân''.<ref name="Bromwich">Bromwich, ''Trioedd Ynys Prydein'', pp. 290–292.</ref> [[Ifor Williams]] thought ''Bendigeit'' was a late addition, perhaps a replacement for a word that had become obsolete by the time the ''Mabinogi'' was recorded.<ref name="Bromwich"/> "Vran" appears in an old poem in the [[Book of Taliesin]],<ref>''Book of Taliesin'' XIV, [http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/t14w.html "Kerd Veib am Llyr"]. From [http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/llyfrtaliesin.html Llyfr Taliesin] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080118191527/http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/llyfrtaliesin.html |date=2008-01-18 }} at maryjones.us. Retrieved February 7, 2007.</ref> while [[Cynddelw Brydydd Mawr]] and [[Llywarch ap Llywelyn|Prydydd y Moch]] mention ''Brân fab Llŷr'' several times in their poetry, under different spellings. However, [[Bleddyn Fardd]] refers to "Benigeitran" in his elegy for [[Llywelyn ap Gruffudd]], demonstrating that the epithet "Bendigeit" had been attached to Brân since the late 13th century.<ref name="Bromwich"/>

In [[West Penwith]], Cornwall, the name Bran is associated with [[Caer Bran]] a [[ringfort|Cornish Round]] and the [[Men Scryfa]] which records a Brittonic RIALOBRANI CUNOVALI FILI ('royal raven' son of 'Famous Leader')  suggesting a local leader carried the name of the famous hero, the son of a [[Cynfawl]].