CULHWCK AND OLWEN.
or the TWRCH TRWYTH
(Translation by Lady Charlotte Guest)
Kilydd
the son of Prince Kelyddon desired a wife as a helpmate, and the wife that he
chose was Goleuddydd (1),
the daughter of Prince Anlawdd (2).
And after their union, the people put up prayers that they might have an heir.
And they had a son through the prayers of the people.
(1) Goleuddydd, “shiny
day;” ref. Breton gouloudeiz.
(2)
In Achau
saint ynys Prydain (Myv.,
p. 431, collar. 2) or Genealogies of the
saints of the
From
the time of her pregnancy Goleuddydd became wild, and wandered about, without
habitation; but when her delivery was at hand, her reason came back to her.
Then she went to a mountain where there was a swineherd, keeping a herd of
swine. And through fear of the swine the queen was delivered. And the swineherd
took the boy, and brought him to the palace; and he was christened, and they
called him Culhwck (1), because he
had been found in a swine's burrow. Nevertheless the boy was of gentle lineage,
and cousin unto Arthur (2);
and they put him out to nurse.
(1) Kulhwch.
This is one of these whimsical etymologies, as met from time to time
in the Mabinogion, and, in general, in the Middle
Ages texts. The author, breaking up the word into kul and hwch, saw in
kul the word cil, “hiding-place, retirement, corner, or narrow
bottom,” and in hwch the word
hwch, today sow,
but formerly pig in general (ref. Armorican, houch, “pig”). The name Kulhwch is preserved in Tref Culhwch, close to Pencaer in
Pembrokeshire (Egerton
Phillimore, Owen's Pembrok., 72. b. 322, notes).
(2)
Arthur. The name of Arthur is marked neither by Gildas, nor by Bede. It
appears for the first time in Nennius. According to the author of
Historia Britonum, Arthur was war
leader against the Saxons at the end of the 5th century; he would have gained
over them twelve victories. A part that perhaps does not even belong to
primitive work, mentions a hunt for the monster called porcum Troit, by Arthur
and his dog Cavall. Historia, in its original parts, dates from the IXth century (See Arthur de
After
this the boy's mother, Goleuddydd, the daughter of Prince Anlawdd, fell sick.
Then she called her husband unto her, and said to him, “Of this sickness I
shall die, and thou wilt take another wife. Now wives are the gift of the Lord,
but it would be wrong for thee to harm thy son. Therefore I charge thee that
thou take not a wife until thou see a briar with two blossoms upon my grave.”
And this he promised her. Then she besought him to dress her grave every year, that nothing might grow thereon. So the queen died.
Now the king sent an attendant (1)
[should be: ‘family teacher’] every morning to see if anything were growing
upon the grave. And at the end of the seventh year the master neglected that
which he had promised to the queen.
One
day the king went to hunt, and he rode to the place of burial to see the grave,
and to know if it were time that he should take a wife; and the king saw the
briar. And when he saw it, the king took counsel where he should find a wife.
Said one of his counsellors :
(1) Athraw or Athro. Former Welsh had the habit to have a athraw in the
family: “There are three things
that a Welshman, owner of ground, must keep and maintain: a legitimate woman,
an armed man, if it cannot itself carry weapons, and a private teacher” (Athraw leuluaidd. Ancient laws,
II, p. 514, 31). The bardd often
played this role; and, in particular, held the genealogies. Athro might rather point at the
confessor perhaps here, or rather one of these family clerks called ‘latiniers,’
(‘latiners’) who, in XIIIth c.,
France cumulated the functions of interpreter, writer and chaplain (See Lecoy de
“I
know a wife that will suit thee well, and she is the wife of King Doged. (1)” And they resolved to go to seek her; and they slew
the king, and brought away his wife and one daughter that she had along with
her. And they conquered the king's lands.
On
a certain day, as the lady walked abroad, she came to the house of an old crone
(2) [should be: witch] that
dwelt in the town, and that had no tooth in her head. And the queen said to
her, “Old woman, tell me that which I shall ask thee, for the love of Heaven.
Where are the children of the man who has carried me away by violence?" Said the crone, “He has not children.” Said the queen, “Woe
is me, that I should have come to one who is
childless!" Then said the hag, “Thou needest not lament on account of
that, for there is a prediction that he shall have an heir by thee, and by none
other. Moreover, be not sorrowful, for he has one son.”
The
lady returned home with joy; and she asked her consort, “Wherefore hast thou
concealed thy children from me?" The king said, “I will do so no longer. (3)” And he sent messengers for his son, and he was
brought to the Court. His stepmother said unto him, “It were
well for thee to have a wife, and I have a daughter who is sought of every man
of renown in the world.”
(1) According to Rees, Welsh
Saints, p. 209 (see Lady
Guest, Mab., II, p.320), there was a king Doged, son of Cedig ab Ceredig ab
Cunedda Wledig, brother of the bishop Avan, founder of Llan-Avan in
Breconshire. He was put amongst the saints, and gave his name to Llan-Ddoged,
in Denbighshire. He could have lived from 500 to 542.
(2) Old witch in the figurative
meaning of the word (ref. old
fay). The Breton
word groac'h has all the meanings of
Welsh gwrach.
(3) This whole text is in the Welsh
version of the Seven Wise ones of
“I
am not yet of an age to wed (1),”
answered the youth. Then she said unto him, “I declare to thee, that it is thy
destiny not to be suited with a wife until thou obtain Olwen, the daughter of
Yspaddaden Penkawr.” And the youth blushed, and the love of the maiden diffused
itself through all his frame, although he had never
seen her. And his father inquired of him, “What has come over thee my son, and
what aileth thee?”
“My
stepmother has declared to me that I shall never have a wife until I obtain
Olwen (2), the daughter of
Yspaddaden Penkawr.”
“That
will be easy for thee,” answered his father.
“Arthur
is thy cousin. Go, therefore, unto Arthur, to cut thy hair (3), and ask this of him as a boon.”
(1) According to the oldest drafting
of the Welsh laws, the one of Gwynedd or North-Wales, girls could be married (‘to give them to a husband’: rody
y wr) at twelve. Boys could be married at fourteen years, because, at this
age, he was a master of his actions, he can own things; his father does not
have any more a right of beating him (Ancient
laws, I, p. 202, 8; 204, 3). It goes without saying that Kulhwch’s
answer does not refer to the age fixed by law.
(2) Dafydd ab Gwilym, singing a
woman, calls her fain Olwen “thin,
slender Olwen” (p. 162); a
similar comparison is found in Iolo mss., p. 239.
(3) According to Rees’ Cyclopaedia, quoted by Lady Guest, families
of standing during the VIIIth century used to ask a well-considered person to
perform the first haircut of their children: these people would become
something like the children’s spiritual fathers or godfathers. Constantin sent
to the Pope the hair of his son Heraclius, as a pledge of his wish to see him
become an adoptive father to Heraclius. Guortigern had a son with his daughter,
and convinced her to carry the child to bishop Germain, declaring who was the
father. Germain said to the child: “Pater tibi
ero, nec le permittam nisi mihi novacula cum forcipe et pectine detur, et ad patrem tuum carnalem
tibi dare liceat.”
The child goes straight to Guortigern, and says: “Pater
meus es tu,
caput meum tonde, et comam capitis
mei pecte.” (Hist., XXXIX). The word diwyn
indicates here thus the action to put in order, to cut and comb the
hair. This same habit existed in the Germanic world (See Loth, Revue Celt., 1890, p. 495-496). The present example
does not support, however, that this operation would be intended to provide a
child with a spiritual father, but that it was reserved to the father and to
the parents.
And
the youth pricked forth upon a steed with head dappled grey, of four winters
old, firm of limb, with shell-formed hoofs, having a bridle of linked gold on
his head, and upon him a saddle of costly gold. And in the youth's hand were
two spears of silver, sharp, well-tempered, headed with steel (1), three ells in length, of an edge to wound the
wind, and cause blood to flow, and swifter than the fall of the dewdrop from
the blade of reed-grass upon the earth when the dew of June is at the heaviest.
A gold-hilted sword was upon his thigh, the blade of which was of gold, bearing
a cross of inlaid gold of the hue of the lightning of heaven: his war-horn was
of ivory (2). Before him
were two brindled white-breasted greyhounds, having strong collars of rubies
about their necks, reaching from the shoulder to the ear. And the one that was
on the left side bounded across to the right side, and the one on the right to
the left, and like two sea-swallows sported around him. And his courser cast up
four sods with his four hoofs, like four swallows in the air, about his head,
now above, now below. About him was a four-cornered cloth of purple, and an
apple of gold was at each corner, and every one of the apples was of the value
of a hundred kine (3). And there was
precious gold of the value of three hundred kine upon his shoes, and upon his
stirrups, from his knee to the tip of his toe.
(1) [Loth comments on his translation
of Welsh gleif by spear and not by broadsword,
as a French speaker would expect.] What
is called a glaive (broadsword) in the Middle Age French novels, is a spear. The Welsh gleif, borrowed from
French glaive, has the same meaning. In Brut Gr. ab Arthur (Myv. Arch., 532.2), Arthur takes his
sword Caletvwlch; then takes a gleif named Ron uwchel.
However in the corresponding Nod., found in a
XIIth.-XIIIth century manuscript (Myv.
arch., p. 589, n° 510), the
word gleif is replaced by gwaew; spear. In the same way in Brut Tysilio. (ibid.,
463.1), the spear is called Rongymyniat: in Kulhwch its name is Rongomiant.
(2) the
Welsh text says lugorn olifant yndi (and an ivory lugorn in it). It could be possible to
translate lugorn by war horn [as Lady Guest does] but it is a very rare meaning. It evokes
perhaps of a lantern in the cross or the pommel of the sword. Sometimes lantern
indicated, in the Middle Ages, a jewel containing scented balls; according
to Littré, this name is still given to the open worked part of the cross of a
bishop, or stick of a priest helper. The pommels of sword, in the Middle Ages, were often open worked; and would contain,
under a bezel, relics to swear upon (See
Viollet-le-Duc, Dictionnaire du mobilier français, V, p. 378). Peniarth, IV (L Blanc 483), instead of lugorn, says
lloring of unknown meaning.
(3) By the old Britons, as among
Irishmen, the commercial value was appreciated in cattle heads. It is still the
way of counting, in the laws of Howel Da, written during the tenth century, but
of which the oldest manuscript is dated of the twelfth century. It recalls the
times when wealth consisted mainly of herds.
And
the blade of grass bent not beneath him, so light was his courser's tread as he
journeyed towards the gate of Arthur's Palace.
Spoke
the youth, “Is there a porter?”
“There
is; and if thou holdest not thy peace, small will be thy welcome [Loth notices a gap here]. I am Arthur's
porter every first day of January. And during every other part of the year but
this, the office is filled by Huandaw (1), and Gogigwc, and Llaeskenym, and Pennpingyon, who goes upon his head
to save his feet, neither towards the sky nor towards the earth, but like a
rolling stone upon the floor of the court.”
“Open
the portal.”
“I
will not open it.”
“Wherefore not?”
“The
knife is in the meat, and the drink is in the horn (2), and there is revelry in Arthur's hall, and none may enter therein
but the son of a king of a privileged country, or a craftsman bringing his
craft (3).
But
there will be refreshment for thy dogs, and for thy horses; and for thee there
will be collops cooked and peppered (4), and luscious wine and mirthful songs, and food for fifty men shall
be brought unto thee in the guest chamber, where the stranger and the sons of
other countries eat, who come not unto the precincts of the Palace of Arthur.
Thou wilt fare no worse there than thou wouldest with Arthur in the Court. A
lady shall smooth thy couch [more straightforwardly:
“a woman to lie with”], and shall lull thee
with songs; and early to-morrow morning, when the gate is open for the
multitude that came hither to-day, for thee shall it be opened first, and thou
mayest sit in the place that thou shalt choose in Arthur's Hall, from the upper
end to the lower.”
(1) Huandaw, “who hears well; “Gogigwc is probably a fault
of the copyist for Gogihwc, an
epithet which one finds in Aneurin’s Gododin (Skene, Four ancient books of Wales, p. 90, verse 13),
but whose meaning is not certain; Llaesgenym might be also distorted, Pen. 4. Laes Kemyn perhaps for Llaes Kevyn; the
first term, llaes, come from Latin laxus; Owen Pughe gives to Pennpingion
read meaning of branchy head, by linking pingion and pingc.
(2) The Welsh word indicates that the
drinking horn with was made originally and usually also, of buffalo horn or
wild ox.. According to the Welsh laws, the drinking
horn of the king, the one he would carry during is raids, and the horn of the
chief hunter, were to be of wild ox (Ancient
laws, II p. 991).
(3) The same life-style feature is
found among former Irishmen. When Lug, son of Eithlenn, a kind of Irish Mercury, arrives at the royal
palace of Tared, the gatekeeper refuses entrance to him, unless he masters some
art or profession (O' Curry, One the manners, III, p, 42).
(4) The dystein or the king’s bailiff had to provide some
herbs to the cook; only pepper is explicitly spoken of (Ancient laws, I, p. 48). The peppered meats are in honour
also in our tales of chivalry: “poons rostis, et bons cisnes (cygnes) pevreis,” (“roasted
meats and good peppered swans”) (about
Said the youth, “That I will not do.
If thou openest the gate, it is well. If thou dost not open it, I will bring
disgrace upon thy Lord, and evil report upon thee. And I will set up three
shouts (1) at this very gate,
than which none were ever more deadly, from the top of Pengwaed (2) in Cornwall (3) [called Kernyw in the Welsh text] to the bottom of Dinsol, in the
North (4), and to Esgair Oervel(5), in Ireland [called Iwerddon in the Welsh text]. And all the women in this Palace that are
pregnant shall lose their offspring; and such as are not pregnant, their hearts
shall be turned by illness, so that they shall never bear children from this
day forward.”
(1) The piercing cry (diaspad) was a legal means of
protest according to the Laws.
It was still of use, according to the code of Gwynedd, if a descendant to the
ninth degree would come claiming that some ground belonged to him: it was
called diaspat uwch annwvyn, that is ‘cry deeper than the chasm’ (Ancient laws I, 173,174.2). According to the Gwent code,
the diaspat egwan or
distress cry, was legal for the Welshman whom assistance of the law in the king
court or in front of the judges was refused, about his inheritance. The same
for the ninth degree descendants, to protest against a
property forfeiture (Ancient
laws, I, p. 774, 1). On shouting as protest against a decree of the
sovereign among Frenchmen, see Paulin, Paris, Romans de
(2) In the Laws, 1, p. 184, we find the name Penryn Penwaed y Kernyw.
It would have become, according to the editor, Penwith in
(3) Kernyw is the Welsh name
of British Cornwall, same name as that the one
Armorican Cornwall: Kernèo and Kerné. Kernyw is sometimes
confused with
(4) In the Mabinogion, the North is Briton country of
the North of England, from
(6) As pointed out Kuno Meyer (Early relations between Gael and Brython, Society of Cymmrodorion, 1896, p. 35), this is a deformation of Sescenn Uairbhéoil in
“What
clamour soever thou mayest make,” said Glewlwyd Gavaelvawr (1), “against the laws of Arthur's Palace shalt thou
not enter therein, until I first go and speak with Arthur.”
Then
Glewlwyd went into the Hall. And Arthur said to him, “Hast thou news from the
gate?"--"Half of my life is past, and half of thine. I was heretofore
in Kaer Se and Asse, in Sach and Salach, in Lotor and Fotor; and I have been
heretofore in
(1) Glewlwyt of the strong grip. He is already
found in the black Book,
fulfilling his functions of gatekeeper, but not, so it seems, those of Arthur’s
gatekeeper (Skene, II, p. 50,
See 24).
(2) The Welsh legend distinguishes two Ynyr: Ynyr Gwent and Ynyr
Llydaw or the
Armorican Ynyr. Ynyr Gwent would be, according to the Liber Laudavensis, p. 111, the father of one prince
Idon, contemporary of saint Teliaw. Armorican Ynyr would be son of king Alan, and nephew of Cadwaladr (Gaufrei of Monmouth, San-Marte ed., XII, 19, written Iny; Brut
Tysilio, p. 475, col. 2). Taliesin sings the achievements of Ynyr (Skene, II, p. 167, See 25; p. 168,
verse 8 and following; at line 25 the poet speaks of the gwystlon or hostages of Ynyr).
(3) Instead of Kaer Oeth ac Anoeth,
one generally reads Carchar (jail)
Oeth ac Anoeth. The black Book mentions family of Oeth and Anoeth (Skene, 31, 8). According to the Triads of the Red Book (Mab.,
p. 300, 1; 306, 9), Arthur would have been three nights in this prison with
Llyr Lledyeith, Mabon, son of Modron, and Geir, son of Geiryoed; he was made
free by Goreu, son of Kustennin, his cousin. We find several of these
characters in our mabinogi. The names of the prisoners differ (see below in connection with
Modron). The meaning of oeth and anoeth here is not sure. Oeth
has also the meaning
of wealth, jewels, gift,
like anoeth: (ref. to - oeth in cyf-oeth, richness, power; ref. to Irish, cumachte).
Said Kai, “By the hand of my friend (1), if thou wouldest follow my counsel, thou wouldest not break through
the laws of the Court because of him.”
"Not so, blessed Kai. It is an honour to us to be resorted to, and the
greater our courtesy the greater will be our renown, and our fame, and our
glory.”
And
Glewlwyd came to the gate, and opened the gate before him; and although all
dismounted upon the horse-block at the gate, yet did he not dismount, but rode
in upon his charger. Then said Culhwck, “Greeting be unto thee, Sovereign Ruler
of this Island; and be this greeting no less unto the lowest than unto the
highest, and be it equally unto thy guests, and thy warriors, and thy
chieftains--let all partake of it as completely as thyself (2). And complete be thy favour, and thy fame, and thy
glory, throughout all this
(1) Kei is one of the best known characters of the Welsh legends. In the mabinogion since they
received some French influence, and in the
French novels, he is courageous, but talkative, (old French: gabeur = blabbermouth), and it is not always happy in its fights. In
this mabinogi he is truly shown ; he however starts
already to blabber. The Black Book presents him as a companion of
Arthur, and a terrible warrior “when
he drank, he drank against four, when he went to combat, he fought against
hundred” (Skene, p. 50, XXXII;
52, verse 5, verse 17 and following). According to the Triads (Mab.,
303, 3), he is one of the three
taleithawc or chiefs carrying a broad
gold crown on their helmet,
together with Gweir, son of Gwystyl, and Drystan, son of Tallwch. The Welsh
poets of the Middle Ages
(Gogynveirdd), form the XIIth to the XVth century, allude frequently to
Kei: Myv. arch., 978, col. 2: Mae yn gyveill grymus
val Kei gwynn (he is a strong
friend like blessed Kei); ibid., p.
328, col. 2: Wryd Cai (Kei’s
courage); ibid., p. 329, col. 1: Cai boneddigaidd (noble as Kei); ibid., p. 332,
col. 1: Pwyll Cai (the
reason, the understanding
of Kei); Davydd ab Gwilym, p. 323 (1873
edition), against Rhys Meigen: Nid gwrol Gai hir, he is not a brave man like Cai the Long; Llewis Glyn Cothi, p.
309, 15, quotes also Kai hir (Kai the Long). He is the son of Kynyr, but it
seems, according to a sentence of our mabinogi and a most singular poem of Myv.
arch., that there
were divergences of opinion or doubts about this point. In this poem, which is
a dialogue between Gwenhwyvar and Arthur she did not recognize, he is called
son of Sevyn. Gwenhwyvar praises him like an incomparable warrior; she states
in front of Arthur that, judging form
his stature, he would not hold Cai, even if he was the hundredth to attack; to
that Arthur answers that, though he is small, it would resist alone a
whole hundred (Myv. arch.,
p. 130, col. 2). The marvellous qualities of Kei are given a bit below in the
present text. Gaufrei of Monmouth describes him as being Arthur’s dapifer (IX, 11, 12, 13; X, 3, 6, 9. 13); he
has, indeed, the roles of a dystein in the mabinogi of
Owen and Lunet. The form of its name, in the
French novels, Keu (pronounce
Keï), is quite Welsh. According to our mabinogi, he would have been killed by
Gwyddawc ab Menestyr (149).
(2) A similarly elaborated formula of salute is found in a poem of Myv.
arch., p. 248, col. 2, and attributed to Elidyr Sais (XII-XIIIth c.).
save only my ship; and my mantle; and
Caledvwlch (1), my sword; and
Rhongomyant, my lance; and Wynebgwrthucher, my shield (2); and Carnwenhau (3),
my dagger; and Gwenhwyvar (4),
my wife. By the truth of Heaven, thou shalt have it cheerfully, name what thou
wilt.”
“I
would that thou bless my hair.” [as understood two lines below, it should be : “I
wish you put my hair in order.”]
“That
shall be granted thee.”
(1) Caledvwlch, from calet “hard,” and bwlch “notch, breach” :
“hard to notch?” or
“notches strongly.” A famous sword in Irish epics, the sword of Leité, which came to him from fairy place,
bears a similar name, Calad-holg, which O' Curry translated by “hard-bulging”
(O' Curry, On the manners II, p. 320). - Rongomyant:
ron means spear; the second term is not clear. The Brut Gr. ab Arthur (Myv. arch., p. 32,2 and Nod.
500) gives Ron uwchel and Rongoruchel, and in Brut Tysilio (ibid., p. 163-178) Rongymynyat or Spear
which cuts.
(2) Gwyneb Gwrthucher: gwyneb, “face,” gwrthucher “evening” (ref. Cornic gwrthuher: Cornic Vocabulary, Zeuss, Gr.
Celt. appendix).
(3) Karnwenhan; the first term, carn,
means “handle;” gwenan has, in the
dictionaries, the meaning
of bulb or pimple under the
skin; it is more probable than one deals here with a diminutive of gwen
“white “: the gender of kyllell, “knife,” is feminine
: Karnwenhan “with a white (or whitish) handle.”
(4) Gwenhwyvar, Gaufrei of
Monmouth’s Gvanhumara, and ‘Guenièvre’ in the
French novels. According to Gaufrei, IX, 9, it would be of Roman
race, and raised by Cador, duke of
Gwenhwyvar merch Ogyrvan Gawr
Drwg yn vechan, waeth yn vawr.
“Gwenhwyvar, the daughter of Gogyrvan Gawr ,
bad when young, becoming worse while aging” (Myv. arch., p 863, column 1l.
Gwenhwyvar
(white phantom or white
fairy) is identical to Irish Finnabair: the
two words are composed of vindo - (fem. vindā,
And
Arthur took a golden comb, and scissors, whereof the loops were of silver, and
he combed his hair. And Arthur inquired of him who he was.
“For
my heart warms unto thee, and I know that thou art come of my blood. Tell me,
therefore, who thou art.” "I will tell thee, “ said
the youth, “I am Culhwck, the son of Kilydd, the son of Prince Kelyddon, by
Goleuddydd, my mother, the daughter of Prince Anlawdd.”
“That
is true,” said Arthur; "thou art my cousin. Whatsoever boon thou mayest
ask, thou shalt receive, be it what it may that thy tongue shall name.”
“Pledge
the truth of Heaven and the faith of thy kingdom thereof.”
“I
pledge it thee, gladly.”
“I
crave of thee then, that thou obtain for me Olwen, the
daughter of Yspaddaden Penkawr; and this boon I likewise seek at the hands of
thy warriors. I seek it from Kai, and Bedwyr, and Greidawl Galldonyd (1), and Gwythyr the son of Greidawl, and Greid the son
of Eri, and Kynddelig Kyvarwydd (2),
and Tathal Twyll Goleu (3),
and Maelwys the son of Baeddan (4),
and Crychwr the son of Nes (5),
and Cubert the son of Daere (6),
(1) One of the three main Gallovydd or engine master of the
(2) In the poems on the
graves, Black Book, Skene ed., p. 32, the grave of one
Kindilic, Corknud’s son, is mentioned as the grave of an alltud or
foreigner. It is also the
name of one of Llywarch Hen’ sons (Black Book, p. 48, 34; 61. 25).
(3) Tywyll Goleu, “half dark, half light.”
(4) The author saw a relationship
between the second word wys,
in Maetwys, and Baeddan:
Gwys , ref. Breton gwes,
“sow” ; Baeddan,
diminutive of baedd, pig or male wild boar.
(5) This is the name of famous
(6) Kubert is, undoubtedly, a fault
of the copyist or
several successive copyists. There is one well-known Daere’s son, who is Conroi
or Cúroi. Curoi, king de West Munster, was killed treacherously by the biggest hero of Irish
epic, Cuchulain, who took along with him in Ulster Blanait, Curoi’ wife.
Curoi’s faithful bard and harpist, Fercoirtne, went to the court of Cuchulain, one day when the leaders were gathered in
Rinn Chin Bearraidhe, on a cliffy hill; he came near Blanait, and while talking
to her, brought her at the edge
of the cliff, and
throwing his arms around
her body, thrown the
both of them down the cliff. One finds, among the poems allotted to Taliesin, an elegy on the death of Conroi mab Dayry;
the name of Cuchulain is
mentioned there (Cocholyn). The
poem was not understood by Stephens, like points out by Skene, who besides
mistranslated it as well. On Conroi, see O' Curry, On the manners, II, p. 9, 10, 97, 199. 358; III, t5, 75, etc.
and
Percos the son of Poch, and Lluber Beuthach, and Corvil Bervach, [missing:
Gwynn the son of Nwyvre (1)], and Gwynn the son of Nudd, and Edeyrn (2) the son of Nudd, and Gadwy (3) the son of Geraint, and Prince Fflewddur Fflam (4), and Ruawn Pebyr the son of Dorath (5), and Bradwen the son of Moren Mynawc,
(1) Nwyvre, firmament, Empyrean.
(2) Edern, which plays a significant
role in the mabinogi of
Geraint ab Erbin, became, like many other heroes, a saint. He gave his name to
Bod-Edern, in
(3) The manuscript carries Adwy:
it is a mistake for Arvy, which itself replaces Garwy. Garwy, son
of Geraint, are one of the most
often quoted characters: Myv. arch., p. 411,
col. 1. He is one of the loving
and generous three knights of Arthur’s court, together with Gwalchmei and
Cadeir, son of Seithin Saidi; a poet quotes his courage (Myv., p. 293, col. 2; 323. col. 1), another his
generosity (Myv., p.
328, col. 2), cf. Llew-Glyn Cothi, p. 161, verse 21: Gwryd Garwy,
“the courage of Garwy;”
Daf ab Gwil., p. 191; he is
Creirwy’s lover: the poet
Hywel ab Einiawn Llygliw (1330-1370)
compares a woman to the beautiful Creirwy, who bewitched him as she did Garwy (Myv. arch., p. 339, col. 1).
(4) One of the three unbenn (prince, leader) of Arthur’s court, with Goronwy, son of Echel,
and Kadyrieith (Mab. Triads,
303, 13; cf. Triads, Skene, II, p. 456); Pen-4 (L Rh. 460): Flewdwr Flam wledic: flam is borrowed from
Latin flamma.
(5) One of the three
Gwyndeyrn (beautiful kings
or blessed kings) of the
and
Moren Mynawc himself, and Dalldav the son of Kimin Côv (1), and the son of Alun Dyved (2), and the son of Saidi, and the son of Gwryon, and Uchtryd Ardywad Kad
(3), and Kynwas Curvagyl,
and Gwrhyr Gwarthegvras (4),
and Isperyr Ewingath (5),
and Gallcoyt Govynynat, and Duach, and Grathach (6), and Nerthach, the sons of Gwawrddur Kyrvach (these men came forth from the confines of hell),
(1) He is one of the three pairs of
Arthur’s court together with Ryhawt, son of Morgant, and Drystan, son of March (Myv. arch. , p. 393, 89.)
His horse, Fer-las (blue
ankle), is one of the three
Gordderch varch (horse of a lover) from the island (Mab. Triads, 307, 3). Instead of Kimin,
one finds also Kunin.
(2) The text carries only: son of
Dyvet Alum. Black Book, 30, 26, 27: Bet Run mab Alun Diwed, “grave
of Run, son of Dyved Alum;” the tomb
of Alum is also mentioned as that of a valiant warrior. There is a Dyvyr, also
given as Alun Dyved’s son (Mab.,
159, 30; 2-5, 17).
(3) Ychtryt vab
Etwin is mentioned in the Brut
y Tywysogyon, Myv. arch., p. 612, col. 2; a canton of Carmarthenshire had the name Uchtryd; the
text gives ardywat; it is probably necessary to read ardwyat
cat, “director, regulator
of the combat.” (Confirmed by Pen, 4 (L Rh. 460): ardwyat).
(4) Gwarthegvras, of the big cattle.
(5) He is mentioned in Chwedlau y
Doethion. (words of the wise ones). Ewingath means nail of cat.
(6) Pen. 4 (White Book) shows
Brathach which seems to be better (Brath, prick, bite).
and
Kilydd Canhastyr, and Canastyr Kanllaw (1), and Cors Cant-Ewin (2),
and Esgeir Gulhwch Govynkawn, and Drustwrn Hayarn, and Glewlwyd Gavaelvawr, and
Lloch Llawwynnyawc (3), and Aunwas
Adeiniawc (4), and Sinnoch
the son of Seithved (5), and
Gwennwynwyn the son of Naw (6),
and Bedyw the son of Seithved,
(1) Kanllaw, “help,
support; “Kanhastyr or
Kanastr is translated by Owen Pughe, by “hundred connections, hundred
recourses;” the word
designates, in any case, some kind embarrassment; it contrasts with Kanllaw (ref. Tywyll Goleu and Rwydd Dyrys). This term appears in the Laws: Cyhyryn canhastyr
is said of “the stolen
meat that reaches the hundredth
hand.” There could have been hundred men taking part to the thievery, the one
who is caught carrying the theft is liable to a fine (Richards, Welsh Dict., according to Wotton).
(2) One finds also Kwrs; Kors
is better; one finds a Kors, son of Erbig, and another, son of Gafran, in the Liber Land., p. 466, 487. Kant ewin “with the hundred
nails.”
(3) Lloch Llawwynnawc “of the white hand” is mentioned
in the Black Book, 51,
14, among Arthur’s companions (Lluch
Llawynnauc). Lloch appears to be Loth or Batch of the Romans de
(4) adeinawc
“the winged one” is
mentioned beside Llwch Llawwynnyawc in the
Black Book (51, 15). This is probably the same character as the one under the name of Edenawc (Pen
(5) We have also a Seitwet (Mab. Triads, 302, 16),
but he is perhaps a different character; seithvet means seventh.
(6) The text gives Naw, but the
Red Book reproduces a manuscript in which the sign indicating w
also has, sometimes, value v: Pen. 4 (L. Rh. 461) adds after Naw: mab Seithvet; Gwennwynwyn
is one of the three
leaders of the Brittany fleet, with Geraint ab Erbin and March ab Meirchion;
each one had a hundred and twenty ships, each one carrying a hundred and twenty
men (Myv. arch., p. 407, 68). One of the three
masterpieces of the island
is the ship of Nefydd
Nef Neifion, which carried a male and a female of each species of animals when the pond of Llion broke (Myv. arch., p. 409, col.
97). Neifion would have swam from