DiligentOcelot

(credit to the person who tweeted this - so sorry but i lost your username)

Now let’s look into who Blodeuwedd is. But first, let me be clear, I think certain aspects inspired Elain’s story, not all.

Blodeuwedd is known as the Goddess of flowers, emotions, the wisdom of innocence and initiation ceremonies. Elain is constantly described as innocence and her love for gardening flowers. 

It gets more interesting… 

So why was Blodeuwedd created? In the Welsh Tale, a male named Lleu was put under a curse by his mother. The mother, a goddess, felt ashamed of Lleu and put three fates of him: he would never have a name, weapons, or (human?) wife. Because of this he could not become king.

The story goes on to say Lleu’s mother, the goddess, was tricked by the uncle, Gywidon, with his magic to break the curses. He gave Llew a name, weapons, and created a wife for him from the flowers of oak, broom, and meadowsweet.

So let’s take a pause there to connect some things. First of all we can associate Lleu with Lucien. Both of their names mean light.  Another similarity is that Lleu and Lucien are both have shame brought upon them in the eyes of their parents.

Blodeuwedd was created for marriage to this guy. You could say when Elain when in the cauldron - she was recreated and was born again into fae. When she came out of the cauldron, it seems like the bond was almost instantly created, marking Lucien her mate.

Lleu fell for Blodeuwedd immediately as she was beautiful. She put up with being the perfect wife for a while, until she became unsatisfied with her fate. Almost like how Elain is not happy with this fate of Lucien being her mate. Elain does not feel the same for Lucien, as he does for her.

It’s said that Lleu would go away on trips often. When he was away, Blodeuwedd met Gronw. This man was in need of shelter, so Blodeuwedd invited him inside. She even invites him for a meal. The two fall in love at first sight. Then the story gets a little crazy because they conspire to kill Llew to be with each other. Here are some quotes of the story I pulled:

So let's connect some things again, lol.

If you haven’t realized already Gronw = Azriel. 

Blodeuwedd was created for Lleu just like how Elain is meant for Lucien because of the mating bond, but falls in love with another man. It’s also interesting that Gronw’s and Blodeuwedd first interaction is the same as Elain and Azriel. Azriel (and Rhys, Cas, and Feyre) were seeking shelter at the Archeron’s home. Elain and Azriel's first interaction was over a meal, just like this tale. 

Blodeuwedd and Gronw would meet and spend time together in secret - which relates to the forbidden love trope that it seems SJM is setting up when Rhys tells Azriel he is to stay away from Elain because of her mate + the alliances that come with Lucien. 

Could this be setting up for Elain’s book? Elain and Azriel having to meet up in secret? 

Also, do I think Azriel + Elain will kill Lucien like the tale? No. SJM seems pretty clear when she says she likes to write more uplifting stories and not killing off characters. It’s also pretty evident that SJM has never killed a main character off before. So I think Lucien is safe, lol. Gronw also dies in the tale, but I don’t think she would kill of Azriel either, haha. I'll quote what happens at the end, and if you give have any theories on what it would relate to - I'd love to hear it!

To further connect Bloduwedd, Gronw and Lleu to Elain, Azriel, and Lucien, I saw these passages:

I mean can it get any more obvious. Lleu being associated with light, like Lucien. Gronw being associated with darkness, like Azriel. In Celtic mythology, Gronw Pebyr is a god of darkness. Blodewedd is associated with flowers and her land, and innocence. Elain’s name also means light. Which also goes back to SJM constantly comparing Azriel and Elain with light and darkness.

Blodeuwedd stopped trying to make her relationship with Lleu work, the man she was created for. In her relationship with Gronw - she feels free and grasps the truth of her sovereign self. This could mean Elain will go against fate and be with the man she loves, which is Azriel. 

I think it's clear in both the tale, and the ACOTAR series that Elain wants Azriel. For her to go against the mating bond would be huge! (I also believe in the two mates/ true mates theory)

Anyways - the ending of the tale is that Blodeuwedd and Gronw plot up to kill Lleu. Gronw throws a spear at Lleu. As he is dying, Lleu's uncle Gwyidon revives Lleu and turns him into an eagle. Blodeuwedd and Gronw then leave to go back to ruling a court (maybe ties into Az + Elain ruling dusk court, but maybe a reach!) Gwydion finds Lleu as an eagle, and returns him back to normal form. Lleu returns to court, and demands that he should enact the same deed that was done to him, upon Gronw. Gronw has no choice but to accept to keep his honor, but he requests that a stone be placed between him and Lleu. Lleu then fights and kills Gronw. Now what is interesting is that this kinda sounds like a duel? Could it relate to the blood duel that Az and Lucien could fight in, maybe! However, I really do not believe SJM will kill either character. Also, Blodeuwedd gets punished and turn into an eagle, lol.

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Also, just some things I wanted to point out. It says in the tale that Gwyidon created Blodeuwedd. And what's really interesting is that the word/name, Gwyidon, exists in the Acotar/CC world. This cannot be a coincidence that the same name in this tale is used here.

"It is described to be as dark and beautiful as the night itself. Gwydion's power is described as holy, savior's light." It's the twin to the Truth Teller. This goes back with the whole dark/light theory with Elain and Azriel. I think it's a huge possibility that this Gwydion sword will belong to Elain eventually.

And another one is having to do with Blodeuwedd's power. She has the ability to heal / renew Lleu.

Could this go back to that quote, "Life, Death, and Rebirth" with rebirth having to relate to Elain? Maybe besides being a seer, she might be able to bring back life again and heal things.