
 <?. 
 
 CORNELL 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 
 
The original of tliis bool< is in 
 tlie Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924087972927 
 
^^t cHr^^utian Begenb 
 
banian 
 
 HENRY FROWDE 
 
 Oxford University Press Warehouse 
 Amen Corner, E.C. 
 
STUDIES 
 
 IN THE 
 
 ARTHURIAN LEGEND 
 
 BY 
 
 JOHN RHtS, M.A. 
 
 FELLOW OF JESUS COLLEGE 
 PROFESSOR OF CELTIC IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD 
 
 Ne sont que trois matieres a nul home entendant, 
 De France at de Bretaigne et de Rome la grant. 
 
 AT THE CLARENDON PRESS 
 
 M DCCC XCI 
 
 [A/l rights reserved^ 
 
f ii 
 
 ^v.; . : — -^'' 
 
 O;cfot^ 
 
 PRINTED AT THE CLARENDON PRESS 
 BY HORACE HART, PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 My chief object in the following pages is to make 
 Welsh literature help to shed light on the Arthurian 
 Legend ; and that term is here construed loosely, so as 
 to include other legends more or less closely associated 
 with Arthur. Most of the following chapters arose out 
 of my Hibbert Lectures on Celtic Heathendom, which 
 were delivered in the year 1886. In consequence of 
 that origin they take for granted the same views, in 
 the main, as to Aryan mythology. 
 
 It is hoped, however, that the reader who disapproves 
 of those views, will not regard me as now perpetrating 
 a fresh offence, though I have been obliged to continue 
 the use of some of the terms of the Solar Myth Theor}^. 
 They are so convenient ; and whatever may eventually 
 happen to that theory, nothing has yet been found exactly 
 to take its place. Nevertheless, we are possibly on 
 the eve of a revolution in respect of mythological 
 questions, as Mr. Frazer's Golden Bough seems to 
 indicate. 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 The publication has been much delayed owing to the 
 pressure of other work, but the delay has not been 
 profitless, as I have had the advantage of reading for my 
 last chapter two remarkable articles by Prof. Zimmer in 
 this year's Gottingische gelehrte Anzeigen. Had they 
 appeared sooner, several things in this volume would 
 have been handled otherwise than they have been. 
 
 Finality is not, in any case, to be dreamed of in a field 
 of research where so much remains to be learned. I 
 shall feel, therefore, only too gratified if this book 
 should be found to contain any contribution, however 
 trifling, to the fund of knowledge already acquired 
 concerning Arthur and his Knights, the Table Round 
 and the Holy Grail. 
 
 J. RHYS. 
 
 Oxford : Dec. 31, 1890. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Arthur, Historical and Mythical i 
 
 CHAPTER n. 
 Arthur and Airem 25 
 
 CHAPTER HI. 
 
 GWENHWYVAR AND HER CaPTORS 49 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 Peredur and Owein 71 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 Peredur and the Empress 98 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 Peredur and Lancelot 127 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 Lancelot and Elayne 145 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 Galahad and Gwalchaved 166 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 CiSchulainn and Heracles 184 
 
VlU CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER X. PAGE 
 
 CUCHULAINN AND HeRACLES (continued) 211 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 Urien and his Congeners 238 
 
 CHAPTER Xn. 
 
 PWYIL AND PeLLES 273 
 
 CHAPTER Xni. 
 The Origin of the Holy Grail 300 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 Glastonbury and Gower 328 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 The Isles of the Dead .... . . 348 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 Great Britain and Little Britain . . . 370 
 
 ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS 391 
 
 INDEX • . 397 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 Arthur, Historical and Mythical. 
 
 The system as a whole, of which Arthur forms the 
 central figure, is later as we know it than any represented 
 by the other cycles of Welsh sagas, such as those, for 
 example, in which Gwydion appears, or Pwytt, or Pryderi. 
 The comparative lateness of the Arthurian cycle, as con- 
 trasted with them, may readily be seen from the fact 
 that they are contained in the Mabinogion, which is the 
 case with no story concerning Arthur. This requires 
 to be explained ; for, since the publication of Lady Char- 
 lotte Guest's edition of the Mabinogion, the idea seems 
 to prevail that any Welsh tale of respectable anti- 
 quity may be called a mabinogi, plural mabinogion ; 
 but there is no warrant for so extending the use of 
 the word; and of the eleven stories contained in Lady 
 Charlotte Guest's collection, only four are entitled to 
 be called mabinogion. More strictly speaking, they are 
 not mabinogion so much perhaps as the 'four branches 
 of the mabinogi'^.' We allude to those entitled Pwytt 
 Prince of Dyved, Branwen daughter of ILyr, Manaw- 
 ydan son of ILyr, and Math son of Mathonwy. What 
 then is the meaning of the word mabinogi, and why was 
 it applied to some of the Welsh tales and not to others ? 
 The word mabinogi is derived from mabinog, and that 
 
 ' The Text of the Mabinogion and other Welsh Tales from the Red Book of 
 Hergest, ed. by Rh^s and Evans (Oxford, 1887). 
 
 B 
 
a ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. I. 
 
 was a term belonging to the bardic system, meaning 
 a sort of a literary apprentice or young man who was 
 receiving instruction from a qualified bard ; and the 
 lowest description of mabinog was one who had not 
 acquired the art of making verse ^ The inference to be 
 drawn is that mahinogi meant the collection of things 
 which formed the mabinog's literary training and stock 
 in trade, so to say^. He was probably allowed to re- 
 late the tales forming ' the four branches of the Mahin- 
 ogi ' at a fixed price established by law or custom. 
 If he wanted to rise in the hierarchy of letters, he must 
 acquire the poetic art ; but he was usually a young man, 
 not a child in the nursery; and it is utterly wrong 
 to suppose the Mabinogion to be nursery tales, as any 
 one will admit who will take the trouble to read them. 
 
 The original machinery, so to say, of Welsh tales was 
 magic and the supernatural, in which respect the four 
 Mabinogion do not differ from the old stories of the 
 Irish. This was also probably the case with the stories 
 about Arthur, as they came from the mouths of 
 Brythonic Celts ; but the Normans, having made their 
 conquests in South Wales, became familiar with them, 
 and handled them freely so as to adapt some of them to 
 their own tastes. The result was that in some cases the 
 second-hand versions would seem to have been brought 
 back to the Welsh, and to have in some instances modi- 
 
 ' See the lolo MSS. pp. 626-7; the original, pp. 21 1-2, has the older 
 spelling mebinog and mebinogion. 
 
 ' This would be the technical meaning of the word mabinogi, the reference 
 being to the youthfulness of the narrators of the stories so called ; but it 
 might be to the youthfulness of the hero of the story, as when one of the 
 Apocryphal gospels is called Mabinogt lesu Grist, or the Infantia Jesu Christi. 
 Stephens, in his Literature of the Kymry, p. 417, gives the so-called History 
 of Taliessin the title Mabinogi. Lastly, the words here in question are 
 accented Mabinog, Mabinogi, and Mabin6gion, all being pronounced with the 
 g of the English words get and give. 
 
Ch. I.] ARTHUR, HISTORICAL AND MYTHICAL. 3 
 
 fied the originals or even replaced them. Take, for 
 example, the allusions in the story of Peredur to the 
 fortress of Yshidinongyl. Now Ysbidinongyl is clearly 
 the Welsh reproduction of some form of the name of 
 a knight called Epynogrys by Malory, and by some of 
 the Grail romancers Espinogre; nor is it less certain 
 that the French forms themselves were derived from the 
 Welsh YspySaden Pencawr'^, or Yspydaden Gawr — that 
 is to say, Yspydaden the Giant. Thus Ysbidinongyl 
 proves that the story was derived in the first instance 
 from a Brythonic source, at the same time that it also 
 proves it to have been brought into the Peredur, not 
 from Welsh, but from French^- The five Arthurian 
 stories still extant in Welsh, without counting Geoffrey's 
 quasi-history and the Welsh versions of the Quest of the 
 Holy Grail, fall into two groups : the first consists of the 
 story of Kulhwch and Olwen, and the Dream of Rhona- 
 bwy, neither of which seems to have been taken up 
 by the Normans ; so both have remained Welsh 
 stories with plenty of the supernatural and hardly any- 
 thing of knight-errantry. The other group embraces 
 the stories of Owein and Lunet, of Peredur son of 
 Evrawc, and of Gereint and Enid, most of the mate- 
 rials of which are also to be found in some form or 
 other in the French and English versions of the Ar- 
 thurian romances, or the stories relating to the Holy 
 Grail ; and the three Welsh stories bear unmistakable 
 marks of the influence of the non-Welsh versions. 
 Nay, it is quite possible that in the form in which we 
 have them, some portions of some of them may be 
 
 ' See the author's Hibbert Lectures (for 1886) on Celtic Heathendom, 
 p. 487 : we shall refer to them as Hit. Lee. 
 
 ' See the R. B. Mab. pp. 240, 242; Guest, i. 366, 369; Malory's Morte 
 Darthur (ed. by Sommer and publ. by Nutt, in 1889), vii. 26, x. 55, 65, 82, 
 xviii. 10, xix. 11 ; also Nutt's Holy Grail, p. 20. 
 
 B 2 
 
4 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ca. I- 
 
 merely free translations or adaptations by the Welsh of 
 versions popular among their neighbours. For the re- 
 action on the native stories does not appear to have 
 been much hindered by the fact, which the proper 
 names place beyond reasonable doubt, that the materials 
 were purely Brythonic. It follows, that if one wished to 
 make a comprehensive collection of the sagas about 
 Arthur, one would have to take all the romances into 
 account, since things even of mythological interest have 
 been lost in Welsh, and are now only to be found in the ^ 
 Anglo-Norman versions and those based on them : in- 
 stances will offer themselves as we go on. The four 
 Mabinogion contain no allusion to Arthur and his 
 Knights, which is a fact that makes for their earlier date, 
 and is corroborated by the very loose way, compara- 
 tively speaking, in which the Normanized Welsh tales 
 have been put together. The men of letters of the 
 Welsh formed a very exclusive and conservative class, 
 so that this kind of literature remained to some extent 
 the luxuriant growth of an imagination delighting in 
 knight-errantry and other Norman ideas, both lay and 
 ecclesiastical : literary Welshmen showed no hurry to 
 train or prune it. But even the purely Welsh tales 
 about Arthur are also relatively later than the Mabin- 
 ogion, as may readily be seen by glancing at the 
 Mabinogi of Branwen, where we learn that the head of 
 Bran son of ILyr, the chief character in it, was by his 
 command buried in the White Hill in London, with its 
 face looking towards France; and, so long as it re- 
 mained undisturbed, this island would have nothing to 
 fear from foreign invasion ^ ; but we learn from a triad, 
 that in a subsequent age Arthur uncovered the head, as 
 he thought it undignified to hold the island otherwise 
 
 * R, B. Mab. pp. 40, 42; Guest, iii. 124-5, ^^8. 
 
Ch, I.] ARTHUR, HISTORICAL AND MYTHICAL. 5 
 
 than by valour: this was known afterwards as one of 
 the Three wicked Uncoverings ^. Had we here to deal 
 with history one would expect to find that the Arthurian 
 stories did not treat the characters of the Mabinogion as 
 Arthur's contemporaries ; but that of Kulhwch and 
 Olwen looks as if the story-teller had set himself the 
 task of swelling Arthur's train by introducing into it all 
 kinds of possible and impossible persons and personifi- 
 cations he could think of. Several of them are only 
 interesting as supplying us with the titles of sagas 
 which have been irretrievably lost. But the way in 
 which, generally speaking, the romance writers en- 
 deavour to form a court for Arthur, reminds one of the 
 collecting of Irish heroes round Conchobar mac Nessa, 
 and especially of the Norse literature of the Wicking 
 period organizing a great Valhalla for Woden by bring- 
 ing the scattered Anses to live together. • Such materials 
 were, however, in some instances very difficult to deal 
 with in such a way as to make them court ornaments. 
 The result in the case, for example, of Thor was, that he 
 was usually kept away killing giants when there were 
 festive proceedings going on around Woden, where his 
 presence would have been found somewhat awkward. 
 To judge from the list in the Kulhwch story, it must 
 have been much the same with Arthur's train. The 
 gentleman, for instance, whose only recorded acquire- 
 ment was the power of standing all day on one foot ^, 
 however interesting mythologically, was hardly cal- 
 culated to grace a court ; nor can the society of another 
 have been really delectable, who never smiled except 
 when his stomach was full, and of whom it is said that, 
 
 ^ Triads, i. 45, iii. 53, where the numerals refer to the three versions of 
 the Triads as published in the Myuyrian Archaiology of Wales, vol. ii. 
 pp. 1-22, 57-80. 
 
 ^ R. B. Mab. p. no; Guest, ii. 209. 
 
6 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. I- 
 
 having once on a time acquired the right of 'demanding 
 a boon of his king, he asked for a good meal : the cater- 
 ing for that meal proved one of the Three great Plagues 
 of Cornwall ^ Other equally queer or untractable 
 members of the service might be mentioned, and the ex- 
 istence of the institution of the Round Table must have 
 depended in no small degree on their being usually 
 away on leave of absence. The desire to make a great 
 court and a numerous following for Arthur probably 
 coexisted with the tendency to develop the original myth 
 about him into long-winded romances : we presume that 
 both were late, comparatively speaking, and traces of 
 the spread of Arthur's popularity are to be found even in 
 the Triads, as, for example, in the one which has Arthur 
 superadded, as a fourth person of celebrity, in sheer 
 despite of the triadic limitation ^ : otherwise the Triads 
 give us the oldest account of Arthur, and this now and 
 then in a form which the story-tellers and the romance- 
 writers found thoroughly untractable and best ignored. 
 When, however, it is suggested that the full develop- 
 ment of the Arthurian legend was the work of a com- 
 paratively late period, no such remark is meant to 
 apply to the materials of it. They must have always 
 been there from time immemorial, wherever there was 
 a Celt who spoke a Brythonic language, whether in 
 Great Britain or in the Lesser Britain on the other side 
 of the Channel. 
 
 Thus far nothing has been suggested that could be 
 said to bear essentially on the difficult question, whether 
 there was a historical Arthur or not ; so a word or two 
 
 ' R. B. Mab. p. Ill ; Guest, ii. 266. 
 
 '^ See Hib. Lee. p. 249 ; but the triads there mentioned, i. 50, ii. 7, and 
 ii. 49, as compared with iii. 61, which has remained a triad, are not the only 
 ones in point: witness ii. 24 as compared with i. 25 and iii. 31, where ILeu 
 ILawgyffes would appear to have been omitted to make room for Arthur. 
 
Ch. I.] ARTHUR, HISTORICAL AND MYTHICAL. 7 
 
 must now be devoted to it ; and here one has to notice 
 in the first place that Welsh literature never calls Arthur 
 a gwledig or prince but emperor, and it may be in- 
 ferred that his historical position, in case he had such a 
 position, was that of one filling, after the departure of 
 the Romans, the office which under them was that of 
 the Comes Britannice or Count of Britain. The officer 
 so called had a roving commission to defend the Pro- 
 vince wherever his presence might be called for. The 
 other military captains here were the Dux Britan- 
 niarum, who had charge of the forces in the north and 
 especially on the Wall, and the Comes Littoris Saxonici, 
 who was entrusted with the defence of the south-eastern 
 coast of the island. The successors of both these 
 captains seem to have been called in Welsh gwledigs 
 or princes ^ So Arthur's suggested position as Comes 
 Britannice would be in a sense superior to theirs, which 
 harmonizes with his being called emperor and not 
 gwledig. The Welsh have borrowed the Latin title 
 of imperator 'emperor' and made it into amherawdyr 
 later amherawdwr, so it is not impossible, that, when the 
 Roman imperator ceased to have anything more to say 
 to this country, the title was given to the highest officer 
 in the island, namely the Comes Britannice, and that in the 
 words Yr Amherawdyr Arthur 'the Emperor Arthur' 
 we have a remnant of our insular history. If this view 
 be correct, it might be regarded as something more 
 than an accident that Arthur's position relatively to that 
 of the other Brythonic princes of his time is exactly 
 given by Nennius, or whoever it was that wrote the 
 Historia Brittonum ascribed to him : there Arthur is 
 represented fighting in company with the kings of the 
 Brythons in defence of their common country, he being 
 
 ' See Rh^s's Celtic Britain, pp. 135-8. 
 
ARTHURIAN LEGEND. 
 
 [Ch. I. 
 
 their leader in war i. If, as has sometimes been argued ^ 
 the uncle of Maglocunus or Maelgwn, whom the latter 
 is accused by Gildas of having slain and superseded, 
 was no other than Arthur, it would supply one reason 
 why that writer called Maelgwn insularis draco ^ ' the 
 dragon or war-captain of the island,' and why the latter 
 and his successors after him were called by the Welsh 
 not gwledigs but kings, though their great ancestor 
 Cuned'a was only a gwledig. On the other hand the 
 way in which Gildas alludes to the uncle of Maelgwn 
 without even giving his name, would seem to suggest 
 that in his estimation at least he was no more illustrious 
 than his predecessors in the position which he held, 
 whatever that may have been. How then did Arthur 
 become famous above them, and how came he to be the 
 subject of so much story and romance ? The answer, 
 in short, which one has to give to this hard question 
 must be to the effect, that besides a historic Arthur 
 there was a Brythonic divinity named Arthur, after 
 whom the man may have been called, or with whose 
 name his, in case it was of a different origin, may have 
 become identical in sound owing to an accident of 
 speech ; for both explanations are possible, as we shall 
 attempt to show later. 
 
 Leaving aside for a while the man Arthur, and assum- 
 ing the existence of a god of that name, let us see what 
 could be made of him. Mythologically speaking he 
 would probably have to be regarded as a Culture Hero ; 
 for, a model king and the institutor of the Knighthood 
 of the Round Table, he is represented as the leader of 
 
 ' San-Marte's Nmmus et Gildas (Berlin, 1844), p. 68 : — Tunc Arthur 
 pugnabat contra illos in illis diebus cum regibus Brittonum, sed ipse dux erat 
 bellorum. 
 
 ^ Prof. Sayce in the Academy for 1884, vol. xxvi. p. 139. 
 
 ' Haddan and Stubbs, Councils, i. 52. 
 
Ch. I.] ARTHUR, HISTORICAL AND MYTHICAL. g 
 
 expeditions to the isles of Hades, and as one who stood 
 in somewhat the same kind of relation to Gwalchmei as 
 Gwydion did to ILeu. It is needless here to dwell on 
 the character usually given to Arthur as a ruler: he 
 with his knights around him may be compared to 
 Conchobar^, in the midst of the Champions of Emain 
 Macha, or Woden among the Anses at Valhalla, while 
 Arthur's knights are called those of the Round Table, 
 around which they are described sitting ; and it would be 
 interesting to understand the signification of the term 
 Round Table. On the whole it is the table, probably, 
 and not its roundness that is the fact to which to call 
 attention, as it possibly means that Arthur's court was the 
 first early court where those present sat at a table at all 
 in Britain. No such a thing as a common table figures 
 at Conchobar's court or any other described in the old 
 legends of Ireland, and the same applies, we believe, 
 to those of the old Norsemen. The attribution to 
 Arthur of the first use of a common table would fit in 
 well with the character of a Culture Hero which we have 
 ventured to ascribe to him, and it derives counten- 
 ance from the pretended history of the Round Table ; 
 for the Arthurian legend traces it back to Arthur's 
 father, Uthr Bendragon ^, in whom we have under one 
 of his many names the king of Hades, the realm 
 whence all culture was fabled to have been derived. 
 In a wider sense the Round Table possibly signified 
 plenty or abundance, and might be compared with the 
 Table of the Ethiopians, at. which Zeus and the other 
 
 ' Contrary to the view advocated in the Hib. Lee. p. 136, the author 
 would now prefer to treat Conchobar as a Culture Hero. The similarity 
 of attributes between the Culture Hero and the Celtic Zeus is probably to 
 be accounted for in part by the more or less complete assumption of the 
 r81e of the latter by the former. 
 
 2 Sommer's Malory's Morte Darthur, iii. 1. 
 
lO ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. I- 
 
 gods of Greek mythology used to feast from time to 
 time. 
 
 Arthur's mythic visit to Hades had for one of its chief 
 objects, as appears from the poem in which Tahessm 
 describes himself one of the party, the bringing away 
 of the cauldron of the Head of Hades. The same story 
 in a more detailed form served probably as the basis of 
 one which occurs in the account of Kulhwch and 
 Olwen. This represents Arthur and his men sailing, 
 not on a voyage to Hades which had become unin- 
 telligible, but to Erinn, to obtain possession of the 
 cauldron of a certain Diwrnach. This forms a sort of 
 pendant to the Irish story of Cairbre's visits from 
 Ireland to Hades, described as made to Britain^. 
 Arthur and his warriors are represented killing Diwrn- 
 ach and routing his men, whereupon they return to 
 Dyved with the cauldron full of the money of Ireland ^. 
 In the hands of Geoffrey of Monmouth this myth 
 became the quasi-history of a great invasion of Ireland 
 by Arthur, resulting in the annexation of that country 
 to his empire. The same was probably the nature of 
 Arthur's march as far as the Caledonian Forest, when he 
 made Arawn * king of Scotland. For the Welsh knew 
 only one Arawn, and he was king of Hades, and for the 
 matter of that the substitution of Scotland for Hades 
 will not be deemed very surprising by any one who will 
 call to mind the ancient idea of the region beyond the 
 Wall as described by Procopiiis, to the effect that no 
 man could live there for half an hour on account of the 
 
 ^ Skene's Four Anc, Bks. of Wales, ii. i8i. See also the Hib. Lee. p. 248. 
 
 ^ Hib. Lee. p. 246. 
 
 ' R. B. Mab. pp. 135-6 ; Guest, ii. 307-8. 
 
 * This is from the Welsh versions published in the Text of the Bruts from 
 the Red Book ofHergest, ed. by Rhys and Evans (Oxford, 1890), pp. 194, 208 : 
 we shall refer to this as R. B. Bruts : the Latin text has instead of Arawn 
 the name Auguselus, see San-Marte's ed. (Halle, 1854), ix. 9. 
 
Ch. I.] ARTHUR, HISTORICAL AND MYTHICAL. 1 1 
 
 unwholesomeness of the air, and that it was infested 
 with vipers and all kinds of noxious beasts^. But it 
 is possible that Geoffrey confounded Ireland, the 
 old home of the Scotti, with the north of Britain to 
 which they carried their name, nor does it much matter 
 so far as we are concerned. Similarly Arthur's con- 
 quest of Scandinavia was probably founded on a change 
 in the meaning of the word ILychlyn, which at first 
 meant the fabulous land beneath the lakes or the waves 
 of the sea, but got in the time of the Norsemen's 
 ravages to mean the land of the Fiords or Norway, as 
 did Lochlann in Irish. Arthur, be it noticed, when he 
 conquered ILychlyn, made Loth king of it. Loth, though 
 he is also associated with Loudonesia or Lodoneis^, 
 whereby Lothian was meant, a district of which he may 
 be regarded as the eponymus, his correct name being 
 some form of that which is in Welsh ILud. A different 
 account of the relations between Arthur and Loth is to 
 be met with in some of the romances ; nor is it at all 
 clear what authority Geoffrey had for making Arthur 
 interfere on behalf of Loth. But, be that as it may, 
 when he had thus represented Arthur in a manner con- 
 quering Scotland, Ireland, and Scandinavia, nothing 
 could have been more natural for him than to extend his 
 conquests east and south to the Alps or even to Rome, as 
 some versions of the story do. It appears on the whole, 
 then, that Arthur's subjugation of the west of Europe was 
 directly or indirectly founded on the mythic invasion of 
 Hades by him in the character of Culture Hero. 
 
 At the risk of seeming to make the proverbial step 
 from the sublime to the ridiculous, we must here men- 
 
 1 Procopius, De Bella Gothico (ed. Dindorf, Bonn, 1833), vol. ii. p. 566. 
 ^ Geoffrey, viii. 21 ; R. B. Bruts, p. 194. The Welsh versions of Geoffrey 
 give Loth or Lot the name E-ew in the story of Arthur. 
 
12 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. 1. 
 
 tion another phase of Arthur's contest with the powers 
 below. The story need not be here repeated how Gwyd- 
 ion went to Pryderi and by fraud induced him to pre- 
 sent him with some of the swine of the Head of 
 Hades \ Strange to say one of the Triads ^ represents 
 Arthur and his Knights trying by all means in their 
 power to do the same with the swine of March son of 
 Meirchion, the King Mark of the romances, and ac- 
 cording to legends, both Brythonic and Irish, an un- 
 mistakable prince of darkness. March married the fair 
 Essyltt, and he had as his champion or general a famous 
 knight called Drystan or Trystan. March's general, who 
 was also his nephew, is called in the Triads one of the 
 , Three War-captains of Britain ^, and he was enamoured 
 of Ess3/ttt. One day Drystan sent March's swineherd 
 on a message — so goes the s'ory — to that lady, to ask 
 her to appoint a meeting with him ; and in the swine- 
 herd's absence Drystan himself undertook to watch 
 March's swine. But just in that interval Arthur arrived 
 to seek some of the swine, and one would have expected 
 from the Gwydion parallel that he should succeed. 
 The Triad, however, as it stands, states that by no 
 means, fair or foul, could he obtain as much as one little 
 porker from Drystan. But the Triad has attained its 
 form by gradual expansion : the three swineherds were 
 Pryderi son of Pwylt, Drystan son of Tattwch, and Colt 
 son of Cottvrewi, and they are styled the Three Stout 
 Swineherds of Britain, a description which some later 
 writer glossed into a statement that they were so called 
 because no one could by force or fraud get any of their 
 swine ; and that is here applied to Pryderi as though 
 the tale had never been told, which described how 
 
 ' Hib. Lee. pp. 242-3. ^ i- 3°; "• 56; iii. loi. 
 
 ' Triads, i. 24 ; ii. 36 ; iii. 3a. 
 
Ch. I.] ARTHUR, HISTORICAL AND MYTHICAL. 13 
 
 Gwydion successfully cheated him in the matter of his 
 charge. Possibly the myth about Arthur made him 
 equally successful, but no story to that effect is extant ; 
 and the Triad as we have it only serves to prove that 
 there once was one, which described him trying to 
 secure some of the swine of March without any scruple 
 whatever as to the means employed, and gave Arthur 
 the unscrupulous character in which Gwydion appears 
 as a bard at Pryderi's court. 
 
 The third point to be noticed is Arthur's relation to a 
 hero called Gwalchmei. The latter was of the same 
 class as ILeu and Cuchulainn, and he had a brother 
 called Gwalchaved, whose name has yielded the Grail 
 romances the more famous name of Galahad. Now 
 Gwalchmei is usually represented as the son of Arthur's 
 sister, who was married to the King Loth already al- 
 luded to, and his name, which in Geoffrey's Latin 
 becomes Walganus, appears in French as Gauvain, 
 English Gawayne : we have it also in the Scotch 
 Gavin. The Welsh form seems to analyse itself 
 vcA.0 gwalch, 'a hawk or falcon V and Mei, 'the month 
 of May:' so the whole would seem to have meant the 
 hawk or falcon of May. But the explanation is still 
 to be sought why he should be so called, and all that 
 one can say is that the reference to the month of May 
 suits the Solar Hero well enough as the summer sun, if 
 one may venture to treat him as such. Now among 
 Arthur's knights Gwalchmei enjoyed the reputation of 
 
 ' Of course it may be that gwalch in this name is quite another word, but 
 we have an ancient form exactly corresponding to it in point of phonology, in 
 that of the various Gaulish tribes that called themselves Volcw. This national 
 appellation is one of great interest, as that which in Teutonic mouths yielded 
 such forms as Walh and Wealh, whence Wales, Welsh or Welch, and their 
 congeners in the various Teutonic languages, as to which see the word 
 ■welsch in the fourth edition of Kluge's Etym, Worterbuch der deutschen 
 Sprache. 
 
14 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch- I- 
 
 being Arthur's favourite. His character, studied from 
 the point of view of morals and intellect, will come 
 under our notice later; so we shall at this point only 
 mention two or three things concerning him as a war- 
 rior. He was an intrepid knight; he had the solar 
 peculiarity, that when engaged in battle his strength 
 grew apace till mid-day, when it would begin to wane 
 as rapidly^; and his horse is likened to the gleam of 
 the sun. Nor does Welsh romance mention his rider at 
 any time vanquished out and out in combat till the day 
 of his death. And Geoffrey assigns Gwalchmei an 
 illustrious part in Arthur's wars on the Continent. Thus 
 it was when the news reached the king that Gwalch- 
 mei's brother Medrawt, or Medrod — called in English 
 Modred, or even Mordred — had in his absence taken 
 possession of the queen and the crown, Gwalchmei 
 hurried back with Arthur, and fell fighting on the 
 strand, where Medrod vigorously resisted their landing. 
 Gwalchmei, foremost in the conflict, was slain by his 
 brother's own hand. And this is a myth which has 
 many parallels, by means of which one is enabled to see 
 its interpretation. The Solar Hero has not infrequently 
 a brother by whose hand he falls, as in the case of the 
 Irish Diarmait and the Norse Balder; and the conflict 
 between Gwalchmei and Medrod is that between light 
 and darkness. Medrod represents the latter; and in 
 Geoffrey's quasi-historical strain his allies consist of 
 Saxons, Picts, and Scots ; so the mythic war becomes 
 one of treachery against the Brython. But to continue 
 the story. Arthur succeeded at length in landing, when 
 
 ' Malory« xviii. 3, where he is described as ' a passyng hote knyght of 
 nature,' and iv. 18, xx, 21, where the growth of his strength is represented 
 going on ' from vnderne tyll hyhe none.' This peculiarity is also ascribed 
 to a Red Knight, vii. 15, 17. 
 
Ch. I.] ARTHUR, HISTORICAL AND MYTHICAL. 15 
 
 he routed Medrod and his forces, driving them further 
 and further westwards, until a great engagement took 
 place between them, known in Welsh as the Battle 
 of Camlan, and in English as that of Camelot. The 
 result was that Medrod was left dead on the field and 
 Arthur was carried away mortally wounded. 
 
 That is Geoffrey's account ; for, having lightly taken 
 Arthur away to the Continent, he makes him land at a 
 point on the south-east coast in Kent, and drive 
 Medrod before him into the peninsula south of the 
 Severn Sea. The substance of this story is also to 
 be found in the Welsh Triads ^ ; but as they lay no 
 claim to much consistency they contain brief statements 
 which go to form a different account of the disagreement 
 between Arthur and Medrod : they do not all require 
 Arthur's absence in the neighbourhood of the Alps nor 
 lay any stress on Medrod's supposed treachery. The 
 hostility between the two is traced to a blow given by 
 Arthur to Medrod and another by a certain Gwen- 
 hw3rvach, otherwise unknown, to Gwenhw3^ar or 
 Guinevere^. Among other things they speak also of 
 two great raids made by Arthur and Medrod on one 
 another's courts. The one occurred when Medrod 
 went to Arthur's court at Keffi Wic in Cornwall, where 
 he left neither food nor drink unconsumed, as much as 
 would support a fly, and where he dragged the queen 
 from her throne and outraged her. The other took 
 place when Arthur went to Medrod's court doing like- 
 wise with the provisions he found there, and leaving 
 alive neither man nor beast ^. The final battle is repre- 
 sented as brought about by the treachery of one of 
 
 ' Triads, i. 91 ; iii. 21, 100. 
 
 ^ lb. i. 87 ; ii. 13 ; iii. 49 ; but i. 51 treats the second blow as dealt by 
 Gwenhwyvar to Gwenhwyvach, which is probably the result of an error. 
 ' lb. i. 46 ; iii. 52. 
 
J 6 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. I. 
 
 Arthur's men called Idawc Cord Prydein, who meets 
 Medrod in Nanhwynain, now sometimes called Nant 
 Gwynant, between Pen y Gwryd and Bed" Gelert in 
 the neighbourhood of Snowdon. He betrayed Arthur's 
 secrets to Medrod ^ and subsequently falsified Arthur's 
 messages to him just before the battle of Camlan, when 
 Arthur had appealed to him as his uncle. All this and 
 more Mawc is represented confessing, in the story 
 called the Dream of Rhonabwy^, to have done from 
 the love of war, and he is there made to add that he 
 escaped from the field of slaughter three nights before 
 it was over to undergo a seven years' penance ^ and to 
 obtain forgiveness of his sins. As regards the pro- 
 tracted conflict itself, it is ranked in one of the Triads * 
 with Gwydion's battle of Godeu as one of the Three 
 frivolous Battles of Britain, a name countenanced by 
 another triad which represents Arthur sharing his men 
 with his antagonist Medrod three times during the fight- 
 ing. This proceeding, the idea of which is borrowed 
 from a tournament and not from war, is styled one of 
 the Three criminal Resolutions taken in Britain «. 
 Lastly, only three warriors escaped from Camlan alive, 
 namely Morvran, whose hideousness made all flee 
 before him, believing him to be a demon from Hell, 
 Sande, whose good looks inspired the notion that he 
 was an auxiliary angel from Heaven, so that no one 
 had a wish to strike him, and Glewlwyd Gavaelvawr, 
 whose strength and stature, as suggested by his name, 
 
 '■ Triads, iii. 20, 22. 
 
 = R. B. Mab. p. 47 ; Guest, ii. 398. 
 
 ' The place he went to is called y ILech Las ym Prydein, ' the Grey Stone 
 (or the Blue Slate) in Pictland : ' some place beyond the Forth was meant 
 but where ? 
 
 i : 
 
 47 ; I"- 5°- 
 
 ' i. 48 ; ii. 22 ; iii. 51. 
 
CH.I.] ARTHUR, HISTORICAL AND MYTHICAL. 17 
 
 that signified Brave-grey Great-grasp, were such that 
 no one could resist him ^. 
 
 It has been thought necessary to go into these details 
 as corrective of the historical colouring given to the battle 
 of Camlan by Geoffrey and those who have followed in 
 his footsteps. After the battle of Camlan Geoffrey makes 
 Arthur's power pass successively through the hands 
 of Constantine, Aurelius Conan, Vortiporius, and 
 Malgo, in whom one at once recognizes the Brythonic 
 princes contemporary with Gildas, who rated and re- 
 buked them in this very order in his Increpation of 
 the Kings of Britain^, with the exception that he 
 omitted Cuneglasus, of whom he could probably make 
 no more than modern historians can^. All that Geoffrey 
 seems to have thought needful was to place the kings 
 contemporary with Gildas in possession of Arthur's 
 power one after another. To return to his account of 
 the war with Medrod, even that has a touch of history 
 about it. The conquest of the Solar Hero by the powers 
 of darkness is just what one might expect, and the death 
 of Gwalchmei at the hands of his brother Medrod might 
 be regarded as the close of the incident; but when 
 the Culture Hero, the protector and guardian of the 
 Solar Hero, survives to conquer the representative of 
 darkness and is himself taken off the scene mortally 
 wounded, such is not the proper ending of the myth, 
 and the Solar Hero should have been brought back in 
 some form or other, as may be seen from the return of 
 
 ' i. 85 ; iii. 83. 
 
 ' The Latin title is Increpatio in Reges Britannicos : it forms a part of the 
 Epistola GUdce, printed in Haddan and Stubbs' first volume of Councils, and 
 begins at p. 48 : see Geoffrey xi. 3-7. 
 
 " The author has ventured to surmise in his Celtic Britain, p. 123, that Cune- 
 glasus was connected with Glamorgan, but the correctness of this view may- 
 be questioned. 
 
 C 
 
i8 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [^h. 1, 
 
 ILeu effected by Gwydion's wand. So here one seems 
 to detect the disturbing influence of a historical fact and 
 to be entitled to regard the death of the Culture Hero in 
 a mythic war with his nephew as suggested by the real 
 death of a man Arthur, at the hands of a real nephew 
 in some such person as that of Maelgwn as already 
 suggested (p. 8). This is to be taken for what it may 
 be worth as a possible explanation of the unmythlike 
 ending of the myth. The popular mind, however, pur- 
 sued the myth to its normal conclusion without allowing 
 any difficulty originating in history to be placed in its 
 way. Arthur, according to the popular fancy, did not 
 die: he was merely borne away to the Isle of Avattach 
 or Avallon to be healed of his wounds ; that done, he 
 was to return to reign again. The story slightly modi- 
 fied has lived down to modern times in places far apart : 
 sometimes it represents Arthur and his men dozing 
 away, surrounded by their treasures, in a cave in Snow- 
 don, till the bell of destiny rings the hour for their 
 sallying forth to victory over the Saxon foe ; sometimes 
 they allow themselves to be seen of a simple shepherd, 
 whiling away their time at chess in the cavities of Cad- 
 bury ; and sometimes they are described lying beneath 
 the Eildon Hills buried in an enchanted sleep to be 
 broken at length by one 
 
 ' That bids the charmed sleep of ages fly, 
 Rolls the long sound through Eildon's caverns vast, 
 While each dark warrior rouses at the blast, 
 His horn, his falchion, grasps with mighty hand, 
 And peals proud Arthur's march from Fairyland ^' 
 
 We have a trace of this sort of story even in the 
 
 ' The Poetical Works of John Leyden (Edinburgh, 1875), p. 36. See 
 also Sir Walter Scott, Appendix to General Preface to Waverley, Edinburgh 
 edition, pp. 22-3, and Stuart Glennie's Arthurian Localities (Edinburgh 
 1869), pp. 61, 62. 
 
Ch. I.] ARTHUR, HISTORICAL AND MYTHICAL. \ 9 
 
 narrative of Geoffrey, who though he speaks of Arthur 
 mortally wounded, could not help adding that he was 
 carried away to the Isle of Avallon to be healed of his 
 wounds. The same idea is also to be detected in the 
 twelfth century manuscript called the Black Book of 
 Carmarthen, where the poet after alluding to the graves 
 of a considerable number of heroes, both historical and 
 mythical, uses the following words when he comes to 
 Arthur : — 
 
 Bet y march, bet y guythur. 
 
 bet y gugaun cletyfrut. 
 
 anoeth bid bet y arthur^ 
 
 A grave for March, a grave for Gwythur, 
 A grave for Gwgawn of the ruddy Sword, 
 Not wise {the thought) a grave for Arthur. 
 
 We may safely accept the dictum of the anonymous 
 Welsh poet and now discard the story of Arthur's 
 death, together with all that appertained to the his- 
 torical man, in order to devote our attention to the 
 greater Arthur. 
 
 It will doubtless have occurred to the reader that we 
 have not shown how Arthur could have stood in the 
 same relation to Gwalchmei as Gwydion to ILeu, as 
 both Gwalchmei and Medrod are usually called the 
 king's nephews, the sons of his sister and her husband 
 Loth. The relative lateness of the story, in the form 
 we have it, would be enough to account for its not 
 placing Arthur in too close a relation to his nephews, 
 just as it does not refer to his having besides his wife 
 
 ' Evans's Autotype Facsimile of the Black Book of Carmarthen (Oxford, 
 1888), p. 34 a. Tlie above triplet, together with poem xxx. in the Book of 
 Taliessin (Skene, ii. 181, 2), supplies an answer to Stephens' statement in his 
 Lit. of the Kymty, p. 416, respecting Arthur, that 'there is no trace of the 
 hero in the early poetry of Wales,' and that 'the earlier bards make no 
 distinction between Arthur and the other warriors of his day.' 
 
 C 2 
 
20 
 
 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. I. 
 
 no less than three mistresses \ In fact his character 
 and his history have most probably and naturally under- 
 gone repeated improvement at the hands of story-tellers 
 and poets, until they have attained a perfection of which 
 those most ardently devoted to his cult in old times 
 can have had no notion. The Enghsh laureate is the 
 last who has seriously contributed to the glorification 
 of Arthur, accompanied, howper, with the blackening 
 of Gwenhwyvar's character as contrasted with that of 
 her husband: take, for example, the passage in the 
 course of which Arthur says to his distracted wife — 
 ' For I was ever virgin save for thee ; ' 
 
 or the soliloquy full of remorse in which she is repre- 
 sented uttering the following words in reference to ' the 
 faultless king ' : — 
 
 'Ah great and gentle lord, 
 Who wast, as is the conscience of a saint 
 Among his warring senses, to thy knights — 
 To whom my false voluptuous pride, that took 
 Full easily all impressions from below. 
 Would not look up, or half-despised the height 
 To which I would not or I could not climb — 
 I thought I could not breathe in that fine air, 
 That pure severity of perfect light.' 
 
 But let us turn from the falsetto preachments of the 
 modern muse and the grave narrative of Geoffrey to 
 the more gossiping pages of Malory, and there we at 
 once recognize the distinctive feature of the Gwydion 
 myth : Chapter XIX opens as follows ^ : — 
 
 'Thenne after the departyng of kyng Ban and of kyng Bors 
 kynge Arthur rode vnto Carlyon/And thyder cam to hym kyng Lots 
 wyf of Orkeney in maner of a message/but she was sente thyder to 
 aspye the Courte of kynge Arthur/and she cam rychely bisene 
 
 ' Triads, i. 59 ; ii. 16 ; iii. 109; i. 60; ii. 17; iii. no. 
 * Sommer's Malory, vol. i. pp. 64, 5. 
 
Ch. I.] ARTHUR, HISTORICAL AND MYTHICAL. 2i 
 
 with her four sones/gawayn Gaherys/Agrauaynes/and Gareth 
 with many other knyghtes and ladyes/for she was a passynge fayr 
 lady/wherfore the kynge cast grete loue vnto her/and desyred to 
 lye by her/so they were agreed/and he begate vpon her Mordred/ 
 and she was his syster on the moder syde Igrayne/So ther she 
 rested her a moneth and at the last departed/Thenne the kyng 
 dremed a merueillous dreme wherof he was sore adrad/But al 
 this tyme kyng Arthur knewe not that kyng Lots wyf was his 
 syster.' 
 
 The succeeding chapter represents Merlin disguised 
 as a child telling Arthur whose son the latter was, and 
 Arthur, ignorant of his own descent, contesting his 
 statement, until the magician cast off his disguise, when 
 Malory introduces the following dialogue^ : — 
 
 ' Yes said the old man/the child told yow trouthe/and more wold 
 he haue tolde yow and ye wolde haue suffred hyni/But ye haue 
 done a thynge late that god is displeasyd with yow/for ye haue layne 
 by your syster/and on her ye haue goten a chyld/that shalle de- 
 stroye yow and all the knyghtes of your realme What are ye said 
 Arthur that telle me these tydynges/I am Merlyn/and I was he 
 in the childes lykenes/A sayd kyng Arthur ye are a merueillous 
 man/but I merueylle moche/of thy wordes that I mote dye in 
 bataille/Merueylle not said Merlyn/for it is gods wyll youre body 
 to be punysshed for your fowle dedes/but I may wel be sory said 
 Merlyn/for I shalle dye a shameful deth/to be put in the erthe 
 quyck/and ye shall dye a worshipful deth.' 
 
 Here^ the crime is minimized by making Arthur 
 ignorant of the fact that the lady was his sister, and 
 by further representing her as his sister only on the 
 mother's side^ But the stories which ignore the 
 incest altogether usually treat Gwalchmei and Medrod 
 (Gawayne and Modred) as if full brothers, and it 
 
 ' Sommer's Malory, vol. i. pp. 66, 7. 
 
 " See also the S^nt Graal, ed. by Furnivall for the Roxburghe Club (Lon- 
 don, 1863), ii. 339, and the whole story in a MS. of Merlin and Lonelich's 
 translation, in the appendix to the same volume, pp. 393-6. 
 
 ' The Welsh versions of Geoffrey make her Arthur's full sister : see 
 R. B. Bruts, pp. 180, 1. 
 
22 
 
 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. t*^"- '• 
 
 may be supposed that one form of the original myth 
 represented both the one and the other as the son 
 of Arthur and the wife of King Loth. The process, 
 in that rase, of cleansing the Arthurian legend of this 
 blot may be presumed to have been completed by 
 degrees. The first step was to free the good and illus- 
 trious Gwalchmei from the suspicion of a shameful 
 origin ; it might attach longer to the traitorous Medrod, 
 as in Malory's version. But the stain still remained on 
 the father's character, so the crime was represented as 
 committed in ignorance on his part : even this was at 
 length found inconsistent with the ideas entertained of 
 Arthur, so the two brothers came at length to be com- 
 monly regarded merely as his nephews by most of the 
 romancers, including the Welsh ones. For this m3^hic 
 scandal is one of those things which have completely 
 dropped out of Welsh literature, and not even the 
 Triads refer to it. It is inconceivable, however, that it 
 should have been invented by any one of the romance 
 writers, and we are forced to regard it as from of 
 old a part of the myth, even if the study of other 
 myths had not prepared one to look out for it ; and 
 the importance of it as a proof of the parallelism 
 between Arthur and Gwydion or Cairbre must be our 
 apology for alluding to it at all. In all these cases 
 the incest is probably to be explained as owing to 
 the Culture Hero having been thrust forward into 
 the position of an older personage, that is, of him 
 who, as the Zeus of Greek mythology, marries his 
 sister Here. 
 
 Geoffrey calls Loth's wife Anna, but she is probably 
 to be identified with Arthur's sister, called Morgan le 
 Fay in the romances, where Morgan is, doubtless, to be 
 taken to stand for a Welsh Morgen, 'sea-born' and 
 
Ch. I.] ARTHUR, HISTORICAL AND MYTHICAL. 33 
 
 identified in point of etymology with the Irish Muirgen, 
 one of the names of the aquatic lady Liban^ In case 
 we are right in reducing these two sisters to one, the 
 feud between him and Morgan, never very intelligible 
 in the romances^, might be regarded as an obscure 
 version of that between Gwydion and Arianrhod ^ ; nay, 
 the parallel might be extended to their sons, more 
 especially to the contrast between Gwalchmei and 
 Medrod, and that between ILeu and Dylan. This con- 
 trast is a feature of the myth, which has sometimes 
 been obliterated. The romancers, failing clearly to 
 seize it, have fallen into the error, as we think, of 
 making Gwalchmei's character too like that of Medrod. 
 This applies especially to the Tristram stories ; and they 
 were followed to a considerable extent by Malory: so 
 Gwalchmei is made in them to play the part of a 
 cunning and treacherous knight who led Arthur un- 
 suspecting into the greatest misfortunes. It is possible 
 that we have a trace of the converse error, to the advan- 
 tage of Medrod, in one of the Triads*, which makes the 
 latter one of the three kingly knights of Arthur's court : 
 they were so called, we are told, because of their 
 being so meek, so gentle, and so fair of speech that 
 no one ever found it easy to say them 'nay.' Lastly, 
 the relation in which Merlin stands to Arthur may 
 be said to be much the same as that of Math to 
 Gwydion. 
 
 We have here ventured to treat Arthur as a Culture 
 Hero; it is quite possible that this is mythologically 
 wrong, and that he should in fact rather be treated, let 
 us say, as a Celtic Zeus. In such a case the whole 
 
 ' Hib. Lee. pp. 342, 460-3, 641. '^ Malory, iv. 6-14. 
 
 = Hib. Lee. pp. 236-9. * i. 83; iii. 118, 
 
2,4- ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. I. 
 
 setting of the theory advocated in these pages would 
 require to be altered, and arguments might be found 
 for so altering it ; but on the whole they seem to us to 
 carry less weight than those which favour the treatment 
 of the mythic Arthur as a Culture Hero. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 Arthur and Airem. 
 
 Irish mythic history derives the Goidelic people of 
 Ireland from two brothers called Emer and Airem or 
 Erem respectively: they were the sons of Golam or 
 Mil, whose name means a warrior or soldier, and the 
 parallel between their story and that of Remus and 
 Romulus, sons of Mars, deserves notice in passing. 
 Now Emer, whose name was pronounced Ever^, was 
 the elder brother and the eponymus in all probability of 
 the Ivernians or the non-Celtic inhabitants of the island. 
 He was killed by his younger brother Airem ^, who 
 is more commonly called Echaid Airem, and is to 
 be regarded as the ancestor of the conquering Celts, 
 who invaded the ancient race. His name Echaid 
 Airem, which would be understood to mean Echaid 
 (the) Ploughman or (the) Farmer, seems to bring him 
 into close contact with agriculture, and to mark an 
 important distinction between the Aryan invaders and 
 the aborigines of the island ; but the reader must not 
 make too much of this evidence, which we shall have 
 in some degree to qualify as we go on. 
 
 The monarch of Erinn was wont to hold a periodical 
 feast at Tara, his capital, and this was reckoned an 
 
 ' So it is written indifferently Emer or Eber, both m and b between vowels 
 being softened into v : see also the Hib. Lee. pp. 526-7. 
 
 ' See Fiacc's Hymn in Stokes's Goidelica, pp. 127, 131, where the genitive 
 has the form Erimon, implying a nom. Erem. 
 
26 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. H. 
 
 institution ^ ; so Echaid Airem in due time sent out 
 invitations to the nobles of his realm to appear at the 
 feast ; but they replied with one accord that they would 
 not attend, because he had no queen. The king there- 
 fore sent his messengers forth to search for a fitting 
 woman to be his wife and queen, and as he was not 
 easy to please they were away some time. At last they 
 found one whom they thought suitable, at a place called 
 Inber Cichmuini'^, on the east coast of Ulster. Her name 
 was Etain, and she was so lovely and so beautiful that 
 she became the standard of comparison, so that ' fair as 
 Etain,' and ' as lovely as Etain ' became common sayings. 
 The king hastened to fetch her to Tara as his queen ; 
 and when he asked her who she was, she described 
 herself as the daughter of ^tar, king of Echraidi in 
 Faery, adding that she had refused all offers of marriage 
 made to her in her own country, because of her love for 
 him on account of his fame. 
 
 Some time afterwards a great king of the Fairies, 
 called Mider of Bri Leith^, found her out and introduced 
 himself to her in the form of Airem's brother Ailell, who 
 was in love with her. Mider met her three times and 
 cured the king's brother of his embarrassing passion ; 
 but his wish was to induce Etain to elope with him. She 
 
 ' For the story of Echaid Airem see the fragments in the Book of the Dun, 
 occupying folios i29''-i3o'', i^z^, 132"; also gg"-. Most of the former have 
 been published in Windisch's Irische Texte, pp. 11 7-133, with another version 
 from the British Museum MS. Egerton 1782 ; see also O'Curry's Manners, 
 &c., ii. 192 ; iii. 190. 
 
 ^ O'Curry, in his Manners, iii. 188, calls it a bay : the name means the 
 inver, mouth or confluence, of => water called after a Cichmuine, who was 
 possibly a water goddess. Her name is hardly to be severed from that of 
 Cigva, wife of Pryderi {R. B. Mab. p. 25 ; Guest, iii. 71), and a related mas- 
 culine form occurs in a genitive written in Ogam Ccicantini. 
 
 3 This is said by O'Curry, Manners, ii. 193, where the story is briefly 
 given, to have been a fairy settlement in a hill to the west of Ardagh in the 
 present county of Longford. 
 
Ch. II.] ARTHUR AND AIREM. 27 
 
 replied that she would not forsake the king of Erinn for 
 one whose origin and history were unknown to her. 
 Then he reminded her that in a previous stage of exist- 
 ence when she was Etain, daughter of another father than 
 Etar, he, Mider, was her husband ; but as she did not seem 
 to understand this, she asked, if such was the fact, how it 
 was that they had been separated. He repHed that it 
 was brought about by the jealousy of another woman and 
 the spells of a druid who aided her^ He repeated his 
 request that she should elope with him, and he explained 
 to her that it was he who had saved her from committing 
 the crime to which her brother-in-law was about to lead 
 her, but he could not prevail on her to go with him ; so 
 he waited, according to one account, till Airem held a 
 great fair, and the queen came with the ladies of the 
 court to look at the races. Thither Mider also came 
 unobserx'^ed and carried away Etain, together with her 
 handmaid, disappearing with them in a way which 
 nobody could comprehend. According to another 
 account Mider did not execute his purpose quite so 
 hurriedly, as he is represented asking Etain whether she 
 would come away with him in case her husband gave 
 her permission, to which she replied in the affirmative. 
 
 His next step was to labour to get the king's word ; 
 and in order to do so, he suddenly appeared one day 
 before Airem within the royal rath of Tara. After 
 introducing himself, Mider asked the king to play chess 
 with him ; but he would have been no nearer his object, 
 except by playing for stakes to be fixed by the winner 
 at the end of the game. This was right royally agreed 
 to, and Mider was beaten ; the king named as the price 
 of his victory that Mider and his fairies should, besides 
 making a considerable payment, do four things for him, 
 
 ' Hib. Lee. p. 145. 
 
38 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. II. 
 
 which were, to conrtruct a causeway across Moin Ldm- 
 raide or Lamraid's Bog, to clear Meath of stones, to 
 cover the district of Tethba with rushes, and that of 
 Darbrec^ with trees ^- By observing the fairies at their 
 laborious work of making the causeway, Airem learned 
 to yoke his oxen at the neck and shoulder ; for hitherto 
 the men of Erinn had been in the habit of making their 
 cattle draw by their heads and foreheads. This, we are 
 told, was the reason why the king received the surname 
 oi Airem. 
 
 When Mider and his men had performed their 
 tasks, the former suddenly presented himself before 
 Airem, who was surprised no less by his unexpected 
 appearance than by his wretched look : Mider com- 
 plained to the king of his hard treatment by him, and 
 induced him to play again. This time the king lost, 
 and Mider said he could have beaten him long before, 
 if he had chosen. Then came the question what Mider 
 asked as the price of victory. Mider replied that all he 
 wanted was to be allowed to put his arms round the queen 
 in the middle of the court and to kiss her. Airem was 
 amazed, and told him to come in a month's time, when 
 his request would be granted him. When the appointed 
 day came the king took care to have his court stoutly 
 guarded within and without ; and that evening he and 
 the queen sat surrounded by the best champions of 
 Erinn in the midst of the palace. But all of a sudden, 
 about midnight, the king beholds Mider standing before 
 him. He looked more comely that night than they had 
 ever seen him before, and he said that he had come for 
 what was due to him. The king excused himself, say- 
 ing that he had not thought over it ; but Mider was not 
 
 ' See the Bk. of the Dun, 132* but compare the Bk. o/Leinster, 16^ ■ in 
 both instances we refer to the Royal Irish Academy's facsimiles. 
 
Ch. II.] ARTHUR AND AIREM. 29 
 
 to be put off. He said that Airem had in effect staked 
 his possession of the queen, whom he ought now to allow 
 to depart with him. The queen blushed to hear this, 
 whereupon Mider told her not to blush, since he had 
 been seeking her for a whole year with the best and 
 rarest of treasures, but had not taken her away till he 
 had Airem's leave. The queen admitted having told 
 Mider that she would not comply unless her husband 
 gave her away, and that, in case the latter made up 
 his mind to permit it, she would consent to go. The 
 king said that he would not give her away but 
 only allow Mider to put his arms round her in the 
 midst of the palace. So Mider, grasping his weapons 
 with his left hand, placed the other round the queen, and 
 hurried out with her before anybody could stir; so 
 when the host at length rushed to rescue the queen, 
 they could see naught save two swans making the circuit 
 of Tara. Mider took Etain to a fairy habitation called 
 Sith Arfemun and the Mound of the Fair Women. 
 According to one account, Airem was for a whole year 
 unable to find whither Etain had been taken ; but at last 
 Dalan, his druid, took four rods of yew and wrote 
 ogams on them ; so that by means of his ogams and 
 his keys of seership he discovered that Etain was with 
 Mider in the fairy abode of Bri Leith. Then the king at 
 the head of the men of Erinn went there, and dug into 
 the fairy mound with such determination that Mider 
 was obliged to surrender Etain. 
 
 The story of Etain's previous existence is very frag- 
 mentary, but we find her first in the possession of 
 Mider, king of the fairies and the other world. From 
 him she was separated by a rival of hers, and we find 
 her next in the Mac 6c's glass bower as the consort of 
 that divinity, from whom she was severed by the wiles 
 
30 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. II. 
 
 of the same rival. She was now blown, in the form of 
 a fly, hither and thither over Erinn for the space of 
 seven years in great misery and wretchedness, until at 
 length she alighted on a beam in the roof of a house in 
 Ulster where there happened to be an ale banquet going 
 on. She fell at last into the golden goblet that stood 
 by the wife of ittar, and she was swallowed unawares 
 with ths drink. In due time she was born the daughter 
 of Star's queen, and they called her Etain daughter of 
 Star, by whom she was brought up in great state and 
 surrounded with fifty maidens of her own age, the 
 daughters of princes, as her companions. Somewhere 
 near the water where, years later, Airem's messengers 
 found her dressing her golden hair, she and her youth- 
 ful companions happened one day to be bathing together, 
 when they beheld a man of the most distinguished 
 appearance riding over the plain towards them. When 
 he arrived he sat him down on the bank, and sang a lay 
 alluding to the scenes through which Etain had already 
 passed, and ominously referring to the wars with which 
 Erinn was to be cursed on this fair Helen's account. 
 His words, somewhat freely rendered, so far as they 
 are to the point, run thus : — 
 
 Etain indiu sund amne 
 oc sid banfind iar n-albai 
 eter maccaib beccaib di 
 for bru inbir cichmuini. 
 
 Is hi rohic suil ind rig 
 a topor locha d^ llg 
 
 1. So is Etain here to-day 
 
 At the Fair Wives' Mound behind Alba; 
 Among little children is her lot 
 On the bank of Cichmuine's Inver. 
 
 2. It is she that healed the monarch's eye 
 From the well of Loch da Ltg; 
 
Ch.II.] ARTHUR AND AIREM. 31 
 
 is hi asibed sin dig 
 
 la mnSi n6tair hi tromdig. 
 
 Is trla &.g dossib in ri 
 inna heonu di Thethbi^ 
 ocus baidfid a d^ ech 
 illind locha da airbrech. 
 
 Bfat imda coicthe ili 
 tria tag for echaig midi 
 biaid togal for sidib 
 ocus cath for ilmilib. 
 
 It is she was gulped in the drink 
 By Star's ivife in a heavy draught. 
 
 3. For her sake the king will chase 
 The birds away from Tethba^ 
 And will drown his chargers twain 
 In Loch da Airbrech' s waters. 
 
 4. Many great battles will chance 
 For thy sake to Echaid of Meathj 
 Ruin will fall on Faery 
 
 And war on myriads of men. 
 
 When he had done, the stranger vanished, nobody 
 knew whither; but as to the wars of which he pro- 
 phesied Etain about to be the cause, one of them was 
 that which led Airem to destroy Mider's stronghold, an 
 act which the fairies never forgave ; so there was to be 
 another famous war, namely one brought about by them 
 to avenge the defeat of Mider ; but it did not happen 
 till the time of Airem's great-grandson. For Airem and 
 Etain had no son, but they had a daughter, called after 
 her mother, Etain, who in turn had a daughter called 
 Messbiiachallo^, mother of Conaire the Great, monarch 
 of Erinn, who fell the innocent victim of the long smoul- 
 dering wrath of the fairies^. The remoteness of the 
 
 • The allusions are obscure ; but chasing the birds from Tethba may be 
 another account of covering it with rushes. 
 ^ Bk. of the Dun, 99 a. 
 ' Hib. Lee. p. 135. 
 
33 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. II. 
 
 fairies' vengeance is remarkable, but it has a parallel in 
 a Welsh tale, in which a remote descendant of a farmer 
 is punished"^ on account of the latter having ploughed up 
 a field, where they were wont to dance and hold their 
 nightly merrymakings ^. 
 
 What, it may be asked, can be the meaning or origin 
 of such a story as that of Etain, which, as the reader 
 ought to have been told, places more than a millennium 
 between her second birth as the daughter of Etar, and 
 her first birth as that of a father called Ailill ? Some 
 aid to answer this difficult question is to be got from 
 another case of re-births in Irish legend, namely, that of 
 Cuchulainn, in whom we have, as has been shown else- 
 where ^, an avatar or a son of Lug the sun-god. This 
 is readily intelligible, for, as the sun rises every day, 
 the sun-god may well have been represented as 
 repeatedly re-born, either once a day or once in a 
 longer period; and we get nearer the answer to 
 the question, what the goddess was that was similarly 
 liable to be born anew. In fact, it is found on looking 
 carefully at the story, that no interpretation suits it so 
 well as that which makes Etain a personification of the 
 dawn. Not only does the dawn admit of being re- 
 garded as born afresh as often as popular fancy may 
 suggest, but the rising of the dawn from the darkness 
 of night, her travelling over the sky, and her finally dis- 
 appearing as the gloaming into the darkness of night 
 once more, explains the mythic contest about her 
 between her husband above ground, Airem, and her 
 husband under ground, Mider: her society must ne- 
 cessarily be divided between them, and in fact all 
 
 ^ Cymmrodor, v. 127-141. The story forms the groundwork of Lewis 
 Morris's ' Curse of Pantannas,' Songs of Britain, pp. 102-125. 
 ^ Hib. Lee. pp. 431-5. 
 
Ch.II.] ARTHUR AND AIREM. 33 
 
 goddesses involving this nature myth are liable to 
 appear in the character of unfaithful wives. It is worth 
 while observing, that we have not only Etain daughter 
 of Etar, who was an avatar of a previous Etain, but a 
 third Etain, represented not as an Etain re-born, but as 
 a daughter, of Echaid and his wife Etain, in the ordinary 
 course of nature. The same mixing of the two ideas 
 occurs in the case of Ciichulainn, who is sometimes 
 regarded as an avatar of Lug and sometimes as his 
 son. When Lug is to be re-born he also has to assume 
 the form of a fly, as was the case with Etain, and to 
 be swallowed with her drink by the lady whom he 
 has selected to be his mother. Lastly, the interpret- 
 ation of Etain as originally the dawn, derives some 
 confirmation from her name Etain or Etain ^, which 
 probably means ' the shining one ' : she was otherwise 
 called Be Find, more correctly Behind^, the 'White 
 or Fair Woman.' 
 
 Airem had a brother called Ailill, who has been 
 alluded to as having fallen in love with Etain. 
 The stories sometimes give him another brother called 
 Echaid Fedlech, which, however, they sometimes make 
 to be another name of Echaid Airem ^ : which is 
 the more correct view to take, we cannot say. With 
 regard to the latter, Airem makes in the genitive 
 
 ' It is also found written Etaoin and Eadaoin, as to which see O'Curry's 
 ed. of the Battle of Magh Leana, pp. 38, 53, where it assonates with eagcaoin 
 and aoibh. Irish itself seems to suggest no explanation of its meaning or 
 etymology, but it would appear to be a word of the same origin as the follow- 
 ing Brythonic vocables — Breton e'te'6 or e'teo, 'tison de feu,' Welsh etewyn or 
 ytewyn, and tewyn, ' a brand or live coal,' tywynnu, ' to shine,' also echdywynnu 
 and echdywynygu of the same meaning. 
 
 ^ The Four Masters in their Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland give it as a 
 historical name, A. d. 1363, and the editor, Dr. O'Donovan, Anglicizes it into 
 Bevin. 
 
 = See Windisch, p. 123, and O'Curry, Manners, iii. 190, where a MS. at 
 Trinity College, Dublin, is quoted. 
 
 D 
 
34 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. II. 
 
 Airemon, which is also written Erimon or Eremon, and 
 Airem is not only called Echaid Airem, that is to say, 
 provisionally, Echaid the Ploughman, but also Echaid 
 Airemon ^, which would mean either Echaid (son) of 
 Airem, which Irish literature does not corroborate, since 
 his father's name is given as Finn ; or else Echaid of 
 (the) Ploughmen, in reference to the fairies compelled 
 to work for him, but in this case the definite article 
 is wanting in the Irish, contrary to what one might 
 expect. On the whole, then, it seems more probable 
 that Echaid Airemon is due to a declensional change, 
 which was ultimately stereotyped by treating Eremon 
 as nominative and providing it with a genitive Eremoin. 
 This in its turn probably helped Irish mythographers to 
 split Echaid Airem into two kings, reigning respectively 
 as Eremon, a. m. 3501, and Echaid Airem, a.m. 5070 ^i it 
 is to. the former that Emer was reckoned brother, while 
 the latter's brothers are Ailill and Echaid Fedlech. 
 
 Now though Airem is usually explained to mean 
 a ploughman, it will be seen to fail to fit the stoiy 
 about the origin of the proper name. For it is not 
 said that ploughing was learned in his time from the 
 fames, nor does any ploughing appear included in the 
 labours imposed on them by Airem. What the story 
 relates is, that he saw how the fairies yoked their cattle 
 and that he followed their example in a way which was' 
 till then, unknown to the men of Erinn. So the inference 
 IS, that, by applying to him on that account the epithet 
 Airem, it was not so much intended to call him a 
 ploughman as one who yokes or harnesses his teams- 
 in other words, the later and, attested meaning oi Airem 
 
 ■ This occurs in the Bk. of the Dun, lagb ^^ere it ;= v. 
 haeremon. The genitive is also written Mr Jan : see the il Z7T^ T"^f 
 ^ See the Four Masters under those years respec'vely. °-^^"«^'^' '^3- 
 
Ch.II.] ARTHUR AND AIREM. o,fy 
 
 as that of ploughman is too narrow for the require- 
 ments of the story, and we may accordingly distinguish 
 two meanings of the word, (i) the later and narrower 
 one of ploughman, and (2) the earlier meaning of har- 
 nesser or binder, which probably included the other 
 more restricted signification. Nay, it is possible that 
 the original meaning was still wider, but we need not 
 now discuss it any further. 
 
 Returning to the Arthurian legend, the reader need 
 scarcely be told that the story of Arthur's queen 
 seized by Medrod, or eloping with Melwas after he had 
 lain in wait for her a whole year, has its parallel in that 
 of Mider searching for a year for Airem's queen Etain, 
 and finally carrying her away to his own abode. Pro- 
 vided due allowance is made for the difference between 
 the social settings of the respective stories, the simi- 
 larity becomes more unmistakable the more it is 
 scanned. For even the avatars of Etain have some- 
 thing which can be set over against them in the Welsh 
 Triads, a something which can only be understood by 
 means of them. We allude more especially to the fact 
 that one of the Triads^ speaks of Arthur as the husband 
 not of one wife called Gwenhw3rvar, but of three wives 
 bearing each that one and the same name. This has 
 sometimes been regarded as too absurd to deserve 
 serious consideration ; but in the light of Etain 's story 
 it is readily seen to have had a meaning. The three 
 Gwenhwyvars are the Welsh equivalents of the three 
 Etains, and the article in the Triads must be admitted 
 to bear the stamp of great antiquity; for no Arthurian 
 story-teller, whether Welsh or Norman, ever avails 
 himself of the three Gwenhwyvars. The reason is 
 evident: the three would have spoiled his plot and 
 
 ' i. 59 ; ii. 16 ; iii. 109. 
 D 2 
 
^6 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch.II. 
 
 reduced the human interest in it far more than three- 
 fold, at any rate in the state of society in which the 
 Arthurian myth developed itself into romance. So we 
 are forced to refer the basis of the Triad to a far 
 
 earlier age. 
 
 The Gwenhwyvars are described respectively as the 
 daughters of Gwryd Gwent \ Gwythur son of Greidiawl, 
 and Ogrvan the Giant. The first name reminds one of 
 some of the Culture God's names, and the bearer of it as 
 father of Gwenhwyvar may, perhaps, be regarded as hold- 
 ing, in the Triad, the place assigned in the Irish story to 
 Airem as father of the third Etain. Ogrvan, or Ogyrven, 
 the Giant is known as one of the terrene powers 2, who 
 may be therefore placed over against the father of the 
 first Etain, whose name Ailill seems cognate with the 
 Welsh ettyll: 'an elf or demon.' Then we have left 
 Gwythur son of Greidiawl, who contests with Gwyn 
 son of Nud, the love of Creidylad or Cordelia, 
 daughter of ILud of the Silver Hand. His attributes 
 may be regarded as the opposite of those of Gwyn, the 
 god of death and darkness, and he was probably a form 
 of the sun-god, the summer sun : it remains that he 
 should here match Etar, the father of the second Etam. 
 But whether that be so or not, the dawn as the subject 
 of a myth is readily represented as a daughter either of 
 the sun, from whom she derives her light, and before 
 whose face she hurries forth every day, or of darkness 
 
 ' Hib. Lee. pp. 267-9, 274-5. 
 
 ^ This is found also written Gawryd (or Gawrwyd) Ceint, to be corrected 
 probably into Gwryd Ceint, which would mean the Valour of Kent, as the 
 other Gwryd Gwent literally means the Valour of Gwent. The person so 
 called is otherwise unknown, but his name sounds decidedly more human 
 than that of the other two, and so far as its evidence goes, it tends to identify 
 him with the Culture Hero, among whose names one seems to find Gweir&xA 
 Gwron {Hib. Lee. pp. 249-54, 282) of the same origin as Gwryd, ' manliness 
 in the sense of valour or courage, t'»V«5.* 
 
Ch.II.] ARTHUR AND AIREM. 37 
 
 from which she emerges in the morning and which she 
 hies away to meet in the gloaming. That the dawn 
 should also have been considered the daughter of the 
 Culture Hero is no more surprising than that the Solar 
 Hero should have been regarded as his son, and the 
 introduction of that third origin would have been calcu- 
 lated agreeably to meet the Celtic fondness for Triads ; 
 but this attempt to equate the fathers of the Gwen- 
 hw3rvars individually with those of the Etains is a mere 
 guess, and the point of importance is the virtual- equiva- 
 lence of the three Gwenhw3^ars with the three Etains. 
 
 It is, moreover, worth while to note briefly that 
 the former three did not stand alone on Brythonic 
 ground : witness the Arthurian tales that speak of more 
 than one Ess3^t. The name is better known in them as 
 Iseult, Isold, Isoud or Isoude, and the first lady they 
 mention of that name was, according to Malory, the wife 
 of King Mark of Cornwall, to whom allusion has already 
 been made at page 12. Now Tristram, the story of 
 whose birth somewhat resembles that of Kulhwch, 
 always contested the love of Isoud with Mark, and 
 sometimes successfully ; so that lady is described in the 
 Triads as Essyttt Vyngwen or ' Essyttt with the white 
 Tresses,' mistress of Drystan son of Tattwch, and one 
 of the Three unchaste Ladies of Britain ^ But on one 
 occasion King Mark, recovering possession of Isoud, 
 compelled Tristram to flee, when he found another 
 Isoud, with whom he went through the ceremony of 
 marriage. The first of the two is called La beale Isoud, 
 and the second is distinguished as Isoud la blaunche 
 Maynys, or Isoud with the white Hands ; but the story 
 of Tristram and the Isouds does not occur in Welsh, 
 
 ' The Triad referring to that happy time of wholesale morahty isi. 56; iii. 
 105. 
 
38 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. II. 
 
 being probably derived from Cornwall or Brittany. 
 Be that as it may, it describes the two ladies as equally 
 beautiful and equally famous for their skill in the medical 
 art, by means of which they severally heal Tristram of 
 dangerous wounds. They are referred to in the story 
 of Kulhwch \ where they have the epithets Vinwen, ' of 
 the white Visage,' and Vingul, ' of the narrow Visage,' 
 respectively. The key to the enigma of the double 
 Isoud is, doubtless, the same as to the triple Gwen- 
 hwyvar, that supplied by the story of the Irish Airem 
 and the three Etains. 
 
 A word or two must now be said with regard to the 
 name Gwenhwjrvar: it analyses itself into gwenn or 
 gwen, ' white,' and hwyvar, a word which, while it has 
 no explanation in Welsh, is doubtless cognate with the 
 Irish siabur, ' a ghost or phantom,' and siahrce, ' a ghost, 
 spectre, or goblin.' So there can be little doubt that 
 Gwenhwyvar originally meant the white phantom or 
 white apparition, which reminds one of the Irish Be 
 Find as a name of one of the Etains, and of the con- 
 jectured signification of the latter name itself. 
 
 Another name to be noticed here is that of Medrawt 
 or Medrod, made in English into Modred and Mordred: 
 this would seem to be of the same origin as the Welsh 
 verb medr-u, ' to hit with a missile, also metaphorically 
 with the intellect in the sense of knowing or under- 
 standing;' Irish midiur, 'I judge.' But the proper 
 name is synonymous with, and derived from, a simpler 
 one Medr, written Medyr in the story of Kulhwch, 
 where it is given to a wonderful marksman, who, from 
 Ketti Wic in Cornwall, could shoot a wren on Esgair 
 Oervel in Ireland through both its legs evenly^. We 
 
 1 R. B. Mab. p. 113; Guest, ii. 269. 
 ' lb. p. 112; Guest, ii. 268. 
 
C«. ".] ARTHUR AND AIREM. - 39 
 
 read of ILeu's foe, Goronwy Pevr 1, both making a spear 
 and hurling it with fatal accuracy and force. It is even 
 more to the point to notice that Airem's rival's name 
 was closely related to that of Medrod and identical with 
 that of Medr : we allude to Mider, genitive Midir. 
 
 It might, perhaps, be thought that the similarity of 
 meaning between the vocable Gwenhwyvar and Etain 
 or Be Find is merely accidental, and that the kinship of 
 those of Medrod and Mider is only apparent, if one 
 were to stop short of bringing together the more 
 weighty ones of Arthur and Airem. Now it may be 
 shown that Airem, genitive Aireman or Erimon, repre- 
 sents, that is, the latter, an early genitive Ariomanos or 
 Ariomonos, and that Erim&n, genitive Erimoin, was in 
 Gaulish a man's name, Ariontanus'^, as written in its 
 Latin form, the stem being ario-, which in Irish yields 
 airim, ' I plough,' and Welsh ar^u, ' to plough,' of the 
 same conjugation as Eng^lish ear, 'to plough,' which 
 was in A.-Saxon ertan and in Gothic arj'an of the same 
 meaning. The Welsh word dr, ' plough-land,' involves 
 a simpler base, with which are connected Welsh aredig, 
 ' to plough,' and aradr, Irish arathar, ' a plough,' neither 
 of which is, as sometimes supposed, the Latin ardtrum, ■ 
 ' a plough,' borrowed, which could only yield in Welsh 
 arawdr and arodr: rather are the Celtic words for a 
 plough native ones, and parallel to the Greek form 
 &porpov connected with the verb apoco, Latin aro, 
 ' I plough.' 
 
 It is deserving of notice that all these verbs, Greek, 
 Latin, Teutonic and Celtic, are derivative ones ; but if 
 Latin, for instance, had instead of ardre a strong verb 
 
 ' R. B. Mab. pp. 76-7 ; Guest, iii. 243-5. 
 
 " Gruter, 670, 3: Ariomanus Iliati /(Jltus) Boi\us) : it is quoted also in 
 the Gram. Celtica, p. 773. 
 
40 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. II. 
 
 arere, a ploughman would in that case have been not 
 arator but artor, and that is just what we have in the 
 name Arthur, as representing an early Celtic equivalent 
 artor, genitive artoros, which in the later stages of the 
 language could not avoid being reduced to Arthur. 
 There is no phonologic difficulty; but was there ever 
 such a word as artor of this origin ? There certainly 
 was in the Litu-Slavic languages, as its exact equivalent 
 appears in Lithuanian in the form artdjis, 'a plough- 
 man,' Old Prussian artoys, 'a husbandman,' Old Bul- 
 garian rataj, Bohemian ratey, of the same meaning. 
 With these words are connected Lith. arklys, ' a horse,' 
 arklas, ' a plough,' which is closely related to Bohemian 
 radio, 'a plough,' Old Bulg. ralo and oralo, likewise 
 ' a plough,' Old Norse ard:r, gen. arctrs, ' a plough.' Add 
 to this the O. H. German arl, ' a ploughshare,' as closely 
 akin. In all these last words, together with Lith. 
 drtt, ' to plough,' and arta-s, ' ploughed \' the root ar is 
 found with the terminations affixed without an inter- 
 vening vowel ; but no Celtic word is included, though 
 such an instance is not altogether wanting — we allude 
 to the Gaulish go.ddess called Artio^, whom one may 
 . compare, at least in name, with the English Earth and 
 the old Germanic Ertha^. Still more to the point is 
 the Gaulish epithet of the god called in Latin Mer- 
 curius Artaius, who may perhaps be more intelligibly 
 described in Latin as Mercurius Cultor, mentioned in 
 
 1 See Johannes Schmidt in Kuhn's Zeitschrift, xxv. 27-9 ; and Schmidt's 
 Vocalismus, ii. 145 ; see also Brugmann's Grundriss der vergl. Grammatik, ii. 
 115, 201, on the formation of the words radio, ralo. Sec. 
 
 ^ Hib Lee. p. 73. 
 
 ' There is some difficulty about the reading of the passage in the Germania 
 of Tacitus, c. 40. Bekker prints 'nisi quod in commune Herthum, id est 
 terram matrem, colunt,' while Ritter differs in giving the proper name the 
 form Ertham ; but Holder ventures to print thus—' nisi quod Mammun 
 Ertham, id est Terram Matrem, colunt,' the italicized a is Holder's. 
 
Ch.II.] ARTHUR AND AIREM. 41 
 
 an inscription from Heilbronn^ This is something 
 more than a mere matter of etymology, for it is a 
 Mercury and Culture Hero that we have all along taken 
 the mythological Arthur to have been; at the same 
 time it raises the question as to the exact meaning of 
 the name Arthur. On the whole, we should probably 
 not be far wrong in regarding it as coinciding in this 
 respect with the Irish Airem, taken in its wider sense 
 of one who binds or harnesses. But in what way, it 
 may be asked, can Arthur have been connected with 
 agriculture? It is hardly to be expected that a great 
 monarch would be described engaging himself in the 
 common-place operations of farming ; one will, however, 
 remember how the Irish story of Echaid describes the 
 latter acquiring the surname Airem. He is not repre- 
 sented doing any agricultural work himself, but only 
 compelling the fairies to undertake work for him, and 
 learning from them how to yoke his oxen in a way 
 never till then practised by the Men of Erinn. The 
 Welsh counterpart is to be found in the story of 
 Kulhwch, who asks a boon of Arthur, which in- 
 volves the latter's having to see to the ex;ecution of the 
 labours insisted on by Yspydaden^ before he lets his 
 daughter Olwen become Kulhwch's wife. One of the 
 labours was to find the prison of the sun-god Mabon, and 
 release him to take part in the fabulous hunt of the boar 
 called Twrch Trwyth : but precedence over it is given 
 to another labour, which in fact takes the position of im- 
 portance at the head of the Ust, and it is of an agricultural 
 nature, as will be seen from the following extracts :— 
 
 "Seest thou that vast hill yonder? said Yspydaden 
 to Kulhwch .... 
 
 1 Brambach's Corpus Insc. Rhenanarum, No. 1591. 
 ' Hib. Lee. pp. 486-492. 
 
42 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch- H. 
 
 "I must have it rooted up from the ground, and 
 the grubbings burned for manure on the face of the 
 land : I must have it ploughed and sown in one day, 
 and have it ripen in the space of one day. Of that 
 wheat it is that I must have food and liquor duly made 
 for the wedding of thee and my daughter .... 
 
 " No husbandman can till or dress that land on account 
 of its tangled state except Amaethon son of Don : he 
 will not follow thee of his free will, and thou canst not 
 force him. . . . 
 
 " Though thou wert to get that, there is yet that which 
 thou wilt not get, and that is Govannon son of Don to 
 attend at the furrows' ends to rid the iron : he only 
 works of his own free will for a rightful king, and 
 thou canst not force him. . . . 
 
 " Though thou shouldst get that, there is that which 
 thou wilt not get, namely the two oxen of Gwlwlyd 
 Wineu as fellow-feeders, to plough that rugged land 
 there well : he will not give them of his free will, and 
 thou canst not force him 
 
 "The Yellow Ox of Spring and the Brindled Ox 
 I must have as fellow-feeders 
 
 " Though thou wert to get them, there is yet that 
 which thou wilt not get, namely, the Bannawc Oxen, of 
 which the one is on the further side of Bannawc Moun- 
 tain and the other on this side, to be yoked together 
 to the same plough. They are, to wit, Nynniaw and 
 Peibiaw, whom God made into oxen on account of 
 their sins \" 
 
 Kulhwch acting, like Jason, on the advice of her he 
 loves, undertakes to have all the difficulties laid in his 
 way duly removed; but in harmony with the usual 
 Celtic treatment, the Celtic Jason performs his tasks by 
 
 ' R. B. Mttb. pp. I20-2 ; Guest, ii. 280-2. 
 
Ch. II.] ARTHUR AND AIREM. 
 
 43 
 
 deputy, and that deputy is chiefly his uncle Arthur. 
 So to each of Yspydaden's demands Kulhwch replies 
 that he will readily meet it, and the whole plot depends 
 on Arthur getting for him, by force or friendship, all 
 that Yspydaden specifies, involving, besides the plough- 
 ing in question, other processes of husbandry, such as 
 harvesting a crop of flax under peculiar circumstances, 
 making incomparable bragget for the wedding, and 
 procuring proper vessels to hold it uninjured. It would 
 be tedious to describe these matters severally: suffice 
 it to say that, as compared with the Irish tale about 
 Airem, Arthur's connection with agriculture is more 
 abundantly set forth in this story, excepting only that 
 the story-teller does not pause to say, 'and therefore 
 was he called Arthur.' 
 
 It is impossible to say whether the name Arthur can 
 have been narrowed like Airem to mean a ploughman : 
 it is enough for our purpose that it may have, like Airem, 
 meant one who harnesses or binds; but the original 
 meaning of both names may have, as already suggested, 
 transcended this limitation and conveyed no special 
 allusion to employing any domestic animal for work by 
 hunter or husbandman. For two possibilities suggest 
 themselves : the names Airem and Arthur may have all 
 along had a wider meaning, and in the next place that 
 meaning may have been influenced and modified by 
 association with that of other words shewing a similarity 
 of origin. Take for example the Irish word ara, 
 ' charioteer,' which suggests a way of harmonizing the 
 name Airem with the story of its bearer ; take also the 
 Welsh stem ar, whence Arawn as name of the king of 
 Hades \ arawd, ' speech, eloquence,' and araifh, ' speech, 
 an oration,' Irish airecht, 'a public assembly.' These 
 
 ' Hib. Lee. pp. 244, 276. 
 
44 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. ^Ch. II. 
 
 last, pointing as they do in the direction of eloquence 
 and oratory, remind us of that side of the character of 
 the Culture Hero, which is delineated with so much 
 quaintness by Lucian in his account of the GauHsh 
 Ogmios ^ In this connection it may be worth the while 
 to mention that in Welsh literature Arthur, like Gwydion, 
 is more than once ascribed the role of poet or bard I 
 
 The question, however, of the original meaning 
 of the names Arthur and Airem would not be much 
 advanced by further examining etymology, as it only 
 refers us to a root ar (or to several roots of that form) 
 of widely divergent meanings *. In fact, the names 
 here in question might so far as any help could be 
 derived from this source be said to have meant one who 
 joins, holds, or puts together, also one who thereby con- 
 trols or directs the movements of others. These senses 
 might diverge indefinitely according to the sphere of 
 action contemplated, and according as one referred, 
 let us say, to yoking oxen or harnessing horses for 
 work, to bringing friends together, to uniting man 
 and wife in matrimony, to putting words together in a 
 discourse, and so on, or else to managing, guiding, or 
 directing others in the right course, as in speaking of 
 chariot-horses or of a plough-team. So we are not 
 much the wiser from knowing that Airem, Erimon, has 
 its equivalent, letter for letter, in the Sanskrit word 
 aryaman. This last as an appellative is said to mean 
 one's bosom friend, playmate, or comrade ; and it occurs 
 in the sense of a bridegroom's best man * ; but as a 
 
 ' Hib. Lee. pp. 14-16. 
 
 ^ R. B. Mab. pp. 133, 308 ; Guest, ii. 304 ; the Triads, i. 23 ; iii. 29 ; i. 18 ; 
 ii. 9 ; iii. 123. 
 
 ^ See Pick's Verglekhendes Worterbuch^, i. 19-22,493-6. 
 
 * See B. and Roth's Die. s.v., where the word is defined thus : ' Busen- 
 freund, Gespiele, Gefahrte, Camerad, sodalis . . . Gebrauchlich ist es insbes. 
 
Ch. II.] ARTHUR AND AIREM. 45 
 
 proper name it was borne by a god Aryaman, who 
 usually appears as one of a triad of divinities and 
 without any attributes of his own, or any attributes of 
 so distinctive a nature as to help one in arriving at 
 any certainty respecting his origin and individuality. 
 But whatever else might be said of these and the 
 kindred words, they bring together in a manner the far 
 extremes of our family of nations ; for, while the Persian 
 King of Kings was committing his pedigree to everlast- 
 ing cuneiform in the East, and proudly posing as Aryan 
 of the Aryans, his distant kindred were asserting with the 
 sword the right of the stronger to dominion over the 
 Ivernian Isle of the Atlantic. This they did as Meicc 
 Erimon, or sons of the Aryaman of the West ^- 
 
 The length, at which we have been obliged to spin out 
 the comparison between Arthur and Airem, may perhaps 
 create the impression that the similarity between them 
 is only to be seen through the glasses of an etymologist ; 
 but, so far from that being really the fact, it is possible 
 to produce a case where the popular fancy seems to 
 have unreservedly given the Arthurian names to the 
 dramatis personce of the Airem story : this we believe 
 to have been the case with the group of supposed 
 Arthurian legends prevalent on the borders of the 
 counties of Perth and Forfar, north of the Sidlaw 
 Hills, in Scotland. Besides a stone called the Stone of 
 Arthur, in the parish of Cupar Angus, and such names 
 as Arthurstone, Arthur's Fold, and Arthur's Seat 
 
 von demjenigen Gefahrten eines Brautigams (Trapavifiipios), welcher bei der 
 Hochzeit als Brautwerber und EhesUfter thatig 1st.' 
 
 ' See Zimmer's article on Arisch in Bezzenberger's Beiirwge, iii. 137-151, 
 and more especially p. 150 ; but we are unable to follow our learned friend 
 when he interprets the name of Erinn to mean an ' Aryan ' land ; for we are 
 disposed to thmk that the early form of the nominative was Iverip, which 
 makes a nearer approach, perhaps, to an ' Iberian ' land. 
 
46 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. II. 
 
 scattered over a considerable area, ' a confused tradition 
 prevails of a great battle having been fought on the 
 East Mains of Dunichen [in Forfarshire], between 
 Lothus king of the Picts, or his son Modred, and 
 Arthur king of the Britons, in which that hero of 
 romance was slain \' Further, on a height called 
 Barry Hill, formerly Dunbarre, not far from Al3rth, 
 are the remains of a fortification in which the Pictish 
 king Modred is said to have kept Gwenhwyvar or 
 Wanor, called Wander in that neighbourhood, as his 
 mistress, after defeating her husband in a great battle. 
 The story goes on to say that Arthur, on recover- 
 ing possession of his wife, was so enraged at her 
 conduct, that he had her put to death in a most bar- 
 barous manner, and that a well-known sculptured stone 
 at the neighbouring kirk of Meigle marks her burial 
 place ^. It was visited by the poet Gray on the nth 
 of September, 1765, as he states in a letter to Dr. 
 Wharton dated three days later at Glamis Castle : some 
 women at Meigle spoke to him of the tomb of ' Queen 
 Wanders that was riven to dethe by staned horses for 
 nae gude that she did;' and one reads in Bellenden's 
 Boece that 'all wemen abhorris to strampe on that 
 sepulture ^' 
 
 To proceed no further in this direction, the dis- 
 trict indicated may be said to abound in legends in- 
 volving Arthur's name ; and the question is, how they 
 came there, especially as it is doubtful whether any 
 Brythonic people ever had its home so far north in 
 this island, and as nothing Arthurian seems to be known 
 in the tract of country between Perth and Stirling. 
 
 ' New Statistical Account of Scotland, xi. 146. 
 
 = Stuart Glennie's Arthurian Localities, pp. 36-7. 
 
 ' The History and Chronicles of Scotland, ii. 87. 
 
Ch. II.] ARTHUR AND AIREM. 47 
 
 The most satisfactory answer that can be suggested is, 
 that some form of the story about Airem had long 
 been famiHar in the non-Brythonic parts of Scotland, 
 which, generally speaking, agree far more closely 
 in the matter of folklore and legend with Ireland 
 than with Wales ; and that among other appropriate 
 spots Barry Hill had been fixed on as the scene 
 of a part of the story. So, when hterary Scotchmen or 
 Norman adventurers had made the^ people of the Low- 
 lands familiar with the Arthurian romances, the sub- 
 stitution of the names of Arthur, Wanor, and Modred 
 for the less generally known ones, handed down by the 
 descendants of the Goidelic conquerors of the district 
 above-mentioned, would follow probably pretty much as 
 a matter of course. And when we are told ^, in reference 
 to the Barry Hill legends, that the people have a 
 tradition which makes Queen Wander, not only into a 
 badly behaved wife but a malignant giantess, that seems 
 the echo of the legends respecting an Etain, rather than 
 of any of the more widely known romances about 
 Gwenhwyvar. The substitution of names could not be 
 more readily accounted for than on the supposition of 
 the mutual resemblance, evident to all, of the tales in 
 question about Arthur and Airem respectively. The 
 result for us is the singular appearance of an Arthurian 
 oasis, so to say, in the midst of a non-Arthurian land. 
 
 To sum up these remarks, it may be granted that 
 there was a historical Arthur, who may have held the 
 office, which under the Roman administration was 
 known as that of the Comes Britannice ; that he may, 
 like Aurelius Ambrosius, have been partly of Roman 
 descent ; that Maelgwn was his nephew, whom Gildas 
 accuses of slaying his uncle ; that his name Arthur 
 
 » New Statistical Account of Scotland, x. 1118. 
 
48 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. II. 
 
 was either the Latin Artorius, or else a Celtic name 
 belonging in the first instance to a god Arthur; for 
 the Latin Artorius and the god's name, which we 
 have treated as early Brythonic Artor, genitive Ar- 
 toros, would equally yield in Welsh the familiar form 
 Arthur. In either case, the name would have to be 
 regarded as an important factor in the identification 
 or confusion of the man with the divinity. The latter, 
 called Arthur by the Brythons, was called Airem by the 
 Goidels ^, and he was probably the Artaean Mercury of 
 the Allobroges of ancient Gaul. His role was that of 
 Culture Hero, and his name allows one to suppose 
 that he was once associated, in some special manner, 
 with agriculture over the entire Celtic world of anti- 
 quity. On the one hand we have the man Arthur, 
 whose position we have tried to define, and on the 
 other a greater Arthur, a more colossal figure, of which 
 we have, so to speak, but a torso rescued from the wreck 
 of the Celtic pantheon. 
 
 ' The name Artur occurs but sparingly in Irish literature, and usually in 
 connection only with Britain, but Keating (Dublin, 1880), p. 84, mentions an 
 Artur, son of Nemed, fighting with the Fomori : this, if genuine, is a remark- 
 able exception. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 GWENHWYVAR AND HER CaPTORS. 
 
 Arthur has chiefly occupied us up to this point, 
 
 but something must now be said of his wife. Her 
 
 name in Welsh was Gwenhwyvar or Gwenhwyfar, 
 
 which in the Anglo-Norman romances becomes Gue- 
 
 nievre ; and the English metrical romances have the 
 
 still shorter forms Wannour or Wannore, also Gwenore 
 
 and even Gonore, Ganor or Gaynore. This last has 
 
 been introduced to North Wales, where it is by no 
 
 means an uncommon name for a woman ; but it is not 
 
 associated with the name of Arthur's queen, which is 
 
 rarely to be met with in Welsh history; for, in some 
 
 parts of the Principality, to call a girl a Gwenhwjrvar is 
 
 as much as to suggest that she is no better than she 
 
 should be. The unpopularity of the name is in no 
 
 small degree perpetuated by an old rhyme to the 
 
 following effect : — 
 
 ' Gwenhwyfar, ferch Ogrfan Gawr, 
 Drwg yn fechan, gwaeth yn fawr.' 
 
 Guinevere Giant Ogurvan's daughter, 
 Naughty young, more naughty later. 
 
 The character of the queen had probably been estab- 
 lished, such as we find it in the rhyme, from time 
 immemorial. We seem to find it implied in a 14th 
 century copy of the Welsh Laws after the manner 
 of Gwent : take for example a clause which runs thus : 
 
 E 
 
50 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [^h- I"- 
 
 'When the queen shall will a song in the chamber, 
 let the bard sing a song respecting Camlan, and that 
 not loud, lest the hall be disturbed ^Z The song is 
 not known, but the subject is indicated clearly enough 
 by the title ; it was the infidelity of Gwenhwj^ar and 
 the catastrophe to which it led, culminating with the 
 battle of Camlan : she was the dreadful example, by 
 contemplating which the queen was to be helped to 
 walk in the path of virtue. But how did Gwenhwyvar 
 acquire her notoriety? The question is not so easy 
 to answer as it might at first siriit seem to be. It is 
 true that the Latin version of GeoflFrey charges her 
 with wickedly marrying Modred in violation of her 
 marriage to Arthur ; but the words carry little weight, 
 as nothing is said which would go to shew that she 
 was a free agent in the matter. She is described in 
 other stories as carried away by Melwas, of whom 
 more anon ; and the Anglo-Norman romances add one 
 or two more similar incidents, but it is not stated that 
 the queen was a consenting party. In the literature 
 of the Welsh, her guilt is rather assumed than proved; 
 but it is quite possible that popular tales dweUing on 
 her levity have been lost. Be that as it may, no 
 attempt to discuss Gwenhwjrvar's reputation from the 
 Welsh point of view could take the burden of Lancelot 
 du Lac's story into account, as the passion for her 
 ascribed to him is unknown to Welsh hterature; nor 
 had it probably any foundation in the myth which 
 served as the ground-work of the Arthurian legend. 
 
 Several allusions have been made to the queen being 
 seized by Arthur's foes. From the mythological point 
 of view, these last may be said to reduce themselves 
 
 ' Ancient Laws and Institutes of Wales (Record OfiSce ed. of 1841') the 
 Gwentian Code, Bk. I. chap, xxxvii. 7 (vol. i. 679). 
 
ch.iii,] gwenhwyvar and her captors. 51 
 
 to various expressions of the one idea of a god of 
 darkness and deatii carrying away the goddess of the 
 dawn and the gloaming: this was, however, only a 
 part of his doings, for he was also represented as 
 killing the sun-god, but we have now to deal with 
 the former alone. First and foremost must be men- 
 tioned Medrod, but the story has more variety of detail 
 in connection with another name, that of Melwas or 
 Maelwas. The latter form is not the one usual in Welsh, 
 but it is established by the spelling Maheloas in Chretien 
 de Troyes* poem about Erec and Enide: in fact, 
 Melwas must have been the Cornish form for a Welsh 
 Maelwas which it replaced. This last would have been 
 written in the 12th century Maelgwas or Mailguas, from 
 which the romancers made a variety of others, the most 
 distorted of which were perhaps Malory's Mellyagraunce 
 and Heinrich von dem Titrlin's Milianz, the one to which 
 M. Gaston Paris gives the preference being Melea- 
 guanf^, nominative Meleaguanz^. Maelgwas, which 
 six centuries earlier would have been Maglotfassos, 
 readily analyses itself into mael and gwas, the latter 
 of which means a youth or young man, also a servant. 
 Mael seems to have meant a lord or prince, and has 
 its equivalent in the Irish mdl, a hero or prince; so 
 the full name Maelwas wouid appear to have meant 
 a prince-youth, a princely youth, or a prince who was 
 a youth, and that corresponds to the description given 
 in Irish story of Mider, who, though represented as 
 at least over a thousand years old, looked comely and 
 youthful. On the whole, then, it is not improbable 
 that Melwas or Maelwas described the bearer of the 
 name as one who was fancied to be ever young. 
 
 ' Romania, xii. 474. 
 
 2 lb. xii. 467 ; Le Conte de la Charrette, line 637. 
 
 E 2 
 
5a ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. HI. 
 
 The first version to be noticed of the capture of the 
 queen by Melwas is composed in the historical style : it 
 occurs in the Vita Gildce ^ usually ascribed to Caradoc 
 of ILancarvan, who lived in the 12th century. There 
 Melwas is represented as the king reigning over the 
 realm, which the writer terms yEstiva Regio, by which 
 he must have meant the reader to understand Somerset. 
 Melwas is said to have been looking out for a whole 
 year, per imius anni circulum, for an opportunity to 
 take the queen. Having at last espied a suitable time— 
 whether with or without her connivance we are not 
 told — he carried her away violatam et raptam, to a 
 place of great strength on account of the waters and 
 marshes around it : that was Glastonbury, or as the 
 writer Latinizes it, Glastonia, to which he adds the 
 explanation that the name meant Urbs Vitrea. In 
 due time, Arthur, whom he styles tyrannus ^, marched 
 with the armies of Cornwall and Devon to lay siege 
 to Glastonbury; but at the instance of Gildas and 
 the abbot peace was made, and the queen was restored 
 to her husband. It is very doubtful that the Life 
 was written by Caradoc, but it is certain that the story 
 is ancient, for Chretien de Troyes in his Erec speaks 
 of Maheloas ^ as the lord of the Glass Island — ' Li sire 
 de I'isle de voirre,' and Malory gives a romantic 
 
 '■ Giles's Original Lives, Sec. (London, 1854), p. 313 ; also Romania, x. 491, 
 where M. G. Paris has published a different text of the incident here in question. 
 
 " The choice of this term may be regarded as a touch of history, in so far 
 as the writer avoids calling Arthur a rex, while that title, as applied to Mel- 
 was, belongs undoubtedly to mythology, as does the story as a whole, in spite 
 of Gildas and the abbot introduced into it. Tyrannus here, presumably, 
 marks the same distinction which is kept up in Welsh by calling Arthur 
 emperor. 
 
 ' Chretien had the forms Maheloas and Meleaguane from different sources 
 and was not aware that they meant the same person : see Romania, x. p. 491, 
 xii. p. 511. 
 
Ch. III.] GWENHIVYVAR AND HER CAPTORS. 53 
 
 version, in which he places Arthur's court at West- 
 minster and the castle of Melwas not more than seven 
 miles away: his words are^— 'Soo it befelle in the 
 moneth of May/quene Gueneuer called vnto her knyjtes 
 of the table round/and she gafe them warnynge that 
 erly vpon the morowe she wold ryde on mayeng in to 
 woodes & feldes besyde westmynstre/& I warne yow 
 that there be none of yow but that he be wel horsed/ 
 and that ye alle be clothed in grene outher in sylke/ 
 outher in clothe and I shalle brynge with me ten ladyes/ 
 and euery knyght shalle haue a lady behynde hym/and 
 euery knyghte shal haue a squyer and two yomen/and 
 I wyll that ye alle be wel horsed/Soo they made hem 
 redy in the fresshest maner.' 
 
 While the queen and her party were engaged a- 
 maying, Mellyagraunce (Melwas) came and attacked them 
 with such a following that they were obliged to sur- 
 render, whereupon the victor carried the queen and her 
 followers away to his castle. Now we are told that the 
 knight ' that hyghte Mellyagraunce . . . was sone vnto 
 kynge Bagdemagus/and this knyghte had at that tyme a 
 castel of the yefte of kyng arthur within seuen myle of 
 westmynstre/And this knyghte sir Mellyagraunce loued 
 passynge wel Queue Gueneuer/and soo had he done 
 longe and many yeres/And the book sayth he had layne 
 in a wayte for to stele away the quene/but euermore he 
 forbare for by cause of sir launcelot/for in no wyse he 
 wold medle with the quene/and sir Launcelot were in 
 her company/outher els and he were nere hand her.' 
 
 That day Lancelot was not with the queen ; but no 
 sooner did that knight hear the news of the queen's 
 capture than he set out on his horse, who swam 
 the Thames at Lambeth; he had not proceeded far, 
 
 ^ Malory, xix i. 
 
54 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. HI. 
 
 however, ere the faithful beast was attacked by archers 
 sent by Melwas to He in wait for him. Then Lancelot, 
 compelled to go on foot, met a cart belonging to Melwas 
 and mounted into it, compelling the carter to drive 
 to his master's castle. Melwas is forced to surrender 
 the queen and her followers, and the rambling stoiy 
 is brought to a close by a duel between Melwas and 
 Lancelot about the queen's reputation: Melwas had 
 his skull cloven by a mighty stroke of Lancelot's sword. 
 Chretien de Troyes' metrical romance, Le Conte de la 
 Charrette, is a long and laborious version of the story ; 
 and it adds some very important items to our infor- 
 mation as to the nature of the realm of which Melwas 
 was lord : it was, among other things, the land from 
 whose bourne no traveller returns, for once he is there, 
 he must there for ever abide in bondage and exile. In 
 his own words it was a country^ — 
 
 ' Dont nul estranges ne retorne : 
 Mes par force el pais sejorne 
 En servitute et en essil.' 
 
 Here we have an unmistakable allusion to the world 
 of darkness and death, and M. Paris dwells^ on the 
 striking similarity between the capture of Gwenhwyvar, 
 whilst out maying in the woods, with the rape of 
 Proserpine by Pluto, while she was collecting flowers in 
 the fields. Nor did ^ it escape him how the recovery of 
 the queen by Arthur or Lancelot forms a knightly 
 counterpart to the peaceful story of Orpheus trying 
 to bring his beloved Eurydice back. That the realm 
 of Melwas, whatever name it might have, was the 
 abode of the dead, is further proved by Chretien's 
 
 ' Chevalier de la Charrette (ed. by Tarb6), p. aa ; Romania, xii. 467, 515. 
 ^ Romania, xii. 508. 
 " lb. xii. 512. 
 
Ch. III.] GWENHWYVAR AND HER CAPTORS. 55 
 
 description in the same poem of the accesses to it. 
 These consisted, he says, of two bridges, one called 
 li Ponz Evages or the Water Bridge, because it was a 
 narrow passage a foot and a half wide and as many in 
 height, with water above and below it as well as on both 
 sides. This was reckoned less perilous than the other, 
 and was chosen by Gauvain (Gwalchmei), who had set 
 forth with Lancelot to the queen's rescue. The. other, 
 which Lancelot crossed with infinite pain, was called 
 li Ponz de VEspee or the Sword Bridge, because it con- 
 sisted of the edge of a sword two lances in length ^ 
 The Water Passage attempted by Gauvain, but without 
 success^, would seem to have been the way to some 
 subaqueous country, while the Sword Bridge reminds 
 one of the Bridge of the Souls in the Vision of Adamnan, 
 of that in the Visio Tnugdali, and of that in the Purga- 
 tory of St. Patrick. This notion of a narrow bridge 
 leading to the realm of the dead has been familiar to 
 many nations^, and whether the romance writers got it 
 from the Celtic tales at their service or from another 
 source, it was a picture which it was natural that they 
 should elaborate in other ways and other connections. 
 Thus Walewein (Gwalchmei) in the Dutch romance of 
 Walewein *, is described in one of his adventures, arriving 
 at a bridge more sharp than a blade of steel and forming 
 the only means of passing a river of clear and fresh 
 water that burned like fire. The Welsh version ^ of an 
 adventure of the same Gwalchmei describes another 
 
 1 Romania, xii. 467-8, 473-4. 
 
 2 lb. pp. 468, 477-9- 
 
 ' lb. xii. 508-10, wliere M. G. Paris gives a number of instances and 
 valuable references. 
 
 * Roman van Walewein, edited by Jonckbloet (Leyden, 1846-8), lines 
 4939, &c., referred to by M. G. Paris, Romania, xii. 509. 
 
 5 Williams' Seint Great (London, 1876), part II. pp. 241-2, 593-4. 
 
56 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. III. 
 
 kind of bridge : the court of King Peleur, which was 
 his destination, was surrounded by a great water, 
 crossed by three bridges. One of them was an arrow 
 shot in length but only a foot wide, and it was called 
 the Bridge of the Eel. The other two bridges seemed 
 to be of ice and weak at the foundations, while a mighty 
 current struck underneath them. Gwalchmei came on 
 his horse to the Bridge of the Eel and hesitated, when 
 he was warned by a person standing on the other side, 
 that he had better venture the bridge at once. He did 
 so, and no sooner had the horse stepped on it than it 
 became wide enough for two cartwains to cross side by 
 side : in this respect it resembled much more closely 
 the Bridge of the Souls in the Irish visions alluded to. 
 But the Bridge of the Eel was the bridge over the Eel, 
 the Snake, or Rainbow River, to which Taliessin refers 
 as a stream of venom flowing round the world ^. 
 
 The description of the realm of Melwas, as the land 
 whence nobody returns, deserves notice as one of 
 the things which come exclusively from Chretien's 
 poem, there being, so far as we know, no such trace 
 of the original myth left in the Welsh versions of the 
 story; but with the aid of Chretien's hints and the 
 account of the Eel Bridge it is possible to identify an 
 allusion to Arthur proceeding in person to rescue the 
 queen from her captor : we refer to a curious dialogue, 
 the meaning of which has hitherto been a puzzle. In 
 the Myvyrian it is headed, 'A conversation between 
 Arthur and his second wife Gwenhwyvar : this was the 
 maid carried away by Melwas, a prince from Alban.' 
 It runs thus^: — 
 
 ' Skene's Four Ancient Boohs of Wales, ii. 159. 
 
 ^ See the Myv. Arch. i. 175, where we are told that the text was copied 
 from the Green Book, a manuscript about which the author knows nothing, 
 
ch.iii.] gwenhwyvar and her captors. $1 
 
 Arthur. 
 
 Du jrw fy march a da dana', 
 
 Ac er dwr nid arswyda, 
 
 A rhag ungwr ni chilia. 
 Black is my steed and brave beneath me, 
 No water will make him, fear, 
 And no man will m,ake him swerve. 
 
 Gwenhwyvar. 
 
 Glas yw fy march o liw dail, 
 
 ttiwyr ffirmygid mefl mawrair ' : 
 
 Nid gwr ond a gywiro ei air. 
 Green is my steed of the tint of the leaves 
 No disgrace like his who boasts and fails: 
 He is no man who fulfills not his word. 
 
 The next triplet which should have been spoken by 
 Arthur has been lost, together with the first half of 
 Gwenhwyvar's answer ; that is, if the lacuna is not to 
 be regarded as still more extensive. 
 
 ymlaen y drin 
 
 Ni ffeil gwr ond Cai hir ab Sefin. 
 
 in the forefront of the fray 
 
 No m.an holds out but Kei the Tall, son of Sevin. 
 
 Arthur. 
 Myfi a ferchyg ac a sai', 
 Ac a gerdda yn drwm gan Ian trai : 
 Myfi yw'r gwr a ddaliai Gai. 
 It is I that will ride and will stand. 
 And walk heavily on the brink of the ebb : 
 I am the man to hold out against Kei. 
 
 except that a dialogue between Arthur and the eagle that had been his 
 nephew, Eliwlod son of Madog {Myv. Arch. i. 176), is also said to have been 
 taken from it. But he has recently found a copy of the dialogue in the text — 
 somewhat more imperfect than the one in the Myv. Arch. — in a paper book 
 (113 D. 4, no. 160) of Welsh poetry in the library of Lord Macclesfield. 
 The handwriting of the copy would seem to belong to the latter part of the 
 17th century. The text here given is that of the Myvyrian, checked by 
 means of the transcript. 
 
 ' The rhyme dail and mawrair-vfOvXd seem to argue some antiquity ; but it 
 is right to say that mazvrair occurs in a part of the line which the Shirburn 
 scribe was unable to read : at any rate he has left it blank. The text as a 
 whole is modern. 
 
58 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. III. 
 
 GWENHWYVAR. 
 
 Dyd was, rhyfed yw dy gljrwed : 
 
 Onid V7yd amgen no'th weled 
 
 Ni dalid di Gai ar dy ganfed. 
 Pshaw, young man, it is strange to hear thee! 
 Unless thou be other than thou lookest. 
 Thou wouldst not, one of a hundred, hold against Kei. 
 
 Arthur. 
 
 Gwenhwjffar olwg eirian 
 
 Na difrawd fi cyd bwy' bychan 
 
 Mi a ffaliwn gant fy hunan. 
 Gwenhwyvar of the bright face, 
 Do not insult me small though I be: 
 I would hold against a hundred myself. 
 Gwenhwyvar. 
 
 Dyd was o du a melyn, 
 
 Wrth hir edrych dy dremyn 
 
 Tybiais dy weled cyn hyn. 
 Pshaw, young man of black and yellow ! 
 After scanning long thy looks 
 Methought I had seen thee before. 
 Arthur. 
 
 Gwenhwyfar olwg wrthroch, 
 
 Doedwch i mi, os gwydoch, 
 
 Y'mha le cyn hyn i'm gwelsoch. 
 
 Gwenhwyvar of the face. 
 
 Tell me, if you know it. 
 Where you saw me before. 
 
 Gwenhwyvar. 
 
 Mi a welais wr gradol o faint 
 
 Ar fwrd hir Arthur yn Dyfnaint 
 
 Yn rhannu gwin i'w geraint. 
 / have seen a man of moderate sise 
 At Arthur's long table in Devon, 
 Dealing out wine to his friends, 
 Arthur. 
 
 Gwenhwyfar barabl digri', 
 
 Gnawd o ben gwraig air gwegi : 
 
 Yno y gwelaist di fi. 
 Gwenhwyvar of facetious speech. 
 It is woman's nature to banter: 
 There it is thou didst me see. 
 
CH.III.] GWENHWYVAR AND HER CAPTORS. 59 
 
 Such is the gist of this curious dialogue, and the 
 question is what the scene was, and what the occasion 
 to which it refers. It is unfortunate that the text is im- 
 perfect ; but clearly it represents a meeting of Arthur 
 with Gwenhw3rvar after she had left his court in Devon ; 
 and the strange colour of her horse recalls the story of 
 her going forth with her attendants, all clad in green, 
 when she was taken from them. Further, the reference 
 to the water, to the fearlessness of Arthur's horse and to 
 his own confidence that he should ride without falling 
 off, if one be right in interpreting it so, seem to point 
 to some such a feat as crossing the Eel Bridge and 
 performing some deed like Lancelot's rescue of the 
 queen from Melwas. But how different from the story 
 as told by the romancers! Here, if we are not mistaken, 
 we have Gwenhw3rvar challenging Arthur to cross, and 
 even pretending not to know him ; but he is fearless and 
 rides a fearless horse, wherein he contrasts with Lance- 
 lot, who, having lost his horse, had to ride in a cart. But 
 the most remarkable thing about the dialogue is the 
 praise Gwenhw3rvar lavishes on Kei, by whose side 
 Arthur would appear to have been of insignificant stature. 
 Nay, one cannot help suspecting that the implied story 
 made the ravisher of the queen no other person than Kei, 
 whom she does not appear to have been in any hurry 
 to leave. This agrees with the stories which repre- 
 sent Kei first slaying Arthur's son, ILacheu, then making 
 war on Arthur, and finally \^ithdrawing to a castle 
 beyond the sea\ That this view of Kei is mytho- 
 logically admissible is proved by his murdering 
 ILacheu. 
 
 We may premise that Lacheu was the son of Arthur 
 
 1 WiUiams' Seint Great, part II. pp. 304-5, 340-1, 373-4, 379, 635, 658-9, 
 680-1, 684. 
 
6o ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. III. 
 
 and Gwenhwyvar^, so that Tennyson is mythologically 
 
 wrong, when, pursuing his relentless treatment of 
 
 Gwenhwyvar's character, he makes Arthur address 
 
 her in the words : — 
 
 ' Well is it that no child is born of thee. 
 The children born of thee are sword and fire, 
 Red ruin, and the breaking up of laws, 
 The craft of kindred and the Godless hosts 
 Of heathen swarming o'er the Northern Sea ; 
 Whom I, while yet Sir Lancelot, my right arm 
 The mightiest of my knights, abode with me, 
 Have everywhere about this land of Christ 
 In twelve great battles ruining overthrown.' 
 
 On the whole very httle is to be read about ILacheu, 
 but that little is very significant. His death is alluded 
 to in the Black Book^ in the following terms put into 
 Gwyn ab Nud's mouth : — 
 
 ' Mi awum lie lias llachev 
 mab arthur uthir ig certev'. 
 ban lyreint brein ar crev.' 
 
 / was there where E^acheu fell, 
 Arthurs son renowned in song, 
 When ravens flocked on the gore. 
 
 We may next mention that he is credited in the 
 Triads* with a thorough insight into the nature of 
 material things: he is accordingly classified with 
 Gwalchmei and Rhiwalton^. 
 
 These references to E^acheu agree in making him a 
 man of a most accomplished character; but the story 
 
 » Seint Great, pp. 341, 358, 372 (659, 671, 680). Other sons of Arthur 
 bore the names Amhar and Gwydre : see the R. B. Mab. pp. 246, 138 ; 
 Guest, ii. 70, 311. 
 
 2 Evans's Autotype Facsimile, 50 a ; Skene, ii. 55. 
 
 s This line admits, however, of being explained as ' Arthur's son wonderful 
 with regard to his skill in song,' not to mention that ceriev is a plural and may 
 possibly mean the mis of the time. 
 
 * i. 10 ; ii. 21'' ; iii. 70. 
 
 ° Hib. Lee. p. 423. 
 
Ch. III.] GWENHWYVAR AND HER CAPTORS. 6 1 
 
 of his death, as given in the second part of the Welsh 
 version of the Grail ^, makes him hardly human at all: 
 the contrast is remarkable : — He left his father's court 
 to seek adventure, and hearing of a terrible giant called 
 Logrin, who had proved himself one of Arthur's most 
 cruel foes and allowed nobody to live in the same 
 country with him, he fought him and prevailed. Now 
 ILacheu, whenever he killed a pest of the kind, had a 
 habit of sleeping on the dead body : so he did in this 
 instance, but Kei happening to be attracted by the dying 
 howl of the giant, came by, and finding ILacheu asleep 
 on the body, he cut off the sleeping hero's head and 
 hid it. Then he cut off Logrin's head and took it to 
 Arthur's court to shew that he had killed the giant. 
 Kei was there made much of on account of his supposed 
 achievement ; but it was not long ere Kei's treachery 
 became accurately known to Arthur and the queen : the 
 hostility with Kei arising therefrom ended with his 
 retiring to fortify himself in a castle in Little Britain 
 beyond the sea. To return to ILacheu, he is said to 
 have worn a circle of gold to distinguish him as a king's 
 son. This, taken together with his marvellous know- 
 ledge of all material things and the meaning of his 
 name, points undoubtedly to ILacheu's nature as a solar 
 person; for ILacheu cannot but be cognate with the 
 Welsh adjective ttachar, ' gleaming, flashing,' and ttacheu 
 as a common noun is interpreted to mean gleams or 
 flashes. Then as to ILacheu's strange habit of sleeping 
 on the body of his fallen foe, that is a curious nature 
 myth, the meaning of which is transparent. ILacheu's 
 antagonist is the giant of darkness who fills the world 
 with his ravages ; but when he is vanquished and slain 
 his carcase is identical with the vast body of the ocean, 
 
 » Seint Grealfpp. 278, 304, 341, 617, 634, 658, 671. 
 
63 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. HI. 
 
 in which darkness, according to the Celtic notion, takes 
 refuge, and on which the sun is seen setting. The 
 Frenchman, retaining a touch of mythology in his every- 
 day language, describes this action by saying that the 
 sun goes to sleep — le soleil va se coucher. In its turn, 
 darkness becomes again victorious and the sun-god is 
 killed ; his slayer in the ILacheu story is made to be the 
 treacherous Kei. 
 
 This passing insight into the character of Kei will 
 help us to understand, why the romances represent Kei 
 as being present when the queen is carried away by 
 Melwas. M. Paris^ has carefully analysed Chretien's 
 poem, and we need only give a brief summary of his 
 words : — Arthur was holding his court with due magni- 
 ficence one Ascension Day, when a strange knight 
 arrived, boasting that he held in captivity many of the 
 king's subjects, both knights and ladies, who could 
 never return except on the condition that Arthur would 
 let a single knight accompany the queen to a neigh- 
 bouring forest and there fight with him for her with 
 success. The court was much troubled, and Ke (Kei) 
 came to the king and queen pretending that he was 
 about to quit the service ; so he was allowed to have a 
 boon of them. But when the boon came to be specified 
 it proved, to their consternation, to be a demand that he, 
 Ke, should be entrusted to take the queen out and to 
 fight for her with the challenging knight. The king 
 was obliged to acquiesce and the queen went much 
 against her will : Gauvain (Gwalchmei) followed at a 
 distance to find out the issue and Lancelot came on the 
 scene after Ke had been sorely wounded. Lancelot 
 obtaining a horse from Gauvain pursued, giving 
 battle to Melwas, for he was the strange knight. 
 
 ' Romania, xii. 464-485, 
 
Ch, 111.] GWENHIVYVAR AND HER CAPTORS. 6^ 
 
 Lancelot lost his horse, and that without succeeding 
 in preventing both the queen and Ke from being 
 carried away towards the realm of Goire, whence 
 nobody was wont to return. Gauvain overtook Lan- 
 celot and they fell in with a dwarf driving a cart: 
 they asked him to tell them if he had seen the queen 
 passing, but he would not answer unless they stepped 
 into his cart. After a momentary hesitation, Lancelot 
 did so and Gauvain rode behind. The next day 
 Lancelot got a horse and he and Gauvain continued 
 the pursuit for some time, but before night they 
 separated, Gauvain to go to the Water Passage and 
 Lancelot to the Sword Bridge, which he reached and 
 crossed, as already mentioned, after travelling several 
 more days and meeting fresh adventures. By fighting 
 with Melwas and through the intervention of Melwas's 
 father. King Bademagu, who was a just man, Lance- 
 lot procured the release of the queen, and the captives 
 in Goire were now at liberty to return to their country. 
 But when Lancelot came to speak to the queen she was 
 indignant with him, and, instead of thanking him, she 
 declined to converse with him : Ke also was indignant 
 at Lancelot's accomplishing with honour the adventure 
 he had commenced with disgrace. Afterwards Ke was 
 charged by Melwas with having visited the queen's 
 chamber during one of the nights they spent in his 
 castle. Ke denied it, and rightly according to Chre- 
 tien's narrative, which makes Lancelot the guilty visitor, 
 after the queen had ceased to be angry with him. In 
 due time she reached Arthur's court, as did also 
 Gauvain, but Lancelot was missing; for he had been 
 entrapped on the way by Melwas, who confined him in 
 one of his dens, but Lancelot was released thence by 
 Melwas' sister just in time to fight with him in defence 
 
64 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. hi. 
 
 of the queen's reputation: it was then that Lancelot 
 clove the skull of Melwas and left him dead in the field. 
 Looking at Chretien's romance in the light of the 
 Welsh dialogue between Arthur and Gwenhwyvar and 
 of the Irish story of Mider, we are induced to think that 
 the materials which the French romancer had to work 
 upon consisted of two distinct versions of the myth. 
 The queen in the romance frowns at her deliverer, just 
 as in the dialogue she makes a pretence of not knowing 
 him or of not considering him comparable to Kei ; and 
 when one has accounted for the role of Melwas, there 
 still remain Kei's disgust with Lancelot's success, the 
 charge laid against Kei of over intimacy with the queen, 
 and the fact of that lady having been brought away from 
 her husband's court with her husband's consent, the 
 same unwilling consent which Echaid could not help 
 giving to Mider previous to his carrying away Echaid's 
 queen, Etain, in the presence of the Irish court. Mider 
 had played with Echaid for a stake unnamed ; he had 
 beaten the king, and when Mider chose his prize the 
 king was astounded to find that it was the queen ; but 
 there was no escape. Similarly Arthur having allowed 
 Kei to ask a boon of him, discovered that it was a 
 demand that Kei should lead Gwenhwyvar to the 
 forest to meet the strange knight who was to fight with 
 him for her : the king and all felt that they were undone, 
 but there was no help for it. The Irish tale would lead 
 one to suppose that the strange knight was a confederate 
 of Kei's, and that the latter had not to fight at all till 
 Arthur reached his stronghold and forced him to sur- 
 render the queen, though she did not appear to have 
 been eager to quit her captor; but Chretien's poem 
 rather suggests that his story is a jumble of two ver- 
 sions of one and the same mythic incident. 
 
Ch. III.] GWENHWYVAR AND HER CAPTORS. 65 
 
 To return to Melwas, he cannot be dismissed without 
 a brief notice of the allusions to him by the 14th century- 
 poet D. ab Gwilym. The first of them describes the 
 bard standing in a forlorn condition one cold night at 
 his leman's window thus' — 
 
 'Erchais gusan gwedlanach 
 I'r fun, drwy'r ffenestr (Terw fach ; 
 Gem adwyn, oedd gam idi, 
 Gomedod ; ni fynnod" fi ! 
 Astrus fu'r ifenestr oesdraul, 
 ILe rhoed i dwyn IJeufer haul : 
 Na bwy' hen ! a bu o hud 
 Ffenestr a hon unfFunud, 
 Dieithr hwyl da uthr helynt, 
 Yr hon o Gaerffeon gynt, 
 Y doe Felwas o draserch 
 Drwydi, heb arswydi serch, 
 Cur trymhaint cariad tramawr, 
 Gynt ger ty ferch Gogfran Gawr. 
 Cyd cawn fod, ped fai'n odi, 
 Hwyl am y ffenestr a hi, 
 Ni chefais elw fal Melwas.' 
 
 / demanded a kiss in sweeter wise 
 Of the lady through the little oak window; 
 Gentle gem — it was wrong of her— 
 She declined me, would none of me. 
 Troublesome has been the life-wasting window 
 Where it was placed to let the sunlight in. 
 May I die ! if it was not of magic make 
 A window of this the very counterpart — 
 Except the course of the wondrous adventure — 
 That was the one at Caerleon of yore, 
 Which entrance gave of old to Melwas— 
 Driven by over-love without lov^s fears. 
 The dire plague and pain of mighty passion — 
 At the house of Giant Ogurvan's daughter- 
 As for me, though left, when falls the snow, 
 A while with the window between us twain. 
 No reward have I had like that of Melwas. 
 
 1 D. ab Gwilym's Poetry (London, 1789), poem CLXI. (pp. 326-7). 
 
 F 
 
66 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. III. 
 
 Here the poet attributes, it would seem, some such 
 an adventure to Melwas at Caerleon as that associated 
 by Chretien with Lancelot during his last night in 
 Melwas' castle, and it suggests the question whether 
 we have not to do with an instance of Chretien's deal- 
 ing with Lancelot's name in a way not warranted by the 
 story in its Celtic form. But perhaps the more correct 
 view to take of the foregoing verses is, that Ab Gwil3m]'s 
 version of the Melwas legend was, that he had not lain 
 in wait for the queen but entered her chamber by the 
 window, and carried her away from Arthur's palace 
 itself. Ab Gwilym makes another allusion to Melwas 
 when he describes a pleasant dream he had : among 
 other things he compares it to — 
 
 'Hun Melwas dan y glas glog,' 
 The sleep of Melwas beneath the green cloak; 
 
 or, according to another reading ^, 
 
 'Hun Melwas yn y glas glog,' 
 The sleep of Melwas in the green cloak. 
 
 This last might naturally be explained to mean, that 
 Melwas had clothed himself in green ; and it would fit in 
 well with Malory's story to suppose, that, as the queen 
 and her followers had gone forth in green, Melwas had 
 donned a dress of the same colour the better to escape 
 observation by them. Some Welsh writers ^ accept 
 this view ; but we must confess that we prefer following 
 the other reading, and that the green cloak [y glas glog) 
 related to a bower or some sort of half-covered place 
 to which Melwas took his fair captive. This is favoured 
 
 ' D. ab Gwilym's Poetry, poem CXI. line 44 (p. 230). 
 
 ^ For instance, in the last century Lewis Morris in his Celtic Remains 
 (London, 1878), p. 220 (s. v. Gwmhwyfor), and in this century William Owen 
 (better known as W. Owen Pughe, and Dr. Pughe) in the Cambrian Bio- 
 graphy (London, 1813), p. 248 (s. v. Melwas). 
 
Ch. III.] GIVENHWYVAR AND HER CAPTORS. 67 
 
 by a passage in a poem which has also been usually 
 attributed to Ab Gwilym, though it is more probably 
 the work of another Welsh poet, D. ab Edmwnt, who 
 flourished in the 15th century. He describes himself, 
 in the lines to be quoted, in much the same forlorn con- 
 dition as Ab Gwilym in the first verses cited : the night 
 is cold, but the fair one will not open for the poet, and 
 the following is his pitiful complaint ^ : — 
 
 ' Och ! nad gwiw ochenaid gwas, 
 I mi alw am grefFt Melwas ; 
 Y TTeidr, drwy hud a ffedryd, 
 Aeth a bun i eitha' byd : 
 I'r coed ir ai'r hocedytf, 
 I furiau cainc o frig gwyj — 
 A dringo heno, fal hwn, 
 Yn uchel a chwenychwn.' 
 
 Alas that a bachelor's sigh avails not 
 For me to invoke the art of Melwas! 
 The thief, that, by magic and illusion 
 Took a fair one to the world's end: 
 To the green wood that juggler went 
 To the leafy rampart of a bough — 
 And to climb to-night aloft like him, 
 That is what I could wish to do. 
 
 Here the poet would at first sight seem to place the 
 bower of Melwas high above the ground, among the 
 branches of a tall tree ; but his words do not necessarily 
 mean that, as he may have only meant to picture 
 Melwas ascending to the top of a wood-clad hill such as 
 Glastonbury Tor may have been ; and in one of the 
 next versions to be noticed of Gwenhwyvar's story the 
 queen is discovered by her deliverer sitting with her 
 captor under a tall tree. 
 
 Thus we have found the queen's captors bearing the 
 names Medrod, Melwas, and Kei; but some of the 
 
 1 D. ab Gwilym's Poetry, poem LV. (p. 106). 
 F 2 
 
68 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. III. 
 
 romances give other names such as Brun de Morois in 
 that of Durmart le Galois, Valerin in Ulrich's Lanzelet, 
 and Gasozein in Heinrich von demTurlin's Crone. These 
 two last names have not yet been identified with any 
 Celtic names ; but Valerin, whose name is also given as 
 Falerin, is described coming to Arthur s court to take 
 possession of Ginover (Gwenhw3rvar), who, he will 
 have it, was promised to him before Arthur married 
 her : the matter was to be decided by single combat, but 
 nobody would undertake it until Lanzelet (Lancelot) 
 came forward and conquered Falerin. He did not, 
 however, give up his claim, and one day some time 
 afterwards during a hunt, Falerin carried the queen 
 away to his castle, which was surrounded by an im- 
 penetrable wilderness teeming with monsters, serpents, 
 and the like. Great difficulties attended the delivery of 
 the queen from the stronghold of Falerin, who had cast 
 her into a magic sleep : Lancelot took a leading part in 
 her rescue and Falerin was slain, but in bringing about 
 the release of the queen, Walwein (Gwalchmei) and Free 
 (Gereint) had fallen into the hands of a mortal enemy of 
 theirs called Malduc, an enchanter, whom Lancelot and 
 his friends killed, setting Gwalchmei and his companion 
 at Hberty^ The story of the capture of the queen by 
 Brun de Morois resembles that by Falerin : the queen 
 had gone out accompanied by Ydier li fiz Nu (Edern 
 son of Nud) to look one day at the chase, when Brun 
 came and carried the queen away in spite of Edern, 
 who was unarmed. Brun was powerful and rich : he had 
 been in love with the queen more than seven years, and 
 now he seized her and placed her in front of _him and 
 galloped away with her to Morois, where he had a castle 
 
 ' Romania, a. 475. 
 
ch. hi.] gwenhwyvar and her captors. 69 
 
 which was rendered impregnable by the nature of its 
 
 situation ^ — 
 
 'Quar de mares et de croliere 
 Estoit fermes en tel maniere, 
 Que nus nel pooit assaillir.' 
 
 He cannot be dismissed without taking some notice 
 of his name, Brun de Morois, representing as it does the 
 Welsh Du Moroect^ which occurs in the Triads, i. 93, 
 where it is the name of a fabulous horse said to have 
 belonged to Elidyr Mwynvawr : the great feat of that 
 beast was his carrying 7I men from Penttech Elidyr in the 
 North toPenttechEHdyr in Anglesey^- Du Moroedwould 
 mean the Black (Horse) of (the) Seas, but this form of the 
 name is probably an attempt to give a meaning to an 
 older one, Du March Moro, ' Black, the Horse of Moro.' 
 It is the steed ridden by Gwyn ab Nud, king of the other 
 world,in the story of Kulhwch. It maybe thought strange 
 that we should introduce a horse, but in the romance 
 known as the Queste del St. Graal we read of Perceval 
 (Peredur), wearied and distressed for the want of a horse, 
 accepting from a lady a very fine steed, of the hue of the 
 blackberry, according to the Welsh translation ^. Per- 
 edur mounted, and the beast soon brought him several 
 days' journey out of a deep forest into the bright light 
 of the moon ; then he speedily traversed a broad valley 
 and made straight for a vast and formidable river. 
 Peredur pulled him up and made the sign of the cross, 
 whereupon the horse fell down, left his rider on the 
 bank, and plunged with a hideous cry into the flood, 
 which he seemed to set all ablaze*. Of course the 
 
 ' Li Romans de Durmart le Galois, ed. by Stengel (Bibliotek des littera- 
 rischen Vereins in Stuttgart, CXVI.), Tubingen, 1873, lines 4185-4340. 
 
 ' Hib. Lee. pp. 370-1, 608. 
 
 ' Williams' Seint Greal, pp. 60-1, 474-5- 
 
 * The Queste del Saint Graal, ed. for the Roxburghe Club by Furnivall, 
 London, 1854, pp. 80-1. See also Nutt's Legend of the Holy Grail, p. 44. 
 
70 . ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. III. 
 
 romancer explains that the horse was the devil, and the 
 devil in the form of a jet black steed is a familiar picture 
 to the fancy of the Welsh : at any rate it was when the 
 author was a child. Further, one of the chief names of 
 the Celtic Pluto was More or Marc^ in Irish, and 
 March ab Meirchion in Welsh, which might be rendered 
 into Enghsh by Steed son of Steeding or the like : he 
 was also the Cornish king Mark of the romances, who 
 contested the love of the Fair Isoud with Tristram 
 (pp. 12, 37). His name referred to his having horse's 
 ears ^, in spite of which he is represented sometimes as 
 a king, and sometimes as the captain of a great fleet. 
 So there cannot have been any insuperable difficulty to 
 prevent the anthropomorphic treatment of the Black 
 Steed of Moro : in all probabihty he was variously 
 pictured as a horse, as a man, and as a monster sharing 
 the features of both, and all that previous to the 
 acquaintance of the romancers with his story. For the 
 allusion, in Durmart, to a garden full of groves, roses, 
 and lilies, where Brun de Morois, under the shelter of 
 a mighty tree, sat by the queen on a cloth of silk and 
 beaten gold, is not of the romancer's own invention so 
 much as an echo of the Aryan myth regarding the King 
 of the Other World. 
 
 ' The Irish name is more usually More, but it also occurs as Margg and 
 Marg in the Book ofLeinster, 160°, where he is called steward of the king of 
 Fomori. The name in the form Marc is borne by one of the foes killed by 
 Ciichulainn on the Tain : see the Book of the Dun, 70''. 
 
 ^ The Midas-like story how they were detected will be found in the 
 Cymmrodor, vi. 181-3. The Breton version is briefly mentioned in the 
 Rev. Celtique, ii. 507-8, where instead of March one reads of ' le Roi de 
 Fortemarch.' A Cornish version is postulated by Malory's ref*ence, jc. 27, 
 to ' the laye that sire Dynadan made kynge Marke/the whiche was the 
 werste lay that euer harper sange with harp or with ony other Instru- 
 mentys.' 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Peredur and Owein. 
 
 One of the chief heroes of Arthur's court is called 
 in Welsh Peredur Paladr-hir or Peredur of the Long 
 Shaft : he is also addressed more than once as Peredur 
 the Fair, in the Welsh story bearing his name. There 
 he is represented as the youngest son of Evrawc, Earl 
 of the North, a connection in which possibly the term 
 north is to be regarded as pregnant with the ancient 
 meaning given it by an age, when the whole northern 
 portion of Britain was supposed to be an accursed land 
 given up to the ghosts of the departed, and the deso- 
 lation described by the belated Greek author Procopius. 
 It is not impossible that the mythic figure of Evrawc 
 gave its ancient name of Eboracum to York, called in 
 Welsh Caer Evrawg or Evrawc's Castle; but some- 
 thing like the contrary is also conceivable. Be that as it 
 may, there was another Peredur, or, better perhaps and 
 more correctly speaking, the same Peredur had several 
 pedigrees ; for according to the Triads a certain Eliver 
 Gosgordvawr, or E. of the large Retinue, had to wife 
 a lady called Eurdyl, who gave birth at one time to 
 three children, whose names were Gwrgi, Peredur, and 
 Ceindrech ^. 
 •Welsh literature treats this Peredur as distinct from 
 
 ' Triads, i. 5a. 
 
73 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. IV. 
 
 the son of Evrawc so named, but that is probably to 
 be accounted for as a difference in the version of 
 the story of Peredur. Now Ceindrech has the remark- 
 able epithet of Pennasgett or wing-headed; add to 
 this the fact that Gwrgi's name appears to have meant 
 a man-dog, and we seem to have before us a highly 
 mythic family : for a sun-hero to have a winged dawn- 
 goddess to sister cannot be considered surprising, 
 and his having a monster for a brother recalls Diarmait 
 with his brother the Boar of Benn Gulbain, and the story 
 of Morann's birth, together with others needless to enu- 
 merate ^. Suffice it to mention the distinction between 
 Gwalchmei and Medrod, and how its being overlooked 
 led to the two dissimilar brothers becoming extolled 
 together or depreciated together (p. 23) ; so in the case 
 of Gwrgi and Peredur, when they are named together, 
 we fail to seize on any definite characteristics of the 
 one as distinguished from the other. Thus in the Triad 
 of the Horseloads of Britain ^, we find them riding on 
 their horse Cornan to see the funeral pile of Gwen- 
 dolen at Arderyd^- Another Triad speaks of Gwrgi 
 and Peredur at a place called Caer Greu, about to 
 engage in battle, when they were deserted by their men, 
 who thus left them to be killed by Eda Glinvawr or 
 E. Big-knee, Nennius' Aetan or Eata GHnmaur* of 
 Deira, the introduction of whose name would seem to 
 give the story a touch of history, which has found its 
 
 ' Hib. Lee. pp. 310, 507-8. 
 
 " Triads, i. 93 ; ii. 11: compare also Hib. Lee. pp. 370-2. 
 
 ^ This should be part of a scene like the Norse description of the Anses 
 riding or driving to Balder s bale-fire : see Vigfusson and Powell's Corpus, 
 ii. 23. 
 
 * Triads, i. 35 ; ii. 42 ; iii. 81 ; Nennius, p. 73. The Triad here referred to 
 is that of the disloyal Retinues, one of which consisted of Goronwy's men 
 deserting him when ILeu was to have his revenge on him : see the Hib. Lee. 
 pp. 239-40. 
 
Ch. IV.] PEREDt/R AND OWEIN. y^ 
 
 way into the Welsh Chronicled The association of 
 Gwrgi's name with that of Peredur may be regarded 
 as accounting for the former occurring in later times as 
 a man's name^; but when the mythic Gwrgi is men- 
 tioned alone, it is never pretended that he was in any 
 way related to Peredur; and one would seem to be 
 warranted in assuming a second Gwrgi, who is de- 
 scribed as Gwrgi Garwlv^ryd or G. the Rough and 
 Grey, the killing of whom by a certain Diflfeidett of 
 Deira ranks as one of the Three commendable Slaughters 
 of Britain; for Gwrgi, who had become an ally of 
 ^thelfrith and married his sister, had contracted a 
 liking for human flesh at iEthelfrith's court, so that he 
 used to have a Welshman killed for him every day of 
 the week except Saturday, when he had two in order 
 to avoid breaking the Sabbath^. This is otherwise 
 alluded to as the catering for the Bald Man*, which 
 probably means that there was, besides the name as- 
 cribing to him a dog's head, a story which treated him as 
 cropped and earless, in a word as a monster of a type 
 not unusual in the case of the sun-hero's brother^. 
 
 ' We refer to the entry under the year 580 : ' Guurci et Peretur moritur. ' 
 See the Cymmrodor, ix. 155, also the Annales Cambriae, p. 5, where manu- 
 script B is said to style Gwrgi and Peredur sons of Elifer. 
 
 ° For instance, in late letters on a stone found at ILangors, near Brecon : 
 see Hilbner's Inscript. Brit. Christiance, no. 41. 
 
 ' See Triads, i. 37 ; iii. 45, 46 ; also Stephens' Gododin (London, 1888), pp. 
 148-51. The last-mentioned triad ascribes the like or worse cannibahsm to 
 .^thelfrith himself. The allusion to the keeping of the Sabbath need not be 
 supposed to prove the triad modern : see the Tract on Sunday-keeping pub- 
 lished from a W^elsh MS. of the year 1346, known as R.yvyr Agkyr ILan- 
 Siewivrevi (published in the Anecdota Oxoniensid), pp. 157-9. 
 
 * Triad, i. 79 ; iii. 82. The term used is Anrheg y Gwr Moel, ' the Dish or 
 the Meal of the Cropped Man,' but it has not been recognized as referring to 
 Gwrgi, because anrheg has been taken to mean simply a gift, whereas it has 
 here the well-established meaning of a dish or mess of food. 
 
 = See the stories of Core and Morann, in the Hib. Lee. pp. 308, 311, and 
 compare pp. 391, 546. 
 
74 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch.IV. 
 
 The Triads concerning the feeding of the Bald Man, 
 his alliance with ^thelfrith, and his leadership of rene- 
 gade Brythons, will serve admirably to shew how the 
 traditions about the struggles between the Welsh and 
 the English could be drawn into the vortex of mytho- 
 logy. 
 
 Peredur is sometimes given a brother Elidyr, called 
 Elidurus in the Latin text of Geoffrey, who makes Owein 
 also brother to Peredur^. So far as we know, Geoffrey 
 stands alone in treating the two latter warriors as 
 brothers, but it cannot be regarded as an accidental 
 slip on his part, as he represents them taking violent 
 possession of the kingdom of their elder brother Elidyr, 
 who was reigning then for the second time. They 
 divided the island so that Owein took as his share all 
 the country on this side of the Humber and Peredur 
 all beyond the Humber, including the whole of Alban. 
 In the course of years both died, and Elidyr^ became 
 king for the third time, an alternation not impossibly 
 derived from the nature-myth picture of the never- 
 ending struggle between the powers of light and those 
 of darkness. But if there ever was a historical Peredur 
 
 ' Hist. Regum. Brit., ed. by San-Marte, iii. 17-18 ; R. B. Bruts, p. 81, Myv. 
 Arch. ii. 162-4. But in the list of names in ix. 12 San-Marte prints Per- 
 edur son of ' Eridur,' where we have Eridur instead of Elidurus ; the Welsh 
 makes Elidyr the name of Peredur's father in the same list {R. B. Bruts, 
 p. 200). 
 
 ^ This is probably the same name, which in Giraldus Cambrensis' Itin. 
 Kambriw, i. 8, is given as Eliodorus to a priest, who, according to his own 
 account, had spent a portion of his youth underground among the Fairies of 
 Dyved. Eliodorus looks as though it should be the Greek 'HA«(5mpoy, but it is 
 much more likely to be the Welsh Elidyr, that is to say, if it should not rather 
 be regarded as a fairy name, for Eliodorus found the Fairies talking a language 
 which resembled, according to the specimens he gave, Welsh with a touch 
 of Irish and Greek. The Welsh Elidyr is probably to be regarded as of 
 the same origin and formation as the Irish word ailiiher, ' pilgrim or pere- 
 grinus.' 
 
Ch. IV.] PEREDVR AND OWEIN. 75 
 
 he must have been one of the leaders of his race in the 
 struggles with the Angles of Deira\ 
 
 The Welsh story of Peredur, to which allusion has 
 already been made, is so important that we now pro- 
 ceed to give the reader an abstract, and to compare it 
 as we go on with the story of Owein. It consists of 
 two parts, of which the second professes to busy itself 
 about Peredur and Gwalchmei. The first ^ opens with 
 the statement that Peredur had six brothers, who, to- 
 gether with his father, Evrawc, Lord of the Earldom of 
 the North, are represented as having perished in wars 
 and tournaments when Peredur was a child. So his 
 mother, who was a prudent woman, retired with her 
 young son and her household to a desert place far from 
 the haunts of men, and her son was not to see or hear 
 anything calculated to give him any hint about arms or 
 knighthood. He was in fact reared in such innocent 
 simplicity, that, noticing one day two does near his 
 mother's goats, he concluded they must have lost their 
 horns from long running wild in the woods : so by his 
 swiftness of foot and much exertion he forced them 
 with the goats into an outhouse used for the latter, and 
 told his mother of the two goats that had run wild until 
 they had lost their horns. The further news, that he 
 had driven them in with the goats, brought the whole 
 household out to look at them, and to judge for them- 
 selves of the truth of that statement. This curious 
 incident, which looks at first sight Hke a mere em- 
 bellishment of the story, is probably an ancient and 
 integral part of it, as it has a kind of counterpart in the 
 
 • For the legend which connects Peredur with the Yorkshire town of 
 Pickering, see Stow's Annaks or general Chronicle of England (London, 
 1615), i. 12. 
 
 = R. B. Mab. pp. 193-232 ; Guest, i. 297-353. 
 
^6 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. IV. 
 
 Story of Cuchulainn's early achievements^ and his bring- 
 ing the wild animals of Slieve Fuait home to Emain at 
 the bidding of Conchobar, who thought that such a task 
 would serve to make him forget a matter that was 
 causing him irritation ^. Peredur, however, was not 
 destined to be always kept out of the world, for one 
 day three of the knights of Arthur's court passed near 
 his mother's abode. Peredur asked her what they were, 
 and she replied that they were angels, whereupon he 
 insisted that he would become an angel like them. He 
 procured the strongest of his mother's horses, and 
 imitated in a rustic fashion the equipment of the 
 knights ; his mother fell into a swoon when she 
 heard of it, and not long after she died broken-hearted 
 at his departure. But, before he went, she gave him 
 advice characteristic of the ideas of the Middle Ages, 
 and directed him to make for Arthur's court. 
 
 After journeying two days and nights in a wilderness 
 of woods and forests, he came to a clear spot, where he 
 saw a tent. It belonged to a knight, called in Welsh 
 Syberw y ILannerch, or the Proud one of the Glade, 
 and in French the Orgellous de la Lande ; he was away, 
 and his lady was alone in the tent. She bade Peredur 
 welcome, and he partook of the provisions he saw there. 
 Having conducted himself strangely, but honourably, 
 towards his hostess, he went his way, and reached 
 Arthur's court just when it had been the scene of a very 
 remarkable occurrence: a strange knight had entered 
 
 ^ Hih. Lee. p. 436. 
 
 ^ This was on the day he had brought his bride home, and the question of 
 thejus primce nodis had made him furious :.the difficulty was solved {Bk. of 
 the Dun, p. t.s-j'-, and the Stowe MS. 84"), by an arrangement somewhat like 
 that adopted at Arthur's court when Gereint brought his bride Enid there : 
 the bed, in the latter case, was made in Arthur's chamber by the side of his 
 and the queen's : see the 7?. B. Mab. p. 263 ; Guest, ii. 94. 
 
ch.iv.] peredur and owein. 77 
 
 and insulted Gwenhw3rvar the queen by seizing the 
 golden goblet from which she was being served, and 
 by throwing the wine over her, challenging any one 
 of the knights present to come forth to avenge the insult 
 by a duel with him. They all clave to their seats, since 
 they believed that he who would dare such a deed, must 
 be in some way invincible. Peredur, arriving when 
 they felt so uncomfortable, occasioned a temporary di- 
 version of their attention by the rusticity of his equip- 
 ment ; and he caused no little merriment by explaining 
 how he had come to see Arthur in order to be knighted. 
 In the meantime a dwarf, who had been at Arthur's 
 court for a whole year without saying a word to any- 
 body, entered, and on seeing Peredur, greeted him, 
 saying : ' The welcome of Heaven to thee, fair Peredur, 
 son of Evrawc, chief of warriors, and flower of knight- 
 hood ! ' This, from one who had been like a mute all 
 the year, though he had had his choice of associates, 
 was too much for Kei the butler, so he dealt him a box 
 on the ear which felled him on the floor. Thereupon 
 the dwarfs companion enters, and she hails Peredur in 
 almost the same terms, and is kicked by Kei, so that 
 she fell on the floor as if dead. The dwarfs had been 
 in the service of Peredur's parents— that is how they 
 recognized him. Peredur observed their treatment by 
 Kei, and asked him where Arthur was. Kei told him 
 to hold his peace, and bade him go after the insolent 
 knight and recover the gold goblet, Peredur took the 
 hint; but the knight could not at first be made to under- 
 stand the coming of such a rustic stripling, whom he 
 wished to treat lightly; he was, however, soon rid of 
 his uncertainty, and paid for his levity with his life. 
 Owein found fault with Kei for sending such a fellow 
 after the strange knight, so he followed in order to see 
 
78 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch, IV. 
 
 the issue, and was surprised to find the knight already 
 dead, with Peredur trying to strip him. Peredur now 
 took for his own use the fallen knight's horse and his 
 arms ; but, as nothing would induce him to return to 
 the court, he asked Owein to take the goblet to the 
 queen, and to tell Arthur that he would always be his 
 man, though he would not come back till he had avenged 
 himself on the tall fellow at his court : this was Kei the 
 butler. 
 
 Peredur had not journeyed long ere he was chal- 
 lenged by an enemy of Arthur's : he vanquished 
 him, but granted him his life on the condition of his 
 going to offer Arthur his submission, and to tell him 
 that he was sent by Peredur, who would not return till 
 he had avenged himself on Kei. In the course of 
 the week this was repeated no less than sixteen times, 
 and as each vanquished knight delivered the threat 
 directed at Kei, that officer of the court began to feel 
 uneasy. Peredur, wandering on, came to a wild wood, 
 by the side of which he beheld a lake, and beyond the 
 lake a fair castle. Peredur made his way thither, and 
 was received by the owner of the castle, who was seated 
 on a satin cushion on the shore, watching his men fish- 
 ing on the lake ; he was himself lame and grey-haired, 
 He welcomed Peredur, and told him that he was his 
 mother's brother, and that he, Peredur, was to be 
 educated now for awhile at his castle. So in the course 
 of the evening he made him go through a sword exer- 
 cise, whereupon the uncle remarked that Peredur would 
 eventually excel everybody in the use of that kind of 
 weapon. Peredur was moreover to learn there the 
 manners of polite society, and to rid himself of the 
 homely speech of his mother, and his uncle was to dub 
 him a knight. There was one special rule which he 
 
Ch. IV.] PEREDUR AND OWEIN. 79 
 
 was to observe, and it was this : whatever marvel he 
 saw, he was not to ask questions, for the old man 
 explained that it would be his fault as his teacher, if he 
 was not duly informed. 
 
 To all this Peredur appears to agree; nevertheless 
 he takes leave of his uncle the next morning, and 
 arrives in the evening at the house of another brother 
 of his mother, where his skill in the use of the sword 
 was submitted to a test, at the end of which his 
 uncle declared that he was already the best swords- 
 man in the kingdom, but that he had as yet only 
 acquired two-thirds of his martial excellence ; when the 
 remaining third had been added, it would be useless, 
 he said, for anybody to contend with him. In the 
 qourse of the evening, while Peredur and his uncle are 
 conversing together, two young men appear, bringing 
 a lance of extraordinary length in, with three streams of 
 blood seen to trickle from it to the floor. At this sight 
 the whole household set up a great cry of wailing and 
 lamentation ; but neither did the uncle break the course 
 of his conversation in order to explain to Peredur, nor 
 did the latter ask any questions. When this disturb- 
 ance had ceased, they beheld two damsels coming in, 
 bearing a large charger with a man's head in it sur- 
 rounded with much blood. The same scene of wailing 
 and lamentation occurs again, and the same apparent 
 unconcern as before is displayed by Peredur and 
 his host. These incidents, whatever they may have 
 meant, served here to test how far Peredur had learned 
 the lesson given him by his first uncle, just as the 
 ordeal with the sword was intended to test his progress 
 from a martial point of view, 
 
 Peredur, on leaving his uncle, met with his own foster- 
 sister, who bitterly reproached him with having caused 
 
8o ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. IV. 
 
 his mother's death. The sister's husband had a short 
 time previously been slain by a knight, whom Peredur 
 now overcame and compelled to take the widowed lady 
 to wife. He was then to go to Arthur's court to relate 
 his story and tell the emperor, that Peredur would never 
 return till he had found Kei and taken vengeance on 
 him for his insolence to him at the court. Peredur then 
 wandered in quest of more adventure, and met with 
 a knight whom he vanquished, and sent to Arthur's 
 court with orders to repeat the threat against Kei. He 
 then reached the castle of a""young lady who was sup- 
 ported by her foster-broth«rs against the attacks of a 
 neighbouring earl, who h^d deprived her of all her 
 lands because she would not be his wife. Peredur 
 found the castle running short of provisions and ex- 
 pecting to be besieged the next morning by the forces 
 of the hostile earl ; but he was most generously enter- 
 tained by his hostess andrin due time led to his chamber. 
 Her foster-brothers now forced their sister to go and 
 offer herself to Peredjur as wife or mistress, just as he 
 might choose, on condition of his aiding them in their 
 extremity against the earl. She very naturally de- 
 clined, and her sobbing waked Peredur, who asked her 
 the cause of it. She told him the whole story, and 
 he bade her go to rest, assured that he would do his 
 best. In a few days this promise was redeemed beyond 
 all expectation; for by his prowess he so vanquished 
 the earl and his chief knights as to enable his hostess to 
 recover her domain and obtain indemnity for the losses 
 and the wrongs she had suffered. 
 
 Peredur having tarried there three weeks to settle 
 matters, again betook himself to his wanderings, and 
 the first thing recorded of him is his meeting the Proud 
 Knight of the Glade, who was so enraged at Peredur 
 
Ch. IV.] PEREDUR AND OWEIN. 8 1 
 
 having visited his tent in his absence, that he had been 
 all this time in pursuit of him. It was of no avail to 
 his lady to declare that Peredur had offered her no 
 violence : he forced her to follow him in great wretch- 
 edness in quest of the man whom he charged with 
 insulting her. The result was that this knight was 
 speedily worsted and bound over to publish the fact, 
 that the lady had been found innocent, and that, 
 as an indemnity to her, he had been vanquished by 
 Peredur. The latter went his way and arrived at a 
 castle on a mountain, where he was hospitably enter- 
 tained by the lady whom he found living there; but 
 he was advised by her to go elsewhere to sleep, as the 
 place was subject at night to grievous attacks from the 
 Nine Witches of Caer Lo3rw or Gloucester. Of course, 
 he insisted on staying to give his aid; so about the 
 break of day he was waked by a noise, and he rushed 
 out half dressed, sword in hand, just in time to rescue 
 a sentinel who was being assailed by one of the 
 witches. Peredur dealt her a stroke of his sword on 
 her head with such force that her helmet was flattened 
 like a dish ; and the witch entreated Peredur by name 
 to spare her life. ' Hag,' said he, ' how knowest thou 
 that I am Peredur ?' ' It is destiny and revelation,' she 
 replied, ' for us to have trouble from thee, and for thee 
 to have arms and a horse from me ; and with me shalt 
 thou learn to ride and to handle thy weapons.' So, 
 on condition that the witches would no more injure 
 his hostess, the lady of the castle, Peredur went with the 
 witches to the Witches' Court ; and when he had been 
 there three weeks and finished his training, he chpse 
 his horse and his arms and took leave of the witches. 
 This latter part of Peredur's education corresponds to 
 that of Cuchulainn at the court of Scathach, who would 
 
8a ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. IV. 
 
 not teach him till he had threatened her life, as did 
 Peredur with the lady principal of the witches. 
 
 Peredur, on his way from the witches' abode, found 
 lodgings the first evening in a hermit's cell, and the 
 next morning, as he was setting out to continue his 
 journey, his fancy was arrested by seeing in the snow 
 that had fallen during the night the blood of a duck 
 killed by a hawk. At the tramp of Peredur's horse 
 the hawk flew away, leaving a raven in possession of 
 the duck ; the knight stopping short, sat stock still on 
 his horse and leaned pensively on his long spear, com- 
 paring in his mind the fairness of his lady-love's com- 
 plexion to the whiteness of the snow, the blackness 
 of her locks to the sable plumage of the raven, and the 
 brightness of the red in her cheeks to the drops of 
 blood in the virgin snow^ While thus lost in his 
 reverie he was espied by Arthur and his men in quest 
 of Peredur,- whose absence from the court was no longer 
 to be endured ; and Arthur asked, ' Who is the knight 
 with the long lance, that stands above us yonder in the 
 valley ? ' One of Arthur's men was despatched to en- 
 quire; and as he could get no answer, he struck 
 Peredur, who then turned and thrust him off his horse 
 without paying any further attention to him. The same 
 thing happened in the case of twenty-four other men, 
 who came to him one after the other. Lastly came 
 Kei, who behaved very roughly to Peredur, which 
 brought upon him the latter's anger. Kei fell in a 
 swoon severely hurt, while his horse returned to the 
 camp ; men were then sent to fetch Kei, whose life was 
 
 ' This passage is to be found in some form or other in most of the Perceval 
 romances, and Prof Zimmer, who calls attention to a more original form of it 
 in the Irish story of the Children of Usnech (Windisch's Irische Texte, p. 71; 
 Bk. of Leinstey, 260") makes some instructive remarks on it in his Keltische 
 Studien, ii. 201-208. 
 
Ch. IV.] PEREDUR AND OWEIN. 83 
 
 thought to be in great peril. In spite of the fuss made 
 about the fallen butler, Peredur budged not until 
 Gwalchmei came, the knight of the golden tongue, who 
 soon elicited a gentle answer from the love-lorn warrior, 
 and commended the poetic nature of the generous 
 fancy occupying his thoughts. He further discovered 
 that it was Peredur, and told him his own name, where- 
 upon a lasting friendship began between them, and 
 Gwalchmei brought Peredur to the camp, rejoicing to 
 learn that the knight he had so terribly punished was 
 no other than Kei, the one who had insulted him. 
 
 Arthur and Gwenhwyvar hardly knew how to make 
 enough of Peredur, but in the course of his first evening 
 at Caerleon he met a lady named Yngharad of the 
 golden Hand, whom he passionately loved and to 
 whom he declared it. She, however, said that she did 
 not love him or wish to have anything to say to him 
 as long as he lived ; so he rashly swore that he would 
 not speak to any Christian on earth, till she had de- 
 clared her love for him above all others. Accordingly 
 he departed the next morning from the haunts of his 
 fellow-men, and wandered in an unknown land till he 
 came to a spot called the Round Valley, the entrance to 
 which was guarded by a lion, whose habits were illus- 
 trated by the many human bones that filled a sort of 
 dungeon near where he was chained. Peredur killed 
 the lion and led his horse along a difficult path into the 
 Round Valley, where he found a fair castle which be- 
 longed to a big grey man. The latter offered the knight 
 hospitality, at the same time that he cursed his porter in 
 an aside, which taught Peredur that the hon was meant. 
 At their meal the Grey Man's daughter, in pity for her 
 father's guest, let the latter know that he would be 
 murdered in the morning, and. at his request she readily 
 
 G 2 
 
84 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. IV. 
 
 undertook to see that his horse and arms should be 
 within his reach. So, when the Grey Man and his 
 henchmen proceeded in the morning to carry out their 
 purpose, they found themselves so far mistaken that 
 many of them fell at Peredur's hands, and the Grey 
 Man's own life was only spared by Peredur on the con- 
 dition of his going to offer his submission to Arthur, 
 and receiving baptism at his court. Peredur, finding 
 that they of the Round Valley were heathens, rejoiced 
 that he had not broken his oath. 
 
 Peredur's next adventure was his contest with a terri- 
 ble serpent, that lay on a gold ring and kept the country 
 waste for seven miles round ; the struggle was a hard 
 one, but Peredur succeeded and carried away the ring. 
 
 Now Peredur wandered so long without associating 
 with any Christian, and longed so grievously for his 
 comrades and the lady he loved, that his bloom and 
 vigour departed from him. He resolved at last to return 
 to Arthur's court as a dumb knight ; but, before reach- 
 ing there, he met Arthur's household going on an 
 expedition under the leadership of Kei, who accosted 
 Peredur, and, as he could get no answer, wounded him 
 severely in the thigh ; but Peredur would not retaliate, 
 and Owein took the wounded knight to the queen to be 
 healed, complaining bitterly of Kei's cruel conduct 
 towards a youth who could not speak. It happened, 
 however, before Arthur's men returned from their ex- 
 pedition, that a knight arrived demanding a man to fight 
 with him. Peredur accepted the challenge, and van- 
 quished the stranger : this occurred daily for a week, 
 until Arthur at last resolved to accept the challenge 
 himself; but Peredur, meeting the grooms as they were 
 bringing the emperor his horse, took it away from them 
 and rode to the meadow. As soon as this was known. 
 
Ch. IV.] PEREDUR AND OWEIN. 85 
 
 spectators hurried to place themselves in advantageous 
 positions to look on, and when everything was ready 
 Peredur, the dumb knight, motioned with his hand to his 
 antagonist to begin. He did so, but without being able 
 to make Peredur budge. The latter now taking the 
 offensive, lifted the challenging knight clean out of his 
 saddle, and threw him a long cast from him. This 
 done, he left the horse to the grooms, and walked 
 back admired by all, and especially by Yngharad of 
 the golden Hand, who said she was sorry that he 
 could not speak. She went so far as to add, that, had he 
 not been dumb, she could love him above all other men, 
 and that, even as he was, she did so already. The dumb 
 knight, delighted with these words and released from 
 his oath, remained no longer dumb, but spoke to re- 
 ciprocate Yngharad's love. It was not found out till 
 then that it was Peredur. He now tarried at Arthur's 
 court, and cultivated the society of Owein and 
 Gwalchmei. 
 
 At this point in the story the scribe of the Red Book 
 has suggested a break, and taking the hint we may for a 
 moment pause to note, that the whole incident of Per- 
 edur's returning wasted and disabled to Gwenhwyvar to 
 be healed, his being brought by Yngharad of the golden 
 Hand to make use of speech again, and his upholding 
 the honour of the court, in the absence of Arthur's men, 
 against the challenging knights, has its counterpart in 
 the story of Owein. It is that part of it ^ which relates 
 how, after Owein had been living with wild beasts, he 
 came in extreme weakness to the park of a widow lady, 
 who took compassion on him, and sent her handmaid to 
 anoint him with a precious ointment. This, as the nar- 
 rative proceeds to tell, began to restore him his senses 
 
 » See the R. B. Mah. pp. 183-6; Guest, i. 70-5. 
 
86 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. IV. 
 
 and his vigour ; and he remained three months in the 
 widow's castle until he had, under her handmaid's care, 
 fully recovered his former strength. Then a neighbour- 
 ing earl, who had appropriated all the widow's domains 
 except the castle in which she was living, came to besiege 
 her in that her last refuge, whereupon Owein rode forth 
 to meet him in the middle of his host, and succeeded in 
 dragging him out of his saddle and galloping away with 
 him to make him a present to the widow in her castle ; 
 so that the earl was forced to restore to her all that 
 was hers and to make her ample amends. Here, in the 
 Peredur, the two ladies are represented as Gwenhw3r\'ar, 
 Arthur's wife, and Yngharad of the golden Hand, one of 
 the ladies of the court ; but we hear no more of either 
 in connection with Peredur. 
 
 The story ^ recommences with Peredur engaged in the 
 chase with Arthur's household, when his hound in 
 pursuit of a stag led him away to a desert place. There 
 Peredur came to the castle of one called the Arrogant 
 Black Fellow, a one-eyed robber not unlike a Perverse 
 Black Man slain by Owein ^, and the issue of Peredur's 
 adventure also resembles that of Owein's. Peredur, by 
 killing the robber-knight, gave their freedom to the 
 young men and women in his stronghold ; but when it 
 was suggested to him that the immense wealth of the 
 Black Fellow belonged to him and his choice of the fair 
 maidens there, he decUned both, and set out for the court 
 of the King of Suffering, of which the Arrogant Black 
 Knight had been forced to tell him. He was hospitably 
 received there, but he had not been there long when he 
 saw a horse entering with a dead knight on his back. 
 One of the women, who did all the service in the castle, 
 
 ' R. B. Mab. pp. 220-232 ; Guest, ii. 26^282. 
 " Hib. Lee. pp. 352-4. 
 
Ch. IV.] PEREDUR AND OWEIN. 87 
 
 arose and bathed the corpse near the door ; she then 
 applied a precious ointment to it, when it became alive, 
 and the man proceeded to welcome Peredur and con- 
 verse with him. Two more dead knights arrived in due 
 time and underwent the same treatment with the same 
 result : it was explained to Peredur that they were slain 
 daily by the Avanc of a lake in the neighbourhood. 
 
 Next morning, however, they would not allow Peredur 
 to accompany them to the monster, since the knight, if 
 killed, could not, they said, be restored to life ; but 
 Peredur resolved to find the Avanc for himself; so he 
 set out in quest of the Avanc's cave, when he was 
 stopped on his journey by a wondrously fair damsel 
 seated on a mound near his path. The story makes her 
 tell him, that she both knew whither he was going, and 
 how the Avanc would kill him by craft and not by 
 valour ; for he abode, she said, in a cave whence he saw 
 everybody that came, whilst he was himself seen of no 
 one, so that he used to cast at every comer a poisoned 
 spear from behind a pillar that stood at the mouth of the 
 cave. She would, however, give Peredur a precious 
 stone which would render him invisible at will, but it 
 was on the condition that he would love her above all 
 other women. Peredur pledged his honour that he did 
 so, even from the ' moment he beheld her ; and he 
 enquired where he should find her, to which she 
 replied that he was to seek her in the direction of 
 India. 
 
 She then vanished, and Peredur arrived in a land 
 of wonders, consisting of a valley with level meadows. 
 On one side he saw a flock of white sheep, and on 
 the other a flock of black ones; he observed that 
 when one of the white sheep bleated a black sheep 
 would cross the river and become white with the white 
 
88 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. IV. 
 
 sheep, and vice versa i. Other strange things he saw 
 there, such as a tree with its one half burning and the 
 other covered with green leaves, while a little above he 
 perceived a man in the prime of life sitting on a mound 
 with a greyhound lying on either side of him. From 
 the wood in front of him he heard the barking of dogs 
 starting the deer and driving them into the open. 
 Peredur asked the man on the mound his way, and was 
 told whither the roads led which branched off there. 
 He thanked him, and took the narrower way, which 
 led to the Avanc's cave. When he reached the cave, he 
 took the stone of invisibility in his left hand and his 
 spear in his right. He found the Avanc and killed him ; 
 then he cut off his head and gave it to the three brothers, 
 whom he met on his way back as they were hastening 
 to their daily death. They thanked him, and added that 
 it had been prophesied that the pest was to be slain by 
 Peredur; they then offered him to wife whichever of 
 their sisters he might choose. Peredur replied, as was 
 his wont, that he had not come to their country to marry. 
 The mythological meaning of the incident cannot, we 
 think, be mistaken : the three men daily slain represent 
 the divisions of the daylight portion of the twenty-four 
 hours^ into morning, noon, and afternoon or evening, 
 which daily pass away to come again. The Lake 
 Avanc with his poisonous spear stands for darkness; 
 and the death of the monster at Peredur s hands means 
 the victory of the sun over night and its cold blasts. 
 This is less readily perceptible in the corresponding 
 incident in the story of Owein and Lunet, namely 
 where it makes the former slay the Black Knight of 
 
 ' This also forms one of the wonders in the Irish story of MaUdun's Coracle : 
 see Joyce's Old Celtic Romances, p. 134, and the Bk. of the Dun, 33*. 
 " Hib. Lee. p. 494. 
 
Ch. IV.] PEREDUR AND OIVEIN. 89 
 
 the Fountain without being himself, thanks to the 
 Gygean ring given him by Lunet, made to suffer death 
 as the reward of his bravery. On the other hand, 
 another part of Owein's story is more expHcit in that 
 it represents the twenty-four hours of the day as so 
 many matrons whom he releases from captivity in the 
 castle of a robber called the Perverse Black Man^ 
 In the corresponding account in the story of Per- 
 edur, the captives form a vague number of either sex, 
 released with all their wealth by Peredur's killing the 
 Black Fellow that held them in his power. In any 
 case, the comparison between the two stories throws 
 light on both ; and here may be mentioned the stone of 
 invisibility given to Peredur by the lady on the mound 
 as being matched in the story of Owein by the Gygean 
 ring given him by Lunet. The ring is probably to 
 be regarded as a form of the wheel symbol which 
 M. Gaidoz has shown to be solar ^ : it refers in a word 
 to the disk of the sun with its light overpowering the 
 strength of human vision and concealing the body of 
 that luminary from the unaided eye of man. In another 
 story it becomes the magic armour that makes Cas- 
 walion invisible, all except the sword with which he 
 cut down all opposition to his rule ^- 
 
 We left Peredur benefited by the good-will of the 
 woman he met on the mound; and we have now to 
 relate the sequel. As he was journeying away from 
 the court of the King of Suffering he was overtaken 
 by one who offered to be his man : it was a knight 
 in red armour and mounted on a red charger. He 
 said his name was Edlym of the red Sword, from 
 
 > R. B. Mab. p. igi ; Guest, i. 82. 
 •» See his &tudes de Mythologie gauloise, pp. 8, 19. 
 ' R. B. Mab. p. 41 ; Guest, iii. ia6. 
 
90 
 
 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. IV. 
 
 the region of the East. His oflfer was accepted, and 
 the two knights travelled towards the court of the 
 Lady of the Feats, who was so called because she had 
 three hundred knights, and was to be the wife of him 
 who could vanquish them in feats of arms. Peredur 
 did so and sat then by right next to her at her table, 
 whereupon she remarked that she was very happy to 
 have such a husband, as she had not had the man she 
 loved best. Peredur, on asking to whom she alluded, 
 was told that it was one she had never seen, namely, 
 Edlym of the red Sword ; and Peredur was delighted 
 to introduce that knight to her as his friend, and to give 
 her to him to wife that very day. This princess seems 
 to be the one called in some of the romances the queen 
 of Pluris, and Peredur giving his own bride away to his 
 friend, the red knight, has a parallel in the story of 
 Ciichulainn delivering the daughter of the King of 
 the Isles to his friend Lugaid of the red Stripes to be 
 his wife, though he was himself entitled to marry her 
 as having rescued her from the Fomori ^. 
 
 Peredur now journeyed towards the Mound of Mourn- 
 ing, where there was in a cairn a dragon with a stone in 
 its tail of such virtues, that whoever held it in one hand, 
 would have as much gold as he could wish in the other. 
 Around the mound he found 300 kings and princes 
 encamped, and bent each on securing the precious 
 stone for himself So Peredur first vanquished them 
 and then proceeded to assail the dragon, which he did 
 successfully. He took possession of the precious stone 
 and paid the kings the expense of their war on the 
 monster, on the condition of their declaring themselves 
 his men. He next paid Edlym for his services by 
 presenting him with the precious stone ; he then bade 
 
 1 Hib. Lee. pp. 465, 479. 
 
Ch. IV.] PEREDUR AND OWE IN. 91 
 
 him farewell and left him to return to his wife, the 
 Queen of the Feats. 
 
 Peredur now went his way and chanced on a spot 
 where a great tournament was to be held by a lady 
 called the Empress of Constantinople the Great, who 
 would have to husband no other man than the bravest 
 in the world. Peredur did not recognize her, but he 
 was so charmed with her beauty that after inertly 
 gazing at her for two days, he entered the lists to fight 
 for her hand. The result was that he distinguished 
 himself above all the other knights, but when the 
 Empress sent for him, he maltreated her men. At last, 
 however, he was prevailed upon to come to her pre- 
 sence ; but his manner was not all that she could wish. 
 So at a second interview she addressed him thus : 
 ' Fair Peredur, remember thy troth thou gavest me 
 when I gave thee the stone, what time thou slewest 
 the Avanc' ' Lady,' said he, ' thou speakest truly, 
 and now do I remember it.' On this part of the story, 
 which adds that Peredur reigned with the Empress no 
 less than fourteen years, let it suffice that the question 
 will be raised, in a later chapter, as to the identity of 
 the Empress with the damsel who gave Peredur the 
 stone alluded to by the Empress. 
 
 Single incidents in the Peredur have been identified 
 with single incidents in the story of Owein, and it 
 now. remains to be shown that we were warranted in 
 so doing, by further showing that the principal sequence 
 in the one corresponds to that in the other. This 
 applies to the story of Peredur from his setting out for 
 the Avanc's cave to his reigning with the Empress; 
 but to make the parallelism clear, it will be necessary 
 to give here an abstract of the passages in question in 
 the Owein story. The latter hero, then, after wandering 
 
92 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. IV. 
 
 on desert mountains in the furthermost parts of the 
 earth, comes to a valley where he finds a castle, in 
 which he is hospitably received for the night. He 
 asks how he should find the Black Knight of the 
 Fountain, whom he desires to encounter. His host, 
 pitying him, is reluctant to answer his question, but 
 consents to do so in the morning; so Owein, put on 
 the right way and informed where to make further 
 enquiries, journeys through a wood until he comes 
 to a large open field with a mound in the middle of 
 it. On the mound sits a black giant whose peculiarity 
 is his having only one foot to walk with, and only 
 one eye in the middle of his forehead. Around him 
 a thousand wild beasts graze ; he is their shepherd, 
 and they obey him through the medium of a stag who 
 plays the part, so to say, of bell-wether among them. 
 
 The black giant told Owein the way to take and how 
 to challenge the Knight of the Fountain ; he directed 
 him to a spacious valley in the middle of which stood 
 a remarkable tree, beneath which there was a well. 
 By the well he would find a marble slab with a silver 
 tankard attached to it : he was to fill the tankard with 
 water and to throw it on the slab. This would bring 
 on a fearful thunder followed by a destructive hailstorm, 
 which would be followed by a marvellous warbhng of 
 birds; and then at last the Knight of the Fountain, 
 arrayed in black satin, and with a black flag streaming 
 from his spear, would himself arrive on a black horse, 
 charging at full speed. Owein did as he was told, 
 and fought with the sable knight, until the latter, feeling 
 that he had been mortally wounded, took to flight. 
 Owein pursued so hotly that he followed him into 
 his city, when the portcullis was so let down that it 
 cut off" the part of his horse behind his saddle, while 
 
Ch. IV.] PEREDUR AND OWEIN. 93 
 
 the inner door was shut in front of him : thus was he 
 left in a perilous position. 
 
 He could see the street through a crack ; and 
 presently a young lady in yellow satin and with a 
 diadem of gold on her head, which was adorned with 
 yellow curly hair, came to the gate and asked him 
 to open. He replied that he could not; she expressed 
 her sorrow at his plight and complimented him on 
 his gallantry and merits with regard to her sex, though 
 the story gives no hint how she knew of his coming 
 or who he was ^. However, what she could she would 
 do for him, so she gave him a ring with a stone in 
 it, which, when turned inwards so as to be concealed 
 in his hand, had the virtue of concealing his entire 
 person from the knight's men, who would come soon 
 to fetch him for execution. Lunet, for that was her 
 name, would also come, and Owein was to put his 
 hand on her shoulder to show her that he was there ; 
 she would then lead the way for him. This was 
 in due time done, and Owein found himself at last 
 in an upper chamber large and gorgeous. Lunet 
 attended to his comforts; she not only brought him 
 food and drink, but she also shaved his beard and 
 washed his head for him. In the night the death-wail 
 of the Black Knight was heard, and in the course of 
 the next day they saw his funeral pass, where a lady, 
 distinguished by the intensity of her grief, attracted 
 Owein's attention, who declared to Lunet that he 
 loved that lady above all others. She replied that it 
 was her mistress, whose husband he had slain the 
 day before, and added that he might be sure that 
 her mistress had no love for him. Nevertheless she 
 
 ' The omission may be said to be supplied, after a fashion, by Malory's story 
 of Beaumayns and Lynet. 
 
94 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. IV. 
 
 undertook to woo her for him, buthermistress reproached 
 her with having kept away from her throughout her 
 trouble. She was well-nigh inconsolable, and when 
 Lunet hinted that she had best bethink her how she 
 might win the victorious knight, her indignation was 
 boundless. After a stormy scene, Lunet urged her to 
 consider that her earldom could only be maintained by 
 one who could hold his own at the well, by overcoming 
 all those who chose to challenge him. Such a one, 
 she added, could only be found at Arthur's court, 
 whither she would go on this errand, and she expressed 
 her confidence that she would not fail in her object. 
 
 This she pretended to do, and when time enough 
 had lapsed, she prepared Owein to visit the castle, by 
 shaving his beard and washing his head. When, 
 however, they arrived at the castle as though coming 
 from Arthur's court, the widow Lady of the Fountain 
 did not fail to see through the ruse ; but it was urged 
 by Lunet that, unless Owein were the more valiant 
 knight, he could not have overcome the other; and 
 after some delay, when the chief men of her earldom 
 were consulted, she consented to become Owein's wife. 
 He lived three years with her before Arthur and his 
 men could discover what had become of him. 
 
 Here one will have noticed the following points 
 of agreement between the romances of Peredur and 
 Owein : — 
 
 I. The sons of the King of SuflFering, at whose court 
 Peredur was hospitably entertained, refused to lead their 
 guest to the Avanc's cave, as they did not wish to see 
 him killed by that monster. 
 
 The lord of the castle where Owein past the night on 
 his way to find the Knight of the Fountain would not 
 at first give him the information he wanted, because he 
 
Ch. IV.] PEREDUR AND OWEIN. 95 
 
 did not wish to have any hand in bringing him into 
 trouble. 
 
 2. Peredur, setting out alone for the Avanc's cave, 
 comes into a land of wonders, and is put on the right 
 way by a comely youth sitting on a mound watching 
 wild animals hunted. 
 
 Owein, after journeying through a wood, comes to 
 a mound with a kind of Cyclops sitting on it surrounded 
 by wild animals: he pointed out to him the way he was 
 to take. 
 
 3. Peredur finds the Avanc and kills him, his own 
 safety being insured by the stone of invisibility given 
 him for that purpose by a lady on the way. 
 
 Owein inflicts a mortal wound on the Black Knight, 
 and his own life is saved by the invisibility thrown 
 over him by the stone in the ring, given him by Lunet 
 to ensure his escape from his perilous position. 
 
 4. The lady who gave Peredur the precious stone 
 would have no husband but him who proved the most 
 valiant in the tournament which she instituted to help 
 her choice. 
 
 The Lady of the Fountain could only have as 
 husband a knight who overcame all those who chose 
 to challenge him at the Well. 
 
 5. Peredur, proving victorious in the Empress' tourna- 
 ment, reigns with her fourteen years. 
 
 Owein having slain the Black Knight is the only 
 eligible husband for his widow, so he upholds her 
 power and lives with her for three years. 
 
 6. The Avanc of the. Lake is so far of the human 
 form that he is represented using a spear. 
 
 Owein's antagonist is called the Knight of the 
 Fountain, who rides like other knights and fights with 
 spear and sword. 
 
g6 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. IV. 
 
 One of the chief differences between the two stories 
 is that no Lunet appears in the Peredur, and that while 
 the wooing is done by her for Owein, the Empress 
 in the Peredur has to do it herself, the hero being 
 treated as too proud to acknowledge how profoundly 
 smitten he was with her charms. Add to this that 
 the Lady of the Fountain, appearing first as the Black 
 Knight's consort and then as Owein's, places herself 
 beyond doubt among the goddesses who at one time 
 consort with dark beings and at another with light 
 ones. On the other hand, nothing is said as to any 
 previous husband of the Empress ; but that is not 
 a difference between them so much as a lack of data 
 to warrant any inference. 
 
 The correspondences indicated will serve as our jus- 
 tification for identifying single incidents in the one story 
 with single incidents in the other. To these we would 
 now add one which was disposed of in few words as 
 leading up to no consequences in the Peredur. Its 
 importance is easily overlooked among the incidents in 
 which precious stones and rings so commonly figure. 
 Peredur, it will be remembered, is represented, among 
 his many exploits, killing a serpent which lay on a gold 
 ring and kept the country waste for seven miles round. 
 He took the ring away, and we read nothing more about 
 it. We seem, however, to detect the incident in the 
 story of Owein, where it is pregnant with results ^ : — 
 
 Owein journeying in a wood came near a large knoll 
 with a grey rock in the side of the knoll. The rock 
 had a cleft in it, where there was a serpent, and near 
 the serpent stood a pure-white lion trying to get away; 
 but when the lion moved, the serpent would dart at him. 
 It was the howling of the lion that had attracted Owein 
 
 ' R. B. Mab. pp. 186-191 ; also Hib. Lee. p. 402. 
 
Ch. IV.] PEREDUR AND OWEIN. 97 
 
 in that direction, and when he saw the cause of it he 
 drew his sword, and as the serpent came out of the 
 cleft he cut it in two. Thereupon the Hon followed 
 him like a greyhound wherever he went, and fought his 
 antagonists for him. Here we have the serpent in both 
 incidents, but a seemingly impassable gulf is fixed 
 between the ideas of a ring and a lion. The. necessary 
 means, however, for bridging it over is suppHed by a 
 confusion of speech based on the similarity between 
 the Welsh words lieu, ' light,' and ttew, ' Hon 1.' 
 
 The ring is probably to be regarded as a solar symbol ; 
 referred to its original in mythology, it meant the disk 
 of the sun. So the gold ring on which the serpent of 
 darkness lay stands here for the sun and his light; 
 but the Welsh word for light, treated mythologically, 
 was Ueu, which therefore appears as the proper name of 
 ILeu, the most remarkable of Welsh sun-heroes. In 
 Irish the name was Lug, and we have it also in the 
 Lugus of Lugudunum. in southern Gaul : in fact, the 
 worship of this divinity of light, known to us by the 
 names ILeu and Lug, was one of the most widely 
 spread, and his feast one of the most celebrated among 
 the Celts of antiquity ^. But in Welsh the meaning of 
 his name ILeu being forgotten, it was, perhaps, the 
 more readily confounded with Hew, the Welsh for lion. 
 In any case, ILew came to be preferred to ILeu as his 
 name. At what date and by whom the confusion was 
 first made is not known ; but the contrast between the 
 incident in question, as given in the stories of Peredur 
 and Owein respectively, marks the point of a new 
 departure which may be studied on a larger scale in 
 Chretien de Troyes' poem entitled the Chevalier au 
 Lion. 
 
 ' Hib. Lee. pp. 398 409. ^ lb. p. 420. 
 
 H 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 Peredur and the Empress. 
 
 The second portion of Peredur's story is one pur- 
 porting to be also about Gwalchmei ^. Arthur was 
 holding his court one Easter at Caerleon, and there 
 were there together Owein son of Urien, Gwalchmei 
 son of Gwyar, Howel son of Emyr ILydaw, and Peredur 
 of the Long Lance, when they saw entering on a mule 
 a black maiden of hideous form and uncanny appear- 
 ance. She greeted all except Peredur, to whom she 
 said : ' Peredur, I will not greet thee, for thou dost not 
 deserve it. Blind was Destiny when thou wert granted 
 genius and renown. When thou earnest to the court 
 of the Lame King, and when thou sawest there the page 
 bringing in the ground-spear with the blood running 
 from its point, blood that flowed in a stream down on 
 the page's fist, together with other wonders there 
 beheld by thee, thou didst not ask their meaning or 
 their cause ; whereas, if thou hadst but asked, the king 
 would have health and his dominions peace. As it 
 is, he has battles and conflicts and loss of knights, and 
 wives widowed and ladies without dowry ; and all that 
 on thy account.' Then she said to Arthur : ' With thy 
 leave, my lord, far hence is my home in a proud castle, 
 
 ' if. B. Mab. pp. 232-243, Guest, i. 354-370, as to which it is to be 
 noticed, that most of what is here related of Peredur is said of Gwalchmei 
 in the second part of the Seint Great : see Williams' edition, pp. 190-246. 
 
ch. v.] peredur and the empress. 99 
 
 of which, may be, thou hast not heard. In it are six 
 knights and three score and five hundred, all knights of 
 rank, each with the lady he loves best. Whoever 
 wishes to earn fame by arms and combat and battle, 
 may find it there if he undertake it ; but whoever wishes 
 for the highest fame and honour, I know where he 
 might find it : there stands on a conspicuous mountain 
 a castle in which there is a maiden, and it is undergoing 
 siege : whoever could free it, would have the highest 
 fame in the world.' Thereupon she went her way, and 
 Gwalchmei said that he could not enjoy sleep till he 
 delivered the besieged maiden, and others gave expres- 
 sion to similar sentiments. As for Peredur, he said that 
 he could not rest till he discovered the meaning of the 
 story of the Black Maiden. While the knights were 
 preparing to go forth on their errands, there entered 
 a strange knight, who was distinguished by the azure 
 colour of his arms : he greeted all present except 
 Gwalchmei, whom he accused of having slain his mas- 
 ter. Gwalchmei denied the charge, and undertook to 
 follow the knight to prove his innocence. Gwalchmei 
 and Peredur, on account of their friendship, set out 
 together; but we soon find them severed. 
 
 Gwalchmei, after an adventure of no sequence in the 
 story, disappears till we approach the close of it ; but 
 Peredur wandered about the island for a whole year, 
 associating so little with his fellow-creatures that he lost 
 his reckoning of time. So, at the last, he falls in with 
 a knight arrayed in the habit of religion, and he asks 
 him for his blessing ; but the reply to his request was, 
 'Alas, thou wretched man! thou dost not deserve it, 
 nor will it profit thee, because of thy bearing arms on 
 such a day as this.' 'What day is it, then?' asked 
 Peredur. 'To-day is Good Friday,' answered the 
 
 H 2 
 
^00 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. V. 
 
 Other knight. 'Do not rebuke me,' replied Peredur, 
 ' I did not know it : it is twelve months to this day since 
 I set out from my country.' Peredur then alighted and 
 led his horse ; for some distance he kept to the high 
 road, but on finding a by-way he followed it through 
 a wood, at the further side of which he descried a tower- 
 less castle. As it showed signs of habitation he drew 
 near, and found at the gate the man of religion who had 
 a short while previously refused him his blessing. On 
 his repeating his request he granted it, remarking that 
 Peredur was now journeying in a fashion more becom- 
 ing the day. He was then invited to stay there that 
 night ; and in fact he was not allowed to depart till the 
 fourth day, but then his host gave him information 
 which was to bring him nearer to the Castle of Wonders, 
 where a later passage in the story places the home of 
 his consort, the Empress. Now the Black Maiden, 
 when causing Peredur to roam far away from the 
 haunts of men until he had lost his reckoning of the 
 days, has her unmistakable parallel in the more gorgeous 
 maiden who, similarly entering Arthur's hall, uttered 
 bitter words to Owein, which resulted in making him 
 for a time a madman and the companion of the wild 
 beasts of the forest. But the part of the widow lady 
 and her handmaid, who brought Owein to his senses 
 and so enabled him to proceed with the search for his 
 forgotten spouse, is here assigned to a religious knight, 
 who recalls Peredur to a sense oi the obJig-ations of 
 reJig-ion v^hich. he had forgotten, and puts him on the 
 way to find the Castle of Wonders. 
 
 Peredur, according to his host's directions was to 
 cross a mountain pointed out to him, and make hi 
 down into a valley, where he was to find a kinp-' 
 there, if anywhere, he was to learn how ^^ court; 
 
 his 
 
 ^°w to reach 
 
Ch. v.] PEREDUR and the empress. 101 
 
 destination. On his way towards the court, Peredur 
 met the king in question going out to hunt; and he 
 gave Peredur his choice, whether he should join in the 
 hunt or be led by one of his attendants to the court, 
 where the king's daughter would give him food. Per- 
 edur chose the latter, but the king's attendant who led 
 Peredur to the princess thought it necessary, on his 
 rejoining the hunt, to tell the king that the princess was 
 not to be trusted with the knight : so suspicious, to his 
 thinking, was the levity she showed in her manner df 
 welcoming the knight and of conversing with him. 
 The result was that the king sent men to put Peredur 
 under arrest ; but the princess came to entertain him, 
 and when it was night she had his permission to have 
 her bed made near Peredur, so as to be able to converse 
 with him. The next morning there was a combat to 
 take place between the king's hosts and those of a 
 neighbouring earl, who contested the king's power. 
 Peredur begged to be allowed to go to look on, a re- 
 quest which the princess granted on condition of his 
 returning to his prison. She provided him with horse 
 and arms, and he wore a red robe over his armour and 
 carried a yellow shield. He came back in the evening, 
 and the princess learned from her father, that the man on 
 his side who had distinguished himself above all others, 
 was one with a red robe and a yellow shield : so she 
 knew it was the captive knight. This went on for three 
 days, and on the fourth the red-robed knight slew the 
 earl opposed to the king, whereby he enabled the latter 
 to add the former's earldoms to his own kingdom. At 
 last the king was told by his daughter who the red 
 knight was, and he now knew not how to show him 
 honour enough, except by offering him his daughter's 
 hand and the fallen earl's lands. Peredur replying, as 
 
102 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. V. 
 
 was his wont, that it was not to marry he had come, 
 was asked what he was in quest of: he said it was the 
 Castle of Wonders. 'The prince's mind,' said the 
 princess to the king, ' is set on greater things than we are 
 asldng.' She then told Peredur that she loved him more 
 than any other man, and giving him guides to lead him 
 out of her father's territory, she provided that his jour- 
 ney should be free of expense to him. ' Go,' she said, 
 ' over that mountain facing us, and thou wilt see a lake 
 with a castle within the lake : that is the Castle of Won- 
 ders, but we know nothing about it, except that it is 
 called so.' The same incident happens to Lancelot in 
 Chretien's poem of the Charrette : M. Paris summarizes 
 it as follows ^ : — ' Le chevalier de la charette rencontre 
 ensuite, a la tombee de la nuit, une demoiselle qui lui 
 offre I'hospitalite, mais a une condition, c'est qu'il cou- 
 chera avec elle. II y consent, bien que fort peu volon- 
 tiers. II livre chez elle un combat terrible, qu'elle 
 semble avoir fait naitre pour I'eprouver, et, pour accom- 
 plir sa promesse, partage son lit, mais sans la toucher. 
 Elle a pitie de lui et se retire seule dans sa chambre ; la 
 elle reflechit k cette aventure, et se dit que ce chevalier, 
 auquel ne se compare aucun de ceux qu'elle a connus, 
 a certainement en tete quelque entreprise bien haute et 
 bien perilleuse ; elle souhaite qu'il y reussisse.' The 
 knight escorts her on a journey in the morning, and 
 they reach a meadow where another knight would offer 
 violence to the lady and fight with her protector. 
 
 Now the Welsh version presents a difficulty of its 
 own ; for why should the levity of the king's daughter 
 make the former imprison Peredur and then allow the 
 princess absolute power over his movements ? Pro- 
 bably the original made the lady independent of, or 
 
 ' Romania, xii. 468, 
 
ch. v.] peredur and the empress. 103 
 
 unconnected with, the man called in the story the king ; 
 at any rate, there can scarcely be any doubt as to their 
 not appearing originally as father and daughter. This 
 is seen very clearly from a comparison of the second 
 part of the Peredur with the second part of the Owein. 
 The latter is in short this : Owein had left his wife, the 
 Lady of the Fountain, to go to spend three months at 
 Arthur's court; but he had forgotten her and been 
 away as many years, when a damsel in gorgeous array 
 rode into the hall and upbraided Owein in bitter terms. 
 He in consequence became mad, as already related, and 
 avoided the haunts of men ; at last he was restored to 
 his senses and his strength by the care of a widow lady 
 and her handmaid, whom he requited by delivering 
 them from the neighbouring earl who oppressed and 
 wronged them. He next met with the adventure which 
 resulted in giving him the lion as his ally and servant ^ 
 This brings us to the incident here in point ; for the 
 first evening the lion was with him the animal procured 
 venison for his master, who was engaged in cooking it 
 when he heard a groan. It was repeated, and on exami- 
 nation he found that it issued from a stone prison hard 
 by: it proved to be the voice of Lunet, the handmaid 
 of the Lady of the Fountain. Without finding out who 
 Owein was, she told him her story to the following 
 effect: — T am imprisoned because of a knight who 
 came from Arthur's court to obtain the Lady of the 
 Fountain to be his wife. He remained a while with 
 her, and went to sojourn at Arthur's court and has 
 never returned. He was to me the companion I loved 
 most of all in the world. Now, two of the Lady of the 
 Fountain's chamberlains spoke ill of him and called him 
 a deceiver. I said their two persons could not contend 
 
 ' Hib. Lee. pp. 402-4. 
 
X04 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Cr. V. 
 
 with his alone. Therefore am I incarcerated in this 
 stone receptacle and told that my life will not be left 
 me, unless he come to defend me within a certain time, 
 and that is no further off than the day after to-morrow. 
 But I have nobody to seek him, and he is no other than 
 Owein, son of Urien.' On being asked if she thought 
 Owein would come if he knew the plight she was in, 
 she expressed her behef most positively that he would. 
 Owein, without disclosing his identity, divided his meal 
 with her and spent the night hard by her, conversing 
 with her till it was daylight. 
 
 In the course of the day, Owein, following Lunet's 
 directions, went to a neighbouring castle whose lord 
 was famous for his hospitality. He was well received 
 there, but he observed that everybody was sad there 
 and mournful in the last degree, and on enquiry he 
 found that the reason of it was, that the day before a 
 man-eating giant had caught his host's two sons on the 
 mountain, and was to come on the morrow and kill them 
 before their father's face, unless his only daughter should 
 be given up to him. When, however, the morning came 
 and the cannibal arrived, Owein and the Lion fought 
 with him, and the latter despatched him. So were the 
 sons of his host rescued by Owein, who then hastened 
 back to the meadow where he had left Lunet. He 
 appeared on the spot just in time to prevent her being 
 burnt alive : he had to fight with the two chamberlains, 
 who were both killed by Owein, aided by the Lion. 
 Then Lunet t^kes Owein to her m.istress, the Lady of 
 the Fountain, who remained his wife as long as she 
 lived. 
 
 Here, it is needless to point out, there is nobody who 
 could be set over against the father of the princess in 
 the Peredur incident. Another difference between the 
 
ch. v.] peredur and the empress. no5 
 
 incident in the Peredur and in the Owein is, that while 
 Peredur himself is the prisoner, and the princess his 
 consoler who makes her bed near him, Owein is free 
 and finds Lunet a prisoner, whom he entertains with his 
 conversation till daybreak. In this matter the Peredur 
 may be supposed, as will be seen later, to be the more 
 original, while the unusual nature of the role assigned 
 the woman may be regarded as supplying the motive for 
 the exchange of the parts played by Owein and Lunet 
 respectively in their story. Lastly, Lunet, after the 
 death of those who would burn her, took Owein to his 
 wife, her mistress; but the daughter of the king in the 
 Peredur only makes herself responsible for the expenses 
 of Peredur's journey out of her dominion, and shows 
 him the way to the Castle of Wonders, where his con- 
 sort lived. The former story does not tell us what 
 passed between Owein and his wife on his return, or 
 how she received him after his inexcusable absence, 
 whereas the other story throws in Peredur's way a 
 number of labours, which he has to accomplish before 
 he is permitted to see his wife's face. 
 
 Following the directions given him, Peredur arrived 
 at the gate of the Castle of Wonders, which he found 
 open ; so he entered and espied a game of chess being 
 played by the pieces themselves. He ventured to give 
 his assistance, but the side he aided always lost. This 
 so irritated him that he threw the board and all into the 
 lake, whereupon the Black Maiden appeared on the 
 scene and began to scold him, and to- emphasize the 
 loss he had caused the Empress, who valued her chess- 
 board more than half her empire. Peredur asked if he 
 could in any way make amends for it, when he was told 
 that he could, namely, if he went to the Castle of 
 Ysbidinongyl (p. 3), and slew the Black Man there, who 
 
io6 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. V. 
 
 was laying waste a part of the Empress's territory; if 
 he did that, he would find the chess-board restored to its 
 place. He did so and vanquished the Black Man, but 
 spared his life on condition of his placing the chess- 
 board where it was first seen by Peredur. The Black 
 Maiden intervenes again, and curses Peredur for 
 leaving the pest alive : so he goes and kills the Black 
 Man. Having done so, he comes to the Castle of 
 Wonders and asks for the Empress, but the Black 
 Maiden replies : ' Thou wilt not see her now, un- 
 less thou kill a pest there, is in that forest yonder.' 
 She referred to a one-horned stag that roved about in 
 a neighbouring forest. He went and succeeded in his 
 undertaking, but, just as he had cut off the stag's head, 
 a lady came riding up to him and began angrily to 
 rebuke him for having destroyed the finest gem in her 
 dominion. He rephed that he had been ordered to do 
 so, and he asked if there was any way in which he 
 might win the lady's good-will : she replied there was, 
 namely, if he went to a mountain she indicated to him, 
 on the side of which he would find a grove with a stone 
 slab underneath it: there he was to ask thrice for a 
 man to fight with him. He did as he was told, and 
 there emerged from beneath the stone a black man on 
 a bony horse, with rusty armour on him and his beast. 
 They fought, but no sooner was the Black Man un- 
 horsed than he mounted again ; so Peredur thought it 
 expedient to dismount and draw his sword, but as soon 
 as he did so the Black Man vanished into his own 
 place with both horses. Peredur now wandered on 
 the mountain till he espied a castle in a valley, for 
 which he made. On arriving, he found the gates open : 
 he entered and beheld a lame, grey-haired man sitting 
 there with his friend Gwalchmei at his side; and his 
 
ch. v.] peredur and the empress. 107 
 
 horse that he had lost was feeding at the same manger 
 as that of his friend. Peredur met with a joyous re- 
 ception, and he sat on the other side of the lame lord 
 of the castle, who proved to be his uncle. 
 
 He was, however, not yet at the end of his labours ; 
 for a yellow-haired youth came and knelt before Per- 
 edur, and begged him to grant him his good-will. ' My 
 lord,' said he, 'it was I that came to Arthur's court 
 in the form of the Black Maiden ; it was I also when 
 thou threwest the chess-board, when thou slewest the 
 Black Man from Ysbidinongyl, when thou killedst the 
 stag, and when thou foughtest with the Man from under 
 the Stone. It is I Hkewise that brought in the head all 
 bleeding on the charger, and the spear with the blood 
 streaming down the shaft from the tip to the but ; the 
 head was a cousin's of thine, whom the Witches of 
 Gloucester had killed ; it was they that have lamed thy 
 uncle; I am cousin to thee; and it is foretold that 
 thou art to avenge us.' Peredur and Gwalchmei took 
 counsel together, and resolved to invite Arthur and his 
 men to come and make an attack on the witches. This 
 was done, and the fighting began with one of the witches 
 kiUing a man of Arthur's close to Peredur, in spite of 
 the latter's forbidding it: the same thing was done by her 
 a second and a third time, when Peredur, enraged, 
 drew his sword and struck the witch such a blow on 
 her head that he split her helmet, her headgear, and her 
 head itself in two. She had time, however, to scream 
 to the other witches to flee, for this was Peredur, she 
 said, that had been their pupil, who was destined to kill 
 them. Then Arthur and his men dashed among the 
 witches, slaughtering them with such despatch that not 
 a single witch escaped alive. 
 The explanation offered by Peredur's cousin, while 
 
lo8 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. V. 
 
 presenting difficulties of its own, helps to remove 
 certain others. Thus, we are not told how Peredur's 
 horse was brought to the Lame King's Castle ; but as 
 the cousin asserts that he was present when Peredur 
 was deprived of his horse, we may presume that the 
 cousin had something to do with bringing the horse 
 away. Further, the words ascribed to the cousin, at 
 the beginning and at the close of the second part of 
 Peredur's story, erroneously reduce Peredur's two 
 uncles to one ; namely, that one whom Peredur, on the 
 occasion of his making his acquaintance, found engaged 
 in watching his men fishing on the lake near his casde : 
 he is in fact the Fisher King and the Rich Fisher of the 
 Grail romances, which give him a brother variously 
 called Goon and Gonemans or Gornumant. The two 
 are sometimes called Pelles and Peleur or Pellam ; but 
 their various names need not detain us now, as they are 
 to come under special notice later. 
 
 A word must next be devoted to the strange things 
 seen of Peredur at the Lame King's Castle. The 
 Black Maiden asserts, when she appears at Arthur's 
 court, that, if Peredur had asked the meaning of them, 
 the Lame King would have been healed and his realm 
 delivered from war and misfortune ; but the fault thus 
 found with Peredur stands in contradiction to the 
 teaching of the Lame King himself in the first part of 
 the story; nor does the Black Damsel, after throwing 
 oflp her disguise, make any allusion to such a result of 
 Peredur's action. It is, probably, one of the things which 
 the scribe has clumsily incorporated from the Grail 
 stories ; at any rate, we feel convinced that the whole 
 incident of the bleeding head and the spear, together with 
 the asking of questions about them, Welsh as they may 
 have been, in point of origin, and as we shall try to show 
 
ch. v.] peredur and the empress. 109 
 
 later, formed no part of this story. As it stands, 
 however, the-wonders of the Lame King's Castle are 
 made to4ead up to the grand finale^, the annihilation 
 of the amazons termed the Witches of Gloucester. 
 
 Nevertheless, this cannot have been the original 
 ending : what that was we learn from the parallel story 
 of Owein, and from comparisons to be mentioned pre- 
 sently: it was the reconciliation of the hero with his 
 wife the Empress. Nay, the Peredur itself requires this 
 supplement to give it meaning and consistency. For 
 when the hero returns to the chess-board Castle of 
 Wonders from slaying the Black Fellow of Ysbidin- 
 ongyl, he asks to see the Empress; but the Black 
 Damsel told him that he should not see her then. Her 
 words seem to imply that there were certain labours 
 remaining for him to perform, and that, when they had 
 been successfully disposed of, he should be admitted to 
 the presence of the Empress. The difference between 
 the two stories is, that in the second part of the Owein 
 the labours are shortened and the hero is brought 
 back without much delay to the wife he had forgotten ; 
 whereas, in the corresponding part of the Peredur, the 
 labours fill a great place and the scribe has forgotten 
 the reconcihation of the hero with his wife the Empress, 
 although he had prepared his readers for a scene of 
 that nature. 
 
 These explanations and qualifications leave the story 
 of Peredur full of strange things, and foremost among 
 them one may mention the name and position of the 
 hero's wife. In the second part she is called simply 
 
 ' Mr. Nutt, pp. 138-9, 144, 181, invests Peredur with the rale of avenger of 
 blood, so that the sight of the head in the charger is to rouse him to the dis- 
 charge of his duty to his kinsmen. Mythologically speaking, no objection 
 can be raised to the idea of Peredur acting as the avenger of his kinsmen ; 
 compare Conall avenging CiSchulainn. 
 
no ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. V. 
 
 the Empress, which implies that she was a well-known 
 personage. Arthur is called Emperor in Welsh litera- 
 ture, but it is not the habit to call his wife Empress, 
 which is a fact of historical interest: she is usually 
 spoken of as Gwenhwyvar, Arthur's wife. But from 
 a careless reading of the second part of Peredur's story 
 one might rise with the notion that the Empress, whom 
 that hero was in quest of, was no other than Gwen- 
 hwyvar ; we mention this as it is virtually the error into 
 which Chretien has fallen in one of his most widely 
 influential poems, as will be seen later. There is, it is 
 needless to say, no real reason to take the Empress to 
 have been Gwenhwj'var; for the former is the same 
 person who is described in the first part of the narrative 
 as Amherodres Cristinobyl Uawr, or the Empress of 
 Constantinople the Great. Her name is not given, but 
 this strange description suffices to fix it with almost 
 absolute certainty as Elen. This, besides being a name 
 famous in Welsh mythology, happens to coincide with 
 the form which the classical Helena takes in Welsh; 
 thus the latter lady becomes in a Welsh translation 
 of Dares Phrygius 'Elen Fanawc,' or Elen with the 
 Love-spot. But the Helen who led to the description 
 of Peredur's wife as Empress of Constantinople the 
 Great, was doubtless Helen the mother of Constantine 
 the Great and wife of Constantius. The Welsh Elen, 
 as the heroine of another story, namely Maxen's Dream, 
 is called Elen Liiydog or Elen of the Hosts, and she is 
 described as becoming Empress of Rome by marrying 
 Maxim or Maxen, emperor of Rome. It is the name 
 Elen, probably, and the title of Empress, that led Welsh 
 stories to connect her with Rome and the New Rome, 
 or Constantinople ; and we have elsewhere ^ hinted 
 
 ' Hib. Lee. pp. 165-6. 
 
Ch. v.] PEREDUR AND THE EMPRESS. Ill 
 
 that the Welsh Elen was the consort of no foreign 
 potentate, but of the Zeus of the Celts in one of his native 
 forms. She is treated in the Peredur as the Empress 
 par excellence, and this would suit her mythological 
 position as the consort of the god, who was once the 
 chief of the Celtic pantheon. In Maxen's Dream she 
 is the wife of an emperor, while in the Peredur she is 
 empress without reference to an emperor ; and she 
 becomes the wife of Peredur, who is no emperor 
 or king, nor cares to be the lord of a single castle 
 or an acre of ground : she chooses him as the knight 
 who surpasses all others in prowess and valour. This 
 is probably to be understood as an instance of the 
 younger sun-hero taking the place of the older sun-god, 
 the Zeus or Jupiter of the system: the latter is for- 
 gotten, while his consort so far retains her pristine 
 position as to be called the Empress ; and we are 
 enabled to fix on her counterpart in Irish mythology, 
 namely, in the person of the Morrigu, whose name 
 probably meant the Great Queen. 
 
 The parallel between the Morrigu and the Empress 
 does not end here. For the Morrigu was wife of 
 Neit^, the Irish Zeus, in his character chiefly of a god 
 of war ; but the Great Queen is in Irish tales as little 
 associated with a Great King as the Empress is with an 
 Emperor in the story of Peredur. In the story of 
 Cuchulainn on the Tain, the Morrigu suddenly intro- 
 duces herself to the hero ^ : she is in love with him on 
 account of his martial renown, and she offers to be of 
 assistance to him at a time when he has great dangers 
 before him, just as the Empress offers to aid Peredur 
 when he would have been slain by the Lake Avanc. 
 
 ' Rev. Celt. i. 36, and Hib. Lee. p. 215. 
 
 ^ A summary of the Morrigu story is given in the Hib. Lee. pp. 468-71. 
 
I J a ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. V. 
 
 Peredur accepts the lady's aid, but Cuchulainn treats 
 the Morrigu's proffered help with such contempt 
 that she becomes hostile to him for a time. So what 
 we have to compare with this in the story of Peredur, is 
 his leaving his wife and forgetting her ; nor is the sequel 
 very different. The Morrigu comes in various forms 
 against Cuchulainn just when he is engaged in a duel 
 with a formidable foe : she is wounded in her attempts, 
 and cannot be healed without Cuchulainn himself inter- 
 fering ; so she disguises herself again, and succeeds in 
 getting him to heal her. Later she appears as a friend to 
 the hero, and tries by all means in her power to avert his 
 death. Similarly the Empress, after having been left by 
 Peredur, moves him, through the instrumentalitj' of the 
 Black Damsel, to go through a variety of hardships 
 and conflicts before he is allowed to see her face again. 
 There is one remarkable difference : the Morrigu is 
 never represented as Cuchulainn's wife or mistress, 
 while the Welsh story of Peredur goes so far as to make 
 the Empress his wife, whereby it departs further from 
 the m3'thological original, in that it not only drops the 
 Celtic Zeus out of account, but even gives his place as 
 husband to the younger sun-hero ^- The modification 
 has had one very obvious effect on the Welsh story of 
 Peredur : it has caused the hero's first love, Yngharad 
 of the golden Hand, to disappear wholly, and otherwise 
 unaccountably, from the later portions of the story. The 
 story of Owein belongs to the same stratum, mytholo- 
 gically speaking, but the reader's curiosity as to Owein's 
 attachments before he married the Lady of the Fountain 
 is not roused by any direct allusion to them. In this 
 respect the editing may be presumed to have been more 
 thorough than in the case of the Peredur story. 
 
 ' Hib. Lee. pp. 575-6. 
 
Ch. v.] PEREDUR AND THE EMPRESS. 113 
 
 Now that Cuchulainn has been brought into the 
 comparison, the subject ought to be followed further; 
 but it would be tedious to enumerate all the pos- 
 sible similarities. So let us see how the martial 
 training of the one corresponds to that of the other ^. 
 Cuchulainn went one day to woo Emer, the beautiful 
 daughter of Forgall the Trickster, a dark fellow, who, as 
 a formidable magician, shifted his shape at will. Forgall 
 came to know of Cuchulainn's visit to his daughter, and 
 he resolved to prevent his having her to wife. So he 
 went in disguise to the court of Conchobar, king of 
 Ulster, at Emain Macha. There he reviewed the drill- 
 ing of the young heroes of Ulster, and paid particular 
 attention to Cuchulainn, whom he commended above 
 his fellows ; but he remarked that if Cuchulainn wished 
 to become really skilful in his feats, he must go to Alban 
 or Britain, to be instructed by a certain famous person 
 called Domnall ; and that if he wished to excel all the 
 other warriors of Europe, he must proceed to be trained 
 by Scathach in her island beyond Alban. Forgall even 
 succeeded in making Cuchulainn bind himself by a 
 solemn oath to go to Domnall and Scathach, who were 
 both of Forgall's kindred. His object was to bring 
 about Cuchulainn's death, for he thought young Cuchu- 
 lainn would never come back alive. Cuchulainn set 
 out to Domnall in Alban, and soon learned all he had to 
 teach him ; and Domnall advised him, if he wished really 
 to excel, to travel much further and seek the abode of 
 Scathach, which Cuchulainn resolved to do. But let 
 us pause for a moment to point out that the review 
 of Cuchulainn's drill at Emain by Forgall is the 
 Irish equivalent to the testing of Peredur's skill as 
 
 • The story of Cuchulainn's education is summarized in the Hib. Lee. pp, 
 449 et seq. 
 
 I 
 
1 14 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. V. 
 
 swordsman by his lame uncle, while Domnall teaching 
 Cuchulainn and sending him further, in order to attain 
 perfection in his feats, is matched by the testing of 
 Peredur by the second uncle, who told him that he 
 had acquired two-thirds of his martial excellence, and 
 that, when the remaining third had been added, it would 
 be useless for anybody to contend with him. 
 
 In the last chapter it was related, among other things, 
 how Peredur first fell in with the Witches of Gloucester, 
 and how he went with them to their court to finish his 
 training as a warrior ; but the journey with the witches 
 to their home is not described. In the story of Cuchu- 
 lainn, however, the journey has considerable import- 
 ance ; for when Cuchulainn left Domnall he met with 
 all kinds of difficulties and perils, placed in his way by 
 Forgall. But when the hero's weariness and despair 
 had reached their climax, a wild beast resembling a lion 
 carries him on its back for four days ; and after over- 
 coming various difficulties, he arrives at Scathach's court; 
 but she would not teach him till he found an oppor- 
 tunity to threaten her life, which he did with his foot on 
 her body and his sword pointed to her heart. So was she 
 forced to undertake his training, and there his military 
 education was finished. On the other hand the Black 
 Damsel, after throwing off her disguise, compels Peredur, 
 as an avenger of blood, to proceed at the head of Arthur's 
 men to make a war of extermination on the Witches. 
 But Cuchulainn is not represented as fighting with his 
 hag tutor and her hosts, which is probably due to the 
 fact that he had become her foster-son, and that for 
 a foster-son to turn on his foster-parents was reckoned 
 a greater crime in ancient Erinn than if they had been 
 his father and mother. Nevertheless, the incident is to 
 be detected in the story of Cuchulainn, but cleared of 
 
ch. v.] peredur and the empress. 115 
 
 the difficulty arising from the laws of fosterage: we 
 allude to him at the head of the Men of Ulster 
 routing and pursuing the hosts of the West, who had 
 invaded Ulster while its king and his warriors were in 
 their couvade. The invaders were led by Ailill and 
 Medb, king and queen of Connaught, together with 
 their eight sons, originally nine, in whom we have the 
 counterparts of Peredur's victims curiously described as 
 the Nine Witches of Gloucester together with their 
 father and mother. We have elsewhere ^ tried to show 
 that the number nine, in these instances, refers to the 
 nine-night week of the ancients. 
 
 The next point of comparison might seem to lie be- 
 tween the tricksy Forgall and Peredur's cousin, who 
 takes the form of the hideous Black Damsel ; her coun- 
 terpart in the story of Owein is, however, all gorgeous 
 in satin and gold, though engaged on the same sort of 
 errand as the blacker person in that of Peredur. On 
 Irish ground, Forgall is of the same uncanny kindred 
 as Domnall and Scathach, Cuchulainn's warlike foster- 
 mother and teacher in arms. On the other hand, the 
 Welsh story makes Peredur himself nearly related to 
 those who try him in his sword exercises, and to the 
 Black Damsel who left him no peace, whereas Ciichu- 
 lainn is not represented as in any way related by descent 
 to Domnall or Forgall. In other words, the story has 
 been simplified in Irish by leaving out all reference to 
 the mythological pedigree of the hero, while in Welsh 
 it has led to serious modifications of the original, in so 
 far as it may be said to be based on mythology. Thus 
 Peredur is the son of Evrawc, earl of the North, in 
 that sense probably in which ' the North ' was an alias 
 for Hades ; and his mother is one of the amphibious 
 
 1 Hib. Lee. p. 367. 
 I 2 
 
Il6 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. V. 
 
 divinities associated at one time with light beings and 
 at another with dark ones. Her brothers, who try Per- 
 edur in his exercises, are of the latter description. The 
 greyness, for example, of the Lame King may possibly be 
 taken as significant in this respect ; and so undoubtedly 
 may his lameness, namely, as a part of the characteristics 
 which went to form a corpse-god like Uthr Bendragon^, 
 or like the Evalach to be mentioned later. In fact, not 
 only is Peredur's uncle to be equated with Domnall, but 
 the Ciichulainn parallel might perhaps be carried further, 
 as Domnall has a daughter Dornolla, who is more black 
 and hideous than even the Black Damsel in the Per- 
 edur; and she tries to compass Ciichulainn's death as 
 soon as he leaves her father's house for Scathach's court. 
 Other forms, however, of the story make the hostile 
 agency to have been no other than Forgall himself 
 Here, then, we have variants which put together would 
 seem to give us something very like the counterpart of 
 Peredur's cousin haunting him in the form of the Black 
 Damsel; in other words, the cousin who disguises 
 himself as the Black Damsel might be regarded as a 
 sort of compound character, resulting from confusing 
 two persons corresponding to Forgall and Dornolla. 
 This might be accepted as explaining in a way the 
 cousin's change of sex, but it fails to account for the 
 fact, that the Welsh version gives no ground for regard- 
 ing the Black Damsel as downright hostile to Peredur. 
 The Grail romances enable us to give a better analysis 
 of the Black Damsel ; namely, as a fusion of a character 
 corresponding to that of the wizard Forgall with that of 
 a damsel of the lake-lady t3^e, who helps Peredur in 
 the difficult exploit of entering the Turning Castle, to be 
 mentioned in another chapter. She might also be said to 
 
 1 Hib. Lee. p. 567. 
 
ch. v.] peredur and the empress. 117 
 
 be the person who appears, free of the Forgall element, 
 in the gorgeously arrayed lady who enters Arthur's court 
 in order to reproach Owein. The blackness of the 
 Peredur maiden and her shape-shifting may, therefore, be 
 removed from her in order to be predicated of Peredur's 
 uncle, who thereby becomes our Forgall. Here we are 
 aided by the prologue to Chretien's Conte du Graal, a com- 
 position which cannot help striking a student of Welsh 
 literature and mythology, as one of the oldest in point 
 of tone and allusion within the whole cycle of Grail 
 romance : this is what it says of Peredur's uncle, under 
 the name of the Rich Fisher, who, after the manner of 
 a consummate wizard as he was, had made his court all 
 but impossible to find ^ : ' Arthur's knights resolved to 
 seek the court of the Rich Fisher — much knew he of 
 black art, more than an hundred times changed he his 
 semblance, that no man seeing him again recognized 
 him. Gauvain found it, and had great joy therefrom ; 
 but before him a young knight, small of age, but none 
 bolder of courage — Percevaus li Galois was he.' 
 
 There is a still more important point, in the treatment 
 of which the Peredur story as we have it must be re- 
 garded as departing from the original : when the Black 
 Damsel ascribes the laming of the Fisher King, Per- 
 edur's uncle, to the Witches, this, unless we are mistaken, 
 can have had no foundation in mythology ; for the King 
 and the Witches should belong to the same side in the 
 conflicts in question. In fact, it is highly probable that 
 the story of Peredur in its original form represented the 
 Fisher King and his brother as hostile to Peredur; and 
 
 ' See Nutt, p. 8; and for a special instance of the disappearance of the 
 Fisher's Court and Castle see pp. 11, 31. Compare also a passage in the 
 Bodley MS., Laud 610, i. 95*", which speaks of the rath of Ailill to be seen 
 afar, but not to be found on the spot. 
 
Il8 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. V. 
 
 the deviation may be supposed due, in part at least, to 
 the mythic pedigree making them brothers to his mother. 
 Nay, one might go so far, perhaps, as to say that the 
 hostihty in question survives to a certain extent in the 
 Grail romance, which gives Peredur's mother two good 
 brothers, Peles and Peleur, as they are called in a 
 "Welsh version ^, and one wicked one, the King of the 
 Dead Castle, who is their enemy. This last is reso- 
 lutely assailed more than once by Peredur^, and ori- 
 ginally he was presumably either Peles or Peleur. So 
 when, in the same romance, Peredur is described storm- 
 ing Peleur's castle, the expedient has to be adopted of 
 representing Peleur as dead and his stronghold as held 
 by the King of the Dead Castle, who had converted 
 Peleur's subjects from Christianity to paganism. 
 
 We have also a description of the hostility that should 
 have raged between Peredur and his uncles, together 
 with a very different account of the disabling of the 
 Lame King, in the story of Balyn, of which we now 
 submit a summary. According to Malory's narrative 
 (ii. 14-19), in which Peleur is called Pellam (and Pelles'), 
 the latter had a fiendish brother called Garlon, who had 
 a dark face except when he chose to be visible ; for it 
 was his custom to go about mostly unseen, so as the more 
 safely to murder with his spear the knights with whom 
 he chanced to meet. In this guise, he had slain two 
 knights who belonged to Balyn. He had also wounded 
 the son of a knight who gave Balyn hospitality. Balyn's 
 host's son could not be healed without some of the 
 blood of Garlon, so Balyn slew the latter at a feast made 
 by Pellam in his own castle ; and, while Balyn invited his 
 friend to take some of the blood to heal his son, Pellam 
 
 ' Williams' Seint Great, passim. 2 n,, pp 3,^6^ gig 
 
 ' Malory, xiii. 5 ; xvii. 5. 
 
Ch. v.] PEREDUR AND THE EMPRESS. 1 19 
 
 proceeded to avenge his brother's death by an attack on 
 Balyn, in which the latter's sword broke. Balyn, now 
 defenceless, fled from room to room in the castle until 
 he chanced on a gorgeous chamber, in which lay on a 
 bed the body of Joseph of Arimathea. There he found 
 the spear of Longinus, and with it he faced Pellam, 
 wounding him so sorely that he fell in a swoon, which 
 was followed by the instant collapse of the castle itself. 
 Some days afterwards both knights were extricated 
 alive from the ruins by Merlin, but ' Kynge Pellam lay 
 so many yeres sore wounded/and myght neuer be hole 
 tyl Galahad/the haute prynce heled hym in the quest 
 of the Sangraille.' 
 
 One may compare Garlon with Echaid Glas in the 
 story of Ciichulainn in quest of the sons of Doel Der- 
 mait, and notice a similar use made of Echaid's blood by 
 his released victims ^. 
 
 To return to Balyn, Malory makes him die in a duel 
 with his brother Balan, which they fought without 
 recognizing one another until it was too late. Lastly, 
 Merlin is said to find Balyn's sword, which is thence- 
 forth preserved for Galahad the haute prynce'^. Now, 
 in Balyn one readily recognizes Geoffrey's Belinus^ 
 whose name represents the Celtic divinity described 
 in Latin as Apollo Belenus or Belinus*. With this key 
 
 ' Hib. Lee. p. 344. ^ Malory, ii. 19 ; xiii. 5. 
 
 ' Hist. Reg. Brit. iii. i, 3, 5-6, 8, 10 ; but the Welsh versions of Geoffrey 
 call Belinus and Brennius respectively Beli and Bran {R. B. Bntis, pp. 71-8). 
 The former should have been Belin, as Beli was the name of a very different 
 personage, and as Geoffrey derives from the name of his Belinus that of 
 Belinesgata or Billingsgate, where his ashes were supposed to be preserved 
 in a golden vessel in a tower of wonderful dimensions built by Belinus him- 
 self. , . 
 
 * It is also given as BeXcros and BijA.ijros. For the inscnptions referring to 
 the divinity of this name see the Berlin Corpus, iii. 4774! v. 732-753, 1829, 
 ai43-6, 8212; xii. 401 (and add.), 5693 •", 5958. See also the references to 
 Belenus by Ausonius (ed. by Peiper, Leipsic, 1886), pp. 52, 59. 
 
lao ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. V. 
 
 one at once comprehends how it was, that, according to 
 Geoffrey, he had a brother Brennius, that is to say Bran, 
 King of Britain from the Humber to Caithness. The 
 latter is represented as being at war with Behnus and 
 driven by him into exile, which gave Geoffrey a wel- 
 come opportunity of identifying his mythic Bran with 
 the GauHsh leader Brennus. Thus it is seen that 
 Belinus or Balyn was, mythologically speaking, the 
 natural enemy of the dark divinity Bran or Balan, and 
 so he was of Peleur or Pellam. 
 
 If one substitute Peredur for Balyn, in the story 
 of the Dolorous Stroke, one obtains a fair notion 
 as to the relations possible between the younger hero 
 and his uncles; and it may be shown that the sub- 
 stitution here suggested is not as arbitrary as it 
 may at first sight appear. In the first place, Per- 
 edur and Balyn are clearly to be regarded as belonging 
 to one and the same class ; and in the next, the view 
 here advocated derives confirmation from a passage in 
 Manessier's continuation of Chretien's Conte du Graal^. 
 He speaks of the Fisher King as having a brother, Goon 
 of the Desert, living in Quiquagrant. Goon was slain 
 by a knight called Partinal ; who, in order to approach 
 Goon, donned the armour of one of the latter's men, 
 but Partinal's sword broke when the traitorous blow 
 was struck. In this, as in some other instances, the 
 Fisher King seems to change places with his brother ; 
 but the allusion to the broken sword shows that we 
 have here to do with a version of the story of the 
 Dolorous Stroke. Nay, we may go further : the name 
 Partinal suggests Partiual, Parzival and Perceval, nor 
 can there be any grave doubt that it is but a form of one 
 of the names of Peredur. This, of course, did not dawn 
 
 ' See the abstract in Nutt's Studies, p. 20. 
 
Ch. v.] PEREDUR and the empress. 12,1 
 
 on Manessier's mind ; so, by combining different versions 
 of the story, he has, m the sequel, achieved the feat of 
 making Perceval slay Partinal in revenge for the death of 
 his uncle Goon'^. The name of this last, we need hardly 
 say, means Gwyn ab Nud, while Garlon is probably to 
 be identified with the Gwrgi Garwlwyd, already men- 
 tioned (p. 73) as a cannibal held up to detestation in the 
 Triads. Lastly, Garlon's black face is the counterpart 
 of that of Forgall ^ in the story of Ciichulainn, and it is 
 also probably the key to the complexion of the Black 
 Damsel, who, to a certain extent, acts the part of a 
 Copreus in the Peredur. 
 
 Gerbert, another of the continuators of Chretien, 
 favours the same conclusion as to the original hostility 
 between Peredur and his uncles : thus Peredur (Perce- 
 val) overcame a hag who by means of a potion used to 
 bring the slaughtered enemies of his uncle Gornumant 
 to life again ; and in so doing she was working in obe- 
 dience to the King of the Waste City, who hated all 
 Christians. She was forced to acknowledge Perceval 
 as her conqueror, but so long as she lived he was to 
 know nothing about the Holy Grail ^. This would 
 seem to imply a second encounter, ending with the hag's 
 death at Perceval's hands, while the whole forms an- 
 other account of Peredur's two encounters with the 
 Witches of Gloucester. Moreover, the King of the 
 Waste City may be said, by virtue of that designation, to 
 challenge classification with Goon of the Desert, another 
 form of whose name we have in Gonemans * ; and one 
 
 ' Nutt, p. 21. ^ Hib. Lee. p. 448. ' See Nutt, p. 23. 
 
 * Goon stands for the Welsh Gwyn, while Gonemans stands for Gwynwas, 
 or Gwyn's full name ; for a nominative ending in ans sounded more like 
 French ; but once one had a stem ending in an, it was also natural to a 
 Frenchman to add a t, so as to make of it a sort of participial formation. The 
 next step was for a stem like Gornumant to yield a nominative Gornumants, 
 
laa ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. V. 
 
 is tempted to identify the Waste City with Caer Loyw, 
 and its king with the father of the Witches of Caer Loyw 
 (p. 8i), who accompanies his daughters when Peredur 
 first attacks them. On the other hand, one can hardly 
 help regarding the King of the Waste City as originally 
 the same personage as the King of the Terre Gastee or 
 Waste Country; but that, as will be mentioned later, 
 was one of the designations of Perceval's uncle, the 
 Lame or Maimed King. 
 
 Now that we have called attention to the question of 
 the influence of the non-native versions on the Welsh 
 story of Peredur, there is one bit of criticism which we 
 wish to add, and it is this : the Welsh narrator appears 
 to have had no difficulty in identifying such stock per- 
 sonages as Arthur, Gwenhwyvar, Peredur, Owein, and 
 Gwalchmei under the various forms given to their 
 names in the romance at his disposal ; nor does he ever 
 allow himself, under its influence, to depart from the 
 fixed notions, which he, as a Welshman, had formed as to 
 the character of those figures respectively. On the other 
 hand, he omits giving the less-known figures their 
 proper names, either because he failed to recognize the 
 Welsh originals underlying the French forms of them, 
 or else because he did not find the names in the French 
 version used by him, the author of it having himself 
 done without them, in despair of successfully manipulat- 
 ing their Welsh forms. At any rate, we offer this as 
 one explanation of the comparative poverty of proper 
 names in the Peredur, a poverty which is far less 
 marked in the Owein, and unmistakably points to the 
 
 written Gormtmanz : so we have Maelguas or Melguas yielding Meleaguant, 
 nominative Meleaguam, and Malory's JJellyagraunce. In both cases the 
 Welsh stems in guas were treated as French nominatives, and this seems to 
 be the key to the French forms. 
 
Ch. v.] PEREDUR and the empress. 133 
 
 indebtedness of the Peredur story-teller to a second- 
 hand version. It is needless to say that this is not to be 
 blindly urged in every case : it would not be fair, for 
 example, to measure the original of a story with a 
 second-hand version of it which has brought into exist- 
 ence a bogus name, so to say, such as Herzeloyde^, 
 given by Wolfram von Eschenbach to the mother of 
 Parzival, as he calls Peredur. Now Herzeloyde^ is 
 clearly nothing but the Welsh word arglCydes, ' lady, 
 domina,' applied to her in the Welsh original, drawn 
 upon by some one of Wolfram's French predecessors in 
 the treatment of the story. But even when such con- 
 siderations as this are duly allowed for, the fact remains 
 that the Peredur is strikingly poor in proper names, 
 whether of persons or of places, as compared, for 
 example, with a purely Welsh story like the Mabinogi 
 of Branwen. 
 
 On the other hand, certain of the criticisms^ intended 
 to emphasize the indebtedness of the Peredur to other 
 versions are not so sound as to be entitled to pass with- 
 out a challenge. Take first the counsels which Per- 
 edur's mother gives to her son when he is on the point 
 of leaving her. They run as follows : Go thy way to 
 Arthur's court, where the men are the best, the most 
 generous and the most valiant. When thou seest a 
 church, sing thy paternoster by it. If thou see food and 
 drink and thou have need of them, and if one lack the 
 manners and goodness to offer thee of them, partake of 
 them unbidden. If thou hear an outcry, and above all the 
 outcry of a woman, go towards it. If thou see a jewel, 
 
 » Nutt, p. 25. 
 
 * The final s of arglCydes does not appear in the German, for the prob-, 
 able reason that it was treated as the mark of a French nominative, and, 
 therefore, not to be transported into another language. 
 
 ' They will be found conveniently summarized by Mr. Nutt, pp. 134, 150. 
 
124 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. V. 
 
 take it and give it to another : thereby shalt thou obtain 
 praise. If thou see a fair woman, woo her, though she 
 will have none of thee : thou wilt be a better man for it 
 and more distinguished. As to these counsels, it has 
 been maintained that the words ' woo her, though she 
 will have none of thee,' owe their form to a misunder- 
 standing of one of the counsels, as given in Chretien's 
 version, which Mr. Nutt renders as follows: — 'Aid 
 dames and damsels, for he who honoureth them not, his 
 honour is dead; serve them likewise; displease them 
 not in aught ; one has much from kissing a maid if she 
 will to lie with you, but if she forbid, leave it alone ; if 
 she have nng, or wristband, and for love or at your 
 prayer give it, 'tis well you take it,' &c. We are not quite 
 convinced of the soundness of this view ; but even grant- 
 ing that the Welsh scribe has blundered, his error does 
 not cover the whole case, as Peredur is found to act up 
 to the counsels, as given in the Welsh, namely, in his 
 conduct towards Yngharad of the golden Hand: he 
 wooes her and is rudely repulsed, but he persists until 
 the lady yields. Should it be objected that the scribe, 
 having misunderstood the advice in question, wished to 
 be consistent by making his hero act accordingly; it 
 must suffice to answer, that the scribe's character for 
 consistency will bear no such stress, and that in all 
 probability he never thought of the two things together, 
 to wit, the mother's counsel and the behaviour of her 
 son in love with the Damsel of the golden Hand. 
 
 Let us next recall to the reader's mind the incident 
 of the dwarfs hailing Peredur as the chief of warriors 
 and the flower of chivalry (p. 77). Chretien gives a 
 different version : Perceval (Peredur) is laughingly told 
 by a damsel that he should become the best knight in 
 the world, and she had not laughed for ten years, as a 
 
Ch. v.] PEREDUR and the empress. 125 
 
 fool had been wont to declare^. This has been regarded 
 as an earlier form of the incident and closer to the 
 original folk-tale account ; but fully to understand it we 
 are asked to read the words in the light of a passage 
 like the following, in an Irish tale : ' Now, the King's 
 daughter was so melancholy that she didn't laugh for 
 seven years, but when she saw Tom of the Goat-skin 
 knock over all her father's best champions, then she let 
 a great sweet laugh out of her^.' But the dwarf's words 
 are regarded as a prophecy in the Welsh story, as we 
 learn afterwards when Arthur, on eventually finding 
 Peredur, addresses him in the following words : 
 ' Welcome to thee ! and with me shalt thou abide, and 
 thou wouldst not have gone from me when thou didst, 
 had I known thy increase about to be what it has been ; 
 this, however, was predicted thee by the dwarf and she- 
 dwarf ill-treated by Kei ^.' Prophecy and prediction are 
 appealed to on sundry occasions in the Peredur, as for 
 example when the hero goes to be trained in arms by 
 the Witches, when he slays the Avanc of the Lake, and 
 when he finally destroys the Witches. The laughter 
 incident in the folk-tale is more humorous than the 
 prediction in the Peredur, but does it therefore belong 
 to an earlier form of the story ? It may be doubted. 
 
 Lastly, when Peredur first sees the three knights 
 from Arthur's court going by (p. 76), he asks his mother 
 what they might be, and she replies, ' They are angels, 
 my son.' This, according to the authority of Birch- 
 Hirschfeld, can only be a distorted reminiscence of the 
 exclamation made by Perceval (Peredur) himself, that 
 
 they were angels^ : 
 
 ' Ha ! sire Dex, Merchi ! 
 
 Ce sont angle que je voi ci ! ' 
 
 1 Nutt, p. 134. ' R- B. Mab. p. 215 ; Guest, i. 329. ' Nutt, p. 134. 
 
126 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. V, 
 
 For, according to that scholar, the mother would have 
 been the last person so to describe knights, of whose 
 existence she had endeavoured to keep her son in com- 
 plete ignorance: she would have rather called them 
 devils. But this very grave criticism is aimed in vain 
 at a passage, the light playfulness of which wholly eludes 
 the heavy hand of one unskilled in the language of the 
 original. When Peredur's mother called the three knights 
 engylion, that is to say ' angels,' she, as she doubtless 
 knew, conveyed no information to her son's mind, and 
 the narrator indicates this by the form of Peredur's 
 response : ' By my faith, I will be an engyl with them.' 
 This is rendered by Lady Charlotte Guest ^ : ' By my 
 faith, I will go and become an angel with them,' for 
 she does not appear to have been informed that engyl is 
 angels, not angel. The real nature of the conversation is 
 best explained by giving it a sort of English parallel, 
 somewhat as follows : ' What are those, mother ? They 
 are children, my son. By my faith, I will be a childer 
 with them.' The point missed by the serious eye of the 
 critic is, that Peredur had so little understood what the 
 word engylion meant, that, like a child, he at once pro- 
 vided it with an unheard-of singular. Here, at any rate, 
 the Welsh story-teller, so far from copying, has given 
 his narrative a seemingly artless touch of originaUty. 
 
 ' Guest's Mabinogion, i. 299. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 Peredur and Lancelot. 
 
 Several allusions have already been made to Lance- 
 lot ; but one of the earliest accounts we have of him is 
 to be found in a German poem by Ulrich von Zatzik- 
 hoven, who, according to M. Paris, translated it during 
 the last years of the 12th century^ from a French ori- 
 ginal which has been lost. According to the analysis 
 given of it by M. Paris, Lancelot or Lanzelet, as Ulrich 
 calls him, was the son of a king Pant of Genewis, by 
 Clarine his wife. Pant was hated by his subjects, and 
 his castle was taken from him by storm. The king and 
 queen fled with their son, who was only a year old ; but 
 the king, mortally wounded, expired after drinking a 
 draught of water drawn for him from a neighbouring 
 spring, and, just before the queen was taken captive, 
 a fairy rose in a cloud of mist and carried away the 
 infant Lancelot from where he had been left under 
 a tree. She took him to her own land, consisting of an 
 isle surrounded by impassable walls in the middle of 
 the sea, whence the fairy derived her name of la Dame 
 du Lac, or the Lady of the Lake, and her foster-son that 
 of Lancelot du Lac, while her kingdom was called Meide 
 
 ' See the Romania, x. 471, where M. Paris gives the details on which he 
 bases that opinion. 
 
ia8 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. VI. 
 
 lant, or the Land of Maidens. In all this we recog- 
 nize the familiar figure of the heroine of many a Celtic 
 tale : she steals babies and she belongs to a community 
 of the fair sex, such as that of the immortal maidens to 
 whom Conla the Red, son of the king of Erinn, was car- 
 ried away by a damsel in a glass boat, which disappeared 
 towards a western horizon ablaze with the ruddy glories 
 of a departing sun ^. 
 
 The Lady of the Lake had a very distinct object in 
 view in appropriating the child Lancelot : it was to 
 bring him up to be the deliverer of a son of hers named 
 Mabuz, who was oppressed by a giant called Iweret of 
 Dodone. As Lancelot grew up he wished to know 
 whose son he was, but he was only to be informed after 
 vanquishing Iweret. At the age of fifteen the Lady of 
 the Lake sent Lancelot forth from her isle to the world, 
 where he fell in with a certain knight called Johfrit of 
 Liez, who taught him all that was necessary for him to 
 know. His first exploit was to kill one Galagandreiz, 
 who wished to slay him on account of his daughter, who 
 afterwards became Lancelot's wife. She disappears, 
 however, from the story, and Lancelot enters a city 
 called Limors, where he is thrown into prison. He is 
 saved from death by Ade, niece of Linier, the lord of 
 that city, but only to be subjected to most severe trials 
 of his valour : he is forced to fight with a giant, with 
 two lions, and with Linier, who was a still more formid- 
 able antagonist. He is victorious in all these contests, 
 and Linier falls, whereupon Ade becomes Lancelot's 
 wife. They go to a tournament held by Arthur, and 
 Lancelot unrecognized beats all the knights who ven- 
 ture to oppose him. On his way back to Limors, he 
 enters a castle, called by Ulrich Schdtel le Mort, where 
 
 ' Windisch's Irische Grammatik, p. 91. 
 
CH.VI.] PEREDUR AND LANCELOT. 129 
 
 he is subjected to an enchantment which makes him 
 for the time a coward, and his wife leaves him in disgust, 
 never to reappear in the story. The castle belonged 
 to Mabuz, but when Lancelot came out of it his valour 
 returned to him. He is now induced to challenge 
 Iweret, which is done by going to a well in the forest of 
 Behforet that surrounded Dodone, and striking three 
 times a cymbal suspended there from a lime-tree, with 
 a hammer provided for the purpose, whereupon Iweret 
 would hasten on the scene fully armed for battle. The 
 result of the contest which Lancelot thus provoked was, 
 that the giant was slain, and that Lancelot, forgetting all 
 his former loves, married Iweret's daughter Iblis, and 
 topk possession of all Iweret's domain. Lancelot now 
 receives rich presents from the Lady of the Lake, and 
 learns from her the story of his origin. In due time, he 
 takes Iblis his wife to Arthur's court at Caradigan, where 
 the Mantle of Chastity is awarded her by the consent 
 of all. Her name is treated as Evilieu' in the Welsh 
 Triads. They style her one of the Three Chaste Women 
 of the Isle of Britain, and call her the wife of Gwydyr 
 Drwm^ or G. the Heavy, of whom we have nothing 
 
 ^ Triad i. 55 gives the spelling Efilieu, and iii. 104 Efiliau, while ii. 47 has 
 Eneilyan, but the reading of the original is here eneilian (see R. B. Mab. 
 p. 306), and Mr. Phillimore has read eueilian in Hengwrt MS. 202 : see the 
 Cymmrodor, vii. 130. In some of its forms this name reminds one of that of 
 a lady known to Irish legend as Ebliu (genitive Eblenn), who could, however, 
 not have figured to advantage in the competition for the Mantle of Chastity. 
 But it would be hardly right to urge that consideration, as Ebliu belonged to 
 a much more primitive and less civilized state of society. For her story see 
 the Bk. of the Dun, 39 ", and the Bk. of Leinster, 152 " ; the legend is some- 
 times known as that of the Overflowing of Lough Neagh, and it has been pub- 
 lished by J. O'Beirne Crowe in the Kilkenny Journal for 1870-1, pp. 94-112. 
 See also a version of it in Joyce's Old Celtic Romances, and especially 
 
 P- 97- 
 
 ^ In a pedigree of the Welsh Saints a man called Gaiydrdrwm is more fre- 
 quently czXlediGwrydrDrwm, with the first part of the name written Gwrydyr 
 or Gwrydr, Gwrhydyr or Gwrhydr, and Guorhitir, Gurhitir or Gurhytyr : see the 
 
130 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch, VI. 
 
 to say except that he ought, perhaps, to be the same 
 person as Ulrich's Iweret. 
 
 This last name can, at any rate, be identified in a poem 
 about Gwyn ab Nud in the Black Book of Carmarthen ^ 
 There Gwyn is made to represent himself as present in 
 the battle where Bran fell, but he does not, as usual, 
 call Bran the son of ILyr, but son of Ywerit ; nor are we 
 warranted in supposing Ywerit to be another name for 
 ILyr: rather must we assume that Ywerit was ILjt's 
 wife and mother of Bran, and that Ulrich or his original 
 had confounded Ywerit with her husband. We are 
 led to this conclusion by the fact that ywerit is the 
 i2th century spelling of a name which would be 
 written later Iweryd, and in modern Welsh orthography 
 Iweryd. But Iweryd is the nominative corresponding 
 to Iwerdon, as representative of the oblique cases of an 
 original lyeriiu, genitive lyerjonos. These are in Irish 
 Eriu, gen. Erenn, and denote Ireland ; also the goddess 
 eponymous of the country, of whom the mythographers 
 now and then speak, making her, among other things, 
 wife of the sun-god Lug. 
 
 The Welsh having long since given up distinguishing 
 cases, in the grammatical sense of the word, employ 
 Iwerdon alone as the name of Ireland, while Iweryd 
 appears to have been left to mythology, and in that 
 sphere the name is postulated by one of the epithets of 
 ILyr. For he is sometimes called ILyr ILediaith, which 
 means the ' ILyr of the Dialect, or the foreign Accent.' 
 Kyr is supposed to mean the sea, and the personage 
 so called was probably identified or confounded with 
 
 Myv. Arch. ii. 40, lolo MSS. p. 131, also Liber Landavensis, pp. 140, 168, i8a, 
 aai. The name seems to have meant bold, daring, arrogant. 
 
 1 Evans' Autotype Facsimile, p. 50 a, and Skene i. 295, where, however, 
 Ywerit is made into Gweryd. 
 
CH.VI.] PEREDUR AND LANCELOT. 131 
 
 the sea, and his marriage with Erinn, or the goddess 
 eponymous of Ireland, would explain why he was some- 
 times regarded as a foreigner. It is further remarkable 
 that the name Iweryd is found borne by a historical 
 person, the sister of Bledyn son of Kynvyn^, a Welsh 
 prince who flourished about the time of the Norman 
 Conquest. The inference to be drawn seems to be 
 this : the story of which Ulrich gives us a confused 
 echo spoke of Iweret or Iweryd as a woman, placed 
 her in a favourable light, and so far associated her with 
 Peredur that her name came to a certain extent into 
 vogue in the Principality. With regard to ILyr, it is 
 right to say that we are not to regard him as a god of 
 the sea alone, but to recall the Celtic habit of mytho- 
 logically identifying or confounding the world of waters 
 with that of darkness. So ILyr was a great deal more 
 than a god of the sea; he was, apparently, a form of 
 the Celtic Dis, and assimilated under the regime of the 
 Romans with their Janus. For we have the echo of 
 something of this kind in a remarkable passage in 
 GeoflFrey of Monmouth, where he says that ILyr was 
 buried at Caer Lyr, in English Leir-Cestre, now Leices- 
 ter, in an earth house beneath the river Soar. That 
 building, he goes on to explain, was a temple of the god 
 Janus Bifrons ; and as his festival annually came round 
 all the artisans of that town and of the surrounding 
 country came there to pay their respects, and there they 
 began every work they undertook during the year until 
 the same day came round again^. This seems to mean 
 that ILyr as a Celtic Dis was a god of beginnings, and 
 that he had, hke the Dis of the Gauls, more than one 
 face, which naturally led him to be identified with the 
 
 1 See R. B. Bruts, p. 303. 
 
 " San-Marte's Geoffrey, Bk. ii. 14; R. B. Bruts, p. 69. 
 
 K 2 
 
132 
 
 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. VI. 
 
 Roman Janus. The town of Leicester seems to have 
 been a great centre of this cult, and only one thing is 
 vi^anting ; but it is a very important thing, namely, the 
 discovery on the spot of some relic of antiquity inscribed 
 with some such words as Deo Jano Liro Sacrum. 
 
 It is needless now to say that we do not know what 
 precisely the Celtic story was from which Ulrich's 
 original was more or less inaccurately drawn. This 
 applies not only to his Iweret but also to his Iblis, for 
 the Welsh Triads differ from Ulrich in making her 
 counterpart Evilieu, not the daughter of Gwydyr Drwm, 
 but his wife. Here, however, Ulrich is perhaps to 
 be followed, as we have such analogies as that of 
 Kulhwch marrying Olwen and Cuchulainn marrying 
 Emer, which was only possible after the respective 
 brides' fathers, Yspydaden and Forgall, had been 
 tragically removed. Mabuz also deserves to be 
 noticed, for one cannot help remembering here the hero 
 called Mabon son of Modron, his father's name being, 
 as in the case of Mabuz, seldom if ever mentioned ; but 
 in Ulrich's poem Mabon's character has undergone a 
 strange and incomprehensible change for the worse, if 
 the identification here suggested is to be received. 
 Another point to be noticed in Ulrich's poem is that it 
 places Arthur's court not at Carleon, or any one of the 
 usual spots, but at a place called Caradigan^ 
 
 ' At first sight one would have said that Caradigan was the town of Car- 
 digan ; but this name is a form of Keredigion, ' Cardiganshire,' and we have 
 not been able to ascertain how early Cardigan became the name of the town, 
 called in Welsh ^fey Teivi, which literally means the ' Teivi's Mouth.' On the 
 other hand we are assured by Mr. Phillimore that Caradigan, standing 
 probably for Caradignan, must have meant Cardinham near Bodmin in 
 Cornwall, where the remains of a great fort are well known. The name 
 Cardinham is a disguised Celtic one which is still accented Car-din-am, 
 consisting, as it does, of the word caer, ' a fortress,' and Dinam, a name 
 which is not uncommon in Wales : witness Llan-Dinam in Montgomeryshire 
 and two or three places called Dinam in Anglesey. 
 
Ch. VI.] PEREDVR AND LANCELOT. 133 
 
 These references to Caradigan, Iblis, Iweret, and 
 Mabuz suffice to show that romances in which such 
 names occur were based on Brythonic stories; but 
 what, it may be asked, is to be made of Lancelot's own 
 name? Ulrich wrote Lanzelet, but the name is not 
 known in any form to Welsh literature, except as an im- 
 portation from English or French : it reminds one of that 
 of Peredur. This last is derived from far, a spear or 
 lance, and it meant a spearsman or one who could 
 handle a lance ; it may be added that the Welsh knight 
 of that name was described in full as Peredur Paladr- 
 hir or P. of the long Shaft. This is not all ; not only 
 does the name of Peredur seem to recall that of Lance- 
 lot, but the characters were originally the same, though 
 their respective developments eventually deviated very 
 widely. It is no objection that Peredur is admitted fo 
 be practically identical with Perceval le Gallois, or P. 
 the Welshman. For there were probably more than 
 one native Welsh version of the story of Peredur : we 
 are forced to distinguish at least two. One of them is 
 represented by the Welsh story known as that of Per- 
 edur and the French and English ones associated with 
 the name of Perceval. The other is remarkable as 
 involving such names as Caradigan, Iblis, Iweret, and 
 Mabuz — we are otherwise in ignorance as to its con- 
 tents. But the spelling of such names as Iblis and Iweret 
 warrants us in supposing the Welsh sources used to 
 have been drawn upon in an earlier form, than can have 
 been the case with those used for the Perceval romance 
 in its various versions. 
 
 Perhaps the best way to show the original identity of 
 the story of Lancelot with that of Peredur is to show 
 how some of the differences between them arose. The 
 most salient of these is the fact that Lancelot is usually 
 
134 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch.VI. 
 
 represented as passionately in love with Arthur's queen. 
 Here again we have M. Paris as our guide; according 
 to him, no reference to Lancelot's love for the queen is 
 found in the earUest romances, which describe him 
 acting simply as a dutiful knight in hurrying to rescue 
 the queen from captivity in the castle of Melwas. The 
 first, he thinks ^ to whom the idea occurred of attribut- 
 ing a different motive to Lancelot was Chretien de 
 Troyes, who was thereby enabled to describe the hero 
 of his poem of the Charrette, in situations which have 
 been held to form the principal interest of the romance I 
 Chretien would seem to have made Lancelot love the 
 queen as a sort of corollary to his having rescued her, a 
 view which would shift the question to another point, 
 namely, why he did not make Arthur rescue her him- 
 self. In answer to this, it is found to have been in 
 conformity with a settled tendency of the romancers to 
 place Arthur in the background, with others thrust 
 forward to act for him^. The question is once more 
 shifted, and we now ask why the substitute for Arthur 
 in rescuing the queen should have been Lancelot rather 
 than any other famous knight of his court, such for 
 example as Gwalchmei (Gauvain). The fact, however, 
 is that Lancelot is not the only one of Arthur's knights 
 who delivers the queen from captivity : thus Gauvain 
 rescues her from Gasozein in the Crone of Heinrich von 
 dem Tiirlin, and Durmart in Chretien's poem called after 
 that knight acts a similar part, when she had been 
 carried away by Brun de Morois*. Here then we get 
 no help to understand why Lancelot should have been 
 more deeply in love with the queen, than the other 
 knights who had been similarly engaged in releasing 
 
 1 Romania, x. 492-3, xii. 516. = lb. x. 488, xii. 507, 516. 
 
 = lb. xii. 513. < lb. xii. 507. 
 
Ch. VI.] PEREDUR AND LANCELOT. 135 
 
 her from her captors. The Welsh versions of the 
 story of the queen offer us no help, since it is her 
 husband himself and no subordinate of his that they 
 engage in the work, as we have seen both when 
 Arthur was preparing to take her from Kei, and when 
 he marched at the head of an army to recover her from 
 Melwas at Glastonbury. 
 
 It would not be impossible, perhaps, to find reasons 
 which would make in favour of Lancelot ; but we cannot 
 regard them as supplying a satisfactory explanation, nor 
 can we regard Lancelot's love for the queen as invented 
 by Chretien, except in a very restricted sense of that 
 word ; for we take it that Lancelot's passion for the 
 queen was not so much the result of invention on the 
 part of Chretien as of blundering of his own or of those 
 who gave him his materials. Such, however, was his 
 genius, and such was the atmosphere in which he lived, 
 that the very blundering made, in a sense, the fortune 
 of his poem. 
 
 In the light of the Peredur it is not hard to lay one's 
 finger on the point at which Chretien or his authorities 
 went wrong ; he or they took the princess of whom 
 Peredur was in quest for Arthur's queen. In the Welsh 
 the former is called the Empress, while Arthur's wife is 
 never so styled; but once Peredur's consort was con- 
 founded with Gwenhw)rvar, it followed very naturally 
 that Peredur in his search should have been represented 
 as trying to rescue her from some one who had carried 
 her away by force. The story chosen was that of 
 Melwas capturing the queen and her followers. Now, 
 one of the most remarkable things in Chretien's poem 
 is, that, when Lancelot had gone through many perils to 
 reach the fortress where the queen was prisoner, and 
 after he had fought with Melwas forcing him to agree 
 
136 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. Vi, 
 
 to release her, she would neither look at Lancelot nor 
 speak to him, when he was introduced to her by Melwas' 
 father, Bademagu, who wished to treat the knight with 
 justice and kindness. The queen is made to give her 
 reason later for acting so ungratefully, but her explana- 
 tion is an ingenious expedient of Chretien's own inven- 
 tion. The real account of the matter is, that the conduct 
 of the queen in this respect is to be regarded as a part of 
 the story of the Peredur describing how the Empress 
 would not allow him to see her face, until he had per- 
 formed more feats of valour and braved more perils. 
 The sequel also is parallel to that which should have 
 closed the Peredur story: Lancelot departs in a very 
 desponding mood after his repulse by the queen and 
 undergoes more dangers, when he is brought back to 
 Bademagu's fortress and a reconciliation takes place 
 between him and the queen ; and then they passed a 
 night together \ 
 
 Further, it might here naturally be asked why the 
 queen was still with her captor at his head-quarters, 
 now that she was at liberty to depart. Chretien invents 
 the answer that she was waiting for the coming of 
 Gwalchmei (Gauvain), who had set out with Lancelot to 
 rescue her ; and he goes so far as to send Lancelot and 
 others to look for Gwalchmei. The party return, having 
 found Gwalchmei but having lost Lancelot, who had 
 disappeared entrapped by Melwas. This traitorous 
 knight also had a lying letter written to the queen, 
 informing her that Lancelot was already safe at 
 Arthur's court; so she now set out with Gwalchmei 
 escorting her. The real reason why she did not go 
 sooner, however, is, that she, being not Arthur's queen 
 but Peredur's empress, was at home, or at any rate near 
 
 ' Romania, xii. 478. 
 
Ch.VL] PEREDUR and LANCELOT. 137 
 
 her home there, where she was in the fortress of Melwas. 
 It would, perhaps, be less misleading to call it that of 
 Bademagu, his father, as to whom a word must now be 
 said, especially with regard to his conduct in Chretien's 
 poem. Among other difficulties offered by that work, this 
 is noticed by M. Paris in the following terms : — ' Le per- 
 sonnage de Bademagu n'est pas clair non plus : comment 
 ce roi debonnaire retient-il prisonniers tous ceux que 
 Lancelot finit par delivrer? comment, ennemi des in- 
 justes pretentions de son fils, se borne-t-il a les com- 
 battre en paroles au lieu de les reduire a neant ^ ?' 
 
 This becomes clearer if one take Lancelot to be a name 
 of Peredur's ; for as soon as one places the story of the 
 one alongside that of the other, one perceives that Bade- 
 magu in Chretien's poem is Peredur's uncle, the Lame 
 King in Peredur's story, and that Melwas (Meleaguant) 
 taking possession of the queen and hurrying her away 
 from the pursuing Lancelot is Peredur's cousin refusing 
 to let Peredur see the Empress, his wife, till he has per- 
 formed several more feats of valour. Bademagu is 
 friendly to Lancelot just as the Lame King is to Per- 
 edur, and the difficulty in the Lancelot arises from 
 attributing to Bademagu's son a role which is both 
 that of Peredur's cousin and of the robber knight that 
 takes Arthur's wife captive. As both Peredur and 
 Gwalchmei end their wanderings at the Lame King's 
 court, so the abode of Bademagu is Lancelot and 
 Gauvain's destination, though the exigencies of Chre- 
 tien's poem do not permit them to be present there 
 simultaneously. To return to the point from which we 
 set out, the home of Peredur's wife was the Castle of 
 Wonders, where he found the chessboard, not far from 
 that of Peredur's uncle. This, applied to the case of 
 
 ' Romania, xii. 484. 
 
138 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. VI. 
 
 Bademagu and the queen in Chretien's poem, suggests 
 that the lady's home was not far distant from Bade- 
 magu's city, and that we have here the reason, at least 
 in part, why she is not represented as setting forth at 
 once for Arthur's court. 
 
 Chretien makes the releasing of the queen bring with 
 it the liberation of all subjects of Arthur, who were cap- 
 tives at the time in the Land of Goire. But this Hnking 
 together of the two things can hardly be of the poet's own 
 invention. We have the same incident in the Peredur, 
 when the hero goes and slays the Arrogant Black Fellow, 
 and still more clearly in the story of Owein, where it 
 occurs as the liberation of the twenty-four matrons im- 
 mediately after Owein had found his deserted wife, the 
 Lady of the Fountain. Owein is represented taking his 
 wife with him to Arthur's court ; but just before doing 
 so, he effects the release of the matrons. So, even here, 
 the return of the hero with his wife and the Uberation 
 of the prisoners of the Perverse Black Robber come 
 closely together (p. 86). With the vanquished robber, 
 Chretien leaves us nobody to equate but Melwas himself. 
 It may be mentioned, as a point of similarity which is 
 hardly due to accident, that Owein and Peredur, when 
 they come to the neighbourhood of the black villain 
 of either story, are bewailed by those who meet them 
 there, as about to endure the same fate which they 
 themselves had to undergo. So also Lancelot, on his 
 way in the Land of Goire, is bewailed by a hospitable 
 man as going to be a prisoner in that land, just as he 
 was himself and the other captives from the realm of 
 Logres ^. 
 
 Another feature of the Lancelot story, according to 
 Chretien, has light shed on it by comparison with the 
 
 ' Romania, xii. 471. 
 
Ch. VI.] PEREDUR AND LANCELOT. T39 
 
 Peredur : thus Lancelot is made to pursue the queen's 
 captor for five or six days in the captor's own country ; 
 and in the early part of this pursuit, which could not 
 strictly speaking be a pursuit, Lancelot walks at one 
 time near enough to the queen for her to see that 
 he hesitates for a moment to step into the Dwarf's 
 cart, which Chretien cleverly puts into the queen's 
 mouth as her reason for refusing to see him, when he 
 had fought with Melwas in order to secure her freedom. 
 But the journey which Lancelot made in the cart 
 brought him ahead of the queen and her captor ; for as 
 Lancelot, after mass on the morrow, looked out at a 
 window of the castle to which the Dwarf had brought 
 him and in which he had passed the night, he was 
 shown the queen, led captive by Melwas, passing near 
 the castle. He at once procured a horse and set out 
 in pursuit, but we do not read of his overtaking Melwas 
 and his men. We do, however, read of his coming one 
 morning to a well, where, on the stone hard by, he found 
 a lady's comb with a certain quantity of her hair in it, 
 bright and shining. He examines it, and is told that it 
 belongs to the queen ; extracting the hair from the 
 comb, he treasures it as the most precious of relics, and 
 altogether he goes through the antics usually ascribed 
 by the romancers to love-lorn knights when their reason 
 happens to be eclipsed by crazy sentiment. Then later, 
 when he approaches the abode of Bademagu, he is 
 allowed to make his way over the terrible river sur- 
 rounding the spot. He had to cross by wriggling on 
 his hands and his knees along the Sword Bridge with 
 great pain and loss of blood ; but he was not opposed 
 by Melwas or his men. In fact, the whole journey can- 
 not properly be regarded simply as a pursuit, either 
 from the point of view of the pursuer or the pursued ; 
 
140 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch, VI. 
 
 but it becomes more intelligible when it is placed 
 alongside of the wanderings of Peredur from one peril 
 to another on his way to his uncle's castle. Moreover, 
 the lady, of whom he catches a glimpse one morning, 
 and of whom he finds traces at the well the next day, 
 the lady from whom he cannot get a grateful word later 
 in the story, is not so like Arthur's wife as the flitting 
 beauty whom Peredur finds sitting on a lonely mound 
 and some time afterwards holding a tournament in a 
 retired valley. The whole string of incidents making 
 up the pursuit is an enumeration of the labours through 
 which the hero has to go, and among them occurs that 
 of slaying the Black Man of Yspidinongyl, which is such 
 a favourite feat that it is served up twice ^. 
 
 Considerable portions of Chretien's poem have now 
 been very briefly noticed : there remains to be men- 
 tioned an incident or two. Towards the evening of the 
 second day of Lancelot's journey after the queen and 
 her captors, he met a damsel who offered him hospitality 
 at her castle on the condition that he was to share her 
 bed, which he reluctantly accepted. Before the day was 
 over, Lancelot saw violence offered to his hostess by a 
 knight of extraordinary strength. He delivered her 
 from his hands after a terrible struggle, and when it 
 was time, Lancelot was shown her bed. He slept with- 
 out touching her, and in the course of the night she 
 withdrew to another chamber, reflecting that it was a 
 knight bent on some very noble and perilous under- 
 taking : she wished him success. She is the counter- 
 part of the princess who makes her bed near Peredur in 
 her father's prison, as was pointed out in the last chapter 
 (p. 102), when we took the opportunity of remarking on 
 one of the differences between the two incidents. 
 
 ' See p. 3 above ; also Rom. xii. 468, 473. 
 
Ch: VI.] PEREDVR AND LANCELOT. 141 
 
 There is, however, another difference, which, though 
 of minor importance, deserves notice here : in the story 
 of Peredur, the princess has that knight escorted at her 
 own expense to the boundary of her dominions in the 
 direction of the Castle of Wonders, which was his 
 destination ; while, in Chretien's poem, the parts are 
 reversed and the damsel asks Lancelot to be her escort. 
 It comes, however, to much the same thing, as she leads 
 him all day in the direction he wished to take, namely, 
 towards the head-quarters of Bademagu, and it was in 
 so doing that he was brought to the well where he 
 found the comb, to which allusion has already been 
 made. It was not long ere Lancelot and the dam- 
 sel in his charge met a knight who would fight with 
 him for her. The challenging knight was, however, 
 prevented from fighting by his father, who treated 
 Lancelot with respect. Father and son then followed 
 Lancelot, in order to find out whether he was the per- 
 son the former surmised him to be. So they came 
 after him to a monastery, where there was a burial-place 
 with tombs destined for the best knights then living, and 
 bearing their names inscribed in them. In the midst 
 of them was one finer than the others, and covered with 
 a slab which it would have taken seven strong men to 
 lift. Lancelot nevertheless lifted it with ease, when it 
 was seen, by its inscription, that he was the knight who 
 was to liberate the captives in Goire. The father and 
 the son then returned home, the former satisfied that 
 his surmise had proved true, and the latter regretting 
 that he had challenged such a knight. The tomb test 
 is one of the favourite devices of French romance, but 
 the incident is to be found in the Peredur with a different 
 test applied. We allude to Peredur's second uncle 
 trying him to put together a broken sword, whereupon 
 
J 42 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. VI. 
 
 he recognized in Peredur the son of his own sister, and 
 declared that he had already acquired two-thirds of his 
 excellence as a knight. 
 
 Lastly, Chretien's poem was called after the Chevalier 
 de la Charrette, or the Knight of the Cart, whereby he 
 meant Lancelot, for the latter, when he bad lost his 
 horse, stepped into the Dwarfs cart, as already related. 
 Why, you will naturally ask, does he make so much of 
 the cart, and to what does it correspond in the stories 
 of Peredur and Owein respectively ? Chretien says of 
 towns where there were many carts in his time, that 
 they had but one each in the time of his hero, and 
 that it was used to carry malefactors through the streets 
 previous to their being executed. Thus, to be seen in a 
 cart was then much the same as to be pilloried in later 
 times ; and it was, according to him, unlucky even to meet 
 a cart. Accordingly Lancelot is represented in the poem 
 as hooted wherever he came by both men and women, 
 as the knight who had so far lost his self-respect as to 
 allow himself to be seen in a cart. The queen, how- 
 ever, is made at the last to declare that it was because 
 he had for an instant hesitated to mount the cart that 
 she was offended with him. How far the incident of the 
 cart is to be regarded as the poet's invention, it is diffi- 
 cult to say ; for what corresponds to the Dwarfs cart in 
 the Peredur is the ring he takes to himself, when he 
 slays the serpent that lay on it. It has already been 
 shown (p. 97), how this, with the aid of a little phonetic 
 sleight of hand, comes to be Owein's Lion. The form 
 of the myth, however, which best compares with the 
 incident of the dwarf and his cart is the passage in the 
 story of Ciichulainn relating how a youth, called Echaid 
 Bairche, gave Ciichulainn a wheel which, in a way not 
 clearly explained, enabled him to traverse a part of the 
 
CH.V1.] PEREDUR AND LANCELOT. 143 
 
 Dolorous Plain. He had also from him an apple, which, 
 rolling along the ground before the hero, served the 
 same purpose as regards his journey across the rest 
 of the same plain ^. The wheel comes nearer to the 
 idea of a cart, but in any case the essential point of the 
 nature myth was, perhaps, to have a round object rolling 
 along the ground as a representation of the daily course 
 of the sun across the heavens. 
 
 Here we may for a moment dwell on one of the 
 differences between the romances and the stories in 
 their Welsh form, as illustrated by Chretien's poem 
 contrasted with the versions extant in Welsh. While 
 Lancelot, disconcerted by his unexpected repulse by the 
 queen, was wandering in the land of Goire, he was 
 taken prisoner by the inhabitants, and the rumour 
 reached the queen that he had been killed : she refuses 
 to eat or drink for two days, and reproaches herself with 
 being the cause of his death. Lancelot, on the other 
 hand, hears that the queen is dead in the meantime, and 
 he tries to hang himself at once but is prevented. The 
 double scene of inconsolable grief on the part of the 
 frantic lovers is probably of Chretien's own elaborating. 
 It is in fact this devotion to the subjective on the French- 
 man's part, and his effort to portray the passion of love 
 and the working of the inner man, that distinguish his 
 work most conspicuously from the native stories of the 
 Welsh. The latter give us the events as they follow 
 one another; and from them we are usually left to 
 gather what passes through the minds of those engaged 
 in the action of the story. The story-teller tells us most 
 meagrely, if at all, what his characters feel : he rapidly 
 lays before us what they do. This, we take it, arises 
 from no inherent tendency of the Celtic mind ; rather 
 
 ' Hib. Lee. p. 450. 
 
144 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. VI. 
 
 may it be said to mark a stage in the history of our 
 Welsh stories, a stage, that is to say, when they had 
 not been completely disengaged from the nature myths 
 out of which they grew : when, at.any rate, they had 
 not been very far removed from the mythological stage 
 with the natural phenomena to be explained, crowding 
 to fill the foreground. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Lancelot and Elayne. 
 
 When Chretien's poem had set the example of the 
 amour courtois between Lancelot and Arthur's wife, 
 other writers incorporated the idea, which they some- 
 times did at the risk of making their narrative appear 
 inconsistent. They had recourse, therefore, to expe- 
 dients, more or less artificial and clumsy, to carry them 
 through their difficulties. One of these is in point here : 
 the Grail romances represent Lancelot as the father of 
 the Grail hero, Galahad. Guinevere (Gwenhwyvar), 
 however, is not treated as the mother, but a lady called 
 Elayne. The question then arises how Elayne came to 
 be loved by Lancelot, who was otherwise regarded as 
 entirely devoted to Guinevere. So somebody intro- 
 duced the services of a sorceress called Brysen, who is 
 represented as investing Elayne with the outward appear- 
 ance of the queen, in order to entice Lancelot to visit 
 her. One went even the length of making Lancelot 
 restrain himself with difficulty from slaying Elayne, 
 when he discovered in the morning that it was not the 
 queen. It is needless to say, that, according to the view 
 here advocated of the original identity of Lancelot with 
 Peredur, Elayne was Lancelot's rightful consort, as one 
 recognizes in her name that of Elen, the Empress, whom 
 the story of Peredur gives that hero to wife. Malory's 
 
146 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch.Vii. 
 
 account is to the effect that Lancelot, seeking adventures, 
 one day crossed the Bridge of Corbyn to a fair city, 
 which he rid from many scourges and troubles. 
 
 The lord of that place was Pelles, king of the Foreign 
 Country, who made Lancelot welcome : the sequel is best 
 given in Malory's own words '^ : 'And fayne wold kynge 
 Pelles haue fond the meane to haue hadde syre Laun- 
 celot to haue layne by his doughter fayre Elayne/And 
 for this entent the kyng knewe wel that syr launcelot 
 shold gete a chyld vpon his doughter/the whiche shold 
 be named sir Galahalt the good knyghte/by whome 
 alle the forayn countrey shold be broughte oute of 
 daunger/and by hym the holy graale shold be encheued/ 
 Thenne came forth a lady that hyghte Dame Brysen/and 
 she said vnto the Kynge/Syr wete ye wel/syre Launce- 
 lot loueth no lady in the world but all only Quene Guen- 
 euer/and therfore wyrche ye by counceylle and I shalle 
 make hym to lye with your doughter/& he shall not 
 wete but that he lyeth with Quene Gueneuer.' The 
 enchantress Brysen goes to work, and the narrative pro- 
 ceeds to tell us that ' she maade one to come to syr 
 launcelot that he knewe wel/And this man broujt hym 
 a rynge from Quene Gueneuer lyke as hit hadde come 
 from her/and suche one as she was wonte for the moost 
 parte to were/& when sir laucelot sawe that toke wete 
 ye wel he was neuer soo fayne/where is my lady 
 said syr launcelot/in the castel of Case said the mes- 
 sager but fyue myle thens/Thenne sir launcelot thoughte 
 to be there the same nyghte/And thenne this Brysen by 
 the commaundement of kynge Pelles lete sende Elayne 
 to this castel with xxv knyghtes vnto the castel of Case.' 
 In due time Sir Lancelot arriving at the castle was 
 brought a cup full of wine by dame Brysen, ' and anone 
 
 ' Malory, xi. is. 
 
Ch. VII.] LANCELOT AND ELA YNE. 
 
 147 
 
 as he had dronken that wyn/he was soo assoted and 
 madde that he myghte make no delay/but withouten 
 ony lette he wente to bedde/and he wende that mayden 
 Elayne had ben Quene Gueneuer/wete yow wel that sir 
 launcelot was glad and soo was that lady Elayne/that 
 she had geten sir launcelot in her armes/For well she 
 knewe that same nyght shold be goten vpon her Gala- 
 halt that shold preue the best knyghte of the world.' 
 This remarkable expectation of the advent of Galahad 
 reminds one of the birth of the Irish hero Lug, who 
 is called the Child of Victory ^. 
 
 Some time after the birth of Elayne's son Galahad, 
 she made her appearance at Arthur's court at a great 
 festival, and her friend Dame Brysen practised her arts 
 on Lancelot with such success, that Guinevere became 
 so jealous of Elayne that she drove her away from the 
 court, and that Lancelot became distraught. His mad- 
 ness lasted several years, until at last he chanced to come, 
 again to Corbyn, where he was recognized by Elayne 
 and Dame Brysen. They had him bound and placed by 
 the vessel of the Holy Grail, which restored him his 
 senses. Afterwards he instructed Elayne to ask her 
 father. King Pelles, to assign them a place where they 
 might live together. The king gave them ' the Castel of 
 Blyaunt' in 'the Joyous Yle,' described as enclosed in 
 iron, with a fair water deep and large ^. The hero in- 
 sisted on being known there as ' Le Chevaler Malfet,' so 
 that a nephew of King Pelles, who would call him 
 Lancelot, found that he had so offended him by men- 
 tioning his name, that he thought it expedient to fall on 
 his knees before Lancelot to ask his pardon, like Per- 
 edur's nephew after throwing off his disguise. Lancelot 
 lived with Elayne in the Joyous Island till certain of 
 
 ' Hib. Lee. p. 570. " Malory, xii. 5, 6. 
 
 L 2 
 
148 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch.VII. 
 
 Arthur's knights came to just with him. They re- 
 cognized him and persuaded him to go with them to 
 Arthur's court, where he was hailed with great joy. 
 
 Without going into details, or dwelling on minor 
 differences, we at once perceive that we have here the 
 incidents of the stories respectively of Owein and Per- 
 edur. Thus Lancelot visiting Elayne at the Castle of 
 Case is the counterpart of Peredur abiding with the 
 Empress after the tournament she had instituted for the 
 choice of a husband, and Owein marrying the Lady of 
 the Fountain after the death of her previous husband. 
 Dame Brysen, in Malory's narrative, discharges the 
 same functions in part as the Black Damsel in the story 
 of Peredur, and as her more gorgeous counterpart in 
 that of Owein : both undertake to force the forgetful 
 husbands to think once more of their wives and to 
 seek them. Pelles in the romance takes the place of 
 Peleur in the Welsh version of the Grail legend, which 
 makes Peleur the father of Elen. Add to this that the 
 nearness of the Castle of Wonders to that of Peredur's 
 uncle is matched by the nearness of the Castle of Case 
 to that of Pelles : the distance is given as five miles, to 
 which attention has already been called in effect, when 
 the delay of the queen at the court of Bademagu was 
 mentioned. 
 
 Malory is not satisfied with associating Lancelot with 
 one Elayne : he does so with a second Elayne, called the 
 Fair Maid of Astolat. According to his narrative, she 
 should be another ; but it is needless to say, that there is 
 no reason to regard her as other than the same Elayne 
 introduced from a different version of the story. Lan- 
 celot, on his way to a tournament at Camelot, lodges at 
 the house of a baron called Bernard, who had a daughter 
 Elayne and two sons. One of the latter, called Lavayne, 
 
CH.VII.] LANCELOT AND ELAYNE. 
 
 149 
 
 was SO attracted by Lancelot's manners and courtesy 
 that he resolved to become Lancelot's companion and 
 attendant, while his sister fell deeply in love with the 
 knight and persuaded him to wear a token of hers on 
 his helmet : it was a sleeve of scarlet, embroidered with 
 pearls ^ This was a thing Lancelot had never done 
 before, for any woman's love ; and at the tournament he 
 was wounded well-nigh unto death by a kinsman of his 
 named Bors, who was exceedingly sorry when he found 
 out, some time afterwards, that his antagonist was no 
 other than Lancelot. But Bors' grief was not so great 
 as that of the Fair Maid of Astolat, who rested not till 
 she h^d found out the wounded knight. She thence- 
 forth attended most tenderly upon him, till he was once 
 more able to ride. Then came his departure, which she 
 did not long survive : she declared that she must be 
 Lancelot's wife or die of love for him, and so it proved ; 
 for when he was gone, she pined away and died in ten 
 days ; but before dying, she dictated a letter to Lancelot 
 to the following effect^: — ' Moost noble knyghte sir 
 Launcelot/now hath dethe made vs two at debate for 
 your loue I was your louer that men called the fayre 
 mayden of Astolat/therefor vnto alle ladyes I make my 
 mone/yet praye for my soule & bery me atte leest/& 
 offre ye my masse peny/this is my last request and a 
 clene mayden I dyed I take god to wytnes/pray for my 
 soule sir launcelot as thou art pierles.' When she was 
 dead, her body was according to her directions placed in 
 a barget and covered with cloth of gold ; the letter was 
 placed in the right hand of the corpse, and when the 
 barget was rowed to Westminster, Arthur came on 
 board and had the letter read. The Fair Maid of Astolat 
 was buried as became her; and Lancelot offered the 
 
 * Malory, xviii. 9. "^ lb. xviii. 20. 
 
] 50 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. vii. 
 
 mass penny : he had never treated her as a lover, but 
 he deeply mourned her sad fate. 
 
 Now, Malory's Astolat is otherwise called Escalot, a 
 name which cannot be overlooked as identical with that 
 of Shalott, borne by an islet moored by lilies in the river 
 flowing down to Camelot. It figures in a poem of 
 Tennyson's, which perhaps surpasses everything else he 
 has written in the weird fascination it exercises over the 
 reader's mind, at any rate if he happens to be a Celt. 
 In that poem the fairy isle of Shalott is represented 
 as the home of the fairy Lady of Shalott, unseen of man, 
 though heard at times in the early morn, when the 
 cheery strains of her song rose from the riyer to 
 entrance the toiling swain : 
 
 ' There she weaves by night and day 
 A magic web with colours gay. 
 She has heard a whisper say, 
 A curse is on her if she stay 
 
 To look down to Camelot. 
 
 She knows not what the curse may be, 
 And so she weaveth steadily, 
 And little other care hath she, 
 The Lady of Shalott. 
 
 And moving thro' a mirror clear 
 That hangs before her all the year, 
 Shadows of the world appear. 
 There she sees the highway near 
 Winding down to Camelot : 
 
 There the river eddy whirls. 
 And there the surly village-churls, 
 And the red cloaks of market girls, 
 Pass onward from Shalott. 
 
 Sometimes a troop of damsels glad. 
 An abbot on an ambling pad. 
 Sometimes a curly shepherd-lad. 
 Or long-hair'd page in crimson clad, 
 Goes by to tower'd Camelot ; 
 
CH.VII.] LANCELOT AND ELAYNE. 151 
 
 And sometimes thro' the mirror blue 
 The knights come riding two and two : 
 She hath no loyal knight and true, 
 
 The Lady of Shalott. 
 But in her web she still delights 
 To weave the mirror's magic sights, 
 For often thro' the silent nights 
 A funeral, with plumes and lights 
 
 And music, went to Camelot: 
 Or when the moon was overhead, 
 Came two young lovers lately wed ; 
 " I am half sick of shadows," said 
 
 The Lady of Shalott.' 
 
 Now passes by one whose interest to us here stands 
 
 in need of no explanation : — 
 
 ' The sun came dazzling thro' the leaves. 
 And flamed upon the brazen greaves 
 Of bold Sir Lancelot.' 
 
 The poet, after giving us a vivid picture of the great 
 
 knight, tells us how his appearance in the mirror put an 
 
 end to the lady's weaving : — 
 
 ' She left the web, she left the loom. 
 She made three paces thro' the room, 
 She saw the water-lily bloom. 
 She saw the helmet and the plume, 
 
 She look'd down to Camelot. 
 Out flew the web and floated wide ; 
 The mirror cracked from side to side ; 
 " The curse is come upon me," cried 
 
 The Lady of Shalott.' 
 
 The sequel runs as follows, in sad and mournful 
 
 numbers that recall at every step the story of Malory's 
 
 Fair Maid of Astolat :— 
 
 ' In the stormy east-wind straining. 
 The pale yellow woods were waning, 
 The broad stream in his banks complaining. 
 Heavily the low sky raining 
 Over tower'd Camelot; 
 
:52 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. Vll. 
 
 Down she came and found a boat 
 Beneath a willow left afloat, 
 And round about the prow she wrote 
 The Lady of Shalott. 
 
 And down the river's dim expanse 
 Like some bold seer in a trance. 
 Seeing all his own mischance — 
 With a glassy countenance 
 
 Did she look to Camelot. 
 
 And at the closing of the day 
 She loosed the chain, and down she lay ; 
 The broad stream bore her far away, 
 The Lady of Shalott. 
 
 Ljring, robed in snowy white 
 That loosely flew to left and right — 
 The leaves upon her falling light — 
 Thro' the noises of the night 
 
 She floated down to Camelot : 
 
 And as the boat-head wound along 
 The willowy hills and fields among. 
 They heard her singing her last song, 
 The Lady of Shalott.' 
 
 She died in her song ere she reached Camelot, and 
 when her boat arrived, the citizens, prince and burgher, 
 knight and dame, crowding on the wharves and reading 
 on the prow The Lady of Shalott, asked each other: — 
 
 ' Who is this ? and what is here ? 
 And in the lighted palace near 
 Died the sound of royal cheer ; 
 And they cross'd themselves for fear, 
 All the knights at Camelot : 
 
 But Lancelot mused a little space ; 
 
 He said, " She has a lovely face ; 
 
 God in his mercy lend her grace. 
 
 The Lady of Shalott." ' 
 
 It is needless to say that the Lady of Shalott is our 
 Fair Elayne of Astolat, nor do we care to enquire too 
 closely into the way in which the poet produced the 
 
CH.V1I.] LANCELOT AND ELAYNE. 
 
 ^53, 
 
 picture, lest the search should tend to remove the deep 
 tint of mystery which he has given his work. 
 
 To the two Elaynes, already cited from the pages of 
 Malory, a third of the same origin may be added. To 
 the name of this latter Elayne he gives, accidentally or 
 purposely, the form Eleyne ; and he makes her the 
 daughter of a king Pellinore, the father also of Perceval 
 (Peredur) ^. His account of her is brief : she slew herself 
 for pure sorrow, caused by the death of the knight who 
 was to wed her. He was called Sir Myles of the 
 Laundes, and his slayer was a certain Lorayne le 
 Saueage^. To place the mythological relation of this 
 story to that of the other Elaynes in a clear light, would 
 require more data than Malory supplies for judging of 
 the attributes of Eleyne's lover and his antagonist re- 
 spectively. Besides the suicide of the lady we have 
 only her father's strange character. When wanted, he 
 was to be found near a certain well, and he is made to 
 describe himself as King of the Isles, and he devotes 
 himself so eagerly to his quest, that but for this he 
 might have saved his daughter's life. He was always 
 following a strange beast, and his quest belonged ex- 
 clusively to him and his next of kin. The animal is 
 called the questing or barking beast, and Malory gives 
 the following account of it, as it came in advance of 
 Pellinore to the fountain near which Arthur happened 
 to be, when Merlin a little later explained to him, as 
 already mentioned (p. 21), that King Loth's wife was 
 Arthur's own sister : — ^Arthur, seated there and absorbed 
 in his own musings, thought 'he herd a noyse of 
 houndes to the somme of xxx/And with that the 
 kynge sawe coming toward hym the straungest best 
 
 » Malory, i. 24, x. 54 ; also the Huth Merlin (ed. by Paris and Ulrich), i. a6i. 
 ' Malory, iii. 14, 15. 
 
it54 Ai^riii'iuAN Li:c,i:Nn. [cn. vii. 
 
 Ihat cucr he siiwc or licnl dl/so the best wcnU; to the 
 wcllc and draiik/and tlic noysc was in the bcstcs bdy 
 lykt- vnLo the (|ucslyn}; of xxx coupyl hoiindcs/but alle 
 the whyle tlic brcst dranke then- was no noysc in the 
 Ix'slcs be'ly/and tbcrwith the best dc|)artrd with a grete 
 noysf/whciol' the kyni^: had i^rclc nicnieyll '.' 
 
 That fountain was a lavoiirito haunt of l\'llin()rc, for, 
 on takin.t,^ away Arthur's horscr without his leave, he 
 told him he niii^lU find him near that well, whenever he 
 liked to challenge him ; so he reminds on(; of the lilack 
 Knight of tlie l'"ountain, at which he might at any time 
 be rhallenj^a'd ; and it was his hal)it to take away the 
 horses of the- knights he vanquished, as already men- 
 tioned in connection with the story of Owcin. Pelli- 
 norc, however, did not acliiev(; his (|uest, as we r<'ad of 
 the strange beast beinj:^ followed after his death by his 
 'next kyn,' Palomydis of the IMack Shield, who is 
 described as a Saracen and sometimes accused of being 
 a treacherous knight*. He was the rival and enemy of 
 Tristram, a knight wlio is to be classed, mytholoi^ically 
 speak in;.;, with Lancelot. Though Peiiinorewas made to 
 swear at Arthur's court 'vpon the four euuan^^elystes to 
 telle the trouth of his quest ■',' we are left unaided as to the; 
 interpretation to be put on tin; barking beast ; but like the 
 cropped sow of Welsh superstition'* it is |)tobal)Iy to be 
 associated with night, and the many barkings of the 
 beast remind one of Cerberus with his three heads. As 
 
 I Miiliiry, i. 19. 
 
 " II). I. rp, 20, viil. 0, i". IS, X. r;j, 19, ao, 43, 43, ~t<t 8, 8a 8. V>y 
 l'(:lIitinrc'H nrxt of kill IH [H'rihnlily iMfdiil. hin Itiollif-r, I'oi- he if* nn( his flnn, 
 but that of A\ll(ilitii' (x. 8a), n niiinc whiili loolis as tlmii^/li it cMriir Iniiri llir 
 Welsh word i-z/^nwr;-, ':i|"ii'lilt;«s nr balbiilii-iit,' lui- hrMidni llii- Kirniliirity 
 brtwi in f unci f, till.: V ol llii- A'n/ II(miI,\ I'lir rxiiiii|ili', tn ollrn vc-ry honi In 
 iliMliMj';iiiHh from b. With I he uhc ol njliumr iim a narrii- or rjjilhrl, i-ompiirr 
 th.'it of l(,yr ll.riliMilh, |>. l.jo. 
 
 ' lb. ill. 15. * J lib. I.rr. |,, 516, 
 
Ch. VII.] LANCELOT AND ELAYXE. 155 
 
 the animal barked like thirty hounds ', one is tempted 
 to think that the original story treated it not as Pelli- 
 nore's game but as his hound, and that a hound, 
 perhaps, with three heads described barking each as 
 loudly as ten ordinary hounds. A three-headed dog of 
 the kind is associated, on a Gaulish altar from Ober- 
 Seebach near Strasburg^, with a god who appears to 
 have been Esus. On Welsh ground we should recognize 
 Pellinore and his monster as another version of Gw3ti 
 ab Nud, king of the other world, hunting with his 
 fierce hound. What Gwyn hunts are the souls of those 
 who are d3ring ; but Christianity has greatly narrowed 
 his hunting ground, as his quarry can now only be the 
 souls of notoriously wicked men : at any rate, this is a 
 qualification which the author has heard in Cardigan- 
 shire a few years ago. We have alluded to Gw3"n's 
 hound, but that only meant the most formidable of his 
 hounds, of which he would seem to have had an in- 
 definite number. Some lines in point occur in the 
 Black Book of Carmar-then, a manuscript of the 12th 
 century, and they run thus^: 
 
 'Gwyn : 
 Ystec vy ki ac istrun. 
 Ac yssew. orev or cvn. 
 Dorma ch oet hunnv afv y maelgun. 
 Fair is my hound and .... 
 And of the hounds he is the best, 
 Dormarth, that was Maelgwn's* 
 1 Malory gives it first as 'a noyse of houudes to the somme oi xxx,' 
 but afterwards, as already cited, he speaks of it as a noise ' in the bestes 
 bely lyke vnto the questyng of xxx coupyl houndes ; ' so also at ix. 12, where 
 he gives a still more strange account of the monster. 
 " Hib. Lee. p. 66. 
 ^ Evans's Autotype, p. 50 a. 
 
 * The introduction of Maelgwm's name into a context of this kind is hard 
 to understand, except on some such a supposition as that it was in the first 
 instance borne by a mythic personage : could it be regarded as a synonsrm 
 of Maelwas or Melwas ? 
 
156 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. VII. 
 
 GWYBNO : 
 
 Dorma ch truinrut ba ssillit 
 arnaw canissamgiffredit. 
 dy gruidir ar wibir winit.' 
 
 Dormarth red-nosed, ground-gazing — 
 
 On him we perceived the speed 
 
 Of thy wandering on Cloud Mount^. 
 
 The proper name is in both instances written in the 
 same way, with a letter erased or left uncopied, and 
 the explanation is that the name lay before the scribe 
 as Dormarch, involving apparently the word march, 
 ' horse,' which struck him, or the reviser of his work, as 
 wholly inapplicable to a dog : hence the gap. For by re- 
 ducing the name to Dormach, he avoided the difficulty, as 
 Dormach probably connoted nothing to him any more 
 than it does to us. What he should, however, have 
 done was to read Dormarch into Dormarth ^, a com- 
 pound made up of dor, ' door/ and marth, a word which 
 occurs also in the Book of Taliessin, a manuscript of the 
 13th century, namely in the following curious passage ' : 
 
 ' G6eleis ymlad taer yn nant ffrangcon. 
 Du6 sul* pryt pylgeint r6g Cytheint agCydyon. 
 Dyf ieu yn geugant yd aethant von. 
 
 ' The author does not pretend to understand these last lines ; but what he 
 has rendered Cloud Mount was probably a place-name. The word wibir, in 
 modern Welsh wybr, gwybr means sky, but it is the Latin vapor botrowed, 
 and it formerly meant a cloud. ' Sky Mountain ' might also do, as Gwyn's 
 favourite haunt in the day-time was the cloud-clad tops of the hills, and one 
 of the names for his dogs is Cwn Wybyr, or Sky Hounds. 
 
 ' Further, to have been in the scribe's own orthography, the name should 
 have been written Dorwarth (pronounced Dorvarth), and the retention of 
 the m shows that he was copying from a manuscript in the orthography of 
 the Old Welsh of the glosses of the 9th century. 
 
 ^ See the Taliessin poem, No. 16, in Skene, ii. p. 159 ; but the reading here 
 given has been revised with the help of the original in Mr. Wynne of 
 Peniarth's collection. 
 
 * The words Du6 sul, ' on Sunday,' spoil the metre, and very possibly did 
 not belong to the original. 
 
Ch. VII.] LANCELOT AND ELA YNE. 157 
 
 y geissaC yscut ahudolyon. 
 
 Aranrot drem clot tra g6a6r hinon. 
 
 MCyhaf g6arth ymarth o parth brython. 
 
 Dybrys am ylys efnys afon. 
 
 Afon ae hechrys gOrys gOrth terra. 
 
 G6en0yn ychynbyt kylch byt eda.' 
 
 / saw sharp fighting in Nant Francon 
 
 At cockcrow 'twixt Gwytheint and Gwydion 
 
 On Thursday in sooth ivent they to Mon 
 
 Swiftly to contend with the wizards 
 
 Of Arianrhod beauty-famed beyond summer's dawn 
 
 The greatest disgrace the Death on the Brythons' side 
 
 Round his court the rainbow river hastens^ 
 
 That river of dread strife hard by terra 
 
 Venom its essence around the world it goes. 
 
 The court here referred to is the court of Death, 
 separated from this world by a mighty river called 
 elsewhere the Eel River, in reference to some idea like 
 that of the Norse World-snake^; and the Marth would 
 seem to be here a personification of death. The word 
 is doubtless of the same origin as the Latin mors, 
 mortis, 'death.' So the compound Dor-marth must 
 have meant the Marth at the door of Annwn or Hades, 
 or still better, perhaps, the Marth which was the door of 
 Annwn. This may be illustrated by a curious descrip- 
 tion of death, which is still current in the south of 
 Cardiganshire, namely, Bwlch Safan y Ci, ' the Gap or 
 Pass of the Dog's Mouth;' and it may be questioned 
 whether such an English term as ' the jaws of death ' or 
 the German ' Rachen des Todes ' originated in a mere 
 
 ' This line seems to personify the Marth, while the preceding one only 
 requires the word to mean mortality or slaughter on the Brythonic side, 
 which would fit in with what we learn elsewhere as to Gwydion and 
 Amaethon's contests with the dark powers : see Hib. Lee. pp. 244-50. We 
 do not attempt to punctuate : the whole is obscure. 
 
 " Vigfusson and Powell's Corpus Poetieum Boreale, ii. 125, 200, 223, 232 : 
 compare also the Book of the Dun, f. Ss"", where a passage in the Bruden Da 
 Derga speaks of in leuiddn timchella inn demon, ' the Leviathan that sur- 
 rounds the world.' 
 
158 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. Vii. 
 
 metaphor. At any rate, one is reminded of the medi- 
 aeval pictures of hell with the entrance thereinto repre- 
 sented as consisting of the open jaws of a monster 
 mouth ^ It is in some such a hideous fancy that one is 
 probably to seek the explanation of Dormarth, or door- 
 death, as the name of Gwyn's dog, though, in the 
 poem cited, the latter seems to have been rather re- 
 presented hunting with his master. This agrees best 
 also with the modern Welsh superstition which some- 
 times makes the Dogs of Annwn, led by one dog far 
 bigger and louder than the rest, hunt at night over- 
 head near the ground, and to stop giving tongue now 
 and then, as if to devour an overtaken victim, when 
 heart-rending screams fill the air ^. 
 
 To return to Pellinore, the uncanny nature of his 
 quest is emphasized by the account given of his 
 successor Palomydes, the Saracen and determined rival 
 of Tristram for the love of the fair Isoud. We have 
 now attempted to trace the damsel Eleyne back to a 
 father belonging to the same dark type as Pelles the 
 father of Elayne. But the relation of the lady of that 
 name to Lancelot varies widely, as already indicated 
 in the different treatments of her story; among other 
 things it may be mentioned that Lancelot lives many 
 years with Pelles' daughter in the Joyous Isle as does 
 Peredur with the Empress, while on the other hand the 
 
 ' Take, for example, the picture at the bottom of folio 3 of the Csedmon 
 Manuscript, numbered Junius 11, in Bodley's Library, and supposed to date 
 early in the nth century. 
 
 ^ See the Rev. Edmund Jones's Relation of Apparitions of Spirits in the 
 County of Monmouth and the Principality of Wales (Newport, 1813), pp. 
 39, 71, where the big hound is described as having ' a white tail and a white 
 snip down his nose,' and p. 82, where we have some more details, especially 
 about the big hound. The author was exceedingly spiritual, and his book, 
 as we are told on the title-page, was ' designed to confute and to prevent the 
 infidelity of denying the being and Apparition of Spirits, which tends to 
 Irreligion and Atheism.' 
 
Ch. VII.] LANCELOT AND ELAYNE. 159 
 
 former never acknowledges himself in love with the 
 Fair Maid of Astolat, otherwise the Lady of Shalott, 
 nor was Pellinore's daughter wedded to the knight she 
 loved : he was to have wedded her, if only he had lived. 
 But, with the exception of the last-mentioned lady, whose 
 attitude is not mentioned, they agree in taking the 
 initiative in love-making, and that in the case, for in- 
 stance, of the Fair Maid of Astolat in such an un- 
 feminine fashion, that we are loth to regard it as due to 
 the imagination of any romancer, so much as an integral 
 part of the ancient story when it reached the Ages of 
 Chivalry : such, in fact, as we find it in the epic story of 
 the Tain, where the Morrigu makes proposals of love 
 to Ciichulainn. 
 
 The Elayne with whom Lancelot lived in the Joyous 
 Isle is usually treated in the romances as the mother of 
 Galahad, whose descent is a matter of considerable 
 mythological interest. A Welsh Triad, based on some 
 version of the Grail story, reads imperfectly to the 
 foMiRing effect : — The three knights of Arthur's court 
 whMound the Grail, Galath, son of Lancelot du Lac, 
 andWeredur, son of Earl Evrawc, and Bort\ son of 
 KinyBort. The two knights first-named were virgin as 
 to their bodies, and the third was chaste, as he only 
 once committed carnal sin, and that owing to temptation, 
 when he begat . . .^ on Brangor's daughter, who was 
 empress in Constantinople, and from whom came; the 
 greatest family in the world. And they were descended 
 all three from the family of Joseph of Arimathea and 
 from the lineage of the Prophet David, as the historia of 
 
 ' So runs Triad i. 61, but Triad iii. 122 calls him Bwrt son of Bwrt, king of 
 ILychlyn. 
 
 ^ The editors of the Myv. Arch, acknowledge that they were unable to fill 
 in the name, or more correctly speaking, perhaps, the names, to wit, both 
 of the son and his mother. 
 
i6o ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. VII. 
 
 the Grail witnesseth.' The Empress of Constantinople 
 referred to is, of course, the Empress represented in 
 the story of Peredur as his wife: how she is to be 
 identified with the Elen of Welsh mythology has 
 already (p. no) been suggested. But her father is here 
 called Brangor, in whose name we clearly have an 
 attempt to render into Welsh Malory's Brandegore'^, 
 which he should have analysed into Bran de Gore, 
 The writer of the Triad would seem to have done this, 
 and construed Bran Gor rightly as Bran of Gor; he 
 failed only to see that Gor, more correctly Goire ^, was 
 the Welsh Gwyr, and that he should have written Bran 
 Gwyr, that is to say ' Bran of Gower,' in allusion to the 
 peninsula of that name in the Severn Sea. 
 
 In Bran we recognize one of the principal names of 
 the Celtic Dis ^, and the propriety of connecting him with 
 Gower will come under notice later. So we return to 
 Malory's mention (xii. 9) of Brandegore, and the coming 
 to his court of two brothers called Bors and Lionel, 
 ' and there,' the story goes on to say, ' syr Bors was 
 wel knowen/for he had geten a child vpon the kynges 
 doughter fyten yere to forne/& his name was Helyn 
 le blank /And whanne syre Bors sawe that child hit 
 lyked hym passynge wel/And so the knyghtes had 
 good chere of the kynge Brandegore /And on the 
 morne syre Bors came afore kynge Brandegore and said 
 
 ' See Malory, xii. 9, but in i. 14, 15 he has Brandegorys, which is short- 
 ened in xi. 4 to Brangorys, while in i. 12 the bearer of the name is more fully 
 described as Kynge Brandegoris of Stranggore. 
 
 " M. Paris in discussing the name of Melwas's realm, Rom. xii. 467, men- 
 tions the reading Goirre, but considers that Gorre is the best reading of the 
 MSS. of Chretien's Charrette. From the point of view of the Welsh, Goire 
 should be preferred to both, and the mistake probably arose from the simi- 
 larity of ir in the old writing to rr, especially when the rr were closely joined 
 together. 
 
 " Hib, Lee. pp. 94-8. 
 
CH.VU.] LANCELOT AND ELAYNE. l6l 
 
 Here is my sone Hel3'n le blanck/that as it is sayd he 
 is my sone /And sythe hit is soo/I wille that ye wete 
 that I wil haue hym with me vnto the Courte of 
 kynge Arthur/ Sir sayd the kyng/ye maye wel take 
 hym with you/but he is ouer tender of age/As for that 
 sayd syre Bors I wille haue hym with me /and brynge 
 hym to the hows of most worship of the world/Soo 
 whanne syre Bors shold departe/ there was made grete 
 sorowe for the departynge of Helyn le blanck/and 
 grete wepynge was there made /But sire Bors and 
 syre Lyonel departed/And within a whyle they came 
 to Camelot /where was kynge Arthur /And whanne 
 kynge Arthur vnderstood that Helyn le blank was 
 kynge Bors sone/and neuewe vnto kynge Brandegore/ 
 Thenne kynge Arthur lete hym make knyghte of the 
 round table/and soo he preued a good knyght/and 
 an aduenturous.' 
 
 Who, it may now be asked, was the Sir Bors of this 
 story? There can be no serious doubt that he was 
 the same person called Bort in the Welsh Triads, for 
 besides the similarity of the name, Bors like Bort was 
 one of those who found the Holy GraiP. Further, 
 Malory tells us, in his way, who Bors was ^ : he was 
 brother to Lancelot's father, king Ban of Benwyk. 
 He was king of Ganys, and the realms of both are 
 represented as being beyond the sea, and subject to the 
 ravages of a certain King Claudas. The brothers were 
 invited to this island by Arthur, that they might be of 
 help to him. The identity of Ban or Pan' with Uthr 
 Ben or Uthr Pen-dragon is shown by his name, and 
 
 ' Malory, xi. s, xvii. ig-aa, and Williams' Seint Great, pp. 163-9, 542-5- 
 2 It is hardly necessary to notice that he sometimes makes Bors into two 
 
 persons, Syr Bors de Ganys, as in iv. 19, and Kynge Bors of Gaule, as in 
 
 i. 10. 
 
 M 
 
1 63 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. VII, 
 
 the Story of his dying immediately after drinking from 
 a certain well (p. 127) ^ This has its counterpart in 
 Geoffrey's account of Uthr Pendragon's death in con- 
 sequence of his foes having poisoned the well he was 
 wont to drink from ^ Thus Bors readily falls into his 
 place as Ambrosius^ or Emrys, brother to Uthr Ben, 
 especially as the two are described by Geoffrey as 
 exiles in France, whence they are invited to come over 
 to take possession of this country against Vortigern 
 and his allies. But under the name Ambrosius or 
 Emrys were confounded the historical Aurelius Am- 
 brosius and the mythic Merlin Ambrosius, in whom we 
 appear to have the Celtic Zeus in one of his many 
 forms. This is also the mythic personage whom we 
 have been led to consider as the one superseded 
 by the Emperor Maxen in the Welsh story of Elen 
 Lilydog*. In fact, the legend as to Bors having 
 a son by Elayne or Elen comes as a proof that our 
 hypothesis fits the facts of the case. Thus we may 
 say that Bors, Ambrosius, or Merlin Ambrose was the 
 Emperor required to be correlated to the Empress in 
 the Triads and the story of Peredur ; he was her 
 husband by a right anterior to that which gives her 
 Peredur as her consort. This was the last develop- 
 ment of the Welsh story, those versions being probably 
 more original which treated Elen or Elayne as in love 
 with Lancelot without his requiting it. It affords some 
 ground for the presumption, that the more ancient 
 versions represented Bors or Ambrosius as the father 
 of Elen's son or sons rather than Peredur or Lan- 
 celot, and Malory's chapter relating to the knighting of 
 Helyn le Blank deserves attention here ; for it begins 
 
 ' That story makes Ban of Benwyk into Pant of Genewis. 
 
 ' Geoffrey, viii. 24, R. B. Bruts, p. 184. 
 
 ' Hib. Lee. p 151. « lb. p. 166. 
 
CH.VII.] LANCELOT AND ELAYNE. 163 
 
 respecting Bors and his son Helyn, represented as the 
 son of a mother whose name we have inferentially 
 found to have been Elen. In Malory's narrative she is 
 made, as already related, greatly to lament the boy's 
 departure with his father, namely, to Arthur's court to be 
 knighted, as he was then just fifteen years of age. 
 
 The rest of the chapter, referring, so far as we can see, 
 to contemporaneous incidents, describes certain knights 
 of Arthur's court finding Lancelot settled with Elayne in 
 the Joyous Isle, and inducing him to return with them 
 to Arthur's court. Now Elayne gives vent to her great 
 sorrow on account of his departing just at the time 
 when their son Galahad was to be knighted at the 
 approaching pentecost, as he was by this time fifteen 
 years of age. Thus we gather that the stories de- 
 scribing the sons respectively of Bors and Lancelot as 
 being fifteen seemingly at the same time, should be 
 regarded as two accounts of one and the same Galahad. 
 The explanation is to be sought in a confusion of two 
 persons, such as might have happened in Irish legend 
 if the Morrigu had been confused with the lady 
 who provided Ciichulainn with a bath and other com- 
 forts at the beginning of his labours on the Tain^. 
 Thus it would seem that the lady whose love Lancelot 
 failed to requite, ought not to have borne the same name 
 as she who became the mother of his son : only one of 
 the two should have had that name. Which of them 
 we have no sure means of deciding ; but an indication 
 of some value is afforded by the fact that the mother of 
 Gwalchaved (Galahad) bears in Welsh the name Gwyar, 
 which, as hinted later, induces us to compare her with 
 the Morrigu of Irish legend. 
 
 In that case, one has here to distinguish between two 
 
 ' Hib. Lee. pp. 378, 468. 
 M 2 
 
i64 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch.VII, 
 
 very different characters as bearing the name Elayne 
 in the romances. In other words, the amiable Elayne 
 of the Joyous Isle and the watery form of the Lady of 
 Shalott, which in some respects reminds one of the 
 Undine figure of the Fand of the Cuchulainn story, 
 should be regarded as outlines of one and the same 
 woman of the lake-lady type; while she whose love 
 Lancelot repels should have borne a different name and 
 displayed a different temper. The same confusion, 
 however, of the two characters is to be traced in the 
 case of Peredur's wife the Empress, in that of Owein's 
 wife, and in that of Bors', where she is called Elayne. 
 The original form of the Peredur, we take it, made 
 distinct persons of the Empress and the damsel who gave 
 Peredur the conceahng stone (p. 87), and perhaps made 
 Peredur persist to the end in repelling the advances of 
 the Empress, just as Cuchulainn did with the Morrigu. 
 By identifying the two ladies the narrative of the Per- 
 edur gained doubtless in coherence, while it departed at 
 an important point from the mythological events of 
 which it was at first the exponent. The confusion in 
 some form or other dates probably very early, and may 
 have originated in the mythological shifting, which 
 sometimes resulted in placing the sun-hero in the place 
 of the ancient Zeus of the Celts. Practically, then, 
 the two versions of Galahad's pedigree come to this: 
 the one represents him as the son of the sun-hero by 
 his consort of the lake-lady type, that is Galahad as the 
 son of Lancelot and Elayne. The other makes him 
 son of the Celtic Zeus and his consort, and this we trace 
 partly in the story of Bors's son, and partly in the name 
 of Gwyar, mother of Galahad under the native form of 
 his name of Gwalchaved. Mythologically speaking, the 
 one descent is as little open to objection as the other. 
 
CH.VII.] LANCELOT AND ELAYNE. 165 
 
 If, moreover, Galahad as Gwalchaved be not treated as 
 brother of Gwalchmei by the same mother, but abso- 
 lutely identified with him, then we might have to admit 
 a third pedigree, making Arthur his father and Gwyar 
 his mother, as suggested in the first chapter. This 
 would have to be explained as a result of another 
 mythological provection, which in some instances thrust 
 the Culture Hero into the place of the more ancient 
 head of the Celtic pantheon. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Galahad and Gwalchaved. 
 
 In the last chapter, Lancelot occupied our attention, 
 and partly Galahad : let us now examine the story about 
 the latter a little more closely, beginning with his name. 
 This was at first Lancelot's likewise^ ; but we shall use 
 it only as the younger hero's, and regard it merely as 
 the romancers' way of reproducing the Welsh name of 
 Gwalchavet or Gwalchaved (p. 13). Galahad or Galaad 
 had also the form Galahauf, which was frequently made 
 into Galahalt. Malory attempts to distinguish them as 
 follows : Lancelot's son, the Grail knight, is oftenest 
 called by him Galahad and Galahalt, and sometimes the 
 epithet is added of the haute prynce ^. But as a rule this 
 is reserved by him for Breunor's son ^, whom he calls 
 Galahaut or Galahalt and Galahad*: he is described 
 as lord of the country of Surluse ^. This second Gala- 
 had of Surluse is the Galehaut mentioned in the prose 
 version of the Charrette as King of the Far Away Isles, 
 
 ' See Malory, xi. 3, also the Romania, x. 489, where M. Paris treats 
 Galaad as a ' nom biblique,' but there must be some mistake here, as we can 
 only find Galaad and terra Galaad (in the sense of ' Gilead ' and ' the Land of 
 Gilead ') in the Vulgate. 
 
 ^ Malory, ii. 16, 19, xiii. 4, xvii. i. 
 
 ^ lb. viii. 26. 
 
 * Sommer also prints Galahaud and Galahault : see Malory, viii. 27 and 
 vii. a8. 
 
 ' lb. X. 40. 
 
CH.VIII.] GALAHAD AND GWALCHAVED. le'j 
 
 and regarded by M. Paris as a comparatively late in- 
 vention ^. In other words, these two Galahads were at 
 first but one, namely, the knight of Grail celebrity ; and to 
 him alone appertained, presumably, the epithet of haute 
 or noble prince. Malory's pages, however, may almost 
 be said to have a whole Galahad family figuring in them, 
 as they speak of a Galihud and of a Galyhodyn^, 
 together with ' many moo of syre Launcelots blood.' 
 Of the two principal forms of Galahad's name, the other, 
 namely Galahaut, seems to come nearest to the Welsh 
 Gwalchaved in its written form of Gualchauet, while to 
 arrive at Galahad or Galaad, we seem to have some- 
 thing like a leapjrom Old French avez to ad, for Latin 
 habetis and habet respectively. 
 
 The opinion here advanced as to the Welsh origin of 
 the name Galahad is to some extent confirmed by the 
 story of a hot spring called after him. Malory speaks of 
 it thus ^: 'And thenne Galahad putte hym in the erthe as 
 a kynge oughte to be/and soo departede/& soo came in 
 to a perillous foreste where he fond the welle/the whiche 
 boylled with grete wawes as the tale telleth to fore/And 
 as soone as Galahad sette his hand therto it seaced/so 
 that it brente no more/and the hete departed/for that it 
 brente hit was a sygne of lechery the whiche was that 
 tyme moche vsed/but that hete myght not abyde his pure 
 vyrgyntye/& this was taken in the countrey for a myrakle/ 
 And soo euer after was it called Callahadys welle/Thenne 
 by aduenture he cam in to the countrey of Gore.' Now 
 Geoffrey speaks more than once of a well near which 
 
 ' Romania, xii. 487. The name Calehaut is probably to be identified with 
 the Galehot of the Huth Merlin, ii. 61. 
 
 ^ ' Galyhodyn was nyghe cosyn vnto Galahalt the haute prynce/And this 
 Galyhodyn was kynge within the countrey of Surluse.' — Malory, x. 66. 
 
 ' Malory, xvii. 18: see also Williams' Seint Greal, pp. 160, 540, and 
 Nutt, p. 50. 
 
1 68 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. Viii. 
 
 Merlin was usually to be found. In his text it is called 
 ' Fons Galabes,' and said to be ' in natione Gewisseorum\' 
 Fons Galabes and Galahad's Well probably referred to 
 the same spring, and in that case the name Galabes may 
 be said to stand about half way between the Welsh 
 Gwalchavet or Gwalchaved and Galahad or Galaad^. 
 
 The Welsh form of the name is probably to be 
 analysed into Gwalch-haved, from gwalch, ' a hawk 
 or falcon,' and a vocable derived from hav or haf, 
 ' summer.' The whole word may, accordingly, be in- 
 terpreted as meaning the Hawk of Summer and forming 
 a sort of synonym of Gwalchmei, which resolves itself 
 into Gwalch-mei, 'the Hawk of the month of May^.' It 
 is further possible that some such a third name of 
 Gwalchmei's as Gwalch-gwyn, 'White Hawk,' or 
 Gwalch-hevin, 'Summer Hawk,' is implied by such 
 romance forms of his name as Gauvain, Gawa3Tie, and 
 Walewein. The reason for this predilection for a hawk 
 nomenclature in the case of the sun-god is not very 
 apparent ; but we may compare that of the Greek 
 Hehus, who was sometimes assigned the form of a 
 hawk or falcon *. 
 
 ' See San-Marte's Geoffrey, viii. lo ; but in vii. 4 we have ' Valles Galabes' 
 and 'Fons Galaes.' 
 
 ^ From Gwalcliavet, virith the usual difficulty of distinguishing in some 
 manuscripts between b and v, was made Galabet, which, with the s of the 
 old French nominative, became Galabets, written Galabez, whence Geoffrey's 
 Galabes : compare such forms as Galaad and Gahariet, nominative Galaas and 
 Gaharies in the Huth Mei-lin, ii. 59. 
 
 ' See the note at p. 13, and compare ' the hawk whereof Castrar had such 
 fear,' mentioned by Nutt, p. 9, in his abstract of the Pseudo-Chretien's 
 Conie du Graal. Castrar would seem to lend itself to identification with the 
 Casnar Wledic mentioned at the end of the Mabinogi of Pwylt, R. B. Mab. 
 P- 25. 
 
 * Preller, in his Griechische Mythologie', ii. 191, quotes Porphyry, De 
 Abstinentia, iv. 16 : Kol flcois Si oiSrai TrpoaTiy6pevffav t^i» /jji/ 'ApTeptv KvKatvav, 
 Tov bi "H\iov aaupoVj keoyra, ZpaiioVTa, UpaKa, ttjv 5' ^EKCtTrjv i-nirov, ravpov, 
 XfaivaVj Kvva. 
 
Ch.VIII.] GALAHAD AND GWALCHAVED. 169 
 
 To return to Gwalchaved, it is unfortunate that he 
 is, so far as we know, only mentioned once in our 
 stories ; namely, in that of Kulhwch, where he is thus 
 mentioned with Gwalchmei in the list of warriors in- 
 voked by the hero of the tale ^ : ' Gwalchmei son of 
 Gwyar, Gwalhauet son of Gwyar,' where Gwyar was 
 one of the names of Gwalchmei's mother : Geoffrey 
 of Monmouth calls her Anna, and makes her Arthur's 
 sister and wife to King Loth^- Gwyar, however, is a 
 word used by Welsh poets in the sense of shed blood ; 
 so that as a proper name it seems to refer to Gwalchmei's 
 mother as a war-fury, a character very different from 
 that ascribed to Galahad's mother under her name of 
 Elayne in the romances. The interest of the name 
 Gwyar, then, consists in its placing the bearer of it on 
 the level of the Irish Morrigu as a war-fury, and the 
 consort of the Celtic Zeus regarded as a god of war, 
 and in its exposing to our gaze a layer of Celtic mytho- 
 logy which has been mostly overlaid by later strata. To 
 come back to the words in the story of Kulhwch, the 
 habits of the story-teller are not such that we can regard 
 him as proving, that Gwalchaved is not to be mytho- 
 logically treated as merely another name of Gwalchmei's. 
 The assumption of their original identity would, at any 
 rate, meet the serious difficulty arising from the fact 
 that Welsh literature has nothing hardly to say about 
 Gwalchaved. On the other hand, the treatment of Gwalch- 
 mei and Gwalchaved as distinct persons would not be, 
 so far as we can see, open to any serious objection of a 
 mythological nature. That Gwalchaved is in either case 
 to be regarded as originally a sun-hero, is highly pro- 
 bable ; and among the stories pointing in this direction 
 
 ' R. B. Mab. p. 112. 
 
 ^ See, however, Brut Tysilio in the Myv. Arch. li. 311. 
 
l7o ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch.VIII. 
 
 may be mentioned the one which represents the sword 
 of Balyn miraculously preserved for Galahad : it could 
 only be handled, it is said, by him and by Lancelot \ 
 
 Something must now be said of the Holy Grail, in 
 order to render intelligible the position of him, who 
 brought the quest of it to a successful issue. The 
 Grail was sometimes regarded as the eucharistic vessel, 
 and sometimes as that in which Joseph of Arimathea 
 was beheved to have collected and preserved the blood 
 of Christ. This vessel had all kinds of virtues ascribed 
 it ; for example, it would by the ministration of angels 
 come with all manner of sweetness and savour to the 
 knights deemed worthy of that distinction at the hands 
 of Heaven, and to them it was food and drink ; also 
 an infallible cure from all ailments and diseases, what- 
 ever their nature might be ; but this was denied to all 
 untrue knights and sinners. When the Saxon pagans 
 began to invade the country, the holy vessel mysteriously 
 disappeared, but it was to be discovered again in Arthur's 
 time, for his knights were to undertake the search for it; 
 and one of them was destined to find it, or to achieve 
 the quest of it, as it was termed : he was no other than 
 Galahad. All this was embodied in a romance called 
 the Queste du St. Graal, whose author is not known ; but 
 whoever he may have been, he cannot be said to have 
 planned his plot badly, when he entrusted his quest to 
 the knights of Arthur's court. For they were famous in 
 Welsh story for undertaking things of the kind, and we 
 have a sort of parallel to the quest of the Holy Grail in 
 Arthur's expedition in search of the cauldron of Diwr- 
 nach the Goidel. The story of Kulhwch abundantly 
 shows that Arthur's court was the nursery, so to say, of 
 all kinds of pagan quests, if we may use the word in the 
 
 ' Malory, ii. 19. 
 
Ch.VIIL] GALAHAD AND GWALCHAVED. 171 
 
 sense in which it was employed by the romancers. One 
 of these quests is especially in point here, but the nature 
 of it will be better understood in a later chapter. 
 
 Now the romances about the Holy Grail range them- 
 selves in two groups, relating respectively to the quest of 
 the Grail, and to its earlier history. Those purporting 
 to give its early history are the later ones in point of 
 date, and they would seem to owe their origin to an 
 after-thought. The romances describing the quest of 
 the Grail having made it famous, without narrating how 
 it found its way into Britain, there grew up a quantity of 
 literature pretending to give the history of the Grail 
 previous to the era of the quests, and this pretended 
 history took in the main two forms. One of the two made 
 Joseph of Arimathea the bringer of the Grail, for, with 
 the aid of his converts from the East, he brings about the 
 evangelization of Britain. This, in effect, is the well- 
 known Glastonbury legend, which was sometimes 
 fostered by the kings of England when they happened 
 to be at variance with the Pope and resisting the claims 
 of the Church of Rome. The other form of the early 
 history of the Grail knows nothing of the companions 
 of Joseph, and he is only indirectly concerned in the 
 Christianizing of this country, namely, through the in- 
 strumentality of kinsmen of his bearing decidedly Celtic 
 names ^, such as that of Bron, who receives the Grail 
 and becomes the leading personage. This proved the 
 less popular of the two stories with the romancers, but 
 one somewhat approaching it has met with a certain 
 amount of favour in Wales. As given in the Triads^, it 
 represents Bran the Blessed, son of ILyr ILediaith, as 
 the first to bring the Christian faith to Britain, when he 
 had, as it is alleged, been some years in Rome as one 
 
 • Nutt's Studies, pp. 79, 80, 94. ' Triads, iii. 17, 18 ; see also iii. 61. 
 
172 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. VIII. 
 
 of the British hostages, when his son Caratacus was 
 taken prisoner by Ostorius Scapula. 
 
 It is needless to say that this is all unhistorical, 
 that Tacitus makes no mention of the father of Cara- 
 tacus being present among the prisoners taken with 
 him, and that Dion Cassias ^ states that his father was 
 Cunobelinus, a comparatively well-known British king. 
 But the curious way in which the story arose is not 
 difficult to sketch : the old god Bran is called in the 
 Mabinogi Bendigeitvran, or Bran the Blessed, a re- 
 markable survival of the ancient paganism, which, 
 however, does not stand alone in his case; for his 
 head is called the Urctawl Ben, that is to say the Vener- 
 able or Dignified Head ^ Nevertheless, any figure more 
 unlike a historical man and especially anybody termed 
 blessed in the hagiological sense of the word, it would 
 be hard to imagine than this Bran, who was too big to 
 enter a house or step on board a ship. This was 
 softened down into a description of him merely as the 
 biggest man ever seen, the most generous in giving, and 
 the most hardy in war and distress ^- What served to 
 estabHsh the fiction was the fact, that the Mabinogi 
 gives Bran a son Caradawg or Caradog : he is more 
 fully called Caradawg Vreichvras or C. of the Stout 
 Arms, the Carados Brebras of the romances ; but the 
 name Caradawg was also familiar as the later Welsh 
 form of Caraiacos, written by Latin authors, Caratacus, 
 usually reproduced in English books as Caractacus, a 
 bit of gibberish out of fashion among scholars. So it 
 was argued backwards that the father of the historical 
 Caratacus was Bran the Blessed ; and the question 
 seems next to have been asked, why the latter was 
 
 ' Hist. Romana, Claudius, 20. 
 = Hib. Lee. p. 97. = lolo MSS. pp. 38, 414. 
 
Ch. VIII.] GALAHAD AND GWALCHAVED. 173 
 
 called blessed. An answer to the purport above in- 
 dicated v^ras not hard to invent, and the legend was 
 complete, how Christianity was first brought to Britain. 
 The whole is so like Geoffrey of Monmouth's work, that 
 one feels disappointed not to find it in his writings. As 
 it stands, then, we have no proof that the legend is old 
 enough to have influenced the romances dealing with 
 the early history of the Grail. 
 
 Now, of all the knights who entered on the quest of 
 the Grail, Galahad (Gwalchaved), Gwalchmei's brighter 
 brother or stronger self, is the one to whom the author 
 of the Queste du St. Graal has assigned the position 
 of pre-eminence, and this was in some degree facilitated 
 by thrusting him into the place occupied in other 
 stories by Peredur (Perceval). Second to Gwalchaved 
 comes Gwalchmei; for, when the former had brought 
 the quest to a successful close and gone to Heaven, the 
 Grail was no more seen except once by Gwalchmei 
 alone \ The success of both is made the result of their 
 chastity, and the whole romance is a sustained exalta- 
 tion of that virtue. But what can have been the 
 origin of this idea of glorifying the hero of chastity, 
 who would have found himself as uncongenially situated 
 among the knights and dames of Norman courts as he 
 would among the petted gallants of certain circles at 
 the present day? The asceticism of certain of the 
 religious orders might perhaps have led up to the idea 
 of continence and chastity, but it could off'er no ex- 
 planation that would meet the question as it presents 
 itself in Welsh literature. For it is found, with regard 
 to the principal knights whom we have ventured to 
 treat as late editions, so to say, of the sun-hero, 
 such as Gwalchmei, Peredur, and Owein, that they 
 
 1 Williams' Seint Greal, pp. 169, 545. 
 
174 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. VIII. 
 
 have no serious indiscretions attributed to them as 
 regards the other sex ; nor can that be treated as a mere 
 accident, since they are frequently placed in positions 
 of great delicacy, not to say difficulty. Take Peredur, 
 for instance, in the Welsh story of which we have given 
 an abstract, or Gwalchmei both in Welsh literature 
 and in the Enghsh romance called after the Green 
 Knight, who put him to a severe test. According to the 
 author of the Queste du St. Graal, Galahad (Gwalch- 
 aved) excelled, but Welsh tradition, in its silence about 
 him, gives Gwalchmei the palm, in that it ascribes to him 
 neither wife nor mistress. This does not quite apply 
 to the stories in their non -Welsh forms, for the 
 romancers, French, Norman, and English, do not seem 
 as a rule to have noticed the characteristic, here in 
 question, of certain knights they undertook to follow in 
 their narratives ; and on the whole they treated them 
 like the rest. How then came the Welsh story-tellers 
 to represent Gwalchmei, Peredur, and other knights of 
 the same class, as conducting themselves with such pro- 
 priety as regards the fair women so often at their 
 mercy ? There is no reason to suppose that the morals 
 of the Welsh in the Middle Ages were better than 
 those of other nations ; so students of our stories have 
 on the whole been inclined to think that the latter do 
 not in this respect faithfully represent the facts. 
 
 An instance will serve to make plain what we 
 mean, and we take it from a work to which reference 
 has already been made, namely, Mr. Nutt's Studies on 
 the Legend of the Holy Grail. We select him all the 
 more readily as he is one of the latest writers on the 
 subject, and free from prejudice against the Celts: in 
 speaking of Perceval at the town of Blanchefleur, he 
 uses these words, p. 135: — 'It may be noticed that in 
 
Ch. VIII.] GALAHAD AND GWALCHAVED. 175 
 
 this scene the Welsh story-teller is not only more chaste, 
 but shows much greater delicacy of feeling than the 
 French poet. Peredur's conduct is that of a gentle- 
 man according to nineteenth century standards. Chres- 
 tien, however, is probably nearer the historical reality, 
 and the conduct of his pair — 
 
 " S'il I'a sor le covertoir mise 
 * * * * 
 
 Ensi giurent tote la nuit," 
 
 is so singularly like that of a Welsh bundling couple, 
 that it seems admissible to refer the colouring given to 
 this incident to Welsh sources.' The practice here 
 referred to was hardly confined to Wales: it has 
 certainly been Scotch and Scandinavian, and it has 
 probably been Enghsh too. In the next place, Welsh 
 story has its Medrod and its Melwas, its Goronwy and 
 its Gilvaethwy, and it may be readily granted that the 
 passage in the Peredur does not come so near, as 
 Chretien's uglier words, to the historical reality, by 
 which we understand the average morality to be here 
 meant. We regard the treatment as exceptional, but 
 not due to any dishonesty of purpose on the part of 
 the Welsh story-teller or of a vain wish to whitewash 
 what would have probably appeared to him no more 
 hideous than it would to Chretien; and the question 
 for us is, to what cause we are to trace the exceptional 
 nature of the treatment. As to our Welsh story-tellers, 
 we take it that their stories, on the whole, were 
 genuine echoes, however, inarticulate, of ancient myths : 
 in other words, the story-tellers were as a rule neither 
 prudes nor inventors, but merely editors, in their own 
 way, of materials which they found ready for use. So 
 we have next to enquire what in Celtic mythology could 
 
176 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. Viii, 
 
 have led them to deal in the way they did with certain 
 characters in their stories ; and we have not far to go, 
 or long to search, for what we want ^- 
 
 A glance at the stories about the Welsh ILeu and the 
 Irish Ciichulainn will serve to show that one of the 
 characteristics of those sun-gods was their exceedingly 
 rapid growth : Ciichulainn, for example, was at seven 
 years of age a warrior of terrible skill and valour ; and 
 it is, probably, in this childhood of the solar hero that 
 we are to look for the key to the peculiarity of the solar 
 knights in the Welsh romances. Those who fashioned 
 the myths into romances, whether that was the work of 
 literary men or of the popular mind, would naturally 
 normalize the age of the knights or say nothing about 
 it, a silence which would come to the same thing ; but, 
 on the other hand, there was no equally forcible reason 
 to impel them to invent love intrigues for their heroes. 
 So the latter would thus, without any special intention 
 on anybody's part, and mostly perhaps without even 
 being perceived by the story-tellers themselves, appear 
 better behaved and more continent than the other 
 knights in their stories. As we have alluded to Ciichu- 
 lainn, we must not object to this hypothesis being 
 tested by a reference to his character ; but it must be 
 premised that the materials used in these lectures vary 
 widely in respect of the morals to which they testify. 
 Thus there is a very considerable gap between those of 
 society as it appears in the romances, and in the four 
 
 • In fact, Mr. Nutt narrowly escaped doing the work for us : witness the 
 following passage, in his note at p. 241, concerning Peredur (Percival) and 
 Blanchefleur : ' The older, mythic nature of Peredur's beloved, who might 
 woo without forfeiting womanly modesty, in virtue of her goddesshood, had 
 died away in the narrator's mind, the new ideal of cojirtly passion had not 
 won acceptance from him.' He refers to the scene as described in the 
 Welsh story of Peredur : see p. 80 above. 
 
GH.vrii.] GALAHAD AND GWALCHAVED. 177 
 
 Mabinogion respectively. In the latter it is found to be 
 morally on a far lower level, and it is with this stage 
 that society as described in the Ciichulainn stories has 
 to be compared : more accurately speaking, one may 
 regard these last as the more primitive of the two by a 
 good deal. At any rate one may say, with reference to 
 the question before us, that no idea of such a virtue as 
 chastity on the part of men is to be traced in the sagas 
 of ancient Erinn, and indications of its being expected 
 in the case of women are not very frequent or decided, 
 except that occasionally an Irish king insists on wedding 
 no woman favoured by any other man in his kingdom. 
 All this relates to a country whose women in modern 
 times are generally considered the most chaste in 
 Christendom. Such, then, as we have suggested, being 
 the social atmosphere in which we find Ciichulainn living 
 and having his being, not much could be expected from 
 him in the way of exemplary morals, especially as the 
 stories treat him in most things like an adult when he 
 is a child. Nevertheless, there are not wanting in- 
 stances^^and one of them has already been mentioned 
 (p. Ill)— of his declining overtures reaching him directly 
 or indirectly from ladies who had fallen in love with 
 him on account of his renown ^ 
 
 This is not all, for there was a peculiarity of Ciichu- 
 lainn's which is here in point, and is curiously illustrated 
 in connection with an Irish habit which we must now 
 try, with the aid of the student of man, to explain. Mr. 
 Herbert Spencer^ finds in the behaviour of the small 
 dog that throws itself on its back in the presence of an 
 
 ' Hib. Lee. pp. 342, 464, 468-9, 479. 
 
 ^ See his Ceremonial Institutions, especially pages 113, 114, 116, 128, 129, 
 133, to which the author is indebted for the following illustrations out of 
 many more with which the volume abounds. 
 
 N 
 
178 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. Viii. 
 
 alarmingly big dog, traces of the same motive as in 
 the corresponding attitudes assumed on occasion by 
 members of certain African tribes mentioned by Living- 
 stone. The attitude more particularly referred to is 
 interpreted to mean an appeal ad misericordiam, which 
 put into words would be : ' You need not subdue me, 
 I am subdued already.* Resistance, it is said, arouses 
 the destructive instincts, while prostration on the back 
 negatives resistance. One of the most remarkable 
 attitudes of this kind is that adopted by the common 
 people of Tonga Tabu, when they wish to show the 
 highest respect to their chief: they prostrate themselves 
 before him and put his foot on their necks. This 
 position represents completely that of the vanquished 
 beneath the victor; and other attitudes, more or less 
 helpless, serve to indicate the submission of the slave 
 to his master, of the ruled to the ruler, and even of any 
 one who wishes to show respect to another : take, for 
 instance, Benhadad's servants, in the Book of Kings, 
 girding sackcloth on their loins, and putting ropes on 
 their heads to appear before the king of Israel ; not to 
 mention the prostrations still so widely prevalent, which 
 the modern European has reduced within the limits of 
 kneeling, curtseying, bowing, or merely nodding. 
 
 Reverting to the attitude of the victor over the van- 
 quished, one may say that the former robs the latter of 
 his weapons, his arms, and any articles of clothing that 
 he thinks worth while taking : it was, for instance, the 
 habit of the ancient Assyrians to strip their captives: 
 witness Isaiah xx. 3, 4 : ' And the Lord said. Like as 
 my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot 
 three years for a sign and a wonder upon Egypt and 
 upon Ethiopia ; so shall the king of Assyria lead away 
 the captives of Egypt, and the exiles of Ethiopia, young 
 
Ch.VIII.] GALAHAD AND GWALCHAVED. 179 
 
 and old, naked and barefoot, and with buttocks un- 
 covered, to the shame of Egypt.' The same prophet, 
 xxxii. II, exhorts the Israelites to give ear unto his voice 
 in the words : ' Tremble, ye women that are at ease ; be 
 troubled, ye careless ones: strip you, and make you 
 bare, and~gird sackcloth upon your loins.' 
 
 Coming nearer to us, Mr. Spencer alludes among 
 other things to the vassal giving up belt, sword, gloves 
 and hat as marks of submission in the presence of his 
 lord, and cites the surrender to a victorious duke in 
 France, in 1467, of the head men of a town, who 
 ' brought to his camp with them three hundred of the 
 best citizens in their shirts, bareheaded and barelegged, 
 who presented the keies of the citie to him, and yielded 
 themselves to his mercy.' This unclothing, as a cere- 
 mony indicating respect, has in European society been 
 reduced to unhatting in the case of men, while, in that 
 of women, the decollete dress in which ladies have to be 
 presented at court is probably to be traced to the same 
 origin. Among nations in a low stage of civilization 
 this is much more marked : thus, in the case of the 
 Sultan of Melli, one is told by a traveller in the 
 Soudan, that women may only come unclothed to the 
 presence of his majesty, and that even his own 
 daughters have to conform to this custom; while at 
 another African court, that of Uganda, according to 
 another traveller, 'stark-naked, full-grown women are 
 the valets.' 
 
 Now unclothing, as an expression of submission or an 
 appeal ad misericordiam, was not unknown among the 
 ancient Irish : one finds their women resorting to this 
 method of appeasing Cuchulainn more than once. Thus 
 we read of the Ultonian captains riding in their chariots 
 on an unexpected visit to the court of Ailill and Medb 
 
 N 2 
 
i8o ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch.Viii. 
 
 in Connaught, when, as soon as their coming and furious 
 driving were espied in the distance, Medb the queen 
 began to anticipate terrible bloodshed at her court, un- 
 less everybody got at once ready to attend on them : she 
 did her own part by going forth with her daughter and 
 thrice fifty other maidens to meet them. The Ultonian 
 chiefs are satisfied with their reception, and each selects 
 the lady that takes his fancy and leads her to the lodgings 
 assigned him. This remark applies especially to Ciichu- 
 lainn, whose choice fell on the queen's daughter \ 
 
 We mention this instance as it will serve to illustrate 
 the nature of the custom, though nothing is said on 
 this occasion about the dress of the ladies ; but when 
 Ciichulainn is the hero chiefly concerned, there is no 
 such silence as to the dishevelled state they were wont 
 to meet him, when he was supposed to come home with- 
 out having had fighting enough. Nor does the practice 
 appear to have been confined among the Celts to the 
 Goidelic branch ; for we have the testimony of a Latin 
 author that it entered into a religious ceremony in this 
 country : we allude to Pliny, when he states in his His- 
 toria Naturalis, xxii. i (2), that the wives and daughters- 
 in-law of the Britons attended certain religious rites 
 without their clothing and with their bodies painted 
 black, as if in imitation of Ethiopians. The application 
 of the custom to religious uses does not alter its nature, 
 for the student of anthropology finds, that the attitude of 
 the conquered man, used by the slave before his master 
 and the subject before his ruler, becomes that of the 
 worshipper before his deity ^ He also finds that, as 
 prayer is a request made to a deity as if he were a man, 
 so sacrifice is a gift made to a deity as if he were a 
 
 ' See Fled Bricrend in Windisch's Irische Texte, pp. 275-281. 
 ' Spencer, Cerem. Institutions, p. 116. 
 
Ch. VIII.] GALAHAD AND GWALCHAVED. 181 
 
 man ^ Possibly the deity Pliny had in view was the 
 Celtic Dis, or some other dark divinity. In that case, 
 one may interpret the black pigment put on by the lady 
 worshippers as a piece of delicate flattery, meant to 
 influence the god they appealed to, as if he had been a 
 man, and in fact a black man. 
 
 To return to Ciichulainn: towards the close of the 
 day, when he was returning in the king's chariot from 
 his first raid into an enemy's country, he was descried 
 at a distance by the king's watchman at Emain : the 
 latter informed his lord that he saw a warrior approach- 
 ing, and that he gathered from his manner of driving 
 that there would be bloodshed in the court at his hands, 
 unless attention were paid him and the women were 
 sent out dishevelled to meet him. The king gave orders 
 accordingly, and the ladies of the court, under the lead 
 of the queen, went forth to meet him ; and they bared 
 their breasts to him, while the queen addressed him, 
 saying : ' Here are warriors that will make head against 
 thee to-day.' Ciichulainn at the sight covered his face, 
 and the men of valour of Ulster put him in a bath of 
 cold water, so that his war fury departed from him 
 without harming anybody. This is represented taking 
 place when he was about seven years of age ^, and long 
 before the visit mentioned as paid by him and the other 
 Ultonians to the court of Ailiil and Medb. But it is 
 treated as so well-known a peculiarity of Ciichulainn 
 that he would not look at a woman unclothed, that on 
 one occasion advantage was taken of it to make an 
 attack on his life : a man and a woman sought him out, 
 and while the former prepared to kill him the latter 
 began to undress herself. Ciichulainn covered his face, 
 and resolutely refused to listen to his charioteer, who , 
 
 ^ Tylor, Prim. Culture, ii. 375. ^ Bk. of the Dun, 63". 
 
1 82 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. VIII. 
 
 warned him of his danger. This went on until the 
 charioteer felled the woman with a stone, whereupon 
 Cuchulainn began a duel fatal to the surviving foe V 
 
 We have here, it will be seen, to bridge over a gap in 
 striking a comparison between an Irish myth or epic 
 tale and a mediaeval Welsh story, since the Irish con- 
 tribution should be translated first into its equivalent 
 Welsh myth or epic, and the latter then turned into a 
 Welsh story of the usual kind, ready for the romancer 
 to transform into a poem with a setting of his own. 
 As one might therefore expect, our record, so to say, is 
 imperfect ; but it shows no serious inconsistency, and the 
 conjecture, that Cuchulainn and Galahad mythologically 
 belong to the same class of divinities, confirms the pro- 
 bable correctness of the suggestion here offered, that 
 Ciichulainn's shyness, as already defined, is to be re- 
 garded as what Irish mythology has to set over against 
 the chastity of Galahad in the romances. Nor would the 
 force of our contention be annihilated by merely showing 
 that we have erred as to the origin of the characteristics 
 in question of Cuchulainn and Galahad respectively : it 
 carries us, in any case, further back than the extreme 
 development of the virtue of chastity in the hero of the 
 Queste du St. Graal. The distance in point of morals 
 and social setting, so to say, between an Irish epic tale 
 and a Christian romance is, as already hinted, very 
 great, but it does not prevent their running nearly 
 parallel in virtue of the remote origin common to 
 the mythic elements in both. 
 
 Of the other features of the romances, especially those 
 relating to the Grail, one is a sort of Christian realism 
 which is not only utterly non-Celtic, but disgusts the 
 reader with sacramental fetishism of a low order and 
 
 ' Bk. of the Dun, 20 ". 
 
Ch. VIII.] GALAHAD AND GWALCHAVED. 183 
 
 wearies him with its infinite capacity for pious twaddle ; 
 but they have certain redeeming features, some of which 
 they have inherited from the pagan tales of the Bry- 
 thonic Celts. This is particularly the case with their 
 choice of hero, the nature of his superiority and the 
 position of pre-eminence it secures for Galahad, in 
 whom we have Gwalchmei's brother or other self The 
 remark applies, with scarcely less force, to the highly 
 favourable treatment dealt out to Gwalchmei himself 
 But as the romancers mostly adopted rather than in- 
 vented, this can hardly be thought surprising; for 
 neither has Celtic mythology nor Celtic legend, so far 
 as we know, any more blameless character to show than 
 that of Gwalchmei, the hero of tried continence and the 
 constant peacemaker. It is needless to say that neither 
 in his case nor in that of his brother Gwalchaved or 
 Galahad can we for a moment permit the original to be 
 considered Norman, French, or anything other than 
 purely Brythonic. Chretien's muse, warmed to her 
 task by the smiles of Marie de France ^, gave its perilous 
 finish to the amour courtois ; but the author of the Quest 
 of the Holy Grail, working on lines drawn for him by the 
 genius of Celtic story, achieved a far higher ideal in 
 the hero of perfect purity. 
 
 1 See M. Paris's words in the Rom. xii. 463, 508, 523. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 CUCHULAINN AND HeRACLES. 
 
 In the Hibbert Lectures, Ciichulainn has been very 
 briefly equated with the Greek hero Heracles, and that 
 was found to carry with it the identification of the 
 Morrigu or Great Queen with Here, and Conchobar the 
 Ultonian king with Zeus in the Olympic system, also 
 of Fedelm of the Nine Forms with Zeus's daughter 
 Athene. It is, however, not to be inferred from this 
 that the Morrigu was the wife of Conchobar. In 
 fact, she is not correlated with any Great King in the 
 Ultonian stories : she belongs to another sphere, and she 
 does not mix with the Ultonians any more than the 
 Empress does with the frequenters of Arthur's court. 
 This discrepancy suggests an alternative treatment of 
 Conchobar, namely, as a Culture Hero, like Arthur. But 
 neither would this carry us through, for the way in 
 which Conchobar acquires his throne marks him out 
 unmistakably as playing the role of a sort of Celtic 
 Zeus. If, then, this dilemma is to be insisted upon, 
 Conchobar would have to be regarded as a Culture 
 Hero thrust forward to occupy the place of the more 
 ancient divinity; but it becomes important to bear in 
 mind that he only occupies it in part. 
 
 So much for the relative positions of the leading 
 
Ch. IX.] CilCHULAINN AND HERACLES. 185 
 
 characters in the scheme, now proposed to be examined 
 more minutely in the light shed upon it by a study 
 of some of the details which it involves. It may be 
 premised that Cuchulainn is, relatively speaking, on 
 the same level as Heracles; and the comparisons in- 
 stituted between them may be regarded as direct, while 
 they are less direct with Owein, Peredur, and Gwalch- 
 mei in our Welsh stories, and Lancelot and Galahad 
 in the romances. The more we come down towards 
 modern civilization, the more considerably do the com- 
 parisons require to be rectified, by making what we may 
 term the personal equation of the heroes as parts of 
 a society, very differently constituted from that with 
 which Cuchulainn and Heracles are associated. The 
 story of Heracles aiding the gods by despatching the 
 Giants for them, is of sufficient importance to be placed 
 first : he was invited to this in his character of a mortal, 
 man. 
 
 On the Irish side we have the Ultonian braves 
 en couvade, with Cuchulainn alone fighting for them 
 against the invading hosts from the West. Only Cuchu- 
 lainn and his father were able to be at their posts, 
 for they differed in their nature from the rest of the 
 Ultonians; but Irish story expresses the difference to 
 the disadvantage of the latter, while we should have, in 
 terms of Greek theology, to put it the other way, and 
 say that they were immortals, and that Cuchulainn and 
 his father were only mortals. The reason that a mortal 
 was required to secure the victory for the gods is to 
 be sought partly in the climatic nature of the contest, 
 which made the presence of the sun-hero necessary 
 to repel winter and its dark hosts, and partly in the 
 descent of the sun-hero, who according to one account 
 was reckoned the offspring of the Culture Hero, and 
 
1 85 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. IX. 
 
 therefore a man like his father and not immortal like the 
 gods of older standing \ The parentage of the sun-hero 
 is a subject of considerable difficulty, which will come 
 under notice later. 
 
 In order to cover the ground, without missing any 
 points of importance, it is thought advisable to take 
 the so-called labours of Heracles one by one in 
 the Greek order, and show what there is to compare 
 with them on the Celtic side; first in the legends 
 about Cuchulainn and secondly in the Arthurian stories 
 and romances, which will be found not infrequently to 
 supplement the Goidelic record with items of evidence 
 of their own. We are well aware that the story of 
 Heracles, or at any rate the most essential portions of 
 it, are believed by some to be non-Aryan ; for that 
 reason we make the following comparisons, as compre- 
 hensive as we can, in the hope of learning from the 
 advocates of the Asiatic theory what they can claim and 
 what they cannot claim. The question is one which 
 greatly stands in need of a careful sifting. The reader 
 is therefore to bear in mind that these comparisons are 
 entirely tentative, though it is not thought necessary to 
 remind him of that fact in each instance as it comes 
 forward for discussion ^- 
 
 I. The Nemean Lion. 
 
 One of the peculiarities of this Hon was that his skin 
 was invulnerable, so that the ordinary weapons of 
 Heracles were of no avail. He had to pursue the beast 
 into his den, whence he dragged him by main force 
 and strangled him in his arms. But when he proceeded 
 
 ' Hib. Lee. pp. 140, 363, 671, 678. 
 
 ^ For the sake of convenience the Greek side of the comparison is taken 
 from Preller's Giiechische Mythologie, which is usually sufficiently minute and 
 accurate for our purpose. 
 
Ch. IX.] CUCHULAINN AND HERACLES. 187 
 
 to secure the beast's hide, he found that nothing was 
 sharp enough to rip it up and sever it from the 
 carcase, except the Hon's own claws. When he had 
 flayed it he clad himself in the skin, which served to 
 make him invulnerable. So this labour takes its place 
 naturally at the head of the list. According to another 
 account, the hero once clothed himself in the hide of 
 a different lion, namely, one which he killed on Mount 
 Cithaeron, when he was a youth among the herdsmen 
 of Amphitryon watching his cattle ^. The two stories 
 are possibly to be regarded as versions of one and the 
 same mythic incident. The Irish equivalent^ is to be 
 found in Cuchulainn's killing the terrible hound of 
 Culann the Smith ; this Culann appears to have been 
 a form of the divinity of the other world, and his hound 
 was the guardian of his house and property ; and when 
 he complained of the loss of his watch-dog, young 
 Setanta undertook to guard his property for the Smith 
 until he had another hound of the same breed to do the 
 work : so Setanta's name was changed, at the Ultonian 
 druid's suggestion, into that of Ciilann's Hound, in 
 Irish Cu Chulainn, genitive Con Culainn. The story 
 says nothingof the hero clothing himself with the hound's 
 hide, but it invests him with the name and functions of 
 the monster. In the story of Peredur we have no 
 ferocious beast, but an insolent knight instead. The 
 latter, as mentioned in a previous chapter (pp. 76-8), 
 had been to Arthur's court and grossly insulted Gwen- 
 hwyvar, in order to provoke one of Arthur's knights to 
 fight with him at a spot which he indicated to them. 
 They were so taken aback that no one stirred, until 
 Peredur in rustic attire happened to arrive, demanding 
 loudly to be knighted by Arthur. Kei, in derision, told 
 
 1 Preller, ii. 180. ^ Hib. Lee. pp. 445-7- 
 
1 88 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. IX, 
 
 him to go and fight the insolent knight. He did so, 
 and with one of the darts he had brought from home, he 
 killed him on the spot. He had neither the armour nor 
 the weapons of a knight, so he tried to strip the fallen 
 knight of his coat of mail ; but the more he tried, the 
 more he was convinced it must be a part of his person. 
 Owein, arriving in order to see what had happened to 
 the rustic youth, was surprised by his success, and 
 showed him how to strip the dead body. Then was Per- 
 edur first clad in a coat of mail and otherwise equipped 
 as a knight, at the expense of his fallen foe ^ 
 
 2. The Lernsean Water-snake. 
 
 This monster had nine heads, one of which was im- 
 mortal, and as fast as Heracles cut them off more grew 
 in their stead ; so lolaus, the hero's charioteer, had to 
 assist by setting fire to the neighbouring forest and 
 bringing firebrands to sear the snake as fast as the 
 heads were cut off by his master. As to the head 
 which was immortal, Heracles buried it under a huge 
 block of rock. When he had thus accomplished his 
 task, he dipped his arrows in the gall of the hydra, and 
 thereby made the wounds inflicted by them incurable ; 
 but owing to lolaus having given his master important 
 help, Eurystheus would not allow this labour of Heracles 
 ta count;. although Here, on the other side, had sent to 
 the assistance of the hydra an enormous crab, which bit 
 him in the foot, when he was most sorely pressed by 
 the new heads of the hydra. The number of the latter 
 monster's heads is variously given, but nine is regarded 
 as the favourite one ; and it would not be in that case 
 unnatural to interpret them as a reference to the nine 
 nights of the ancient week, while the immortal one cut 
 
 ' R. B. Mab. pp. 197-9 i Guest, i. 303-7. 
 
Ch. IX.] CtlCHULAINN AND HERACLES. 189 
 
 off last might be compared with the Irish Mane, that 
 comprised his eight brothers in the epic story of the 
 Tain ^. 
 
 Now, the Irish equivalent of this labour is to be found 
 in Ciichulainn's protracted conflict with Loch Mor^, 
 whose armour was impenetrable, consisting as it did of 
 a sort of horn-skin. Cuchulainn had fought with Loch's 
 brother, Long, and killed him at a ford ; so Loch, bent on 
 avenging his brother's fall, challenged Cuchulainn to a 
 duel at a ford higher up the same river ; and when the 
 hero began to be hard pressed by an antagonist on 
 whom he could make no impression, the Morrigu in 
 the form of an eel gave three twists round his feet, so 
 that he fell prostrate across the ford. Then Loch plied 
 him with his sword and reddened the stream with his 
 blood, but recovering himself he seized the eel and 
 crushed it in his hand ; the Morrigu then came in other 
 forms, and Cuchulainn, sustaining an unequal fight, 
 bewails in doleful verses the solitary and unaided con- 
 dition in which he is left, when Loeg, his charioteer, 
 sent down to him with the stream the weapon called 
 the gdi bolga. He seized it, and at once directed it 
 into Loch's body from below, as the horn-skin made 
 him otherwise invulnerable. So fell the great Loch, 
 one of the two most formidable antagonists Cuchulainn 
 met on the Tain. The parallel between the Irish and 
 the Greek story is so close that it requires no com- 
 ment ; but it will be noticed that the Greek version has 
 more regard for the dignity of the great goddess than 
 the Irish one has for the Morrigu : the former only 
 sends a sea-crab to aid against the hero who was 
 her pet aversion, while the latter becomes herself an 
 eel to take a personal part in the conflict. No Welsh 
 
 » Hib. Lee. pp. 367-76. ' Bk. of the Dun, 74, 76, 77. 
 
I90 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch, IX. 
 
 parallel can be pointed out with certainty, but it may be 
 that we have one in Owein's kilhng the man-eating 
 giant ; or, perhaps, better in his slaying the two youths 
 who would burn Lunet: in both conflicts a principal 
 part was played by Owein's lion, who might here be 
 regarded as rendering aid corresponding to the help 
 given to Heracles and Ciichulainn by their respective 
 charioteers. 
 
 3. The Boar of Erymanthus. 
 
 Heracles, on his way to hunt this destructive boar, 
 comes among the Centaurs, and then follows his great 
 slaughter of them, which they are made to bring on 
 themselves. Afterwards he pursues the boar and 
 brings him alive on his shoulders to Mycenae. We 
 have not succeeded in finding a key to any certain 
 comparison with the story of Ciichulainn, although 
 the Irish hero is more than once described bringing 
 wild animals home alive. Nor are we much more 
 successful with Peredur, where the boar might be ex- 
 pected in the form of some sort of a knight ; and there 
 we certainly find the Black Man of the Castle of 
 Ysbidinongyl killed by Peredur at the bidding of the 
 Black Maiden, after he had first resolved to leave him 
 his life. The same incident appears in Chretien's poem 
 of the Charrette, and the man Ysbidinongyl is to be 
 traced back through the romancers' Espinogre to the 
 Welsh Yspydaden Gawr or Hawthorn the Giant, 
 more usually called Y. Pencawr or Chief of Giants, 
 the story of whose death is told in the story of 
 Kulhwch. How the name Yspydaden or Hawthorn 
 is to be interpreted here is not clear, but it might 
 be that of a knight who, in his brute form, would be 
 a bristly boar. It is needless to say that this is the 
 
Ch. IX.] CUCHULAINN AND HERACLES. 191 
 
 merest guess, but it is not a little countenanced by the 
 place it has in the list of Peredur's exploits, to wit imme- 
 diately preceding the one next to be mentioned, where 
 the comparison rests on a more solid foundation. 
 
 4. The Deer of Ceryneia. 
 
 This beast is curiously described by Greek authors 
 &s a hind with horns, namely of gold, and with feet of 
 bronze ; but ancient art sometimes represents it as a 
 stag. It belonged to the goddess Artemis, and it was a 
 special pet of hers ; but Heracles, having pursued the 
 animal a whole year to the land of the Hyperboreans 
 and back to its favourite haunts in the Peloponnese, 
 caught it at last, and began to make his way towards 
 Mycenae with it on his shoulders. Whether he had killed 
 it or was carrying it alive is not quite certain, as the 
 authorities differ ; be that as it may, he was met on his 
 way by Artemis in an angry mood and accompanied by 
 her brother Apollo. She took her pet from Heracles, 
 and freely expressed her displeasure at what he had 
 done ; but on his explaining that he had been compelled 
 to do it, she was appeased and allowed him to take it to 
 Eurystheus. Cuchulainn is more than once represented 
 catching wild animals, and once in particular, when he 
 first rode forth in a war-chariot: on that occasion he 
 brought home a wild stag fastened to his chariot, but 
 about that stag nothing is known that would enable one 
 to compare it with the pet of Artemis, caught by Heracles. 
 
 Not so with the story of Peredur, who is asked by 
 the Black Maiden to kill a formidable stag in a neigh- 
 bouring forest: she gave him a dog to fetch the 
 stag to meet him, for the animal was not given to 
 running away. The Black Maiden described the stag 
 as being as swift as the fastest bird on the wing, and as 
 
193 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. ix. 
 
 having a single horn in its forehead of the length of a 
 spear and incomparably sharper : with that it cut down 
 the branches of the trees and killed all the animals which 
 came in its way, while those not thus killed died of 
 fear and hunger. Her story ^ adds that this unicorn 
 came every day and drank dry the fishpond, so that 
 most of the fish died before enough water flowed in 
 again to save them. When the fierce animal made* 
 a rush at Peredur, he avoided it and cut off" its head 
 as it passed ; but as he was gazing at the head, a 
 lady came to him and proceeded to pick up the dog, the 
 head of the stag, and the collar set with rubies that 
 the stag had round its neck. She rebuked Peredur for 
 killing the finest ornament of her domain : he excused 
 himself, like Heracles, and asked if there was any 
 way of his earning her forgiveness. She said it could 
 be done by fighting with the Man from under the Stone 
 (p. 107) : so he hurried away on that errand, leaving her 
 to ride away in possession of the dog, the stag's head, 
 and its collar. Some of the romances associate with the 
 lady a knight, in whom we seem to have the counterpart 
 of Apollo, as we certainly have that of Artemis in the 
 lady who owns the dog and the stag. It is worth while 
 noticing that she is merely called argl6yd;es, ' domina,' 
 while the lady Peredur is in quest of is amherodres, 
 ' imperatrix,' the counterpart of the Morrigu of Irish 
 stories and of the Here of Greek mythology. 
 
 5. The Stymphalian Birds. 
 
 These were man-eating birds with wings of iron, and 
 Heracles is said to have partly killed them with his 
 arrows and partly frightened them away ; for numbers 
 of them appear in the story of the Argonautic expedition 
 
 • R. B. Mab. p. 241 ; Guest, i. 367. 
 
Ch. IX.] CUCHULATNN AND HERACLES. 193 
 
 as the children of Mars, making their home in a 
 Pontine island sacred to that fierce god. As the Greek 
 story, however, stands, we can find no certain parallel 
 in the legend of Ciichulainn, though he is represented 
 catching a string of wild swans and bringing them home 
 at the same time as the wild stag. If, however, one 
 might suppose an older form of the story to have made 
 Heracles bring the wild birds to Mycenae and keep them 
 in his own service afterwards, then one could show a 
 Celtic parallel in Owein's army of ravens, which were 
 more than a match for the rank and file of Arthur's 
 forces, in the story called Rhonabwy's Dream '^. At 
 the end of that called after Owein, his power is repre- 
 sented as consisting of three hundred swords and the 
 Host of Ravens : it is added, that wherever he came 
 with those auxiliaries he prevailed ^ How Owein 
 acquired the Ravens or retained their allegiance we 
 are not told ; but we have them probably in the ravens 
 that appeared in great numbers at the founding of 
 Lugudunum, or the city dedicated to and called after 
 the Gaulish sun-hero Lugus ; also perhaps in Ciichu- 
 lainn's two ravens of druidism or magic, which his foes 
 attacked as soon as they heard them announce the 
 coming of the hero ^. 
 
 6. The Augean Stables. 
 
 The story of the cleansing of these stables by 
 Heracles, by directing a river to flow through them, 
 has, so far as we have been able to discover, no certain 
 equivalent in Irish or Welsh literature ; but it would 
 probably be too much to say that the story is not 
 met with on Celtic ground, as the task of Heracles is 
 
 1 R. B. Mab. pp. 155-8; Guest, ii. 409-14. 
 
 ' Hib. Lee. p. 428. 
 
 " Windisch's Irische Texie, p. 220. 
 
 O 
 
194 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. IX, 
 
 laid on the King's Son of Tethertown, in the Highland 
 tale called by Campbell ^ the Battle of the Birds. His 
 task-master, the giant, whose youngest daughter he had 
 asked to be given him to wife, one morning before 
 setting out from home showed his would-be son-in-law 
 a byre with the dung of a hundred cattle, which had 
 been accumulating for seven years : this byre he told him 
 he was to clean before he returned in the evening, and to 
 clean so thoroughly that a golden apple would run from 
 end to end of it. He did not try the expedient used by 
 Heracles, but the giant's youngest daughter came to 
 him in his despair, and made him sit down by her : he 
 fell asleep, and when he awoke he found that she had 
 the task done. The means adopted are not specified in 
 the story, but the daughter, who must be regarded as a 
 consummate magician, may be compared with Agamede, 
 daughter of Augeias, the owner of the stables cleaned 
 by Heracles. According to the Iliad, xi. 741, she was 
 acquainted with the magic properties of all kinds of 
 herbs : — 
 
 H Totra <f)apiJ,aKa ybrj oaa rpiipei evpela \6(&v. 
 Her father had promised Heracles a tenth of the cattle 
 for his work, but when it had been done, he refused to 
 give them, on the plea that Heracles had acted as the 
 servant of Eurystheus, who on the other hand declined 
 to count this as one of the ten labours, because it had 
 been performed for wages. Augeias in the sequel paid 
 for his treachery with his life, as did also the blood- 
 thirsty giant in the Highland tale. 
 
 7. The Cretan Bull. 
 
 The labour of bringing this animal to Mycenae has, so 
 far as we can find, no certain Celtic equivalent ; or, to 
 
 • Popular Tales of the West Highlands, i. 29, 30, 34. 
 
Ch. IX.] CUCHULAINN AND HERACLES. 195 
 
 speak more exactly, we have not succeeded in finding 
 the key to a comparison with any of the Celtic stories 
 in which bulls figure ; and the same remark applies to 
 the fetching by Heracles of 
 
 8. The Horses of Diomed the Thracian. 
 
 The capture by Cuchulainn of his two famous chargers 
 is, so far as one can guess, not in point, as will be 
 seen later. As if, however, to make up for our lack o,f 
 success under these last headings, the next one to be 
 mentioned lends itself not only to a comparison, but 
 to a sequence of comparisons of a striking nature. 
 
 9. The Queen of the Amazons' Girdle. 
 
 The Amazons and their queen, Hippolyte, had their 
 head-quarters at Themiskyra, near the mouth of the 
 river Thermodon in Asia Minor. When Heracles 
 arrived and made known to the queen what the object 
 of his coming was, she is said to have been willing to 
 give the girdle to Heracles, though it was a present to 
 herself from Ares, the god of carnage. But Here suc- 
 ceeded in creating alarm among the Amazons as to the 
 safety of their queen, and a battle followed in which 
 Heracles and his comrades overcame the Amazons and 
 left many of them, including Hippolyte, dead on the 
 field. An ancient vase, however, tells the story differ- 
 ently, by representing an Amazon peaceably handing 
 the girdle to Heracles^. On his way back with the 
 girdle, Heracles came to Troy and found Laomedon, 
 the king of Troy, with his subjects, in great grief on 
 account of a sea-monster that used to come and swallow 
 both men and cattle. At last an oracle announced that 
 this would cease if Laomedon would offer his daughter, 
 
 1 Denkmdler des Klassischen AUertums, edited by A. Baumeister (Munich 
 and Leipsic, 1885), vol. i. p. 660; also Arch. Zeitung, 1856, plate 8g. 
 
 O 2 
 
] g6 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. ix. 
 
 Hesione, to the monster to devour. He consented, and 
 just as the princess had been exposed for this purpose 
 on a rock near the sea, Heracles came to her rescue. 
 The monster was so huge that he undertook to de- 
 molish it from within; so he sprang into its stomach, 
 where, like Jonah, he spent three days, before he could 
 cut his way out. When that had been achieved, he 
 was found to have lost all his hair from the intensity of 
 the heat he had endured. The monster having thus 
 been slain and Hesione restored to her father, the latter 
 was asked by Heracles for the promised reward; but he 
 dechned, and Heracles disappointed had to set out with 
 the Amazon's girdle to Mycenae. On the way thither 
 he took part in various adventures, but it was not long 
 ere he and his friends returned to punish Laomedon for 
 his bad faith. This resulted in the storming of Troy 
 and the death of the faithless king, together with most of 
 his family except Hesione and her young brother, who 
 figured afterwards as the Priam of the Iliad. Heracles 
 gave the princess to wife to one of his friends, called 
 Telamon, on whom he had, at the taking of Troy, drawn 
 his sword in a fit of anger, because he made his way into 
 the doomed city before him. Telamon took Hesione 
 home to his island of Salamis, where she became the 
 mother of Teucer, who figures on the Greek side in the 
 Iliad. 
 
 The three points of importance in the story for our 
 purpose are the girdle of the Amazon, the rescue of 
 Hesione, and her being given finally by Heracles to his 
 friend and rival Telamon. These have their counter- 
 parts in the story of Ciichulainn ; their sequence also 
 is the same, though they are somewhat differently con- 
 nected with one another. Thus Hippolyte and her 
 Amazons are represented on the Goidelic side by 
 
Ch. IX.] CUCHULAINN AND HERACLES. 197 
 
 Scathach and her hosts. Scathach was more famous 
 than any man as a teacher of the arts of war; so 
 Cuchulainn goes to her, not to procure her belt but 
 her instruction, which was to perfect him as a warrior ; 
 but he only succeeds in getting her to teach him by 
 surprising her and threatening her with instant death : 
 she then, to save her life, granted his request. This 
 helps to an interpretation of Heracles forcing the Ama- 
 zon to yield her girdle to him : it was the gift of Ares to 
 her as the one who excelled all her comrades in arms, 
 and in ApoUodorus' words it was for her the crvixfioXov 
 Tov TTpoiTfveiv a.TTaa-Siv'^. So the transference of it to 
 Heracles marked him out as the champion thenceforth, 
 and this may perhaps be regarded as parallel to 
 Scathach's imparting her skill to Cuchulainn. Possibly 
 the end of the story, which makes Heracles take the 
 girdle to Eurystheus for his daughter, was an addition 
 to bring this labour into a sort of conformity with the 
 other labours, and that we should rather regard it as 
 originally kept by Heracles for his own use as the 
 greatest of warriors, who was invited even to help 
 the gods in their dire need. The story of Peredur 
 keeps close to that of Cuchulainn, so far as the incident 
 in question is concerned : it brings the hero into 
 collision with the Witches of Gloucester, who are the 
 Welsh equivalents of the Amazons and of Scathach 
 with her train. Peredur was about to slay one of the 
 witches, when she addressed him by name and told him 
 that it was destiny for them to suffer from him and for 
 him to learn from them to ride and wield his weapons. 
 He accordingly accompanies her to the Court of the 
 Witches, nor does he return till his martial education 
 is complete; but he has afterwards a more serious 
 
 ' Bibliotheca, ii. 9. 
 
198 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. ix. 
 
 encounter with the Witches than the one here alluded 
 to, as will be noticed later. 
 
 The other two points in the parallel were the rescuing 
 of Hesione by Heracles on his return from the Ama- 
 zons, and. his giving her afterwards to Telamon. Simi- 
 larly Ciichulainn, on his return from the Isle of Scathach, 
 queen of the Amazons in the Irish sense, visits the 
 court of the Red King of the Isles to find everybody 
 there plunged in grief; for the king had been obliged 
 to expose his daughter on the sea-shore as tribute to the 
 Fomori, three of whom were every moment expected 
 from islands far away to fetch her. In vain had the 
 king proclaimed that the princess would be given in 
 marriage to whomsoever should rescue her, until 
 Ciichulainn arrived and went to the princess to await 
 the coming of the three Fomori. The story of his 
 killing them is of the usual dragon-slaying type; but 
 when the king suggested to Cuchulainn that he should 
 take the princess away with him to Erinn, Cuchulainn 
 said he should prefer her coming after him in a year's 
 time. She did so, but owing to an accident which need 
 not be related here, Cuchulainn said that he could not 
 marry her ; so he gave her to wife to his friend Lugaid, 
 who in later years proved his bitterest foe and made 
 himself active in the battle where Cuchulainn fell. 
 Here the parallel between the Greek and the Goidelic 
 is so close that no comment is needed to bring it 
 into rehef. 
 
 The stories about sun-heroes were originally in all 
 probability much the same, so we venture here to inter- 
 polate, as it were, an incident from that of the Attic 
 sun-hero Theseus. Theseus is represented waging 
 war on the Amazons, or according to the later accounts 
 joining in the expedition of Heracles against them, and 
 
Ch. IX.1 CUCHULAINN AND HERACLES. 199 
 
 carrying away one of them called Antiope, who is 
 sometimes called their queen ^ The story of Antiope's 
 love for Theseus is much elaborated in ancient Greek 
 literature, and she is said to have been the mother of 
 his luckless son Hippolytus, who fell the victim of the 
 hostility of his own misguided father. The Irish story 
 in point is that Cuchulainn, when a pupil of Scathach, 
 that is to say, in Irish phraseology, when he was living 
 at her court as her foster-son, assisted her against 
 another queen who was at war with her, although the 
 legend makes her out to be her own daughter^. Her 
 name was Aife, and Cuchulainn succeeded in bringing 
 her a captive to Scathach's camp, where she was forced 
 to make peace. Cuchulainn visited her country with 
 her, and she became the mother of a son by him. 
 Before departing, Cuchulainn gave her directions as to 
 the disposal of the son that was to be born, which in 
 some respects recall those given by Heracles to Echidna, 
 when he left her about to be the mother of his Scythian 
 offspring. When Ciichulainn's son, Conlaech, should 
 reach the strength of manhood, he was to come to 
 Erinn to his father, bringing with him a token which 
 the latter left to Aife. He was to give way to nobody, to 
 refuse nobody's challenge, and to tell nobody his name. 
 He arrived in due time among the Ultonians, and was 
 thought such an insolent stranger that Cuchulainn was 
 sent to give account of him : the two fell to fighting. 
 The father would have been beaten had he not asked 
 Loeg, his charioteer, to give him the gdi bolga, the fatal 
 weapon he had received from Aife herself, and with it 
 he slew his own son without discovering his identity^ 
 On this comparison one has to notice, that Scathach and 
 
 ' Preller, ii. 233, 299- ' O'Curry, ii. 310-12. 
 
 ' O'Conor's Keating, 1. 196 8. 
 
200 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. IX. 
 
 Aife correspond to Hippolyte and Antiope ; but that in 
 the Irish story the daughter is placed at variance with 
 her mother rather than represent Cuchulainn making 
 war on his foster-parent, which was a still more sacred 
 tie according to ancient Goidehc ideas. Nevertheless, 
 Cuchulainn's expedition to the Land of Scath^ looks 
 suspiciously like one to Scathach's country. It is 
 further to be borne in mind, that the long and perilous 
 journey into Scathach's Isle is distinctly a journey to 
 the other world. In Greek literature it sufficed however 
 to place the home of the Amazons the other side of the 
 sea in Asia Minor, while some legends brought them 
 over on an expedition westwards, and pointed to their 
 tombs here and there in Attica and other parts of 
 Hellas. The later epic literature developed the Ama- 
 zons into fine handsome women accessible to love ; but 
 the earlier authors, who represented them as rough and 
 repellent ^, kept undoubtedly nearer to the original idea. 
 
 ID. Geryon's Cattle. 
 
 Geryon was the name of the lord of an island called 
 Erytheia ; he was a giant with a triple body, that is to 
 say he had three heads and a corresponding number of 
 hands and feet, besides, according to some accounts, 
 a powerful pair of wings : he possessed enormous 
 strength and went in complete armour. He was the 
 owner of numerous herds of fine fat cattle of a purple 
 red colour, near which those of the Sun were also said 
 to graze; and Geryon's name was associated by the 
 Greek mind with sumptuous living and a dainty fare. 
 Mythical geography was not very decided as to the 
 position of Erytheia, but the prevalent notion was that 
 it should be sought in the western ocean beyond the 
 
 ' Hib. Lee. pp. 259-61. 2 Preller, ii. 86. 
 
Ch. IX.] CUCHULAINN AND HERACLES. 201 
 
 Pillars of Hercules, and it was believed to enjoy a 
 delicious and perfect climate. It was, however, the 
 borderland of light and darkness, where the herds of 
 Helius and those of Pluto grazed in the same pastures. 
 Heracles, on arriving in the direction of the island, had 
 to cross the sea to it in the golden bowl of the Sun ; 
 that is to say, the vessel in which the Sun was imagined 
 to float back to the east during the hours of the night. 
 On his landing, Heracles is attacked by Geryon's dog, 
 Orthrus, which he kills, doing likewise with Eurytion, 
 Geryon's herdsman, who hurries to the assistance of 
 his hound. 
 
 Then Menoetius, who was there as the herdsman 
 of Pluto, announces to Geryon what had happened, 
 and how his cattle were being driven away. Geryon 
 hastens after Heracles and attacks him, but he is slain 
 by the hero, who then takes the cattle away to the 
 strand, where he embarks with Geryon's daughter^ and 
 cattle in the golden bowl. Reaching the mainland, they 
 commence a long journey through the territpry of the 
 Iberians, through Gaul and Italy into Sicily, whence 
 they re-entered Italy and travelled round the Adriatic, 
 into Illyria and Epirus. Now, the goddess Here sent 
 a gadfly among the cattle, so that they wandered into 
 Thrace, and according to some accounts into Scythia, 
 where Heracles, following them, fefl in with Echidna, 
 the maiden half woman, half snake, that became the 
 mother of his Scythian offspring. On his way back to- 
 wards the Peloponnese he dedicated Geryon's daughter, 
 together with a part of the herd, to Aphrodite Pherse- 
 phassa, at Hypata in Thessaly. These wanderings 
 have been unsparingly elaborated, by introducing inci- 
 dents which, probably, did not from the first belong 
 
 ' Preller, ii. 211, 2i6. 
 
202 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. IX. 
 
 to them ; but some of them must be regarded as of old 
 standing, such as the story of the semi-human Cacus, 
 son of Vulcan, stealing some of the cattle from Heracles. 
 What the original scene of this incident may have been 
 it would be impossible to tell, but Vergil fixed on the 
 Roman hill known as the Aventine, and describes with 
 eloquent detail, how the mighty robber had there a vast 
 cave in which he shut up eight of Heracles' cattle, how 
 he had cunningly dragged them in by their tails, that 
 their footprints might not betray their hiding-place, how 
 the hero finding them out lay the cave open to the light 
 of day, and how he slew Cacus in spite of the fire he 
 vomited and the darkness he spread around him ^ : — 
 
 ' Panditur extemplo foribus domus atra revulsis, 
 Abstractseque boves abjuratasque rapinse 
 Caelo ostenduntur, pedibusque informe cadaver 
 Protrahitur. Nequeunt expleri corda tuendo 
 Terribiles oculos, vultum, villosaque saetis 
 Pectora semiferi, atque exstinctos faucibus ignes.' 
 
 The Cuchulainn legend gives several versions of the 
 Goidelic counterpart of this labour of Heracles : one of 
 them is related to Loegaire mac Neill, king of Erinn, 
 by the ghost of Cuchulainn, called up from the dead by 
 St. Patrick in his attempt to convert the monarch. It 
 describes how the her(» had among other things made 
 an expedition to Tir Scaith or the Land of Shadow, 
 and attacked the fortress there, how all kinds of 
 monsters were let loose at him and his comrades, how 
 there was a wonderful cauldron there which the king's 
 daughter gave to Cuchulainn, together with the three 
 cows that supplied the milk for the cooking done in the 
 cauldron, and how the cows had loads of pearls round 
 their necks. The cauldron was taken and also the 
 
 ' ^neid, viii. 193-267. 
 
Ch. IX.] CUCHULAINN AND HERACLES. 203 
 
 COWS, who swam with Ciichulainn rowing behind them, 
 until he was shipwrecked on the sea that was ' vast by 
 the north.' So he had to swim to land, bringing with 
 him as many of his comrades as could cling to his 
 body^. 
 
 Another version calls the king of the invaded realm 
 Mider, one of the names of the chief of the fairies 
 in Irish legend, as already shown (pp. 26-9). His 
 daughter was Blathnat, whose name is of the same 
 class as that of the Welsh Blodeued in the Mabinogi 
 of Math ab Mathonwy: compare also Fflilr and 
 Blanchefleur, the name given by Chretien to a lady 
 loved by Perceval ^ (Peredur). Mider's country is called 
 Inis Fer Falga, or the Isle of the Men of Falga. 
 Ciichulainn and his friends took Mider's fortress, and 
 carried away Mider's daughter, Mider's cauldron, and 
 Mider's three cows. But on their way home, they were 
 robbed of them all. Nor knew they where to look 
 for them, since the robber was a cunning wizard, who, 
 as Ciichulainn discovered later, was Ciiri or Ciiroi mac 
 Daire. His stronghold stood between Tralee and 
 Dingle, in westernmost Kerry. Ciichulainn, with the 
 aid of Blathnat, slew Ciiri in his abode, and carried 
 away the lady together with Mider's three cows and 
 cauldron to his own Ulster. Ciiri was a great 
 ancestral figure in the west, and the story has accord- 
 ingly been carefully perverted in his favour, by repre- 
 senting Ciichulainn shamefully vanquished in the first 
 instance, and convicted of owing his victory at the last 
 to the blackest treachery. But traces are known of still 
 another version, which is free from this feature: the 
 cattle, according to this, were white, red-eared cows 
 belonging to Echaid Echbel, who lived beyond the sea 
 
 » Hib.Lec. p 261. ^ lb. pp. IS3> 239; Nutt, p. ir, &c. 
 
204 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Cb. IX. 
 
 in Alban ; but as they came sometimes to graze on one 
 of the headlands of Antrim, Ciichulainn took possession 
 of them and drove them away: then they were stolen by 
 Curi mac Daire ^- 
 
 Here we have in Echaid Echbel, or E. with the Horse- 
 mouth, a figure bodily pecuHar about the head, and, so 
 far as that is concecned, one to be compared with the 
 monster Geryon ; but we are not forced to lay any 
 great stress on this comparison. We have elsewhere 
 Geryon's more exact counterpart in the Cernunnos of 
 Gaulish theology ; and as Geryon was associated with 
 abundance and plenty, especially of herds, so Cernunnos 
 revelled in metallic wealth, as indicated by his statues, 
 which are also embellished with ox heads, and sometimes 
 with an ox and a stag feeding^- The statue of this 
 ancient sitting god of the Gauls, which makes the nearest 
 approach to the Greek representation of Geryon, is that 
 found on an altar at Beaune in the Cote d'Or, which 
 gives this divinity three complete heads ^. It is more 
 usual, however, to find him represented with merely 
 three faces, and not three complete heads, but one head 
 with or without horns. Sometimes also the head alone 
 is elaborated, while the divinity is reduced to a Janus- 
 like pillar, a form to be detected probably in the Vener- 
 able Head of Bran the Blessed. But as this latter has 
 been discussed elsewhere *, and is to come under notice 
 later in this volume, it is needless to pursue it further 
 at present. 
 
 Here may be mentioned another incident in the story 
 of the return of Heracles from Erytheia, namely, that 
 of his contest with his foes in the neighbourhood of 
 
 ' Hib. Lee. pp. 473 7. 2 lb. p. 80. 
 
 ' Bertrand's Autel de Sainies in the Rev. Anh. for 1880, p. 75. 
 * Hib. Lee. pp. 96-7. 
 
Ch. IX.] C&CHVLAINN AND HERACLES. 20$ 
 
 Aries, where he sank on his knees from sheer weari- 
 ness and despair; after having shot all his arrows and 
 looked round in vain for stones to cast at his enemies. 
 The story goes that Zeus out of pity sent down a 
 shower of stones, which has accounted for the stony 
 nature of that tract of country ever since, and enabled 
 Heracles at the time to rout the Ligyan foe^. After 
 crossing into Italy, he has a severe contest, among 
 the Ligurians, namely, with two sons of Poseidon, called 
 Alebion and Dercynus. But according to Pomponius 
 Mela, it is the two sons of Poseidon or Neptune, that 
 fight with Heracles near Aries : he calls them (in the 
 accusative) Albiona and Bergyon ^, in whom one cannot 
 help detecting some such names as Albion and Iberius 
 as eponyms of Britain and Ireland. This view is ren- 
 dered possible by the ancient geographical notion, 
 which made Gaul and Spain into a long and narrow 
 peninsula, with Britain on the north-west, separated 
 from it by a comparatively narrow channel with its 
 southern outlet approximately opposite the Pyrenees. 
 This, however, need not detain us from returning to 
 the story of the shower of stones, which may be 
 recognized in the account of Ciichulainn on the Tain, 
 though it is there very differently put. Curi mac Daire 
 so sympathized with Ailill and Medb on the Tain, that 
 he gave them men to aid them in the war ; and one day 
 he resolved to go and take part in it himself; but an 
 Ultonian hero of unknown attributes, except that he was 
 called Munremur, came to oppose him : they met in 
 mid-air and flung stones at each other The stones met 
 
 ' JEschylus, Prometheus Unbound, frag. 193 ; also Strabo, iv. 1. j. 
 
 ^ As to the g of Bergyon, the author's remarks on Avittoriges as the Ogam 
 genitive of the name given in Latin as Avjtoria, on the Eglwys Cymmun 
 Stone, may he consulted in the Arch. Cambrensis for 1889, pp. 225-32. 
 
2o6 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. IX. 
 
 and fell on a spot midway between the three portions 
 of which the camp of the invaders was composed : it 
 was ever afterwards called Mag Clochar, from the 
 stones \ Munremur came to aid Ciichulainn and the 
 conflict greatly alarmed his foes. But neither this nor 
 the Greek version is of much importance in itself. It 
 looks, however, as though the story of the shower of 
 stones was a very ancient one, which was variously 
 placed, both as to locality and to its relation to other 
 incidents. 
 
 The original number of the labours of Heracles was 
 ten, and they were accomplished in a week of years, or 
 more exactly, eight years and one months But as 
 Eurystheus refused to count the killing of the hydra, 
 because lolaus had given assistance, and the cleaning of 
 the Augean stables because Angelas had promised a 
 tenth of his herds to the hero for accomplishing the 
 task, two more labours are usually added : these bring 
 the number up to twelve. Which of the additional ones 
 should be reckoned the last, is not quite certain ; but the 
 tendency was, on the whole, to give that place to the 
 one in which Cerberus figured. The other was con- 
 cerned with the procuring of 
 
 II. The Apples of the Hesperides. 
 
 The first difficulty about these golden apples, supposed 
 to grow on a wonderful tree, guarded by a dragon at- 
 tended by the maidens called the Hesperides, was the 
 fact that no one seemed to know where the Garden of 
 the Hesperides was situated. So Heracles comes to 
 the mythic river known as the Eridanus, and there he 
 finds certain nymphs, who advise him to go and surprise 
 Nereus, the old man of the sea, under one of his various 
 
 ' Bk. of the Dun, 71". ^ Preller, ii. 164. 
 
Ch. IX.] CUCHULAINN AND HERACLES. 207 
 
 names, and compel him to put him on the way to find 
 the Garden of the Hesperides. He does so, and in 
 consequence of the information he got from Nereus, he 
 enters on a very long and varied series of travels. He 
 goes first to Libya, where he has to wrestle with a 
 terrible giant called Antaeus. Having slain him, Heracles 
 appears next in Egypt, where he only escapes by main 
 force from being sacrificed by Busiris at the altar of 
 Zeus. Thence he proceeds up the country to Ethiopia, 
 and comes, after many adventures, to the sea-coast, 
 whence he sails in the golden bowl of the Sun to Asia. 
 There a ramble in India is attributed to him before 
 reaching the Caucasus and the scene of the torture 
 of Prometheus. He kills the bird that preyed on that 
 hero's liver, and obtains the release of the sufferer, 
 who informs Heracles how to find the Garden of the 
 Hesperides and what to do when he got there. 
 
 He was to go through Scythia to the Land of the 
 Hyperboreans, where he should find the Garden, and 
 he was not to pluck the apples himself, but to ask Atlas 
 to do it, who was there supporting on his shoulders the 
 burden of the heavens. Heracles did as he was directed, 
 but Atlas, having plucked the apples, felt that he should 
 like to take them to Eurystheus himself, and leave 
 Heracles under the weight of the world ; but Heracles, 
 as he was not used to sUch a load, asked Atlas to take 
 it while he put on a cushion ; the stupid Atlas having 
 taken back his burden, Heracles left him under it and 
 went his way with the three golden apples. But other 
 accounts made Heracles slay the dragon and pluck the 
 apples off the tree with his own hands, while as to the 
 situation of the Garden of the Hesperides, views also 
 varied widely : perhaps the most ancient of them was 
 that which fixed on the Libyan Atlas, or associated the 
 
2o8 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. IX. 
 
 spot with the western ocean and a region not far dis- 
 tant from Erytheia and the abode of Geryon. Lastlj^, 
 when the apples had been shown to Eurystheus, Athene 
 took them back to the Hesperides, as nobody else 
 might have the keeping of the fruit, which may be 
 regarded as the symbol of everlasting youthfulness and 
 vigour. 
 
 When we come to compare the story of Cuchulainn, 
 we find no nearer counterpart to the three apples of 
 the Hesperides than the cauldron which Cuchulainn 
 brought from Mider's Fairy Isle, though much closer 
 parallels are to be found among the popular tales of 
 the Western Highlands, such as that of the King of 
 Erinn's Son, who fetches three bottles of the water 
 of the Green Isle. Besides the other treasures, he also 
 brings away a loaf that never diminishes and a cheese of 
 the same description, the narrative being made to close 
 with a feast that lasts seven days and seven years ^- 
 The Welsh story of Peredur offers more points of com- 
 parison than that of Cuchulainn, namely, when it speaks 
 of the charger with the head in it at the castle of 
 Peredur's second uncle ; for in the head we have prob- 
 ably a blurred representation of Bran's Venerable Head, 
 which wherever it was borne meant continuous feasting 
 and delights, not to mention its relation to the ro- 
 mancers' ideas of the Holy Grail. The story, in other 
 respects, confirms this view in some measure : thus, as 
 in the case of Heracles and the Garden of the Hes- 
 perides, Peredur's first difficulty was that he did not 
 know where to look for the castle which should be his 
 destination; after a whole year's fruitless wandering 
 he is put on the way to find it by a knight wearing 
 the garb of religion, and represented in some of the 
 
 ' Campbell, i. 164-74. 
 
CH. JX.] CUCHULAINN AND HERACLES. 209 
 
 romances as brother to Peredur's mother. In this 
 respect, the hermit acts as the counterpart of the 
 Culture Hero Prometheus in the Heracles legend. 
 Lastly, when Peredur at length reaches the Castle of 
 Wonders he is not said to take away the charger with 
 the head ; at first sight this would seem to differ from 
 the story of Heracles bringing the fruit to Eurystheus, 
 but it is remarkable that Athene at once takes back 
 that fruit where it was found, so that the bringing 
 it away was possibly a point stretched in order to fall 
 in with the general plan of the labours. Similarly with 
 regard to the hell-hound, 
 
 12. Cerberus. 
 
 This was brought up from the other world to be 
 exhibited at Mycenae, and then to be at once led back 
 into the darkness congenial to it. If the fetching of the 
 monster from Hades was a part of the original story, 
 one would have probably to regard it as a sort of dupli- 
 cate of the conflict of Heracles with the Nemean Hon ; 
 but even if it is to be regarded as an original part of the 
 story, it cannot have been the principal moment in the 
 labour, though it came near crowding out all else in it. 
 Mythologically speaking, the interest of the incident 
 centres in Heracles bringing back the other hero, 
 Theseus, to this world. It recalls the story of Her- 
 modr descending to Hell to fetch back his murdered 
 brother Balder, though he was not successful in his 
 errand : it was in fact too soon, and all nature must 
 weep for Balder before he obtained leave to return ^ 
 
 The Irish counterpart to Heracles releasing his friend 
 from Hades is to be found in Cuchulainn going to the 
 Isles of Hades and setting at liberty Doel Dermait's 
 
 ' Hib. Lee p. 533. 
 P 
 
aio ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. IX. 
 
 Three Sons, in whom we seem to have a reference to 
 the triple division by the CeUs of the daylight portion 
 of the twenty-four hours. On this occasion, Ciichulainn 
 made his way to the Dolorous Glen, or what may be 
 regarded as the uttermost part of the Irish Hades, and 
 slew its king with the gdi bolga, whereupon his captives 
 hastened to bathe their wounds in the blood of the 
 fallen despot : we are left to suppose that there 
 were many of them besides the Three Sons of Doel 
 Dermait, mentioned always by themselves. The same 
 event is referred to in Welsh in a blurred fashion in 
 the account of Peredur slaying the Arrogant Black 
 Fellow, and much more transparently in the story of 
 Owein, where it makes Owein vanquish the Perverse 
 Black Robber and release the twenty-four matrons im- 
 prisoned by him. In them we have, apparently, the 
 twenty-four hours of the day, here treated as all alike 
 captives of the king of darkness, and now allowed to 
 come back again. In the romances this becomes the 
 release of the captives of the realm of Goire on 
 the arrival of Lancelot and his vanquishing Melwas. 
 It is worth while noticing that the release of the 
 captives ends the story of Owein, just as the bringing 
 back of Theseus is associated with the last of the 
 twelve labours of Heracles. 
 
^/ 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 CucHULAiNN AND Heracles [continued). 
 
 Beside the stock labours of Heracles, there were many 
 other achievements ascribed to him in the numerous 
 legends current about him in the different parts of 
 the Greek world. One of these, relating what he had 
 done in the war between the gods and the giants, has 
 already been touched upon ; but its importance demands 
 a somewhat more detailed notice from the comparative 
 point of view. The early story-tellers of Greece could 
 hardly have been expected to place it among the 
 labours : the story went that it was Athene who in- 
 vited Heracles to assist the Olympians, in consequence 
 of an oracle that they could not dispose of their foes 
 without the aid of a mortal. The Irish counterpart to 
 this, as has already been suggested, was Cuchulainn 
 fighting for the Ultonians when they were in their 
 couvade, and against the invaders from the west under 
 Aiiill and Medb on the Tain : also his finally routing 
 them, at the head of the Ultonians issuing from their 
 couvade. But there comes the difficulty, that the Welsh 
 story of Peredur presents the Welsh parallel as the 
 last labour imposed upon Peredur, namely, that of an- 
 nihilating the Witches of Gloucester. This he does 
 with the help of the other hero, Gwalchmei, and Arthur's 
 
 P 2 
 
212 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. X. 
 
 men in force. Thus Peredur, who had been to com- 
 plete his military education at the Court of the Witches, 
 is the one who leads a force to destroy them at the end 
 of the story; but this could hardly have taken place 
 in an Irish story which made Giichulainn a foster-son 
 of the amazon Scathach, so the corresponding war of 
 Cuchulainn's was with ^ mixed force of Fir Bolg and 
 others from the west, of whom the real general was 
 another virago, namely Medb, wife of Ailill and queen 
 of Connaught. The Welsh story introduces the Witches 
 as ' Nine Witches of the Witches of Caer Loyw ; ' but we 
 are not told how many were present at the final en- 
 counter between them and Peredur. One is led, how- 
 ever, to gather from the narrative that they must have 
 mustered in great force. Further, we know from the 
 story of Kulhwch ^, that, when Arthur and his men 
 stormed Caer Loyw in order to rescue from a dungeon 
 there the sun-god Mabon, the Apollo Maponus of in- 
 scriptions of the Roman period, the place was defended 
 not by women but by men ; and here, possibly, we are 
 to regard Peredur's foes as consisting of the Amazons 
 called the Witches, helped by numerous allies of the 
 other sex, though the story-teller does not mention 
 them. 
 
 As a rule, the sun-hero fights unaided by numbers, 
 and this makes it the more important to take further 
 notice of such exceptions to that rule as have just been 
 mentioned. Among other things, it is not to be sup- 
 posed that those exceptions are necessarily late ; for in 
 the present case, for instance, the victory of Cuchulainn 
 at the head of the Ultonians and of Peredur at that of 
 Arthur's men, has its counterpart also amply expressed 
 in the Iliad of Homer. Of course, it is not pretended 
 
 ' R. B. Mab. pp. 131-2 ; Guest, ii. 301. 
 
Ch. X.] CUCHULAINN AND HERACLES. 213 
 
 that the story of that great epic is to be disposed of in a 
 few words here by the way ; but it can be very briefly 
 shown how the story, of the Iliad fits into the interpreta- 
 tion suggested in these pages. Helen has usually been 
 seized upon as the key to the situation, in her character 
 of a dawn goddess or the like ; but the presence in such 
 contests of a female personage associating at one time 
 with dark beings, and at another with light or bright ones, 
 is so much the rule that it is of no adequate avail. 
 
 Let us approach the question from another direc- 
 tion, and first of all let us sweep aside all that part 
 of the poem which makes the gods of Olympus take 
 part in the war, and especially that which engages 
 Apollo on the wrong side, a feature probably to be 
 accounted for by the poet's ideas of the history and 
 ethnology of Asia Minor. This done, the Greeks them^ 
 selves become our Olympians, and Agamemnon takes 
 the place of Zeus as the central figure, while the Asiatic 
 forces opposed to them make up an array in which the 
 Trojans and the Amazons are represented fighting side 
 by side. Let us now see how this fits as regards the 
 sun-hero : the chief person of that description in the 
 story is Achilles, son of Peleus and Thetis, the former a 
 mortal and the latter a goddess, who may perhaps be 
 here compared with the Lady of the Lake, who rears 
 Lancelot in the romances. Her first concern is for her 
 son's safety, and besides other precautions taken by her, 
 she endeavours to keep him from being forced into the 
 Trojan war: she went even so far as to have him 
 disguised in woman's clothing. Similarly, Dechtere 
 tried to prevent her child, Ciichulainn, from going to the 
 Ultonian champions at Emain Macha ; but he could 
 not be turned from his choice, which was like that of 
 Achilles, a career brief and famous. The precautions, 
 
214 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. X. 
 
 taken in vain by Peredur's mother to keep him in utter 
 ignorance of all that appertained to knighthood and the 
 art of war, have already been mentioned. It may be 
 asked, where in the case of Achilles is the distinction of 
 race that should correspond to that between Heracles 
 and the gods, or between Ciichulainn and the other 
 Ultonians. It may be that no trace of it is left in 
 Greek literature, but it may also be that we have just 
 such a trace in his being made the leader of the people 
 called Myrmidons, one story of whose origin was that 
 they were descended from ants converted into men by 
 the fiat of Zeus. Whether that deserves to be taken 
 into account or not, Achilles was the saviour of the 
 Greeks when they were hard pressed ; and among 
 other scenes fondly elaborated by Greek poets and 
 artists was his slaying of Penthesilea, queen of the 
 Amazons, and his grief in observing her beauty and 
 youth. It is even suggested that he recognized in her 
 one whom he had met before on terms of amity and 
 more. This, if a part of the original Greek legend, 
 comes remarkably close to that of Peredur's two distinct 
 rencontres with the Witches of Gloucester, the first 
 resulting in friendship and the other in a fatal combat. 
 
 Though the slaying of Hector and the routing of the 
 Trojans together with their Amazon allies close the 
 Iliad, it was not the close of the Trojan war, for, 
 mythologically speaking, the story consists of several 
 threads wrought into a single one. Just as it is 
 conceivable that the fetching of Geryon's cattle by 
 Heracles and the procuring the apples of the Hes- 
 perides might have been combined into a compound 
 story, so the Trojan legend has several moments : the 
 triumph of Achilles over his Trojan antagonist was onty 
 one of them, the recovery of Helen by her husband 
 
Ch. X.] CUCHULAINN AND HERACLES. 215 
 
 Menelaus may have been another ; but there was still 
 another, and that was the carrying away of the Pal- 
 ladium from the Citadel of Troy, which involved the 
 doom of the city. But the Palladium, as the Trojans 
 had been informed, could only be taken from them with 
 the help of the arrows of Heracles, which the Greeks 
 accordingly had to fetch ; it was necessary also to have 
 the aid of Neoptolemus, the youthful son of Achilles. 
 He, under the direction of Odysseus, the wily Greek in 
 whom we have a form of the Culture Hero of the race, 
 was to wield the weapons of his father with fatal effect 
 against the doomed city. This solar hero, son of a solar 
 hero, brought the Trojan war accordingly to an end; 
 and in him, in spite of his savagery, one may recognize 
 a Greek counterpart to Galahad as the son of Lancelot 
 in the romances. For it was Galahad for whom the 
 sword of Balin was miraculously preserved, and Gala- 
 had it was that had been foretold as the coming knight 
 who was to achieve the quest of the Holy Grail, 
 and to put an end to the so-called Enchantments of 
 the Isle of Britain. 
 
 Greek literature emphasizes two crimes which it 
 attributes to Heracles, and divides his history accord- 
 ingly into two parts. The one was his killing his 
 offspring by Megara when he was suffering from a fit 
 of madness, and according to some accounts it was to 
 expiate this crime that he had to submit to Eurystheus 
 as his taskmaster and to perform the labours he 
 assigned him. The other crime was his kiUing his 
 friend Iphitus, in a similar access of fury. For this he 
 was obhged, according to the direction of the Pythian 
 oracle, to submit to be sold into slavery. The story 
 goes that Hermes took him to the slave-market, and that 
 he was there bought by Omphale, queen of Lydia and 
 
21 6 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch, X. 
 
 widow of king Tmolus, who had left her his throne. 
 
 She loved Heracles and freed him ; she was also loved 
 
 of him, and gave himself up to the luxurious and idle 
 
 life of a Lydian. Omphale amused herself by dressing 
 
 herself in Heracles' lion's skin and equipping herself 
 
 with his club, while he clothed himself in feminine attire 
 
 and betook himself to spinning and other womanly 
 
 occupations. This, and similar situations, formed the 
 
 delight of Greek comedy; but Heracles also engaged 
 
 in more serious undertakings while in Lydia, for he 
 
 cleared the country of robbers and made successful 
 
 expeditions against border raiders and others of the 
 
 queen's enemies, including among them the Amazons. 
 
 When the time of his exile in Lydia was over, the hero 
 
 returned to his native land and his former sphere 
 
 of action. 
 
 As to the Goidelic parallel, Cuchulainn, besides being 
 subject to fits of dangerous frenzy, is described mad on 
 two different occasions, which, however, do not succeed 
 in the order indicated of the Greek incidents. He also 
 slays his own son, owing rather to a mistake than 
 to madness, as has already been mentioned. But the 
 second madness of Heracles and his exile in Lydia 
 have a parallel in the story of Cuchulainn of a very 
 striking kind. His indisposition was caused by two 
 fairies, Liban and Fand, of whom the former was the 
 queen of Labraid of the Swift Hand on the Sword, who 
 reigned over a sort of Elysian isle. Fand was sister to 
 Liban and had been married to the great wizard of the 
 sea, Manannan mac Lir ; but he had forsaken her, and 
 she had fallen in love with Cuchulainn on account of 
 his fame and renown. Fand and Liban came in the 
 form of swans, and lighted on a lake where Cuchulainn 
 saw them ; they made a sort of siren music, which caused 
 
Ch. X.] CUCHULAINN AND HERACLES. 317 
 
 the men of Erinn who heard them to fall asleep. Ciichu- 
 lainn, much against the wish of his friends, cast a spear 
 at them, and did so several times with a lack of success 
 which was so unusual in his case, that it greatly sur- 
 prised and chagrined him. He also then fell asleep. In 
 that sleep he saw two women, one in red and the other 
 in green, come to him and horsewhip him alternately 
 for a long time; when he awoke, he was ill and asked 
 to be carried to his bed, where he remained nearly a 
 whole year without saying a word to any one. It was 
 at last found out that the fairies had been the cause of 
 his indisposition, so he was made to go and meet them 
 at the spot where he had been horsewhipped by them 
 in his sleep just twelve months before. They came to 
 meet him, and would heal him on the condition of his 
 coming to Labraid to aid him in a great battle on a 
 given day, and of his abiding for a time with Fand in 
 Labraid's Isle. After much reluctance, he allowed the 
 invitation of Labraid to influence him^ ; so he went and 
 fought valiantly for him, and then he abode a month 
 with Fand. When he took leave of her, he made 
 arrangements to meet her again, and did so meet her. 
 Now his wife Emer, having heard of it, also resorted 
 there with her friends prepared to murder Fand; but 
 when Fand was in this danger, her husband Manannan 
 suddenly came and carried her away unseen of any 
 one except Loeg, the charioteer of Cuchulainn. The 
 scene ended with Cuchulainn becoming mad again and 
 hurrying away from the abodes of men. He continued 
 in this state till Conchobar's druid, with the aid of 
 powerful ogams, got the best of him, and gave him 
 and his wife a drink of forgetfulness to bring them back 
 to their right minds ^- 
 
 » Windisch, p. 226 ; Hib. Lee. pp. 459-4^2. 
 
21 8 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. X. 
 
 On the Welsh side, this disappearance of Ciichulainn 
 to hve for a time with Fand is matched by Peredur 
 reigning for a time with the Empress, and by Owein 
 hving with the Lady of the Fountain as his wife until 
 Arthur and his men find him out and induce him to 
 come away with them. Here, also, must be mentioned 
 Lancelot afflicted with madness caused by a scene with 
 Guinevere, resembling that between Cuchulainn and 
 Emer when Fand was carried away by Manannan. He 
 comes to Elayne, who heals him by means of the 
 Grail ; and he is then detained by her for years in the 
 Joyous Isle, until in fact some of Arthur's men come 
 to just with him and recognize him, with the result 
 of inducing him to return with them. It is to be 
 noticed that like Heracles in Lydia, both Owein and 
 Peredur engaged in fighting during their absence from 
 their own countries respectively, as Cuchulainn likewise 
 fought during his stay in Labraid's Isle, and as Lancelot 
 justed with all comers while he bore the name of the 
 Chevalier Malfait. But it is not to be overlooked that 
 the Welsh versions of the story imperceptibly merge 
 the lady corresponding to Fand and Omphale, namely 
 Elen, into another and a very different one, the Empress 
 or Gwyar, who should rather correspond to the Morrigu 
 and Here (p. 169). The former, however, alone interests 
 us at this point; and the Irish nature myth, in which 
 Fand figures, teaches us that she was a personification 
 of the tear, or possibly the dew-drop, and her name 
 means probably water ^ ; so that it may be compared 
 with the description of Owein's wife as the Lady of the 
 Fountain or Well, while in the pretty conceit of the 
 fairy Lady of Shalott the glistening drop is made into 
 a fairy mirror, which the reflection of the form of 
 
 ' Hib. Lee. p. 463. 
 
Ch. X.] CUCHULATNN AND HERACLES. 219 
 
 Lancelot irretrievably mars. Moreover, the parallel 
 between Fand and Omphale extends further than has 
 been indicated ; thus Fand was the wife of the sea-god 
 Manannan and the sister of the flood-goddess Liban, 
 while Omphale was the daughter of the river-god 
 lardanus. Nay, her name may also probably compare 
 with that of Fand, as it would seem to be of the same 
 origin as the Greek f'/x/Spo?, ' rain,' Latin imber, ' a shower,' 
 and Sanskrit ambhas, 'water.' So we have here, in 
 various forms seemingly, a nature myth associating the 
 sun with the world of waters. Lastly, though the mytho- 
 logical standing of Labraid is difficult to determine, his 
 island is certainly to be regarded as belonging to the 
 other world. One of the most common features of the 
 geography of that world was that it lay on the other 
 side of a water. So from Greece such lands as Lycia, 
 Lydia, and the Troad, somewhere in the direction of 
 the sun rising out of the sea in the morning, satisfied 
 early Greek mythology as representatives of the other 
 world just as well as an Erytheia first in the Adriatic, 
 then removed, as geographical knowledge grew wider, 
 to a spot in the far-away ocean of the west. It was in 
 fact all the same, and the two directions met in the land 
 of the Ethiopians of the Odyssey'''. 
 
 A word must now be said of the solar heroes as a 
 group, and first of all with regard to their manner of 
 fighting and travelling. Heracles appears to have been 
 originally armed, like Apollo, with bow and arrows, 
 while the club belongs to a later mode of equipping 
 him 2. Bellerophon uses the bow and the lance ; 
 sometimes also the sword I Similarly Cuchulainn's 
 weapons are missiles of various kinds, including stones ; 
 also the spear and the sword, and, in extreme cases, the 
 
 ■ Hib. Lee. p. 640. ^ Preller, ii. 187-8. = lb. 83-4. 
 
220 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. X. 
 
 gdi bolga'^, which he usually directs upwards into the 
 body of his antagonist, or exceptionally brings straight 
 down on his head. This last mode of fighting reminds 
 one of Bellerophon on the back of the winged Pegasus 
 attacking the Chimaera from above. On the Welsh side 
 Peredur, though unsurpassed in his day as a swords- 
 man, derives his name from the spear which he wielded 
 with such deadly skill and force ; when fully described 
 he is called Peredur Paladr-hir, or P. of the long Shaft. 
 The adjective originally involved a reference, perhaps, 
 to his unerring success in reaching his antagonist, 
 as did also probably that of Long-handed as applied 
 to the Irish sun-god Lug. In fact, the connotation of 
 both epithets may have been originally much the same 
 as Apollo's epithet of e/caT?)/3o'\os, or far-shooting. From 
 the position of the enemy assailed, it mattered little 
 whether the predicate long was applied to the distance 
 sped through by the assailant's missile, or else to the 
 weapon itself or the hand wielding it : in either case, 
 he might expect to be hit. 
 
 It was more usual in Greek mythology to represent 
 the sun-god driving in a chariot than riding on horse- 
 back ; but Perseus and Bellerophon are represented 
 each in his time riding on the winged horse Pegasus, 
 while Heracles, though often pictured fighting on foot, 
 has a chariot in readiness drawn by two chargers driven 
 by lolaus, who sits beside his master. When, however, 
 
 ' See supra, p. 189 and the Hit. Lee. pp. 441, 481. In spite of the exag- 
 gerated descriptions to be found of this weapon, it was not altogether an 
 imaginary one. We are told in a passage translated by O'Curry in his 
 Manners mid Customs of the Ancient Irish, ii. 309, that ' it made but the wound 
 of one dart in entering the body ; but it presented thirty inverted points against 
 coming back ; so that it could not be drawn from a person's body without 
 opening it." The author has been shown spears and harpoons in the Pitt- 
 Rivers Museum here, the working of which renders the principle of the^flV 
 bolga fairly intelligible. 
 
Ch. X.] CUCHULAINN AND HERACLES. 2Z1 
 
 he came to a sea which he had to cross, he sometimes 
 borrowed the golden bowl of the Sun, and embarked in 
 that vessel as his boat. Lastly, Heracles is sometimes 
 represented, especially by oriental art, as seated on the 
 back of a lion ^- 
 
 On Irish ground we have Ciichulainn usually fighting 
 from a chariot, drawn by two horses driven by Loeg, 
 who sat by the hero's side ; but on his long journey to 
 the isle of the amazon Scathach, Ciichulainn all alone 
 travels in a variety of ways. Certain dangerous por- 
 tions of the journey are safely made by him by following 
 the rolling of a wheel and of an apple respectively ; but 
 over a much longer distance he travels on the back ' 
 of a savage beast resembling a lion. After he had 
 journeyed so for four whole days, the animal put him 
 down in an inhabited island, where those who saw the 
 savage beast thus serving a man were not a little sur- 
 prised. With this animal should, perhaps, be compared 
 the two chargers which the hero tamed for his chariot 
 after his return to Erinn : they were both lake-horses ; 
 but the parallel is much closer between the wild beast 
 that carried Ciichulainn over land and sea and the ani- 
 mal ridden by the older sun-god Lug. This last was a 
 mare belonging to Lug's foster-father Manannan Son of 
 the Sea, and her name was Anbarr ^, which meant, pos- 
 sibly, that she had a bird's head. If so, she corresponded 
 to her name, as she was swift like the cold winds 
 of spring, and travelled with equal ease over land 
 and sea. The bird-like speed of this animal, the pro- 
 perty of Manannan of the Sea, cannot help recalling 
 the wings of Pegasus, which is variously associated with 
 
 ' Preller, ii, 190. 
 
 ^ See the Atlantis, iv. 163, where O'Cuiry prints Aonbharr, which he in- 
 terprets ' One Mane ; ' but Cormac gives an enbarr meaning ' foam.' 
 
222 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. X. 
 
 springs of water in the Greek story, and made out to 
 iiave been the offspring of the sea-god Poseidon. 
 
 As to the heroes of Welsh stories, they never drive in 
 chariots, but ride on horseback. So Lug's Welsh coun- 
 terpart ILeu had a celebrated horse, and it was called the 
 Steed of the Yellow-white Footsteps : it has two things 
 predicated of it, to which the Irish stories of Cuchulainn 
 and Lug enable us to give a meaning : it is called a gift' 
 horse ^, which the fact of Lug's horse being the property 
 of Manannan^, assists one to understand, and it has the 
 adjective lletuegin applied to it, meaning tamed or 
 domesticated, in the sense of bringing a wild animal 
 up tame, a signification which the story of Cuchulainn 
 riding on a wild beast like a Hon towards Scathach's 
 Isle helps one to realize as appHed to ILeu's horse. 
 The Irish hero Conall Cernach had also a very pecu- 
 liar steed, which drew his chariot without the help of 
 another horse on the memorable occasion, for instance, 
 of Conall's pursuing Lugaid, the slayer of Cuchulainn, 
 and avenging on him the death of the latter earlier 
 in the day. This horse of Conall's had a dog's head, 
 and it used its teeth, like Darius' steed in Herodotus, to 
 attack his master^s antagonists. Thus Lugaid, having 
 lost one hand just before, bound Conall to fight with 
 him with one hand alone, the other being tied behind 
 him: this was done, but in the course of the duel 
 Conall^s horse took a piece out of Lugaid's body with 
 his teeth, and rendered him easily slain by his master. 
 Riding to battle is probably more ancient among Aryan 
 
 ' In the Book of Taliessin, poem xxv : see Skene, ii. 176, where the spell- 
 ing of the MS. is incorrectly given as letuegin. The note at the foot of page 
 385 of the Hibberf Lectures was written before the author had guessed the 
 point of the adjective. 
 
 " Triads, i. 94. ii. 50, and R. B. Mab. p. 306. 
 
Ch. X.] CUCHULAINN AND HERACLES. 223 
 
 nations than driving in a chariot drawn by a pair of 
 horses ; but a one-horse chariot used for the same pur- 
 pose, as on the occasion of Conall's revenge, is quite 
 exceptional, and to be explained as a sort of compromise 
 between the two war chargers usual in the epic tales 
 of the Ultonian cycle, and Cuchulainn's savage beast 
 like a lion, or Owein's ally, who was a pure-white 
 lion. 
 
 In pursuing here as our leading thread the story of 
 Heracles, we have introduced several other heroes by 
 way of comparison, such as Perseus and Bellerophon. 
 Other personages also have been mentioned in conse- 
 quence, at least partly, of the story bringing them in 
 contact with him : we allude especially to Theseus and 
 Apollo. The relations between Theseus and Heracles 
 have already been mentioned, and their mythological 
 interpretations suggested with the aid of Hermodr and 
 Balder, while those between Heracles and Apollo, which 
 now claim our attention, present greater difficulties. 
 Allusion has already been made to Heracles in collision 
 with Artemis and Apollo, on account of the stag belong- 
 ing to Artemis and caught by Heracles for Eurystheus ; 
 but a more serious quarrel took place when Heracles, 
 in a disordered state of mind and body, consequent on 
 his committing the crime of murdering Iphitus, came 
 to the Pythian oracle at Delphi to enquire what he was 
 to do. The oracle turned away in horror refusing to 
 give a response, whereby Heracles was so angered that 
 he broke into the sanctuary, and snatching the holy 
 tripod, carried it away in order to set it up elsewhere for 
 his own service. Thereupon Apollo came to the rescue 
 of the sacred utensil, and a terrible duel would have 
 ensued had not Zeus intervened. But Heracles carried 
 his point of obtaining a response from the oracle, which 
 
224 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. X. 
 
 was to the effect, that he must serve again in order to 
 effect the expiation of his crime \ and this it was that led 
 to his being sold to Omphale, queen of Lydia. Heracles 
 and Apollo are ever afterwards represented as the 
 greatest friends, and Heracles becomes a great propa- 
 gator of the cult of Apollo in various parts of the 
 Hellenic world. 
 
 With the quarrel between Heracles and Apollo is 
 probably not to be reckoned the standing hostility of 
 Apollo towards Achilles, which is to be traced rather to 
 the historical and ethnological prepossessions of the 
 poet of the Iliad; but it has its parallel in the Ultonian 
 cycle of Irish tales. For there we have no less than 
 three solar heroes intimately related with one another, 
 Ciichulainn, Conall, and Loegaire- the former two were 
 foster-brothers, which is a Goidelic way of representing 
 them as sworn allies. But they had their rivalries, and 
 one important story relates how the king and his most 
 influential men had repeatedly to intervene to prevent 
 the imminent fall of the three heroes by one another's 
 hands, and how they sent them to one uncanny being 
 after another to have the question of the champion's 
 morsel at the feasts of Emain decided for them. Cuchu- 
 lainn issued victorious from all the terrible tests to 
 which he was submitted, but his rivals never admitted 
 the justice of the decisions in his favour ; so Ciichulainn 
 said that he would no longer contend with them, and the 
 institution of the champion's morsel, with all that it 
 imphed, fell into abeyance, and the heroes' friendship 
 was submitted to no further trials. Norse mythology 
 does not tell us of any rivalry between the solar 
 brothers, but it discloses their plurality; for besides 
 Balder and Hermodr, his brother already mentioned, 
 
 ' Preller, ii. 162-4. 
 
Ch. X.] CUCHVLAINN AND HERACLES. 225 
 
 there was a third brother Vali, who, born in the halls of 
 the West and when but one night old, was to avenge 
 Balder's death ^, which challenges comparison with 
 Apollo's great feat of slaying the Pytho as soon as he 
 was born. 
 
 Here, however, a difficulty presents itself, the mention 
 of which must be no longer deferred : Balder and his 
 brothers were, so to say, on the same level ; and so were 
 Owein, Peredur, and Gwalchmei, Lancelot and Galahad, 
 while, according to Greek mythology, Heracles and 
 Apollo were not. For Heracles was by birth a mortal, 
 while Apollo was from the first one of the immortals. 
 Both Celts and Greeks had a multiplicity of solar heroes ; 
 but as the ancient mythology does not appear to have 
 required at once more than two, or at most three, the 
 greater number of the solar heroes must be regarded as 
 various editions, so to say, of one or two originals, how- 
 ever widely they may happen to differ in detail of treat- 
 ment. One of the most ancient ideas respecting the 
 solar hero was that which treated him as the offspring 
 of the Culture Hero or the great medicine-man of the 
 race ; but such a primitive notion must have been liable 
 at an early date to be obscured, especially among a pro- 
 gressive people such as the Greeks. Therefore, according 
 to this view, one would, perhaps, be at liberty to suppose 
 that Apollo's immortality was not original, but the result 
 of an after-thought, though Greek literature gives no 
 hint to that effect. But the admissibility of this view 
 would seem to have in its favour various things in the 
 story of Apollo. To begin with his birth, Here appears 
 resorting to the same means of delaying that event as in 
 the case of Heracles ; and later, like Heracles subject 
 to Eurystheus, Apollo serves Laomedon, king of Troy, 
 
 ' Vigfusson and Powell's Corpus Poeticum Boreale, i. 183. 
 Q 
 
226 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch.X. 
 
 whose cattle he pastures ; and later still he has to render 
 service at the house of Admetus of Pherse in Thessaly. 
 Among other things he does for Admetus may be 
 mentioned the feat of yoking a lion and a wild boar to 
 the bridal chariot, without which Admetus was not to 
 obtain Alcestis, the daughter of Pelias ^ to wife. This 
 reminds one of the part played by Siegfried in wooing 
 Brynhild for Gunther. Lastly, the question of the im- 
 mortality of the Greek heroes, here in question, may 
 be said to reduce itself almost to one of degree : thus 
 some of them, such as Perseus, Bellerophon, Theseus, 
 and Achilles, are not represented born immortal, or 
 acquiring immortality, while Heracles is born a mortal, 
 but acquires immortality : Apollo, on the other hand, is 
 immortal from the first. In any case, the distinction 
 between them in this respect is not so great as it might 
 at first sight seem to be. 
 
 Having mentioned some of the points which might be 
 urged in favour of the idea, that Apollo may have been 
 originally regarded as a mortal, like the' heroes just 
 enumerated, it is right to add that another view is 
 possible and, on the whole, preferable, namely, that 
 Aryan theology of old admitted more than one account 
 of the origin of the Solar Hero. In fact, we have already 
 (p, 164) touched upon this in connection with the ques- 
 tion of the parentage of Gwalchmei (Gauvain) and 
 Gwalchaved (Galahad). These accounts may be grouped 
 thus : (a) that which made the sun-hero a son or 
 avatar of another sun-hero, and {fi) that which made 
 him son of the Culture Hero. To these may be added 
 an older one (y) making him son of the Zeus of the Aryan 
 system, and like him a god from the first. The pedigree 
 making the sun-hero the offspring of the Zeus of the 
 
 ' Preller, ii. 316. 
 
Ch. X.] CiyCHULAINN AND HERACLES. 327 
 
 system, is probably to be regarded as older than that 
 which treats him as son of the Culture Hero, as the 
 latter seems to postulate the former. In other words, 
 when the Culture Hero of the Aryans or the medicine- 
 man of the race, claimed to be the father of the Sun, he 
 probably did so merely as a sequel to his placing himself 
 on a level with the head of the Aryan pantheon, or of his 
 being identified with that divinity as a manifestation or 
 incarnation of him. This did not completely supersede 
 the older theology, but it was the tendency ; and as such 
 it gathered at length force enough, for example, to make 
 Indra head of the Hindu pantheon. It gave Woden the 
 place of Tiu in Teutonic theology. It so advanced 
 the Culture Hero in the estimation of the Celts that 
 their Zeus is hard to identify in some of their tales, and 
 wholly omitted in others, while his consort of the early 
 period is left labouring, in some instances, under the title 
 of Great Queen or Empress without a Great King or 
 Emperor to call her his own. Greek literature takes for 
 granted the solemn marriage of Zeus with his sister Here, 
 but Celtic mythology fails to carry us back to a state of 
 society where it could have been possible. Thus, in the 
 case of Conchobar and his sister Dechtere, we only find 
 a suspicion, but it was enough to cause the nobles of his 
 realm great distress, until Dechtere was given in marriage 
 to Sualdaim, the reputed father of Ciichulainn. 
 
 The suspicion mentioned is possibly to be regarded 
 as the faint echo of a Zeus and Here marriage regularly 
 sanctioned by the Celtic mythology of a previous period ; 
 but it is remarkable that, after the Culture Hero was 
 elevated to the place of the ancient Zeus, the incest 
 should reappear in several versions : to such an extent 
 does the Culture Hero seem to take to the role of the 
 god whom he supplants, that he even partially supersedes 
 
 Q2 
 
3*8 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch.X. 
 
 him as a husband ; excepting, of course, that husband is 
 not the word to use from the moment that incest, con- 
 demned as a crime, precluded the idea of a legitimate 
 marriage. This is illustrated by the story of Cairbre 
 Muse and Dubin in Irish, and by that of Arthur and 
 Gwyar in Welsh ^ ; but the latter case is not quite so 
 simple : Gwyar may be taken to be one of the Welsh 
 names of the Morrigu and Here ; and Arthur elevated 
 to the rank and place of the Zeus of the system becomes 
 her brother, so Medrod (Mordred) and, possibly, 
 Gwalchmei, are of an unfortunate parentage. But the 
 husband of Gwyar, king Loth, was still living : he had 
 only ceased to be the Zeus of the Celtic system : he had 
 been pushed to the background, and he now counted only 
 as god of the sea or of the other world, which was the 
 meaning of his being called king of Orkney and ILych- 
 lyn. The case of Gwydion and Arianrhod, daughter of 
 Don, is somewhat similar; the former attaining to the 
 rank of a god becomes ' Son of Don,' and therefore 
 brother to Arianrhod, the mother of his son ILeu, the 
 sun-hero. 
 
 Lastly, the marriage of Here to Zeus is the key- 
 note to her hostility to Apollo and Heracles, both 
 her husband's offspring. Owing to her irritation on 
 account of his diverse amours, her hostility to Apollo 
 and Heracles dates before their birth ; and she is accord- 
 ingly represented resorting to means of delaying the 
 birth of both the one and the other. But from what has 
 already been said, Irish mythology, as we know it, could 
 give no such reason for the Morrigu or Great Queen's 
 antagonism to Cuchulainn ; so another was found, 
 namely, that she had, in a weak moment, made love to 
 him, and that he had given her a rebuff which she keenly 
 
 ' Hib. Lee. p. 308, and p. 31 above. 
 
Ch. X.] CUCHULAINN AND HERACLES. 339 
 
 resented. In the original story of Peredur, that knight 
 probably acted analogously ; but the story, as we have 
 it, makes him, after insulting the Empress by despitefully 
 treating her men, at last give way and become her hus- 
 band. This is as if Heracles, when Zeus had disappeared 
 forgotten, had to take Here to be his wife, and the key 
 to this remarkable turn taken by the Welsh story has 
 already (p. 164) been suggested, namely, the confusion 
 of the Empress with a damsel of the lake-lady group. 
 
 A few words must now be said of those who com- 
 manded, and of those who encouraged and guided the sun- 
 hero in his toils. In the Greek story of the labours of 
 Heracles, the one who commands is Eurystheus, with 
 Here in the background, and the one who encourages the 
 hero is Athene. Let us begin with Athene, who accom- 
 panies Heracles in all his most arduous undertakings ; 
 and, when he is tired, she sees to his comfort, and even 
 makes warm springs gush forth from the ground to give 
 him a refreshing bath \ Among other acts of kindness 
 to him, she is said to have saved him from being drowned 
 in the Styx when he visited Hades. Athene had simi- 
 larly aided Perseus in his labours, and helped Bellero- 
 phon to tame his winged steed ^. It is, however, to be 
 noticed that Greek literature gives no certain hint that 
 Athene and her hero ever treated one another as lovers. 
 The presence usually of Hermes, the Culture Hero, 
 with Athene, as witnesses of Heracles' labours is also 
 worthy of remark. Similarly, in the Cuchulainn legend 
 Athene is once represented by Fedelm of the Nine 
 Forms, daughter of Conchobar the king ^ : she has a bath 
 secretly prepared for the hero during the night when he 
 goes forth to defy the Fir Bolg forces from the West. 
 
 1 Hib. Lee. p. 379; Preller, ii. 161. '' Preller, ii. 79. 
 
 ' Hib. Lee. P- 378. 
 
230 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. x. 
 
 In Welsh we have Athene's counterpart in Lunet, who 
 assists Owein in a variety of ways ; and in the Peredur 
 story she appears in the form of the princess who makes 
 her bed near his cell when he is in prison. Both this 
 anonymous princess and Lunet help their respective 
 heroes on their errands, but the latter are not repre- 
 sented as their lovers. Nay even Chretien, when he 
 has to mention Lancelot in the embarassing situation of 
 having to accept hospitality from a maiden hostess on 
 the condition that he should share her bed, has not 
 ventured to go so far, in this instance, as to remove his 
 hero's self-restraint. The ladj^ takes Lancelot on towards 
 his destination on the following day, and wishes him 
 success in his arduous undertaking (p. 102). 
 
 In the story of Ciichulainn, the presence of the Culture 
 Hero is probably to be sought in his patron Concho- 
 bar, sometimes suspected of being his father. In 
 Welsh the corresponding figure of the Culture Hero 
 presents himself in the person of Arthur, who repeatedly 
 fetches the Sun-hero back to the society of men from his 
 sojourn in the other world as in the case of Owein, of 
 Peredur, and of Lancelot whiling away his time with 
 Elayne in the Joyous Isle. It is Arthur and his men 
 that persuade the hero to return with them, just as it 
 was one of the most important functions of Indra, as 
 Culture Hero of the Hindus, to bring back the sun so as 
 to be seen of men, and to hasten the course of the dawn 
 that dallies all too long with the powers of night ^. 
 
 Eurystheus claims our attention next : he was king of 
 Mycenae, and descended from the same family of Perseus 
 as Heracles himself. Owing to Here's wiliness and the 
 short-sightedness of her husband Zeus, power was from 
 
 ' Hib. Lee. pp. 299-300. 
 
CH.X.] CiyCHULAINN AND HERACLES. 231 
 
 the first given to Eurystheus over Heracles, to the 
 weaker over the stronger, to the coward over the hero. 
 The story shows evident marks of much editing and 
 systematizing beyond what may be suspected in the 
 legends about most sun-heroes. But, allowing for this, 
 Eurystheus undoubtedly remains the principal task- 
 master of Heracles, and the question of his attributes 
 becomes one of importance for our comparisons. What 
 we learn about him is, that he was cruel and cowardly, 
 and that he was in such dread of Heracles that he had a 
 brass receptacle made for himself to shnk into, when the 
 hero appeared at Mycenae from time to time, as he 
 achieved his tasks. Then we read also that after the 
 death of Heracles his children were persecuted by 
 Eurystheus, who was, however, defeated by Theseus, 
 lolaus and others, who exerted themselves on behalf of 
 the family of Heracles : the result was that Eurystheus 
 was slain by Heracles' son Hyllus,who carried his head 
 to Dejaneira his mother. On this one has to remark 
 that the story of the brass receptacle in which Greek 
 art represents Eurystheus hiding himself at the approach 
 of Heracles, suffices to show that we have mythologically 
 to regard him as one of the dark beings naturally hostile 
 to the Solar Hero. 
 
 This view is confirmed by the case of Polydectes, 
 for whom Perseus undertakes his labours. The story 
 of this latter hero's birth is almost exactly that of 
 Lug's birth, as related in a modern legend pub- 
 lished by O'Donovani. Acrisius, the grandfather of 
 Perseus, had been told that he would be killed by a 
 grandson of his, so he confined his only child, a daughter 
 named Danae, in a brass tower where no man should have 
 
 ' Hib. Lee. p. 314. 
 
232 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. X. 
 
 access to her. But this proved of no avail to keep Zeus 
 out ; so Perseus was born, and Acrisius foiled exposed 
 him and his mother in a chest to the mercy of the sea, 
 in the expectation that they might both perish. That, 
 however, did not come to pass, as they were cast ashore 
 on a rocky islet called Seriphus, where the despot of the 
 place, whose name was Polydectes, took a liking to Danae 
 and wished in time to get rid of her son, as he might 
 stand in the way of his advances^. He so arranged 
 matters that young Perseus was sent on a terrible adven- 
 ture to fetch him the Gorgon head of M edusa. In due time 
 he returned successful and delivered his mother from 
 the violence of Polydectes, whom he petrified with the 
 glance of Medusa's Head : in other words, he left him in 
 a condition somewhat analogous to that of a corpse god, 
 or that of the northern Sibyl, compelled to answer Woden, 
 when she described herself thus : ' I have been snowed 
 on with the snow, I have been beaten with the rain, I 
 have been drenched with the dew, long have I been 
 dead ''! 
 
 Polydectes is represented as a hospitable king, and 
 his name describes him as one who receives many guests, 
 or in other words, one who keeps an open house ; but 
 Polydectes and Polydegmon in this same sense of an 
 All-receiver were also names of Pluto, the god of the 
 other world, and we cannot be wrong in identifying them 
 with one another ^ Of course, the barren island of Seri- 
 phus would scarcely suit as the seat of Pluto, when he 
 had been elaborately surrounded with all the adjuncts 
 of a great and imposing potentate, and when the practice 
 
 ' Preller, ii. 60-3, 71. 
 
 ^ Hib. Lee. pp. 567-8 ; Vigfusson and Powell's Corpus Poet. Bor. i. 182. 
 ^ It is needless to say that Preller, i. 660, ii. 61, does not suggest identify- 
 ing them. 
 
Ch. X.] CtrCHULAINN AND HERACLES. 333 
 
 of navigation had made the Greeks familiar with all the 
 Cyclades ; but that only goes to show that the idea of 
 Seriphus as a home of the departed must date from a 
 very early time. At any rate, that rocky isle would have 
 been an ideal abode of Hades from a Celtic point of 
 view; and as to kingly hospitality and the means of 
 providing it in Seriphus, these questions offer no more 
 difficulty than in the case of Gwales. Whence came 
 the supplies for the eighty years' banquet on the latter 
 inaccessible island ^ ? This is the sort of contradiction 
 which usually characterises all ancient accounts of the 
 other world, which was nearly as much a subject of 
 imagination of old as it is to later generations. We 
 venture, then, to regard Polydectes as a Plutonic per- 
 sonage, and the same may probably be said of Belle- 
 rophon's task-master, the Lycian king whom he suc- 
 ceeded; also of Laomedon, the king of Troy, whom 
 Apollo served, and probably of Admetus likewise. So, 
 on the whole, when we can fix in Greek literature on the 
 solar hero's task-master, the latter proves to have been 
 probably a dark divinity. This agrees with the character 
 and nature of Forgall the Trickster, who succeeds in 
 binding Cuchulainn by oath to expose himself to perils 
 which the dark wizard did not expect him to survive ; 
 and the Welsh counterpart of Forgall has been discussed 
 already in its place in the story of Peredur (pp. 116-7). If 
 it were necessary here to step on Teutonic ground, one 
 might point to the same relation between the dark 
 figure of Gunther and that of Siegfried, whose services 
 he secures. 
 
 The ways in which the dark divinity acquires his 
 power over the Solar Hero vary greatly, and in some 
 
 1 Hib. Lee. p. 96; R. B. Mab. pp. 40-2 ; Guest, iii. 126-7. 
 
334 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. X. 
 
 Stories the compulsion is slurred over or left wholly 
 unmentioned. In the story of Heracles one finds not 
 only Eurystheus, but also the stern figure of Here loom- 
 ing behind him : she is likewise potent in her hostility 
 at the hour of Apollo's birth, as in the case of Heracles ; 
 and to the latter she continues bitterly hostile throughout 
 his earthly career. He resents it on his part, and on 
 one occasion he even wounds her, as briefly told in the 
 Iliad, V. 392-4 : 
 
 TX^ 8' "Hpij, ore /nil/ Kparepos Trais 'A/i^irpuavos 
 Ae^iTepop Kara p.a^ov oiVrw TpiyKinxivi 
 Bf^XijKet* TOTE Kai /xic dvrjKcaTov Xa/3ej< a\yos. 
 
 This is more than matched by the Irish legend, when it 
 makes Cuchulainn roughly handle the Great Queen no 
 less than thrice in the course of his duel with Loch Mor^ 
 The cause of her hostility to Cuchulainn at the time has 
 already been noticed (p. in), and so has the blurring of 
 the record of that hostility in the Welsh story of 
 Peredur (pp. 120-2). 
 
 Apart from the peculiar treatment of Here's counter- 
 parts in Celtic legends, her personahty, studied even in 
 the light of the most ancient Greek literature, offers great 
 difficulties, especially when one begins to ask what she 
 originally represented. But whatever she was in point 
 of origin, she is described as fond of taking part in war 
 and slaughter ; and in this respect she has her counter- 
 part in the Empress, who will not have to husband any- 
 one but the bravest and most stalwart of knights. We 
 see her also in the Elen Leader of Hosts, whom her story 
 elevates to the position of Empress, as the wife of an em- 
 peror of Rome ^ ; also in Gwalchmei and Gwalchaved's 
 
 * Hib. Lee. pp. 469-70. 
 
 ' P. no above, also Hib. Lee. pp. 161-7. 
 
Ch. X.] CUCHULAINN AND HERACLES. '2.-i,r^ 
 
 mother Gwyar, whose name (p. 169) is redolent of the 
 delight, in bloodshed and battle, taken by the Morrigu 
 or Great Queen in Irish, who early ^ in the story of the 
 Tain takes the form of a bird. Later, however, namely 
 in the incident of the duel between Cuchulainn and 
 Loch Mor, she takes three other forms successively, that 
 of an eel, of a she-wolf, and of a hornless red heifer^. 
 This last would seem to have had more importance than 
 appears from the Tain. For we find elsewhere the for- 
 tunes of a war depending on a hornless red cow. The 
 legend of the Deisi relates how Dil, the blind druid of 
 the Men of Erinn opposed to the Deisi, prepared by 
 spells and incantations a wisp against the Deisi, and how 
 this was to be burnt in sight of the Deisi's camp at the 
 same time that a hornless red cow was to be sent forth 
 towards the enemy: on the cow being wounded and 
 killed by the enemy, the latter would be done for. The 
 Deisi, however, were enabled to find all this out and to 
 steal the wisp ; they then executed on their own behalf 
 the intentions of the blind druid of the Men of Erinn, 
 with the result that the latter quickly found that the war 
 was a hopeless one for them, and that they could not 
 help leaving the Deisi the territory which they had been 
 contesting ^. 
 
 No explanation is offered of the magic proceedings of 
 the druid ; but a cow was essential, and it was also 
 essential that she should be a hornless red one, for the 
 Deisi not being able to find such a one at once, their 
 druid volunteered in consideration of certain privileges 
 to be granted to his family for ever, to take the form of 
 
 1 Bk. of the Dun, 64". 
 
 '^ lb. 76''-77^ A different account occurs in the Tain Bo Re^amna in the 
 Ir. Texte, ed. by Stokes and Windisch, ii. 246-7, 252-4. 
 
 2 Bk. of the Dun, 54''. 
 
236 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. X. 
 
 a hornless red cow, and so to sacrifice his Hfe in the 
 enemy's camp, where one of the men, not knowing what 
 was happening, wounded and slew the animal before 
 Dil could get his order circulated, that it was not to be 
 harmed on any account. So it is not improbable that the 
 cow was one of the favourite forms of the Morrigu, or 
 at any rate that it was so closely associated, or even 
 identified with her, that the slaying of the animal 
 brought disaster on the slayers and the reverse to their 
 foes. Why it should have been hornless and red does 
 not appear, nor indeed why it should have been a cow 
 at all; but one may compare the epithet jSouwis, 'ox- 
 eyed,' applied to Here, together with the story about 
 the gods fleeing before Typho in brute forms, when the 
 one assumed by Here was that of a cow. The other 
 epithet, kwSitsi.^, ' dog-eyed,' applied hkewise to Here, 
 comes nearer to the Morrigu's form of a she-wolf in 
 the epic tale of the Tain. To these coincidences must, 
 lastly, be added the similarity of character between the 
 Morrigu and the Greek Here in her more unamiable 
 moods. 
 
 The Morrigu has no husband in Irish saga, but we 
 are informed, archaeologically so to speak, that she was 
 the wife of Neit, a war-god of the old Irish \ This har- 
 monizes with the fact that war was one of the chief 
 departments of the activity of the Celtic Zeus, and that 
 his wife continued a conspicuous figure after the place 
 of her husband had been taken, partly by the Culture 
 Hero, and partly by the Solar Hero. But the presence 
 of the Morrigu as a fairy or demon in the Ciichulainn 
 legend awaits explanation, as does also that of her 
 
 ' Hib. Lee. pp. 43, 215 ; Cormac's Glossary, p. 122 of the Stokes-O'Dono- 
 van edition. 
 
Ch. X.] CtrCHULAINN AND HERACLES. 237 
 
 Welsh counterpart, styled the Empress in the story of 
 Peredur. They stand forth like the remains as it 
 were of an older formation, and, unable as we are to say 
 how they came where we find them, we can only 
 add the difficulty attaching to them to the mass of other 
 difficulties, which the question of mythological stratifica- 
 tion already presents. 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 Urien and his Congeners. 
 
 With regard to history as distinguished from my- 
 thology, the position of Owein is analogous to that of 
 Peredur ; and the former's father, Urien, has commonly 
 been supposed to be the Urbgen whom Nennius repre- 
 sents ^ as one of the Brythonic leaders arrayed against 
 the Angles of Deira, under their king named Hussa 
 by Nennius. Undoubtedly, the Owein of Welsh story 
 belongs to the domain of mythology, and the same thing 
 may be said of Urien ^, who is described as son of 
 Kynvarch Oer or ' K. the Cold,' son of Meirchion Gul or 
 ' M. the Meagre.' Here the name Kynvarch may be 
 treated as belonging to the same category as that of 
 March ab Meirchion, from which it is in part derived. 
 How March was the Midas of the Br3fthonic Celts, it is 
 needless to repeat *. Further, Urien is commonly called 
 king of Rheged, in Welsh, Urien Rheged ; and Rheged 
 was a region which the Red Book translation of 
 Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia places in the north of 
 this island, and treats as synonymous with Mureif or 
 Moray. According to Geoffrey, Mureif contained ILyn 
 ILumonwy, or Loch Lomond, with its numerous islands, 
 
 ' San-Marte's Gildas et Neumus, p. 72. ^ Hib. Lee. p. 423. 
 
 ^ See supra, pp. 12, 70, and Hib. Lee. p. 593. 
 
Ch. XI.] URIEN AND HIS CONGENERS. 239 
 
 of which he gives a quaint account : the islands were 
 sixty in number, with a rock in each with an eagle's 
 nest on each rock ; and the eagles congregated on the 
 eve of the Calends of May to give the inhabitants 
 auguriae for the year then commencing ^. 
 
 Arthur and his men made war on the Picts and Scots, 
 and, finding them taking refuge in the isles of Loch 
 Lomond, they blockaded them until they forced them 
 into subjection, in spite of the help brought to the 
 northerners by an Irish king called Guillamurius. 
 When this war was over, Arthur, we are told, restored 
 their dominions to the three sons of Kynvarch, namely, 
 Scotland to Auguselus (or Arawn) ^, Mureif (or Rheged) 
 to Urianus^ (or Urien), and Loudonesia to Lot (or 
 ILeu). Now Lot or Loth, though called ILeu or ILew* 
 in Welsh, is probably to be identified with ILud^, and 
 
 ' San-Marte's Geoffrey, ix. 6 ; R. B. Bruts, pp. 191-2. The Latin has also 
 sceptro Murefettsium in ix. 9, and in ix. is, Urianus rex Murefensium, in both 
 of which the Welsh is Reget : see R. B. Bruts, pp. 194, 200. 
 
 ^ Arawn is the name in the Welsh versions : see R. B. Bruts, pp. 194, 
 200, 208, 220, 224, 230. But one recognizes Auguselus (better, doubtless, 
 Anguselus) in Malory's Anguyssaunce or Agwysaunce, king of Ireland, and 
 in Anguysshe, king mostly of Ireland, but once of Scotland, namely in v. 2 : 
 it is needless to point out that Scotland and Ireland were once more or less 
 synonymous, and how this fact kept a door open for confusion in later times. 
 The longer forms in Malory seem to point to the genitive Aengussa of Aengus, 
 while Anguysshe seems to derive from the later genitive Aenguis, with its is 
 pronounced ish. 
 
 ' From his Urianus Geoffrey distinguishes an Vrbgennius de Badone in ix. 
 12 and X. 6, 9 ; and in iii. 19 he has Urianus Andragii filius, which becomes 
 Uryen son oiAndryw in R. B. Bruts, p. 81. 
 
 * The reason for this difference of names has not been discovered, but it 
 is as old at any rate as the Black Book of Carmarthen, where ttev and his two 
 brothers are made into sons, not of Kynvarch, but of ILywarch H6n : see 
 Evans' Aut. Fac. 54 a. It is worth noticing that ILywarch is another March 
 compound, unless we are wrong in equating it with the Loumarc of the 
 Harleian Genealogies in the Cymmrodor, ix. 171, and the Irish form Lomarc 
 in the Book of the Dun, 67°', 73", where mention is made of Lugaid mc. 
 Noiss Ui Lomairc. 
 
 ^ Hib. Lee. pp. 128-31. 
 
340 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Gh. XI. 
 
 considered the eponymus of Loudonesia or Lothian ; 
 but he is also associated with Orkney and Lychlyn or 
 Norway 1. As to Arawn, he is represented in the 
 Mabinogion as the king of Annwn or Hades ^ ; so here 
 we have the North treated, by implication, in the usual 
 way as the home of the departed. Further, Urien's 
 realm may be presumed to have been of the same 
 description, as may be inferred from the name Rheged, 
 which appears to represent Mureif as the ' Accursed ' 
 country. The Welsh translator who identified Rheged 
 with Mureif confounded it thereby with the province of 
 Moray, and in effect he instituted a sort of rough 
 division of the whole of the North between the Scots of 
 Argyle and the Picts of Moray. But it is by no means 
 improbable that underneath his Mureif there lay some 
 such a mythic name as that of Murias ^ the marine 
 country whence the Tuatha De Danann were said to 
 have brought with them to Erinn the famous cauldron 
 of the Dagda Mor. 
 
 It may possibly be regarded as somewhat less myth- 
 ical that Urien should be styled Ruler of Catraeth*, 
 the name of which means the battle-strand. Catraeth 
 has often been supposed to stand for the Cataracton-e 
 or Cataracton-i of the Antonine Itinerary and the 
 KarovpaKToviov of Ptolemy's Geography, surmised to be 
 Catterick in Yorkshire ; but Catraeth cannot be derived 
 from any form evidenced by those names ^ The 
 
 ' Supra, p. II, and Hib. Lee. p. 353; see also Nutt's note in Mac Innes' 
 Argyllshire Folk and Hero Tales (London, 1890), p. 420. 
 
 ^ Hib. Lcc. pp. 338-41. 
 
 ^ lb. pp. 257, 371. 
 
 ' See Taliessin's poem, xxxvii. in Skene's Four Anc. Bks. of Wales, ii. 192. 
 
 5 Cataracton- should make in Welsh Cadraethon, possibly Cadraeth, but not 
 Catraeth, the t of which postulates a compound origin in the dd of the Cad- 
 draeth marking an intermediate stage in the phonetic decay of an early 
 
Ch. XI.] URIEN AND HIS CONGENERS. 341 
 
 Gododin, or the poem devoted to the battle of Catraeth, 
 seems to point decidedly to the North, as does the rest 
 of the Book of Aneurin ^, in which the Gododin is con- 
 tained, namely, to some spot in or near the Firth of 
 Forth. Witness the Aneurin allusion to the lodeo ^, a 
 name to be equated, doubtless, with the ludeu of the 
 Nennian account of the war between Penda and Oswiu, 
 which ended with the decisive battle ofWinwaed in 655. 
 ludeu, in its turn, is probably to be identified with the 
 ' Urbs GiudV of Baeda, who places it in the Firth of 
 Forth : he is usually supposed to have meant a strong- 
 hold on some such an island as Inchkeith. Catraeth 
 may have been a name of mythical origin, which had 
 become afterwards attached to a historical place, in the 
 same way that Gwlad yr Hdv, 'the Land of Summer,' 
 became Somerset. This historical view is, however, 
 not favoured by the association of Catraeth with 
 Mordei'^, the name of which seems to mean sea-houses: 
 
 Cafuiraci-. Compare Cateyrn, represented in the inscriptions by CatoUgirn-i, a 
 personal name meaning war-lord or battle-king, from catu-, Mod. Welsh cad, 
 'battle,' and tegimio-s, Mod. Welsh teym, 'prince, lord or king,' formed 
 from tegi-. Mod. Welsh ty, 'house' (for an early tegi- = tegez-'^, in the same 
 way that the Latin dominus derives from domus. Among others, the late 
 Mr. Thos. Stephens of Merthyr identifies Catraeth with Catterick in his 
 posthumous edition of the Gododin, a work seen through the press for the 
 Hon. Soc. of Cymmrodorion by Prof Powel of Cardiff, who has spared no 
 pains to provide it with an exhaustive index and adequate notes. 
 
 1 The manuscript is said to date from the latter part of the 13th century 
 or the beginning of the 14th ; but the scribe has here and there left standing 
 proofs of his having copied parts at least of it from an original written in the 
 orthography of the glosses of the Old Welsh period, and dating therefore, 
 possibly, so far back as the 9th century. We allude to such forms as erit 
 migam for yr edmygaf, mui hiam for mwyaf, nem for ««/■ (Skene, ii. 104'!, 
 erdyUdam for what is written a few lines later erdiledaf (ib. p. io6\ and 
 camb for the later camm, cam (ib. p. 70). The manuscript requires to be 
 thoroughl3' examined by a competent palaeographer. 
 
 ^ The chief questions raised by this name will be found discussed in the 
 Archceologia Cambrensis for 1889, pp. 230-2. 
 
 5 See Stephens' Gododin, pp. 144, 172, 176, 344- Mordei is also mentioned 
 in the Book of Taliessin, Skene, ii. 196 and 192, where one seems to detect 
 
 R 
 
342 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch.XI. 
 
 it sounds every whit as mythic as the Irish Murias. 
 Mordei is described as ewynvawr, that is to say ■noKvaxvo's, 
 or 'of much foam/ and it partly recalls Taliessin's 
 account of Caer Sidi and its wine feasts^. 
 
 As to Nennius' Urbgen, it is by no means certain that 
 the latter should be identified with Owein's father, even 
 in the matter of names. For, while Urbgen may be 
 traced to a Latin form Urbigena, ' City-born,' to be 
 compared with Aitrelius Ambrosius, the Latin name of 
 another energetic opponent of English encroachment, 
 there is nothing to prove that the name of the mythic 
 Urien is related, rather than derived from an early 
 Celtic form Urogenos, of the same origin as the Urogenius 
 and Urogenonertus of Gallo-Roman inscriptions^. The 
 latter of these names would seem to have a mythical 
 basis, and it must have meant ' one endowed with the 
 strength of an Urogen ' or Urien. It has elsewhere^ 
 been suggested that Urogen implies a divinity analogous 
 
 Du MoroeS" (p. 69 above) called Du Merwyd, and treated as Urien's charger. 
 The words are exceedingly dark, but they would be a little more intelligible 
 arranged in verses as follows : — 
 
 Ysc6yda0r yrac: gly6 gloyCi glasgCen 
 
 GleO ryha6t gleOhaf vn y6 Vryen. 
 
 Nym gorseif gCiarthegyd. gordear 
 
 GoryaOc gorlassa6c gorlassar 
 
 Goriaga gordOyre. pop rei 
 
 Sag [read sa«g] dileO du merwyd ymordei 
 
 Vd tra blafid yn yd el oth vod 
 
 Vared melynaOr yn neuad \read neuod]. 
 As to the houses of the Other World, they figure also in the story of Peredur, 
 when that hero arrives unexpectedly in the Round Valley owned by a great 
 big Grey Man, and beholds there ' large black houses of rough workman- 
 ship ' ; see R. B. Mab. p. 215 ; Guest, i. 330 ; also p. 83 above, 
 
 1 Skene, ii. 155, 181. The poet of the Gododin, according to his own 
 repeated admission, freely enjoyed the wine and mead of Mordei (Stephens' 
 Gododin, pp. 186, 188), which is to be regretted, as one would like to have 
 understood better what he sang. 
 
 '' See the Rev. Celiique, iii. 310, Glflck's Kelt. Namen, p. 97, and Gruter, 
 Nos. 490, 9, 570, 6. 
 = Hib. Lcc. pp. 87-8. 
 
Ch. XI.] URIEN AND HIS CONGENERS. 243 
 
 to the stag-headed Cernunnos of the Gauls, only that in 
 this case the form affected was not that of the stag 
 so much as of the urus of our primeval forests. Both 
 Urbigen- and Urogen- might be expected, in the course 
 of phonetic decay, to become Urien^ in Welsh ; and this 
 indicates one important way in which history and myth- 
 ology may have been confused, as suggested already 
 in the case of Arthur's name. In the one before us, 
 it may be the explanation of the fact that Urien is one 
 of the heroes termed in the Triads the Bull of Battle ^- 
 
 Urien is not alone lord of Rheged, for Owein is also 
 now and then so described ^. This was presumabty in- 
 ferred from his being called son of Urien ; and the same 
 explanation is probably to be given of the fact, that they 
 fight side by side against a foe called in Welsh poetry 
 Fflamdwyn, or the Flame-bearer. For, mythologically 
 speaking, the sun-hero is not the natural ally of a dark 
 divinity, however close to one another they may appear 
 in the mythic pedigree ; and the war with Fflamdwyn 
 would seem to have been Owein's war and not Urien's, 
 as the former is made to close with Fflamdwyn in fatal 
 combat*. As Fflamdwyn is represented defending '^ 
 
 ' It is not certain that a form Verbigen- might not also result in Urien : the 
 former appears to have been Celtic, as may be inferred from the fact that 
 Csesar, i. 27, gives Verbigenus as the name of one pagus of the Helvetii. 
 ^ Triads, i. 12, iii. 72. 
 
 ' Bk. of TaHessin, poem xliv, Skene, ii. 199. 
 
 * The passage occurs in the Taliessin poem last referred to, but it is not 
 conclusive as to which of the two succumbed : see Powel's note in Stephens' 
 Gododin, p. 69. 
 
 = The passage, on which this is based, occurs in the Taliessin poem, No. 
 XXXV (Skene, ii. 189), and it runs thus : — 
 
 ' dygryssOys flamdCyn yn petwar llu. 
 godeu a reget y ymdullu.' 
 This has been rendered for Skene (i. 365) thus :— 
 
 ' Flamdwyn hastened in four hosts 
 Godeu and Reged to overwhelm.' 
 But it seems more correct to render ymdullu 'protecting,' as Skene has had 
 
 R 2 
 
244 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch.XI. 
 
 Godeu and Rheged against Owein and his father, this 
 war is probably to be regarded as the same, in any case, 
 as the war brought to a successful end by Arthur and 
 his men, -when Urien received from Arthur possession 
 of his realm of Mureif or Rheged. This comparison 
 would suggest that the Godeu and Rheged of the Book 
 of Taliessin are to be treated as in a sense the equiva- 
 lents respectively of the Mureif and Rheged of certain 
 versions of Geoffrey. 
 
 The equation, which this suggests, of Godeu with 
 Mureif or Moray will be found to serve as a key 
 to the story of the Battle of Godeu. This was a 
 thoroughly mythological event, and, as described in the 
 eighth poem ^ in the Book of Taliessin, it shows a 
 striking similarity to the conflict^ in which Cuchulainn 
 was the chief combatant, when he attacked the Strong- 
 hold of Scath in Shadow-land. Just as Taliessin 
 boasts himself present with Arthur, when they harried 
 Hades and brought away the Cauldron of the Head 
 of Hades, so he pretends to have also played no 
 mean part in the Battle of Godeu : he speaks of his 
 
 yindullya6 rendered in a passage in point in the Taliessin poem xxxvi (i. 351, 
 ii. 191), which runs thus : — 
 
 ' yscCyt ynllaCi godeu a reget yn ymduUyaC. 
 neu vi aweleis Or yn buarthaCi.' 
 The poet refers to Urien shepherding his people as if they were a herd or 
 flock, and the lines may be rendered thus ; — 
 
 ' Shield in hand, protecting Gofleu and Rheged, 
 A man saw I penning (as it were his kine'>.' 
 Lastly, the battle to which the former passage refers is called, from the site, 
 that of Argoed ILwyvein. This name means a place near to or bordering on 
 the Wood of ILwyvein, and ILwyvein, also ILwyveny^ (Skene, ii. 190, 195) 
 seems to be the Welsh for the district of the Leven, which discharges the 
 waters of Loch Lomond into the Clyde : see Skene, ii. 413. 
 
 ' Skene, ii. 137-144 : see also poem xiv, ib. p. 154 : likewise the Hib. 
 Lee. p. 258, where a portion of poem viii is translated into English. 
 
 ' Described in a poem which has been partly translated in the Hib. Lee. 
 pp. 260 1. 
 
Ch. XI.] URIEN AND HIS CONGENERS. 245 
 
 fighting there in front of Prydein's Gwledig. The 
 leaders on his side were Amaethon son of Don, and 
 Gwydion his brother, the latter of whom was, when his 
 party was hard pressed, told to resort to magic and 
 convert the trees and shrubs of the country into 
 warriors to aid him. That is done, and the poem gives 
 a curious description of the conflict carried on by the 
 taller trees, such as the oak, the alder and the birch; 
 nor are the meaner trees and shrubs wholly forgotten. 
 Elsewhere ^ the Battle of Godeu is identified with that 
 of Achren, a slightly modified form, doubtless, of that 
 of Ochren, one of the places mentioned in the Taliessin 
 poem devoted to Arthur's harrying of Hades ^. The 
 Battle of Godeu or Achren was, we are further told ^ 
 fought by Amaethon son of Don, and Gwydion his 
 brother, against Arawn, king of Hades, aided by one 
 called Bran ; unless this is to be taken as merely another 
 name of Arawn himself We are also informed that 
 the war was occasioned by Amaethon stealing certain 
 animals which belonged to Hades. All this clearly shows 
 that it was an engagement between the Culture Hero 
 with his friends and the Head of Hades with his ; and it 
 is needless to repeat that the North of Britain was at 
 one time regarded as a sort of Hades, or that the Welsh 
 versions of Geoffrey locate Arawn's realm in Scotland. 
 Before leaving Godeu, it is worth while remark- 
 ing that the hypothetical equation of that country 
 with Mureif helps to solve a difficulty raised by an 
 ancient enumeration* of the seven divisions of Scotland 
 beyond the Forth : the seven are represented by seven 
 
 1 See the Myvyrian Arch. i. 167 ; also the Hib. Lee. pp. 244-5. ^57 8. 
 
 * Hib. Lee. p. 248 ; Skene, ii. 181-2. 
 
 = Myv. Arch. i. 167 : see also Hib. Lee. pp. 244-5. 
 
 * Skene's Chronicles ofthePicts and Scots, pp. 4, 24-5, 396. 
 
246 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch.XI. 
 
 eponymous sons of the northern ancestor, Cruithne or 
 Pict. Most of them are easily placed, as for example 
 Fib in Fife, and Cait in Caithness ; but there is one whose 
 proper place has always been uncertain. His name is 
 given as Fidach, and it is remarkable that it phono- 
 logically admits of being identified with the Welsh 
 Godeu, both being derivable from a common formV 
 The view here suggested would require us to regard 
 Godeu as a word familiar to the Welsh, which it may 
 well have been as that of a distant land identified with 
 Rheged and the Other World. This leaves us, how- 
 ever, at liberty to suppose the name associated with 
 a greater or less extent of the country covered later by 
 Moray, Mar, and Buchan : at the present day it is 
 possibly represented by the name of G\&n-Fiddich, in 
 Banffshire^. Be that as it may, the approach of the 
 names Fidach and Godeu to the Celtic words corre- 
 sponding to the English word wood, namely GoidelicT?^, 
 and Welsh gwyd, would seem to point to the origin of 
 the quaint story of the trees and shrubs made to fight 
 in aid of Gwydion and his men. 
 
 Let us add at this point that the explanation of the 
 wars above mentioned, whether a harrying of Hades by 
 Arthur and his men, or a great battle fought in the 
 northern Godeu by Amaethon ab Don against Arawn, 
 king of Hades, is, that they are the mythic expression 
 of the struggles of the Culture Hero to secure certain 
 boons for his race from the dark divinities. But when 
 the meaning of the myth was forgotten, Amaethon, for 
 
 ' It would be some such a form as Vidag or Vedag, and the change in Welsh 
 of ag into mi, later eu, would argue the word Godeu a very old one in the 
 language, which is countenanced by the fact, that Fidach has been forgotten 
 so long ago in Scotland, that its location has become a matter of speculation. 
 
 ^ See the author's third Rhind Lecture in the Scottish Review, xvi, 249. 
 
Ch. Xl] URIEN AND HIS CONGENERS. 247 
 
 instance, whose name may be recognized distorted 
 into Amangon (nominative Amangons), appeared in 
 unfavourable light in the prologue to Chretien's Conte 
 du Graal. The passage, as summarized by Mr. Nutt \ 
 has a very ancient ring; and it may be the echo of 
 a Welsh original with an undertone of mourning over 
 the decadence of the cult of the chthonic divinities : — 
 'The story tells of the Graal, whose mysteries, if 
 Master Blihis lie not, none may reveal ; it . . . shows 
 how the rich land of Logres was destroyed. In the 
 wells and springs of that land harboured damsels who 
 fed the wayfarer with meat and pasties and bread. But 
 King Amangons did wrong to one and carried off her 
 golden cup, so that never more came damsels out of 
 the springs to comfort the wanderer. And the men of 
 King Amangons followed his evil example. Therefore 
 the springs dried up, and the grass withered, and the 
 land became waste, and no more might be found the 
 court of the Rich Fisher, which had filled the land with 
 plenty and splendour.' 
 
 A word must now be added respecting Urien's 
 children. Besides Owein he had a daughter Morvud, 
 twin sister to Owein, and among other sons he had 
 two called Rhiwatton ^ and Elphin, whose name points 
 to the North : it is probably to be identified with that 
 of Alpin in Scotch history. The mother of Owein and 
 Morvud was Modron, but this was also the name of 
 Mabon's mother, and it is not improbable that they were 
 not two Modrons but one, though Mabon^ belongs to a 
 very different stratum of mythology from Owein. For, 
 
 • Studies, p. 8, where Mr. Nutt refers to Otto Kupp in the Zeitschrift fur 
 deutsche Philologie, vol. xvii. No. ±. 
 
 2 Hib. Lee. p. 423 ; Triads, i. 10, ii. 21, iii. 70. 
 " Hib. Lee. pp. 27-9. 
 
348 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. XI. 
 
 while the latter is given the standing of a Christian 
 knight, the former is left stranded on the old level of 
 an Apollo of ancient Celtic paganism \ 
 
 Among the various descriptions given of Urien by 
 Welsh poets may be mentioned the following : In the 
 Red Book he is represented as the most distinguished 
 by far of the thirteen kings of the North ^; and in the 
 Book of Taliessin he is called the gold-king of the 
 North ^, the head of Prydein*, that is to say of Alban 
 or Pictland from Loch Lomond to the extreme of 
 Caithness. More to the south he is possessor of ILwy- 
 venyd^, the district called in Gaelic Levenach and in 
 English Levenax ^, shortened into Lennox, and meaning 
 approximately what is now Dumbartonshire, with Loch 
 Lomond and its islands. This may be regarded as in 
 part the outcome of the wish to give the mythic realm 
 of Rheged a geographical position in the North ; but it 
 was also located sometimes in a very different part 
 of Britain, namely in South Wales, as we shall see 
 presently; and it remains to mention one remarkable 
 title which is given to Urien without any attempt to 
 connect it with geography, and that is Urien of the 
 
 ' The Triads, i. 28, iii. 74, speak also of a Pasgen son of Urien, and the 
 srme person seems to be alluded to in the Red Book, Skene, h. 271 : see 
 also Stephens' Gododin, p. 239. The only Pasgen known to Geoffrey was 
 Pascentius, son of Vortigern, vi. 12, viii. 13-16. 
 
 ^ Skene, ii. 293. 
 
 ^ lb. p. 185, where Skene has Eii ieyrn gogled: it should be Eurteyrn 
 
 * lb. p. 191 ; and Urien was probably meant by ' Prydein's Gwledig' (in 
 Tahessin's poem viii) alluded to supra, p. 245. 
 
 ° lb. p. 192 ; tdthia6c IWyfenyd seems to mean this ; and as to the district, it 
 is mentioned also at pp. 187, igo ; and at p. 195 we read oi Llwyfenyd tired, 
 or the Lands of ILwyvenyS. On Argoed ILwyvein, see note at p. 244 
 above, and Skene, ii. 191, 2. 
 
 ° See Skene's note, ii. 412-3; also his Chronicles of the Pids and Scots, 
 pp. 291, 374, and his Celtic Scotland, iii. 69, 454. 
 
ch.xi.] urien and his congeners. 249 
 
 EchwyJ or Evening, also Urien Lord of the Evening 1, 
 and Blessed Prince of the Evening ^. 
 
 Urien is, moreover, associated with a far distant city 
 in the following verses in the Book of Taliessin " : 
 
 ' Ac ef yn arbennic And he especially 
 
 yn oruchel wledic. The supreme Guledig. 
 
 yn dinas pellennic. In a distant city, 
 
 yn keimyat kynteic' A principal pilgrim. 
 
 This translation into English has been published by 
 Mr. Skene ; but we should be incHned to put it slightly 
 differently, thus : 
 
 And he especially 
 As supreme gwledig, 
 In a distant city 
 As pristine companion. 
 
 In either case, the verses have a ring which recalls the 
 Rig-Veda references to Yama as the first of the dead 
 and their chief: the way to his abode was long and 
 across rapid waters ; so he was the first to travel it 
 and to show others how to arrive in his Elysium, where 
 
 ' Bk. of Taliessui, Skene, ii. 184-5, 189. Echwyd meant the evening or 
 the sunset, not Abend-land, or the west; and there is no reason for sup- 
 posing, with Stephens, that it is the Welsh form of the Latin equites, and that 
 Urien was accordingly a sort of Master of the Horse : see his Gododin, p. 118, 
 and compare p. 67, Mvhere he renders vd yr echSyd ' lord of the plain ;' but 
 that echivyct also meant a plain, remains to be proved. It is worth noticing, 
 however, that Pughe gives the word as in some localities meaning ' the 
 autumn ' or the fall of the year : it may have also meant a fall or 
 depression in the ground. It is derived from the same avyd as ciuySo ' to 
 fall.' 
 
 2 See also the Tahessin poem No. xviii, where Skene, ii. 164, has besides 
 other inaccuracies the form echCys instead of the echSyd of the manuscript. 
 The couplet in question is remarkable for using gwlat in the personal 
 sense of its Irish equivalent flaith, 'prince.' It runs thus : — 
 ' Pan discynnCiys Owein rac gCenwlat 
 yr echCyd. Gorerefein bud oe tat.' 
 When Owein came down before the blessed prince 
 Of the Evening, he achieved . . , benefit for his father. 
 = Skene, ii. 184, i. 345. 
 
250 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. XI. 
 
 he was represented welcoming the fathers of the human 
 race to share in the endless dehghts of the country 1. 
 This has, however, a more distinct parallel in Welsh in 
 the Blessed Bran wading through the two rivers ILi 
 and Archan, separating Britain from Hades, called in 
 his story Iwerdon, or Erinn. But such a parallel, to be 
 admissible here, must be countenanced by equating 
 Bran with Urien. 
 
 In order to do this, it will be necessary to re- 
 produce a portion of Bran's story at length. How 
 Bran crossed to Erinn, with the musicians of his court 
 on his back, has been briefly told elsewhere^, and 
 we may begin the narrative with Bran's landing there. 
 Thereupon followed the advance of his troops in quest 
 of the Irish king Matholwch, and this created such an 
 impression on the Irish, that they offered terms of 
 peace. After futile attempts at an agreement, the Irish 
 resolved to flatter Bran by building a house large 
 enough for him ; for till then he had never found one 
 he could enter. He and his hosts were to go into it, 
 and his brother-in-law, Matholwch, with his men, were to 
 occupy another portion of it and publicly to do homage 
 to Bran. This was all arranged by Branwen, Mathol- 
 wch's wife and Bran's sister, in order to prevent ruin 
 and bloodshed. So the house was built spacious and 
 strong, but the Irish resorted to the following stratagem: 
 On either side of each of the hundred columns support- 
 ing the house they fixed a peg, and on each of the 200 
 pegs they hung a leathern bag containing an armed 
 man. But Bran's half-brother, Evnyssien, taking into 
 his head to visit the house before the arrival of the 
 two armies, noticed the leathern bags and asked an 
 
 I Hib. Lee. pp. 654-5. " Hib. Lee. pp. 95, 269. 
 
Ch. XI.] URIEN AND HIS CONGENERS. 351 
 
 Irishman present respecting one of them, what it con- 
 tained: ' Meal, my friend,' said the Irishman. Evnyssien, 
 however, felt the bag and found the man's head, which 
 he squeezed until he felt his fingers in the man's brain. 
 He came to the next bag, asked the same question, and 
 played the same trick with the inmate of the bag. This 
 was repeated until he came to the 200th bag, where he 
 discovered that the man wore a helmet ; so he devoted 
 extra attention to him, and, when he had done for him, 
 he sang him an englyn as follows ^ : 
 
 ' Yssit yn y boly hwnn amryw vlawt 
 keimat kynnivyat disgynnat 
 yn trin rac ketwyr kat barawt.' 
 
 In this bag there is another sort of meal — 
 
 A comrade, a combatant, one alighting 
 
 In the fray at the head of warriors war-prepared. 
 
 Then came the hosts into the house, those of Britain 
 occupying the one part, and those of Erinn the othen 
 No sooner had they met than they were at one, and 
 the kingdom was delivered to Gwern, the infant son 
 of Matholwch and Branwen. When this peace had 
 been made the boy passed, with the love and goodwill 
 of all following him, from Bran to Manawydan his 
 uncle. Then Evnyssien called the boy to him, saying, 
 ' Why does not my nephew, son of my sister, come to 
 me ? Even though he were not king of Erinn, it were 
 pleasing to me to make friends with the boy.' ' Let 
 him go to him, and gladly,' said Bran, whereupon the 
 boy willingly did so. ' Heaven be my witness/ said 
 Evnyssien in his mind, ' a deed unexpected by the 
 family will I now perpetrate.' Thereupon he rose, and 
 
 ' See R. B. Mab. p. 38, where the original will be found to have the 
 plurals keimeit kynniuyeit disgynneit, also kytwyr, which we have altered into 
 ketwyr. 
 
252 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch.XI. 
 
 before any one present could seize hold of him, he 
 quickly took the boy by his feet and flung him, head 
 foremost, into the fire blazing there. When Branwen 
 saw the child burnt in the fire, she attempted to leap 
 into the fire from where she was sitting between her 
 two brothers ; but Bran seized her with his one hand 
 and his shield with the other. Then everybody 
 struggled throughout the house, and it was the greatest 
 uproar ever heard in one house, as each man took 
 his arms ; and it was then that Mordwyt Tyllion said : 
 ' Gwern gwngwch uiwch uordwyt tyttion ^ ; ' and while 
 everybody went for his arms, Bran held Branwen 
 between his shield and his shoulder. The Irish now 
 began to kindle fire under the Cauldron of Re-birth, 
 and the corpses of the slain were thrown into it until 
 it was full ; for they would arise next day as fighting 
 men and as excellent as they ever were, except that 
 they would not be able to speak. So, when Evnyssien 
 saw the corpses of his own countrymen without a 
 birth for them an3^where he said in his mind, ' Oh 
 God ! woe is me that I am the cause of this litter of the 
 men of the Isle of the Mighty^, and disgrace upon me 
 if I. seek not deliverance from this.' Thereupon he 
 thrust himself among the corpses of the Irish, when 
 two trouserless Irishmen came and cast him into the 
 cauldron, thinking that he was an Irishman. Therein he 
 stretched himself so that the cauldron burst into four 
 pieces, and his heart burst likewise. It was owing 
 to this that the men of the Isle of the Mighty obtained 
 
 ' What this means nobody knows, but it looks as if it ought to be Welsh. 
 
 ^ This appellation of Britain only occurs in the Mabinogion of Branwen 
 and Manawydan, while Kulhwch speaks of the Three Islands of the Mighty, 
 R. B. Mab. p. 113; but the former has also found its way into the Seint 
 deal, Williams, pp. 192, 561. 
 
Ch. XI.] URIEN AND HIS CONGENERS. 253 
 
 what victory they did, and that only amounted to the 
 escape of seven of them, together with Bran, who 
 was wounded in his foot with a poisoned spear. The 
 seven men are mentioned by name, and Bran is 
 represented ordering them to cut his head off his 
 wounded body: 'Take the head,' said he, 'and bring 
 it to the White Hill in London, and bury it there 
 with the face looking towards France.' They obeyed, 
 and Branwen accompanied 'them to the Isle of the 
 Mighty, but as she took her last look at Erinn she 
 sighed and died, exclaiming, ' Woe is me that I was 
 ever born ! the goods of two islands have been wasted 
 because of me.' For Ireland had been left without 
 inhabitants, save five widows in a cave, who escaped 
 to repeople the country. Their offspring divided the 
 island into five parts between them, and searching the 
 land where battles had been fought, they found gold 
 and silver, which made them rich^- As for Bran's 
 Head, it was a great many years ere it reached 
 London; but its history, and how it entertained 
 Manawydan and his seven comrades, at a perennial 
 feast in a distant isle of the sea, need not be detailed 
 at this point. 
 
 Having given the story of Bran's death, we now 
 come to that of Urien, and we may first remark that 
 the person who is said to have been the cause of 
 Urien's death, is known in a poem in the Red Book 
 by the unusual name of Louan ILawdivro ^, of whom 
 
 ' Compare with this the passage in which the Norse poet of the Volospa 
 speaks of the Aiises, after the restoration of things, finding ' in the grass 
 wonderful golden tables,' that is to say tables in the gambling sense and in 
 allusion to the pieces which had been used for playing in previous days ; see 
 Vigfusson and Powell, i. 201 ; also Hib. Lee. p. 534. 
 
 " See the poem in Skene's Four Anc. Bks. of Wales, ii. 27a, where difro 
 rhymes with bro and agro, also the Red Book Triads, which give the word 
 
254 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch.XI. 
 
 nothing else is known. The epithet is of obscure 
 meaning and origin, but it reminds one of that of ILeu 
 ILawgyffes ^ Further, ILouan may be supposed to be, 
 etymologically speaking, nearly related to the name 
 ILeu, which in the Welsh of the gth or loth century 
 would have been ILou, so that the derivative from it 
 would be ILouan. This we take ILouan to be, namely, 
 a reproduction of such a name just as it occurred 
 in manuscripts of those centuries ; for had it con- 
 tinued in common use, and subject to the ordinary 
 phonetic changes, it would have come down to later 
 times as ILeuan and not ILouan. Accordingly, the 
 death of Urien at the hands of ILouan may be regarded 
 as in a sense another version of the slaying of Goronwy 
 Pevr by ILeu ILawgyffes ; and it is somewhat remark- 
 able that the scene of his death is called Aber ILeu ^, or 
 the mouth of a river called possibly after ILeu : com- 
 pare the name of the Snowdonian glen called Nanttte, 
 formerly Nant-tteu, after ILeu ILawgyflfes, as explained 
 in his story in the Mabinogi of Math *- 
 
 To come to the manner of Urien's death, and the 
 parallel with the story of Bran, the Red Book poem 
 to which we have referred, consists of fifty-eight stanzas, 
 
 the same form (R. B. Mab. p. bos'). The Triads in the Myvyrian, i. 38, ii. 
 29, iii. 47, call the man in question ILofan ILawJino. and ILouan ILawaiffro, 
 while Stephens in his Gododin, p. 76, has been able to find ILovan ILaw 
 Bifrod ; but it is not clear where. We may connect difro with the Irish 
 dlbairgint, ' I cast or shoot,' and the later Irish dibrachad, ' the act of shoot- 
 ing.' According to this surmise, the name ILouan ILaw Difro might be 
 explained to mean the ILouan whose hands were famed for their skill in 
 shooting an arrow or hurling a dart. ILaSctifro, written ILauHuro, misread 
 or miscopied Lancinro^ Lancmh, simplified Lancilo, and completed into 
 Lancilos (by adding the s of the O. French nominative) is the nearest ap- 
 proach the author can suggest to the origin of the name Lancelot, nominative 
 Lanceloz. It is needless to say that ILatt'difrod •vio\i\d have fitted still better. 
 
 ^ Hib. Lee. pp. 237-40. 
 
 ^ See the same Red Book poem, Skene, ii. 270. 
 
 = R. B. Mab. pp. 78-9 ; Guest, iii. 246 8. 
 
Ch. XI.] URIEN AND HIS CONGENERS. 355 
 
 mostly triplets, in which the former's death at Aber 
 ILeu is bewailed. The deed has usually been ascribed 
 to ILywarch Hfin, and the fact, that the person who 
 is made to speak calls Urien his cousin, agrees with 
 the respective places assigned to Urien and ILywarch 
 in the stock pedigrees ^ The poem represents ILyw- 
 arch lamenting his being the slayer of Urien, whom 
 he calls not only his cousin but his lord, his supporter, 
 the pillar of Prydein, the son of Kynvarch and the 
 father of Owein. More than once he uses such 
 a refrain as 
 
 ' Gwae vy ITaw Had vy arglwyd ! ' 
 Woe to my hand that it has slain my lord! 
 
 But Dr. Pughe discovered a way of mistranslating it 
 thus— 'Woe to my hand that my lord is slain.' This 
 rendering has met with pretty general acceptance, 
 though it defies the evident meaning of the words, 
 and hardly harmonizes with the poet's repeated mention 
 of his carrying his lord's head about with him, that is to 
 ' say, if he regarded himself with regret as the murderer 
 of his lord. Add to this that the effective cause of 
 Urien's death is alluded to as being ILouan ILawdivro, 
 of whom warriors, as the poet states, are in quest in 
 every land^. The whole difficulty, however, disappears 
 if we only suppose the circumstances, under which 
 Urien was beheaded, to have been somewhat the same 
 as in the case of Bran. We then have Urien, wounded 
 in battle, ordering his own head to be cut off: one of his 
 
 ' Stephens" Gododin, 174; Skene, i. 168. 
 
 ^ See the original in Skene's Four Anc. Bks. of Wales, ii. 272, from the 
 Red Book, col. 1040 : — 
 
 'Angerd Uryen ys agro. 
 gennyf. kyrchynat ympob bro ! 
 yn wysc Mbuan la6 difro.' 
 
256 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. XI. 
 
 friends obeys reluctantly, and feels uneasy in his mind 
 on account of the deed, though he had not committed 
 it of his own free will. There seems to be no objection 
 to the bearer of Urien's head being identified with 
 ILywarch Hen, who thereby becomes in this story the 
 counterpart of Manawydan, the chief of the seven in 
 charge of Bran's head in the Mabinogi of Branwen. 
 The poem gives Urien, as one of his attributes, a black 
 crow or raven on his breast : the Welsh for it is 
 bran, and the possibility suggests itself, that the bran 
 which was originally but an attribute of the dark god 
 gave him his name of Bran. In that case, the latter was 
 a secondary and newer name of his ; and this derives 
 confirmation from the fact that Bran or Bron ^, brother 
 to Manannan, the counterpart of the Welsh Mana- 
 wydan, is all but unknown to Irish literature. The 
 view here suggested, whatever may be thought of it, 
 would make for the original identity of Urien and 
 Bran. 
 
 It is further inevitable that we should identify with_ 
 Bran, or Bran's Head, a divinity called the Wonderful 
 Head, in Welsh, Uthr Ben and Uthr Ben-dragon, to 
 whom allusion has been made elsewhere^, but here 
 we wish to draw attention only to one point of similarity 
 between Urien and Uthr Ben, namely, as to com- 
 plexion : the Taliessin poem about Uthr Ben makes 
 him sing his own elegy, and in it he describes himself 
 as ardu, 'black, dark, or dusky.' He also represents 
 himself called gorlassar, which seems to have denoted 
 a dark blue or livid colour, and it is twice used in 
 connection with Urien, once of his person, and once 
 of the spear wielded by him to despatch a foe^. 
 
 • See the Hib. Lee. p. 666. " Hib. Lee. pp. 97, 269. 
 
 ' See Skene, ii. 189, 192, 203. 
 
Ch. XI.] URIEN AND HIS CONGENERS. 357 
 
 But the fancy which reduced the sable divinity into 
 a mere head, or a Janus-Hke stump, need not detain 
 us here, as it has been touched upon elsewhere, in 
 connection with the monumental representations of 
 it, with which Gaulish archaeology have made us 
 familiar ^ But before leaving the Red Book triplets 
 it may be worth while to direct attention to the follow- 
 ing words, out of which little sense has hitherto been 
 extracted ^ : 
 
 'Ar yr echwyd ethyw gwalT 
 O vraw marchawc ysgualt: 
 A vyd" vyth uryen aralT?' 
 
 On the EchwySt evil has fallen 
 From the dread of a savage knight : 
 Will there ever be another Urien ? 
 
 The allusion to the furious knight, and the widespread 
 results of his deed, is best understood in the light of 
 
 ^ Hib. Lee. pp. 93-4. 
 
 ^ Skene, ii. 271, from col. 1041 of the Red Book : the reading given in the 
 text is the result of the minimum emendation requisite to make the passage 
 intelligible: see Pughe's Dictionary under the word ^5^«a#, which, meaning 
 furious, fierce, savage, is evidently a good equivalent for saueage in the name 
 of Balyn le Saueage; also in that of Lorayne le Saueage, whom Malory 
 describes, iii. 15, treacherously killing the lover of a lady called Eleyne 
 (p. 153 above). In fact, the name Lorayne probably represents the Welsh 
 ILouan, but the story, as given by Malory, would seem to have undergone no 
 little perversion. We are not bound to read ysgualt, as one might also 
 construe ys cuatt, 'who is savage,' cuait being a word the genuineness and 
 meaning of which are beyond doubt. ILouan 's name is also to be detected 
 in certain versions of the Queste du S. Graal, as that of Labran who slays 
 Urban, or of Laban, who (by some error of the scribe's) is slain by Vrlain 
 instead oi vice versa (Nutt, p. 47). Nor is this the whole complication, as will 
 be seen from Nutt, pp. 83-4. Urban and Urlain, in which the / is the result of 
 misreading ba written conjointly, stand for some form of Urien's name (see 
 p. 242), if not rather for Uthr Ben. This latter is countenanced, perhaps, by 
 Urban being once given as the Maimed King's name (Nutt, pp. 48, 84). For 
 the reason why Uthr Ben, or U. Bendragon, might be described a maimed 
 king, see the Hib, Lee. p. 567, and compare Geoffrey's 'rex semimortuus,' 
 viii. 23. 
 
358 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. XT. 
 
 the Story of Balyn le Saveage wounding Pellam, with 
 the instantaneous effect already described (p. 119), that 
 the latter's entire castle collapsed and his realm fell 
 into decay, for as Balyn rode away through 'the fayr 
 countreyes and cytees,' as the narrator tells ^ us, he 
 ' fond the peple dede slayne on euery syde/and alle 
 that were on lyue cryed O balyn thow hast caused 
 grete dommage in these contrayes for the dolorous 
 stroke thow gauest vnto kynge Pellam thre countreyes 
 are destroyed.' The corresponding deed of ILouan 
 ILawdivro, which brought ruin and confusion on Urien's 
 realm, holds the rank of Balyn's Dolorous Stroke in 
 the Welsh Triads ^, where it is termed one of .the 
 Three atrocious Slaughters of Britain. Another account 
 of the Dolorous Stroke is given in the Petit S. Graal, 
 in which Urien appears as Urban of the Black Thorn, 
 a name which may, perhaps, be the direct repre- 
 sentative rather of Uthr Ben, but that matters not; 
 neither does it matter that the assailant is not called 
 there ILouan, but Perceval or Peredur, as will be seen 
 from the following ^ : ' Perceval comes to a ford and 
 is challenged by its guardian, whom he overcomes. 
 His name is Urban of the Black Thorn ; his lady 
 had set him to guard the ford. Her castle vanishes 
 with a great noise, and she comes to her lover's aid 
 with her maidens in shape of birds. Perceval slays 
 one who becomes a woman, and is carried off by 
 the others to Avallon.' Here, it may be observed, that 
 the Black Thorn in Urban's full designation reminds 
 one of Yspydaden and Espinogre (p. 190), whereas 
 the birds should probably be the fairy birds of 
 Rhiannon. This places Urban over against Rhiannon's 
 
 ' Malory, ii. i6. ^ Triads, i. 38, ii. 29, iii. 47. 
 
 ^ Nutt, p. 30. 
 
Ch. XI.] URIEN AND HIS CONGENERS. 259 
 
 husband, Pwytt, whose name is to be brought under 
 the reader's notice later. Further, the whole scene, 
 as compared with the story of Balyn's Dolorous Stroke, 
 to which Pellam succumbed at the same time that 
 his castle collapsed, makes for the equation of Urban 
 with Pellam. We mention this as an instance of the 
 impossibility of drawing a hard and fast line of dis- 
 tinction between certain mythological characters of 
 the same group, such as Urien, Uthr Ben, Bran the 
 Blessed, Pwytt, and Pellam on the one hand, and such 
 on the other as Balyn, ILouan, Peredur, and the hke 
 knights. In other words, the difficulty arises from 
 the same divinity having a variety of names serving 
 to express overlapping aggregates of attributes. 
 
 The whole incident may be regarded as the ex- 
 pression of a nature myth to be compared with that of 
 ILacheu slaying the giant of darkness and sleeping on 
 his body, the western sea (p. 61). This, however, is 
 more elaborate : in Urien's realm Urien is a great 
 monarch. His castles are of imposing proportions, 
 and his country seems an Elysium ; but the onslaught 
 of the sun-hero reduces the sable chief's dimensions, 
 levels his castles with the ground, and exposes his 
 realm as the abode of desolation. For the name 
 of that realm is yr Echwyd, the evening and the dusk, 
 the twilight which is essential to the illusion and 
 glamour on which this whole cosmos of unreality is 
 founded. 
 
 Urien is remarkable above all others who figure in 
 the Book of Taliessin, as being the subject of no less 
 than eight of the poems in that collection. In other 
 words, his are the praises sung in one-seventh of the 
 whole number of poems in the manuscript. This is out 
 of all proportion as compared with the other heroes, who 
 
 s 2 
 
a6o ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. XI. 
 
 happen to be the most popular in the Taliessin poems. 
 There must have been a reason for it : what may it be ? 
 It has already been mentioned that Bran the Blessed is 
 said in the Mabinogi of Branwen to have carried the 
 musicians of his court on his back across to Erinn. 
 But they were musicians : for the poets and the 
 bards we turn to the Taliessin poem already mentioned 
 as put into the mouth of Bran's other self, namely, Uthr 
 Ben. The latter describes himself as both bard and 
 harper, piper and crowder, and, in short, no less than 
 seven score artistes in his own person. Now, even 
 allowing for the possibility of our being misled in this 
 instance, by the obscurity of the language, the association 
 between Uthr Ben and the professional class, including 
 bards and musicians of various descriptions, remains 
 undeniable. The unavoidable conclusion to be drawn 
 therefrom is, that the bards thought themselves, as a class, 
 to be under the special protection of the dark divinity 
 under his various forms and names, such as Urien, Bran, 
 Uthr Ben, and others. The dark divinity is the god 
 both of beginning and ending, of life and death : as the 
 former he is the god of plenty, and as the latter he is 
 the god of the departed, who adds to the number of his 
 subjects by frequenting, among other places, the field of 
 battle. He acquires therefore the character of a god of 
 carnage, as, for instance, under the name of Gwyn ab 
 Nud, otherwise known as the king of the fairies and the 
 demons of the Other World. Carnage and slaughter 
 form the boasted sphere of Uthr Ben's delight, and 
 Urien is praised mainly for two things, his activity in 
 war and his lavishness to the bards. All this is in har- 
 mony with what may be learned in Irish literature 
 which relates how Cuchulainn was sent to the fierce 
 Domnall to be taught the warlike feats in which he ex- 
 
Ch. XI.] URIEN AND HIS CONGENERS. 261 
 
 celled. Domnall fills the same sort of place with regard 
 to Cuchulainn in the Irish story as the uncle of Peredur 
 does with regard to Peredur, when the latter is put by 
 him through the sword exercise. What is here still 
 more to the point, is, that Domnall is probably to be 
 identified with the dread figure specially associated with 
 bardism, and described as ' Domnall in his chariot ^.' 
 Domnall is in Welsh Djrvnwal, surnamed Moelmud, or 
 Bald-and-dumb, an epithet akin to others given to the 
 dark god in some of his many forms. Geoffrey de- 
 scribes Dyvnwal as a prince, who first signalized his 
 warlike capacities by reducing all the monarchs of 
 Britain under his single sceptre, and then distinguished 
 himself as a great legislator^, with whom one of the 
 Triads, iii. 58, connects the organization of the bardic 
 system in Britain. 
 
 Thus it may be surmised, that the reason why so 
 many of the Taliessin poems were sung in honour of 
 Urien, is, that he was the special god of the bards under 
 one or more of his names in the pagan period. Hymns 
 had doubtless been wont to be sung in his praise, and 
 it is to a continuation of this habit in Christian times we 
 seem to owe the poems in question. The pagan and 
 semi-pagan traditions of bardism among the Welsh 
 have lingered long, and the Book of Taliessin is the 
 most complete repertoire that we have of them : it is only 
 unfortunate that its language is so obscure. One has, 
 as will have been seen already, other interesting traces 
 of the paganism here in point : take, for example, the 
 name given in the iVIabinogi of Branwen to Bran's head, 
 namely UrSawl Ben, the Dignified or Venerable Head. 
 Still more remarkable is Bran's constant designation 
 
 ' Hib. Lee. pp. 323, 449. 
 
 2 San-Marte's Geoffrey, ii. 17, iii. h\ R- B. Bruis, pp. 70 i, 73. 
 
26a ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. XI. 
 
 of Bendigettvran in the same, signifying Blessed-Bran, 
 or Bran the Blessed. For it is needless to repeat that 
 Bran was not 'blessed' in the hagiological sense of 
 that word, and that it would be hardly possible to 
 imagine any personage more unlike a saint of the 
 Christian Church than he. One is, in fact, left to draw 
 the inevitable conclusion, that the name Bendigeitvran 
 has come down to us from a time when the bearer of it 
 was still an object of worship, at any rate to one power- 
 ful class of the community, the bards. 
 
 It is not to be supposed that Urien, Bran, and Uthr 
 Ben exhaust the list of pagan names in the Book of 
 Taliessin. Among others of the same class may be 
 mentioned as figuring therein, Goronwy Pevr, the foe 
 and rival of ILeu ILawgyfifes. The former is made lord 
 of Penttyn, or the district in which Bala Lake lies ; the 
 same district is also in other stories represented as that 
 of Tegid^ the Bald, whose epithet suggests his belong- 
 ing hkewise to the category of dark divinities. Tegid's 
 abode is represented by tradition as having been where 
 Bala Lake now bears his name, called as it is in Welsh 
 ILyn Tegid. His wife, Kerridwen, was the goddess of 
 Welsh bardism, and the owner of the so-called Cauldron 
 of Sciences. Among other children she had a son 
 called Avagdu, whose name in Welsh has become 
 synonymous with darkness and hell. He is mentioned 
 in the Tahessin poem entitled 'Kerridwen's Chair;' but 
 he is hkewise alluded to in another Tahessin poem, to 
 which reference has already been made as the Elegy of 
 Uthr Ben, where he is associated with the dark god 
 under that name ^. Considering, therefore, the nature 
 
 ^ This name must literally mean beauty, from teg, ' fair, beautiful ;' it cannot 
 be derived from the Latin Tacitus. 
 
 '' Skene, ii. 158, 203; Hib. Lee. pp. 97, 151, 269, 567. 
 
Ch. XI.] URIEN AND HIS CONGENERS. 263 
 
 of the materials of these poems, and the mythology to 
 which they belong, one would be almost warranted in 
 treating Tegid and Uthr as distinct merely in name. 
 The tradition that Tegid's abode has sunk, where 
 the lake bears his name, is the euhemerism that has 
 grown up to cover the old notion, common enough with 
 regard to Welsh fairies, that he lived in or beneath the 
 lake. 
 
 This recalls another weird figure of the same class, 
 and one who is mentioned also in the Book of Taliessin, 
 namely, Gwydno Garanhir, whose territory one version 
 of his story represents overrun by the sea near the 
 mouth of the Dovey ; and hard by the story of Taliessin 
 describes that bard discovered as an infant. He was 
 taken to Gwydno by his son Elphin, to be brought up 
 by him, and on the Cardiganshire side of the river is 
 Tre' Tahessin, or Taliessin's Town, while not far off 
 stands on the coast the village of Borth, called now in 
 Welsh y Borth, 'the Port,' the full name of which 
 appears to have been Forth Wydno yng Ngheredigion, 
 or Gwydno's Port in Cardiganshire. So much of this 
 locahty of Gwydno : the next to be mentioned was on 
 the coast of North Wales ; for a httle to the east of 
 Bangor is a small river known as Gwenwyn Meirch 
 Gwydno, or the Poison of Gwydno's Steeds, so-caUed 
 in reference to the bursting of Kerridwen's Cauldron, 
 the contents of which are described in the story of 
 Tahessin as virulent to such a degree, that they poisoned 
 the Steeds of Gwydno. This term is probably to be 
 understood to mean the biUows of the sea, and the 
 legend imphes that the scene of the accident to Ker- 
 ridwen's Cauldron was so placed, that the poison from it 
 flowed into the stream, still named with reference to 
 that fabulous event. Add to this, for what it is worth. 
 
264 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. XI. 
 
 that Gwydno is said to have given land to Taliessin ^ in 
 Arttechwed, which comprises, roughly speaking, the 
 land looking towards the sea between ILandudno and 
 Bangor. Moreover, according to the story of Taliessin 
 in the so-called History^ of him, Elphin and TaHessin 
 appear to have lived within a fairly easy reach of 
 Maelgwn of Gwyned, who held his court at some one of 
 his towns on the north coast of what is now the county 
 of Carnarvon. Lastly, Gwydno was reckoned among 
 the kings of the North ^, where also a version of the 
 Triads locate a Forth Wydno, or Gwydno's Port* 
 This association of Gwydno with the north of the island 
 comes out also in another way: Gwydno, like Urien, 
 had a son called Elphin, whose name, as already hinted, 
 is probably the Welsh form of Alpin, so prominent in 
 the early history of Scotland. For our purpose the 
 two Elphins may be treated as one, seeing that Urien 
 may be said to have his other self in Gwydno. 
 
 With regard to the Dolorous Blow and its equivalents 
 in the various versions, it will have been seen that the 
 narrator's sympathy is all spent on the dark divinity and 
 not on his antagonist. It is so in the case of Balyn : he 
 is accursed, on account of his deed, to the day of his 
 death at his own brother's hands. So with regard to 
 ILouan ILawdivro, whose wounding of Urien ranks in 
 the Triads as one of the Three atrocious Slaughters of 
 Britain. The case of the wounding of Bran is not 
 essentially different, though the fact of the scene being 
 in Ireland seems to have left the story-teller so little 
 interest in Bran's antagonist, that he does not even 
 mention his name; and the Triads^ shift the critical 
 
 • lolo MSS. pp. 78, 467, where Gwydno is called Gwytnyvo. 
 
 - Printed in Guest's Mab. iii. 321-55. ' Skene, i. 166-9. 
 
 ' Triads, i. 5. 5 i. 51, ;;. ig^ jij ^g_ 
 
Ch. Xl.i URIEN AND HIS CONGENERS. 265 
 
 point to the slap which Matholwch gave Branwen. This 
 they call one of the Three criminal Blows of Britain ; 
 for it was treated as the immediate cause of bringing 
 her brother Bran over to Erinn. These instances 
 raise the question why the action of the foe of the 
 dark divinity was regarded with horror and not the 
 reverse. To this Malory's answer is ready: Balyn's 
 victim ' kynge Pellam was nyghe of Joseph kynne/and 
 that was the moost worshipful man that lyued in tho 
 dayes^.' Then as to the story of Urien, as given in 
 the Book of Taliessin, we have the answer in the 
 emphasis laid there on Urien's hostility to the Saxon 
 and the Angle, to the Pict and the Scot, and on his 
 liberality to the bardic fraternity. But neither of these 
 answers can be regarded as going to the root of the 
 matter, while the third case, that of Bran, suggests no 
 obvious answer except that he was Bran the Blessed, 
 and that his antagonist in Ireland is represented as 
 being in the wrong. At any rate. Bran was out of his 
 own country, and therefore among a people naturally 
 hostile to him. This would also apply to another pro- 
 bable scene of the Meal-bag slaughter, namely, where 
 the name Blatobulgium^, or the 'Meal-bag' Station, 
 fixes it at Middleby Kirk, near the river Annan, in a 
 district which was considerably west of the Brythonic 
 boundary. 
 
 The Teutonic counterpart of the mutual slaughter of 
 the Welsh and the Irish in the Meal-bag Pavilion in 
 Erinn is to be found, possibly, in the carnage at Etzel's 
 Court in the Land of the Huns, as described in the 
 Nibelungen Lied. The comparison does not admit 
 of being instituted in detail, but passing over some 
 
 ' Malory, ii. 16. ' Hib. Lee. p. 597. 
 
366 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. XI. 
 
 diflferences, one may signalize the following as the 
 principal points of correspondence : — 
 
 The Burgundians, with Gunther their king at their 
 head, go to the court of Etzel, king of the Huns, and 
 in the course of their journey they have to cross a 
 great river : Bran and his men proceed to Erinn, on 
 the way to which they have to cross two intervening 
 rivers (p. 250). 
 
 Both Gunther and Bran set out from home at the 
 instance of their sisters, respectively Kriemhild and 
 Branwen, the former of whom had given her hand to 
 the king of the Huns, just as the latter had given hers 
 to the Irish king, Matholwch. 
 
 Peace and amity are thought to be cemented by the 
 presence in the former case of Ortlieb, the infant son of 
 Etzel and Kriemhild, at the meeting of the hosts, when 
 the child is mocked at, and presently slain by Gunther's 
 kinsman Hagan. In like manner peace is made between 
 Bran and Matholwch on condition, that the latter resign 
 his kingdom in favour of Gwern, his infant son by Bran- 
 wen, an arrangement which is suddenly brought to 
 nought by Bran's half-brother Evnyssien, who causes 
 the instant death of the boy. 
 
 The death of the child is, in both cases, the signal for 
 general carnage, which, in the case of the Huns, leaves 
 as survivors only Etzel and his warrior Dietrich, in 
 whom, judging from his name \ we have possibly the 
 sun-hero of the German story, and the counterpart of 
 the Celtic Balyn of the romances — whom we may here 
 introduce, to supplement the Bran story, which leaves 
 the Irish no male survivors. 
 
 The gold treasure of the Burgundians, which fills so 
 great a place in the Nibelung story, has its counterpart 
 
 ' Hib. Lee. p. 30. 
 
Ch. XI.] URIEN AND HIS CONGENERS. 267 
 
 on the Celtic side in the perpetual feast provided for 
 Bran's friends. 
 
 Lastly, the treasure remains with the Burgundians to 
 the end, deposited in the river Rhine ; and, on the other 
 side, the feast presided over by Bran's Head continued 
 long in Britain, or in an adjacent isle, where it might be 
 still going on but for the usual curiosity through which 
 a paradise is lost. 
 
 If one might venture to go back behind the distinc- 
 tion between Burgundians and Huns, with which the 
 German story has made one familiar, and treat the dis- 
 position of the parties in the struggle as an open ques- 
 tion, one might be tempted to ask why Gunther and 
 his friends, the murderers of Siegfried, should not have 
 been the Huns, and Etzel and Dietrich the Burgun- 
 dians. This exactly matches the question which the 
 Welsh story also raises. Why have Bran and his men 
 not been treated as the Irish, and their foes as the 
 Welsh ? Such an arrangement would have allowed one 
 to identify the sun-hero with the party which the nar- 
 rator might have been expected to favour. All this is, 
 however, inseparable from the fact of Gunther and 
 Bran being out of their own country in another land ; 
 and the question practically returns in another form, 
 What was the original meaning of this remoteness of 
 the scene of the conflict ? As an answer, we can only 
 give the conjecture, that the dark divinity and his sub- 
 jects are to be regarded as identified with that portion 
 of the human race which has passed away and departed 
 for another world. In that case, Gunther's long journey 
 and his crossing the river on his way to the Huns, and 
 Bran's wading through the waters in order to reach the 
 west, might be compared, as has already been par- 
 tially done, with what the Rig-Veda has darkly to relate 
 
268 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch.XI, 
 
 of Yama. He was the first of the departed, both in point 
 of time and of power, to cross the rapid waters and 
 show others how to come, following in his footsteps, to 
 the happy land, where he sits in festive guise ready to 
 receive the fathers of the race at a perpetual banquet, 
 whose dainties arrest old age and decay, whose delights 
 permit no reckoning of time ^ Suppose the rays of the 
 sun— for we are brought again face to face with the 
 nature myth— to be let in on such a scene, the whole is 
 clean gone as in a fairy tale ; and a fairy tale, in fact, it 
 is. The visit of the solar hero has annihilated a whole 
 landscape of enchantment in the twinkhng of an eye. 
 Balyn, with one thrust of his long lance, has undone a 
 whole world : why should not the curse of its fall 
 pursue him evermore ? 
 
 Bran the Blessed, when ordering his friends to take 
 away his head, told them that they would find the 
 Head as sociable and interesting a companion as it had 
 ever been whilst it was yet on his body; that they 
 would sit with it seven years over dinner at Harlech, 
 listening to the Three Birds of Rhiannon ; that they 
 would thence go to Gwales in Penvro, and feast in the 
 society of tlje Head eighty years, until, in fact, they 
 opened a certain door that looked towards Aber Hen- 
 velen, in the direction of Cornwall ; but as soon as that 
 was done the Head would begin to decay, and they 
 would have to hasten to bury it in London. The story 
 goes on to relate how all this came to pass. They sat 
 at dinner, as it had been foretold, seven years at Har- 
 lech, enjoying the warbling of the Birds of Rhiannon, 
 which they could see far away from them out at sea ; 
 but they were as clearly visible to them as if they had 
 
 ' Hib. Lee. pp. 654-9. 
 
Ch. XI.] URIEN AND HIS CONGENERS. 269 
 
 been with them on the spot. These were the birds said 
 to sing the dead into Hfe, and to sing the living into the 
 sleep of death ^. From Harlech, after their seven-year 
 feast, they went to Gwales, where they had a fair 
 kingly place above the sea. They entered a spacious 
 hall there, and found two of its doors open; but the 
 third was shut, and they recognized it as the one looking 
 towards Cornwall, which was not to be opened. There 
 they remained for four-score years, feasting and passing 
 the happiest time they ever spent. For they had no 
 thought or memory of anything unpleasant that had 
 ever happened to them, and the society of the Head was 
 no less agreeable to them, than when Bran was alive 
 and whole. But one day, one of the seven comrades, 
 Heilyn, son of Gwyn Hfin, said : ' Disgrace on my 
 beard if I do not open the door, to see whether what is 
 said of it be true.' He did so, and looked towards 
 Cornwall and Aber Henvelen. No sooner was that 
 done than they were as well aware of their misfor- 
 tunes, of the disasters that had befallen them, and 
 especially of the loss of their lord, as if it had all 
 happened only the day before. They could no longer 
 tarry, so they hurried away to London to bury the 
 Head. 
 
 One or two remarks, by way of explanation, will 
 suffice on this story. Gwales, in Penvro or the cantred 
 of Pembroke, appears to have meant Gresholm, the 
 Pembrokeshire isle which Hes furthest out at sea. The 
 position of Aber Henvelen, ' the mouth or confluence 
 of Henvelen,' is uncertain, and so is the exact signifi- 
 cance of the allusion to it in the story of Bran. All we 
 can say is, that Taliessin, in a poem to which reference 
 
 » The White Book of Rhyierch in the Hengwrt Collection, folio 291". 
 
270 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. XI. 
 
 has already been made, speaks of himself singing 
 before the Sons of ILyr, at Ebyr Henvelen\ or the 
 Confluences of Henvelen. First and foremost among 
 the sons of ILyr were Bran and Manawydan; but 
 whether looking from Gwales in the direction of Aber 
 Henvelen was to remind the Venerable Head's seven 
 associates of past prosperity or of past disaster we are 
 not told. 
 
 With Gwales as the scene of perennial feasting, may 
 be compared the open house kept by Polydectes on the 
 small isle of Seriphus (p. 232). Various echoes of this 
 fairy tale, of an ancient type, have come down to modern 
 times in Demetia ; thus sailors on the coast of Pembroke- 
 shire and Carmarthenshire have been heard to talk of 
 the Green Meadows of Enchantment, lying out at sea 
 west of Pembrokeshire, and of men who had landed on 
 them or seen them suddenly vanishing. Some of the 
 people of Milford could, as they used to believe, see 
 the Green Islands of the fairies distinctly; and the latter 
 were supposed to go to and fro between their islands 
 and the shore, through a subterranean gallery under 
 the sea. One of their objects in doing so was to make 
 purchases in the markets at Milford or Laugharne ; 
 this they did sometimes without being seen, and always 
 without speaking, for they seemed to know the prices 
 of the things they wished to buy, so that they invariably 
 laid down the exact sums of money payable. The ancient 
 story in the Mabinogi of Branwen speaks of incessant 
 feasting, but nothing of any catering or attendance; for 
 
 ' The Mabinogi of Branwen {R. B. Mab. pp. 40, 42") leaves it doubtful 
 whether we should read Henvelen or Henvelen, but the rhyme in the Book of 
 Taliessin, Skene, ii. 153, proves Henvelen to be the correct form. It will 
 have been noticed that the prose passages have aber, and the verse the 
 plural ebyr. 
 
Ch. XI.] URIEN AND HIS CONGENERS. 271 
 
 the old notion of fairy feasts was that the food came to 
 the table without the intervention of any attendants. 
 But the modern version is now and then so far euhe- 
 merized as to regard the island fairies as living in 
 densely crowded towns, for which supplies have to be 
 imported \ 
 
 Beliefs of this kind used to be current on the 
 coast on both sides of the Teivi ; and there the fairies 
 were known by the name of Plant Rhys ©wvn, or 
 the Children of Rhys the Deep (in the sense of shrewd 
 or cunning), and their market town used to be Cardigan. 
 So, when the price of corn was high and the supply 
 happened to be cleared away early in the day, the poor 
 would say to one another on their way home, 'Oh! 
 they were there to-day ; ' meaning the Children of Rhys 
 ©wvn, to whom they preferred not to refer by name. 
 Rhys Bwvn's realm was not extensive ; but it pro- 
 duced, among other things, a rare herb, which rendered 
 the country invisible to strangers. This was not 
 known to grow elsewhere, except at a spot of about 
 a square yard in area in the Hundred of Kemmes, in 
 the north of Pembrokeshire. If a man chanced to stand 
 all alone on this spot of ground he could see at a glance 
 the whole territory of Rhys ©wvn's Children ; but 
 once he moved away, it would be in vain to try to find 
 it again. These fairies might, perhaps, steal children, 
 but they were reckoned very honest traders ; so much 
 so, in fact, that they were supposed at the last to have 
 been so disgusted with the greed of the farmers around 
 Cardigan that they came there no more, but went to 
 Fishguard in preference ; at any rate, old people ob- 
 served that strange customers were seen to visit the 
 
 ' The Cymmrodor, v. 116-7 : see also Wirt Sikes' British Goblins, pp 
 8-10. 
 
273 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. XI. 
 
 Fishguard market i. The fairies of North Wales 
 appear to have been, in some instances, less honest in 
 their trade ; but the author has been told that Bala was 
 one of their favourite markets, until the colleges set up 
 there drove them away. This brief sketch of the later 
 story, should it answer no other purpose, will serve to 
 show how hard the ancient mythology dies. 
 
 ' The Cymmrodor, v. 109, 114 8. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 PWYIL AND PeLLES. 
 
 Allusion has more than once been made to Per- 
 edur's uncles, the Lame or Maimed King and his 
 brother; but their story deserves a somewhat more 
 thorough examination. In the Peredur, the uncle first 
 visited by the hero was engaged, when he found him, in 
 watching certain of his men fishing on the water near 
 the castle (p. 78). Later in the story, Peredur finds 
 another of his uncles, and it was in the latter's castle 
 that he saw the head brought in on a charger and the 
 Bleeding Lance (p. 79). Both uncles are described as 
 lame, which is possibly due merely to the narrator's 
 carelessness ; but he only calls the second uncle the 
 Lame King, and the distinction drawn by him between 
 the Lame King and the Fisher was probably inten- 
 tional ^ ; for it is found to coincide with the treatment of 
 the two brothers in the Queste dii S. Graal. Thus, one 
 French version speaks of the Maimed King, where the 
 Seint Great, a Welsh translation of a lost French 
 original, gives the name Peleur^ ; and where the former 
 speaks of the Fisher King, or of Pelles, the Welsh calls 
 
 ' Ji. B. Mab. pp. 200-3, 232, 24a. 
 He is once given the name Mesior in the Seini Great : see pp. 256, 603. 
 
 T 
 
274 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. XII. 
 
 him Peles \ and treats him as brother to Peleur. He 
 is represented becoming a hermit, while Peleur con- 
 tinues an invalid king. They had a sister called the 
 Widow of Camalot, Peredur's mother; also a wicked 
 brother, called the King of the Dead Castle, who was 
 a pagan. He was always trying to rob King Peleur of 
 the H oly Grail and of the Bleeding Lance ^, both which he 
 ultimately succeeded in taking, but in vain, as his place 
 was stormed by Peredur, who brought Peleur's people 
 back to the Christian faith ^. In the Grand St. Graal 
 we read not of Peleur, but Pellean, said to have been 
 called the Maimed King on account of his having been 
 ' wounded in the two thighs in a battle of Rome *.' The 
 other king in the same context is called Pelles ; but he 
 is there made a descendant of Pellean, and not brother 
 to him. In the Huth manuscript of the Merlin, re- 
 cently published, Pellean reads Pellehan, king of Listi- 
 nois 5, which after Balyn's dolorous stroke was known 
 as the Terre Gastee and the Terre Foraine. This 
 romance calls Pellehan's demon brother Garlan or 
 Gallan, whd appears as Garlon in Malory's narrative, 
 where the good brother, who trying to avenge Garlon's 
 death is wounded by Balyn, is called Pellam. The other 
 good brother, Pelles, has, as will appear from the com- 
 parisons to be made later, to be sought here under the 
 names Pelles and Pelleas, though the latter can only be 
 a modification of the French nominative Pelleans, of the 
 name Pellean of the Maimed King, of which Malory 
 makes Pellam ; nor is this the whole of the confusion 
 in Malory's pages, for he treats Pellam and Pelleas as 
 
 1 Nutt, pp. 39, 50. 
 
 ' Seint Greal, pp. 205, 570; 233, 581. 
 
 '' lb. pp. 309-11, 638-9; 335-8, 655-7 ; also p. 118 above. 
 
 * Nutt, pp. 64, 90. 
 
 ° Vol. ii. pp. 24, 30 ; also p. 7, where a variant Pellohin is given oi Pellehan. 
 
Ch. XII.] PWYJL AND PELLES. 375 
 
 in no way related to one another, while he confuses 
 Pelles and Pellam\ But all this, and a good deal 
 more, may be regarded as the result of his having 
 compiled from different sources ^. 
 
 Everything about Pelles and Pellean, Peles and 
 Peleur, seem to suggest the probability of a Welsh 
 origin ; but who, in Welsh literature, can they be ? 
 At first sight, the resemblance of the name Pelles to the 
 Welsh pett, ' far, distant,' would seem to refer us back 
 to Pellehan as King of the Foreign Country, or to the 
 Distant City associated with Urien's name (p. 249). 
 Such a name as y Brenin Pett, or the Far Away 
 King, sounds a very possible Welsh appellation of 
 a western Yama; but as we have never found any 
 trace of its occurrence, we are forced back to such 
 names as actually meet us in Welsh literature. The 
 two which seem to answer to Pelles and Pellean are, 
 undoubtedly, those of Pwytt and Pryderi. The simplest 
 way, probably, to examine the correspondence between 
 them respectively will be to bring together, as briefly 
 as possible, what is said about the former in the romances 
 and about the latter in Welsh prose and verse. We 
 have already mentioned the leading members of the 
 family of Peles and Peleur, as they are called in the 
 Seint Great, and we now come to a description of 
 Peleur's court, as given in a passage relating how 
 Gwalchmei (Gauvain) succeeded in reaching it. We 
 are told of two places belonging to King Peleur : the 
 
 1 Thus, after making Pellam the victim of Balyn's dolorous stroke in the 
 early part of his narrative, he calls him Pelles later, xiii. 5. He also 
 makes Pelles the Maimed King, xvii. 5, and King of the Foreign Country, 
 xi. 2, both of which descriptions would seem to have belonged rather to 
 Pellam. 
 
 2 For some remarks on Malory's sources, see M. Paris' introduction to 
 the Huth Merlin, i. pp. Ixx-lxxij. 
 
 T 2 
 
276 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. XII, 
 
 first to which Gwalchmei comes is called the Sincere 
 Castle, or the Castle of Questions \ and it has its 
 entrance guarded by a lion with two villeins made of 
 latten on either side, and so constructed as to attack 
 any one who should approach to enter. In order to get 
 admission, Gwalchmei had to procure a special talis- 
 man, the sword with which John the Baptist had been 
 beheaded ; so, when he arrived in possession of that 
 weapon, he found the Hon had vanished and the vil- 
 leins had left off shooting, while the gate was wide 
 open, with the priests of the place coming forth to 
 welcome him as the bearer of the sword. 
 
 From this first or frontier castle of Peleur's, Gwalch- 
 mei had to cross, on his way to the king's own abode, the 
 fairest meadows he had ever seen ; and after more than 
 a day's journey he came to a fair valley, abounding 
 in all good things and within sight of Peleur's residence, 
 from which he was, however, separated by three rivers. 
 These were spanned by as many bridges, of which the 
 first was an arrow-shot in length, but only a foot wide, 
 as mentioned in a previous chapter (p. 56). While he 
 was gazing at it in dismay, a grave-looking man, coming 
 to the other end of the bridge called the Eel Bridge, 
 bade him cross at once, as it was already late in the day. 
 He assured Gwalchmei there was no other way of 
 traversing ; and the latter, having crossed himself and 
 breathed a prayer, urged his horse on to the narrow 
 bridge ; but no sooner had the beast set his feet on 
 it than it became wide enough for two cartwains to 
 travel side by side. On crossing this, he found the 
 other two bridges equally formidable, for he observed a 
 boiling current striking under the bridges, while they 
 
 ' Seint Greetl, pp. 224, 582, 237, 591. 
 
ch.xii.] pwyjl and pelles. 277 
 
 seemed weak at their foundations and to consist of ice. 
 He crossed, however, unscathed, and approached the 
 gate of the castle, where he found a huge hon standing; 
 but no sooner had the lion seen Gwalchmei than he 
 laid him down with his head between his forefeet, re- 
 solved to offer the stranger no harm. The latter was in 
 due course presented to King Peleur, whom he found 
 lying on a bed. Everything in the Court was magni- 
 ficent ; and in the course of the evening, Gwalchmei 
 saw the Holy Grail, the Bleeding Spear, and other 
 wonders \ On his way from Peleur's castle, Gwalch- 
 mei came to a castle, not very far off, called the Castle 
 of Joy I 
 
 We ought to have mentioned that, at an early 
 stage in his wanderings, Gwalchmei had been enter- 
 tained by a hermit, who described himself as having 
 years before been a knight in the service of Uthr Ben- 
 dragon. He had since, as he said, become a priest to 
 King Peleur by the command of Christ ; and he con- 
 tinued as follows ^ : ' So perfect is that place wherein 
 is that king [Peleur], that no one who had been there 
 a year would suppose it to have been six months ; for 
 there in the chapel is the Holy Grail, and it is therefore 
 am I so young as thou beholdest me.' Gwalchmei at 
 once seized the opportunity of learning the way to 
 Peleur's abode, and told the hermit that was the place 
 he had set out to seek ; but the answer he received runs 
 thus : ' By my faith, I know not how to direct thee ; and 
 I can only say that thou wilt never arrive there unless 
 God bring thee there.' In the language of Irish story, 
 Peleur's castle would be treated as a fairy or enchanted 
 palace, made inaccessible by the magic of its druid 
 
 ' Seint Great, pp. 245, 596. ^ lb. pp. 248, 598. 
 
 ^ lb. pp. 201, 567. 
 
278 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. XII. 
 
 owner, like that, say, of Bodb the Red ^ or that of 
 Aihll, which was visible from afar, but not to be found 
 when one approached. Compare the Rich Fisher's 
 character for magic, as already cited at p. 117. 
 
 Let us now come back to Malory, and take first his 
 Pelleas, on whose name we have already remarked. In 
 the eighteenth chapter of the fourth book we read of 
 three knights — Marhaus^, Vwayne (Owein), and Ga- 
 wayne (Gwalchmei) — arriving together in the outskirts 
 of 'a grete foreste that was named the countreye and 
 foreste of Arroy and the countrey of straunge auen- 
 tures.' Entering it, they come across three ladies, who 
 undertake severally to lead the knights in their quest of 
 adventure. The offer is accepted ; and the first sight 
 to challenge Gawayne's attention and his lady com- 
 panion's was that of a single knight discomfitting ten 
 others, and then allowing himself to be insulted and 
 taken captive by them. It was explained to Gwalchmei 
 by his companion that the ten were the men of a lady 
 called Ettard, with whom the knight led captive was in 
 unrequited love, and that the reason, why he submitted 
 to be taken in that guise to her castle, was in order to 
 have a sight of her. This knight was no other than 
 
 ' Hib. Lee. pp. 1 7 1-2. 
 
 ^ This name is Morhout, nominative Morhous, in the Huth Merlin, ii. 234- 
 46. Marhaus or Morhous reflects the name Merchiaun (one of the old 
 spellings of Meirchion), in the full name March Meirchion, usually expanded 
 into March ab Meirchion. He is probably to be regarded the same person 
 as March and the King Mark of Cornwall, but, curiously enough, he is 
 brought into collision with Mark ; for Marhaus was sent by the king of 
 Ireland to Cornwall to demand the tribute of that country, which had 
 fallen seven years in arrears. The question of the tribute was settled, by 
 single combat between Marhaus and Tristram in an island on the coast, and 
 Tristram proved victorious (Malory, viii. 4-8). The place assigned the 
 truage or tribute in this story of Marhaus reminds one unavoidably of the 
 tribute exacted in Ireland by his Irish namesake, More or Margg, and his 
 ally Conaing, the chiefs of the Fomori : see the Hib. Lee. pp. 262, 584. 
 
CH.XII,] PIVYIL AND PELLES. 379 
 
 Pelleas. Gawayne undertook to assist him, which re- 
 sulted in Pelleas finding out that the lady had at 
 once preferred Gawayne to him. ' Ryght soo syr Pel- 
 leas vnarmed hym selfe and wente vnto his bedde 
 makynge merueyllous dole and sorowe.' A lake lady, 
 named Nyneue or Nymue, comes to Pelleas' rescue, fill- 
 ing him with love for her and loathing for Ettard ^ The 
 latter then changed her mind, and died of love for Pelleas, 
 while Nyneue became his consort and brought him away 
 to Arthur's court, where he was found so strong that 
 few knights could withstand him. His account of him- 
 self and his country is given in these words : ' my 
 name is Syre Pelleas borne in the lies/and of many 
 lies. I am lord ^.' We are also told that Pelleas was 
 a worshipful knight, ' one of the four that encheued the 
 sancgreal ^,' a statement to be explained only by identi- 
 fying Pelleas with Pelles, at whose castle the Holy 
 Grail was kept. 
 
 According to Malory, Pelles was the father of Elayne, 
 mother of Galahad, and he lived in a city of strange 
 adventures, to some of which Lancelot put an end ; it 
 was called Corbyn * or Carbonek °, where also the 
 Maimed King lay, that is to say, Pellam ; and as the 
 Holy Grail and the Bleeding Lance were there also", 
 one may treat them as being in the charge of both Pelles 
 and Pellam. In a passage which treats the former as 
 the Maimed King, we read as follows '' : ' Syr sayd she 
 there was a kynge that hyghte Pelles the maymed 
 kynge/And whyle he myghte ryde/he supported moche 
 
 ' Malory, iv. 21-4. ° lb. iv. 22. ' lb. iv. 29. 
 
 * lb. xi. I. ° lb. xvii. 16-21. 
 
 ' With xiv. 2 compare xvii. 19, 20, where Pelles and the Maimed King 
 are certainly both in the castle when the Grail and the Lance are seen ; but 
 Malory's text here offers considerable diificulties as to journeys and distances. 
 
 ' Malory, xvii. 5. 
 
28o ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. XII. 
 
 crystendome and holy chirche/Soo vpon a daye he 
 hunted in a woode of his whiche lasted vnto the see/ 
 and at the last he loste his houndes/and his knyghtes/ 
 sauf only one/and there he and his knyghte wente tyl 
 that they cam toward Irland.' 
 
 This forms a sort of complement to the account of 
 Pelleas being found in the Land of Strange Adventures, 
 which must now be described a little more in detail. 
 The account of Gawayne, Uwayne, and Marhaus enter- 
 ing it reads thus ^ : ' In this countrey sayd syr Marhaus 
 cam neuer knyghte syn it was crystened/but he fonde 
 straunge auentures/and soo they rode/and cam in 
 to a depe valey ful of stones/and ther by they sawe a 
 fayr streme of water/aboue ther by was the hede of 
 the streme a fayr fontayne/& thre damoysels syttynge 
 therby/And thenne they rode to them/and eyther 
 salewed other/and the eldest had a garland of gold 
 aboute her hede/and she was thre score wynter of age/ 
 or more and her here was whyte vnder the garland/ 
 The second damoysel was of thyrtty wynter of age with 
 a serkelet of gold aboute her hede/The thyrd damoysel 
 was but XV yere of age/and a garland of floures aboute 
 her hede/when these knyghtes had soo beholde them/ 
 they asked them the cause why they sat at that fon- 
 tayne/we be here sayd the damoysels for thys cause/ 
 yf we may see ony erraunt knyghtes to teche ^ hem vnto 
 straunge auentures/and ye be thre knyghtes that seken 
 auentures and we be thre damoysels/and therfore eche 
 one of yow must chese one of vs/And whan ye haue 
 done soo/we wylle lede yow vnto thre hyhe wayes/and 
 there eche of yow shall chese a wey and his damoysel 
 
 ' Malory, iv. i8, 19. 
 
 ^ Compare with these the Well Maidens mentioned by the Pseudo- 
 Chretien in Nutt's Studies, p. 8 : see the passage quoted at p. 247 above. 
 
Ch. XII.] PIVyjL AND PELLES. 381 
 
 with hym/And this day twelue monethe ye must mete 
 here ageyn/and god sende yow your lyues/and there to 
 ye must pHjte your trouthe.' They did so, and returned 
 to the fountain at the end of a year to the day, Gawayne 
 having in the meantime made the acquaintance of 
 Pelleas and earned his hatred in the way already 
 mentioned. 
 
 Let us now compare the story of Pwyit, prince of 
 D)rved and head of Annwn or Hades, as narrated in 
 the Mabinogi called after him^. But, before doing so, 
 it may be as well to say, that, for the purposes of the 
 comparison, one has to apportion Malory's incidents 
 thus : the things said of both Pelles and Pelleas are to be 
 put down to Pelles. It is he that the lady Nyneue takes 
 in hand, and it is he that hunts ; whereas Pellam, as the 
 victim of Balyn's attack, is the Lame or Maimed King 
 and the King of the Foreign or Waste Country. To 
 come back to the Mabinogi of Pwyll, it relates how 
 the latter went to hunt and lost his companions ; how 
 he met Arawn, king of Hades, and agreed with him to 
 exchange kingships for a year, Arawn undertaking that 
 no one should discover the exchange; how he bound 
 Pwytt to meet his (Arawn's) enemy, Havgan or .Summer- 
 white, and kill him at the ford where they annually 
 fought ; how Arawn and Pwytt agreed to meet again in 
 the same spot in the forest on that day twelvemonth. 
 The story goes on to narrate how all this happened as 
 they had arranged, and how the title of Head of Hades 
 clung ever after to Pwytt, as he had not only ruled 
 there for a year but added to the realm of Hades the 
 dominions of Havgan. 
 
 The exchange of personal features, which is effected 
 
 ' R. B. Mab. pp. 1-8; Guest, iii. 37-46; Hib. Lee. pp. 338-41. 
 
28a ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. XII, 
 
 for a time, between Arawn and Pwytt, through the 
 magic skill of the former, is made the occasion of 
 one of the best stories in the Mabinogion ; but, mytho- 
 logically speaking, it was probably a mere expedient 
 to get over the difficulty that the dark divinity was 
 called Arawn and Pwytt, and that as Pwytt he was 
 also termed king of Dyved, it being no longer under- 
 stood how Dyved could belong to the geography 
 of the other world. Going, then, back as it were 
 behind this, one may treat Pwytt as another name of 
 Arawn, and Dyved as another name of Hades. Add 
 to this that some of the Welsh versions of Geoifrey of 
 Monmouth make Arawn king of Scotland, a name 
 which may have meant either North Britain or Ireland, 
 the original home of the Scotti, which helps to explain 
 why Malory makes Pelles hunt until he comes towards 
 Ireland. The view here advocated as to Pwytt is con- 
 firmed by the fact, that, wherever we meet with Pwytt or 
 Pryderi his son, we are forced by the context, mytho- 
 logically speaking, to treat them as belonging to the 
 class of dark divinities. Further, the identity of the 
 mythic region in which Gawayne (Gwalchmei) finds 
 Pelleas (Pelles) with that in which Pwytt hunts, is placed 
 beyond doubt by the fact, that, though the thickly 
 wooded glen into which he enters is Glyn Cuch, on the 
 confines of the counties of Pembroke and Carmarthen, 
 the point from which he sets out on the hunt is called 
 Pen E^wyn Diarwya, or the End of the Wood of Diarwya, 
 in which name one cannot be mistaken in seeing that 
 of the country and forest of Arroy of Malory's version, 
 and the ' forest grant et parfonde que on apieloit Aroie ' 
 of the Uuth Merlm\ 
 
 ' See vol. ii. 244. In Guest's Mab. iii. 3, 37, Diarwya is wrongly printed 
 Diarwyd; and the French Aroie was evidently obtained by discarding the 
 
Ch. XII.] PWYIL AND PELLES. 383 
 
 Another glance at the Mabinogi of Pwytt, and one 
 notices the name of a certain Teyrnon Twryf-vliant or 
 Twryf-bliant, an epithet not easy to explain \ It emerges 
 however in the romances used by Malory, to wit, in 
 the name of the ' Castel of Blyaunt ^.' For in the transi- 
 tion the Welsh appears to have been treated as if it had 
 been Twr Bliant, that is to say, the Tower of Bliant, 
 whence the designation which Malory has rendered 
 the Castle of Blyaunt. Further, as that sort of descrip- 
 tion might be taken to suggest that the castle was 
 called after its owner, Blyaunt came to be treated as 
 the latter's name, so that an equivalent for the Welsh 
 Te3Tnon was no further necessary, though the castle 
 might require an additional name : Malory sometimes 
 calls it Castel Blank^- Now the Castle of Blyaunt it was 
 that Pelles gave Lancelot to inhabit, with his daughter 
 Elayne, in the Joyous Isle *. Blyaunt must therefore 
 be regarded as under the rule of Pelles, and the relation 
 
 initial syllable of Diarwya or Dearwya, as if it had been the preposition de, 
 ' of.' The name is obscure, but it may be for Diaruwya, with the second part 
 identical with that of Chgyr-Voia, a fortified rock at St. David's so-called 
 after an Irish Pict named Boya or Baia. See Giraldus' Vita S. Davidis, lee. iv > 
 Liber Landavensis, pp. 94-5; Lives of the Cambro-British Saints, pp. 106-7, 
 124-6 ; Jones & Freeman's St. David's, pp. 4, 32-3, and Rhys's Celtic Britain, 
 pp. 229, 255. As to Diar or Dear, it is not an unusual name for a stream. 
 
 ' See R. B. Mab, pp. 20-24 ! ^Iso p. 109. T6ryf Bliant would seem to 
 mean only 'the noise of linen,' which is not promising as an epithet. 
 T6ryf Vliant yields no better sense, and in addition involves a difiiculty of 
 gender : so we are disposed to think that the original was T6rv liant, or 
 ttiant, which would admit of the whole name being rendered Teyrnon of the 
 Thunder-flood, or of the Thunder of the Waters, whatever that may have 
 originally meant. In this connection it is, perhaps, worthy of note that 
 poem XV. in the Book of Taliessin (Skene, ii. 156) is entitled ' The Chair of 
 Teyrnon,' and contains the following couplet : — 
 ' POy enO y teir kaer. 
 rCg lliant a llaer.' 
 What is the name of the three cities 
 
 Between the flood and the ? 
 
 2 Malory, xii. 5, 6. ' lb. xii. i, 2. * lb. xii. 5, 6. 
 
284 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. XII. 
 
 between Pwytt and Teyrnon was the same ; for Teyrnon 
 was one of Pwytt's lieges, and the fact, so far as it goes, 
 goes to countenance the identity here conjectured of 
 Pelles with PwyH. 
 
 Further, the Lady of the Lake associated with Pelleas 
 may be compared with Rhiannon, wife of PwyH. Even 
 the names of the former, distorted as they are to Nyneue 
 in Malory and Niviene in the Huth Merlin, admit of 
 being traced back by easy steps of misreading and 
 miscopying to that of Rhiannon, which in the 12th 
 century and later would be written Riannon^. As to 
 the role of Rhiannon, she offers her hand to Pwytt, 
 even as the Lake Damsel does to Pelleas ; and that 
 Rhiannon was a kind of lake lady may be gathered 
 from the fact that her action in the story of Pwytt 
 equates in one curious particular with that of Liban ^, 
 namely, when the former undertakes to carry on her 
 shoulders into her husband's presence all the visitors 
 who presented themselves at the gate'* of his castle. 
 
 ^ Thus Nyneue and Niviene point back to the prototypes nirien and ninien 
 respectively, as anyone will see who knows anj^hing about our old manu- 
 scripts. But besides the common confusion of n and «, of in, ni and ui, 
 there was also that of the open a with u, which makes nirien the possible 
 result of misreading niunen for niane or nianen. Further, the consonant 
 p, in the writing usual in Wales till the advent of the Normans, was easily 
 mistaken for an « in case the first limb was carelessly left insufficiently 
 prolonged below the line. This is one of the misreadings evidenced else- 
 where in the romancers' reproduction of Welsh names, and assuming it here, 
 we step from nianen to jiianen. Lastly, the scribe's predilection for 
 certain forms must always count for something, and other instances, such as 
 Natiien, or Nascien, for Welsh Nwython, illustrate the substitution oiim (for 
 on), making nianon into nianien : so vsre pass from jiianien to rianon, 
 which comes sufficiently near Riannon, the old Welsh spelhng of Rhiannon. 
 See also the preface to the Huth Merlin, p. xlv, where preference is given 
 to Ninienne over Nivienne, and where forms such as Niniane, Niniene, 
 Nimenne, Nimainne, Jumenne, are mentioned ; also Viviane and Vivienne, 
 the worst and most popular in print. 
 
 ^ Hib. Lee. p. 641. 
 
 ^ lb. pp. 498, 500. 
 
Ch. XII.] PWYIL AND PELLES. 285 
 
 In the next place, the three Birds of Rhiannon, whose 
 warbUng sings the dead to hfe and the Hving to sleep, 
 make music for Bran's friends at their long feast at 
 Harlech ; but the birds were not with them on the land : 
 the banqueters had a far reaching sense of eye and 
 ear, and they could see that the birds singing to them 
 were far out above the sea. It may be inferred that 
 they were supposed to be in the atmosphere of 
 Rhiannon's realm, somewhere in the bosom of Cardigan 
 Bay. 
 
 We come next to Pwytt's son, Pryderi, who should 
 correspond to Malory's Pellam, the Maimed King; 
 Now, in the story of Pryderi's war with Gwydion son 
 of Don, in the Mabinogi of Math, Pryderi has with 
 him a prince called Gwrgi Gwastra who seems to be 
 made to succeed Pryderi as his next of kin^. In this 
 Gwrgi we have, probably, the same person as Gwrgi 
 Garwlwyd, with whom has already been equated 
 Garlon the black faced knight and demon brother of 
 Pellam, of whose disabling he was the indirect cause 
 (p. 118). This coincidence goes but a short, way to 
 confirm our equation of Pellam with Pryderi, and it 
 would be clearly more convincing if it could be shown 
 that the Dolorous Stroke dealt by Balyn to Pellam 
 has its equivalent in the case of Pryderi. This can 
 be done, but it must be premised that the wounding 
 of Pellam is to be reckoned as only a part of the 
 incident. With the wounding of the king his whole 
 palace collapsed into a heap of ruins, his entire domain 
 fell into decay, and his subjects died, while he himself 
 remained infirm for many years. The counterpart to 
 this will virtually be found elaborated at considerable 
 
 ' R. B. Mah. pp. 64, 5; Guest, iii. 225, 6, where dylyeda6c, 'prince,' is 
 translated ' hostages ' I 
 
286 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. XII. 
 
 length in the Mabinogi of Manawydan^ For Pryderi 
 had at his court of Arberth not only his wife Kigva, 
 but his mother Rhiannon, and also Manawydan, to 
 whom he had given his mother to wife, after the death 
 of his father, Pwytt. 
 
 One evening after dinner, so the story runs, Pwyfl 
 and his friends ascended the mound of Arberth, 
 which was a place well known for the strange events 
 of which it was the scene. As they sat there, they 
 heard a clap of thunder, and it was so tremendous 
 that it was followed by mist, which made it impos- 
 sible for one to see the other, but presently it 
 became light again. When they looked around them, 
 where previously they had beheld flocks and herds 
 and habitations, they saw nothing, no house or house- 
 beast, no smoke or fire, no human being, or the work 
 of human hands, except the buildings of the court 
 empty, desolate, untenanted of man or beast. Their 
 own household had disappeared, and they four alone 
 remained, to wit, Pryderi and Manawydan with their 
 wives. They searched the country in vain for houses 
 and habitations : wild beasts alone they found. So they 
 took to hunting, fishing, and gathering wild honey; 
 and when that failed them they went to England, where 
 they spent some time. Eventually they revisited 
 Djrvred, and lived the lives of hunters and fishermen, 
 as they had tried before, and that continued until 
 Pryderi and Rhiannon his mother had been lost, taken 
 prisoners by him who had begun their ruin. Who he 
 was, will appear in the last scene, to which we are 
 now coming. 
 
 Manawydan and Kigva, wife of Pryderi, having 
 lost their respective consorts and their dogs, betook 
 
 ' R. B. Mttb. pp. 46-58 ; Guest, iii. 164-84. 
 
Ch. Xn.] PWYIL AND PELLES. 2,8y 
 
 themselves to England again, where Manawydan earned 
 his living for some time, as he was the most skilful 
 of all workmen. When a year had passed, the two 
 returned to Djrved, and Manawydan brought with him 
 a bag of wheat ; then he began to dig ^ three plots of 
 ground, in which he sowed it. The wheat throve as no 
 wheat had ever thriven, and when the time of harvest 
 came round, Manawydan went to look at his plots 
 and found one of them ripe. He left the corn, resolved 
 to return to reap it on the morrow. With the break 
 of day he came back in order to begin the work, 
 but what was his surprise to find nothing there but 
 straw, every stalk having been cut short close to the 
 ear and every ear carried away ! He wondered greatly, 
 and went to look at another of the plots : that was ripe, 
 and he resolved to return the next day to reap the 
 corn, but when he came he found only earless straw 
 as in the previous case. ' Alas ! ' he exclaimed, ' who 
 is completing my ruin ? I know who it is : he who 
 began my ruin is completing it, and he has ruined 
 the country with me.' Thereupon he went to look at 
 the remaining plot : nobody had ever seen finer wheat, 
 he thought, and it was ripe. ' Disgrace upon me ! ' said 
 he, ' if I do not watch to-night : he who stole the other 
 will come to steal this, and I shall know what it is.' 
 He returned later in the evening to watch the corn, 
 and just as it was midnight he heard the loudest 
 thunder in the world. He turned to look, and beheld 
 coming a host of mice that nobody could number; 
 he had hardly time to bethink himself, ere each mouse 
 made for a stalk of the wheat, and climbed it so that 
 
 ^ The Welsh word, R. B. Mab. p. 52, is an unusual one, tyuoiyaS, but it 
 is clearly of the same origin as the Irish rdmhair, ' to dig,' Scotch Gaelic, 
 ruamhar, ' to delve, ' Manx, reuyrey, the same. 
 
a88 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. XII. 
 
 it bent to the ground; then each mouse cut off the 
 ear and ran away with it. They all did so, leaving 
 the straw bare, and it seemed to him that there was 
 not a single straw for which there was not a mouse. 
 Angrily he struck among them, but he could no more 
 fix his sight on any of them than on flies or birds in 
 the air, excepting one of them, which seemed so heavy 
 as not to be able to travel. That one he pursued and 
 caught; he then put it in his glove, and secured it by 
 tying the opening of the glove with a string. Having 
 taken it home he aroused Kigva's curiosity, and ex- 
 plained to her what had happened, and how he would 
 on the morrow hang the thief he had captured. She 
 tried to persuade him not to meddle with the vermin 
 but to let it go, as it scarcely became a man of his 
 dignity. But he insisted that he would hang it, as 
 he would also have done with the other mice if he 
 had caught them. 
 
 So the next morning he took the mouse to the 
 top of the Mound of Arberth, on the highest part 
 of which he planted two wooden forks in the ground 
 and set up the gallows on which he was going to 
 hang the mouse. In the meantime he beheld a 
 clerk coming to him in old threadbare clothes — 
 it was seven years since he had seen a human 
 being there, except his friends who had been lost, 
 and Kigva who still remained. The clerk bade him 
 ' good day,' and on being asked whence he had come, 
 he said that he was going home to his country from 
 England, where he had been singing. ' My lord,' said 
 the clerk, ' what art thou doing ? ' ' Hanging a thief,' 
 said Manawydan, 'that I found steaHng from me.' 
 'What sort of a thief?' said he, ' it is a vermin like 
 a mouse that I see in thy hand, and it ill befits a man 
 
Ch. XII.] PWYJL AND PELLES. 389 
 
 of thy estate to touch that kind of vermin : let it go.* 
 ' By my faith, I will not,' replied the other : ' stealing" 
 from me I found it, and to the penalty of a thief I 
 shall subject it, namely, hanging.' ' Here is a pound 
 I have got by begging, I will give it thee if thou wilt 
 let go that vermin.' ' By my faith, I will neither let 
 it go nor sell it,' said Manawydan. ' Do as it listeth 
 thee,' said the clerk; 'were it not to prevent a man 
 of thy estate handling that vermin I should not care.' 
 Having so spoken he walked away, and as Manawydan 
 was placing the cross stick on the forks, behold a priest 
 came to him well-mounted on horseback. A similar 
 conversation takes place with him, and he offers more 
 money, namely, three pounds, but takes his leave 
 rebuffed. 
 
 Now Manawydan makes a noose round the mouse's 
 neck, and as he is doing that he beholds a bishop's 
 rutter^, his pack-horses, and his retinue, with the 
 bishop himself coming to him. The conversation 
 begins much as in the previous cases : the bishop 
 offers Manawydan successively seven and twenty-four 
 pounds, and all his horses and property he had with 
 him there ; but Manawydan was inflexible. So the 
 
 * The Welsh word is r6tter, which we have not met with elsewhere : it is 
 clearly the English rutter, and what that means may be approximately 
 learned from lines 120-5 of Marlowe's Doctor Faustus, for the reference to. 
 which the author has to thank Mr. Mayhew :— 
 
 'As Indian Moors obey their Spanish lords. 
 
 So shall the spirits of every element 
 
 Be always serviceable to us three ; 
 
 Like lions shall they guard us when we please; 
 
 Like Almain rutters with their horsemen's staves, 
 
 Or Lapland giants, trotting by our sides.' 
 The editors of Marlowe explain Almain rutters to mean German troopers ; 
 see also Haliwell's Die. But Lady Charlotte Guest or her authority slurs, as 
 usual, over the difficulty in the Mabinogi and renders r6tter by ' retinue,' as 
 if the word were quite a familiar one in Welsh : see Guest's Mab. iii. 180. 
 
 U 
 
ago ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. XII. 
 
 bishop at last told him to name any price he chose. 
 'That I will,' said Manawydan : 'the price is the 
 liberation of Rhiannon and Pryderi.' 'Thou shalt 
 have it,' said the bishop. ' Not that alone, by my faith,' 
 said Manawydan. 'What then wilt thou?' 'The 
 removal of the Enchantment and glamour off the seven 
 cantrevs of Dyved.' ' Thou shalt have it, if thou wilt 
 only let go the mouse.' ' I will not,' said Manawydan ; 
 ' for I must know who the mouse is.' ' She is my wife, 
 for otherwise I would not ransom her.' ' How came 
 she to me ? ' 'To steal from thee,' said the bishop. ' I am 
 ILwyd son of Kil-coed, and it is I that put the Enchant- 
 ment on the seven cantrevs of D3rved :' it was to avenge 
 Gwawl son of Clud, by reason of my friendship with 
 him, that I put on the Enchantment ; and on Pryderi 
 have I avenged the baiting of Gwawl as "a brock in 
 a bag," which was done to him by Pwytt Head of 
 Hades, through evil counsel, at the Court of Heveyd 
 Hen ^. When it was known that thou wert inhabiting 
 the country, my household came to me requesting me 
 to transform them into mice to consume thy corn. The 
 first night my household came alone, and so they did 
 the second night, destroying the first and the second 
 plot of corn. The third night came my wife together 
 with the ladies of the court, asking me to transform 
 them, which I did. She was with child, otherwise thou 
 wouldst not have overtaken her. I will yield thee 
 Pryderi and Rhiannon, and also remove the Enchant- 
 ment and glamour from off Dyved. I have told thee 
 moreover who it is, so let her now go.' ' No, by 
 my faith,' said Manawydan. ' What wilt thou then ? ' 
 said ILwyd. ' I will,' said Manawydan, ' that there 
 be never more enchantment on the seven cantrevs of 
 
 ' See R. B. Mab. pp. ia-i6 ; Guest, iii. 52-8. 
 
Ch. XII.] PWYE. AND PELLES. 391 
 
 Dyved, and that it be never put on it.' ' Thou shalt 
 have that granted, only let her go.' ' No, by my faith.' 
 ' What more then, wilt thou ? ' said the bishop. ' This 
 is what I will have, that there be no vengeance taken 
 on Pryderi and Rhiannon, or on me for ever.' 'All 
 that shalt thou have,' said ILwyd, ' and well, by my 
 faith, hast thou bethought thee, for the whole trouble 
 would have come upon thee.' 'Verily,' said Manaw- 
 ydan, 'that is why I have been exact in my words.' 
 ' Release me my wife now,' said ILwyd. 'No, by my 
 faith, I will not till I see Pryderi and Rhiannon free 
 before my eyes.' ' Here they are coming,' said ILwyd, 
 and when Manawydan had warmly welcomed them 
 he let go the mouse, which ILwyd, striking with his 
 magic wand, turned into her proper shape, namely, 
 that of the fairest young woman any one had ever seen. 
 ' Look around thee at the country,' said ILwyd, ' and 
 thou wilt find the dwellings and habitations as they 
 were at their best ;' and this proved to be true. 
 
 Such was the Welsh story of the Enchantments of 
 Britain, as the romancers are wont to call them, a story 
 so well known to the Welsh bards of the 14th cen- 
 tury in its connection with Dyved, that D. ab Gwilym 
 repeatedly calls the south-west of Wales the Land of 
 Illusion and the Realm of Glamour^. It has been 
 deemed necessary to give the latter part of the contest 
 between Manawydan and ILwyd at so great a length, 
 for the sake of showing the importance attached to the 
 exact terms used by the former in order to obtain the 
 permanent removal of the Enchantments, under which 
 the tale represents the country as labouring. Now, 
 some versions of the Grail legend make the undoing ^ of 
 
 > See poems CCXXVIII and CCXXXII ; also poem XLVII. 
 
 '^ It is otherwise termed ' ending the wonders of Great Britain ' (Nutt, 
 
 U 2 
 
29 a ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch, XII. 
 
 the Enchantments of Britain, and the healing of the 
 invalid king, depend on certain questions being asked 
 by a knight from Arthur's court. It is not to be denied 
 that the idea of uttering a given word, v^^ith magical 
 effect, is fairly widespread ; but in that case one would 
 perhaps rather expect a single word, or a brief com- 
 mand like ' Open Sesame ! ' in the story of Ali Baba 
 and the Forty Thieves. In the case before us it is not 
 so, the effective words being certain questions as to the 
 use of the Holy Grail, the Bleeding Lance, and the 
 other wondrous things carried past the visitor at the 
 Maimed King's court. On the whole, we cannot help 
 thinking that a version of the contest between Manaw- 
 ydan and ILwyd served, in the first instance, to give 
 the cue to the Grail romancers. This explanation 
 has in its favour the fact that in the Welsh story the 
 words are not, in any sense, a formula to remove the 
 Enchantment, used as they are in the ordinary way as 
 the terms of a bargain, which binds the author of the 
 Enchantment to remove it himself. 
 
 Let us return to ILwyd and follow him a little further, 
 and first as to his name, which means grey, probably in 
 reference to his hair and the venerable appearance of 
 his person, as indicated in the story by its clothing him 
 in the garb of a bishop. But besides R.wyt, son of 
 Kil coet, his name takes the form of ILwydeu son of 
 Kel coet, and under that name the story of Kulhwch 
 and Olwen places his house at Forth Kerdin, the D3rved 
 harbour in which Arthur lands on his return with 
 Diwrnach's Cauldron from Ireland \ Now there was 
 
 p. 39), ' achieving the great adventures of the Kingdom of Logres,' or 
 'casting out the evil adventures of the Island of Britain' (ib. p. 50), and 
 ' freeing us from the evil destinies and adventures that were in this island ' 
 {Seini Greal, pp. 7, 441). 
 ' R. B. Mab. pp. no, 136. 
 
Ch. XII.] PWYIL AND PELLES, 293^ 
 
 in the Land of the Cornish Brythons a Dinn map 
 Liathain according to Cormac's Glossary ^ which ex- 
 plains the name to mean the Fortress of the Son of 
 Liathan; and Nennius^ gives the name of Sons of 
 Liethan to the Irish conquerors of D3rved. This 
 Liathan or Liethan would imply a Welsh K,wydan, 
 which in that case might be regarded as a third form 
 to be added to those of ILwyd and ILwydeu. The Sons 
 of Liathan probably belonged to the powerful tribe that 
 called itself Hy- Liathain, or the Descendants of Liathan, 
 and owned a part of the present county of Cork, namely, 
 a district which included the Great Island and Caslean 
 Ui-Liathdin, ' O'Liathain's Little Castle,' a village whose 
 name has been Ariglicized into Castle- Lyons ^- But 
 whether any Liathan can be identified with ILwyd son of 
 Kil-coed, the latter's name undoubtedly appears in Irish 
 Uterature in the form of Liath mac Celtchair of Cualand. 
 There was a district of Cualand within what is now the 
 county of Wicklow, and Liath is represented as one of 
 the comeliest princes of his race. He is said to have 
 been in love with Bri, daughter of Mider, the fairy king 
 already mentioned more than once, and the story about 
 the lovers relates how Mider prevented their meeting, 
 and how Bri died broken-hearted on that account *. On 
 the whole it seems probable, that the name ILwyd son 
 of Kil-coed, for the personage opposed to Manawydan^ 
 comes from the Irish conquerors of Dyved, and that, in 
 the forms known to us, it is the result of an attempt to 
 
 • See the Stokes-O'Donovan edition, p. iii. 
 
 ' San-Marte's Nmnius et Gildas, § 14 (p. 36). 
 
 » See O'Donovan's ed. of the Four Masters, a.m. 2859 (note e, p. 11), 
 and A.D. 1579 (note c, pp. 1722-3), where the editor states that the tribe 
 took its name from a certain Echaid Liathanach, son of Daire Cearba. 
 
 « See the Autotype Facsimile of the^A. of Ballymote, 408", 409" ; O'Curry, 
 iii. 355-6. 
 
294 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. XII. 
 
 render into Welsh the Irish name Liath mac Celtchair. 
 But how much of the Welsh story is to be traced to the 
 same Goidelic source, it is, perhaps, impossible to say. 
 
 But who was ILwyd in the mythological sense ? To 
 answer this we have first to ask who Gwawl son of 
 Clud was, on whose behalf he exerted himself. Now, 
 the latter's name would mark him out as a counterpart 
 of Balyn; for Gwawl means light, like that of ILeu 
 ILawgyffes ; and Clut or Clud is the Welsh form of the 
 name written by the ancients Clota, for the river now 
 known as the Clyde : so it probably meant a goddess with 
 whom that river was associated. Thus in the descrip- 
 tion Gwawl son of Clud, we have a sort of parallel to 
 that of Mabon son of Modron. This last is the Welsh 
 form of a name which in its ancient form was probably 
 matrona, and the designation of the river called by that 
 name in its abbreviated French form is Marne, while 
 Mabon is found inscriptionally described as Apollo 
 Maponus. One thing in the story of Gwawl's contest 
 with Pwytt for the hand of Rhiannon is worth noticing : 
 the former is overcome by being deluded into puting 
 his feet in a beggar's bag, into which he instantaneously 
 disappears. This incident, while betra3dng the nature- 
 myth account of the sun setting, reminds one in some 
 degree of Helius, according to one Greek account, 
 descending into his cup. From the story of Bal3'n, one 
 would have expected Gwawl to be his own avenger. 
 What we, however, have is a more powerful friend acting 
 for him, but probably one of kindred attributes with him- 
 self, as it were a Zeus aiding Heracles. The h3'pothesis 
 of ILwyd being a sort of reflection of the Zeus of the 
 ancient Celts, would harmonize well enough with the 
 role assigned to the former in the story, where he is 
 a great magician, a wielder of thunder, the friend of 
 
Cb. XII.] PWYJL AND PELLES, 395 
 
 the Solar Hero, and the enemy of the dark beings, among 
 whom Manawydan may be classed, in so far as he is 
 befriended by Pryderi as a sort of Cronus or Saturn 
 hospitably received by Janus. There is this important 
 diiference, however, namely, that the Mabinogi closes 
 with the victory of the dark divinity ; and that is a part 
 of the larger question of the entire sequence of the 
 Welsh story. Thus Gwawl first defeats Pwytt in the 
 competition for Rhiannon's hand, while Pwytt wins in 
 the next scene, and the third begins with ILwyd vic- 
 toriously avenging Gwawl on Pryderi, while the closing 
 scene shows ILwyd baffled by Manawydan, who is 
 enabled to release his friend Pryderi, and otherwise 
 undo what ILwyd had done. This sequence carries 
 with it the reversal of the true meaning of the action of 
 the respective parties in the struggle. For the appear- 
 ance of Pryderi's realm as a wilderness and a desolation 
 is its truer aspect, with its hideousness exposed in the 
 light of ILwyd's triumphing countenance. The re- 
 moval of the Enchantment, so as to make the landscape 
 seem to teem again with life and abundance, is more 
 truly to put the Enchantment on it. It is, in a word, to 
 bring on the glamour and illusion which are essential 
 to the magnificence in which the king of the Other 
 World reigns. 
 
 A word now as to the names Pelles and Pellean, 
 which, as we think, represent, however inaccurately, the 
 Welsh names Pwytt and Pryderi respectively. Now 
 the former, Pelles, looks at first sight as though its con- 
 nection with Pwytt required no explanation, but as a 
 matter of fact it is not easy, palaeographically speak- 
 ing, to show how it can have been derived from the 
 Welsh name, as one would have expected not Pelles 
 but Pools, Poils, or Poels. Perhaps the most natural 
 
296 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. XII. 
 
 view to take is, that it has been assimilated in form to 
 the nominative Pelleans of the other name associated 
 with it. This latter admits of being derived by 
 easy steps of misreading and miscopying from the 
 Welsh Pryderi, which would have also been spelled 
 Prederi in the 12th century, but Pryteri and Preteri 
 were likewise admissible. A trace of the last-mentioned 
 form is to be detected possibly in the greeting sent 
 by Galahad to his grandfather and to his uncle or 
 grand-uncle. According to Malory^, it ran thus: 
 ' Recommaunde me vnto my graunt sir kynge Pelles/ 
 and vnto my lord Petchere.' In one version of the 
 Queste du St. Graal he calls them his grandfather 
 King Pelles, and his uncle the Rich Fisher^; just as 
 if some such a name as Petchere had been taken to 
 be the French pesche'our or fisher. However there is 
 no evident reason why Malory should have failed 
 to recognize the French for fisher any more in this 
 context than elsewhere. In the same Queste, the sister 
 of Peredur (Perceval) is made to tell him, that they are 
 the offspring of King Pellehem^ ; but as Pellehem can 
 hardly be anything but one of the forms of the name of 
 Perceval's uncle, better known as Pellean and Pellehan *, 
 
 ' Malory, xiii. 4. 
 
 ' Nutt, pp. 39, 83. 3 lb. p. 47. 
 
 * Of the different spellings of the Welsh names let us take first Preteri : 
 written pteri, it would be liable to be read peteri or petere, the accented vowel 
 of which might be made by the romancers into ee and even ehe, yielding 
 petehere, whence Malory's Petchere by misreading an e into c. If we next 
 take Prederi, this would be written either pderi or pderi, where the ri 
 would be liable (see note i, p. 2841 to be read «»', in or m, as in Pellohm 
 and Pellehew ; but the change of d into / remains unexplained unless 
 we suppose Pederi misread Pecleri, and the c then elided. The difficulty 
 of deciding between an upright d and c/ is well known : witness amdei 
 ar wydun in Skene's Four Anc. Books, ii. 19, for am clei ar wy dun 
 (see Evans' Autotype of the Black Book, 25 a). There is another, and 
 perhaps a more satisfactory hypothesis, namely, that pderi was read pderi, 
 which was subsequently made into peleri by confusing c and e, which is very 
 
Ch. XII.] PWYK AND PELLES. 397 
 
 the name Pellehem in this connection is probably an 
 error for Pelhnore. For that is the name more usually 
 given to Perceval's father, who was the king engaged 
 in the pursuit of the Questing Beast, followed after his 
 death by his next of kin, Palomydes the Saracen (p. 154), 
 But the name Pellinore or Pellinor can scarcely be 
 identified with Pellean or Pellehem: rather does it 
 point to the Welsh name of the father of Peredur and 
 Gwrgi, namely, Eliver Gosgordvawr, or E. of the great 
 Retinue (p. 71), after whom were called the Sons of 
 Eliver, as a recognized description of a group of 
 warriors, the most frequently mentioned of whom 
 were Peredur and Gwrgi. They were, however, seven 
 in all, as we learn from the first poem in the 
 Black Book of Carmarthen ^, where their praises are 
 
 diiBcult to avoid in some manuscripts, for instance, the Red Book. But 
 whatever the exact steps may have been which gave the first part of the 
 name its form of pel or pell, no great difficulty attaches to the latter part : 
 thus jxi making for example in, would help us to a form Pelein, which comes 
 near Pelloin, and this last with an inserted h gives us Pellohin, one of the 
 forms attested. Lastly, certain vowels in proper names in the romances 
 are doubled, probably to indicate length or stress. Thus Malory's Balyn is 
 found not only as Balain, but also as Balaain, representing an ancient Celtic 
 Bellnos ; and Bran, Balyn's brother, is called Balan and Balaan, to the 
 influence of which possibly the aa of Balaain is partly due. Take also 'Iwi/Sr, 
 which became not only Jonas and Jonans, but also Jonaans. The same thing 
 seems to have been done with the accented vowel of Prederi, though it has 
 never been long in Welsh, thus Peleri became Peleeri, whence Peleem, to 
 which may be traced Pelleam ; and this last approaches both Pellean and 
 Malory's Pellam. With h inserted, Pelleem becomes Pellehem, with which 
 must be connected Pellehan. Where the Peleur of the 5. Greal branches 
 off is not clear ; but its single / is worthy of note as accounting by associ- 
 ation for the single I of Peles in the same manuscript, where the name 
 should otherwise have had //. With regard to the insertion oi h in Pellohin, 
 Pellehem, Pellehan, and Petehere, a good instance occurs in Malory's 
 Kehydius, a knight, whose name is simply the old Welsh Keidiau : as to 
 the fashion of inserting h between vowels in old Welsh (and in Breton) , 
 see Rhys' Lee. on Welsh Philology, p. 232. 
 
 ' Evans' Autotype, p. 3 a, where Eliver is written Eliffer, but in that 
 MS. ^is not necessarily different in value fvom f=v. The same is the 
 spelling in the Triad ii. 11, in the Red Book (see R. B. Mab. p. 301) ; but 
 Ejgya6c for Evra6c in the Red Book (ib. p. 193) is not quite parallel. 
 
398 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. XII. 
 
 comprehensively sung. To return to Eliver, his name 
 when written Eliuer was easily misread into Eliner, 
 which comes near Elinor or EUinore. Nothing, in fact, 
 is wanting, but an initial p, in order to spell Pellinore, 
 and that consonant one would probably be right in 
 regarding as supplied by the association of Pellinore's 
 name with that of Palomydes, his next of kin. Malory 
 gives the latter name usually as Palamydes and 
 Palomydes, which is, palaeographically speaking, clearly 
 derived from the Welsh name Pabo Prydein, or Pabo 
 of Pictland, for the fuller designation Pabo Post 
 Prydein or Pabo Pillar of Pictland. Pabo is re- 
 presented to have been brother to Eliver^, and the 
 name occurs in Wales in connection with ILanbabo 
 or Pabo's Church, a chapel in Anglesey. The tra- 
 dition is that Pabo was a king who became a saint, and 
 this answers to Malory's story, that Palomydes was 
 a Saracen who was converted to Christianity. One day 
 after fighting with a knight called Galleron of Galway, 
 Palomydes encountered his rival Tristram, and fought 
 also with him ; but being worsted in the conflict, 
 Palomydes made friends with Tristram, and went with- 
 out delay with him and Galleron to Carlisle, where 
 he was christened ''■. Most probably the Welsh tradition 
 mixes myth and history together ; but one's opinion of 
 
 ^ This is according to the Genealogies of the Men of the North in a 
 Hengwrt MS., which Skene believed to have been transcribed about 1300 
 (Four Anc. Books, i. 166-9) ; but the Genealogies in the Harleian MS, 3859, 
 are somewhat different (see Phillimore's edition of them in the Cymmrodor, 
 ix. 169-182). According to the \s.Viex, Pabo Post Prydein is there viritten 
 Pappo p priten ; but on the whole the spelling which seems to have served 
 as the basis of Palomides was pabo pziden. For bo, written conjointly, 
 as for instance in Llyvyr yr Agkyr would be very readily mistaken for lo ; 
 and p2 blurred or smudged would appear to give the elements of an <«. Add 
 the s of the French nominative and we have Palomides which comes 
 sufficiently near Palomydes, one of the forms which prevail in Maloiy's pages. 
 
 '^ Malory, xii. ia-14. 
 
ch. xu.] pwyil and PELLES. 399 
 
 the amount of history involved is not raised by the fact, 
 that in the reign of Charles II a stone bearing the in- 
 scription, HIC JACET PABO POST PRUD CORPORS . . . . , 
 
 was dug up at ILanbabo. It is believed to date from 
 Edward the Third's reign, though the saint commem- 
 orated is said to have lived in the 6th century ^. 
 
 It is almost needless to remark, that the treatment of 
 Welsh proper names by the Anglo-Norman romancers 
 was a very loose one, subject to nothing of the nature 
 of an etymological law so much as to the accidents of 
 the handwriting in which such names appeared, or 
 through which they eventually passed. 
 
 ' See Rees' Welsh Saints, p. i68; Westwood's Lapidarium Wallice, 
 p. 193, and the Arch. Cambrensis for 1861, p. 300, and for 1874, p. no. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 The Origin of the Holy Grail. 
 
 Now that we have practically discovered the form 
 taken by the Dolorous Blow in the story of Pryderi, we 
 have to produce from the same the counterpart of 
 the Holy Grail. The romances are not very clear in 
 whose keeping the Grail was, for some of them place it 
 in that of Peles (Pelles), and some in that of Peleur 
 (Pellean) ; so we should probably not greatly err in 
 supposing it associated with both, a view which is easy 
 to admit on Welsh ground, where Pwytt and Pryderi 
 are always treated as standing in the relation of father 
 and son to one another. But had Pwytt and Pryderi 
 anything that might be set over against the Grail ? 
 Most assuredly they had, as witness the Taliessin poem 
 which describes Arthur harrying Hades. The prin- 
 cipal treasure, which he and his men carried away 
 thence, was the Cauldron of the Head of Hades, that 
 is to say, of Pwytt. In that poem, xxx, Pwytt and 
 Pryderi are associated together, and the cauldron is 
 found at a place called Caer Pedryvan, the Four-horned 
 or Four-cornered Castle, in Ynys Pybyrdor or the Isle of 
 the Active Door, the dwellers of which are represented 
 quaffing sparkling wine in a clime that blends the grey 
 twilight of the evening with the jet-black darkness of 
 
Ch. XI II.] ORIGIN OF THE HOLY GRAIL. 30 1 
 
 night ; so lamps burn in the front of the gates of Uffern 
 or Hell. Besides the names Caer Pedryvan and 
 Uffern, it has these others : Caer Vedwit, meaning pro- 
 bably the Castle of Revelry, in reference to the wine- 
 drinking there ; Caer Golud, or the Castle of Riches ; 
 Caer Ochren (p. 245), Caer Rigor, and Caer Vandwy ^, 
 all three of unknown interpretation; and, lastly, Caer 
 Sidi, which is interesting as occurring in another Tal- 
 iessin poem of similarly mythological import. The bard 
 in this latter poem, xiv, represents himself singing 
 before princes over their mead-cups, and the verses in 
 point run thus : — 
 
 ' Ys kyweir vyg kadeir ygkaer sidi. 
 Nys plawd heint a heneint a uo yndi. 
 Ys gwyr manawyt[an] a phryderi. 
 Teir oryan y am tan agan recdi. 
 Ac am y banneu ffrydyeu gweilgi. 
 Ar iFynnhawn ffrwythlawn yssyd oduchti. 
 Ys whegach nor gwin gwyn yllyn yndi.' 
 
 Perfect is my chair''' in Caer Sidi: 
 Plague and age hurt him not who 's in it — 
 They know, Manawydun and Pryderi. 
 Three organs round a fire sing before it, 
 And about its points are ocean's streams 
 And the abundant well above it- 
 Sweeter than white wine the drink in it. 
 
 We do not pretend to understand this description, 
 though the words used present no serious difficulty; 
 but it is to be noticed that the name Sidi refers to the 
 castle as a revolving one : compare the Welsh word 
 sidytt, ' a spinning wheel.' This leads one to compare 
 the words in the Taliessin poem with the account in 
 
 1 Also mentioned in poem xxxiii of the Black Book : see Evans' Autotype, 
 I. 50 a. 
 ' There is, so far as we know, no warrar 
 a seat in the sense of an abode or mansion. 
 
 P-5oa. _ ^ 
 
 " There is, so far as we know, no warrant for treating cadeir, ' a chair, as 
 
303 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. XIII. 
 
 the Welsh Seint Greal'^ of a revolving castle, which 
 Peredur entered. The passage runs thus : ' And they 
 rode through the wild forests, and from one forest to 
 another until they arrived on clear ground outside the 
 forest. And then they beheld a castle coming within 
 their view on level ground in the middle of a meadow ; 
 and around the castle flowed a large river, and inside 
 the castle they beheld large spacious halls with windows 
 large and fair. They drew nearer towards the castle, 
 and they perceived the castle turning with greater 
 speed than the fastest wind they had ever known. 
 And above on the castle they saw archers shooting so 
 vigorously, that no armour would protect against one 
 of the discharges they made. Besides this, there were 
 men there blowing in horns so vigorously, that one 
 might think one felt the ground tremble. At the gates 
 were lions, in iron chains, roaring and howling so 
 violently that one might fancy the forest and the 
 castle uprooted by them.' We are not told that 
 either the warriors or the trumpeters were figures in 
 metal, but we have here the music, which, in the poem, 
 is produced by the three organs. We find nothing, 
 however, to throw any light on the sweet fountain of 
 Caer Sidi. 
 
 One would probably not greatly err in regard- 
 ing the Turning Castle as a form of the abode of the 
 king of the dead, and the swiftness of its revolution 
 would explain such a name as that of the Isle of the 
 Active or strenuous Door. The large river flowing 
 round it reminds one of the castle of Peleur, entered 
 by Gwalchmei ; and the sequel of the story of the 
 Turning Castle, showing, among other things, how the 
 lions and the warriors offered no obstruction to Peredur 
 
 1 See Williams, pp. 325, 6 ; and for his translation see p. 649. 
 
Ch, XIII.] ORIGIN OF THE HOLY GRAIL. 303 
 
 when he galloped up to the gate, also recalls the be- 
 haviour of the lion and the metal men in the case 
 of Gwalchmei's entry to the other castle (p. 276). It 
 remains to mention a remarkable circumstance in con- 
 nection with Peredur's entrance into the Turning 
 Castle, namely, that he was led by a lady, who took 
 from him his spear and his shield to carry them 
 before him. In other words, the warrior is protected 
 by a woman, as when, in a well-known Irish story, Liban, 
 leading Loeg, Ciichulainn's charioteer, to the other world, 
 and arriving at a perilous point in the journey, took 
 him by the shoulder. Loeg objected, reminding her 
 that this was not what he had been most used to do, 
 namely, to accept protection from a woman ; thereupon 
 she assured him, that, if he was to return alive, it must be 
 so^. It has already been pointed out, that we have 
 a blurred version of the same sort of thing in Rhiannon 
 carrying the visitors to Pwytt's court on her back from 
 the horseblock to the hall ; and a line hitherto un- 
 explained, in the beginning of the same Taliessin poem 
 XXX, seems to refer to this goddess with free access to 
 both worlds. The bard, before describing Arthur's 
 expedition to Caer Sidi or Caer Pedryvan, observes 
 that before him nobody had been there, that is, nobody 
 who returned, excepting one whom he calls Gweir. 
 He would seem to have entered with the aid of Rhian- 
 non, strangely called in this story the 'apostle' or 
 messenger of Pwytt and Pryderi ; and he only returned 
 after a terrible imprisonment there, an initiation which 
 made him for ever a bard. In the other poem men- 
 tioned we have, instead of Pwytt and Pryderi as here, 
 Manawydan and Pryderi as in the Mabinogi bearing 
 the former's name. 
 
 * Hib. Lee. p. 641 ; see also Windisch's Irische Texte, pp. 210, 219. 
 
304 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. XIII. 
 
 The same poem, in the lines already cited, speaks 
 likewise of the sea surrounding the points or corners of 
 Caer Sidi. The word used is banneu the plural of ban, 
 the Welsh equivalent of the Goidelic benn, ' a horn, peak, 
 or gable,' so wellknown as the word used in naming 
 mountains in Scotland ; ban, and especially banneu, 
 is so used also in Wales, as in the case of Banneu 
 Brycheiniog, 'the Beacons of Brecknock,' where the word 
 refers to the tops of those mountains ; but it may mean 
 more indefinitely the ends of anything, as in the phrase 
 pedwarbany byd, ' the four ends or corners of the world.' 
 We have it also in the name Caer Pedryvan, or the 
 castle of the fourfold ban. What this may have ex- 
 actly meant is not clear, as it might mean simply 
 square, in reference to its having four corners or angles. 
 Most probably it meant more, and it is worth while 
 mentioning that the Irish story of Maildun's Boat 
 speaks of an ' Isle of the Four Precious Walls.' These 
 latter met in its centre and consisted respectively of 
 gold, silver, copper, and crystal, the four parts into 
 which they divided the island being allotted severally to 
 kings and queens, youths and maidens ^ The adjective 
 from ban was bannawc^, in modern Welsh bannog, 
 'having points, peaks, or horns;' and the Kulhwch 
 story refers to a mountain in the north called Bannawc. 
 Bannawc was also probably the name which became 
 the Benwyk of Malory's Morte Darthur, the Benoic 
 of the Huth Merlin, as the name of the country of King 
 Ban. The same adjective qualifying caer would in old 
 Welsh yield Caer Bannauc, written later CaerVannawc 
 
 ' Joyce's Old Celtic Romances, p. 139. 
 
 " This, mutated, becomes vannawc (written aXso fatmawc) as does mannawc, 
 with which it is not to be confounded. The latter is derived from man, 
 as in man gent, ' a birth-mark,' Latin menda, ' a fault or blemish.' 
 
Ch. XIII.] ORIGIN OF THE HOLY GRAIL. 305 
 
 or Vannawg, and it is the former we probably have 
 in the name given by the romancers as Carbonek. 
 Malory calls the place both Carbonek and Corbyn, 
 while in Manessier's continuation of Chretien's Conte 
 du Graal it even becomes Corbiere^ ; but the Queste du 
 Saint Graal, edited by Dr. Furnivall for the Roxburghe 
 Club, retains a form Corbenic, which is less estropie ; 
 and this is also the name given in the Grand St. Graal^, 
 where it is stated that Corbenic was situated in the Terre 
 Foraine ^ Now Carbonek was the name of the castle 
 where Pelles lived and kept the Holy Grail, and Car- 
 bonek seems practically the same as Taliessin's Caer 
 Pedryvan or the Banneu of Caer Sidi, with which we 
 have found Pwytt Head of Hades associated, as well 
 as his famous Cauldron. 
 
 With regard to that vessel, Taliessin, in poem xxx, 
 mentions the following things respecting it. The Caul- 
 dron of the Head of Hades had a rim set with pearls 
 adorning it; the fire beneath it was kindled by the 
 breath of nine maidens ; utterances might be heard 
 issuing from it ; and it would not boil food for a coward. 
 The other poem does not mention the cauldron as 
 being at Caer Sidi, but says that he who has his seat 
 there has nought to fear from plague or old age. Com- 
 pare with this what is said of the Grail in the romances, 
 where Pelles and his brother figure. The Grail, when 
 it comes, feeds those at the table with whatever kind of 
 food each one desires*. But those who are not worthy 
 are not allowed by it to remain or to approach too near 
 with impunity^. Similarly those who worship at the 
 Grail Chapel at King Peleur's remain young nor mark 
 the lapse of time®. Add to this that the Grail heals 
 
 '■ Nutt, p. 22. ' lb. pp. 43, 50. ^ lb. p. 63. ' lb. pp. 20, 39. 
 
 " H). pp. 49, 50, 57. ° Williams' Seini Great, pp. 201, 567. 
 
 X 
 
3o6 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. XIII, 
 
 the sick and wounded \ By means of accounts other 
 than those in which the Grail belongs to Pelles or 
 Peleur, the correspondence between it and the Caul- 
 dron of Pwytt Head of Hades, might, perhaps, be more 
 strikingly shown ; but the faregoing is sufficiently near 
 for our purpose. Now, as the original identity of Pelles 
 and Peleur with Pwytt and Pryderi has been shown to 
 be probable, as has also the identity of Carbonek, where 
 the Holy Grail was kept, with Caer Pedrj'van, where 
 Pwytt's Cauldron was found by Arthur and his men, the 
 conclusion is all but inevitable, that the famous Caul- 
 dron served as a prototype of the far more famous 
 Grail. 
 
 In the romances to which we have had to refer in 
 connection with Pelles and Peleur or Pellean, the owner 
 of the Grail is called the Lame or Maimed King ; but 
 there are others which style him the Fisher King or 
 the Rich Fisher. These latter appellations appear to 
 be derived from a different Welsh original, and they 
 subdivide themselves into two groups — those in which 
 the counterparts of Pelles and Pellean are called Gone- 
 mans or Goon and the Fisher respectively; and those 
 in which they are represented as being a father and son, 
 called Bron and Alain. Let us begin with the latter, 
 and first with Bron, in whose name we have one of 
 the romancers' versions of the Welsh name Bran. 
 
 The banquet of seven years' duration around Bran's 
 Head at Harlech, and the festivities of eighty years on 
 the lonely isle of Gwales, are left undefined as to the 
 means or manner of providing for them : the presence 
 of the Venerable Head appears to have sufficed without 
 even a reference to a magic cauldron or any other 
 vessel of mysterious virtues. A remarkable cauldron, 
 
 ' Malory, xii. 4 ; Nutt, p. 4a. 
 
Ch. XIII.] ORIGIN OF THE HOLY GRAIL. 307 
 
 however, does figure earlier in the story of Bran more 
 than once, but it answers quite another purpose there, 
 namely, to bring Bran's fallen foes back to hfe, which 
 will be found matched, in Gerbert's Perceval, by the 
 potion already mentioned as used by a hag working by 
 the order of the King of the Waste City^. This in- 
 cident of the quickening of the dead occurs elsewhere, 
 especially in Irish -literature, as for example in the 
 story of a war between the Cruithni or Picts and the 
 mythic Men of Fidga: under the direction and spells 
 of a druid called Drostan, the resuscitation is brought 
 about by means of a bath of new milk at a place called 
 Ard Lemnachta, or Sweetmilk Hill, in Leinster^. It 
 occurs also in the story of the battle of Moytura 
 between the Fomori and the Tuatha De Danann, under 
 the leadership of their king Nuadu and Lug the Long- 
 handed ^ : in this instance the quickening of the dead 
 warriors is brought about by dipping them at night in 
 a well of marvellous virtues ; and it is resorted to until 
 those on the other side find out what is going on, 
 whereupon they pile a cairn of stones over the well. 
 
 This, however, does not help us very much in the 
 matter: so let us try the vessels which are made 
 by Welsh story the objects of quests in the roman- 
 cers' sense of the word. One of them has just been 
 discussed, the Cauldron of the Head of Hades, and 
 allusion has been made in the previous chapter to 
 another which is treated so in the story of Kulhwch 
 and Olwen, namely the Cauldron of Diwrnach the 
 Goidel. For this Arthur and his men had to undertake 
 
 '■ See Nutt, p. 23, and p. 121 above. 
 
 " Bk. ofLeimter, 196" : see also O'Curry's MS. Materials, p. 450. 
 ' Hib. Lee. p. 587. The whole story is about to be published by Stokes in 
 the Rev. CeHique. 
 
 X 2 
 
3o8 ARTHURIAN LEGEND, [Ch. XIII. 
 
 a dangerous expedition to Erinn, as already mentioned. 
 The Kulhwch story ^ however, mentions the perilous 
 quests of other vessels of various virtues, though it 
 closes without ■ showing how they were all achieved. 
 Among others may be cited the cib or bushel of ILwyr 
 son of ILwyryon, which alone would be found capable 
 of holding the mead to be brewed for Kulhwch and 
 Olwen's wedding; the horn of Gwlgawt Gogodin, to 
 supply the guests with drink at the feast ; the botheu or 
 bottles of Rhinnon Rhin Barnawt^, in which no drink 
 was ever known to turn sour; and the bottles of 
 Gwidolwyn the Dwarf, which would keep the drink 
 put in them in the east without losing its warmth 
 till it arrived in the west. This mysterious reference 
 calls to mind the story of Joseph of Arimathea collect- 
 ing the blood of Christ in the Holy Grail and bringing 
 it himself to the west, or else giving it to another to bring. 
 The latter was none other than Bron, in whom, 
 as already hinted, we have the Bran of Welsh litera- 
 ture; and, according to some of the romances, Bron, 
 with all his people, is ordered to go to the West ; and 
 punning references are not wanting to Glastonbury 
 under the name of Avalon, as the land of sunset, ou li 
 soleil avaloit^. Their passage over the sea to these 
 parts was rather pecuhar: a certain number of the 
 company is said to have floated across on a shirt 
 stripped from the back of Joseph son of Joseph of 
 Arimathea, and the bearers of the Grail, with Bron at 
 their head, were conducted on their way by the mystic 
 
 ' R. B. Mab. pp. 121-3 ; Guest, ii. 282-6. 
 
 ^ Can this be an estropifi form of Rhiannon Rhian Varnawt, or Rli. the 
 sentenced Lady ? See R. B. Mab. p. 19, Guest, iii. 62 ; but note that the 
 Kulhwch story {R. B. Mab. p. 123) makes Rhinnon a male. 
 
 = Nutt, p. 78. 
 
Ch. XIII.] ORIGIN OF THE HOLY GRAIL. 
 
 309 
 
 virtues of that holy vessel^ This voyage at once 
 recalls that of Bran the Blessed to Erinn, when his 
 troops vsrent over in ships, whilst the king himself 
 waded across, carrying the musicians of his court on 
 his shoulders. Further, Bran, as the centre of a per- 
 petual banquet, has already been placed in juxtaposition 
 with the Grail as means of feeding the faithful; and 
 here we have the rarer attribute of conducting a follow- 
 ing in the sea superadded to the other characteristics 
 of both alike, and serving to establish the soundness of 
 the comparison. We have in reality to go further: it 
 is not a case of similarity so much as of identity. The 
 voyage of Bron is but a Christian version of the voyage 
 of Bran, and one cannot be surprised to find one of the 
 romances of the Quest of the Holy Grail stating that 
 the vessel was in the keeping of Bron, represented as 
 dwelUng ' in these isles of Ireland ^! This description, 
 which may be regarded without any violence as in- 
 cluding not only Erinn, but also Gwales and the 
 other isles from Lundy and the Scillies to Bardsey 
 and Man; not to mention the mythic meadows to 
 which allusion has been made as moored in the same 
 seas. 
 
 The story of Bran, however, as we have it, shows no 
 vessel to set over against the Grail of Bron and his son 
 Alain : what sort of vessel it should have been may be 
 
 ' Nutt, pp. 53, 60, 79. 
 
 ' See Nutt, p. 28, where he gives an abstract of the Petit Saint Graal, also 
 termed by him the Didot-Perceval. The Seint Great has made of Bron and 
 Bran the curious conglomerate Brwns Brandalis, who has a brother, Bren- 
 dalis of Wales (pp. 173, 548), both uncles to Peredur on his father's side. 
 Now Brwns is nothing but the French nominative Brons, from Bron, and 
 Brandalis of Wales suggests that the more correct form was Bran Galls, or 
 Bran of Wales, if indeed one should not rather say Bran of Gwales in 
 reference to the Isle of the Banquet. Brandalis appears in Malory's nar- 
 rative as Brandyles, but he gives him no very distinctive attributes. 
 
310 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. tCn. XIII, 
 
 gathered from the properties of Bron's Grail '^. Take 
 the following instances : on one occasion ten or a dozen 
 loaves, placed" on the table on which stood the Grail, 
 were found to suffice for more than five hundred 
 hungry people. Another time, when the multitude 
 clamoured that they and their children were dying of 
 hunger, Bron was to go into the water and catch a fish, 
 and the first he caught was to be set on the table ; then 
 the Grail also was to be set on the table and covered 
 with a towel while the fish was placed opposite to it. 
 This was duly done, and the people were bidden to seat 
 themselves ; and those of them who were not defiled 
 with sin were filled with sweetness and the desire of 
 their heart 2. Here putting the fish near the Grail 
 would seem to indicate, that what was originally con- 
 ceived as done was putting the fish simply in the vessel 
 to cook ; but such a commonplace treatment would not 
 do, once the vessel had come to be reckoned holy. 
 That the Grail would not feed those 'polluted with 
 sin' looks hke a spiritualized version of such a property 
 as that of which the Cauldron of the Head of Hades 
 gave proofs in declining to cook for the craven or 
 coward. In the version extant of the Bran story no 
 such a vessel is mentioned, and we are left to suppose 
 that the food and drink came before the banqueters 
 around the Venerable Head without the intervention 
 of any visible service, after the manner of feasts in 
 Welsh fairy tales and, for that matter, in Irish ones too, 
 where the usual order is continuous feasting without 
 attendance ^ 
 
 ' See the Queste du St. Graal, summarized by Nutt, p. 43 ; also the Grand 
 St. Graal, p. 60. 
 
 ' See Robert de Borron's poem, summarized by Nutt, p. 64" ; and com- 
 pare his summary of the Grand St. Graal, p. 62. 
 
 ' The Irish phrase for ' without attendance ' was cm rithgitom : see 
 
Ch. XIII.] ORIGIN OF THE HOLY GRAIL. 311 
 
 The case is not represented as otherwise with the 
 Grail, for when that vessel goes round feeding those 
 deemed worthy, ' none may see who carries it ^' Just 
 as we hear nothing about attendance in the Bran 
 story, so neither do we hear of vessels. Another 
 version may very possibly have alluded to one 
 or more; for how were Bran's friends supposed to 
 carry his head about with them? Certainly not on a 
 pole, as that of a foe. Most likely it was on a dish ; 
 nay, it is not improbable that Bran's head on a dish, 
 and the poisoned spear with which he had been 
 wounded, formed the originals which suggested the 
 Head brought in on a dish and the Bleeding Spear at the 
 court of Peredur's second uncle, as mentioned in a pre- 
 vious chapter. The former, in fact, holds in that story 
 the place occupied by the Grail in most of the versions 
 of Perceval's visit to that court. Enough in any case 
 has been said to show that the origin of Bron's Grail is 
 to be sought in a Welsh story about Bran the Blessed, 
 though no such is extant in the precise form which 
 that of the Grail would seem to postulate. 
 
 There remains to be mentioned more particularly 
 another quest in the Kulhwch story, and this brings 
 us at length to Gonemans and Goon : Yspydaden, chief 
 of giants, lays it down as one of the conditions on 
 which Kulhwch is to wed his daughter Olwen, that his 
 would-be son-in-law should procure for him the Mwys 
 of Gwydno Garan-hir, for the truculent father-in-law 
 would not consent to eat out of any other vessel on the 
 night of his daughter's wedding. So Kulhwch under- 
 
 Tochmarc Bec-fola, ed. by O'Looney in the Irish MSS. Series of the R6yal Irish 
 Academy, i. 180 ; also the story of Condla Ruad in Windisch's Irische Gratn- 
 matik, p, 119, where he prints can rithgnom. Compare Rh^s' Welsh Fairy 
 Tales in the Cymmrodor, v. 82, vi. 195. 
 ' Nutt, p. 39. 
 
31 a ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. XIII. 
 
 takes to procure it in due course, though the story makes 
 no allusion later to the achievement of this quest. It 
 does, however, what is more important for our purpose; 
 it describes the mwys thus ^ : it was such a vessel that 
 though all the world should approach it, thrice nine 
 men at a time, they would find in it the food each liked 
 best. A later account of the mwys is to the effect, that 
 one man's food put into it would be found to be no less 
 than enough for a hundred, when the mwys came to be 
 opened. It was thought to have finally disappeared 
 with Merlin when he entered the Glass House in 
 Bardsey ^, as were also the other treasures of Britain : 
 the entire number was usually held to be thirteen ^- 
 
 This account of Gwydno's Mwys is the most exact 
 which Welsh literature probably contains of the pagan 
 prototype of the Grail of Christian romance. In the 
 first place, its supposed disappearance into the isle of 
 Bardsey, off the westernmost point of North Wales, 
 recalls 'those isles of Erinn' where Bron was sup- 
 posed to reside in charge of the Grail. In the next 
 place, it will be noticed that the mwys was not a vessel 
 for cooking food but for holding it, just as the Grail 
 was. The later Welsh account speaks of it as a vessel 
 to be opened, so that it might be regarded as some 
 kind of a basket, box, or cask ; and this harmonizes with 
 the modern use of the word, which is explained by 
 Dr. Pughe to mean ' a kind of covered basket, pannier, 
 or hamper, also the quantity contained in such vessel : 
 mwys oysgadain [sic], a mease or five-score of herrings.' 
 Similarly Dr. Davies explains it as a 'vas quoddam, 
 
 1 R. B. Mab. p. 122. ' Hit. Lee. p. 155. 
 
 ' They will be found enumerated in the Brython for i860, pp. 373-3, and 
 in the Greal (London, 1805), p. 188; also in Lady Charlotte Guest's Mabin- 
 ogion, ii. 354. 
 
Ch. XIII.] ORIGIN OF THE HOLY GRAIL. 313 
 
 quoddam mensurae genus,' adding that mwys o ysgadan 
 is five hundred herrings, in which he was more correct 
 than Dr. Pughe : he also gives mwys bara as meaning 
 panarium, that is to say a bread mwys or bread-basket. 
 In old Cornish the word was muis or mays, and 
 meant a table. In Old Irish it was mias, and it had 
 the meanings of table and of dish. So in modern 
 Irish the charger on which the Baptist's head is placed, 
 in Matt. xiv. 8, is called a mias, as also in the Scotch 
 Gaelic version, but not in Manx Gaelic, where, how- 
 ever, the word occurs as meays, meaning a mease or 
 five hundred fishes. 
 
 This meeting of the meanings of table, dish, basket, 
 and hamper, would seem to receive its explana- 
 tion in the etymology of the words mwys and mias, 
 both of which are probably the Latin mensa, 'table,' 
 borrowed \ As the ancient Brythons, Uke the Irish 
 and presumably the Norsemen, had no tables in the 
 Roman sense of the word, the borrowed word not only 
 served to denote the borrowed idea of table, but it was 
 also partly applied to that of the native substitute for 
 a table, namely a dish or platter; and this would un- 
 doubtedly appear to have been the meaning of the 
 word mwys in Yspydaden's demand that Kulhwch 
 should obtain the Mwys of Gwydno, for him to eat out 
 of it at the wedding feast. In other words, Mwys 
 Gwydno in the Kulhwch story meant neither more 
 nor less than Gwydno's vessel. The only property 
 
 ' If this prove incorrect, then one has to regard the Irish mias, ' table,' 
 and mias, ' dish,' as distinct words, and to treat them somewhat as indicated 
 by Ducange, who gives a mesa, 'table,' from Spain chiefly, and another 
 mesa or meisa halecum, which he explains to have meant a doliolum, or cask : 
 this latter was in Old French meise (maise) and moise. Note that the ' thrice 
 nine men ' at the Mwys may be taken as if meant to be a multiple of the 
 Roman triclinium, the ' thrice ' being introduced to render the exaggeration 
 required. 
 
3t4 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. XIII. 
 
 recorded of it was its power of multiplying a hundred^ 
 fold, or even more, any food placed in it; and this 
 is in entire agreement with what is said of the 
 Fisher King's Grail in the Conte du S. Graal: Chretien 
 speaks of it feeding the Fisher King's father and sus- 
 taining his life ^ while two of the other authors of that 
 poem represent the Grail serving the guests abundantly 
 with bread ^, and even with wine and all sorts of food ^ 
 One of the two, Gautier, goes further, and characterizes 
 the Grail in a way which recalls the spiritual properties 
 of Bron's Grail, for he states that the devil might not 
 lead any man astray on the same day he had seen the 
 Grail, The passage has, however, been suspected of not 
 being homogeneous with Gautier's other verses * ; but 
 in any case it can throw no serious difficulty in the way 
 of our identifying, in point of origin, the anonymous 
 Fisher King's Grail with Gwydno Garanhir's Mwys. 
 
 The question of the mutual influence of the various 
 versions of the Grail legend is a difficult and. compli- 
 cate one ; but we have an instance probably of the 
 influence of the French romances on the Welsh story 
 of Peredur, where it represents the first of his two 
 uncles as lame and also associates him with fishing', 
 for the two things seem to have belonged to different 
 versions of the story. It is owing also possibly to 
 a similar mixture of different versions, that both 
 Gonemans or Gwyn and Bron bear the same title of 
 fisher. At any rate, Welsh literature enables one to 
 see a reason for it only in the case of the former; 
 but let us first see how it has hitherto been treated. 
 
 ' Nutt, p. 74, citing lines 7796-7800. 
 
 ' lb. p. 74, citing lines 20,114-6 (Gautier). 
 
 ' lb. p. 74, citing lines 171-4 (Pseudo-Gautier). 
 
 * lb. pp. 17, 74-6 : Gautier's lines in question are quoted as 28,778-81, 
 
 = R. B. Mab. p. 200 ; Guest, i. 309. 
 
Ch. XIII.] ORIGIN OF THE HOLY GRAIL. 31^5 
 
 Some have supposed that the fishing incident in which 
 Bron plays the part already described (p. 310), is to 
 be taken as a sufficient explanation of the name. The 
 title of Rich Fisher is given in one of the romances both 
 to Bron and to his successors. We allude to the Grand 
 St. Graal representing Bron's youngest son, who had 
 been made keeper of the Grail, ordered to take the 
 net which was on the Grail table and to fish with 
 it. Alain, for that was his name, did so, and caught 
 one big fish ; but the people murmured that it would 
 not be enough. When, however, Alain had divided 
 the fish into three parts and prayed that it might suffice, 
 all the people were fed, including the sinners that 
 time ^ So not only Bron, but also Alain acquired the 
 title of Rich Fisher, and it was inherited by the 
 Grail-keepers after him; but it is added, that they 
 were more blessed than Alain, as they were all 
 crowned kings, whereas he never wore a crown ^. 
 
 Such are the explanations hitherto attempted, and it 
 is significant, that in the opinion of one of the most 
 recent students of the Grail legend, they are not 
 satisfactory; for Mr. Nutt thinks it simpler to believe 
 that in the original Celtic tradition the surname of 
 Rich Fisher had a significance now lost ^. This appeal 
 to Celtic tradition we gladly accept, believing as we 
 do, that its significance is even now not altogether 
 lost. Let us premise, that while the Fisher King's 
 name is not given, that of a person treated sometimes 
 as his brother is mentioned: Chretien, in his Conte 
 du Graal, calls him Gonemans of Gelbort*; Gerbert, 
 
 ' Nutt, p. 62. " lb. p. 62, also p. 208. 
 
 ' See Nutt, p. 123, who quotes with approval this view (ib. p. 126) from 
 E. Martin's work Zur Gralsage, Untersuchungen (Strasburg, 1880). 
 * Nutt, p. II. 
 
3i6 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. XIII. 
 
 in his portion of the same poem, calls him Gornumant \ 
 and Manessier, in his portion of it, calls him Goon 
 Desert 2, that is in other words. Goon of the Terre 
 Gastee or the Waste Land. These names stand un- 
 mistakably for the Welsh Gwynwas and Gwyn (p. 121), 
 which, as explained in another chapter, meant one 
 and the same personage; namely, that most usually 
 known to Welsh literature as Gwyn son of Nud, 
 king of the fairies and the demons of the Other World. 
 Gwyn and Gwydno are not represented in Welsh 
 as brothers, as are Goon and the Fisher King by 
 Manessier; but one of the most remarkable poems 
 in the Black Book of Carmarthen consists of a dialogue 
 between them, in the course of which they become 
 great friends^- So far, then, we have not made 
 much progress towards the identification of Gwydno 
 with the anonymous Fisher; but let us come to the 
 fishing. In the first place it may be worth mentioning, 
 that Gwydno has the standing epithet or surname 
 of Garan-hir, which seems to have meant Long-crane * 
 or Tall-heron. This, to sa}'^ the least of it, is the 
 reverse of incompatible with the idea of fishing. In 
 the next place Gwydno was famous as the owner, 
 not only of the Mwys, but also of a weir in which fish 
 to the value of a hundred pounds used to be caught 
 on the Eve of the First of May every year; and 
 connected with this is the well known story of finding 
 the baby-bard Taliessin there °. For in those days, 
 
 ■ Nutt, p. 23. = lb. p. 20. 
 
 = See Evans' Autotype, pp. 49 a-50 b, also pp. 155, 6 above. 
 
 * A propos of this crane, one is inclined to ask what may be the origin of 
 the Crane in the Seint Greal, pp. 231, 587, that used to give the alarm to 
 a whole country. See also Hib. Lee. p. 334, where the three baleful birdes 
 of Thornton's Morte Arthurs should be corrected into brides or damsels. 
 
 » Hib. Lee. p. 545. 
 
Ch. XIII.] ORIGIN OF THE HOLY GRAIL. 317 
 
 we are told, Gwydno had an only son Elphin, who was 
 the wildest and neediest of the young men of his time. 
 So his father, anxious about him and fearing that he had 
 been born in an evil hour, permitted him to draw the 
 weir one First of May, in order to see whether no luck 
 would fall to his share. Elphin with his men went at the 
 proper time to examine the weir, and the latter were 
 about to leave in sad disappointment, persuaded that 
 Elphin had interrupted the luck of his father's weir, 
 when Elphin observed a leathern bag on one of the 
 poles of the weir. It is needless to relate, how he found 
 the bag to contain the baby Taliessin, who at once began 
 to address Elphin in elaborate verse, and to inform him 
 that he would be of greater value to him than the fish 
 caught in the weir had ever been to Gwydno. 
 
 Here then in this story, some of the essentials of 
 which occur in a Taliessin poem^ we have an 
 adequate explanation of the fact, that the Grail owner 
 was called the Fisher King or the Rich Fisher. 
 It will, however, have been noticed that the two 
 fishers in the Welsh story are Gwydno and his son 
 Elphin, while the Grail legend only associates with 
 the anonymous Fisher his brother Goon, but no son. 
 So here again one has probably to fall back on the 
 mutual influence of the Grail romances, for in the 
 version previously discussed, we had not two brothers, 
 but a father and son, named Bron and Alain, to wit 
 that Alain who was less blessed than the other 
 heads of his family, inasmuch as he never wore a 
 crown, as they are represented doing. In this Alain or 
 Alein, surnamed le Gros, Malory's Hellyas le Grose ^, 
 
 ' See poem vii, Skene, ii. 136-7; i. 532-3. 
 
 ' Nutt, pp. 31, 45, 60-4, 64c, Malory, xv. 4, and Williams' Seint Greal, 
 where Alain le Gros is called Julien ly Gros, pp. 277, 617. 
 
31 8 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. Xlir. 
 
 we seem to have the representative of Gwydno's son 
 Elphin, v\?ho is described as less fortunate than the 
 rest of his family, and as a sort of a luckless youth. 
 Alain, however, is sometimes treated as the father of 
 Perceval 1 (Peredur), and the name is probably a dis- 
 torted form, not of Elphin but of Eliver (p. 298): 
 perhaps one would not be far wrong in regarding 
 Eliver and Elphin as confounded here with one 
 another^, But we are not aware that Welsh litera- 
 ture mentions a son of Bran, called either Eliver or 
 Elphin, any more than it gives Bran the surname 
 of Fisher: so we are on the whole inclined to 
 ascribe both to the influence of the romance in the 
 form in which it reached Chretien, Gerbert and 
 Manessier, on that other form in which it was known to 
 Robert de Borron and the author of the Grand St. 
 Graal. This agrees with the fact of the probable 
 priority of that of Chretien and his continuators ^, while 
 on the other side one has to admit that the latter make 
 no allusion to Alain ; but this is no decisive proof that 
 he did not figure in some of the versions which they 
 worked into the poem of the Conte du Graal. 
 
 In this chapter the various versions of the Holy 
 Grail have been treated as falling readily into three 
 groups, namely, those in which the Grail belongs 
 respectively to Pelles, to Bron, and to the anonymous 
 Fisher. The Welsh origin of the Grail of the first and 
 the third groups has been pointed out, while in the 
 second group the Grail has been traced to the quarter 
 in which alone its origin is to be sought. So this 
 
 ' Nutt, pp. s8, 30. 
 
 ^ The Grand St. Graal tries to distinguish two Alains : see Nutt, p. 6a. 
 Tiie principal stages tlirough which Eliver passed into Alain or Alein were 
 probably Eliuer, Eluien, Elaien, Elain or Elein. 
 
 ' See Martin's views on this point, quoted with approval by Nutt, p. 122. 
 
Ch. XIII.] ORIGIN OF THE HOLY GRAIL. 319 
 
 chapter might end at this point, were it not that we 
 may here conveniently append a few more identi- 
 fications of Grail names, which could not have been 
 advantageously introduced at an earlier stage. They 
 may have a bearing on the difficult question of the 
 influence on one another of the Grail stories of the 
 three groups just mentioned. In any case the reader 
 may rest assured, that it only requires more patience, 
 and more acquaintance with the French versions than 
 the author possesses, to identify most of the Grail 
 proper names in them. 
 
 Let us begin where we left off with Goon of the 
 Desert or Gonemans of Gelbort, in whom we seem to 
 have Gwyn ab Nud. The following short and savage 
 episode in the story of Kulhwch and Olwen^ makes 
 Gwyn king of the North, and subject to Arthur as his 
 suzerain: 'A little previously Creidylad daughter of 
 ILud the Silver-handed had gone with Gwythur son of 
 Greidiawl, but before he had slept with her, Gwyn son 
 of Nud came and carried her away by force. Gwythur 
 collected an army and fought with Gwyn ; but Gwyn 
 prevailed, and captured Greid, son of Eri, Glinneu eil 
 Taran, Gwrgwst Ledlwm, and Dyvnarth his son. He 
 
 captured also son of Nethawc, Nwython, and 
 
 Kyledr the Wild his son. He killed Nwython, took 
 out his heart, and forced Kyledr to eat his father's 
 heart, and it is therefore Kyledr became wild. Arthur 
 heard of this, and came to the North and summoned 
 Gwyn son of Nud before him : he released his men 
 from his prison and made peace between Gwyn son of 
 Nud and Gwythur son of Greidiawl. This was the 
 peace that was made, that the damsel be left at her 
 father's house, untouched by either side ; that the two 
 
 ' R. B. Mab. pp. 113, 134 ; Guest, ii. 269, 305. 
 
320 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. XIII. 
 
 suitors fight every First of May for ever thenceforth till 
 the Day of Doom; and he who then proves victor- 
 ious — let him take the damsel.' 
 
 Leaving this mythological joke for a while, we turn 
 to a passage relative to Lancelot and his lineage in the 
 Queste du Saint Graal, which will serve among other 
 things as a specimen of the taste of some of the 
 romancers who undertook to christianize pagan 
 stories : Lancelot, after having a vision in which 
 he saw a man surrounded with stars, and accom- 
 panied by seven kings and two knights, 'comes to a 
 hermitage, confesses, tells his vision, and learns that it 
 has a great meaning in respect of his lineage, which 
 must be expounded at much length : forty-two years 
 after the Passion of Christ, Joseph of Arimathea left 
 Jerusalem, came to Sarras, helped Evelac, who received 
 baptism at the hands of Josephes, together with his 
 brother-in-law, Seraphe (who took the name Nasciens), 
 and who became a pillar of the holy faith, so that the 
 great secrets of the Holy Grail were opened to him, 
 which none but Joseph had beheld before, and no knight 
 after save in dream. Now Evelac dreamed that out 
 of his nephew, son of Nasciens, came forth a great lake, 
 whence issued nine streams, eight of the same size, and 
 the last greater than all the rest put together ; our Lord 
 came and washed in the lake which King Mordrains 
 [this is another name for Evelac] thus saw flowing 
 from Celidoine's belly. This Cehdoine was the man 
 surrounded by stars in Lancelot's vision' and this be- 
 cause he knew the course of the stars and the manner 
 of the planets, and he was first King of Scotland, 
 and the nine streams were his nine descendants, of 
 whom seven [were] Kings and two knights : — first, War- 
 pus; second, Chrestiens [another version gives the 
 
Ch. XIII.] ORIGIN OF THE HOLY GRAIL. 331 
 
 preferable reading Nasciens] ; third, Alain li Gros ; 
 fourth, Helyas ; fifth, Jonaans, who went to Wales and 
 there took to wife King Moroneus' daughter; sixth, 
 Lancelot, who had the King of Ireland's daughter to 
 wife ; seventh. Bans. These were the seven Kings who 
 appeared to Lancelot. The eighth stream was Lance- 
 lot himself, the elder of the knights of the vision. The 
 ninth stream was Galahad, begot by Lancelot upon 
 the Fisher King's daughter, lion-like in power, deepest 
 of all the streams ^.' 
 
 In the Grand St. Graal the names of Nascien's 
 descendants, as given by Mr. Nutt^, are Celidoine, 
 Marpus, Nasciens, Alains li Gros, Ysaies, Jonans, 
 Lancelot, Bans, Lancelot and Galahad. Now Warpus 
 or Marpus, as the name is here given, can hardly 
 be regarded as anything else than a faulty repro- 
 duction of the name given as Gwrgwst in the Welsh 
 story : it was the name also of the father of a powerful 
 king of Fortrenn in the 8th century, Ungust, son of 
 Wrgust or Uurgust, or as he is usually called Aengus 
 son of Fergus, according to the Anglo-Gaelic forms of 
 the names. In the next place Nascien appears, as 
 given by Manessier, in the form Natiien, which is 
 evidently the same name as Baeda's Naiton ^ ; for so he 
 calls the Pictish king driven from his throne by Aengus 
 son of Fergus in the year 729. The same name is prob- 
 ably to be found in the Nwython of the Welsh story 
 of Gwyn and Gwythur ; further, the Celidoine of the 
 Grand St. Graal, wrongly explained to mean Heaven- 
 given, is to be set over against Kyledr, as a faulty 
 reproduction of a Welsh name. Thus Natiien and his 
 
 • Nutt, p. 45, where he gives an abstract of the Queste, from Furnivall's 
 text, pp. 38-52. " It>- p. 60. 
 
 ' Hist. Ecclesiastica, v. 21, where Moberly prints also the form Naitan. 
 
 Y 
 
32a ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. XIII. 
 
 son Celidoine are Nwython and his son Kyledr, and 
 this is favoured by a sort of correspondence between 
 their story and that of their Welsh counterparts. For the 
 Grand St. Graal mentions Nascien and his son Ceh- 
 doine thrown into prison by a hater of Christians, who 
 was called Kalafier. Nascien, however, is not killed like 
 Nwython by his foe, for he is miraculously rescued by 
 a hand which appears out of a cloud and strikes off his 
 fetters, while Celidoine is also released and borne 
 through the air by nine hands to the land of a King 
 Label, whose daughter he marries later in this confused 
 narrative ^, whereas Kalafier dies killed by fire from 
 heaven. 
 
 It is probable, with regard to Celidoine as the first 
 king of Scotland, that we have to regard the original 
 as Kelydon who appears at the opening of the 
 story of Kulhwch as Kelydon Wledig or Prince Kel- 
 ydon. This latter is doubtless to be treated as the 
 eponymus hero of Caledonia ; and the conclusion one is 
 forced to draw is, that the Grail name Celidoine covers 
 the two Welsh ones of Kelydon and Kyledr ^ ; if indeed 
 they be two, and the latter, which is obscure, be not 
 rather an error to be corrected into Kelydon. Thus 
 it will be seen that all of them about which anything 
 can be predicated point to the North. But the Grand 
 St. Graal connects Bron in a sort of way with them, 
 
 ' Here we apparently have Gwyn appearing under the name of Kalafier, 
 which is obscure, while King Label and his daughter may perhaps be ILud' 
 and his daughter CreiSylad ; for ILlia''s surname in its Welsh form of 
 ILaCereint may be regarded as in part reflected by that of Label ; the form 
 to be expected was Laberez, or Laberenz, the earlier portion of which is 
 fairly represented by Label. The daughter's name does not appear, as the 
 French romancer probably found it untractable, though in other hands it 
 has yielded the well-known name of Cordelia. 
 
 ^ Kyledyr looks like a sort of compromise between Kelydon and Kynedyr 
 or Kyuedyr; see R. B. Mab. pp. 112, 124. 
 
Ch. XIII.] ORIGIN OF THE HOLY GRAIL. 323 
 
 while the Welsh Bran is not usually associated with 
 the North. This would seem to indicate that here Bron 
 has been substituted for the anonymous Fisher, whom 
 we have identified with Gwydno. The name, however, 
 of Gwydno has already passed before us, but heavily 
 disguised: the romancers give it at least two forms 
 differing considerably from one another. The first to 
 be mentioned, as the easier to recognize, is that of 
 Nentre (nominative Nentres) king of Garlot. The 
 kingdom of Gwydno is in Welsh called the Hundred of 
 the Bottom, for which the modern Welsh is Gwaelod, 
 in older Welsh spelling Gwaelawt, which is the key 
 to Malory's Garlot, Garlott, and Garloth. The oldest 
 recorded spelling of Gwydno's name occurs in the 
 Black Book of Carmarthen, 49'', as Guitnev, which 
 according to the usual spellings and misreadings might 
 result in Nentres and Neutres ^. 
 
 The other disguise of Gwydno's name is to be 
 detected in the form of Mordrain, mentioned in a 
 passage just quoted from the Queste, for it was a 
 name of great importance in the Grail stories pur- 
 porting to give the early history of the vessel. It 
 is also Mordrain in the Grand St. Graal, but Manes- 
 sier makes it Noodran^, which comes considerably 
 
 ' For Nentres see Malory, i. 2, 8, 12, 18, and xix. ii : it is Neutres in 
 the Huth Merlin, i. 120. The Welsh pronunciation of Gwy3heu would, in 
 the orthography of the Venedotian version of the Welsh Laws be repre- 
 sented by Guetneu, which, misread Gnetnen, might result in a nominative 
 Netnes or Netnes, Nentnes ; and by the phonetic change of tn into tr we 
 should have Nentres. Compare Castrar for Casnar or Castnar : see p. 168 
 above, and Nutt, p. 9. Gwydheu should, according to analogy, drop its 
 final K, but it is not certain that this would occur early enough ; but in case 
 it did, the change to Nentres would be somewhat simpler. The same system 
 of Welsh spelling would make Gwaelawt into Guaylaut, which a romancer 
 might reduce to Gailot or Goilot, whence by the easy misreading of i into 2 
 one would get Garlot. 
 
 " See Nutt, p. 20. The Welsh spelling here implied would probably be that 
 
 Y 2 
 
334 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. XIII. 
 
 nearer the Welsh prototype. Now Mordrain or 
 Noodran is represented as the designation adopted by 
 Evalach or Evalac when he was baptized. But this is 
 the Welsh Avattach or Avatton, which would imply the 
 identification of Gwydno with Avattach. Nor is this 
 all, for the Huth Merlin makes Neutre king of Sor- 
 haut^ the only time it mentions him, and it repre- 
 sents Garlot as the kingdom ruled over by Urien and 
 his wife Morgue or Morgain la Fee. Add to this that 
 the Huth Merlin had in the first instance made of 
 Morgue or Morgain and Morgan two sisters, and 
 given the one to Neutre to wife, and the other to 
 Urien. This attribution of the same kingdom of Garlot, 
 and virtually of the same wife, Morgen, to Neutre and 
 Urien, suggests the identity of Neutre with Urien, and 
 recalls the allusion (p. 264) to Elphin as the name of a 
 son of Urien, as well as one of Gwydno's. 
 
 Pwytt is found as Pelles in the Venedotian district of 
 Gwydno, but whether this is to be ascribed to the 
 mutual influence of the Grail stories, it is difficult to 
 decide, and all that we can say is that it is not the 
 district with which Welsh literature is wont to asso- 
 ciate Pwytt : that, as we have seen, was Dyved in South 
 
 of Gwydneu or Guydneu ; and Noodran is probably for Noodrain = Noodren, 
 Cy being misread into oo, as is easily done, in the Red Book for example, 
 and as was actually done in making GCyn into Goon. As to ai and a for e 
 compare Morgain and Morgan in the Huth Merlin (i. 120, ii. 225, &c.), for 
 Welsh Morgen. With Mordrain compare Marpus (and Warpus), for 
 Gwrgwst or Guorgust, but the former perhaps started from the mutated 
 forms Wydneu and Wrgust. Lastly, with the rdr for dr compare the rdr of 
 Mordred for Modred (Welsh Medrod), also the ntr of Nentres 
 
 ' Urien and his wife are made king and queen of Gore (Gower) by 
 Malory, whereas here we have not a peninsula, but islands ; for Sorhaut 
 doubtless stands for some such a form— as Sorlianc—oi the name of the Scil- 
 lies, called Sorlingues in modern French. The accusative singular, according 
 to the best reading of the MSS. of Sulpicius Severus, was Sylinancim : see 
 his Chronica (ii. 51), ed. by Halm. 
 
Ch. XIII.] ORIGIN OF THE HOLY GRAIL. 325 
 
 Wales, far enough from Arttechwed and Gwydno's 
 land, where one finds Peleur's Castle, together with a 
 group of localities associated with it 1. In the Seint 
 Great the chief of these latter are called the Turning 
 Castle, the Dead Castle, the Maidens' Castle, and 
 Glannog's Isle. Now the king of the Dead Castle 
 used to make war on his brother Peleur, after whose 
 death he took possession of his castle, and held it until 
 it was stormed by Peredur; the same wicked tyrant 
 used to war also on the Queen of the Maidens of the 
 Castle of Maidens; and among other places visited 
 weekly by him was Glannog's Isle, overlooking which 
 from the mainland was situated the Queen's Castle, 
 which should accordingly have been situated near Pen- 
 mon and the eastern point of Anglesey. For Glannog's 
 Isle, in Welsh Ynys Lannog 2, is known to have been 
 a name of the island otherwise called Ynys Seirioel, or 
 St. Seiriol's Isle, in Enghsh Priestholm, more commonly 
 known as Puffin Island, which is separated from Angle- 
 sey by a channel less than a mile wide. In the Welsh 
 chronicle, published under the name oi Annates Cambrics, 
 we are told that Cadwatton was blockaded in Glannog's 
 Isle in the year 629 by the fleet of Edwin of Northum- 
 bria, but unsuccessfully, as the Welsh king made his 
 escape to Ireland : Obsessio Catguollaun regis in insula 
 Glannauc. Of this Glannauc or Glannog nothing is 
 known except that he is called the father of Helig of 
 
 ' Williams' Seint Greal, pp. 616, 621, 6ii,^-^, 670, 672, 714, 720. 
 
 ^ See the Seint Greal, p. 276, where the words are ynys yrhonn aelwir 
 lanoc, and so in the version in Lord Mostyn's Library (MS. 284) ; but had the 
 scribe recognized the name he ought to have given it in his sentence the 
 unmutated form of Glannoc, which seems to have been equally unknown to 
 the editor of the Seint Greal : witness p. 616, where he translates the above 
 words, ' an island that is called Lanoc' Neither seems to have bethought 
 him that Ynys and Glannoc must, when joined together, become Ynys Lannoc, 
 according to the rules of sandhi usual in Welsh. 
 
326 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. Xiir. 
 
 Tyno Helig, or Helig's Hollow, the name of a country- 
 supposed in Welsh legend to have been overrun by the 
 sea on the coast of North Wales ^ Helig is styled in 
 full Hehg Voel or H. the Bald, M^hich reminds one 
 of the name of Tegid the Bald, whose land was likewise 
 regarded as submerged, namely, beneath the lake bearing 
 his name near Bala, as mentioned in a previous chapter 
 (p. 262). On the other hand, we seem to have the other 
 selves of Gwydno and his son Elphin in Glannog and 
 his son Helig. Lastly, the association of the Turning 
 Castle with the flourishing country of which Glannog's 
 Isle is the most conspicuous remnant, is worthy of note ; 
 for it has been essayed (p. 302) to identify the Turning 
 Castle with Caer Sidi, where Taliessin, according to 
 one of his boasts, had a firm seat : this is probably the 
 key to the tradition (p. 264), that the bard had land 
 given him in Arttechwed by Gwydno. 
 
 The reader may perhaps, on perusing this chapter, 
 think it strange that Celtic literature, at one time, busied 
 itself so much about vessels, and especially cauldrons. 
 But it can be shown that such vessels may have had a 
 spiritual or intellectual significance, as for instance in 
 connection with the notion of poetry. Thus allusion is 
 made in the Book of Taliessin to three muses rising out 
 of the cauldron of Ogyrven the Giant, whose name is 
 associated with bardism and the origin of writing. Out- 
 side the Celtic domain one may point to the Dwarfs 
 Cup as one of the old Norse terms symbohc of thought, 
 wisdom, and especially the inspiration of poetry; and 
 one might bring into the comparison the soma of Hindu 
 religion. All these cases connecting the sacred vessel 
 or its contents with poetry and inspiration, point 
 
 ' See the Mo MSS. pp. 42, 419-20, and Rees' Essay on the Welsh Saints, 
 p. 298. 
 
Ch. XIII.] ORIGIN OF THE HOLY GRAIL. 337 
 
 possibly back to some primitive drink brewed by the 
 early Aryan, and taken by the medicine-man in order 
 to produce a state of ecstasy or intoxication ^. Lastly, 
 the religion of ancient Greece may be said to offer, in 
 its holy tripods, a curious parallel to the cauldrons of 
 Taliessin. It is true that nothing quite so intractable as 
 a cauldron is associated with the oracle, for example, of 
 Apollo at Delphi ; but what was a tripod but a contri- 
 vance for holding a vessel over a fire ? In the case of 
 Delphi the tripod was placed over a chasm in the 
 ground, the exhalations from which may be regarded 
 as a substitute for the blaze of fire fed, according to 
 Taliessin, by the breath of nine maidens. In Hellas 
 the tripod, instead of bearing the weight of a cauldron 
 from which utterances issued or three muses ascended ^, 
 had seated on it the medium in person, and she was 
 supposed to give her responses according as the in- 
 visible influence of the divinity prompted her. The 
 Celtic treatment being more primitive, the cauldron 
 remained, and one may presume that it required the 
 services of a druid as its interpreter. 
 
 • Hib. Lee. pp. 286-7, 296-g, 356-9. 
 
 ' This may have suggested the scenes of mystery commonly described 
 in connection with the Holy Grail, as for instance by Malory, xvii. 20, 
 where one reads, ' thenne loked they and sawe a man come oute of the 
 holy vessel that had alle the sygnes of the passion of Ihesu Cry.ste bledynge 
 alle openly.' 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Glastonbury and Gower. 
 
 Among the peculiarities of Arthurian geography 
 nothing is, perhaps, more remarkable than the various 
 hints given as to the nature and position of the realm 
 of Melwas ; and Malory, when he made Westminster 
 the head-quarters of Arthur, placed the castle of Melwas 
 (Mellygraunce) seven miles away on the other side of 
 the Thames. That river thus became, after a fashion, 
 the river of hell to be crossed by Lancelot on his horse 
 when he hurried to rescue the queen. In that direction 
 also was Guildford, whose name one detects disguised 
 in the Grand St. Graal as Castle Galafort, and in the 
 Gelbort whence Chretien's Gonemans hails ^ ; and 
 Malory makes Astolat also to have been Guildford. 
 Modern Welsh writers, however, represent Melwas 
 as coming from Scotland, and this view would seem 
 to admit of being explained in somewhat the same way 
 as that in which Medrod, from Geoffrey's time down, 
 was more or less closely associated with Picts and 
 Scots : he is sometimes called a Pictish prince. We 
 have a trace probably of the same idea in Cormac's 
 Glossary when he calls Glastonbury the Glastonbury of 
 
 ' Nutt, pp. II, 60, I ; Malory, xviii. 8, 9. 
 
Ch. XIV.] GLASTONBURY AND GOWER. 339 
 
 the Goidels or the Gaels, that is to say in Latin the 
 Scotti: this we take to be the Irish echo of a Brythonic 
 belief that Melwas, under whatever name, was a Goidel 
 or Scottus. It would be hard to decide how far this 
 may be taken to point to an occupation of Gower or 
 Somerset by invaders from Ireland. But, even leaving 
 this out of consideration, the form assumed by the myth 
 is no more surprising than the substitution of Ireland 
 for Hades in the story of Bran's expedition on behalf 
 of his sister Branwen. But once Hades became Ire- 
 land, its head would naturally be regarded as a Goidel. 
 However, neither the author of the Vita Gildce 
 nor that of the Conte de la Charrette knew anything of 
 Ireland as the realm of Melwas : they located it nearer 
 to Arthur's court. According to the former, Melwas 
 was king of the Estiva Regio, whereby he seems to have 
 meant Somerset with Glastonbury as its most impreg- 
 nable stronghold, while the latter, Chretien, sang of 
 him as king of Goire, whence nobody returns ^, and as 
 living with his father in his capital of Bade^. It is 
 admitted on all hands that Bade means the ancient city 
 of Bath, and it can hardly be doubted that Goire points 
 to the peninsula of Gwyr, sometimes called Goer, in 
 EngUsh Gower. At first sight, this looks hopelessly 
 inconsistent ; but in reality it is merely a jumble of two 
 stories. For the Celts had undoubtedly two ideas 
 about the realm of the dead, and according to one of 
 them they regarded Hades as an island beneath the sea 
 or simply beyond the sea. Such was the Brittia to 
 which the souls of the departed were wont, according 
 to Procopius' well-known story, to be shipped from the 
 
 ' See lines 639-41, cited by M. Paris, from the Charrette, in the Romania, 
 xii. 467. 
 
 ' lb. xii. 474, 481, 512. 
 
330 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. XIV. 
 
 shores of the Continent, and such would be Gower as 
 viewed hazily from the land on the other side of the 
 Severn Sea : so Gower would be the realm of Melwas. 
 The other notion, equally old or perhaps even older, 
 was that of a fairy settlement entered through a hill or 
 a mound, such as Mider inhabited in some Irish legends, 
 and such as the fairies are most commonly believed to 
 inhabit in Wales, though in certain districts, such as the 
 neighbourhood of Snowdon, the behef used to be that 
 they lived beneath the lakes. 
 
 Glastonburymight be said to admitof both descriptions. 
 For the waters and swamps around Glastonbury made 
 it into an island, while the hill now known as Glaston- 
 bury Tor would form a fairy hill : either feature would 
 justify its being described in Welsh as ?iXs.ynys, which, 
 in Welsh topography, means not only an island but 
 also any rising ground with low-lying land around it, 
 though not necessarily covered with water. Wilham of 
 Malmesbury tells us that the ancient name of Glaston- 
 bury was Ynesuuitrin ^, which he explains as Insula 
 Vitrea. It is also Chretien's Isle de Voirre or Glass 
 Island, which he describes in his Erec as a happy land 
 subject to no tempest or thunder, where no noxious 
 beast remains, where the heat is not excessive and 
 winter is unknown : Maheloas (Melwas) was lord of that 
 land of perpetual summer and fine weather : — 
 
 'Avec ces que m'oez nommer 
 Vint Maheloas, uns hauz ber, 
 Li sire de I'isle de voirre^ 
 
 ' This we understand to be the prevalent reading of the Cambridge MS. 
 
 ^ See Chretien's Erec, lines 1933-9 cited in the Rom. x. 491, but Giraldus, 
 in his Speculum Ecclesioe, Rolls Ed. ii. 9 (p. 49), explains away the mythical 
 colouring of the Welsh name when he says of the words Ynys Wydrin, or, as 
 he writes it, Inis Gutrin, 'hoc est insula vitrea, propter amnem scilicet, quasi 
 vitrei coloris in marisco circumfluentem.' A similar conjecture is given in 
 
Ch. XIV.] GLASTONBURY AND GOWER. 331 
 
 En cele isle n'ot Ten tonoirre, 
 Ne n'i chiet foudre ne tempeste, 
 Ne boz ne serpenz n'i areste ; 
 N'i fait trop chaut, ne n'i iverne.' 
 
 The monks pretended that their founder was Joseph 
 of Arimathea, whom they represented, as already men- 
 tioned, as the first to convert the people of this country 
 to Christianity. According to their fabulous assertions, 
 the claims of the Church of Rome to supremacy in 
 matters relating to the faith in this realm had no foun- 
 dation in history ; and this fell in well with the views of 
 Henry II, whose differences with the Papacy culmin- 
 ated in the murder of the Archbishop of Canterbury. 
 The King is said to have had the pretensions of Glas- 
 tonbury examined and approved ; for they struck not 
 only at Rome but also at St. David's and the traditions 
 of the Welsh, who were a source of annoyance to 
 Henry. So in the year 1189 the said monks requited 
 the King's favour by discovering at Glastonbury the 
 tombs of Arthur and his wife, together with that of 
 his favourite Gwalchmei. This discovery was calcu- 
 lated to discourage the troublesome Welshmen, who 
 were credited with looking forward to the return of 
 Arthur to lead them to victory over all their enemies '. 
 
 There is no reason to suppose that the ingenious 
 monks of Glastonbury were the first to identify Insula 
 Avallonia or Ynys Avattach with that place : they were 
 
 Dr. Pughe's Dictionary under the word gwydrawl, 'vitreous, or glassy': it 
 comes from a Welsh version of the Account of Arthur's end, and is to the 
 following effect : — ' It was usual formerly to call that place the Glassy 
 Island {Ynys Wydrin), on account of being surrounded by rivers, the water 
 of which was of a blue vitreous colour.' 
 
 ' Giraldus, ib. ii. 9 (p. 50), relates that the inscription— what has become 
 of it?— on Arthur's coffin read: Hic jacet sepultus inclytus rex 
 Arthurios, in insula Avallonia, cum Wennevereia uxore sua secunda: 
 see also the Romania, i. 463. 
 
ii^ 
 
 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. XIV. 
 
 in this merely following what had possibly for ages 
 previously been the popular idea. William of Malmes- 
 bury gives as one of the explanations of the name, that 
 it was called Insula Pomorum from the native word 
 which he writes avala 'apples,' the Welsh word for 
 apple being aval or afal. But as Avallonia appears to 
 be more correctly written so than with a single /, the 
 Welsh word required would be rather avatt or afatt. 
 ' an apple tree,' and this would agree even better with 
 the strange story of the name as related by the same 
 writer ^, who gives his readers to understand that his 
 statements were based on the authority of Brythonic 
 
 ^ It runs as follows in his work, De Antiquitate Glastoniensis Ecclesug.ia 
 Gale's Historia Britannia, &c. (Oxford, i69i),p.29S (see also Romania, xii. 
 510) : — ' Legitur in antiquis Britonum gestis, quod a Boreali Britanniae parte 
 venerunt in occidentem duodecim fratres, et tenuerunt plurimas regiones. 
 Venedociara, Demetiam, Buthir [read Guhir], Kedweli, quas proavus eorum 
 Cuneda tenuerunt : nomina eorum fratrum inferius annotantur, Ludnertb 
 [read ludnerth], Morgen, Catgur, Cathmor, Merguid, Morvined, IWorehel, 
 Morcant, Boten, Morgen, Mortineil [read Mormeil], Glasteing [read 
 Glastenig]. Hie est ille Glasteing [read Glastenig], qui per mediterraneos 
 Anglos, secus villam quae dicitur Escebtiorne, scrofam suam usque ad Wellis, 
 et a Wellis per inviam et aquosam viam, quae Sugewege, id est, Scrofae via, 
 dicitur, sequens porcellos suos, juxta ecclesiam de qua nobis sermo est, lac- 
 tentem sub malo invenit, unde usque ad nos emanavit, quod mala mali illius 
 Ealdcyrcenes epple, id est Veteris Ecclesiae poma vocantur : sus quoque ealdcyre 
 [sic] suge idcirco nominabatur, quae cum caeterae sues quatuor pedes habeant, 
 mirum dictu, ista habuit octo. Hie igitur Glasteing, postquam insulam illam 
 ingressus, earn multimodis bonis vidit afifiuentem, cum omni familia sua in 
 ea venit habitare, cursumque vitae suae ibidem peregit. Ex ejus progenie 
 et familia ei succedente locus ille primitus dicitur populatus, haec de antiquis 
 Britonum libris sunt.' The writer then proceeds to speak, ' De diversis 
 nominibus ejusdem Insulae ' in the following words : — ' Haec itaque insula 
 primo Ynesuuitrin a Britonibus dicta, demum ab Anglis terram sibi sub- 
 jugantibus, interpretato priore vocabulo, dicta est sua lingua Glastynbiry, vel 
 de Glasteing [read Glastenig], de quo praemisimus etiam, insula Avallonia 
 celebriter nominatur, cujus vocabuli haec fuit origo. Supradictum est quod 
 Glasteing [Glastenig] scrofam suam sub arbore pomifera juxta vetustam 
 ecclesiam invenit, ubi quia primum adveniens poma in partibus illis rarissima 
 reperit, insulam Avalloniae [sic] sua lingua, id est, insulam pomorum nomi- 
 navit ; Aval/a [read avaleu] enim Britonice poma interpretatur Latine, vel 
 cognominatur de quodam Avalloc, qui ibidem cum suis filiabus propter loci 
 secretum, fertur inhabitasse.' 
 
Ch. XIV.] GLASTONBURY AND GOWER. 333 
 
 manuscripts. These last have not been identified, but 
 we have one, nearly like them, namely a manuscript in 
 the British Museum \ It contains pedigrees and enables 
 one to see that the Englishman has made the mistake 
 of regarding a genealogy traced back to Glast as a list 
 of the sons of Cuneda, who are very differently named 
 on the next page of the same manuscript, and are thus 
 spoken of in words partly copied by Malmesbury: ' Et 
 tenuerunt plurimas regiones in occidentaH plaga Brit- 
 tannie.' A very obscure note ^ on Glast connects with 
 his name a longer one, Glastenic, which enables one 
 with tolerable certainty to correct Malmesbury's Glas- 
 teing into Glastenig for an older Glastenic. The whole 
 has to do with an attempt, apparently, to explain the 
 etymology of the name of Glastonbury. But, though 
 such names as Glast, Glastenic, and Glastonia would, 
 especially with the aid of English, suggest ' glass,' we 
 are not forced to suppose that the idea of a glass island 
 was not a part of the myth previous to any English 
 explanation of its names : compare the Glass Tower in 
 
 ' Harl. 3859, fol. 194''. 
 
 ' The words in question, from Glast on^vards, are : — unu' st.' glastenic. 
 qui uener'/q; uocat' loyt/coyt. Mr. Phillimore in the Cymmrodor, ix. 180, 
 expands them thus : — unum sunt glastenic. qui uenerunt que uocatur. loyt 
 coyt. By expanding them somewhat differently and supposing, as he 
 has suggested, «««' to be an error for unde, ive should arrive at the 
 following as the probable original of what the scribe tried to copy : ' unde 
 sunt glastenic, qui uenerabiliterque uoca[n]tur loyt coyt.' This would 
 mean — 'whence, i.e. from Glast, are derived Glastenic, which are reverently 
 called the Grey Trees ' : compare Malmesbury's celebriter nominatur in the 
 last note but one. Loyt coyt and Glastenic would thus be two names of 
 one and the same place, which was held sacred, probably Glastonbury itself : 
 the former requires no explanation, and as to the latter it is clearly derived 
 from the glasten, which in Breton meant ' oak ' ; cf. Cornish glastanen, ' an 
 oak.' The Glastenig of William of Malmesbury is, doubtless, the place- 
 name Glastenic made into the name of an eponymus for Glastonbury. It 
 may well be that the Glast of the pedigree had nothing to do with any of the 
 names here in point. It occurs as a man's name in Brittany : see M. de 
 Courson's Cari. de FAbhaye de Redon, p. 309, where he assigns a benefaction 
 of a certain Glast's to the years 990-992. 
 
334 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. Xiv. 
 
 the middle of the sea, spoken of in the Historia Brit- 
 tonum of Nennius \ Much the same kind of remark 
 applies to the name Avallonia ; for it is not improbable 
 that Glastonbury may have been noted for its apples or 
 apple trees, as Malmesbury and others would lead one 
 to believe. It is also possible, that, in some versions of 
 the myth, an apple tree figured, or at any rate some 
 kind of tree of a remarkable or sacred nature ^ ; but we 
 are persuaded, nevertheless, that the tree had nothing 
 directly to do with the etymology of Avallonia. 
 Whether the term Insula Pomorum was founded on 
 the false etymology, or derived from a reference to a 
 tree in the original myth, it would be hard to decide. 
 
 It dates, however, as far back as the time of Geoffrey, 
 in whose Vita Merlini the island to which Arthur is 
 carried to be cured of his wounds by the fairy leech 
 Morgen, is termed Insula Pomorum. There, after a 
 mention of the sea-girt spot where a dragon guards 
 the apples of the Hesperides, and a short allusion to 
 Taprobana or Ceylon, our fairy realm is introduced 
 in the following verses ^ : — 
 
 ' Insula Pomorum quse Fortunata vocatur, 
 Ex re nomen habet, quia per se singula profert : 
 Non opus est illi sulcantibus arva colonis ; 
 Omnis abest cultus nisi quem natura ministrat : 
 Ultro foecundas segetes producit et uvas, 
 Nataque poma suis prsetonso germine silvis ; 
 Omnia gignit humus vice graminis ultro redundans. 
 Annis centenis aut ultra vivitur illuc, 
 Illic jura novem geniali lege sorores 
 Dant his qui veniunt nostris ea partibus ad se.' 
 
 1 See San-Marte's Nennius et Cildas, p. 35 (§ 13) ; also Hib. Lee. p. 263. 
 
 ^ See the remark on the etymology of Glastenic in the last note but one, 
 and, on the subject of the sacred trees of the Celts, see the Hib. Lee. p. 219- 
 21 ; also Mr. Arthur J. Evans' paper on Stonehenge in Nutt's Arehceo- 
 logical Review for 1889, pp. 327-30. 
 
 ' Vita Merlini (ed. by Grenville for the Roxburghe Club, London, 1830), 
 11. 908-17 (p. 41) ; see also the Romania, i. 464. 
 
Ch. XIV.] GLASTONBURY AND GOWER. 335 
 
 A similar account of this fortunate isle is given by 
 an anonymous poet who also describes the medical 
 maiden Morgen, whose charms are represented as the 
 cause of Arthur's delaying his return. His verses run 
 as follows ^ : — • 
 
 ' Cingitur oceano memorabilis insula nullis 
 Desolata bonis ; non fur, nee praedo, nee hostis 
 Insidiatur ibi ; nee vis, nee bruma, nee sestas 
 Immoderata furit ; pax et Concordia, pubes, 
 Ver manet seternum, nee flos nee lilia desunt .... 
 Semper ibi juvenes cum virgine, nulla seneetus 
 NuUaque vis morbi, nullus dolor, omnia plena 
 Lsetitise ; nihil hie proprium, communia quseque. 
 Regia virgo locis et rebus prsesidet istis, 
 Virginibus stipata suis pulcherrima pulchris .... 
 Immodice Isesus Arthurus tendit ad aulam 
 Regis Avallonis : ubi virgo regia, vulnus 
 Illius tractans, sanati membra reservat 
 Ipsa sibi : vivuntque simul, si credere fas est.' 
 
 From the lines last cited, it does not appear whether 
 the poet called the king rex Avallonis or rex Avallo : 
 probably the latter is to be preferred. At any rate, it 
 coincides with Giraldus' alternative explanation of the 
 name of Avallonia, according to which it meant Avallo's 
 Isle 2, and this in its turn is favoured by Malmesbury's 
 like alternative, ' vel cognominatur de quodam Avalloc, 
 qui ibidem cum suis filiabus, propter loci secretum, 
 fertur inhabitasse ».' Thus it appears that Insula Aval- 
 lonia and Ynys Avattach signified the island belonging 
 to the king called in Latin Avallo and in Welsh Avatton 
 and Avattach or Avattoc ; but had the original name 
 
 ' Cited in the Romania, i. 464, from San-Marte's Geoffrey, pp. 425. 6, 
 where it is cited from Usher's Prim. (c. 14, p. 273) and ascribed to the 
 Pseudo-Gildas. 
 
 2 Giraldus, Spec. Ecdesiw, ii. 9 (p. 49). where the editor prints 'a Vallone 
 quodom.' 
 
 3 Gale, ib. p. 295. 
 
336 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. XIV. 
 
 meant the Isle of Apples or of Apple-trees, it is hardly 
 probable that the Brythons would have given it up for that 
 of Avattach's Isle, virhere Avattach had ceased probably 
 at a comparatively early date to convey any meaning of 
 its own. Be that as it may, we should, doubtless, be 
 right in regarding the aula regis Avallonis to which the 
 wounded Arthur was borne as being no other than 
 that of the Avattoc or Avattach said to inhabit Avallonia 
 with his daughters ; and these last may be identified 
 without much hesitation with the beautiful maidens 
 around the more beautiful Morgen, as mentioned in the 
 verses already cited : — 
 
 ' Regia virgo locis et rebus prsesidet istis 
 Virginibus stipata suis pulcherrima pulchris.' 
 
 It would follow that Avattach, Avattoc, or Avallo is 
 to be regarded as a name of a Celtic dark divinity, a 
 notion which is countenanced by the fact that the same 
 manuscript which mentions Glast places near the 
 remote end of a pedigree the name Avattach in the two 
 forms Aballac and Amalech. The pedigree ends thus : 
 ' son of Eugein [i. e. Oweiri], son of Aballac, son of 
 Amalech, who was the son of BeU the Great, and his 
 mother was Anna, who is said to have been cousin to 
 the Virgin Mary, mother of our Lord Jesus Christ ^' 
 Beli the Great need not delay us at this point ^ and the 
 Anna here treated as his wife, had of course nothing to 
 do with the other Anna, except that the name of the 
 former accidentally resembled hers. The Celtic Anna, 
 said to have been sister to Arthur, has already been 
 mentioned more than once as mother of Gwalchmei 
 
 • Harl. 3859, fol. I93i> ; but at 194", Aballac is made son of Beli and Anna, 
 without any allusion to the duplicate form Amalech : see the Cymmrodor, ix. 
 170, 174. 
 
 '' Hib. Lee. pp. 90, 285 644. 
 
Ch. XIV.] GLASTONBURY AND GOWER. 337 
 
 and Medrod, and as wife of Loth (p. 19), that is to say 
 of ILud or Nud, originally the Zeus of the Celts. So 
 Anna's association with him at one time, and at another 
 with Beli, the dark god, is just as might be expected ; 
 and it is Avattach the son of Beli and Anna that gave 
 his name to the Isle of Avallon. But his parentage 
 would leave it uncertain whether Avattach should rank 
 on the side of darkness and death or of light and life. 
 His association with Glastonbury, however, inclines 
 one to the former view ; and that is not all, for one dis- 
 covers Avattach in the bedridden tercentenarian, whom 
 Grail story introduces under the slightly modified 
 forrn of his name as Euelake ^ (Evalach). It gives him 
 a bed in a chapel where Peredur (Perceval) saw him 
 with his body covered with wounds and scars ^. Evalach 
 had been converted by Joseph of Arimathea, and he 
 had repaid the saint for the kindly interest he took in 
 his salvation by delivering him from the prison into 
 which he was cast by a pagan ; but it would take up 
 too much of our space to enter into the details of the 
 treatment whereby such unpromising materials of the 
 old theology of Celtic heathendom was worked into the 
 fabric of a Christian romance. Suffice it to say that in 
 the description of Evalach the Unknown, for so he was 
 called, because it was not known where he was born 
 or whence he came ^ one cannot help recognizing the 
 same idea of a god of death or of the dead, as in the 
 living corpse of Uthr Bendragon*. 
 
 1 Anelac, doubtless for Auelac, also seems to occur : see Nutt, p. 268. 
 
 ^ Malory, xiii. 10, xiv. 3 ; Williams' Seint Greal, pp. 53-6, 470-3- 
 
 3 Lonelich's Holy Grail (E. Eng. Text Soc. : Extra Series, xx), pp. 
 
 47, 8. 
 
 * Hib. Lee. p. 567. We have another version, so to say, of Uthr in 
 Malory's Urre, who is cured of his festering wounds by Lancelot : see Malory, 
 xix. 10-13. It is to be noticed that he comes from the Huns' Country. 
 
 Z 
 
338 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. XIT. 
 
 The foregoing remarks tend to show that the realm to 
 which Melwas carried Arthur's queen was considered 
 the land of darkness and death : the same idea is 
 brought into reHef in a story which occurs in a Welsh 
 life of St. Gotten ^, who has left his name to the church 
 and pleasant Vale of Llangotten in North Wales. It 
 relates how the saint went to the mountain of Glaston- 
 bury, which is doubtless to be identified with Glaston- 
 bury Tor, and made his cell beneath a rock away from 
 the road. As he was one day in his cell he heard two 
 men conversing about Gwyn ab Nud, and saying that 
 he was the king of Annwn and the fairies. Gotten put 
 his head out and bade them hold their peace, as those 
 were only demons. They told him to hold his peace, 
 and assured him that he would have to meet Gwyn face 
 to face. By and by Gotten heard a knocking at his 
 door, followed by the enquiry whether he was in. He 
 answered in the affirmative, and wished to know who 
 it was that asked the question. The reply was : ' I am 
 here, the messenger of Gwyn ab Nud, king of Hades, 
 to bid thee come by the middle of the day to speak 
 with him on the top of the hill.' The saint did not go ; 
 and the same message was delivered to him by the 
 same messenger on the day after, but in vain as before. 
 The third day the messenger added to Gwyn's com- 
 mand to Gotten the threat that if he did not obey, it 
 would be the worse for him. The menace disconcerted 
 the saint, who now proceeded to consecrate some water, 
 and when he was ready he took it with him up the hill. 
 
 On reaching the top. Gotten beheld there the fairest 
 castle he had ever seen, with the best appointed 
 troops, a great number of musicians with all kinds of 
 stringed instruments, steeds with young men riding 
 
 * Y Greal (London, 1805), pp. 337-41. 
 
Ch. XIV.] GLASTONBURY AND GOWER. 339 
 
 them of the handsomest description, maidens also of 
 the most gentle and sprightly aspect, Hght of foot and 
 lightly clad, all in the bloom of youth, and in addition 
 everything else that became the state appertaining to 
 the court of a sumptuous king. Aloft on the castle wall 
 he descried a gentleman who bad him enter, as the king 
 was waiting for his coming to dine. Gotten entered, 
 and found the king seated in a gold chair: he wel- 
 comed the saint with due honour and told him to go to 
 the table, adding that beside what he saw there served 
 for him, he should have the rarest of all dainties he 
 could desire, and plenty of every kind of drink and 
 sweet beverage his heart could wish, and that further 
 there were in readiness for him all kinds of service and 
 entertainment in order to do due honour to a guest of 
 his wisdom, ' I will not,' said Gotten, ' eat the tree- 
 leaves.' ' Hast thou ever,' asked the king, ' seen men 
 better dressed than these here in red and blue ?' 'Their 
 dress is good enough,' said Gotten, 'for its kind.' 
 'What kind of dress is that?' rejoined the king. Gotten 
 then answered and said, that the red on the one side 
 betokened burning, and the blue on the other be- 
 tokened cold. Th^n he sprinkled holy water over them 
 and they all vanished, leaving behind them no castle or 
 troops, no men or maidens, no music and melody, no 
 steeds and riders, nothing in the world but clumps of 
 grass. 
 
 Such is the story of Gotten's meeting with the 
 King of the Fairies ; and probably few spots could be 
 conceived better adapted to be the scene than Glaston- 
 bury Tor, on which a site was in due time found for 
 a chapel dedicated to the Archangel Michael, who 
 appears in more places than one in Geltic lands as the 
 supplanter of the dark powers. Another instance, worthy 
 
 z 2 
 
340 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. XIV. 
 
 of mention here, occurs in the story of Arthur slay- 
 ing the cannibal giant that had taken Howel's sister 
 Helena or Elen to his island stronghold on the coast of 
 Normandy : Christianity, associating the spot with the 
 archangel, has given it the name of Mont S.-Michel i. 
 This in its turn suggests the islet known as St. 
 Michael's Mount on the coast of Cornwall, though we 
 are not aware of the survival of any story associated 
 with the name. One may add a third instance, namely, 
 from the south-western coast of Ireland, where a rocky 
 islet lies, called the Great Skellig: it was known in 
 Irish as SgeHc Mhichil, or the Skellig of Michael ; and 
 tradition made it the burial-place of Ir, son of MiP. 
 To return to Mont S.-Michel, Wace^ gives the giant 
 slain there the name of Dinabuc, which one can 
 scarcely err in recognizing in the name of the Welsh 
 towns of Denbigh and Tenby, both called in Welsh 
 Dinbych. In the case of Denbigh, a legend survives* 
 to the effect that the place was at one time the scene of 
 the ravages of a monster after which it was called 
 Dinbych. The virtual identity of this name with that 
 of Dinabuc^ argues the probable similarity of its bearers 
 
 ' Hib. Lee. p. i6i ; Geoffrey, x. 3 ; Malory, v. 5. According to Malory, 
 this giant fed mostly on babies, and the same sort of cannibal appears in 
 some Welsh stories as a giantess ; two such have been mentioned by the 
 author in the Cymmrodor, ii. 33-7, in a paper which is otherwise best 
 forgotten. It may be said that such giants and giantesses simply point back 
 to a habit of cannibalism in this country in the time of St. Colien ; but we 
 prefer to regard them as death divinities euhemerized. 
 
 ^ The Four Masters, a. d. 950, 1044 ; O'Connor" s (1723) Keating, p. 102. 
 
 ° Le Roman de Brut (Rouen, 1836), vol. ii. p. 146, 1. 11,598. 
 
 * It is known to us only in the sadly modern form in which it is given at 
 the opening of John Williams' Ancient and Modem Denbigh, published 
 there in 1856. 
 
 ° The author is reminded by a friend of a name in Dumbartonshire, 
 which would seem to challenge inclusion here, namely, that of Dumbuck 
 between Dunglass and Dumbarton : see Joseph Irving's Dumbartonshire 
 (Dumbarton, i860), p. 9. 
 
Ch. XIV.] GLASTONBURY AND GOWER. 341 
 
 with one another ; and it is possibly but an accident that 
 neither Denbigh nor Tenby shows a dedication to the 
 archangel. 
 
 It is not hard to understand why Michael should 
 appear as the supplanter of Gwyn ab Nud; for the 
 archangel was the general of the heavenly host : 
 he was the vanquisher of Satan, and he was supposed 
 to keep the activity of him and his demons within 
 bounds. Similarly, Gwyn was supposed to delight in 
 the battle-field ; and the restraining of the demons of 
 Annwn or Hades is represented in the story of 
 Kulhwch as one of his functions. YspyJaden addresses 
 his would-be son-in-law thus : ' Twrch Trwyth will never 
 be hunted until you have found Gwyn son of Nud, in 
 whom God has put the instinct of the demons of 
 Annwn, lest the present world should be destroyed: 
 he will not be spared thence ^.' Above all, the Arch- 
 angel Michael played the part of a kind of psycho- 
 pompus for Christendom. For as Gwyn ab Nud with 
 his hell-hounds hunted disembodied souls, so Michael 
 with his angels undertook to save them. He is made 
 to be present to separate the good from the bad when 
 the souls are being weighed in the scales, and he is 
 pictured especially engaged in keeping in check the 
 wiles of the elves busy on all such occasions ^- It is 
 not surprising, therefore, that the archangel was 
 popular in Wales, and that the number of the Welsh 
 churches and chapels called ILan Fihangel, ' Michael the 
 Angel's Church,' or dedicated to him, is considered 
 
 1 R. B. Mab. p. 124, and Guest, ii. 289, where the translation given is 
 ' Gwyn, the son of Nudd, whom God has placed over the brood of the devils 
 in Annwn : ' it is glaringly wrong. 
 
 ^ As an instance, we may refer to the Last Judgment on the well-known 
 west window of Fairford Church in Gloucestershire. 
 
342 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. XIV. 
 
 remarkable^. It is probably to be explained by the 
 view here advanced, that he v^^as regarded as par 
 excellence the defender of Christians against the sprites 
 and demons with which Celtic imagination peopled the 
 shades of night, the gloom of the forest, and even the 
 straggling mist on the tops of the hills. Perhaps it 
 would not be rash to suppose that most of the old 
 foundations associated with his name occupy sites of 
 sinister reputation, inherited from the time when 
 paganism prevailed in the land, sites which were con- 
 sidered to be dangerous and to form the favourite 
 haunts of evil spirits. 
 
 We have tried to show the nature of the connection of 
 Glastonbury with Avattach, and with Gwyn ab Nud; 
 but we may be told that there is nothing to identify 
 either of them with Mel was. This touches one of 
 the difficulties attaching to the Celtic Dis, namely, the 
 multiplicity of his forms and names. Avattach, whom 
 the romancers call not only Evalach, but also Mordrain 
 and Noodran (p. 323), differs both in form and name from 
 Gwyn ; but we are by no means certain that the differ- 
 ence between Gwyn and Melwas was anything more 
 than one of name alone. Melwas was the Cornish pro- 
 nunciation of what was in Welsh Maelwas, but in the 
 pages of Geoffrey one detects Gwyn under the longer 
 name Gwynwas, which might be interpreted the white 
 or fair youth, while Maelwas would seem to have meant 
 a princely youth, as already hinted (p. 51). According 
 to the view here suggested as possible, the Brythonic 
 divinity in question had the two names, Maelwas and 
 Gwynwas, of which the former survived in Cornish as 
 Melwas, while in Welsh the preference was very 
 decidedly given to Gwyn, which had the advantage 
 
 ' See Rees' Welsh Saints, pp. 36-43. 
 
Ch. XIV.] GLASTONBURY AND GOWER. 343 
 
 of being short. It is not essential that Melwas and 
 Gwynwas, the Gonemans already mentioned (p. 121), 
 should be proved originally one ; nor, on the other hand, 
 can it be regarded as a serious objection to that conjec- 
 ture that Geoffrey treats them as tw^o. His references 
 to them are very instructive as to how history has been 
 mixed with mythology. Melwas is called by him in a 
 passage or two Melga, which is derived from the form 
 Melgwas or Maelgwas, and Gwynwas is treated as 
 Guanius : the former is king of the Picts, and the latter 
 of the Huns. 
 
 They find Ursula and her virgin companions ship- 
 wrecked on their way to their friends on the Continent, 
 and they murder them all. The two kings then land 
 in Albania, and invade the rest of Britain ; but, being 
 repulsed by the legions of Rome, they take refuge in 
 Ireland ^, whence they return with Scots and Scandin- 
 avians and devastate Britain from sea to sea. They are 
 again repulsed, and a wall is made between Albania and 
 Deira: Melwas and Gwynwas settle in the former 
 country^ and infest the Wall, while Constantine, the 
 grandfather of Arthur, clears the rest of the island of 
 invaders^. Later, the two kings are to be detected as 
 Arthur's vassals, called by Geoffrey this time Malvasius, 
 king of Iceland, and Gunvasius, king of Orkney*. The 
 following points are worth mentioning in connection 
 with Geoffrey's narrative : Ursula is treated as the 
 daughter of Dionotus, in the Welsh version Dunawt, 
 
 ' Geoffrey, v. 16. The Welsh versions usually have Melwas and Gwynwas: 
 it is the latter name also, probably, that meets us in Malory's Gwinas, i. 15, 
 and Gwenbaus, brother to Ban and Bors, i. 11. 
 
 2 lb. vi. I. 
 
 ' lb. vi. 5. 
 
 ' lb. ix. 12. The Welsh version has here Melwas and GCynwlasI : see 
 the R. B. Bruts, p. aoi. 
 
344 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. XIV. 
 
 king of Cornwall, and, according to an account of her 
 death written ^ on the Continent a little earlier than 
 Geoffrey's narrative, she and her companions were 
 murdered by the Huns under Attila at Cologne, while 
 Ursula herself is made to be the daughter of Nothus, in 
 whose name we have a decapitated form to be restored 
 into Dinothus, identical, virtually, with the Welsh 
 Dunawt ^. One may compare and contrast the story of 
 Gwyn carrying away Creidylad, daughter of ILud, whose 
 name was originally Nud or rather Nodens, but it is 
 probably not to be sought in Nothus. As to Melwas 
 and Gwynwas, in the position of vassals to Arthur, the 
 latter thus appears in that story (p. 319), while the former 
 is mentioned among Arthur's men in the story of 
 Kulhwch, where he is called Maelwys, son of Baedan ^ 
 More correctly speaking, Maelwys is to be reckoned an 
 error for some such a form as Maelyf or Maeluf, stand- 
 ing for the Irish name Maeluma, borne by a historical 
 person, the son of Baedan or Baettan, a well-known 
 Ulidian king, who waged war in this country on behalf 
 of the Dalriad Scots, as did also his son. It is to this 
 confusion of Maeluma with Melwas, that we are to 
 trace the name of the latter's father, Bademagu or 
 Bagdemagu, in the mouths of the romancers: it is 
 
 ^ By Sigebert of Gemblours (Pertz's Monumenfa Gettnaniw Historica, 
 Scriptorum torn. vi. p. 310), for the reference to whom the author is 
 indebted to the Icindness of Mr. H. L. D. Ward, of the British Museum ; as 
 he is also for the hint as to the origin of the name Bademagu of Melwas' 
 father in the romances, and for other valuable suggestions bearing on this 
 part of Geoffrey's narrative. 
 
 ^ Geoffrey's Dionotus should have been Dinotus; the modern Welsh 
 spelling is Dunawd or Dunod, and it is the same name as that borne by the 
 Abbot of Bangor, said to have met Augustine. Bseda's spelling of the 
 former's name is Dinoot, and the original of the Welsh form was the Latin 
 Dondtus. 
 
 = if. B. Mab. p. 106. 
 
Ch. XIV.] GLASTONBURY AND GOWER. 345 
 
 probably but their way of reproducing the full desig- 
 nation, Baedan mac Cairill 1. 
 
 According to Geoffrey, Ursula and the survivors of 
 her train were shipwrecked on islands belonging to 
 barbarians, where Melwas and Gwynwas found them ; 
 but otherwise, his narrative connects them with the 
 north of Britain, with Orkney, and even with Iceland, 
 all of which admirably fit into the Celtic geography of 
 the other world. Add to this that the Picts and the 
 Scots play the same role from a Welsh point of view as 
 the Huns do in the myths and romances of the Conti- 
 nent. But we are here more particularly interested in 
 Glastonbury, the identification of which with Avattach's 
 Isle, and all that term was supposed to connote, would 
 naturally lead to the further conclusion that it was also 
 the Estiva Regio. This is in Welsh Gwlad yr Hav, or 
 the Land of Summer, which in the form Somerset has 
 become fixed as the name of the county to which 
 Glastonbury belongs. Originally Gwlad yr Hav was, 
 doubtless, as mythical a name as ILychlyn before that 
 term came to mean Scandinavia. The most curious 
 account of this fabulous Land of Summer occurs in the 
 Triads, iii. 4, where we are told that Hu the Mighty 
 brought the Kymry to Britain from 'Gwlad yr Hav, 
 which is called Deffrobani, where Constantinople stands.' 
 The latter part of the statement was probably a gloss 
 made by somebody who did not know that Deffrobani 
 meant Taprobane, or the Island of Ceylon ; but the 
 
 ' To explain the manufacture of the name, one must set out from the 
 appearance of Baedan's name in the old Irish spelling, where // admits of 
 being misread u, and where air is represented by a j with a stroke through 
 its limb and a small i placed over the upper part of the letter. Thus 
 written, Baedan mac Cairill would look approximately Baedamacc4iu, which 
 might be simplified into something like Bademagu, unless one should rather 
 regard Bagdemagu as a more original form, implying the misreading of // 
 into ct, to be reduced afterwards into gd. 
 
346 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. XIV. 
 
 introduction of the reference to the latter reminds one of 
 Geoffrey's poem in the Vita Merlini, where Taprobane 
 and the *[nsula Pomorum are mentioned in succession, 
 and in a way, be it noticed, which does not exclude all 
 possible doubt that the poet did not mean by both names 
 one and the same happy land. Even now the term 
 Gwlad yr Hav has not completely lost its mythical force 
 and hazy signification of a fabulous country ^ some- 
 where far away, to which a troublesome person may be 
 asked to betake himself. Melwas, as lord of the winter- 
 less Glass Island, identified with Glastonbury, would, in 
 other words, be regarded as king of the JEstiva Regio, 
 which thereby would come to mean the country around 
 Glastonbury; nor could he well remain long king of the 
 u^EsHva Regio, in that sense, without having the celebrated 
 city of Bath reckoned as his capital. But, on the other 
 hand, a different tradition made him king of Goire, or 
 the peninsula of Gower, which loomed in the distance 
 across the Severn Sea. Thus by mixing the two ver- 
 sions of the myth, the writers of the romances came to 
 speak of the kingdom of Melwas as Goire, and of his 
 capital as Bade or Bath. 
 
 Everything goes to show that the story of Melwas, as 
 we have it, is mostly Cornish, like his name, rather than 
 Welsh ; and one might naturally surmise that it was 
 from the Cornish side that Gower, accessible by land on 
 the Welsh side, derived its mythical importance as a part 
 of the other world. It was the Cornish Brythons also 
 possibly that associated the dark divinity of Bran with 
 
 ' Such it seems to be in the following rhjnme, which is well known in 
 North Cardiganshire : — 
 
 ' Cdr i Wlad yr Ha Go to reap ferns, 
 I fedi rhedin, To the Land of Summer, 
 Lie ma cwn dion Where black dogs 
 Yn c u menin.' Do s butter. 
 
Ch. XIV.] GLASTONBURY AND GOWER. 347 
 
 Gower, whence Malory's Brandegore, for Bran de Gore 
 or Goire (p. 160). Cornish, likewise, we presume the 
 story of Morgan le Fay to have been, when it describes 
 her withdrawing under the fear of her brother Arthur 
 to the same land of Goire : ' there was she rychely 
 receyved,' we are told, and there she ' maade her castels 
 and townes passynge stronge : ' in fact, she is called 
 the queen of Goire ^, in which Welsh legend agrees 
 when it makes Urien, her husband, king of Gower. 
 
 Lastly, one of the places which figures among the 
 graves mentioned in the Black Book of Carmarthen is 
 called Gwanas Gwyr, or the ' Point of Gower ' : it is also 
 called Gwanas without any qualification, and it is intro- 
 duced here as the probable antecedent of the place-name 
 which Malory reproduces as Ganys, as, for example, 
 when he speaks of Bors of Ganys or of the two brothers 
 Bleoberys and Blamore of Ganys. The lines ^ alluded 
 to in the Black Book place at Gwanas the resting-place 
 of Gwrgi and others, including the Household of Oeth 
 and Anoeth. With this strange group one is naturally 
 led to associate the Prison of Oeth and Anoeth, by which 
 Welsh legend understands a huge structure built of 
 human bones. In that ghastly prison one cannot help 
 recognizing a picture of the abode of the dead ^ : it is 
 probably but another aspect of the vast castle that 
 collapses simultaneously with the wounding of its lord 
 by Balyn. 
 
 • Malory, iv. 15; see also vi. 3. ' Evans' Autotype, p. 33 b. 
 
 s Hib. Lee. pp. 667-8. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 The Isles of the Dead. 
 
 Reference was made in the last chapter to Morgan 
 le Fay: her name would be more correctly written 
 Morgen, as it is the same name in fact as that of the 
 lady in the Isle of Avallon, who had the charge of heal- 
 ing Arthur of his wounds ; and considering how predi- 
 cates, frankly inconsistent and contradictory, are applied 
 to everything connected with the other world, there is 
 no occasion to regard these two Morgens as forming 
 distinct persons rather than one and the same fairy dif- 
 ferently described. In a word, she is viewed at one 
 time as kind and benevolent and at another as hostile 
 and truculent. The same sort of remark applies to the 
 same sort of person under the name of the Lady of 
 the Lake, of whose figure Malory gives, so to say, 
 widely different views. Accordingly, one Lady of the 
 Lake sends Arthur the sword Excalibur and asks for 
 Balyn's head in return for it^; another Lady of the 
 Lake confines Merlin in his stone prison^; a third, 
 Nyneue, busies herself about Arthur's safety^, and a 
 fourth about that of Lancelot *. They may all be taken 
 as different aspects of the one mythic figure, the lake 
 lady Morgen. The name Morgen means the offspring 
 
 ' Malory, ii. 3. ' lb. iv. 5. 
 
 ^ lb. ix. 16. * lb. xix. II. 
 
Ch. XV.] ISLES OF THE DEAD. 349 
 
 of the sea, as in the case of Morgen as the native name 
 of Pelagius, in later Welsh Morten, the only difference 
 being one of gender. Still more to the point here is 
 the fact that the name Morgen, in its Irish form of 
 Muirgen, was that of a lake lady otherwise called 
 Liban, of whom mention will have to be made later. 
 Her story ^ is, that, having the charge of a magic well 
 and neglecting it, she was overwhelmed by the waters 
 that formed the lake now known as Lough Neagh : she 
 roamed about for some three hundred years in the 
 world of waters in order in due time to be caught in 
 the net of a saint who baptized her, half woman and 
 half salmon as she was then found to be. Thus she 
 was enabled to die in the odour of sanctity and leave 
 her name to a church. This probably means that a 
 common name has led to a saintly woman being con- 
 founded with a lake lady or mermaid. This Liban, 
 called Muirgen, is not identified in Irish literature with 
 the Liban who lived in an island with her husband 
 Labraid of the Swift Hand on the Sword and her 
 sister Fand (p. 217), though the two Libans v^ere 
 perhaps originally one. 
 
 Let us now come back to Muirgen's Welsh counter- 
 part : Morgen as a truculent person is treated by Malory 
 as queen of Goire (Gower), and her husband Vryence 
 or Vryens he calls king of Goire, from which dis- 
 trict he generally brings him when he appears at 
 Arthur's tournaments. Uryence is no other than the 
 Urien of Welsh Uterature, which connects him as we 
 have already shown with a country called Rheged in 
 the North ; and a passage in the Huth Merlin, ii. 143, 
 reads as though Rheged was called also Goire, for it 
 
 ' Bk. of the Dun, 39 "-41''; Joyce's Old Celtic Romances, pp. 97-105; 
 Martyrology of Donegal, Jan. 27 (p. 28). 
 
350 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. XV. 
 
 States that Goire was situated the other side of North- 
 umberland from Logres or England. But besides a 
 Rheged in the North there was also a Rheged in 
 Wales, and the surmise at once suggests itself that it 
 was our Goire or Gower, on the Severn Sea. We 
 have, however, not succeeded in finding any evidence ^ 
 to that effect, whereas on the other hand the name 
 Rheged can be shown to have been once associated 
 with another spot in Wales. We allude to a pas- 
 sage in a poem by a prince who lived and reigned 
 in the 12th century, Howel, son of Owen Gwyned, 
 prince of North Wales; for his son Howel speaks of 
 his reaching the Land of Rheged in one ride from 
 Maelienyd, a part of the present county of Rad- 
 nor ; and a i6th century bard gives us a clue to a 
 Rheged which was an island and nearer to Maelienyd 
 than any part of Gower peninsula could be : it was the 
 site of the present town of Aberystwyth, which the 
 bard describes as Caer Reged uwch cwrr eigiawn ^, or 
 ' the Castle of Rheged over the brink of the ocean.' 
 
 As to the site of Aberystwyth, it is to be noticed that 
 the time cannot be very far past since it was an island, 
 at least at high tide, while, no longer ago than the 
 
 ' The only approach to it would be certain tracts in the volume of the 
 lolo MSS. pp. 69-71, 73, 78, which assign to Urien the district between the 
 Towy and the TawS, together with Gower. This was given him by Arthur, 
 we are told, as a reward for having cleared it of Irish invaders But the 
 story is clearly an adaptation of that of Geoffrey, ix. 6, lo, also R B. Bruts, 
 pp. 191 -4, where Arthur is described conquering the Picts and Scots in the 
 isles of Loch Lomond, and giving the northern Rheged to Urien, who had 
 been driven from his throne there. Even Geoffrey's Irish king, Guil- 
 lamurius, appears in one of the lolo tracts under the name Gilmwr : see 
 the lolo MSS. p. 70. All that the tracts in question can, therefore, be said 
 to indicate, is, that the writer or writers of them had heard of a southern 
 Rheged 
 
 " Cited s. V. • Caer Reged ' in Lewis Morris' Celtic Remains, p. 68, where 
 he gives the poet's name as Horus ILwyd William. 
 
Ch. XV.] ISLES OF THE DEAD. 351 
 
 summer of 1886, it became for a time an island, to the 
 terror and peril of a considerable portion of the popu- 
 lation. The present name signifies the Mouth of the 
 Ystwyth, which occurs in Ptolemy's Geography as 
 2rov(CKta for a more correct form 2roC/cra or I^tovkt'm ; 
 but, as at present situated, the town would be more 
 correctly called Aber RheidoF, as it is rather on the 
 Rheidol than the Ystwyth. The explanation probably 
 is that the two rivers formerly joined their waters 
 before reaching the sea, which appears to have greatly 
 encroached on this part of the coast : even within the 
 memory of the author the grounds between the remains 
 of the castle and the sea have been greatly reduced in 
 extent. A part of the town lies on the south side of 
 the Rheidol : it is called y Dre' Vychan ^ or ' the Little 
 Town,' and connected with the rest by a bridge, where 
 there appears to have been a bridge in the beginning 
 of the 12th century. For we read of it as the only 
 approach made use of in an attack on the castle of 
 Aberystwyth and the Normans in possession at the 
 time, by Gruffud ab Rhys ab Tewdwr in the year 
 1113^: it is thus not improbable that the town was then 
 
 ' A Castell Aber Reidawl is mentioned under the year 1163, in Brut y 
 Tywysogion, but it is not to be assumed that it was identical with Castell 
 Aberystwyth. A site for a small castle might probably have been found in 
 the neighbourhood of the town, as for example at Plas y Crug, or on the 
 knoll where the ILanbadarn vicarage now stands. 
 
 ^ This is an old name, for the modern V^^elsh of Keredigion would make 
 it into y Dre' Vach. 
 
 ' See the R. B. Bruts, p. 311 : the chronicler would seem to have 
 known the neighbourhood of Aberystv(ryth, since, among other places there, 
 he mentions Ystrat Peithylt, Glasgruc, and Ystrat Antarron, which are 
 now known as Peithylt, Glasgrug, and Antaron respectively (ib. p. 299). 
 Wales is dotted with many a caer a.nA many a dinas, the ancient name of 
 which is now unknown, and nothing disappoints the enquirer more than 
 the answer, that it is only called y Gaer, ' the Castle,' or y Dinas, ' the 
 Fortress :' so the author takes this opportunity of stating that he thinks he 
 has discovered that the hill overlooking Aberystwyth from the south of 
 
3^2, ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. XV. 
 
 inaccessible from the mainland on the other side. That 
 this island, the highest part of which is now occupied 
 by the ruins of the castle and a church dedicated to the 
 Archangel Michael, was the spot meant by Howel, is 
 rendered all the more probable by the fact of its being 
 on record, that in the year 1142 he took violent pos- 
 session of some of the land of his uncle Cadwaladr in 
 that part of Wales and burnt his castle at Aberystwyth ^. 
 Rheged was even in Howel's time a name of the past, 
 but it was one which a poet might, as we have seen, 
 employ some four centuries later ; but Howel gives us 
 a little more than the mere name, for he speaks, if we 
 do not misinterpret his words, of the place he had in 
 view as ' the land of Rheged between night and day \' 
 This remarkable description takes us back, perhaps, 
 
 the Rheidol, and now called Pen y Dinas, on account of the prehistoric 
 earthworks crowning its top, was anciently called Dinas Maelawr. This he 
 infers from a 15th century poem, which will be found printed in the 
 Cylchgrawn (for 1834) i. 23. The name Dinas Maelawr will help one to 
 understand that of Rhiw Vaelawr in Keredigion, in the Triads, i. 93 ; ii. 11 : 
 see R. B. Mab. p. 301. 
 
 ' The words in the Welsh, as printed in Stephens' Literature of the 
 Kymry, p. 53 (see also the Myv. Arch. i. 377), read as follows, with his 
 rendering of them into English : — 
 
 ' Esgynneis ar velyn o vaelyenyt 
 Hyd ynhir Reged rwng nos a dyt.' 
 / niounted the yellow steed, and from Maelienyd 
 Reached the land of Reged between night and day. 
 More literally still they would read in English thus : — 
 
 / mounted on a yellow {steed) from MaelienyS 
 Even ■ to the land of Rheged between night and day. 
 The words Vaelyenyt do not necessarily mean that Howel began his ride 
 from Maelienyff, but only that his horse was one from that district, though 
 the former interpretation is, perhaps on the whole, the more probable. It 
 is hard, granting this, to understand how rwng nos a dyt yield the ' night's 
 ride' which Mr. Stephens assumes in his note. But all that difficulty 
 disappears if they are taken in immediate connection with Reged, as their 
 position in the line would seem to indicate. The author, however, feels by 
 no means certain that this gives the meaning the poet meant to convey, 
 though he thinks his view, on the whole, preferable to that advocated by 
 Mr. Stephens. 
 
Ch. XV.] ISLES OF THE DEAD. 353 
 
 ages beyond the time of Prince Howel into the thick 
 of Celtic heathendom ; and his words might have proved 
 a hopeless riddle v\^ere it not that we are helped to 
 understand them by another name of the country over 
 which the dark divinity of Urien is supreme, namely, 
 that of j^r Echwyd, or the realm of Sunset. 
 
 Up to this point we have mostly devoted this 
 chapter to two or three islands, or to tracts of land 
 which may, with a little aid from a hazy imagination, 
 have been regarded as islands, Glastonbury, Gower, 
 and the western Rheged. They have forced them- 
 selves on our attention as supposed abodes of the 
 departed ; but they by no means exhaust this category 
 of islands, as will have been seen by the references 
 already made to others which assume the same char- 
 acter; not to mention the fairy isles playing hide- 
 and-seek with the bewildered mariner off the coast 
 of South Wales. Among the former may be men- 
 tioned the following, and the list might easily be 
 extended : — 
 
 (i) The Isle of Gwales, or Gresholm (p. 269), which, 
 with its perennial banqueting, may be compared to the 
 never failing hospitality of Polydectes on the barren 
 Isle of Seriphus (p. 232) in Greek legend. It was other- 
 wise by no means unusual to treat the sun-hero's home 
 as an isle of the sea. 
 
 (2) The country of Surluse, in Malory's narrative, is 
 probably to be identified with the Scilly Isles, or the 
 Sorlingues as they are called in French, the Syllingar 
 of the Norsemen, and the Sylinancis Insula of the 
 Romans, who used them as a place of banishment. 
 According to Malory, Galahalt, the haute prince, was 
 lord of Surluse, which is explained by his also calling 
 him otherwise King of the Long Islands, in the sense 
 
 A a 
 
354 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. XV. 
 
 of islands which were a long way off, in French les 
 Isles Lointaines. Galahalt, the haute prince, is a slightly 
 disguised alias of Galahad the Grail knight, and in 
 Surluse we have an imperfect reproduction of the same 
 name as Sorlingues ^, which we have also found made 
 into Sorhaut ^. 
 
 (3) Bardsey, where Merlin and his nine bards were 
 fabled to have entered the Glass House, taking with 
 them the thirteen treasures of Britain ^ ; but the island 
 is called in Welsh Ynys Enffi or Venffi*, which is 
 probably the more original form of the name, meaning 
 the Isle of Benffi. But BenRi is otherwise known as 
 the Giant, after whom one of the heights of the Moel 
 Vammau range in Flintshire is called. One of the 
 stories of Nennius ^ relates how Benffi, having resisted 
 St. Germanus, was, together with his whole court, 
 burnt to ashes by fire from heaven, as is elsewhere told 
 of Vortigern. The two may probably be regarded as 
 belonging to the same category of dark figures in the 
 Celtic pantheon. 
 
 (4) Ynys Lannog, or Glannog's Isle, has already been 
 mentioned (p. 325) as that now known in English as 
 Puffin Island, a few miles to the north-east of Beau- 
 maris. Thither, according to one Grail story, came 
 every week the King of the Dead Castle, in order to 
 
 ' The Huth Merlin, ii. 159, has Sorelois, and Malory mostly Surluse, but 
 once also Surleuse, which points back to a Surlenge, the g of which was 
 either misread s, or being written ) was misread a, which was afterwards 
 made into 5. Compare the name Menzies — for Men^ies— and the like. 
 
 ^ As to Sorhaut, see p. 324 above. 
 
 ' Hib. Lee. p. 155. 
 
 * See Lewis Morris' Celtic Remains, s. v. Bentti, p. 33. The elision of 
 the V occurs in other instances, such as Bodorgan for Bod Vorgan, Rhuabon 
 for Rhiw Vabon. Morris refers to a life of St. Cynhafal, which the author 
 has not been able to consult. 
 
 <■ San-Marte's ed. §§ 32, 3 (pp. 48, 9). 
 
Ch. XV.] ISLES OF THE DEAD. 355 
 
 harass his neighbours, especially the Queen of the 
 Castle of Maidens, whose knights he slew one after 
 another. But Peredur, having arrived in the course 
 of his wanderings at the Queen's Castle, heard what 
 his uncle the King of the Dead Castle used to do; 
 so he rowed out and landed on the island to fight with 
 him. Peredur prevailed, but the wicked uncle was 
 able to reach his galley before his nephew could slay 
 him. Thus the island may be regarded as having 
 been one of the head-quarters of the truculent King 
 of the Dead ^ 
 
 (5) The Isle of Man had the like character, but 
 mostly from the Irish point of view, according to which 
 it was the home of the great fairy druid or magician 
 Manannan mac Lir. It was from Man also, that the 
 Great Ultonian smith Culann was supposed to hail, from 
 whom Cu-Chulainn took his name. According to some 
 accounts, the Isle of Man as a mythic country was that 
 called the Isle of the Men of Falga or Failge, over 
 whom reigned Mider, king of the fairies, when Ciichu- 
 lainn carried away his daughter Blathnat, together with 
 his Cauldron and his Three Cows that filled it with 
 their milk^. This name of Failge was otherwise ex- 
 plained to mean the Western Isles of Scotland. It 
 may also have been identified with the mythic City 
 of Falias, from which the Tuatha De Danann were said 
 to have brought to Ireland one of their treasures, the 
 Lia Fail *. 
 
 (6) To the north-west of Ireland, off the coast of 
 Donegal, stands Tory Island, where the baleful monster 
 Balor lived, and where his grandson the sun-hero. 
 Lug the Long-handed, was, according to one account, 
 
 » Williams' Seint Greal, pp. 276-7, 616-7. ^ ^^^- ^^'^- P- 476- 
 
 » Keating (Dublin, 1880), pp. 112-19. 
 
 A a 2 
 
356 ARTHURIAN LEGEND, [Ch. xV, 
 
 fabled to have been born. That isle, according to 
 another set of stories, was the head-quarters of the 
 Fomorian leaders Conaing and More, after the former 
 of whom was called Tor Conaing, or Conaing's Tower, 
 which the children of Named went to destroy. The 
 assailants were all overwhelmed by the waves of the 
 sea^. 
 
 (7) Conaing also gave its Irish designation to Angle- 
 sey, namely, that of Moin Conaing, or Conaing's Mona. 
 The association of Conaing's name with Anglesey is 
 not known to Welsh literature ; but we have the next 
 thing to this in the fact that the name of More, in its 
 Welsh form of March ab Meirchion, is connected with 
 the island as that of its sometime lord, by the 14th 
 century poet D. ab Gwilym. For he makes the owl, 
 as Blodeued^, give her pedigree in the following 
 couplet ^ : — 
 
 ' Merch i arglwytf ail Meirchion, 
 Wyf i, myn Dewi ! o Fon.' 
 
 Daughter of the lord, son of Meirchion, 
 Am I, by St. David.' from Mona. 
 
 We have, possibly, a faint echo of an ancient super- 
 stition about the island as the realm of March ab 
 Meirchion in a poem by the 15th century bard L. 
 Glyn Cothi, which apostrophizes Anglesey as 'the 
 Dark Island''.' However, it is to be borne in mind that 
 March would, on this side of the Irish Sea, seem to 
 have been fonder of peninsulas than islands, for he is 
 associated both with the western portion of Carnarvon- 
 shire, called ILeyn, and with Cornwall. In the former, 
 
 ' Hib. Lee. p. 264 ; also p. 333 above. 
 ^ Hib. Lee. pp. 239, 241. 
 
 ' Bardoniaeth D. ab Gwilym (London, 1789), poem clxxxiij. (p. 365). 
 ' See the Cylchgrawn for 1834, i. 92 : the words will also be found quoted 
 in Lewis Morris' Celtie Remains, s. v. Ynys Doweti; p. 436. 
 
Ch. XV.] ISLES OF THE DEAD. 357 
 
 a fine old-fashioned farm-house which looks as if it 
 had once enjoyed far greater importance than it can 
 boast at present, stands on the southern side of the 
 peninsula, and bears the name of Castettmarch, or 
 March's Castle. With regard to the said March, whose 
 name means horse, it is fabled that he had horse's 
 ears. The story goes on to relate, how he used to have 
 every barber who shaved him killed, lest he should 
 betray the secret as to his ears. Now on the spot 
 where the bodies of the murdered barbers were buried, 
 there grew reeds, from among which a certain of 
 March's bards chose one to make a pipe. Now the 
 reed, when it was ready for use as a musical instrument, 
 would discourse of nought but March ab Meirchion's 
 equine ears. This so enraged March that he would 
 have killed the musician had he not been persuaded 
 to try the pipe himself, when he was at once convinced 
 that it was the fault of the instrument and not of the 
 man who blew in it^. As to Cornwall, Malory has 
 much to say about Mark, as the cowardly, treacherous, 
 and cruel king of that country. That the Cornish 
 Mark is essentially the same person with the March 
 of ILeyn, admits of almost absolute proof, which is 
 worth mentioning here, as it explains a passage in 
 Malory's narrative, which in this instance has lost its 
 point and much of its meaning. When King Mark, 
 who was also called King Fox, on account of his wiles, 
 had greatly angered Arthur and Lancelot, a knight 
 called Dynadan who was a famous jester took him 
 in hand, saying ^r 'I will make a lay for hym/& whan 
 hit is made I shalle make an harper to synge hit afore 
 hym/Soo anone he wente and made hit/and taughte 
 
 » See the Cymmrodor, vl. 183, also the Brython (for i860), p. 431. 
 ' Malory, x. 27 : see also p. 70 above. 
 
358 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. XV. 
 
 hit an harper that hyght Elyot/And whanne he coude 
 hit/he taught hit to many harpers. And so by the 
 wylle of sire Launcelot and of Arthur the harpers went 
 streyghte in to walys/and in to Cornewaile to syng the 
 laye that sire Dynadan made kynge Marke/the whiche 
 was the werste lay that euer harper sange with harp 
 or with ony other Instrumentys.' Naturally Malory 
 who made believe he was busying himself with Christian 
 knights, could not condescend to know that one of 
 them was a monster with horse's ears, and much less 
 to tell us the import of what was sung about him; 
 so he becomes vague and uncommunicative on the 
 subject of the so-called lay. We know, however, from 
 the story current in Wales and Ireland^ that the 
 burden of it was nothing more or less than this : King 
 Mark has horse's ears. 
 
 The Celtic notion of locating the spirits of the de- 
 parted on islands is inseparable from the widespread 
 superstition, that water formed an effective barrier 
 against their movements ; to be conveyed to such 
 islands they must be ferried across, and once they had 
 gone, one felt no apprehension of their ever returning 
 to disturb the living. Procopius, writing in the 6th 
 century, proves the prevalence of this notion among 
 some of the Celts of the Continent ; and Pliny, writing 
 in the ist century, and quoting a Greek writer called 
 Philemon, is supposed to take us back to the 2nd 
 century b.c. in one of his references to the northern 
 ocean. We allude to the following passage ^ : * Phile- 
 mon Morimarusam a Cimbris vocari, hoc est, mortuum 
 mare, usque ad promontorium Rubeas : ultra deinde 
 Cronium.' It is not clear whether the explanation 
 ' mortuum mare ' emanates from Pliny or was merely 
 
 > Hib. Lcc. p. 593. 2 Historia Naturalis, iv. 27. 
 
Ch. XV.] ISLES OF THE DEAD. 359 
 
 taken by him from the author he was perusing; 
 but whichever of the two it came from, it is scarcely 
 possible to admit that it is quite accurate. The 
 name Mori Marusam, here attributed to the Cimbri, is 
 purely Celtic ^, meaning, probably, not Mortuum Mare 
 but Mortuorum Mare, or the Sea of the Dead; that is, 
 as one may suppose, the sea which the dead had to 
 cross on their way to the home of the Yama of the 
 race. 
 
 Leaving the isles and the peninsulas, which have 
 hitherto occupied us, let us now turn our attention to the 
 other notion of the home of the departed and the fairies, 
 namely, in lands supposed to have been overwhelmed 
 by water. This subdivides itself, according as the 
 water is regarded as forming a lake or only an exten- 
 sion of the domain of the sea. Under the first heading 
 come such lakes as ILyn Tegid, hard by Bala in 
 Merioneth, of which a sufficient mention perhaps has 
 already been made (p. 262). But probably all the other 
 lakes of Wales were supposed to have had inhabitants 
 wealthy in herds of cattle^, and in our time each mere is 
 
 ' Mori is in Welsh mor, ' sea,' Irish muir ; while the mams of Marusam is 
 represented in the same languages by marw and marbh, ' dead,' the dis- 
 appearance of Aryan 5 or s between vowels being the rule in the Neoceltic 
 tongues. Marusam as a genitive plural was probably pronounced Marusam, 
 and the only other early Celtic form to be compared would seem to be the 
 ogmic Irish Tria maqva Mailagni, meaning 'Trium Filiorum Maelagni.' 
 The us of Marusam seems to represent the weak form of the sufBx ues of 
 the perfect participle of mer, ' to die,' as in the corresponding Sanskrit 
 mamrushdm, ' moribundorum : ' the Celtic word should literally mean 
 ' of those who have died.' For a comprehensive study of forms of this 
 kind, see Brugmann's Grundriss dervergl. Grammatih, ii. 410-18. 
 
 ' Plenty of instances in point will be found in the author's Welsh Fairy 
 Tales in vols, iv, v, and vi of the Cymmrodor. The last example which has 
 come under his notice is that of ILyn EiSwen, in which the river Aeron 
 rises : it is a mere fragment of the ancient behef, to the effect that at one time 
 'wild cattle' used to come out of the lake and rush back into it when 
 disturbed. 
 
360 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. XV. 
 
 supposed to have been formed by the subsidence of a 
 city, whose bells may even now be at times heard 
 merrily pealing. Under the second head fall such in- 
 stances as the overflowing of Gwydno's land by the 
 waves of the Irish Sea. That country is known in 
 Welsh as Cantre'r Gwaelod, or the Bottom Hundred, 
 and according to the more common legend, it extended 
 indefinitely from Aberdovey, where the bells ringing iin, 
 dau, tri, pedwar, pump, probably belonged to Gwydno's 
 realm. The euhemeristic account of the submersion of 
 Gwydno's Plain is that it occurred in consequence of the 
 negligence of a certain Seithennyn, whose business it 
 was to take care of the embankments and their flood- 
 gates ; he, one day heavy with drink, forgot all about 
 his charge, and the catastrophe took place. The oldest 
 account, however, is contained in a short poem ^ in the 
 Black Book of Carmarthen ; and it is by no means 
 such a commonplace story : for the author of the poem 
 knows nothing of Seithennyn's drunkenness, as he 
 merely characterizes him as a person of weak intellect, 
 while he lays the entire blame on a damsel whom he 
 terms the Well Minister or Fountain Servant. What her 
 duties exactly were, we are not told ; but she had pro- 
 bably the charge of a magic well, as in the correspond- 
 ing Irish story 2 of Lough Neagh (p. 129), in which the 
 neglect to keep the lid on the magic spring resulted in 
 an inundation, a catastrophe foretold by the idiot of 
 the family, who occupies there the place of Seithennyn 
 in the Welsh version. Now, the name of the woman 
 who had charge of the well in the Irish story was 
 Liban, which is in Welsh ILi'on ^ and occurs in. the 
 
 ' Evans' Autotype Facsimile, pp. 53 b-54 a. 
 
 = Bk. of the Dun, sg^-fi"; Joyce's Old Celtic Romances, pp. 97-105. 
 ' Liban is perhaps more correctly written Liban ; and the Welsh corre- 
 sponding (on the supposition of an Irish b for an earlier v, as in Eber and 
 
Ch. XV.] iSLES OF THE DEAD. 361 
 
 Welsh account of the deluge resulting from the bursting 
 of ILyn ILion, or IL'ion's Lake^. Further, it is this 
 lady's name probably in some one of its forms, or a 
 derivative from it, that meets us in Malory's Liones. 
 She has a sister whom he calls Linet, the messenger 
 and confidante of Dame Liones ; but Linet is only a 
 slightly altered form of that of the Lunet or Luned ^ 
 who figures in the Welsh story of Owein, namely, as 
 the messenger and confidante of her mistress, the Lady 
 of the Fountain. So in this round-about way we arrive 
 at a partial equation of Dame Liones with the Lady of 
 the Fountain and wife of the Black Knight, whom 
 Owein slays in the Welsh story, and with Liban the 
 attendant on the magic well of Lough Neagh in the Irish 
 one ; or better in point of character perhaps with Liban, 
 the queen of Labraid of the Swift Hand on the Sword, 
 and sister of the water lady Fand^- Now Malory 
 
 Duibne, Hib. Lee. p. 526) to Liban would be ILiwan, which occurs : witness 
 the lake-name ILyn tt-idan in the story of Kulhwch (JR. B. Mab. p. 140). 
 The Latin text of Geoffrey, as edited by San-Marte, calls the same 
 water Linligwan (ix. 7), while the Welsh versions partly agree and partly 
 differ; for one reads {Myv. Arch. ii. 310) ILyn ILivan, while the other 
 has ILyn ILia6n {R. B. Bruts, p. 193) ; and this ILyn lLia6n would in its 
 modern form yield exactly the ILyn ILlon of the latest version of the Triads 
 (iii. 13, 97). On the whole, however, ELiOan or ILiwan seems to be the cor- 
 rect form, supported as it is by the Stagnum Liuan of the Nennian Mirabilia 
 {Nennius <$• Gildas, § 69, p. 76), where the junction of the waters in ques- 
 tion with the Severn is named Operlinnliuan, ' the aber of the pool of 
 Liuan.' Add to this that the commot of ILivon (or ILifon) in Anglesey is 
 called Lywan in the Record of Carnarvon, pp. '45, 51 ; for the passage of 
 ILiwan into ILivan is easy, intervocalic w being usually made into v 
 (written f) in North Wales. L. Morris, in his Celtic Remains, p. 273, gives 
 the commot's name as ILifon or ILiwon ; but, what his authority for the 
 latter may have been, we are not told. He regards the commot as taking 
 its name from a stream called ILivon, which is also the name of a river on the 
 opposite coast of Carnarvonshire. The two ILivons and the ILyn ILiwan 
 above mentioned, probably took their name from one and the same mythic 
 lady, who was in Irish called not only Liban but also Muirgen, meaning 
 Sea-born or Offspring of the Sea. 
 
 ' Triads iii. 13, 97. 
 
 » See p. 103 above ; also the Hib. Lee. p. 351. ' Hib. Lee. p. 463, 
 
362 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. XV. 
 
 makes Dame Liones the owner of a Castle Perilous, 
 hard by the Isle of Avallon, and he also speaks of a 
 country of Liones and a Castle of Liones. This last is 
 spoken of as not far from Tintagel in Cornwall, and the 
 three names of the lady, the castle, and the country are 
 probably not to be severed, though Malory suggests, 
 be it marked, no connection between the lady and the 
 castle or the country. The reason for this is probably to 
 be sought in the fact that he, or the authority he 
 followed, had fixed the Isle of Avallon at Glastonbury ; 
 but from what has already been said, it will be seen that 
 we are warranted in unmooring it and attaching it to 
 the west coast of Cornwall ; there Dame Liones comes 
 readily by her own in a castle and a country of the same 
 name with herself and lying somewhere under the sea 
 between Lundy and the Isles of Scilly. From that 
 mythic land comes Tristram, just as Galahalt, the 
 haute prince, hails from the Far Away Isles, and Lan- 
 celot from the verdant abode of the Lake Lady who 
 was his foster-mother. Without dwelling on the pro- 
 bably extreme antiquity of the myths underlying these 
 romances, one may venture to point out that we seem 
 to have evidence, dating from the early portion of the 
 Roman occupation of this country, to the equation of 
 some such a hero as Tristram or Lancelot with the 
 Heracles of classical mythology ; witness the fact that 
 Ptolemy calls Hartland Point 'HpaKXeovs "A/cpoz;, or the 
 Promontory of Heracles. 
 
 It has been suggested that Gower, regarded as 
 belonging to the other world, may have owed that 
 character to the imagination of those who lived on the 
 southern side of the Severn Sea ; but this fails to explain 
 how Dyved, or the whole south-west corner of Wales, 
 should have also been regarded in the same light. It 
 
Ch. XV.] ISLJSS OF THE DEAD. 363 
 
 is not hard to understand how a wild inhospitable 
 country in the north of the Island, separated as it was 
 from the Brythons by impenetrable forests and lofty 
 mountain ranges, should have come by the character 
 given by Procopius to all the region west of the wall 
 drawn across his Brittia from north to south ^. But if 
 the well-marked natural features of the North fail us in 
 the case of Dyved, we derive a hint from the ancient 
 ' station of Blatobulgium. This name seems, as already 
 hinted (p. 265), to mark the place out as one of the 
 scenes of the Nibelung-like slaughter of the Meal-bag 
 Hall. Blatobulgium is supposed to have been at Mid- 
 dleby Kirk, not far from the river Annan, that is to say, 
 in a district which was probably never inhabited by a 
 Bythonic population. So we take it that ancient Dyved, 
 or the land of the Demetae, was inhabited by a people 
 hostile to those who gave the latter's country the 
 character of being the home of the departed. What 
 formed the boundary between the Demetae, and the 
 Silures is unknown : it may have been a dark forest, 
 or it may have been chiefly a river. The modern map 
 would suggest the Towy; but that river is very pro- 
 bably too far west, at any rate its lower course ; and the 
 Tawy or Tawe, as it is now called, suggests perhaps a 
 more probable boundary, which would obviate the neces- 
 sity of postulating two homes of the departed, or two 
 lands of enchantment, Gower and Djrved, instead of one, 
 namely, the ancient Demetia embracing both. This 
 conjecture is not entirely disposed of, even when we 
 suppose no people north of the Severn Sea to have 
 looked at Gower in the sinister light in which we 
 have surmised (p. 329) the Cornish Bythons to have 
 regarded it. 
 
 » Procopius, ed. Dindorf (Bonn, 1833), ii. 559 (620), 565 (623 C). 
 
364 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. XV. 
 
 A passage in the Black Book poem, mentioned in a 
 previous chapter (p. 60), favours the preference here 
 given to the Tawe. In the dialogue between Gwyn ab 
 Nud and Gwydno Garan-hir, Gwyn addresses Gwydno 
 as follows ^ : — 
 
 ' Hasten to my ridge, the Tavwy abode ; 
 Not the nearest Tavwe name I to thee, 
 But that Tavwe which is the farthest.' 
 
 The mention of Gwyn's dwelling on a ridge reminds 
 one of his fairy castle on Glastonbury Tor; and the 
 association with the river Tavwy of the abode of one 
 who was king of the fairies and frequenter of the field 
 of slaughter, recalls the association of the river Dee with 
 adeva or divinity, namely, Aerven, who interested herself 
 in war and let her ' wizard stream ' annually indicate the 
 fortune of the struggles between the Welsh and the 
 English, according to the side on which the floods en- 
 croached^. .The name Tavwy is pretty certainly the 
 antecedent of the modern Tawy or Tawe ^ on which 
 Swansea stands, called in Welsh Aber Tawe. But 
 whether the river meant in the dialogue was the Tawe 
 or the Devon river Taw, or some other river of similar 
 name, each of them was probably so called by reason of 
 
 ' Evans' Autotype, p. 49b, where the river-name is first written tawuy and 
 then tawue twice. 
 
 2 See Rhys' Celtic Britain, p. 68, and Giraldus' Itin. Kambrioe, ii. 11 
 (P- I39")- 
 
 " The Black Book Tavwy, or Tavwe, cannot be the Towy which was the 
 T(5/3ios of Ptolemy's Geography. The Welsh forms of its name are Tywi and 
 Towy, the latter being the more colloquial, and bearing the same relation to 
 the other as Howel, Owein, and bowyd do to Hywel, Ywein, and bywyd : see 
 Hib. Lee. pp. 63, 162. The elision of the v of Tavwy and Tavwe, to make 
 Tawy and Tawe, has plenty of analogy : witness such words as awyn, ' a rein,' 
 for avwyn (afwyn), from the Latin habena ; and atach, ' edge, sharpness,'' 
 for avwch (afwch). We have possibly a more serious rival of the Tawe in 
 the Devonshire Taw, the Welsh form of whose name is unfortunately 
 unknown to the author. 
 
Ch. XV,] ISLES OF THE DEAD. 365 
 
 the association with it of the abode of Gwyn, king of the 
 fairies. So far then as this goes it favours the fitness, 
 mythologically speaking, of the Tawe, to have formed 
 part of an ancient boundary. 
 
 To these remarks may fittingly be added a word 
 on the Severn in the same capacity of a boundary 
 water. Here our attention is at once challenged 
 by the location on its banks of the home of the 
 Witches and the prison of Mabon son of Modron 
 (p. 294). Both were at Gloucester, called in Welsh 
 Caer Loyw or Loew^, of which the English name 
 is a kind of translation; for it means the Castle of 
 Gloyw ^. In the Brythonic tongue of the close of the 
 Roman occupation, it would have sounded Castra Glevi, 
 which agrees with Glevum ^ as the attested form of the 
 Latin name of the place. By the father of the Witches 
 we are probably to understand no other person than 
 Gloyw: he presumably belonged to the same class of 
 divinities as Gwyn ab Nud, and his name, meaning 
 'bright or shining,' seems to invite comparison with 
 Gwyn's, which meant ' white,' both being contradictory 
 of what one would, perhaps, have expected. The 
 Mabinogi of Pwytt makes Pryderi marry Kigva, grand- 
 daughter of Glo3nv Wattt-lydan *, while Geoffrey of Mon- 
 mouth has identified a Gloyw with Claudius Caesar, and 
 
 ' See pp. 81, 122, 212 above ; also R. B. Mob. p. 310 ; Guest, i. 323. 
 
 ^ The Cair Gloui of Nennius is probably editorial gibberish for Caer 
 Gloiu, where Gloiu would be exactly the old spelling of the Welsh Gloew or 
 Gloyw. The diphthong represented by oi, oe, or oy is one of the regular 
 developments of « in Welsh, somewhat as in French words like loi, rot, and 
 others of the same kind. 
 
 5 See Hubner's Inscrip. Lat. Brit. (vol. vii. of the Berlin Corpus), pp. 29, 
 30, and Inscr. 54. 
 
 * So in the R. B. Mab. p. 25, but elsewhere he is more usually called 
 Gloyw Gwlad-lydan, as for instance in R. B. Bruts, p. 96: the former 
 means Glojrw Broad-hair, while the latter would be Gloyw Broad-realm, 
 or possibly Gloyw Widely-ruling. 
 
366 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. XV. 
 
 the Welsh translations call him Glo3rw throughout^; 
 but the association of the emperor with Gloucester 
 seems to rest on no historical basis, except the finding 
 of many coins of his reign on the spot. Geoffrey further 
 cements a peace, made between Gloyw (Claudius) and 
 the native king Gweiryd^ by giving the latter the 
 former's daughter, called Genuissa*, to wife; but the 
 name Gweiryd is probably but another form of Gwri, 
 one of Pryderi's names *. So Geoffrey's is only another 
 version of the story of Pryderi marrying a grand- 
 daughter of Gloyw Wattt-lydan. The mythic element still 
 further betrays itself in his narrative, when it describes 
 Gweiryd helping to bring Orkney and the other islands 
 into subjection to Gloyw (Claudius), and also when on 
 
 ' See Geoffrey, iv. 13-16, R. B. Bruts, pp. 94-8, and the Myv. Arch. ii. 
 187-194. 
 
 ^ It is right to say that the name Gweiryd does not occur in the Latin 
 text, which has that of Arviragus instead : for this last it cites from the 
 fourth satire of Juvenal the passage, U. 126-7 ■ — 
 
 ' Regem aliquem capies, aut de temone Britanno 
 Excidet Arviragus.' 
 
 ' So in San-Marte's Latin text, but the Red Book (R. B. Bruts, p. 96} has 
 GOenwissa, and the Myv. Arch. ii. 191, Gennylles. 
 
 * R. B. Mab. pp. 21, 24 ; Guest, iii. 65, 69, Gwri was called in full Gwri 
 WaKt-euryn, or G. of the Golden Hair, while the Welsh versions of Geoffrey 
 give Gweiryd' an obscure epithet : the Red Book Geoffrey seems to make it 
 AdarweindaCc, or AdarweindaCt {R. B. Bruts, pp. 94, 97), while the Myv. 
 Arch, gives the vaxidints gweryd adar weudawt and adarweinidaCc (ii. 188-9). 
 What must be the same name occurs in the Kulhwch as gCeir dathar wen- 
 nidaCc and gweir dathar wenidaCc {R. B. Mab. pp. no, 112), but it is equally 
 obscure. On the whole, the name may, perhaps, be supposed to have been 
 Gweiry^Cor Gweir) Adarweinidawc, meaning 'Gweiryd" who is the servant of 
 birds,' or possibly 'Gweiryd" who has birds as servants.' In either case, the 
 person in question would seem to equate not only with Pryderi but with 
 Urban of the Black Thorn, as to whose birds see p. 258. Pryderi, by 
 being named Gwri Wattt-euryn, looks as if he bore the name of one of his 
 mother's birds, the famous Birds of Rhiannon. It is these birds, probably, 
 that sometimes appear in modern Wales as embodiments of angels attending 
 on good men, and answering to the call of ' Wryd, Wryd ! ' For an in- 
 stance in point, see a story contributed by the author to the Cymmrodor, 
 vi. 170. 
 
Ch. XV.] ISLES OF THE DEAD. 367 
 
 one occasion it makes Gweiryd send his soldiers to pass 
 the winter in Ireland. For, after what has already been 
 said, the Hadesian interpretation of the allusion to the 
 islands need not be discussed any further. Let the 
 remark suffice, that even as the importance of Glevum 
 to the Romans belonged to the time before they had 
 obtained possession of Isca Silurum, so Caer Loyw pro- 
 bably marks a boundary of much earlier importance to 
 the Celts than any spot near the Tawe. In a word, the 
 Severn and the Tawe maybe taken as marking successive 
 stages in the westward march of the Celtic settlers. 
 
 Before closing this chapter we return for a moment to 
 the superstitious behefs attaching to the islands lying 
 near Britain, and the fact of their association with the 
 dark divinities and the dead; so we append, to the 
 remarks already made on that subject, the words of a 
 writer who lived in the first century of our era. We 
 allude to Plutarch, whose words are to the following 
 effect 1 :— 
 
 'Demetrius further said, that of the islands around 
 Britain many lie scattered about uninhabited, of which 
 
 » The author has to thank Mr. Farnell of Exeter College for kindly calling 
 his attention to the passage. The text, as printed in the Didot Edition of 
 Plutarch, vol. iii. p. 511 {De Defedu Oraculorum, xviij.), runs as follows :— 
 
 •O S^ Aij^ijTpios tijyt], TUiv irepl rfjV Bperraviav vrjaaiv ehai iroWds kprn^ovs^ 
 airopiSas, Siv hlas dcu/iSvav xat ^piiav 6voii&Cea9af irKedffai Si airds taropias sat 
 fl^as %veKa, mix-n% toS 0a<rtKia,s, (Is tt)v ^7710-70 Kfi,ifvr,v tSiv hp'qp.wv, tx'n'aav ov 
 TToWiois iiroiKOvvras, hpois Si nal a.ai\ovs irAvras twb rffic BpiTTavZv ovras- 
 a<piicoiiivov 5' avTOV veaarl, avix^aiv ^i.eya\riv irepl Toi/ aipa nal Sioar,p.iUis mWds 
 yeviaSai, ml mfvixara KaTa^pa-/rjvai Kal inauv irp^arfipas. "EireJ 8" iXii<i>pC€, 
 Kiyeiv Toi>s V7)(IiijTas, on tSiv icpeiaa&vav Tivhs ^icK€u/,is yiyovev. 'Cls yap Kix-^os 
 di/aTTTd/^eros, ,p&vai, Stivbv oiSiv ^X", a0€vi,i^ivos Si mhXoTs \v:rr,p6s ianv 
 oiVcus al liiyAXm r/^vxal tAs p.if &vdK6i.i4us (i^ivHs Kal &Xinovs Ix'""""'^ <" 5« 
 aBiaus aiTwy «ai <peopal noWim, ,J.\v, 0,1 vvvl, ^viip.o.-va. ml (AXas rp^^ovai, 
 iroXX&ms Si Xap^ucots ^aB^a, rov d^pa ,pappArrova,v. 'E«u ^ivroi ^lav (ivm 
 vrjaoy iv S r&v Kp6vov KoBupx^ai <l,povpoii^iyov inb rov Bpiip^o^ mSiiiSovra- 
 S,ap^v yAp avr$ rbv Uvoy i^^Mxavv-recu, iroK\oi,s 8^ ir.pl airbv (Ivai Sa^i^ovos 
 6ira8oi« Kal Bipi-tiovras. 
 
368 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. XV. 
 
 some are named after deities and heroes. He told 
 us also, that, being sent by the emperor with the 
 object of reconnoitring and inspecting, he went to 
 the island which lay nearest to those uninhabited, 
 and found it occupied by few inhabitants, who were, 
 however, sacrosanct and inviolable in the eyes of the 
 Britons. Soon after his arrival a great disturbance of 
 the atmosphere took place, accompanied by many por- 
 tents, by the winds bursting forth into hurricanes, and by 
 fiery bolts falling. When it was over, the islanders said 
 that some one of the mighty had passed away. For as 
 a lamp on being lit, they said, brings with it no danger, 
 while on being extinguished it is grievous to many, just 
 so with regard to great souls, their beginning to shine 
 forth is pleasant and the reverse of grievous, whereas the 
 extinction and destruction of them frequently disturb the 
 winds and the surge as at present ; oftentimes also do 
 they infect the atmosphere with pestilential diseases. 
 Moreover there is there, they said, an island in which 
 Cronus is imprisoned with Briareus keeping guard over 
 him as he sleeps ; for, as they put it, sleep is the bond 
 forged for Cronus. They add that around him are many 
 deities, his henchmen and attendants.' 
 
 The last words of this passage remind us of many 
 a Welsh shepherd's vision of Arthur and his Men dozing 
 away in a cave until the peal of destiny ring them forth 
 to the field of battle. The more important parallel, how- 
 ever, is the one which may be drawn between the 
 slumbering Cronus as here described, and the owner of 
 the Holy Grail, who under the name of Bron dwells in 
 one of those ' isles of Erinn,' or Merhn with his bardic 
 satellites entering the Glass House in Bardsey, never 
 more to appear among men. This brief story of Deme- 
 trius might serve as the text for a dissertation on 
 
Ch. XV.] JSLES OF THE DEAD. 369 
 
 the ancient mythology of the British Isles, but we shall 
 be content to advert only to the sacredness of the persons 
 of the dwellers in the small isles of the sea near, our 
 shores. This is paralleled by what Pomponius Mela ^ 
 has left on record as to the inhabitants of the islands on 
 the coast of Brittany, and it discloses a motive which 
 may possibly have been present to the early recluses, 
 who were fond of withdrawing to the islands ; for it is 
 not wholly improbable, that some of them expected to 
 derive advantage from the wall of inviolability which the 
 pagans of former ages had built round the person of the 
 islander. At any rate, it would be hazardous to treat 
 that consideration as a quantite mgligeahle before the 
 sanguinary advent of the Norsemen ; and it lends some 
 countenance to our conjecture, expressed elsewhere^ 
 td the following effect : — ' Irish druidism absorbed a cer- 
 tain amount of Christianity ; and it would be a problem 
 of considerable difficulty to fix on the point where it 
 ceased to be druidism, and from which onwards it could 
 be said to be Christianity in any restricted sense of that 
 term.' This has been characterized^ as an extreme 
 view, but, after toning it down a little, we should be 
 disposed to extend it so as to take in the Celts not 
 only of Ireland, but of Britain too. 
 
 ' Frick's edition, chap. iii. 48 ; see also Vigfusson and Powell's Corpus Pod. 
 Boreale, i. 121, and the Hib. Lee. pp. 195-9. 
 
 " Hib. Lee. p. 224. 
 
 ^ By Mr. Newell in his Saint Pattick (in the S. P. C. K. series entitled 
 ' The Fathers for English Readers'). P- 221. 
 
 Bb 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Great Britain and Little Britain. 
 
 The question how the stories about Arthur and his 
 men reached the Normans is one of considerable diffi- 
 culty; and perhaps we could not do better than give 
 here a summary of the principal views concerning it. 
 Let us take first that of M. Gaston Paris, as expressed 
 in the thirtieth volume of the History of French Litera- 
 ture^. According to M. Paris, the appearance of these 
 stories in a French dress belongs to a period com- 
 prising a little more than a century : it began about the 
 middle of the 12th century, and ended before the close 
 of the ensuing one. This species of French litera- 
 ture has been known in France as 'la matiere de 
 Bretagne/ a term which he construes with exclusive 
 reference to Great Britain and not to Little Britain 
 or Brittany, as we now more briefly call the country of 
 our Armorican kindred. It was, he thinks, as one of 
 the results of the conquests of the Normans in Wales, 
 that lays and stories devoted to Arthurian themes 
 reached the Continent ; and it was only after these had 
 stimulated the literary appetite of France, and, through 
 it, that of cultured Europe generally, that Brittany 
 began to be invited to contribute her share of the enter- 
 tainment. But there is no reason to believe that the 
 lays and stories in question found their way aU of 
 
 ' Histoire UtUraire de la France, xxx. (Paris, 1888), more especially pp. 
 
 1-22. 
 
Ch. XVI.] BRITAIN AND LITTLE BRITAIN. 371 
 
 a sudden into French literature : they must have been, 
 so to say, in the air some time before the middle of the 
 I2th century. The foUovsring consideration with regard 
 to Geoffrey of Monmouth favours this vievsr: Geoffrey 
 published his Historia Regum Britannice about 1136; 
 and, written as it was in Latin, it was soon translated 
 into French ; nevertheless, it exercised very little 
 influence on the materials which went into the fabric 
 of the romances. Thus it may be inferred that they 
 were even then so popular and so widely known, that 
 Geoffrey's more ambitious efforts were powerless to 
 affect them to any extent worth mentioning. At any 
 rate, in 1155 Wace published a rhymed translation of 
 Geoffrey's Historia under the name of le Roman de 
 Brut, or the Story of Brutus, and from divers passages 
 in it we perceive, that there was even then a great 
 embarras de richesse in the matter of fables about 
 Arthur. Wace in fact tells his readers, that the fableor 
 or story-tellers had so elaborated their stories about 
 Arthur that they had succeeded in making even what 
 might be true seem to be of their own fabling. This 
 raises the question who the story-tellers were : M. 
 Gaston Paris believes that they were Welshmen, and 
 he goes so far as to mention reasons for his belief, that 
 Welshmen of this class had been in the habit of crossing 
 the boundary into England even before the Norman 
 Conquest; and after that event it was not long, he thinks, 
 before they found their way to the Continent, to 
 pursue their profession there at the courts, great and 
 small, of the north of France. 
 
 One class of these wandering professionals sang 
 their lais Bretons, which, M. Paris says, consisted 
 of pieces of music accompanied with words. So a 
 Welshman might compare them in that respect to the 
 
 B b 2 
 
372 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. XVI. 
 
 Penittion Singing which still lingers at the Eistedvod in 
 Wales, and has the characteristic that the accompani- 
 ment is not the music but the verse. Though the 
 music of the lays discussed by M. Paris formed their 
 chief characteristic, the words were not without their 
 importance, and those who did not understand them 
 required to be told what they meant. Thus it was the 
 first French versions destined to be the materials of 
 the lays in their French form came into existence, to 
 wit, through the instrumentality of the minstrels them- 
 selves. How these last acquitted themselves in their 
 efforts to write French we have no means of judging, 
 as we have nothing to go by except the lais bretons in 
 their French form, of which French literature boasts 
 a considerable wealth. They usually refer to some 
 story of love or misfortune, but they retain no trace 
 of the music. They consist nearly all of rhyming 
 couplets of eight syllables a line. This, however, does 
 not mark the end of the French development, for the 
 lays and the stories in prose served as the materials, 
 which, according to M. Paris, the romancers used in the 
 composition of their poems. Far the most important 
 of the romancers was Chretien de Troyes, whose 
 earliest productions date somewhat before the middle of 
 the i2th century. He has not only left us the largest 
 number of rhymed romances, but his style of work 
 soon became the model and standard for all the sub- 
 sequent romancers. Speaking of the romances gener- 
 ally, and especially with regard to their groundwork, 
 M. Paris divides them into two classes, namely, bio- 
 graphic and episodic. The biographic romance is a 
 poem pieced together by means of the various lays 
 and tales relating to a single hero, whose life is thus 
 more or less continuously described from his birth or. 
 
Ch. XVI.] BRITAIN AND LITTLE BRITAIN. 373 
 
 at least, from his appearance at Arthur's court to the 
 day of his death : such are the romances of Durmart, 
 Guinglain and Meriadeuc. The romances of the other 
 class restrict themselves to episodes in the life of cer- 
 tain knights, of whom the favourite in this respect was 
 Gauvain (Gwalchmei) ; and it is needless to say that on 
 the whole these romances are shorter than the biographic 
 ones. Like the lays, the romances, without distinction 
 of class, consist as a rule of rh3miing couplets of octosyl- 
 labic lines, and they were intended to be read, not sung. 
 To return to the lais bretons, they were, as already 
 hinted, not the only channels through which M. Paris 
 makes the stories of Wales reach the Normans, whether 
 in England or on the Continent ; for Wace and others 
 give ample proofs in their poems, that Brythonic story- 
 tellers were busy at work at all the courts where a 
 cultured society was found willing to listen to them. 
 The name of the most famous has been identi- 
 fied by M. Paris in two authors; for Giraldus Cam- 
 brensis^ describes him as 'famosus ille fabulator 
 Bledhericus, qui tempora nostra paulo prasvenit.' His 
 name was therefore Bledri, or more correctly speaking 
 Bledri, which one readily recognizes in the French 
 forms of Bleri or Breri in the following passage in the 
 fragmentary romance of Tristan by a certain Thomas, 
 who, according to M. Paris, wrote in England about 
 the year 11 70: — 
 
 'Entre eels qui solent cunter 
 
 E del cunte Tristran. parler, 
 
 II en cuntent diversement, 
 
 Oi en ai de plusur gent ; 
 
 Asez sal que chescun en dit, 
 
 Et 90 qu'il unt mis en escrit. 
 
 Mes sulum 90 que j'ai 01 
 
 • Descriptio Kambrue, i. 17. 
 
374 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. XVIt 
 
 Nel dient pas sulum Breri, 
 Ky solt les gestes e les cuntes 
 De toz les reis, de toz les cuntes 
 Ki orent este en Bretaingne.' 
 
 Such are the views held by M. Gaston Paris as to 
 the origin of the Arthurian romances ; but very different 
 ones have lately been put forward by Prof Foerster in 
 the introduction to his recently published edition of 
 Chretien's Erec and at greater length by Prof. Zimmer^ 
 Without going into details, let it suffice to say, that, on 
 the negative side, the latter challenges the production 
 of any evidence to show, that Welsh bards or minstrels 
 used to sing to the Saxons in England before the 
 Norman Conquest, or even after that event to either 
 Normans or Saxons at a time early enough for the 
 purpose of M. Paris' argument^. He contends that the 
 term 'lais bretons' and 'la matiere de Bretagne' had 
 nothing to do with Wales, but everything with the 
 Bretons and Brittany. Then as to the lays and the ro- 
 mances, and the suggestion that the latter are derived 
 from the former, he denies it, partly because neither he 
 nor Foerster knows of any lays which can be said to have 
 been originally Arthurian ; partly also — and this brings 
 us to the positive side of Zimmer's contention — because 
 he is convinced that the romances were based on stories 
 in prose rather than verse. He even goes so far as 
 to call attention to what he considers an ancient and 
 far-reaching distinction between Celts and Teutons, 
 
 ' His researches are to be found in this year's Gottingische geUhrte Anzeigen, 
 pp. 488-528, being a review of Mr. Nutt's Studies on the Legend of the Holy 
 Grail, and pp. 785-832, being a review of M. Paris' contribution to the 30th 
 vol. of the Hist. lit. de la France ; but the latter article is finished in another 
 publication, called the Zeitschriftfiirfransosische Sprache und Litieratur (edited 
 by KOrting and Koschwitz at Oppeln and Leipsic), pp. 231-56. 
 
 ^ The nearest approach to such evidence in Welsh is, perhaps, the case 
 of the minstrel mentioned in the Mabinogi of Math, and brought before the 
 reader at p. 288 above. 
 
Ch. XVI.] BRITAIN AND LITTLE BRITAIN. 375 
 
 namely, that while the Teutonic way of dealing with 
 the heroic was to express it in the form of an epic 
 poem, the Celtic ideal was that of an epic story in 
 prose. To suit the Norman the Celtic originals had 
 not only to be translated into his language, but also 
 transformed into the epic form of his predilection. The 
 versification was his own business, or ' that of his 
 French neighbours; but the translation was quite a 
 different matter belonging to an antecedent stage, and 
 this is believed by Zimmer to have been gradually 
 done, in the first instance, by the Bretons of the eastern 
 portion of Brittany when they gave up their own 
 Brythonic speech to adopt Norman French in its 
 stead, and when their nobles became dependent on 
 Normandy. 
 
 Accordingly Dr. Zimmer lays great emphasis on the 
 difference between the Arthur of the romances, whom 
 he tries to trace to Breton sources, and the Welsh 
 Arthur whom Nennius, for instance, mentions hunting 
 the Porcus Troit^. This, however, does not go quite 
 far enough, as the role he assigns to the Normanized 
 Bretons of east Brittany does not exclude the Welsh 
 from playing a similar role with regard to the Normans 
 later, namely, after the advent of the latter into 
 Wales: witness the case of the Welshman Bledri. 
 The twofold Brythonic origin of the romances makes 
 itself perceptible in a way which the readers of these 
 chapters may have already noticed, especially in the 
 matter of proper names. Looked at from our point of 
 view, the latter divide themselves into two groups: — 
 
 ' When Zimmer says in the Gott. g. Am. p. 522, that Nennius' Troit is 
 regular, as to consonants and vowels, for the Trwyth of later Welsh, that 
 is so far from being correct that the later form should be not Trwyth, but 
 Trwyd, which in fact occurs. So one may, perhaps, compare the name 
 Twrch Trwyd with Cormac's Ore Treith. 
 
376 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. XVI. 
 
 1. Well-known names like Gauvain and Modred^, the 
 forms of which do not admit of being explained as 
 the result of misreading or miscopying of Welsh 
 originals: they may be the French forms which 
 the Normanizing Bretons gave them— without the 
 direct intervention of scribes or literary men of any 
 kind— when they adopted French as their language. 
 
 2. Names like Gonemans, Bron, and Palomydes, 
 together with place-names like Aroie, which readily 
 admit of being explained from Welsh originals: 
 these mostly belong to the romances more or less 
 closely connected with the story of the Holy Grail, 
 which itself we have endeavoured to trace to Welsh 
 sources. This opens up a new and difficult question, 
 which may be confidently left to future research. 
 
 When the prose story is regarded as the epic form 
 preferred by the ancient Celts, it is by no means meant 
 that verse was excluded : the contrary is frequently 
 found to have been the case, as they were very fond 
 of relieving the heavy march of the prose narrative 
 with the livelier canter of lyric poetry. The epic story, 
 loosely strung together as it was, admitted of this readily 
 enough, but when the verses are found to make up 
 in point of quantity a considerable portion of the 
 narrative, it may prove difficult to decide whether the 
 story was originally all in verse or not. This would 
 
 ' But when Dr. Zimmer builds repeatedly, as, for instance, in the Gott. g. 
 Am., p. 527, on the supposition that Ouein or Owein takes the place in Welsh 
 of Eugein or Ywein after the year 982, as though the latter in the form Ywain 
 were not still a Welsh name to be set over against the Breton Yvain, 
 one can only say that he has not observed the facts ; and when, after 
 dealing with an oversight of ours as to its etymology, he suggests, ib. p. 
 818, that it is but the Greek-Latin Eugenius, we may say that idea is by no 
 means new to us. We must, however, confess that we have never felt 
 so certain as Zimmer does, as to the phonological possibility of deriving 
 Ywain from Eugenius, 
 
Ch. XVI.] BRITAIN AND LITTLE BRITAIN. 377 
 
 apply, perhaps, to some Irish tales and in Welsh to the 
 History of Taliessin ; but not to the oldest Welsh stories 
 known as the Four Branches of the Mabinogi'^. One 
 or two of them contain a few verses, and the story of 
 Kulhwch and Olwen is not without an instance, which, 
 as we wish to say something concerning this kind of 
 Welsh poetry, may be here cited. It refers to Kei 
 returning from a successful quest and presenting Arthur 
 with a trophy consisting of the beard of a giant called 
 Dittus ^ : Kei represented the giant to have been shaved 
 with wooden razors whilst he was still alive, so Arthur 
 drove Kei into great rage by singing the following 
 englyn on the occasion : — 
 
 ' KynnHyuan aoruc kei. 
 O uaryf dittus uab eurei. 
 Pei iacli dy angheu uydei.' 
 
 The leash made by thee, O Kei, 
 Of Dittus, son of EvreHs beard. 
 Were he alive, thy death would he. 
 
 A late Triad attributes to Arthur another englyn about 
 his knights, as follows ^ : — 
 
 ' Sef yw : vyn tri chatuarchawc 
 Mened. a ttud tturugawc. 
 A cholovyn kymry karadawc. ' 
 
 These my war-knights, three in number, 
 Mened and ILiif Mail-wearer, 
 And Caradog Cambria'' s pillar. 
 
 As a longer specimen of the same metre, may be 
 mentioned the englynion forming the dialogue between 
 
 ' The author's theory as to the meaning and proper use of the words 
 Mahinogi and Mabinogion, as set forth in his preface to the Oxford text of 
 the Red Book Mabinogion, is adopted by Zimmer in the Gott. g. Am., 
 pp. 512-5, where he accuses M. Loth of using in his French version, 
 entitled Les Mabinogion, that term in all the misleading senses which 
 inaccurate writers have succeeded in associating with it. 
 
 ' R. B. Mab. p. 133 ; Guest, ii. 304. 
 
 ' R. B. Mab. p. 308 ; Myv. Arch. ii. ai (Triad ii. 57). 
 
378 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. XVI. 
 
 Arthur and Gwenhwyvar, cited in an early chapter (pp. 
 57, 8). A similar string of englynion is that of a dialogue 
 between Arthur and the Eagle into which Arthur's 
 nephew Eliwlod had been transformed when he died. 
 The Eagle, however, does not relate a story but girds 
 himself to the saintlier task of giving Arthur various 
 pieces of moral advice. A better instance, in point of 
 matter and action, is a dialogue between Gwalchmei and 
 Drystan (Tristram) in a scene like the meeting of Gwal- 
 chmei with Peredur, when the latter had half-killed Kei 
 (p. 82), only that in the verses Tristram takes the place 
 occupied by Peredur in the story called after that knight. 
 We are not concerned here with the question of the 
 origin of the story, but in passing we wish to refer to 
 the statement frequently made, that Tristram never had 
 anything to do with Arthur originally. That, no doubt, 
 is the impression left on one's mind by the way in which 
 Malory tries to bring Tristram in contact with Arthur ; 
 but those who absolutely sever Arthur and Tristram, 
 ought to tell us what to make of the Triad which 
 mentions Tristram watching the swine of March ab 
 Meirchion, with Arthur trying by fair means and foul 
 to obtain possession of some of their number^. The 
 scribe or scribes who gave the Triad its present form 
 were capable of a good deal of muddling, but we are 
 sceptical as to their power of absolutely inventing. To 
 return to the dialogue, the following are some of the 
 triplets ^ : — 
 
 ' Gwalchmei. 
 
 Trystan gyfaiff rhianetf, 
 
 Cyn mynd yngwaith gorfed, 
 
 Goreu dim yw tangnefeff.' 
 
 ' ^. B. Mab. p. 307 ; Myv. Arch. ii. 6, 20, 73 (Triads i. 30, ii. 56, iii. loi). 
 " From the Myv. Arch. i. 178, 9. 
 
iCH. XVI.] BRITAIN AND LITTLE BRITAIN. 
 
 Drystan, the friend of the fair. 
 Before thou go to the grave 
 The best of all things is peace. 
 
 ' Drystan. 
 O caf fy nghled ar fy nghlun, 
 Am Itaw deau i 'm diifyn, 
 Ai gwaeth finneu nag undyn?' 
 If my sword he at my side, 
 And my right hand me defend, 
 Must I yield to other men f 
 
 ' GWALCHMEI. 
 
 Trystan gynnetffau eglur, 
 Cyn cynnaws ffiaws ttafur, 
 Na wrthod yn gar Arthur.' 
 
 Drystan of noble qualities. 
 
 Ere thou hast many a hardship. 
 
 Refuse not Arthur's friendship. 
 
 ' Drystan. 
 Gwalchmai o honot y pwyttaf, 
 Ag om pen y ttafuriaf : 
 Fal i'm carer y caraf.' 
 
 Gwalchmei, 'tis of thee I think. 
 My brain's labour is of thee : 
 I will love as one loves me. 
 
 ' Gwalchmei. 
 Trystan gynnedfau blaengar, 
 Gorwlychyd cafod cann dar : 
 Tyred i ymweled ath gar.' 
 
 Drystan of prime qualities, 
 The rain wets a hundred oaks: 
 Come with me to see thy friend. 
 
 ' Drystan. 
 
 Gwalchmai attebion , 
 
 Gorwlychyd cafod cann rhych : 
 Minneu af ir lie mynnych.' 
 
 Gwalchmai of replies. 
 
 Rain wets a hundred furrows : 
 IVhither thou wilt, will I go. 
 
 379 
 
380 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. XVI. 
 
 Gwalchmei then leads Drystan to Arthur, and the 
 conversation proceeds as follows : — 
 
 ' Gwalchmei. 
 Arthur attebion cymmen, 
 Gorwlychyd cafod cann penn : 
 ILyma Drystan byS lawen.' 
 
 Arthur of the neat replies. 
 
 The rain wets a hundred heads: 
 
 Here is Drystan, now rejoice. 
 
 ' Arthur. 
 Gwalchmai attebion difai, 
 Gorwlychyd cafod cann tai : 
 Croesaw wrth Drystan fy Nai.' 
 
 Gwalchmei of blameless replies. 
 The rain wets a hundred roofs: 
 Welcome is Drystan my Nephew. 
 
 We have quoted this dialogue at so great a length in 
 order to call attention to a very common feature of 
 Welsh verse of the kind, and one which to our mind 
 proves that it was to be sung to music, probably that of 
 the harp : it is the fact, that the sense intended to be 
 sustained is left to be conveyed by the last line of every 
 triplet. The other two may help, but it is not necessary 
 they should ; so the action of the little drama is almost 
 confined to the hues : — 
 
 G. The best of all things is peace. 
 D. Must I yield to other men? 
 G. Refuse not Arthur's friendship. 
 D. I will love as one loves me. 
 G. Come with me to see thy friend. 
 D. Whither thou wilt, will I go. 
 G. Here is Drystan, now rejoice. 
 A. Welcome is Drystan my nephew. 
 
 In the first two verses of the triplet, the voice of the 
 singer and the music of the harp may have played at a 
 game of baffling each other over otiose epithets or com- 
 
Ch. XVI.] BRITAIN AND LITTLE BRITAIN. 381 
 
 monplaces about rain or snow, or anything else to which 
 the whim of the poet chose to resort ; but unless the 
 singer succeeded in making his words clearly intelligible 
 in the last line, he probably forfeited the attention of his 
 audience, just as a Penittion Singer would nowadays 
 not fail to do at an Eistedvod. 
 
 It is right to say that except the rare triplets in the 
 Welsh stories to which reference has been made, none 
 of those mentioned or cited by us are known to occur 
 in ancient manuscripts. On the other hand, it is to 
 be noticed that others of the same kind do so occur. 
 For instance, the Red Book contains a large number of 
 them, several series of which form dialogues. They are 
 well represented also in the Black Book of Carmarthen, 
 from which some have been cited, especially from the 
 dialogue between Gwyn ab Nud and Gwydno Garan-hir 
 (pp. 155, 364), and that is not the only dialogue of the 
 kind in that manuscript. The same is also the metre of 
 most of the Englynion of the Graves in the Black Book. 
 Many triplets, both in the Black Book and the Red, could 
 be produced to illustrate the comparative importance of 
 the third line, as indicated in connection with the Drystan 
 dialogue. It is remarkable, however, that hardly any 
 instances of this metre occur in the Book of Aneurin 
 or that of Taliessin, both manuscripts belonging to 
 the 13th century. The official bards were inclined 
 to cultivate more difficult metres, stricter rhymes, and 
 greater obscurity of speech, while the triplet in its 
 commonest form was simple, smooth, and intelligible. 
 It was, therefore, probably popular, and, in the case of 
 the dialogue form which it affected, it must have been 
 attended with the dramatic effect of a rudimentary 
 opera. 
 
 In its simplest form, the triplet consists of lines of 
 
38:? ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. XVI. 
 
 seven syllables each, but eight occasionally occur. In 
 the instances quoted the three lines rhyme, and this 
 appears to have been the more common form; but it 
 was by no means obligatory, for we find that the first 
 or second line does not always rhyme. Lastly, it is not 
 uncommon here and there among triplets to find stanzas 
 of four or more hnes, as in the • following from the 
 Englynion of the Graves ^ : — 
 
 ' E beteu ynhir vynyt. 
 yn llvyr y guyr lluossit. 
 bet gvryen gvrhyd enguav/. 
 a llvytawc uab lliwelit.' 
 
 The graves on the Long Mountain ', 
 Well do multitudes know them — 
 The grave of Gwrien fatned in war, 
 And ILwydawg son of ILywely^. 
 
 Here the fourth line contains an assonance with the 
 last syllable of the third line, and two similar stanzas 
 occur in the body of the Mabinogi of Math ab 
 Mathonwy, together with another stanza of the same 
 kind, except that the four lines end in a common rhyme ^. 
 There are other variations, which require, however, no 
 special mention ; and all the englynion of three or four 
 lines to which we have thus far called attention may, 
 roughly speaking, be characterized as parisyllabic. 
 
 We now come to a species which is regularly impari- 
 syllabic ; for in this case the stanza consists of a line of 
 nine or ten syllables followed by one of six and that by one 
 line (or two) of seven or eight. The one coincides with 
 the four-lined englyn which is popular in modern Welsh, 
 but the other represents the more ancient form, falhng, 
 as.it does, under the wider description of a triplet. It has 
 
 ' Evans' Aut. Facsimile, p. 33 b. 
 ' Can this be the Longmynd ? 
 ' See the Hib. Lee. p. 399. 
 
Ch. XVI.] BRITAIN AND LITTLE BRITAIN. 383 
 
 the peculiarity, that of the nine or ten syllables of the 
 first line, one, two, or even three are considered 
 hypermetric : most commonly in old Welsh the excess, 
 or gair cyrch as it is called, is one word of two 
 syllables, which may or may not be supported by an 
 assonance in the short Hne. In writing modern Welsh, 
 the gair cyrch is separated from the rest of the Une by 
 a — , which has no reference to the sense. Now, 
 leaving the gair cyrch out of consideration, this kind of 
 triplet follows, in the matter of rhyme, much the 
 same rules as the parisyllabic one, as will be seen 
 from the following specimen from the Gwyn-Gwydno 
 dialogue, where Gwyn describes himself thus ^ : — 
 
 ' Mi awum lie lias milvir — pridem. 
 
 or duyrein ir gogleA 
 
 Mi. wi. wiw. vintev. y. het' 
 I have been where fell the soldiers of Britain, 
 
 From the east to the north: 
 I am the escort of the grave. 
 
 Here the first line of the triplet does not rhyme with 
 the other two, as the words in question are milvir, goglet, 
 het ; but the hypermetric word pridein has an assonance 
 in duyrein in the short line. In the next instance to 
 be cited the three fines rhyme, but the gair cyrch has 
 no echo in the short line ^ : — 
 
 ' Niguorcosam nemheunaur — henoid 
 
 Mitelu nit gurmaur 
 Mi amfranc dam ancalaur.' 
 No maenawr do I possess (?) to-night 
 My household is not too large— 
 My Frank and I round our cauldron. 
 
 This is the first of three englynion of this kind in the 
 9th century manuscript of the Juvencus Paraphrase 
 
 1 Evans' Aut. Facsimile, p. 50 b. The — is ours, and the Italics are meant 
 to call attention to the rhymes and assonances. 
 
384 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. XVI. 
 
 in the University Library at Cambridge^. It contains 
 
 also nine others of a rehgious nature, among which 
 
 the following occurs : — 
 
 'Gur dicones reinedau[t] — elbid 
 
 Anguorit anguoraut 
 Niguru gnim molim trinta[ut].' 
 
 He who made the wonder of the world — 
 
 He who saved us — will save us: 
 No hard work to praise the Trinity. 
 
 This is not the place to point out the various ways in 
 which alliteration and assonance have been elaborated 
 in Welsh verse since the 9th century; but we may 
 remark that the long line and the short one taken 
 together are known in Welsh as the paladr, 'shaft or 
 spear,' of the englyn. The latter word, englyn, was 
 loosely used formerly in Welsh to signify any short 
 stanza marked off by the rhyme, the music or the 
 sense as complete in itself: it seems to mean what is 
 ' connected or joined ' together. Both the engl3Ti of 
 four lines and that of three are metrically speaking 
 composite metres, the latter being made up of a paladr, 
 and a hne added to make it a triplet. This may, 
 perhaps, be regarded as the outcome of the same 
 tendency which made Triads once the fashion in Welsh : 
 in the Triad we have the number three applied to the 
 subject-matter, and in the triplet to the metrical form. 
 At any rate, the couplet with the gair cyrch seems to 
 date far earlier than the 9th century triplet ; for we detect 
 it in an epitaph which Hiibner^ places in the earliest 
 group of our post- Roman inscriptions, supposed by him 
 
 ' This and the following englyn are printed here from Skene's Four Anc. 
 Books of Wales, ii. i, 2. They are very obscure, and the translation is only 
 tentative. 
 
 ^ See his Inscripttones BrUannioe Christiame, No. 131 (p. 46) ; also his 
 chronological classification, pp. xx, xxi. 
 
Ch. XVI.] BRITAIN AND LITTLE BRITAIN. 385 
 
 to belong to the 5th or the 6th century. It occurs on 
 a stone at a place called Lech Idris, between Trawsfynyd 
 and Dolgettey in Merioneth, and reads as follows :— 
 
 ' PORIVS 
 HIC IN TVMVLO lACIT 
 HOMO XP/5yiANVS FVIT ' 
 
 The position of the name Porius on the stone becomes 
 at once intelligible when the epitaph is written after the 
 fashion of the paladr of an englyn, with ivs and ian 
 reckoned as one syllable each, thus :— 
 
 'Hie in tumulo iaciV— Poriws 
 Homo Christianas fu«V.' 
 
 One may compare with it the first two lines of one of 
 the 9th century triplets already cited :— 
 
 ' Gur dicones remedaw^— elbid 
 Anguorit anguoraw/.' 
 
 Or take those of the one previously cited from the 
 same manuscript : — 
 
 ' Niguorcosam nemheunawr — henoid 
 Mitelu nit gurmowr.' 
 
 The metre is much the same in the three instances, 
 but neither elbid nor henoid has an assonance in the next 
 line, which is the case, however, with Pori^^s and Chris- 
 tianas. This may be a mere accident, but it is to be 
 noticed that it sometimes occurs in Welsh triplets, as 
 for example in the one last quoted from the Black 
 Book : — 
 
 ' Mi awum He lias milvir — pridem. 
 or duyrein ir goglet.' 
 
 Or 'take the following from the Red Book, as an 
 instance where there is also rhyme : — 
 
 ' ILuest gatwattawn ar ffynnawn — uetwyr. 
 rac Tniluiyr magei dawn.' 
 c c 
 
386 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [^h. XVI. 
 
 It has been rendered thus ^ : — 
 
 Cadwallawn encamped by the well 
 
 Of Bedwyrj before soldiers he cherished virtue. 
 
 We abstain from any remarks on the nature of such 
 a metre as that of the Porius epitaph or the possibility 
 of its being derived from a Latin origin. We are only 
 concerned with it as a proof, that verse-making was 
 practised in Wales at an early date, and as one of the 
 metres used in the triplet. With regard to the triplet 
 generally, the sum and substance of what need here 
 be said is, that it was employed for lyric poetry and 
 that as such it might be introduced at will into epic 
 story. 
 
 The kind of lyric verse which was popular among the 
 Welsh and woven into their oldest stories has now 
 been sufficiently illustrated, and we only wish to call 
 attention to one species of verse which cannot be 
 shown to have ever been a special favourite with them, 
 to wit, that which consists of rhyming couplets of eight 
 syllables, like the lais bretons of old French literature. 
 The reverse would seem to have been the case among 
 the Bretons, since the greater portion of the popular 
 poetry of Brittany, in such collections as that published 
 by M. Luzel in 1868, turns out to be in that very metre. 
 It may be readily granted, that some allowance has 
 to be made for a possible tendency in Brittany to 
 imitate the poetry of the Normans or the French, 
 but even then a residuum of proof seems to remain, 
 making for the theory championed by Foerster and 
 Zimmer. In favour likewise of the latter's conjec- 
 ture, that the Celtic exponent of the heroic was rather 
 
 ■ Red Book, column 1043 : it is to be found in Skene's vol. ii, p. 278 and 
 the above translation is in his vol. i, p. 434. ' 
 
Ch. XVI.] BRITAIN AND LITTLE BRITAIN. 387 
 
 the epic story than the epic poem, may be mentioned 
 the role assigned more than once to Gwydion in the 
 Mabinogi of Math. Thus he undertakes to go as a 
 bard at the head of a dozen bardic subordinates on a 
 difficult mission to the court of Pryderi, king of Dyved. 
 The first evening after their arrival, Gwydion is placed 
 to sit by the king, and vi^hen they had done eating the 
 following conversation takes place between them ^ : — 
 
 'Well,' said Pryderi, 'we should be glad to have 
 a kyvarwyWyt from some of those young men.' 
 
 ' It is our custom, Lord,' said Gwydion, ' the first night 
 one comes to a great man's house, for the chief pro- 
 fessional to tell — I will tell a kyvarwydyt with pleasure.' 
 
 The story then proceeds thus : — ' Now Gwydion was 
 the best kyvarwyd in the world, and that night he enter- 
 tained the court with amusing conversations and kyvar- 
 wydyt, in such a way that he was admired of all at the 
 court, and that Pryderi found it entertaining to converse 
 with him.' On another occasion ^ he and ILeu, in the 
 guise of bards from Glamorgan, visit Arianrhod 
 daughter of Don, at her court in Arvon, and then we 
 are told that she conversed with Gwydion concerning 
 news and kyvarwydyt. In both instances kyvarwydyt 
 means history or story— it would be useless to insist 
 on the distinction— and a kyvarwyd was a person 
 skilled in relating such kyvarwydyt. But it is to be 
 noticed chiefly that not one of the words used, noun or 
 verb, allows us to suppose that Gwydion sang in any 
 sense of the term: his eloquence took the form of 
 
 ' R. B. Mab. p. 61 ; Guest, iii. 220. 
 
 ^ R. B. Mab. p. 72 ; Guest, iii. 237, where chwedleu, ' news,' is rendered 
 ' tales ' but it refers doubtless to the news which Arianrhod expected from 
 Gwydion concerning the country he was supposed to come from : compare 
 the term chwedleu porth, 'news from the gate,' for which it was usual to ask 
 the porter of a castle whenever he made his appearance in the hall. 
 
 C C 2 
 
388 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. XVI. 
 
 prose. The Mabinogion are contained in manuscripts 
 only of the 13th and the 14th century, but they show 
 indications of being copied from originals belonging 
 to the i2th: we have no evidence to enable us to go 
 further back, though it may be surmised that the state 
 of society they represent must have existed consider- 
 ably earlier. Be that as it may, the Mabinogion, such 
 as they are, place before us a stage of Welsh culture 
 where the chief bardic professional, one who associated 
 with princes on terms of equality, would not think it 
 beneath him to play the part of a story-teller. This 
 harmonizes, to say the least of it, with the importance 
 which we suppose to have belonged to epic story 
 among the Celts from early times. 
 
 Putting aside the questions of the form of ancient 
 Celtic story and of the channels through which it 
 reached the Normans and the French, we may perhaps 
 be excused a word or two as to the important role it 
 played in the world of letters, both on the Continent 
 and in Great Britain. The 12th century author of the 
 Chanson des Saxons -^ has, at the opening of that poem, 
 left on record his deliberate opinion, that for the men 
 of genius of his time there were but three themes 
 from which to choose, France, Brittany, and imperial 
 Rome : — 
 
 ' Ne sont que .iij. matieres a nul home entendant, 
 De France et de Bretaigne et de Rome la grant.' 
 
 To this position, given in the French world of 
 letters to the Celtic theme, must be added the hearty 
 reception so readily accorded to the Matiere de Bretagne 
 in Germany and elsewhere outside France ; and when 
 
 1 Published by Francisque Michel (Paris, 1839), and ascribed by him to 
 Jean Bodel as its author ; but this has since then been contested, as for 
 instance by M. Raynaud in the Romania, ix. 218. 
 
Ch. XVI.] BRITAIN AND LITTLE BRITAIN. 389 
 
 we turn to our own country, the case is even more 
 striking. The literature of the English before the 
 Norman Conquest is fairly well known. They had, for 
 instance, the great epic of Beowulf, and, as indicated by 
 the fragments extant, an epic on the battle of Finnes- 
 burh, and another on the death of Bryhtnoth, together 
 with epics of an ecclesiastic and biblical nature ; also, 
 shorter poems about the battles of Brunanburh and 
 Maldon ; while under the head of lyric poetry, of which 
 they had various kinds, one may mention the Traveller's 
 Song. 
 
 But what was the influence of these and the other 
 literary treasures of earlier English on the literature 
 after the Conquest? It was nil, or the next thing 
 to nil. For the English literature of the Middle Ages 
 the Beowulf Epic was practically as dead as the Hep- 
 tarchy for the purposes of modern politics. In fact, it 
 remained for a comparatively recent generation to dis- 
 cover the Beowulf and brush away from the forgotten 
 features of that poem the accumulated dust of ages. 
 To our thinking, this diverting of the stream of English 
 letters by the Conquest so that it never flowed again in 
 the old channels, is a clear proof of the thoroughness 
 with which English culture was extinguished by the 
 Normans. 
 
 The latter, however, do not appear as men who 
 themselves introduced anything that could be fixed 
 upon as very distinctly Norse or Teutonic in the 
 literary sense : rather may they be regarded as Gallic 
 Celts, excepting of course the Breton auxiliaries who 
 helped to fight their battles: these were Celts of 
 Celtic blood derived from Brythonic ancestry. 
 
 English literature, subsequent to the Conquest, re- 
 solves itself, roughly speaking, into four principal cycles 
 
390 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. [Ch. xvi. 
 
 or groups, consisting of Dares Phrygius' tale of Troy, 
 the sagas concerning Alexander the Great, and those 
 that gathered round Charlemagne and his Peers : these 
 three groups were importations from the Continent. 
 The fourth group was Celtic, that is in this instance 
 Breton and British, as it comprised the Arthurian 
 romances and Geoifrey of Monmouth's writings. The 
 influence of this last group was far more powerful 
 and widespread in England than that of any one of the 
 others : nay, we should probably not err in saying that 
 it outweighed in importance the other three put 
 together. 
 
 There was also, it is needless to say, a variety of bibli- 
 cal and rehgious literature, but even here the Celt came 
 in, bringing with him the Enchantments of Britain 
 and the inebriating odours of the Holy Grail. Nor is 
 this all, for the Celtic strain in English literature has 
 since the Middle Ages been greatly reinforced from 
 time to time by the genius of such men as Shakspear 
 and Spenser, Tennyson and Swinburne. Whatever, 
 then, may be said of the pedigree of the EngHsh people, 
 the pedigree of English literature is well established : 
 Teutonic it cannot be to any great extent, whereas we 
 have seen how largely it must be Celtic. Any attempt, 
 therefore, to throw light on the genesis and history of 
 the Arthurian legend may be expected to appeal not 
 only to those who have an interest in Celtic, but also 
 to some whose interest clings chiefly to the English 
 language and the grand literature which is the reflection 
 of her fairest features. 
 
ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS. 
 
 p. II. The eponymus of Lothian was more probably ILeudun, 
 whence the territorial name was in Welsh ILeuduniawn, 
 which was sooner or later reduced to Lothian : see Mr. 
 Phillimore's note in the Cymtnrodor, xi. 51. 
 
 P. 22. In the story of Gereint and Enid {R. B. Mab. pp. 261, 286, 7 ; 
 Guest, ii. 92, 129) Arthur's head physician is called Morgant 
 Tut, and Prof. Zimmer, in a communication published by 
 Foerster in the introduction to his edition of Erec (pp. xxvii- 
 xxxi), makes the suggestion that the person originally meant 
 was no other than Morgan la Fee, with a change of sex 
 occasioned by the ignorance of the Welsh story-teller, a view 
 which we are inclined to accept. Now Morgan is a man's 
 name in Welsh, and it has passed through the stages Morcant 
 and Morgant ; but Lady Charlotte Guest, in her English trans- 
 lation, has naturally chosen the modern forms Morgan Tud. 
 Dr. Zimmer takes this and states that in French it would mean 
 Morgan le pays, which we do not quite understand. Had 
 he looked, however, at the original, he would have there twice 
 found Morgant Tut, which we should now regard rather as 
 representing an older and more correct spelling Morgant 
 Hut, of exactly the same pronunciation. Hut, now hud, 
 means illusion or enchantment; but there must have been 
 a hud also meaning one who practised illusion or enchant- 
 ment, an elf or fairy. For Gwyn ab Nuff, in the dialogue 
 so often quoted already, is made to say of himself (Evans' 
 Aut. Fac. of the Black Book, p. 49 b):— 
 
 'Hud im gelwire. guin mab nud.' 
 Fairy am I called, Gwyn son of Nui. 
 Thus Morgant Tut, as an incorrect spelling of Morgant Hut, 
 meant ' Morgan, the elf or the fairy,' not ' Morgan le pays.' 
 
39a 
 
 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. 
 
 P. 38. Whatever the origin of the name Medrawt or Medrod may 
 be, the Breton and Cornish forms involve a difficulty which 
 should have been noticed. The Cornish one appears early as 
 Modred [Revue Celtique, i. 335), apparently under the influence 
 of such English names as iElfred and jEthelred. Otherwise 
 it must have followed suit with the old Breton form, which 
 was Modrot. The Welsh forms Medrawt and Medrod point to 
 an earlier stage, Medrot or Medrat ; but Medrot will explain 
 the Breton form too, if only we suppose its second vowel to 
 have attracted its first to its own sound. Be that as it may. 
 Dr. Zimmer's explanation in the Zeit. f.fr. Sprache und Lit.idi. 
 254 is of no avail : he invokes the analogy of old Breton Funton 
 (from the Latin fontand) without noticing whither it leads. For 
 fontana is in Welsh ffynnhon or ffynnon ' a well,' whereas the 
 other word does not become Mydrod, but obstinately remains 
 Medrod. 
 
 P. III. In his paper ' On the Linguistic Value of the Irish Annals,' 
 read before the (London) Philological Society, June 6th, 1890, 
 Dr. Whitley Stokes (p. 8) derives Fomoir from the same origin 
 as the mare of the English nightmare ; but when he suggests 
 a similar etymology for Morrigan or Morrlgu, we hesitate 
 to follow without further light on the phonological changes 
 implied. 
 
 Pp. 113, 121. The evidence for the blackness of the face of 
 Forgall is removed by Dr. K. Meyer in the Revue Celtique, xi. 
 
 435- 
 
 Pp. 116, 302, 325. References to revolving castles are by no means 
 very scarce, but we would call attention to one, which has, 
 so far as we know, been overlooked. We allude to a passage 
 in Fled Bricrend in the Irish manuscript of the Book of the 
 Dun, fol. Ill", which Windisch {Irische Texte, p. 295, also 
 Glossary, s. v. cdinint and demithir) has not made out. It 
 reads in the facsimile — Cipe aird do airdib indomain tra imbeth 
 cu rui dochdineth for achatraig cachnaidchi combo demithir broin 
 mulind connafogbaithe addorus dogre's iarfuiniud ngrene. The 
 chief emendation required is to make demithir into deinithir, 
 and the passage then will read : ' Whatever airt of the airts of 
 the world Curoi might be in, he was wont to sing a charm on 
 his city every night, with the result that it would be swifter 
 than a millstone, so that its door might never be found after 
 sunset.' This is corroborated by the other manuscript used 
 by Windisch, so far as we can understand it. 
 
 P. 132. The substance of Mr. Phillimore's communication may 
 now be read in the Cymmrodor, xi. 46. Dr. Zimmer, in the Gcitt. 
 
ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS. 393 
 
 g. Ans. p. 527, wants to make Karadigan into Kaeragned, and 
 to treat that as standing for Oppidum Montis Agned; but that 
 seems to us rather a desperate suggestion for which there is 
 no very urgent need. 
 
 P. 134. Owing to an oversight, the Romance ofDurmarf has been 
 wrongly ascribed to Chretien. On the question of its author- 
 ship and composition see Stengel's edition, pp. 500-18. 
 
 Pp. 150, 328. The original of the name which variously appears 
 as Shaloti, Escalot, Astolat, and other forms, was probably 
 Alclut, the old Welsh name of the Rock of Dumbarton in the 
 Clyde. It is alluded to in the Vita Merlini of Geoffrey, edited 
 for the Roxburghe Club from the Cottonian MS. Vesp, E. iv. 
 See lines 612, 3, which run as follows : — 
 
 ' Corruet urbs Acelud, nee earn reparabit in sevum 
 Rex aliquis, donee subdatur Scottus apello.' 
 
 One of the other readings of Acelud, as we learn from the 
 editor's note, is ascelud. 
 
 P. 157. Efnys is probably the same word which has been made 
 into enfys 'rainbow,' and in that case efnys afon might be 
 translated 'the hateful or hostile river.' The word would 
 seem to be related to naws ' disposition or temperament,' 
 in the same way as gwrthwjv-sig 'refractory, of a perverse 
 disposition,' and from it is derived Nyssien ; also Evnyssien 
 (p. 250) borne by the evil genius of Bran's household in the 
 Mabinogi of Branwen. It would thus appear that enfys for 
 rainbow stands for some longer name such as efnys afon, and 
 that it referred to some superstition which treated the rainbow 
 as an object of dread. 
 
 P. 168. There is no occasion to postulate Gwalch-gwyn or Gwalch- 
 hevin, as Dr. Zimmer has hit on a better explanation when he 
 supposes the second syllable of Gauvain indebted for its 
 form to the association of the name with that of Yvain. 
 
 lb. As to the name Gahariet, we may remark that the Huth 
 Merlin gives Gauvain two brothers, called respectively Ga- 
 haries and Guerrehes, and they appear in Malory as Gareth 
 and Gaherys. In point of fact, however, they seem to be 
 variants of a single name best represented by Gaharies in the 
 nominative and Gahariet in the other cases. Now Gahariet 
 admits of being traced back through easy stages of misreading 
 or miscopying to Galiauet, (which must be a form of Gwalchavet 
 or Gwalchaved), namely, by reading li into h, a mistake very 
 easily committed in the manuscripts (compare Houel and 
 Lionel), and u into n and then into ;• or ri. The identification 
 
394 
 
 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. 
 
 here suggested leads up to questions which space does not 
 permit us to pursue at this stage. As to the elision of the 
 Brythonic guttural spirant, a similar treatment has been 
 detected by Zimmer {Gott. g. Anz. p. 797) in the case of 
 Guigemar for Gmhomarc\h]us, to which may be added Rigomer 
 as the equivalent of the Welsh name Rhygyvarch. 
 
 P. 172. Since writing the words relating to the spelling of the 
 name Caraiacus, we have had thS good fortune to read the 
 genitive Carataci on an ancient inscribed stone among the 
 hills of Exmoor in west Somerset. A notice of it is to appear 
 in the Archceologia Cambrensis. 
 
 P. 184. Our attention has been called by Mr. Phillimore to the 
 fact that Conchobar mac Nessa is mentioned in the story of 
 Kulhwch and Olwen under the name Cnych6r mab Nes, 
 m company with other Irish heroes 4 see R. B. Mab. p. 106, 
 and Guest, ii. 259, where he is made into ' Crychwr, the son of 
 Nes/ but not wholly without excuse. 
 
 P. 256. Uthr Ben singing his own elegy has a deliberate air about 
 it, which seems to suggest that it was preparatory to some scene 
 like that of the beheading of Bran at his own request. 
 
 P. 261. Is it possible that Dyvnwal Moelmud is merely the Welsh 
 form given to some such an Irish name as Domnall mael 
 Muaid? Compare Maehnuaid in the very common Irish name 
 Ua Maelmhuaidh, Anglicized O'Molloy. 
 
 P. 269. In support of the identification of Gwales with Gresholm, 
 Mr. Phillimore has kindly called our attention to an excellent 
 authority dating from 1602, namely George Owen's History of 
 Pembrokeshire, as published in the Cambrian Register for 1796. 
 See more especially ii. 129, where one reads : — ' Far off in 
 the sea standeth the iland Gresholme, soe called of Mr. 
 Saxton, but of the neighbours. Walleyes, eight miles from the 
 maine, and for the remotenes thereof, and smalle profit it 
 yeeldeth, seldom frequented.' 
 
 P. 273. Can the name Mesior of Peleur have anything to do with 
 the mwys (p. 313) in one of the late Latin or Romance forms of 
 that word ? There was, according to Ducange, a mensarius, 
 ' qui mensam escariam curabat.' 
 
 P. 283. The form Twryf-vliant was in fact simplified on Welsh 
 ground ; for we find that T6r Bliant is the form actually 
 occurring in the story of Kulhwch and Olwen, as given in the 
 White Book (Hengwrt MS. 4), col. 324. 
 
 lb. Dear and Dearwya, it should have been specified, are based 
 only on the analogy of similar words : witness the compound 
 gor-dear in the Taliessin verses cited on p. 242 above. 
 
ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS. 395 
 
 P. 298. It is to be observed that the i mentioned in note i is 
 m the manuscripts much more like the third limb of an m than 
 we have been able to represent it in type. The same remark 
 applies to it as compared with an z, as in the case of Garlot in 
 the note on p. 323. 
 
 P- 330- The Erec has since been pubUshed by Wendelin Foerster 
 under the title of Erec und Enide von Christian von Troyes, 
 and forms vol. iii. of the series of Christian von Troyes Samtliche 
 Werke (Niemeyer, Halle, 1890) : the lines cited occur at p. 72. 
 
 P- 335- Thanks to the kindness of a friend at the Bodleian Library, 
 we have been enabled to trace the verses cited by Usher to a 
 poem called Gesta Regunt Britannice, printed for the Cambrian 
 Archaeological Association as the extra volume of the^rc^a?o- 
 logia Cambrensis for 1862, and edited by Francisque Michel, 
 who considers the author to be unknown. The lines quoted 
 begin on p. 153. 
 
 P. 337. As to the dark divinity of Beli, one may consult a note by 
 Mr. Phillimore in the Cymmrodor, xi. 53, where he mentions 
 a Kair belli on which John of Cornwall touches in connection 
 with another description of it, namely, as Fatale Castrum : the 
 passage will be found published by Stokes in the Revue 
 Celtique, iii. 86, with other curious notes relating to Corn- 
 wall. 
 
 P. 347. We are by no means certain that the name Sarras may 
 not likewise be a form of the Welsh Gwanas, more dis- 
 torted than in the case of Ganys. The rr cannot create any 
 difficulty, and it is frequently far from easy to distinguish 
 between small s and g in our manuscripts. Be that as it may, 
 we here append an attempt to translate the verses alluded to 
 in the text as referring to Gwanas. They are so obscure, 
 however, that we only do it in the hope of obtaining help 
 from others to make out the sense. The following is the 
 reading of Evans' Aut. Facsimile, p. 33'', except the — , which 
 we insert : — 
 
 ' Bet gurgi gvychit a guindodit — lev. 
 a bet llaur Uu ouit. 
 yg guarthaw guanas guyr yssit.' 
 
 The grave of Gwrgi, lion of Gwyneit's braves. 
 
 The grave of ILawr, leader of hosts : 
 On Gwanas' top in Gwyr are they. 
 
 ' E beteu hir yg guanas 
 ny chauas ae dioes. 
 pvy vynt vj- pvy eu neges.' 
 
396 ARTHURIAN LEGEND. 
 
 The long graves in Gwanas — 
 
 He who them has not founds 
 
 Whose they are, what their business. 
 
 ' Teulu oeth ac anoeth — a dyuu 
 y/noeth yeu gur ;yeu guas. 
 ae ceisso vy dated guanas.' 
 
 OetKs are they and AnoetKs Households, that came 
 
 There younger men, younger youths : 
 JVhoso seeks them should Gwanas dig. 
 
 In spite of the uncertainty attaching to the interpretation of 
 these verses, it is clear that Gwanas was one of the most remark- 
 able burial-places known to Welsh tradition. On the other hand, 
 the importance of Sarras is very manifest in the pages of 
 Malory, who speaks of it as the City of Sarras possessed of a 
 ' spyrytual place,' wherein were buried Galahad, together with 
 Perceval and his sister : see xvii. ii, 20-23. It appears as 
 the Spiritual City in Tennyson's Holy Grail, where he makes 
 Perceval say : — 
 
 ' Then in a moment when they blazed again 
 Opening, I saw the least of httle stars 
 Down on the waste, and straight beyond the star 
 I saw the spiritual city and all her spires 
 And gateways in a glory like one pearl — 
 No larger, the' the goal of all the saints — 
 Strike from the sea ; and from the star there shot 
 A rose-red sparkle to the city, and there 
 Dwelt, and I knew it was the Holy Grail, 
 Which never eyes on earth again shall see.' 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Aballac, 336. 
 
 Aber Henvelen, 268-70. 
 
 — ILeu, 255. 
 
 — Rheidol, 351. 
 
 — Tawe, 364. 
 
 — Teivi, 132. 
 Aberystwyth, 350-2. 
 Acelud, 393 : see Alclut. 
 Achilles, 213-4, 224; 226. 
 Achren, 245. 
 
 Acrisius, 231. 
 a(i=habet, 167. 
 Adamnan, Vision of, 55. 
 Adarweindawc, Adar- 
 
 weindawt, 366. 
 Ade, 128. 
 Admetus, 226. 
 yElfred, 392. 
 Aengus, 239, 321. 
 Aeron, 359. 
 Aerven, 364. 
 yEschylns, 205. 
 yEstiva Regio, 52, 345-6. 
 Aetan, Eata, 72. 
 ^thelfrith, 73-4. 
 .(Ethelred, 392. 
 aflavar, 154. 
 Agamede, 194. 
 Agamemnon, 213. 
 Agkyr, ILyvyr, 73, 298. 
 Agned, 393. 
 Agrauaynes, 21. 
 agro, 253. 
 Aife, 199. 
 Ailill, Airem's Br., 26, 
 
 33-4- , ^ 
 Ailill, Etam's F., 32. 
 Ailill andMedb, 179, 181, 
 
 205, 211-2. 
 Mm:sRdth, 117. 27°- 
 ailither, 74. 
 airecht, 43. 
 
 Airem, 25-36, 38-9, 41, 
 
 43-8. 
 Aireman, 34, 39. 
 airim, 39. 
 Alain, 306, 309, 315, 
 
 317-8, 321. 
 Alba,Alban,30,56, 74,204. 
 Alban, 248. 
 Albania, 343. 
 Albion, 205. 
 Albiona, 205. 
 Alcestis, 226. 
 Alclut, 393. 
 Alebion, 205. 
 Alein le Gros, 317: see 
 
 Alain. 
 Alexander, 390. 
 Ali Baba, 292. 
 AUobroges, 48. 
 Almain ratters, 289. 
 Alpin, 247, 264. 
 Alps, n, 15. 
 Alyth, 46. 
 
 Amaethon,42,i57, 245-6. 
 Amalech, 336. 
 Amangons, 247. 
 Amazons, 195-200, 212-4, 
 
 216. 
 Amazons' Queen's Girdle, 
 
 195-7- 
 ambhar, 219. 
 Amhar, 60. 
 amherodres, 192. 
 amour courtois, 183. 
 Andragius, 239. 
 Andryw, 239. 
 Anelac, 337: see Auelac. 
 Aneurin, 241, 381. 
 Anglesey, 325, 356. 
 Anguysshe, Anguys- 
 
 saunce, Agwysaunce, 
 
 239- 
 
 Anna, 22, 169, 336-7. 
 Annales Cambrise, 325. 
 Annan, 363. 
 Annwn, 157-8, 281, 33^, 
 
 341- 
 Anoeth, 347. 
 Anrheg y Gwr Moel, 73. 
 Anses, 5, 9, 72, 253. 
 AntEeus, 207. 
 Antarron, Ystrat, 351 . 
 Antiope, 199, 200. 
 Antonine Itinerary, the, 
 
 240. 
 Antrim, 204. 
 
 Aonbharr,22i : j^^Enbarr. 
 Aphrodite Phersephassa, 
 
 201. 
 Apollo, 191-2, 212-3, 
 
 219-30,223-6,228,234, 
 
 248, 327. 
 ar, 40, 43, 44. 
 ar, &r aradr, aredig, 39. 
 ara, 43. 
 araith, 43. 
 arathar, 39. 
 arator, 40. 
 aratram, 39. 
 arawd, 43. 
 Arawn, 10, 43, 239, 240, 
 
 245-6, 281-2. 
 Arberth, 286, 288. 
 Archseologia Cambrensis, 
 
 205, 394-S- 
 Archan, 250. 
 Ard Lemnachta, 307. 
 Ardagh, 26. 
 Arderyi, 72. 
 arirs, 40. 
 ar*u, 39, 256. 
 Ares, 195, 197. 
 Arfemun, Sith, 29. 
 argl6ydes, 123, 192. 
 
398 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Argyllshire Tales, 240. 
 Arianrhod, Aranrot, 23, 
 
 157, 387- 
 Ariomanus, 39. 
 Arisch, 45. 
 arjan, 39. 
 arklas, arklys, 40. 
 arl, 40. 
 Aries, 205. 
 Arttechwei, 264, 324, 
 
 326. 
 aro, dpiia), 39. 
 Aroie, Arroy, 282, 376. 
 apoTpov, 39. 
 Artaius, 40. 
 artas, arti, 40. 
 Artemis, 191-2, 223. 
 Arthur, 1-24, 35, 39-41, 
 
 43-6°. 52, 64. 56- 
 61, 63, 66, 76-80, 82, 
 84-6, 94, 98, 103, 107, 
 110, 114, 117, 122-3, 
 
 T2J, 128-9, 134-14°) 
 
 145. i47> 148-9, 153-4, 
 
 159,161,163, 165,170, 
 187, 2II-2, 218, 228, 
 230,239,243, 245,279, 
 292,300,306-7,328-9, 
 331, 334-6, 338, 340, 
 
 343-4, 348-350, 357-8, 
 
 368, 370-1, 373, 375, 
 
 377-80, 391- 
 Arthur's Seat, &c., 45. 
 Artie, 40. 
 artojis, artoys, 40. 
 Artorius, 48. 
 Artur, 48. 
 Arviragus, 366. 
 Arvon, 387. 
 Aryaman, 44-5. 
 Aryans, the, 45. 
 Asia, 207. 
 
 Asia Minor, 200, 213. 
 Astlabor, 154. 
 Astolat, 148-9, 150-1, 
 
 328, 393- 
 Athene, 184, 209, 211, 
 
 229-30. 
 Atlantis, the, 221. 
 Atlas, 207. 
 Attica, 200. 
 Attila, 344. 
 Auelac, 337. 
 Augean Stables, the, 193, 
 
 206. 
 Angelas, 194, 206. 
 Auguselus, 10, 239. 
 Augustine, 344. 
 
 Aurelius Ambrosius, 47, 
 
 162, 242. 
 Aurelius Conan, 17. 
 AvagSu, 262. 
 aval, afal, 332. 
 Avallo, Rex, 335-6. 
 Avalloc, 332. 
 Avallon, 18, 19, 258, 3 7, 
 
 348, 362. 
 Avallonia, 331-2, 334-5. 
 avaloit, ou li soleil, 308. 
 Avalon, 308. 
 avatf, afaTt, 332. 
 Avattach, 18, 324, 331, 
 
 33,5-7, 342, 345- 
 Avattoc, 336-6. 
 Avatton, 324. 
 A vane, the Lake, 87-8, 
 
 91, 94-5, III, 125- 
 Aventine, the, 202. 
 avez=!habetis, 167. 
 Avitoria, Avittoriges, 205. 
 avwch, afv^ch, awch, 364. 
 avvvyn, afwyn, awyn, 364. 
 
 Bade, 329, 346. 
 Bademagu, Bagdemagus, 
 
 53,63, 136-9,141,148, 
 
 344-5- 
 Bseda, 241, 321, 344. 
 Baedan, 344-5. 
 Baettan, 344. 
 Baia, 283 ; see Boya, 
 Bala, 262, 272, 326, 359. 
 Balaain, Balain, 297 : see 
 
 Balaan, 297. 
 
 Balan, 119, 120, 297, 
 
 Bald (or Cropped) Man, 
 the, 73-4. 
 
 Balder, 14, 72, 209, 224-5. 
 
 Balor, 355. 
 
 Balyn, 118, 120, 170, 
 2 5 7-9, 264-6, 268,2 74- 
 5, 281, 285, 294, 297, 
 
 347-8. 
 Ban, 20, 1 61-2, 304, 343. 
 ban, banneu, 304-5. 
 Banffshire, 246. 
 bannawc, 304. 
 bannog, 304. 
 Bans, 321. 
 Bardsey, 309, 312, 354, 
 
 368. 
 Barry Hill, 46-7. 
 Bath, 329, 346. 
 Battle of the Birds, 194. 
 Baumeister, 195. 
 
 Beaumaris, 354. 
 Beanmayns, 93. 
 Beaune, 204. 
 Behind, 33 : see 
 Be Find, 33, 38-9. 
 Bedwyr, 386. 
 Bed Gelert, 16. 
 Behforet, 129. 
 Bekker, 40. 
 
 Belenus, 119 : j^^ Belinus. 
 Beli, 119, 336-7, 395- 
 Belinesgata, 119. 
 Belinus, Apollo, 119, 120. 
 Bellerophon, 219-20,223, 
 
 226, 229, 233. 
 Bendigeitvran, 172, 261. 
 Benhadad, 178. 
 Benffi, 364. 
 Benn Gulbain, 72. 
 Benwyk, 161-2. 
 Beowulf, epic of, 389. 
 Bergyon, 205. 
 Bernard, 148. 
 Bevin, 33 : see Be Find. 
 Billingsgate, 119. 
 Birch- Hirschfeld, 125. 
 Black Maiden, the, 98- 
 
 100, 105-9, 112, 114-6, 
 
 121, 148, 190-1. 
 
 — Fellow, the Arrogant, 
 86, 138, 210. 
 
 — Giant with one eye. 92, 
 
 95- 
 
 — Knight of the Foun- 
 tain, the, 89, 92-6, 154, 
 361. 
 
 — Man from under the 
 Stone, T06, 192. 
 
 — Man, the Perverse, 86, 
 89. 
 
 — Man of Ysbidinongyl, 
 105-7, 109, 140. 
 
 — Robber, the Perverse, 
 138,210. 
 
 Blamore, 347. 
 Blanchefleur, 1 74, 176, 
 
 203. 
 Blathnat, 203, 355. 
 Blatobnlgium, 265, 363. 
 Bledhericus, 373, 375. 
 Bledri, 373, 375. 
 Bleayn, 131. 
 Bleeding Lance, the, 274, 
 
 279: see 
 
 — Spear, the, 311. 
 Bleoberys, 347. 
 Bl^ri, 373. 
 Blihis, 247. 
 
BlodeueS, 203, 356. 
 Blyaunt, 147, 283. 
 Bodb the Red, 278. 
 Bodel, Jean, 388. 
 Bodorgan, 354. 
 Boece, 46. 
 Book of Aneurin, 24T, 
 
 381. 
 — of the Dun, 26, 28,34, 
 
 70, 392- 
 — , the Green, 56. 
 — , the Black, 19, 60, 
 
 347, 360, 364, 381-3, 
 
 385. 391, 395- 
 — , the Red, i, 10, 85, 
 
 377. 381, 385- 
 — , the White, 394. 
 &oS)mSj 236. 
 Borron, Robert de, 310, 
 
 318. 
 Bors, 20, :49, 160-4, 343, 
 
 347- 
 
 Bort, 159, 161. 
 
 Borth, y, 263. 
 
 Boten, 332. 
 
 botheu, 308. 
 
 Bottom Hundredjthe, 323. 
 
 Boya, 283. 
 
 Brambach's Corpus Inscr., 
 41. 
 
 bran, 256. 
 
 Bran, Bron, 256, 393. 
 
 BrSn, son of IL^, 4, 1 20, 
 130, 160, 171-2, 204, 
 208, 245, 250-6,259- 
 262, 264-70, 285, 306- 
 11,318,321,329, 346- 
 
 7. 393-4- 
 Brandalis, Brendalis, 
 
 Brandyles, 309. 
 Brandegore, 160-1, 347 : 
 
 see BrSn. 
 Brandegoris,Brandegorys, 
 
 Brangorys, 160: see 
 
 Briin. 
 Brangor, 159, 160: see 
 
 BrSn. 
 Branwen, i, 4, 123, 251-3, 
 
 256, 260-1, 265-6, 270, 
 
 329- 
 Brennius, 119, 120. 
 Brennus, 120. 
 Breri, 373. 
 Bretagne, Bretaigne, 370, 
 
 374, 388. 
 Bretons, 374-5. 386, 389. 
 Bretons Lais, 371-4, 386. 
 Breunor, 166. 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Bri, 293. 
 
 Bri Leith, 26, 29. 
 
 Bpiapeo]?, 367. 
 
 Briareus, 368. 
 
 bridez, the three, 316. 
 
 Bridge of the Eel, 56, 59. 
 
 — of the Souls, 55-6. 
 
 — of the Sword, 55, 63. 
 
 — of the Water, 55-63. 
 Britain, 6, 9-11, 205, 245, 
 
 252, 261-2, 291-2, 
 312, 369-70, 388. 
 
 — Little, 6, 370. 
 
 — Songs of, 32. 
 Britannise, Comes, 7, 47. 
 Brittany, 38, 61, 369-70, 
 
 374-5, 386, 388. 
 Brittia, 329, 363. 
 Bron, 171, 306, 308-12, 
 
 314-5,317-8,368,376- 
 Bmgmann, 40, 359. 
 Brun de Morois,68-7o,i 34 . 
 Brunanbnrh, 389. 
 Brut, Roman de, 371. 
 Bnitus, 371. 
 Brwns Brandalis, 309. 
 Bryhtnoth, 389. 
 Brynhild, 226. 
 Brysen, 145-8. 
 Brythou, 14, 157. 
 Brython, the, 312, 357. 
 Buchan, 246. 
 Bull of Battle, 243. 
 bundling, 175. 
 Burgundians, the, 266-7. 
 Busiris, 207. 
 BwlchSafan y Ci, 157. 
 Bwrt, 159 : see Bort. 
 bywyd, bowyd, 364. 
 
 Cacus, 200. 
 Cadbury, 18. 
 cadeir, 301. 
 Cadwaladr, 352. 
 Cadwatton, Cadwattawn, 
 
 325, 386. 
 caer, y Gaer, 132, 304, 
 
 351- 
 Caer Evrawg, 71. 
 
 — Greu, 72. 
 
 — Loyw, Loew, 81, 122, 
 212, 365, 367. 
 
 — LJr, 131. 
 Caerileon, Caerleon, 20, 
 
 65-6, 83, 98, 132. 
 Caer Ochren, 301. 
 
 — Pedryvan, 300-1, 
 303-6. 
 
 399 
 
 Caer Reged, 350 : see 
 Rheged. 
 
 — Rigor, 301. 
 
 — Sidi, 242, 301-S, 326. 
 
 — Vandvy, 301. 
 
 — Vedwit, 301. 
 Csesar, 243. 
 
 Cai, 57-8 : see Kei. 
 Cairbre, 10, 22, 228. 
 Cairill, mac, 345. 
 Cait, 246. 
 Caithness, 120. 
 Caledonian Forest, lo. 
 Callahadys Welle, 167. 
 camb, 241. 
 
 Cambrian Register, 394. 
 Camelot, 15, 148, 150-2, 
 
 161, 274. 
 Camlan, 15-17, 50. 
 Campbell, 194. 
 Canterbury, Archbishop 
 
 of, 331. 
 Cantre'r Gwaelod, 360. 
 Caradawg, Karadawc, 
 
 Caradog, Caradoc, 52, 
 
 172, 377. 
 Caradigan, 129, 132-3, 
 
 393- 
 
 Carados Brebras, 172. 
 
 Caratacus, 172, 394. 
 
 Carbonek, 279, 305-6. 
 
 Cardigan, 132, 271. 
 
 Cardiganshire, North, 
 346. 
 
 Cardinham, 132. 
 
 Carlisle, 298. 
 
 Carlyon, 20 : see Caer- 
 ileon. 
 
 Case, Castle of, 146, 
 148. 
 
 CasleanUi-Liathain, 293. 
 
 Casnar, 168, 323. 
 
 Cassius, Dion, 172. 
 
 Castel Blank, 283. 
 
 Castell Aber Keidawl, 
 
 351. 
 Castelimarch, 357. 
 Castle of Blyaunt, 283. 
 
 — of Joy, the, 277. 
 Castle-Lyons, 293. 
 Castle of Maidens, Queen 
 
 of the, 355. 
 
 — Perilous, 362. 
 
 — of Questions, the, 276. 
 
 — the Turning, 302-3, 
 
 .S92. 
 Castrar, 168, 323. 
 Caswattawn, 89. 
 
400 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Cataractone, 240. 
 Cateyrn, 241. 
 Catguollaun, 325 : see 
 
 Cad Walton. 
 Catgur, 332. 
 Cathmor, 332. 
 Catotigirni, 241. 
 Catraeth, 240, 241. 
 Catterick, 240, 241. 
 Caucasus, 207. 
 cauldron, 10, 244, 327. 
 
 — of Diwrnach, 10, 292, 
 
 307- 
 
 — of Head of Hades, 
 244, 306-7, 310. 
 
 — of Mider, 355. 
 
 — of Re-birth, 252. 
 
 — of Sciences, Kerrid- 
 wen's, 262, 263. 
 
 Ccicamini, 26 : read Cic- 
 camini. 
 
 Ceindrech, 71-2. 
 
 Ceint, Gawryd, 36. 
 
 Celidoine, 320-2. 
 
 Celtchair, 293-4. 
 
 Celtic Britain, 7, 17. 
 
 cen rithgnom, 310-1. 
 
 Centaurs, the, 190. 
 
 Cerberus, 154, 206, 209. 
 
 Cemunnos, 204, 243. 
 
 certev, 60. 
 
 Ceryneia, the Deer of, 
 191. 
 
 Ceylon, 334, 345. 
 
 Charlemagne, 390. 
 
 Charrette, Poem of the, 
 102,134, 142, 160,166, 
 190, 329. 
 
 Chimaera, 220. 
 
 Chrestiens, 320. 
 
 Chretien, 51-2, 54, 56, 
 62-4, 66, 97, 102, 110, 
 117, 121, 124, 134-^, 
 141-3. 145. 160, 190, 
 203, 230, 314-61 318. 
 328-30. 372. 374. 393- 
 
 Christianus, 385. 
 
 chwedleu, 387. 
 
 cib, 308. 
 
 Cichmuini, 26. 
 
 Cigva, 26. 
 
 Cimbri, the, 358-9. 
 
 Cithseron, 187. 
 
 Clarine, 12'j. 
 
 Claudas, 161. 
 
 Claudius Cjesar, 365-6. 
 
 Clochar, Mag, 206. 
 
 Clota, 294. 
 
 Clud, 290, 294. 
 
 Clyde, 294. 
 
 Cnychwr, Crychwr, 394. 
 
 Cologne, 344. 
 
 Cott ab Coltvrewi, 12. 
 
 Colten, 338-40. 
 
 Comes Littoris Saxonici, 
 
 7- 
 Conamg, 356. 
 Conaire, 31. 
 Conall, 109, 222, 224. 
 Conan : see Aurelius. 
 Conchobar mac Nessa, 5, 
 
 9, 76, 113, 184, 217, 
 
 227, 229, 394. 
 Conla the Red, 128, 311. 
 Conlaech, 199. 
 Connaught, 115, 212. 
 Constantine, 17,110, 343. 
 Constantinople, 91, no, 
 
 159-6°. 345- 
 Conslantius, no. 
 Continent, the, 330, 390. 
 Coprens, 121. 
 Corbyn, 146-7, 279, 305. 
 Core, 73. 
 Cordelia, 36, 322. 
 Cormac's Glossary, 328, 
 
 376- 
 Coman, 72. 
 Cornwall, 6, 15, 37-8, 
 
 268-9,344,356-7,362, 
 
 395- 
 Count of Britain, 7. 
 Courson, M. de, 333. 
 crane, the, 316. 
 CreiSylad, 36, 319, 322, 
 
 344- 
 
 Cretan Bull, the, 194. 
 
 Cristinobyl, no: see 
 Constantinople. 
 
 Crone, the, 68, 134. 
 
 Cronium, 358. 
 
 Cronus, 295, 368. 
 
 Cruithne, 246. 
 
 Cruithni, 307. 
 
 Cualand, 293. 
 
 cuatt, 257. 
 
 Cuchulainn, 1, 13, 32-3, 
 70, 76, 81, 90, 109, 
 111-5, 119-21, 132, 
 142, 159, 163-4, 176- 
 7, 179-82,184-7, 189- 
 91, 193, 195-204, 206, 
 208-19, 221-4, 227-9, 
 230, 234-6,244, 260-1, 
 
 303. 355- 
 Culann, 355. 
 
 Culture Hero, S, 9, 11, 
 17, 18, 22-4, 36-7, 41, 
 44, 48, 165, 1S4, 185, 
 209, 215, 225-7, 230, 
 236. 245-6. 
 
 Cuneda, Cuneda, 8, 332, 
 
 333- 
 Cuneglasus, 17. 
 Cunobelinus, 172. 
 Cupar Angus, 45. 
 Ciiri, Ciiroi, 203-5, 392- 
 cwydo, 249. 
 Cyclades, the, 233. 
 Cylchgrawn, the, 356. 
 Cymmrodor, the, 32, 357, 
 
 359. 366, 391-2, 395. 
 Cynhafal, St., 354. 
 
 Dagda, 240. 
 
 dail, 57. 
 
 Daire Cearba, 293. 
 
 Dalan, 29. 
 
 Dame du lac, la, 127, 
 
 362. 
 Dame Liones, 361-2. 
 Danae, 231-2. 
 Danann, TuathaDe, 307. 
 Dares Phrygius, 390. 
 Darius, 222. 
 Dathar wenidawc, 366. 
 David, the Prophet, 159. 
 Davies, Dr., 312. 
 Dead Castle, the, n8, 
 
 325. 354-5 : «« Castle. 
 Dechtere, 213, 227. 
 Decollete dress, 179-182. 
 Dee, 364. 
 Deffrobani, 345. 
 Deira, 72-3, 75, 238, 
 
 343- 
 Deisi, the, 235. 
 Dejaneira, 231. 
 Delphi, 223, 327. 
 Demetse, 363. 
 Demetia, 270, 332,363. 
 Demetrius, 367-8. 
 Denbigh, 340-1. 
 Dercynus, 205. 
 Desert, Goon, 316: see 
 
 Goon. 
 Devon, 57-8. 
 Diar, 283. 
 Diarmait, 14, 72. 
 Diarwya,PenILwyn, 282- 
 
 , 3, 394- 
 dibairgim, ,254. 
 dibrachad, 254. 
 Dietridi, 266-7. 
 
difro, 253-5. 
 Diffeidett, 73. 
 Dil, 235-6. 
 .DiSus, 377. 
 Dinabuc, 340. 
 Dinam, 132. 
 dinas, y Dinas, 351-2. 
 Dinas Maelawr, 352. 
 Dinbych, 340. 
 Dingle, 203. 
 
 Dinn map Liathain, 293. 
 Dinoot, 344. 
 Dinothns, 344, 
 Diomed's Horses, 195. 
 Dionotas, 343. 
 Dis, 131, 160, 181, 342. 
 DistantCity, the, 249, 275. 
 Diwmach, 10, 170, 292, 
 
 307. 
 Doctor Faustus, 289. 
 Dodone, 128-9. 
 Doel Dermait, 119, 209, 
 
 210. 
 Dolorous Glen, the, 210. 
 
 — Plain, the, 143. 
 
 — Stroke or Blow, the, 
 120, 258-9, 264, 275, 
 285, 300. 
 
 Domnall, 113-6, 260-1, 
 
 394- 
 D8n,42, 228, 245-6, 285, 
 
 387. 
 Donatus, 344. 
 Donegal, 355. 
 Doom, Day of, 320. 
 d6r, 156. 
 
 Dormarth, 155-8. 
 Domolla, 116. 
 Dovey, the, 263. 
 Draco, Insularis, 8. 
 Dre' Vychan, y, 351. 
 Drostan, 307. 
 Dmidism, 369. 
 Drystan, Trystan, 12, 37, 
 
 378-80 : see Tristram. 
 Du March Moro, 69. 
 
 — Merwyd, 242. 
 
 — MoroeS, 69, 242. 
 Dnbin, gen. Duibne, 228, 
 
 361. 
 Dumbarton, 340, 393. 
 Dumbartonshire, 248,340. 
 Dunawt, 343-4- 
 Dunbarre, 46. 
 Dunglass, 340. 
 Dunichen, 46. 
 Durmart le Galois, 68-70, 
 
 134. 373, 393- 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Du6 Sul, 156. 
 Dux Britanniarum, 7. 
 DwarfjMelwas', 139, 142. 
 Dwarf's Cup, the, 326. 
 Dwarfs at Arthur's Court, 
 
 the two, 76. 
 Dyfnaint, 57. 
 Dylan, 23. 
 dylyedawc, 285. 
 Dynadan, 70, 357-8. 
 Dyved, i, 10, 281, 282, 
 
 286-7, 290-3, 324, 
 
 362-3- 
 Dyvnarth, 319. 
 Dyvnwal Moelmnd, 394 : 
 
 see Moelmud, 
 
 Eadaoin, 33 : see Etain. 
 
 Eagle, the, 57, 378. 
 
 Ealdcyrc, 332. 
 
 Ealdcyrcenes eppli, 332. 
 
 ear, 39. 
 
 Earth, Ertha, 40. 
 
 East, the, 90 : see India. 
 
 Eata, Aetau, 72. 
 
 Eber, 25. 
 
 Ebliu, Eblenn, 129. 
 
 Eboracum, 71. 
 
 Ebyr Henvelen, 270: see 
 
 Aber. 
 Echaid Airem, 25-6, 33- 
 
 4, 41, 64. 
 
 — Bairche, 142. 
 
 — Echbel, 203-4. 
 
 — Fedlech, 34. 
 
 — Glas, 119. 
 
 — Liathanach, 293. 
 Echdywynn -u, -ygu, -33. 
 Echidna, 199, 201. 
 Echraidi, 26. 
 Echwy*, echwyd, 249, 
 
 257. 259, 363- 
 Eda Glinmawr, 72. 
 Edem ab Nu4, 68. 
 Edlym of the red Sword, 
 
 89. 
 Edmund Jones, the Rev., 
 
 158. 
 Edmwnt, D. ab, 67. 
 Eel Bridge, 276 : see 
 
 Bridge. 
 
 — River, the, 56, 157. 
 efays, 157, 393- 
 Effrawc, 297: i««Evrawc. 
 Egerton MS., 1782, p. 26. 
 Eglwys Cymmun, 205. 
 Egypt, 207. 
 
 Eildon, 18. 
 
 Dd 
 
 401 
 
 Eistedrod, the, 372, 381. 
 
 lffaT?7jQ(5\os, 220. 
 
 Elayne, 145-8, 152-3, 
 158-9, 162, 164, 169, 
 218, 230, 279, 283. 
 
 Elayne, the Fair Maid of 
 Astolat, 148-9, 151-2, 
 
 159- 
 elbid, 384-5. 
 Elen, iio-i, 145, 148, 
 
 160, 163, 218. 
 
 — Fanawc, no, 340. 
 
 — LiiySog, no, 162, 
 
 234- 
 Eleyne, 153, 158, 257. 
 Elidurus, 74. 
 Elidyr, 69, 74, 
 Eliodorus, 'H\i(iSa?/)Os, 
 
 74- 
 Eliver, Elifer, 73, 297-8, 
 
 318. 
 Eliwlod, 57, 378. 
 Elphin, 247, 263-4, 317- 
 
 8, 3247 326- 
 Elyot, 358. 
 Elysium, 249, 259. 
 ettyil, 36. 
 Emain Macha, 9, 76, 113, 
 
 181, 213, 224. 
 Emer, 25, 34, 113, 132, 
 
 217-8. 
 Empress, the, 87, 91, 96, 
 
 100, 105-6, 109, no- 
 
 2, 135-6, 148, 158- 
 
 60, 162, 164, 218, 227, 
 
 229, 234, 237. 
 Emrys, 162. 
 Emyr ILydaw, 98. 
 Enbarr, 221. 
 Enchantments of Britain, 
 
 the, 215, 291, 292, 295, 
 
 39°- 
 
 englyn, pi. englynion, 
 
 251, 377. 381-3- 
 Englynion of the Graves, 
 
 381-2. 
 engyl, engylion, 126. 
 Enid, Enide, 3, 51, 76, 
 
 391, 395- 
 Epic poem, 375. 
 
 — story, 375. 
 Epirus, 201. 
 
 Erec, 51-2, 68, 320, 374, 
 
 391.395- 
 Erem, 25. 
 Erem, Erimon, 25, 28, 34, 
 
 39, 44-S- 
 Eremon, Eremoin, 34, 39. 
 
4oa 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Eri, 319. 
 
 erian, 39. 
 
 Eridanus, 206. 
 
 Erinn, 10, 25, 27-31, 34, 
 41, 45, 130-1, 217, 
 221, 335. 250-ij 253, 
 260, 265, 308-9, 312, 
 368-9. 
 
 Erymanthus, 190. 
 
 Erytheia, 200, 204, 208, 
 219. 
 
 Escalot, 150, 393. 
 
 Escebtiome, 332. 
 
 Esgair Oervel, 38. 
 
 Espinogre, Epynogrys, 3, 
 190, 258. 
 
 Essyttt, 12, 37. 
 
 Esus, 155. 
 
 Etain, 26-7, 29-33, 35-7, 
 47, 64. 
 
 Etaoin, 33 : see Etain. 
 
 6tar, 26-7, 30-3, 36. 
 
 eteo, 33. 
 
 etewyn, 33. 
 
 Ethiopia, 207. 
 
 Ethiopians, the, 9. 
 
 Ettard, 278-9. 
 
 Etzel, 265-7. 
 
 Euelake, 337 : «« Evalach. 
 
 Eugein, 376. 
 
 Eugenius, 376. 
 
 Eurityl, 71. 
 
 Eurteyrn Gogled, 248. 
 
 Eurydice, 54. 
 
 Eurystheus, 188, 191, 
 194. 197. 206-7, 209, 
 215, 223, 225, 229, 
 
 231. 234- 
 Eurytion, 201. 
 Evalach, 116, 320, 324, 
 
 337. 342. 
 Evelac, 320: see Evalach. 
 Ever, 25. 
 Evilieu, Efilien, Efiliau, 
 
 129, 132. 
 Evnyssien, 250-2, 266, 
 
 .^93. 
 Evrawc, 3, 71-2, 75, 77, 
 
 "5, 159. 297. 
 Evrei, 377. 
 ewynvawr, 242. 
 Excalibur, 348. 
 Exmoor, 394. 
 
 Fairford, 341. 
 Fairies, the, 26, 32, 74. 
 Falerin, 68. 
 Falga, Failge, 203, 355. 
 
 Falias, 355. 
 
 Fand, 164, 216-9, 349, 
 
 361. 
 Famell, Mr., 367. 
 Fatale Castrum, 395. 
 Fedelm, 184, 229. 
 Fergus, 321. 
 Fiacc's Hymn, 25. 
 Fib, 246 : see Fife. 
 Fick, 44. 
 fid, 246. 
 Fidach, 246. 
 Fidga, 307. 
 Fife, 246. 
 Finn, 34. 
 Finnesbtirh, 389. 
 Fir Bolg, 212, 229. 
 Fishguard, 271-2. 
 Fled Bricrend, 392. 
 Foerster, Prof., 374, 386, 
 
 391. 395. 
 Fomoir, 392. 
 Fomori, 48, 90, 198, 307. 
 fontana, 392. 
 Foreign Country, the, 146, 
 
 275, 281 : see Waste. 
 Forgall, 113-7, 121, 132, 
 
 392. 
 Forth, the, 241, 245. 
 Fortrenn, 321. 
 Fortunata, Insula, 334. 
 franc, 383. 
 France, 4, 370, 388. 
 Frank, 383. 
 Funton, 392. 
 Furnivall, Dr., 21, 305, 
 
 321. 
 FflamSwyn, 243. 
 Ffl(ir, 203. 
 ffynnhon, ffynnon, 392. 
 
 Gaharifes, 168, 393. 
 
 Gaherys, 21, 393. 
 
 gai bolga, 189, 199, 210, 
 
 220. 
 Gaidoz, M., 89. 
 gair cyrch, 383-4. 
 Galaad, 166-8, 321. 
 Galaas, 168. 
 Galabes, Fons, Valles, 
 
 168. 
 Galaes, Fons, 168. 
 Galafort, 328. 
 Galagandreiz, 128. 
 Galaiad, 13, 119, 145, 
 
 147.159,163-170, 173, 
 
 183, 185, 215, 225-6, 
 
 279. 354. 396- 
 
 Galahalt, 146, 166, 353-4, 
 
 362. 
 Galahaud, 166. 
 Galahaut, Galehaut, 166. 
 Galath, 159. 
 Galehot, 167. 
 Galihud, 167. 
 Galleron, 298. 
 Gallois, le, 133 : see Dur- 
 
 mart, Peredur. 
 Galyhodyn, 167. 
 Ganor, 49 : see Gaynore. 
 Ganys, 161, 347, 395. 
 Garan-hir, 316 : see 
 
 Gwydno. 
 Gareth, 21, 393. 
 Garlon, 118-9, 121, 285. 
 Garlot, 323-4, 395. 
 Garwlwyd, 73, 121, 285 : 
 
 see Gwrgi. 
 Gaul, 201, 205. 
 Gaule, 161. 
 Gautier, 314. 
 Gauvain, 13, 55, 62-3, 
 
 134, 136-7, 168, 226, 
 
 275, 373. 376, 393- 
 
 Gavin, 13. 
 
 Gawayne, 13, 21, 168, 
 279-82. 
 
 Gaynore, 49. 
 
 Gelbort, 315, 318, 328. 
 
 Genevris, 127. 
 
 Gennylles, 366. 
 
 Genuissa, 366. 
 
 Geoffrey, 3, 10, 11, 13, 
 14, 17, 19, 23, 50, 74, 
 119, 120, 131, 162, 167, 
 169, 173. 23S-9, 244-5, 
 248, 257, 281, 328, 334, 
 342-4, 346, 350, 365-6, 
 
 37 >, 39°- 
 Gerbert, 121, 307, 318. 
 Gereint, 3, 68, 76, 391. 
 Gennanus, St., 354. 
 Germany, 388. 
 Geryon, 200-1, 204, 214. 
 Gesta Kegum B., 395. 
 Gewisseorum, in Natione, 
 
 168. 
 Gildse, Vita, 52, 329. 
 Gildas, 8, 17, 47. 
 Gilead, 166. 
 Gilmwr, 350 ; see Guilla- 
 
 murius. 
 Gilvaethwy, 175. 
 Giraldus, 330-1, 336,373- 
 Giudi, Urbs, 241. 
 Glamorgan, 17, 387. 
 
Glanuog.Glannauc, 325- 
 
 6. 354- 
 Glannog's Isle, 325-6. 
 glas glog, y, 66. 
 Glasgrng, Glasgruc, 351. 
 Glass House, the, 312, 
 
 354- 
 
 — Island, the, 52, 330, 
 
 346- 
 
 — Tower, 333. 
 Glassy Island, 331. 
 Glast, 333, 336. 
 glasten, glastanen, 333. 
 Glastenig.Glastenic, 332- 
 
 4- 
 Glastonbury, 52, 135, 171, 
 
 308, 328, 330-1, 334, 
 
 337-9. 342. 345. 353. 
 
 362, 364- 
 Glastonbury Tor, 67, 303. 
 Glastonia, 52, 333. 
 Glastynblry, 332. 
 Glen-fiddich, 246. 
 Glennie, Mr. Stuart, 18. 
 Glevum, 365, 367. 
 Glewlwyd Gavaelvawr, 
 
 16. 
 Glinneu eil Taran, 319. 
 Gloiu, 365. 
 Gloucester, 81, 109, 197, 
 
 211, 214, 365-6. 
 Gloui, 365. 
 Gloyw Gwlad-lydan, 365. 
 
 — Wattt lydan, 365-6. 
 Glyn Cothi, L., 356. 
 
 — each, 282. 
 Goat-skin, Tom of the, 
 
 125. 
 Gododin, the, 241-3. 
 Godeu, 16, 243-6. 
 Goer, 329. 
 Gogfran, 65. 
 Gogodin, 308. 
 Goidel, Goidels, 328-9. 
 Goire, 63, 138, 141, 143, 
 
 160, 210, 329, 332, 
 
 346-7. 349. 360- 
 Goirre, Gorre, 160: see 
 
 Goire. 
 Golam, 25. 
 Gonemans, 108,121, 306, 
 
 3". 314-5. 319. 328, 
 
 376- 
 Gonor, 49 : see Gaynore. 
 Good Friday, <)<)■ 
 Goon, 108, 120-1, 306, 
 
 311, 316, 319- 
 gordear, 242, 394- 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Gore, 167,324: see Goire. 
 Gorgon, the, 232. 
 gorlassar, 242, 256. 
 Goruumant, 108, 121-2, 
 
 316. 
 Goronwy Pevr, 39, 72, 
 
 175, 254, 262. 
 Govannon, 42. 
 Gower, 160, 329-30, 347, 
 
 349. 350, 353, 362-3. 
 Graal, Conte du, 117,120, 
 
 247. 305. 
 
 — Grand St., 274, 305, 
 3'5. 318-9, 321-3. 
 
 — Petit,St.,268, 309,328. 
 
 — Questedu, 170, 173-4, 
 305.314-5.318,330-1. 
 323. 
 
 Grail Chapel, the, 305. 
 
 — , the Holy, 3, 13, 121, 
 147, 161, 166-7, 170- 
 1,173,182-3,208,215, 
 219,274,277,279,292, 
 300, 305-6, 308-12, 
 314-5. 318-20, 337, 
 368, 390, 396- 
 
 — Romances, the, 108, 
 116-8, 145, 148, 159, 
 160, 291-2, 318, 323, 
 
 337, 354. 376- 
 Gray, 46. 
 
 Greal, the, 312, 338. 
 Green Isle, the Water of 
 
 the, 208. 
 
 — Islands, the, 270. 
 
 — Knight, the, 174. 
 
 — Meadows of Enchant- 
 ment, the, 270. 
 
 Greid, 319. 
 Greidiawl, 36, 319. 
 Gresholm, 296, 353, 394 : 
 
 see Gwales. 
 Grey Man, the big, 83-4. 
 Gruffu* ab Rhys, 351. 
 Guanius, 343. 
 Gueneuer, 53, 146-7 = ^^« 
 
 Guinevere. 
 Guerreh^s, 393. 
 Guest, Lady Ch.,i-6, 126, 
 
 391- 
 Guhir, 332 : see Goire. 
 Guigemar, 394. 
 Guihomarchns, 394. 
 Guildford, 328. 
 Guillamurius, 239, 350. 
 Guinevere, 15, 145, I47, 
 
 218 : see Gwenhwyvar. 
 Guinglain, 373. 
 
 D d 3 
 
 403 
 
 Guitnev, 323: j,;eGwyitno. 
 Gunther, 226, 233, 266-7. 
 Gunvasius, 343. 
 Guorgust, 321, 324. 
 Gwaelod, 323. 
 gwalch, 13. 
 Gwalchaved, Gwalchavet, 
 
 13. 14. 163-9. 173, 
 183, 226, 234, 393. 
 Gwalchmei, 9, 13, 14, 17, 
 19, 21-3. 65-6, 60, 62, 
 
 68,72,75.83,85,98-9. 
 106-7, 122, 134, 136, 
 165,168-9,173-4,183, 
 185, 211, 225-6, 228, 
 234. 275-8, 282, 302- 
 3,331,336,373.378-80. 
 Gwales, 233, 268-70,306, 
 
 309, 353, 394- 
 
 Gwalhauet, 169 : see 
 Gwalchaved. 
 
 Gwanas, 347, 395-6. 
 
 gwas, 51. 
 
 Gwastra, 285. 
 
 Gwawl, 290, 294-5. 
 
 Gweir, 36, 303, 366. 
 
 Gweiryd, 366-7. 
 
 Gwenbaus, 343. 
 
 Gwendolen, 72. 
 
 Gwenhwyvach, 15. 
 
 Gwenhwyvar, Gwenhwy- 
 far, 15, 20, 35-9, 46-7, 
 49, 50, 54, 56, 60, 64, 
 67, 77, 85-6,110,122, 
 135,145.187, 378: see 
 Gueneuer, Guinevere. 
 
 gwenn, 38. 
 
 Gwent, 49. 
 
 Gwent, Gwryd, 36. 
 
 Gwenwissa, 366. 
 
 gwenwlat, 249. 
 
 Gwenwyn Meirch Gwyit- 
 no, 263. 
 
 Gweru, 251, 266. 
 
 Gwem gwngwch,&c.,252. 
 
 Gweryd, 130 : see Iweryd. 
 
 Gwgawn, 19. 
 
 Gwidolwyn, 308. 
 
 Gwiljrm, D. ab, 65-7, 
 
 291, 356. 
 Gwinas, 343. 
 GwUd yrHdv, 241, 345- 
 
 6. 
 gwledig, 7, 8, 245, 249. 
 Gwledig Prydein, 245. 
 Gwlgawt Gogodin, 308. 
 Gwlwlyd Wineu, 42. 
 Gwrgi, Gurgi, 395. 
 
404 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Gwrgi Garwlwyd, 73, 
 121,285. 
 
 — Gwastra, 285. 
 
 — , Peredur's B., 71-3, 
 
 297. 347- 
 Gwrgwst Ledlwm, 319, 
 
 321. 324- 
 Gwri Waitt-euiyn, 366. 
 Gwrien, 382. 
 Gwron, 36. 
 Gwryd, gwryd, 36. 
 Gwrydyr, Gwrhydyr, &c,, 
 
 129, 132. 
 Gwyar, 98, 163-5, 169, 
 
 218, 228, 235. 
 gwybr, wybr, 156. 
 Gwydion, i, 9, 12, 13, 
 
 16, 18, 20, 22-3, 44, 
 
 156-7. 245-6, 285, 
 
 387- 
 Gwydre, 60. 
 GwydyrDrwm, 129, 132 ; 
 
 see Gwrydyr. 
 gwyS, 246. 
 GwySneu, 323-4. 
 GwySno Garan-hir, 263- 
 
 4. 31 1-4, 316-8, 323, 
 
 324,326,360,364,381, 
 
 383- 
 
 Gwydno's Steeds, 263. 
 
 Gwyn ab NM, 36, 60, 
 69, 121, 130, 155-6, 
 158, 260, 314, 316, 
 319,321-2,338,341-3, 
 364-5, 381, 383, 391. 
 
 — Hen, 269. 
 Gwyneft, 395. 
 Gwynwas, 121, 316, 342- 
 
 3. 345- 
 Gwyr, 160, 347, 395. 
 Gwytheint, 156-7. 
 Gwythur, 19, 36, 319, 
 
 321. 
 Gygean ring, Lunet's, 89. 
 
 habena, 364. 
 
 Haddan and Stubbs, 17. 
 
 Hades, 9, 10, 11, 115, 
 157, 209-10, 229, 233, 
 244-6, 281-2, 290, 300- 
 
 I, 305- 329, 338, 341 : 
 
 see Hell. 
 Hseremon, 34 : see Airem, 
 
 Aireman, Erem, &c. 
 Hagan, 266. 
 
 Harlech, 268-9, 285, 306. 
 Hartland Point, 362. 
 
 Haute prynce, the, 119, 
 166-7, 353-4> 362. 
 
 Havgan, 281. 
 
 Hawk of May, the, 168. 
 
 Head of Hades, 10, 12, 
 281,290,300,305,307, 
 
 310- 
 — , the Wonderful,5256. 
 Hector, 214. 
 Heilbronn, 41. 
 Heilyn, 269. 
 Heinrich von dem Tiirlin, 
 
 51, 68, 134. 
 Helen, 30, 110,213, 215. 
 Helena, 340. 
 Helig Vdel, 325-6. 
 Helins, 168, 201, 294. 
 Hell, 16, 209, 301 : see 
 
 Hades. 
 Hellas, 200. 
 Helyas, 321. 
 Hellyasle Grose, 317. 
 Helyn le Blank, 160-2. 
 henoid, 383, 385. 
 Henry H, 331. 
 Henvelen, Henveleu,268- 
 
 70. 
 Heracles, 184, 185-6, 
 
 188, 190-9,201-2, 204- 
 
 11,214-6,218-21,223- 
 
 6, 228-31, 234, 294, 
 
 362. 
 Here, 22, 184, 188, 192, 
 
 195, 201, 218, 227-30, 
 
 234> 236. 
 Hergest, Red Book of, i, 
 
 10 : see Book. 
 Hermes, 215, 229. 
 HermiiSr, 209, 223-4. 
 Herodotus, 222. 
 Herzeloyde, 123. 
 Hesione, 195-6, 198. 
 Hesperides, 206-8, 214, 
 
 334- 
 HeveyJ Hen, 290. 
 Highlands, the Western, 
 
 208. 
 Hippolyte, 195-6, 200. 
 Hippolytus, 199. 
 Hir Vynyd, 382. 
 Historia Brittonum, 7 : 
 
 see Nennius. 
 Holder, Dr., 40. 
 Howel, Houel, 364, 393. 
 Howel,98,340,35o, 352- 
 
 3- 
 Hiibner, Dr., 384. 
 hud, hut, 391. 
 
 Humber, 74, 120. 
 Huns, the, 265-7, 337, 
 
 343-5- 
 Hussa, 238. 
 hwyrar, 38. 
 Hy-Liathain, 293. 
 Hyllus, 231. 
 Hypata, 201. 
 Hywel, 364 : see Howel. 
 
 lardanus, 219. 
 
 Iberius, 205. 
 
 Iblis, 129, 133. 
 
 Iceland, 343. 
 
 ISawc Cor* Prydein, 16. 
 
 Iliad, the, 194, 196, 212- 
 
 4, 224, 234. 
 Iliati, 39. 
 lUyria, 201. 
 imber, 219. 
 Inchkeith, 241. 
 India, 87, 90, 207. 
 Indra, 227, 230. 
 Inis Gutrin, 330 : see 
 
 Ynys. 
 lodeo, 241 : see ludeu. 
 lolaus, 188, 206, 220, 
 
 231. 
 Mo MSS., the, 2, 350. 
 Iphitus, 215. 
 Ir, 34°- 
 Ireland, 9-1 1, 239, 343, 
 
 367 : see Erinn. 
 Irving, Mr. Joseph, 340. 
 Isaiah, 178-9. 
 Isca Silurum, 367. 
 Iseult, Isold, Isoud, 
 
 Isonde, 37, 70, 158. 
 Islands, the Long, 353. 
 Isle of the Men of Falga, 
 
 355- 
 
 — of the Four Precious 
 Walls, 304. 
 
 — , Scathach's, 198-200. 
 Isles, the Far Away, 362. 
 
 — of Hades, the, 209. 
 
 — of Scilly, 362 : see 
 Scillies. 
 
 — of Scotland, the 
 Western, 355. 
 
 Italy, 201. 
 ludeu, 241. 
 Iverio, 45. 
 Ivemians, the, 25. 
 Iwerdon, 1 30. 
 Iweret, 128-31. 
 IweryJ, 130-1. 
 
Janus, 131-2, 204, 357, 
 
 295- 
 Jason, 42. 
 
 Jaws of Death, the, 157. 
 Jerusalem, 320. 
 Johfrit, 128. 
 John the Baptist, 276. 
 Jonaans, Jonans, Jonas, 
 
 297, 321. 
 Jonah, 196. 
 Joseph of Arimathea,ii9, 
 
 159. i7o-i> 265, 308, 
 
 330, 331, 337- 
 Joseph, Joseph's son, 308. 
 Josephes, 320. 
 Joyous Isle, the, 147, 158- 
 
 9, 164, 218, 230, 283. 
 Jupiter, III. 
 jus primse noctis, 76. 
 Juvenal, 366. 
 Jnvencus Paraphrase, the, 
 
 383. 
 
 Kair Belli, 395. 
 Kalafier, 322. 
 KaTovpatCTdvioyj 240. 
 Keating, 48, 355. 
 Kedweli, 332. 
 Kehydius, 297. 
 K^, 62-3. 
 
 Kei, 57-9, 61-4, 67, 77- 
 8, 80, 82-4, 125, 135, 
 
 187, 377- 
 keimeit, 251. 
 Kel-coet, 292 ; see Kil- 
 
 coet. 
 KelySon, 322. 
 Keffi Wic, 5, 38. 
 Kemmes, Hundred of, 
 
 371. 
 Kent, 15. 
 Keredigion, 132. 
 Kerridwen, 262-3. 
 Kigva, 286, 288, 365. 
 Kil-coet, 290, 292-3. 
 King of the Dead Castle, 
 
 118, 274, 364. 
 
 — of Erinn's Son, 208. 
 — , the Fisher, 108, 117, 
 
 130,247,273,306,314- 
 8, 321. 
 
 — Fox, 257. 
 
 — of the Isles, 153. 
 
 — of the Isles, the Red, 
 90, 198. 
 
 — of the Far Away Isles, 
 166. 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 King of Kings, the, 45. 
 
 — of the Long Islands, 
 353- 
 
 — , the Lame or the 
 Maimed, 78, 98,108-9, 
 n6, 118, 132, 137, 
 257. 273-5, 279, 281, 
 285, 292, 306. 
 
 — of Suffering, 86, 89, 94. 
 
 — of the Waste City, 121, 
 381, 307. 
 
 Kings, the Three Hun- 
 dred, 60. 
 
 Kluge, 13. 
 
 Kriemhild, 266. 
 
 Kp6vos, 367. 
 
 Kulhwch, 3, 5, 10, 37-8, 
 41-3, 69, 132, 169-70, 
 190, 212, 353, 292, 
 304, 307, 308, 311, 
 313. 319. 341. 344. 
 377. 394- 
 
 KVvSjITlS, 236. 
 
 Kiipp, Otto, 247. 
 Kyledr the Wild, 319, 
 
 321-2. 
 Kymry, 377. 
 
 Kynvarch Oer,238-9,255. 
 Kynvyn, 131, 133. 
 Kyvarwyd, 387. 
 Kyvarwyityt, 387. 
 
 Laban, 257. 
 Label, 322. 
 
 Labraid, 216-9, 349, 361. 
 Labran, 257. 
 Lady of the Feats, 90-1, 
 96 : see Queen. 
 
 — of the Fountain, 103- 
 4, 112, 138, 148, 218, 
 361. 
 
 — of the Lake, 128-9, 
 
 2i3> 348- 
 
 — of Shalott, 218. 
 Lambeth, 53. 
 
 Lame or Maimed King, 
 the, 78 : see King. 
 
 Lamraide, Moin, 38. 
 
 Lancelot, 50, 53-5, 59, 
 60, 62-4, 66, 68, 102, 
 127-9, 133-7. 140-3, 
 145-9.151-2,154,158- 
 9, 161-4, 166-7, 170, 
 185, 210, 313, 218-9, 
 235, 230, 254, 279, 
 283, 320-1, 338, 337, 
 348, 357-8. 361- 
 
 Dd3 
 
 405 
 
 Land of Illusion, 291. 
 — of strange Adventures, 
 
 280. 
 Lannog, Lanoc, Ynys, 
 
 325 : see Glannog. 
 Lanzelet, 68, 127, 133: 
 
 see Lancelot. 
 Laomedon, 195-6, 225, 
 
 233- 
 Laughame, 270. 
 Lavayne, 148. 
 Laws, the Welsh, go. 
 Leicester, 131-2. 
 Leinster, Book of, 28, 34. 
 Lennox, 248. 
 Lemsean Water-snake, 
 
 the, 188. 
 Lesser Britain, 6 : see 
 
 Britain, 
 leuidan, 157 : see Levia- 
 than. 
 Leven, the, 244. 
 Levenach, 248. 
 Leviathan, the, 157. 
 Leyden, John, 18. 
 Lia Fail, 355. 
 Liath, 393-4. 
 Liathan, 293. 
 Liban, Labraid's W., 33, 
 
 316, 319 {asiacA Jlood- 
 
 goddess), 384, 349. 
 Liban = Muirgen, 349, 
 
 360-1. 
 Libya, 307. 
 Liez, 128. 
 Ligurians, 305. 
 Ligyan, the, 205. 
 Limors, 138. 
 Linet, 361 : see Luned. 
 Linier, 138. 
 Linligwan, 361. 
 Lion, Chevalier au, 97. 
 — ,theNemean, 186, 209. 
 — , Owein's, 96-7, io4> 
 
 142, 190. 
 Lionel, 160-1, 393. 
 Liones, 361-3. 
 Lir, 316. 
 Listinois, 274. 
 Liuan, Stagnum, 361. 
 Livingstone, 178. 
 Loch d4 Lig, 30. 
 Loch M6r, 189, 234-5. 
 Lochlann, 11. 
 Lodoneis, 11. 
 Loeg, 317, 303. 
 Loegaire, 234. 
 Loegaiie mac N^ill, 202. 
 
4o6 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Logres, 138, 247, 292, 
 
 35°- 
 Logrin, 61. 
 
 Lointaines, les Isles, 354. 
 Lomarc, 239. 
 Lomond, Loch, 238-9, 
 
 244, 248. 
 London, 4, 268-9. 
 Lonelich, 21, 337. 
 Long Lance, 98 : see Per- 
 
 edur. 
 Longinus, 119. 
 Longmynd, 382. 
 Lorayne le Saueage, 257. 
 Loth, Lot, II, 13, 19, 20, 
 
 22, 153, 169, 228, 239, 
 
 337- 
 
 — M., 377. 
 Lothian, 11, 240, 391. 
 Loudonesia, 11, 239, 240. 
 Lough Neagh, 129, 349, 
 
 360-1. 
 Lonmarc, 239. 
 Loyt Coyt, 333. 
 Lucian, 44. 
 Lug, 32-3,97, 130, 220- 
 
 2, 231, 307, 355. 
 Lugaid, 90, 198, 222. 
 
 — mc. Noiss, 239. 
 Lugudunum, 97, 193. 
 Lugus, 193. 
 Lundy, 309, 362. 
 Luned, Lunet, 3, 87, 89, 
 
 93-6, 103-5, 19°. 230, 
 
 361. 
 Luzel, M., 386. 
 Lycia, 319. 
 
 Lydia, 216, 218-9, '^'^A- 
 Lynet, 93 : see Luned. 
 Lyonel, 161 : see Lionel. 
 
 tiachar, 61. 
 ILacheu, S9-62, 259. 
 itaer, 283. 
 ILanbabo, 298-9. 
 ILanbadam, 351. 
 ILanfihangel, 341. 
 ILangotten, 338. 
 ILangors, 73. 
 ILaw Difrod, 254. 
 ILawdino, 254. 
 ILawereint, 322. 
 ILawgyffes, 254 : see ILeu. 
 ILawr, 395. 
 ILech Idris, 385. 
 ILech Las, 16. 
 ILedlaith, 130, 154: see 
 ILyr. 
 
 Hetuegin, 222. 
 
 lieu, 97. 
 
 ILeu, 6, 9, 11,13, 18, 19. 
 23, 39, 72, 176, 222, 
 228, 239, 254, 262, 387. 
 
 ILeudun, 391. 
 
 ILeuSunlawn, 391. 
 
 ttew, 97. 
 
 ILew, 239 : see ILeu. 
 
 ILeyn, 356-7. 
 
 ffi, 250. 
 
 ttiant, 283. 
 
 IL'ion, ILiawn, 360-1. 
 
 ILivon, ILifon, 361. 
 
 ILiwan, 361. 
 
 ILouan ILawdivro, 253-5, 
 
 257-9, 264- 
 ILui, II, 36, 239, 319, 
 
 322, 337. 344, 377- 
 ILuraonwy, 238. 
 ILwyd, 290-5. 
 ILwyden, 292-3. 
 ILwydawg, 382. 
 ILwyr, 308. 
 ILwyryon, 308. 
 ILwyt, 292 ; see ILwyd. 
 ILwyvein, Argoet, 244, 
 
 248. 
 ILwyvenyS, 244, 248. 
 ILychlyn, 11, 159, 240, 
 
 345- 
 ILyn EiSwen, 359. 
 ILyn ILiwan, ILivan, 361 . 
 ILyn Tegid, 359. 
 ILyr, 1, 130-1, 154, 171, 
 
 270. 
 ILywarchHen, 239, 255- 
 
 6. 
 ILywelyd-, 382. 
 
 mabinog, 1,2. 
 
 mabinogi, i, 2, 377, 382. 
 
 mabinogion, i, 2, 377. 
 
 Mabinogion, les, 377. 
 
 Mabinogion, the, 1-6, 240, 
 252, 256, 282-3, 377, 
 387-8, 391, 393-4. 
 
 Mabon, 41, 132, 212, 247, 
 
 294, 365- 
 Mabuz, 128-9, 132-3. 
 Macclesfield's Library, 
 
 Lord, 57. 
 Madog, 57. 
 mael, 51. 
 MaelawT, 352. 
 Maelgwas, Mailguas, 51, 
 
 122, 343 : jij^Melwas. 
 
 Maelgwn, 8, 47, 155, 264. 
 Maelienya, 350, 352. 
 Maelmuaid, 394. 
 Maeluma, 344. 
 Maelwas, 51, 155, 342: 
 
 see Melwas. 
 Maelwys, 344. 
 Magh Leana, Battle of, 
 
 33- 
 
 Maglocunus, 8 : see Mael- 
 gwn. 
 
 Maheloas, 51-2, 330: see 
 Melwas. 
 
 Maidens' Castle, the, 325. 
 
 Mailagni, Tria Maqva, 
 
 359- 
 Maildun, 88, 304. 
 Mains, East, 46. 
 mal, 51. 
 Maldon, 389. 
 Malfet, le Chevaler, 147, 
 
 218. 
 Malgo, 17: see Maelgwn. 
 Malmesbury, William of, 
 
 330, 332-S- 
 Malory, Sir Tho., 3, 20-3, 
 
 37, 66, 70, 278, 304, 
 
 347. 353, 357, 361-2, 
 
 396- 
 Malvasius, 343. 
 Mammun, 40. 
 man, mannawc, 304. 
 Man, the Isle of, 309, 
 
 355- 
 Manannan, 216-9, 221-2, 
 
 355- 
 ManawyJan, i, 252-3, 
 
 256, 286-93, 301, 303. 
 Mane, 189. 
 Manessier, 121, 316, 318, 
 
 321, 323- 
 Mantle of Chastity, 129. 
 Maponus, 212, 294. 
 Mar, 246. 
 marbh, 359. 
 Marc, Maigg, 7° • ^^' 
 
 More. 
 March ab Meirchion, 1 2 , 
 
 13, 19, 70, 238-9, 356- 
 
 7, 378- 
 Marhaus, 278, 280. 
 Marie de France, 183. 
 Mark, Marke, 12, 37, 70, 
 
 367-8. 
 Marlowe, 289. 
 Mame, 294. 
 Marpus, 321. 
 Mars, 25, 193. 
 
marth, Marth, 156-7 
 Martin, Zur Gralsage, 
 
 315. 318. 
 ™arw, 359. 
 
 Masters, the Four, 33-4. 
 Math, I, 23, 203, 254, 
 
 285, 374> 382- 
 Matholwch, 250-1, 265- 
 
 6. 
 Mathonwy, i, 382 : see 
 
 Math. 
 Matrons, the 24, p. 210. 
 mawrair, 57. 
 Maxetis Dream, iio-i. 
 Maxim, Maxen, no, 162. 
 May, tiie First of, 239, 
 
 316-7, 320. 
 Mayhew, Mr., 289. 
 Mealbag Pavilion, the, 
 
 265. 
 Meath, 28. 
 Medb, 114, 179-81, 205, 
 
 211-3. 
 Medrod,Medrawt, 14-17, 
 
 19. 21-3. 38-9, 51. 67, 
 
 73,175, 228,324, 328, 
 
 392- 
 medru, 38. 
 Medusa, 232. 
 Medyr, 38. 
 Megara, 215. 
 Mei, 13. 
 
 Meicc Erimon, 45. 
 Meide Lant, 127-8. 
 Meigle, 46. 
 Meirchion, 12, 70, 238, 
 
 356-7 : see March, 
 meise, moise, 313. 
 Mela, Pomponius, 205, 
 
 369- 
 Meleagnant, Meleaguanz, 
 
 51, 122, 137 : see Mel- 
 was. 
 Melga, 343 : see Melwas. 
 Melgwas, Melguas, 122, 
 
 343 : see Melwas. 
 Melli, Sultan of, 179. 
 Mellyagraunce, 51, 53, 
 
 122, 328 : see Melwas. 
 Melwas, 35, 50-4, 56, 
 
 59, 62-4, 65-7, 134-9, 
 
 155. 17.6. 210, 328, 
 
 330. 338, .^42-^- 
 Men of the North, 298. 
 menda, 304. 
 Mened, 377. 
 mensa, 313, 394- 
 mensarins, 394. 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Menries, 354. 
 Mercurius Artaius, 40. 
 
 — Cultor, 40. 
 Mercury, 41, 48. 
 Merguid, 332. 
 Meriadeuc, 373. 
 Merlin, 21, 23, 119, 153, 
 
 168, 312, 348, 354, 
 368. 
 
 — Ambrosius, 162. 
 Merlin, M.S. of the, 21. 
 Merlin, the Huth MS. of 
 
 the, 167-8, 274-5, 282, 
 284. 304. 323, 324. 
 349. 354> 393- 
 Merhni, Vita, 334, 346, 
 
 393- 
 mesa, 313. 
 Mesior, 273, 394. 
 mias, 313. 
 Michael, the Archangel, 
 
 339. 341. 352. 
 Michael's Mount, 340. 
 Michel, M. Francisque, 
 
 388, 395. 
 Midas, 238. 
 
 Middleby Kirk, 265, 363. 
 Mider, gen. Midir, 26-9, 
 
 31-2, 35. 39. 51. 64, 
 
 203, 208, 293, 330, 
 
 356. 
 midiur, 38. 
 Mighty, Isle of the, 252- 
 
 3- 
 Mil, 25, 340. 
 Milford, 270. 
 Milianz, 51 : jBg^^was. 
 Modred, MofSred, 14-16, 
 
 21,38,46-7,50-1,228, 
 
 324. 337. 376. 392- 
 Modron, 132, 247, 294, 
 
 365- 
 Modrot, 392. 
 Moel, y Gwr, 73. 
 — ■ Vammau, 354. 
 Moelmud, 261, 394 : see 
 
 Dyvnwal. 
 Moin Conaing, 356. 
 M6n, 156-7. 
 Mont St.-Michel, 340. 
 mor, 359. 
 Morann, 72-3. 
 Moray, 240, 244, 246. 
 More, 70, 356 : see Marc. 
 Morcant, 332, 391. 
 Mordei, 241-2. 
 Mordrain, Mordrains, 
 
 320, 323-4. 342- 
 
 407 
 
 MorSwyt Tyttion, 252. 
 Morehel, 333. 
 Morgain, 324. 
 Morgan le Fay, la Fee, 
 
 22. 23, 324, 347-8, 
 
 391- 
 Morgan, mas., 391. 
 Morgant Tut, 391. 
 Morgen, fem.," 22, 324, 
 
 334-6, 348-9. 
 — , mas., 332, 349. 
 Morgue, 324. 
 Morien, 349 : see Morgen, 
 
 mas. 
 Morimarusam, 358-9. 
 Mormeil, 332. 
 Moro, 69, 70. 
 Morois, 68-9. 
 Moroneu, 321. 
 Morrigu, Morrigan, iii- 
 
 2. 159. 163, 169, 184, 
 
 189,192,218,228,234- 
 
 6. 392- 
 Morris, Mr. L., 32. 
 Morris, theAntiquary,66, 
 
 354. 356. 361. 
 mors, mortis, 157. 
 MorteDarthur, 3, 9, 304 : 
 
 see Malory. 
 Morvined, 332. 
 Morvran, 16. 
 Morvui, 247. 
 Mourning, the Mound of, 
 
 90. 
 muir, 359. 
 
 Muirgen, 22, 349, 361. 
 Munremur, 205. 
 Murefenses, 239. 
 Mureif, 238-240, 244-5, 
 Murias, 240, 242. 
 mwys, 311-4. 316, 394. 
 Mycenae, 193-4, 196, 209, 
 
 230-1. 
 Myles oftheLaundes, 153. 
 Myrmidons, the, 214. 
 Myvyrian Arch., the, 5, 
 
 159. 3<5i- 
 
 Naitan, Naiton, 321. 
 Nanhwynain, 16. 
 Nant Francon, 156-7. 
 — Gwynant, 16 : see 
 
 Nanhwynain. 
 Nanttte, Nant-ileu, 254. 
 Nascien, 284, 321-2. 
 Natiien, 284, 321-3. 
 Neit, III, 236. 
 nem, 241.' 
 
4o8 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Nemean Lion, the, 186-7. 
 
 Nemed, 48. 
 
 Nennius, 7, 8, 72, 338, 
 
 334, 354. 361, 375- 
 Nentre, Nentres, 323-4. 
 Neoptolemus, 215. 
 Neptune, 205. 
 Nereus, 206-7. 
 Nes, 394. 
 Nethawc, 319. 
 Nentre, Neutres, 323-4. 
 Newell, Mr., 369. 
 Nibelnng Story, 266. 
 Nibelungen Lied, 265. 
 nightmare, 392. 
 Niviene, 284. 
 Nodens, 344. 
 Noodran, 323-4, 342. 
 Norman Conquest, the, 
 
 371. 374. 389. 
 Normandy, 375. 
 Normanized Bretons, 375, 
 
 37<'- 
 Normans, the, 2, 3, 370, 
 
 373-5. 388-9- 
 Norse, 5, 14. 
 Norsemen, 9, 11, 369. 
 North, the, 115, 240, 247- 
 
 8, 264, 298, 319, 322- 
 
 3' 
 
 Northumberland, 350. 
 
 Norway, 11, 240. 
 
 Noss, 239. 
 
 Nothus, 344. 
 
 Nuadu, 307. 
 
 NdS, 36, 60, 319, 337, 
 
 344 : see Gwyn & 
 
 Edern. 
 Nutt, 3, 117, 124, 174, 
 
 176.247.315.321,374- 
 Nwython, 284, 319, 321- 
 
 z. 
 Nymue, 279. 
 Nyneue, 279, 281, 284, 
 
 348- 
 Nynniaw, 42. 
 Nyssien, 39,;. 
 
 O'Curry's Manners, 26. 
 O'Donovan, Dr., 33, 231. 
 Ober-Seebach, 155. 
 6c, Mac, 29. 
 Ochren, 345. 
 Odysseus, 215. 
 Odyssey, the, 219. 
 Oeth and Anoeth, 347. 
 Ogmius, Ogmios, 44. 
 Ogrvan, Ogrfan, 36, 49. 
 
 Ogurvan, 49, 65. 
 Ogyrven, 36, 326. 
 Olwen, 3, 5, 10, 41, 132, 
 
 292, 308,311,319: see 
 
 Kulhwch. 
 Omphale, 216-9, 224. 
 Operlinnliuan, 361. 
 oralo, 40. 
 
 Orgellousde la Lande,76. 
 Orkney, Orkeney, 20, 228, 
 
 240. 343. 345. 366. 
 Orpheus, 54. 
 Orthrus, 201. 
 Ortlieb, 266. 
 Oswiu, 241. 
 Other World, King of the, 
 
 70, 246, 260. 
 Owein, Ouein, 3, 71, 74- 
 
 6, 77-8, 84-6, 88-9, 
 91-6, 98, 100, 103-4, 
 106, 109, 112, 115, 
 117, 122, 138, 142, 
 148, 154, 164, 173, 
 185, 188, 190, 193, 
 210, 218, 223, 225, 
 230, 238, 243-4, 246- 
 
 7. 249. 265, 278, 361, 
 364. 376. 
 
 — , Aballac's S., 336. 
 Owen, George, 394. 
 Owen Gwynetf, 350. 
 Ox, the Bannawc, 42. 
 
 — the Brindled, 42. 
 
 — the Yellow, 42. 
 
 Pabo Post Prydein, 298. 
 paladr, 384-5. 
 Paladr-hir, 71, 133, 220 : 
 
 see Peredur. 
 Palladium, 215. 
 Palomydes, Palamydes, 
 
 154. 158, 298, 376. 
 Pan, 161. 
 Pant of Genewis, 127, 
 
 162. 
 Pantannas, 32. 
 Pantheon, the Celtic, 48. 
 P^r, 133- 
 Paris, M. Gaston, ,^1-2, 
 
 64-5, 62, 102, 127, 
 
 134. 137, 167, 183, 
 
 37°-4- 
 Partinal, 120-1. 
 Parzival, 120, 123. 
 Pascentius, 248. 
 Pasgen, 248. 
 Patrick, St., 202. 
 Patrick's Purgatory, 55. 
 
 Pegasus, 220-1. 
 Peibiaw, 42. 
 Peithytt, Ystrat, 351. 
 Peles, 118, 273-6, 300. 
 Peleur, 56, 108, 118, 120, 
 
 148. 273-7, 300, 305- 
 
 6, 324, 394- 
 Peleus, 213. 
 Pelias, 226. 
 Pellam, 118-9, 120, 257- 
 
 9. 265, 274-5, 279, 
 
 281, 285. 
 Pellean, 274-5, 297, 300, 
 
 306. 
 Pelleas, 274, 278-82, 284. 
 Pellehan, 274. 
 Pellehem, 297. 
 Pelles, 108, 118, 146-8, 
 
 158,273-5,281-4,295, 
 
 3°°, 305. 306, 318, 
 
 324- 
 Pellinore, 153-5, 158-9, 
 
 397-8. 
 Pellohin, 274, 297. 
 Peloponnese, 201. 
 pett, 275. 
 Pen y Dinas, 352. 
 — y Gwryd, 16. 
 Penda, 241. 
 Penittion, 372, 381. 
 Penttech Elidyr, 69. 
 Penttyn, 262. 
 Penmon, 325. 
 Pennasgett, 72. 
 Penthesilea, 214. 
 Penvro, 268-9. 
 Perceval, Percevaus, 69, 
 
 117,120-2,124-6,133, 
 
 153.173,174,176,203, 
 
 258, 307,31". 3'8, 337. 
 
 396- 
 Peredur, 3, 26, 44-9, 
 
 69-73, 75-91. i°°-8. 
 110-2, 114-8, 120-7, 
 
 131. 133. 135-6, 138, 
 140-2, 145, 147-8, 
 '53. 158-60, 162, 164, 
 173-6,185,187-8,190- 
 2, 197, 203, 208-12, 
 214, 218, 220, 225, 
 229-30, 234,237,258- 
 9, 261, 273-4, 296-7, 
 302,311,314,318,337, 
 
 355- 
 Perseus, 220, 223, 226, 
 
 229-32. 
 Perth, 46-6. 
 pesch^onr, 296. 
 
Petchere, 296. 
 Petersburg Diet., 44. 
 Pheras, 226. 
 Phersephassa, 201. 
 Philemon, 358. 
 Phillimore, Mr., 129,132, 
 
 333. 391. 392, 394-5- 
 Pickering, 75. 
 
 Pict, 246. 
 
 Pictland, 248. 
 
 Picts, the, 14, 239, 307, 
 
 328, 343, 345> 35°- 
 Plant Rhys Dwvn, 271. 
 Plasy Crag, 351. 
 Pliny, i8o-i, 358. 
 Pluris, Queen of, 90. 
 Plutarch, 367. 
 Pluto, 54,70, 201,232-3. 
 Polydectes, 231-3, 270, 
 
 353- 
 Polydegmon, 232. 
 Pomorum, Insula, 332, 
 
 334. 346- 
 Ponz Evages, 55. 
 Porius, 385-6. 
 Perth Kerdin, 292. 
 — Wy*no, 263-4. 
 Portzmarch, 70. 
 Poseidon, 205, 222. 
 Powel, Prof., 241, 243. 
 Preller, 186-7, 200-1. 
 Priam, 196. 
 
 Pries tholm, 325. 
 
 Priten, 298. 
 
 Procopius, 10, 71, 329, 
 
 358, 363- 
 Prometheus, 205,207,329. 
 Proserpine, 54. 
 Proud Knight of the 
 
 Glade, 80 : see Syberw. 
 Prydein, Pridein, 16, 245, 
 
 247.255,298,383.385- 
 Pryderi, i, 12, 13, 275, 
 
 282, 285-6, 290-1, 
 
 295-6,300-1.303.306, 
 
 365-6, 386. 
 Psendo-Gautier, the, 314. 
 Ptolemy's Geography, 
 
 240, 351, 362- 
 Puffin Island, 325, 354. 
 Pughe, Dr. W. Owen, 66, 
 
 249, 255, 257, 3'2-3, 
 
 331. 
 Pwytt, 1, 12, 258-9, 273, 
 
 275, 281-3, 284-6, 
 
 290, 294-6, 300, 303, 
 
 305-6, 324, 365- 
 Pyrenees, the, 205. 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Pythian Oracle, the, 215, 
 
 223. 
 Pytho, 225. 
 
 Queen of the Feats, go-i, 
 
 96 : see Lady. 
 — of the Maidens, the, 
 
 325- 
 Quest of the Holy Grail, 
 
 3- 
 Queste du S. Graal, 69, 
 
 257, 273- 
 Questing Beast,the,i 54-5 . 
 Quiquagrant, 120. 
 
 Rachen des Todes, 157. 
 rddlo, ralo, 40. 
 Rainbow River, the, 56, 
 
 167- 
 raith, Ailill's, 117. 
 rataj, ratey, 40. 
 Ravens, Owein's, 193. 
 Realm of Glamour, 291. 
 Record of Carnarvon, 361. 
 Red Knight, the, 14. 
 Redon, Cart, de I'Abbaye 
 
 de, 333- 
 Reget, 239, 243-4. 
 Remus, 25. 
 rex semimortnus, 257. 
 Rheged, 238-9, 240, 244, 
 
 246, 248, 349, 350, 
 
 352-3- 
 Rheidol, 351-2. 
 Rhiannon, 258, 268, 284- 
 
 6, 290-1, 294-5, 3°3, 
 
 366. 
 Rhiannon'sBirds,285,366. 
 Rhine, the, 267. 
 Rhinnon Rhin Bamawt, 
 
 308. 
 Rhiw Vaelawr, 352. 
 Rhiwattbn, 60. 
 Rkonabwy's Dream, 3, 
 
 16. 
 Rhuabon, 354. 
 Rhygyfarch, 394. 
 Rhys Dwvn, 271. 
 Rich Fisher, 108, 117, 
 
 247,306,315, Ziy.see 
 
 King. 
 Rigomer, 394. 
 Rig- Veda, 267. 
 Ritter, 40. 
 
 Rome, II, no, 234, 388. 
 r6mhair, 287. 
 Romulus, 25. 
 Round Table, the, 6, 8, 9. 
 
 409 
 
 Round Valley, the, 83-4, 
 
 242. 
 Roxburghe Club, 21, 393. 
 Rubeas, Prom., 358. 
 rutter, 289. 
 r6tter, 289. 
 ryuoryaC, 287. 
 
 Sabbath, the, 73. 
 
 St. David's, 283, 331. 
 
 Salamis, 196. 
 
 Saude, 16. 
 
 Sarras, 320, 395-6. 
 
 Satan, 341. 
 
 Saturday, 73. 
 
 Saturn, 295. 
 
 Saxons, Chanson des, 388. 
 
 Sayce, Prof., 8. 
 
 Scandinavia, 11, ,^45. 
 
 Scapula, Ostorius, 172. 
 
 Scath, Land of, 200, 244. 
 
 Scathach, 81, 113-4,116, 
 
 196-9, 212, 221-2. 
 SchStel le Mort, 128 : see 
 
 Dead Castle. 
 Schmidt, Johannes, 40. 
 Scillies, the, 309, 324, 
 
 362. 
 Scilly Isles, 353. 
 Scotland, 10, 11, 239, 
 
 245,264,282,322,328. 
 
 — New Stat. Ac. of, 46- 
 
 7- 
 
 — the Hist, and Chron. 
 of, 46. 
 
 Scots, the, 14, 239, 32S, 
 
 344-5. 350- 
 Scotti, II, 282, 329. 
 Scottish Review, the, 246. 
 Scottus, 329. 
 Scythia, 201, 207. 
 Seint Greal, Williams', 
 
 98, "8, 273, 275,302, 
 
 325, 337, 355- 
 Seirioel, Ynys, 325. 
 Seithennyn, 360. 
 Seraphe, 320. 
 Seriphus, 232-3,270,353. 
 Serpent on a Gold Ring, 
 
 the, 96. 
 
 — and the Lion, the, 96. 
 Sesame, 292. 
 
 Setanta, 187. 
 Severn, the, 365, 367, 
 
 — Sea, the, 15, 350, 362- 
 
 3- 
 
 Sevin, 57. 
 
4IO 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Seynt Graal, Fnmivall's, 
 
 21. 
 
 Sgelic MhicWl, 340. 
 Shadow-Land, 202, 244. 
 Shakspear, 390. 
 Shalott, the Lady of, 150- 
 
 2, 159, 164, 393. 
 Sheep,theColonr-shifting, 
 
 87. 
 Shirbum, 57. 
 siabur, siabrse, 38. 
 Sibyl, the Northern, 232. 
 Sicily, 201. 
 Sidlaw Hills, 45. 
 sidytt, 301. 
 
 Siegfried, 226, 233, 267. 
 Sigebert, 344. 
 Silures, 363. 
 Skellig, the Great, 340. 
 Slieve Fuait, 76. 
 Suowdon, 16, 18. 
 Soar, the River, 131. 
 Solar Hero, 13, 14, 17, 
 
 37. 226, 231, 233, 236, 
 
 295- 
 Soleil, le, 62. 
 Somerset, 52, 241, 329, 
 
 345- 
 Sommer, Dr., 3, 9. 
 Sorelois, 354. 
 Sorhaut, 324, 354. 
 Sorlingues, 324, 353-4. 
 Soudan, the, 179. 
 Spain, 205. 
 Spencer, 390. 
 Spencer, Mr. Herbert, 
 
 177, 179, 180. 
 Spiritual Place, City, the, 
 
 396. 
 Stephens' Lit. of the 
 
 Kymry, 2, 19, 241, 
 
 352- 
 Stirling, 46. 
 Stokes, 25, 392, 395, 
 Stonehenge, 334. 
 Stones, the Shower of, 
 
 206. 
 5ToS«Ta, STOuKTia, 351. 
 Stranggore, 160. 
 Stymphalian Birds, the, 
 
 192. 
 Styx, 229. 
 Sualdaim, 227. 
 Sugewege, 332. 
 Sulpicius Severus, 324. 
 Sun, the, 200-1, 221. 
 Sun-hero, 230 : see Solar. 
 Surleuse, 354. 
 
 Surluse, 166-7, 353-4. 
 Swinburne, 390. 
 Sword Bridge, the, 139. 
 Syberw y E^annerch, 76. 
 Sylinaucis, Sylinancim, 
 
 324. 353- 
 Syllingar, 353. 
 
 Table, Arthur's Long, 58. 
 — , the Round, 6, 8, 9 : 
 see Round. 
 
 — of the Ethiopians, 9. 
 Tables for Gambling, 
 
 253- 
 Tacitus, 40, 262. 
 Tain Bo Regamna, 235. 
 Tain, the, 70, iii, 159, 
 
 163,189,205,211,235- 
 
 6. 
 Taliessin, 264, 269, 316- 
 
 7, 326-7. 
 — , Book of, 259, 261- 
 
 3, 26s, 270, 300,303, 
 
 305, 381, 394- 
 Taliessin, History of, 2, 
 
 10, 19, 56, 264, 377. 
 Tallwch, 12, 37. 
 Taprobana, 334. 
 Tara, 25-7, 29. 
 Taran, eil, 319. 
 Tavwy, Tavwe, the, 364. 
 Taw, the, 364. 
 Tawe, Tawy, the, 350, 
 
 363-5. 367- 
 Tegid, 262-3, 326, 359- 
 Teivi, the, 271. 
 Telamon, 196, 198. 
 Tenby, 340-1. 
 Tennyson, 20, 60, 150, 
 
 39°> 396- 
 terra, 157. 
 Terra Mater, 40. 
 Terra Foraine, 305. 
 
 — Gastee, 122, 316. 
 Tethba, 28, 31. 
 Tetherton, King's Son of, 
 
 193- 
 Teucer, 196. 
 tewyn, 33. 
 teym, 241. 
 
 Teymon's Chair, 283. 
 Teyrnon Twryf-vliant, 
 
 283-4. 
 Thames, 53, 328. 
 Theseus, 198-9, 209-10, 
 
 223, 226, 231. 
 Thessaly, 201, 226. 
 Thetis, 213. 
 
 Thirteen Treasures of 
 Britain, the, 354, 
 
 Thomas, 373. 
 
 Thor, 5. 
 
 Thornton's Morte Ar- 
 thure, 316. 
 
 Thrace, 201. 
 
 Three atrocious Slaugh- 
 ters, 258, 264. 
 
 — Birds of Rhiannon, 
 268-9. 
 
 — chaste Women, 129. 
 
 — commendable Slaugh- 
 ters, 73. 
 
 — Cows, Mider's, 355. 
 
 — criminal Blows, 265. 
 Resolutions, 16. 
 
 — disloyal Retinues, 72. 
 
 — frivolous Battles, 16. 
 
 — great Plagues, 6. 
 
 — Horseloads, 72. 
 
 — stout Swineherds, 12. 
 
 — unchaste Ladies, 37. 
 
 — War Captains of, 12. 
 
 — wicked Uncoverings, 
 
 5- 
 Tintagel, 362. 
 Tir Scaith, 202. 
 Tnugdali, Visio, 55. 
 Td/3io5, 364. 
 
 Tochmarc Bec-fola, 311. 
 Tonga Tabu, 178. 
 Tor Conaing, 356. 
 Tory Island, 355. 
 Towy, the, 350, 363-4. 
 Tralee, 203. 
 Traveller's Song, the, 
 
 389- 
 Trawsfynyd, 385. 
 Tre' Taliessin, 263. 
 Treith, Ore, 375. 
 Triads, the, 6, 12, 15, 16, 
 
 20,22-3, 35-7, 71,74, 
 
 377- 
 Triclinium, 313. 
 tripod, the, 327. 
 Tristram, 12, 23, 37, 70, 
 
 I54> 158, 298, 362, 
 
 373, 378-81 : see Drys- 
 
 tan. 
 Troit, Porcus, 375. 
 Troy, 195-6, 215, 225, 
 
 233. 39°- 
 Trwyth, Twrch,4i, 375. 
 Tuatha De Danann, 240, 
 
 307. 355- 
 Turning Castle, the, 116, 
 302, 325-6. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 411 
 
 Twr Bliant, 394. 
 Twryf-bliant, Twryf-vli- 
 
 ant, 283, 394. 
 Tylor's Prim, Cult., 181. 
 Tyno Helig, 325. 
 Typho, 236. 
 tyrannus, 52. 
 Tysilio, Brut, 169. 
 tywynnu, 33. 
 
 Uffem, 301. 
 
 Uganda, 179. 
 
 Ulrich von Zatzikhoven, 
 
 127-8, 130-3. 
 Ulster, 30, 113, 115. 
 Undine, 164. 
 Urban, 257-9, 3^6. 
 Urbgen, 238, 242. 
 Urbgennius, 239. 
 Urbigena, 242-3. 
 UrSawl Ben, 172, 261. 
 Urianus, 239. 
 Urien, 98, 104, 238-240, 
 
 242-4, 247-9, 253-65, 
 
 275> 324, 347. 349-5°. 
 
 353- 
 Urlain, 257. 
 Urogenius, 242. 
 Urogenonertus, 242. 
 Urre, 337. 
 Ursula, 343-5. 
 urns, the, 243. 
 Uryence, 349 : see Urien. 
 Usnech, Children of, 82. 
 Uthr Ben, 161-2, 256-63, 
 
 394- 
 
 — Bendragon, 9, 116, 
 
 256-7. 277. 337- 
 
 — Pen-dragon, 161-2. 
 Uwayne, Vwayne, 278, 
 
 280 : see Owein. 
 
 Valerin, 68 : see Falerin. 
 Valhalla, 5, 9. 
 Vali, 225. 
 Venedocia, 332. 
 Venerable Head, Bran's, 
 204,208,270,306,310. 
 Verbigenns, 243. 
 
 Vergil, 202. 
 
 Victory, the Child of, 
 
 147. 
 Vitrea, Insula, 330. 
 Viviane, Vivienne, 284. 
 Voirre, Isle de, 330. 
 Volcse, 13. 
 Volospa, 253. 
 Vortigem, 162, 249, 354. 
 Vryens, Vryence, 349. 
 Vulcan, 202. 
 Vulgate, the, 166. 
 
 Wace, 340, 371, 373. 
 Walewein, 55, 168. 
 Walganus, 13. 
 Walh, Wealh, 13. 
 Wall, the, 7, 10. 
 Walleyes, 394 : see 
 
 Gwales. 
 Wander, Wanders, 46-7. 
 Wanor, Wannore, Wan- 
 
 our, 46-7, 49 : see 
 
 Wander. 
 Ward, Mr. H. L. D., 
 
 344- 
 Warpus, 320-1. 
 Waste City, the, 12 1-2. 
 
 — Country, the, 122, 
 281. 
 
 — Land, 316. 
 
 Well Maidens, the, 247, 
 
 280. 
 Westminster, 53, 149, 
 
 328. 
 Westmynstre, 53. 
 Wharton, Dr., 46. 
 White Hill, the, 4, 253. 
 Wibir winit, 156. 
 Wicking, 5. 
 William, Moms ILwyd, 
 
 350- 
 Williams, John, 340. 
 Wiudisch's Irische Texte, 
 
 26, 392. 
 Winwsed, 241. 
 Witches of Gloucester, 
 
 the Nine, 81, 107, 109, 
 
 114-6. "7. 121, 122, 
 
 125,197-8,211-2,214, 
 
 365. 
 Woden, 5, 9, 227, 232. 
 Wolfram von Eschen- 
 
 bach, 123. 
 Wonders, Castle of, 100, 
 
 102, 105-6, 109, 137, 
 
 141, 148, 209. 
 
 — Land of, 87. 
 wood, 246. 
 
 World-snake, the, 157. 
 Wrgust, Wurgnst, 321. 
 Wryd, 366. 
 
 Wynne of Peniarth, Mr., 
 156. 
 
 Yama, 249, 268, 275, 359. 
 Ydier li fiz Nu, 68. 
 ymdullu, ymduUyaw, 
 
 243-4- 
 Yngharad of the Golden 
 
 Hand, 83, 85-6, 1 12, 
 
 124. 
 ynys, 330. 
 Yuys Doweii, 356. 
 
 — Entti, 354. 
 
 — Lannog, 354. 
 
 — PybyrSor, 300. 
 
 — Venffi, 354. 
 
 — Wydrin, Ynesuuitrin, 
 
 33°- 
 Ysaies, 321. 
 Ysbidinongyl, 3, 105, 109, 
 
 140, 190. 
 ysguatt, 257. 
 Yspyaaden,3,4i,43,i32, 
 
 190. 258, 3". 313, 
 
 341- 
 Ystwyth, 351. 
 Yvain, 376, 393. 
 Ywein, Ywain, 364, 376. 
 Ywerit, 130. 
 
 Zeus, 9, 22-3, 111-2, 163, 
 164,169,184,205, 207, 
 213-4. 233, 226-30, 
 236, 294, 337- 
 
 Zimmer, Prof., 45, 82, 
 
 374-7. 386, 391-4- 
 
 THE END.