Literary Missteps
The Tale of Taliesin is a legendary story about Taliesin printed in the Mabinogion, and based in part on the forgeries of the Iolo Manuscripts by Iolo Morganwg. The story tells of events where Taliesin is placed in difficult or impossible situations but invariably overcomes all obstacles, usually through feats of magic. In one passage, Maelgwn Gwynedd sends his son Rhun on a mission to seduce the wife of Elffin ap Gwyddno. However, Elffin's court bard Taliesin knew of Maelgwn's plan because he was a seer, and arranged for a servant to replace his patron's wife, to the ultimate embarrassment of his patron's opponent Maelgwn.
One of the Triads mentions a certain Rhun ap Beli (English: Rhun son of Beli) who was famed for his military exploits. The name is repeated elsewhere in medieval poetry, such as in Hywel Foel's (fl. c. 1240 – 1300) awdl lamenting the capture and imprisonment of Owain ap Gruffudd, where he likens Owain to Rhun: "Who if free, like Rhun the son of Beli, Would not let Lloegria burn his borders". There is no confirming evidence that such a person existed, and it is contradicted by records such as the royal genealogies, which have Rhun as the father (not the son) of Beli. Scholars such as Thomas Stephens have concluded that this is a mistake, and that the intended person was someone else.
Read more about this topic: Rhun Hir Ap Maelgwn
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“Poetry seems to have been eliminated as a literary genre, and installed instead, as a kind of spiritual aerobic exercise—nobody need read it, but anybody can do it.”
—Marilyn Hacker (b. 1942)