The Mabinogion (Oxford World's Classics) (46 page)

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Her name therefore corresponds to
Findabair
, daughter of King Ailill and Queen Medb in the Irish epic
Táin Bó Cúailnge
. Indeed, some have argued that Gwenhwyfar was a Celtic sovereignty figure, as was Medb in Ireland, although this is doubtful since there is no reliable evidence concerning her before Geoffrey of Monmouth. In this particular scene she is insulted, a version perhaps of the abduction of Gwenhwyfar, to which there are several references in connection with Melwas (whose place is taken by Medrawd/Modred in Geoffrey’s account). The many allusions to her in the triads include the Three Violent Ravagings of the Island of Britain, when Medrawd came to Arthur’s court at Celli Wig and ‘dragged Gwenhwyfar from her royal chair, and then he struck a blow upon her’ (
TYP
54). According to the laws, a queen was insulted legally if she were struck a blow, or if someone snatched something from her hand (
LHDd
6). See
TYP
, pp. 376–80.

on a bony, dapple-grey nag with its untidy, slovenly trappings:
this is a parody of the hero’s arrival at court; compare Culhwch’s arrival at Arthur’s court on
pp. 180
–
1
.

Cai:
in the earliest Welsh sources Cai (the Kay of later Arthurian traditions) appears as a heroic figure, one of Arthur’s leading warriors. However, in the three ‘romances’ he is portrayed as a discourteous and contentious character, a side to him that is also apparent in ‘How Culhwch Won Olwen’, as he sulks and disappears from the story when Arthur sings a satirical
englyn
about him. Arthur chooses Cai to go on the quest for Olwen because he has magical attributes—he can survive for nights without sleep, and his body has great natural heat (
p. 189
). The epithets
gwyn
(‘fair’ or ‘beloved’) and
hir
(‘tall’) are constantly attached to his name. In ‘The Lady of the Well’ and Geoffrey’s
History
he takes on the role of Arthur’s steward at court. For more details, see
TYP
, pp. 308–12.

chief of warriors and flower of knights:
‘flower’ and ‘candle’ (see below) were common epithets for heroes; compare the play on words in the Second Branch (
p. 31
). ‘Flower of Knighthood’ (
Flos Militae
) is a chivalric term.

And on the shore of the lake there was a grey-haired man … fishing in a small boat on the lake:
this grey-haired lame man has often been identified with the Fisher King of French romance. There may well be some association between him and Bendigeidfran (or Brân) of the Second Branch of the
Mabinogi
, who was wounded through the foot with a poisoned spear—the Fisher King is called
Bron
in some versions, and has been wounded through the thigh (see note to
p. 22
).

squire:
the Welsh
macwy
, a loanword from Irish
maccoím
(‘boy, young lad’) is a term used for a young man, often fulfilling the role of ‘page’ or ‘chamberlain’ at court (see note to
p. 68
); in the Welsh Laws, the
macwyaid
are part of the king’s entourage, and were probably of noble birth. Here, and elsewhere, the alternative term ‘squire’ is given in the
English translation, in the general sense of ‘young man’ rather than in any formally defined role.

two lads entering the hall … and much blood around the head:
this is clearly a version of the Grail procession found in Chrétien’s
Perceval
(or
Li Conte del Graal
), although the word ‘grail’ itself is not used in the Welsh text—rather, a
dysgl
(‘dish’ or ‘platter’) appears on which there is a dismembered head. In later legends the Grail is identified with the chalice of the Last Supper in which Joseph of Arimathaea collected the blood of the crucified Christ; the mysterious lance becomes the weapon used by Longinus to pierce Christ’s side. In the late fourteenth century two French Grail texts were translated into Welsh as
Ystoryaeu Seint Greal
(‘Stories or Histories of the Holy Grail’)—versions of two French prose Grail romances of the early thirteenth century,
La Queste del Saint Graal
and the
Perlesvaus
, providing the first explicit reference to the Grail in Welsh. See Ceridwen Lloyd-Morgan, ‘
Breuddwyd Rhonabwy
and Later Arthurian Literature’, in
AOW
183–208.

the head of the earl’s retinue:
according to the Welsh laws, the head of the retinue held one of the highest offices at court; as such, he was to be the king’s son or nephew. His duties included putting the harp into the hands of the bard at the three special feasts. For further details, see
LHDd
8–11.

The court steward:
another high-ranking office, whose duties included allotting lodgings and controlling the food and drink at court. See
LHDd
12–14.

the witches of Caerloyw:
these provide Peredur with training so that he can gain the remaining third of his strength; compare the Irish hero Cú Chulainn, who is taught to fight by the supernatural female Scáthach. Witches feature elsewhere in the Welsh Arthurian tradition—see, for example, ‘How Culhwch Won Olwen’,
pp. 212
–
13
. In that tale,
Caerloyw
(Gloucester) is where Mabon son of Modron is imprisoned, see note to
p. 198
.

Peredur stood … of the woman he loved best:
this may have been inspired by the scene in the Irish tale
The Exile of the Sons of Uisnech
, where the heroine Deirdre sees a raven drinking blood from a dead calf lying in the snow, and immediately desires a man with black hair, red cheeks, and a white body. Certainly, black hair did not concur with the idealized female beauty of the period.

The first night Peredur came to Caerllion to Arthur’s court … Angharad Law Eurog met him:
the location of Arthur’s court at Caerllion in all three ‘romances’ seems to be derived from Geoffrey of Monmouth’s
History of the Kings of Britain
. In older tradition his court was located at Celli Wig in Cornwall, as evidenced by ‘How Culhwch Won Olwen’. This section of the tale, concerning Angharad Law Eurog, is not found in Chrétien de Troyes’s
Perceval
. The epithet
Law Eurog
, ‘Golden Hand’, may be a reference to her generosity.

Shame on my gatekeeper’s beard:
for the oath ‘shame on my beard’, see
note to
p. 34
. The gatekeeper (or doorkeeper) was one of the twenty-four officers of the king’s court according to Welsh law (
LHDd
25–6). See note to
p. 116
on Glewlwyd Gafaelfawr.

But then he spurred on his horse … a great distance away:
an example of the fighting formula at its most rhetorical, including a series of alliterating compound adjectives that produce an impressive, rhythmical description. Every attempt has been made to reproduce this effect in the translation.

gwyddbwyll:
literally ‘wood-sense’, sometimes misleadingly translated ‘chess’. It is listed as one of the twenty-four feats of skill performed in medieval Wales. Like chess,
gwyddbwyll
was played on a board with pawns, and refers both to the game and to the board itself. In
gwyddbwyll
the king of one player attempts to break out from the centre of the board to the edge, while the opponent’s pawns attempt to stop him; compare Irish
fidceall
.

a huge, black-haired, one-eyed man coming in:
this has often been translated as a ‘black man’; however, this is the normal construction when describing a ‘black-haired man’.

and bathed it in a tub of warm water:
there are similarities between this and the Cauldron of Rebirth in the Second Branch (
p. 25
)—both have life-restoring powers. Here, too, a precious ointment is applied; compare the episode in ‘The Lady of the Well’, when Owain is rescued by a widowed countess (
p. 131
).

India:
often used to create a sense of the exotic—compare Glewlwyd Gafaelfawr’s rhetorical monologue in ‘How Culhwch Won Olwen’, as he describes the many places he has visited throughout the world (p. 182).

Edlym Gleddyf Goch:
‘Edlym of the Red Sword’.

Peredur Baladr Hir:
Peredur Long Spear. See note to
p. 65
on Peredur.

according to the story:
the version in Peniarth 7 ends here. Whether this was deliberate or not is uncertain; but it could reflect one of the earliest retellings of the tale in Welsh. However, the ‘longer’ text, found in both the White and Red Book manuscripts, has come to be regarded as the standard version of the tale.

Hywel son of Emyr Llydaw:
son of Emyr of Brittany. He is also mentioned in ‘Geraint son of Erbin’ (p. 155), ‘Rhonabwy’s Dream’ (
p. 225
), and in the Geoffrey’s
History
as Arthur’s nephew and close friend, Duke Hoel. See
TYP
, pp. 398–9.

a black, curly-haired maiden … which were stout:
this maiden has been identified by many as the hideous side of sovereignty, a parody on the description of female beauty. ‘Flaring nostrils’ are normally associated with horses, not humans, while the reference to the flowers of the broom would surely bring to mind the beautiful Olwen, whose hair was ‘yellower than the flowers of the broom’ (
p. 192
), and perhaps Blodeuedd, who was created of flowers including the broom, suggesting
her hair-colour. See Glenys Goetinck,
Peredur: A Study of Welsh Tradition in the Grail Legends
(Cardiff, 1975).

When you came to the court of the lame king … or their cause:
this is inconsistent with previous events: the first uncle was lame, according to the text, but the events described occurred at the court of the second uncle.

knights … ordained knights there:
marchog
in Welsh can mean both ‘horseman’ and ‘knight’; qualifying the noun with the adjective
urddol
(‘ordained’) removes the ambiguity.

At daybreak Gwalchmai came to a valley:
the digression ends on
p. 97
with ‘the story says no more than that about Gwalchmai on the matter’.

On a shiny black, wide-nostrilled … lively:
the most elaborate descriptions of horses in the
Mabinogion
include a reference to the colour, size, physical features, pace, and spirit of the animal. Moreover, these features are usually expressed by means of a long string of alliterating compound adjectives, each with the same rhythm, not unlike the descriptions of fighting (see note to p. 85). Every attempt has been made to reproduce this effect in the translation. ‘Palfrey’ is a borrowing from the French, and refers to a light horse used for leisure, rather than the heavier warhorse which had to be capable of carrying the weight of a knight in armour. See Sioned Davies, ‘Horses in the
Mabinogion
’, in Davies and Jones (eds.),
The Horse in Celtic Culture
, 121–40.

And the side he supported … as if they were men:
see note on
gwyddbwyll
, p. 86. One of the Thirteen Treasures of the Island of Britain is the
gwyddbwyll
of Gwenddolau son of Ceido: ‘if the pieces were set, they would play by themselves. The board was of gold, and the men of silver’ (
TYP
,
p. 260
). In Continental versions of the Grail story it is only the pieces on one side that move automatically as they play against the hero.

And that is what is told of the Fortress of Wonders:
this is clearly an ending to the final part of the tale, and not to the tale as a whole. Regarding the notion of a ‘standard version’ of the text, see Introduction, pp.
xxiv
–
xxv
.

THE DREAM OF THE EMPEROR MAXEN

Maxen Wledig:
Maxen may be identified with Magnus Maximus, a Roman commander proclaimed emperor by his army in Britain in
AD
383.
Gwledig
(‘lord’) in his title is often used for territorial rulers, as well as for God. Maxen invaded Gaul and defeated the emperor Gratian, but was put to death by Theodosius in 388. In the work of Gildas, and also in the
History of the Britons
, he is criticized as a leader who took all the troops from Britain, leaving the country at the mercy of foreign invaders. However, he became an important figure in Welsh historiography as someone who symbolized the relationship between Wales and Rome, and many medieval Welsh dynasties claimed descent from him. See Introduction, pp.
xix
–
xx
.