CULHWCH AND OLWEN

CULHW CH AND OLWEN

An Edition and Study o f the

Oldest Arthurian Tale

edited by
Rachel Bromwich and D. Simon Evans

U N IV ER SIT Y OF WALES PRESS

Cardiff
1992
 © te x t, University o f Wales, 1988
© introduction and notes, Rachel 'Bromwich and D. Simon Evans,
1992

Published with the assistance o f the Vinaver Trust

All rights reserved. N o part o f this book may be reproduced, stored in

a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without
clearance from the University o f Wales Press, 6 Gwennyth Street,
Cardiff CF2 4YD .

ISB N 0 -7 0 8 3 -112 7 -X

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Typeset by BP Integraphics Ltd., Bath, Avon

Printed in Great Britain by Billing and Sons Ltd, Book Plan, Worcester
Jacket design by Design Principle, Cardiff"
 Preface

The initial impetus for this book arose from our preparatory work
for the Welsh edition o f Culhwch ac Olwen, which we undertook in
1985 at the invitation o f the Language and Literature Committee of
the Board o f Celtic Studies, and which was published in 1988 by the
University o f Wales Press under the title Culhwch ac Olwen: Testun
Syr Idris Foster wedi ei olygu a’i orffen gan Rachel Bromwich a D. Simon
Evans. Our commitment as editors o f the preparatory material for an
edition o f this tale, which was left unfinished by the late Sir Idris
Foster at his death, allowed us to add little to a work whose main
purpose was to make the text o f Culhwch ac Olwen available with the
minimum o f delay for study by students in the University o f Wales.
This restriction prevented us from offering the full critical apparatus
and discussion which we had prepared in readiness, and which was
plainly required by the central importance o f Culhwch ac Olwen for all
students o f medieval Welsh literature. We therefore welcomed the
opportunity to prepare this extended study, to which we have
supplied a full glossary, a revised edition o f the notes already
assembled for the Welsh edition, and a newly-written introduction.
The text o f the tale here printed corresponds line-by-line with that
o f the Welsh edition, with the exception only that we have sub­
stituted English subtitles for those which we supplied previously in
Welsh, and we have made a few minor corrections to the text. We
hope that this English edition o f Culhwch ac Olwen may reach a wider
readership among students and scholars than has its predecessor.
Any study o f Culhwch ac Olwen must remain profoundly in­
debted to the pioneer investigations o f Sir Idris Foster, as these are
to be found in his various published articles which we have listed in
the bibliography, and in his unpublished MA dissertation
‘Astudiaeth o Chwcdl Culhwch ac Olwen’ completed in 1935 and
preserved in the Library o f the University College of North Wales
at Bangor and in the National Library of Wales. These works have
deeply influenced generations of students in Wales, while others
have spoken o f their indebtedness to the ever-renewed zest and
VI PREFACE

perspicacity with which, year after year, Sir Idris unfolded his inter­
pretation o f the talc and its many problems to the students who
attended the seminars which he held regularly at Oxford. We have
followed Sir Idris’s conclusions in associating the date o f the tale in
what was perhaps its earliest written redaction, with the latter years
o f the eleventh century, a time when certain historical events took
place in west Wales which seem to find their echo in the narrative.
We are also indebted to much o f Sir Idris’s discussion concerning
cognates in early Irish sources and in international folklore, though
we are as fully aware as he was that a number o f enigmas in the tale
still remain for future scholars to unravel. In both the introduction
and the notes we have frequently referred to points o f detail on which
Sir Idris had previously cast light. Yet the passing o f the years has
inevitably seen changes o f emphasis and major advances in the study
o f both the language and the literature o f medieval Wales and Ireland,
not least in regard to the study o f the two great manuscripts in which
Culhwch ac Olwen is to be found. In the present work we have tried to
take account o f all such developments more thoroughly than was
possible in our preparation o f the earlier edition.
We are indebted to a number o f friends who have given us assist­
ance o f many kinds, and from whose observations we have profited.
In particular we arc indebted to the members o f the seminar held by
the Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies at Aberystwyth
during the winter sessions o f 1988-9, with whom we studied a part
o f the tale. From this seminar we derived a number o f valuable
insights, which we here acknowledge collectively rather than in­
dividually. We would also express our thanks to Dr Brynley
Roberts who read and commented upon a part o f the introduction,
and to Dr Dafydd Huw Evans who gave invaluable help towards
the identification o f certain places named in the account of Arthur’s
great chase across south Wales in pursuit o f the giant boar Twrch
Trwyth, and who provided us in addition with bibliographical
references relevant to the area o f the hunt. Dr Evans and Mr Trevor
Harris kindly prepared the map located as the frontispiece to the
volume. Our thanks go to Ned Thomas and to Susan Jenkins o f the
University of Wales Press, and to the printers for their care and
accuracy.

December -19 9 1 Rachel Bromwich

D. Simon Evans
 Contents

PREFACE V
IN T R O D U C T IO N ix
I. The Manuscripts and the Text ix
II. Orthography and Language xiv
III. The Story and its Characters xxvi
IV. The Arthurian Court List xxxiv
V. The Anoethau or Tasks xlvii
VI. Giants and Witches liv
VII. The Tw o Prisoners and the Oldest Animals lx
VIII. The Two Boar Hunts lxiv
IX. Style, Structure and Influence lxxi
X . Date and Provenance o f the Tale lxxvii
CULHW CH A C OLW EN (Text) i
N O TES 43
A BB R E V IA T IO N S 173
SELECT BIBLIO G RA PH Y 179
G LO SSA R Y 185
IND ICES 215
Names o f Men and Women, Animals and Weapons 215
Names o f Places 223
Epithets. 225
 Introduction
I. THE MANUSCRIPTS AND THE TEXT

Culhwch ac Olweti is preserved in two manuscripts, one o f which

belongs to the middle and the other to the end o f the fourteenth
century: the White Book o f Rhyddcrch (P 4, cols.452-88), and the
Red Book o f Hergest (J h i , cols.810-44). The White Book (W,
WM) is the earlier o f the two, but unfortunately it contains only
the first two thirds o f the story, down to line 823 o f the present
edition. The White Book Mabinogion was printed and published by
J. Gwenogvryn Evans (Pwllheli, 1907), and the text was
republished in 1973 by the University o f Wales Press, Llyfr Gwyn
Rhydderch: Y Chwedlau a'r Rhamantau, with a new introduction by
R. M. Jones. According to Mr Daniel Huws, Keeper of
Manuscripts in the National Library o f Wales, the P 4 section o f the
White Book is the work o f several scribes working concurrently
about the year 1350:' the text o f Culhwch being in the same hand as
that o f Chwedl Gereint fab Erbin, which immediately precedes it in
the manuscript. The Red Book o f Hergest is a large compendium
o f medieval prose and verse, from which the talcs and romances
were edited by J. Rhŷs and J. G. Evans in The Text of the
Mabinogion and other Welsh tales from the Red Book of Hergest
(Oxford, 1887) (R, RM). The Red Book is the work o f three
professional scribes who worked in collaboration between 1382
and e. 1410:12 their work having been commissioned by an uchelwr or

1 Daniel Huws, ‘Llyfr Gwyn Rhyddcrch’, CMCS 21 (Summer

1991, 1-37- See also the entry on the White Book of Rhyddcrch in A
Companion to the Literature of Wales, ed. Meic Stephens (Oxford, 1986),
637, and CO(i) ix and n.2. For the make-up of the manuscript see B. F.
Roberts, ‘Dosbarthu’r Chwedlau Cymraeg Canol’, Y B xv (1988),
19-46. For earlier views see J. G. Evans’s introduction to his edition,
WM xii; and RWM i, 305; N. Denholm Young, Handwriting in England
and Wales (Cardiff, 1954), 40.
2 G. Charles-Edwards, ‘Scribes of the Red Book of Hergest’, NLW
Journal, xxi (1980), 246-56; D. Huws, NLW Journal, xxii (1981), 1.
Three later copies of Culhwch were made from the Red Book by Moses
Williams in the early eighteenth century. These arc contained in C 36, LI
X IN T RO D U C TIO N

nobleman o f Glamorgan named Hopeyn ap Thomas ab Einion

(e. 1330-post 1403). There is some reason to associate the origin of
both these manuscripts with the abbey o f Strata Florida,3 though
there can be no absolute certainty on this point, and the evidence is
much stronger for the White Book than for the Red Book.
The main scribe o f the Red Book was a certain Hywcl Fychan,
whose hand has been identified in a number o f other manuscripts. In
one o f these he names himself as ‘Hywcl Fychan fab Hywcl Goch o
Fuellt’, and refers to his ‘master’ as ‘Hopeyn ap Thomas ab Einion’
o f Ynys Da we.4 Hywcl Fychan inscribed the Red Book text of
Culhwch ac Olwen, and also that o f Gereint fab Erbin, which
immediately precedes Culhwch in this manuscript, as it docs also in
the White Book. (The potential significance o f the juxtaposition of
these two tales will appear later in this introduction, in the section
on ‘The Arthurian Court List’.) Not only did Hywcl Fychan
inscribe both Culhwch and Gereint, but his hand has also been
conclusively identified in a brief passage in the WM text o f Culhwch
(cols.467-8, II.324-6 below), where the scribe had left a blank
space.5 It is significant, therefore, to know that Hywcl Fychan, the
scribe o f the Red Book, at some point had access also to the White
Book.
But the few lines in WM which are in the hand o f Hywcl Fychan
fall far short o f determining the relationship o f WM and RM to each
other, more specifically as concerns the two texts o f Culhwch. A
close comparison makes it impossible to maintain the view that the
90; and LI 126 (RWM ii, 231, 562, 662). The earliest printed transcript is
that made from the Red Book by J. Jones (Tegid) and published in Lady
Charlotte Guest’s Mabinogion in 1838-49.
3 R. M. Jones, introduction to Llyfr Gwyn Rhydderch, xii-xiii; N.
Denholm Young, op.cit., 43.
4 On Hywcl Fychan see B. F. Roberts, ‘Un o Lawysgrifau Hopeyn ap
Tomas o Ynys Dawy’, B xxii (1968), 223-8; on Hopeyn ap Thomas see
further G. J. Williams, Traddodiad Llenyddol Morgannwg (Gwasg Prifys-
gol Cymru, 1948), 11- 13 ; Prys Morgan, ‘Glamorgan and the Red
Book’, Morgannwg xxii (1978). 42-60.
5 G. Charles-Edwards, ‘White Book and Red Book’, NLWJournal,
xxi (1980), 427-8; J. G. Evans, introduction to WM, viii; R. M. Jones,
Llyfi Gwyn Rhydderch, vi. However, it may be noted that although the
hand is that of Hywcl Fychan, there arc minor differences between the
wording of this and the corresponding passage in RM: Gwastat/Gwestat;
gellyngei/gollyngei\ yn bennguch/yn pennguch.
 IN TRO D U C TIO N XI

RM text o f the tale is a direct copy o f that in WM: the only possible
explanation o f the undoubtedly close relationship between them is
to conclude that both derive, with greater or less fidelity, from a
common original, and possibly through one or more
intermediaries.6 The closeness o f the two texts to each other is
proved by their agreement in reproducing, on more than one
occasion, mistakes which are common to both: the triple repetition
o f merch for tnab in 341-2; o f rongomyant for rongomynyat in 160, and
oigouynynat for gouynnyat in 183; o f (b)aryf twrch for (b)aryf trwch in
224; o f dissull for Dillus in 700, and in the incorrect inversion o f the
relative in yssyd yssit in 504 (GMW 63, 142, cf. T C 281); and in the
two glosses which both incorporate gleif penntirec 63, and ae
warthafleu sangttarwy 79 (see notes). It will be seen from the varia lecta
that in spite o f minor variants in the forms o f the names in the
Arthurian Court List7 (175-373), these names arc preserved in
identical order, and that there arc very few instances in which either
manuscript omits a name present in the other.
On the other hand both W and R preserve individual items—
some o f them highly significant— which are absent from the other
text. In 149 each has incorporated a different word as a gloss on
gwrthrychyad: W has edling where R has teym. In 632-3 W makes an
addition to the list o f the anoethau which is not found in R — adar
Rianhott y rei a duhun y marw ae a huna y byw a vytihaf. In 436 R adds
the telling words vym brawt to the name of Ysbaddaden Penkawr, in
the passage in which Custennin is accounting for his dispossession
from his land. But it is W alone which asserts Ysbaddaden’s
dominance over Arthur with the significant if ambiguous words,
dan uy Haw i y mae ef(733) and W alone introduces Arthur’s greeting
to Culhwch with the solemn and legally-binding asseveration Poet
gwirDyw, unben 147, and in 807-8 W emphasizes the feat o f Arthur’s
men in breaking into Wrnach’s fortress with the added words mal
nat oed vwy no dim ganthunt.
It is, however, far more usual to find R expanding the text by the
6 Sec the discussion by R. M. Jones, introduction to Llyfr Cwyti
Rhydderch, vi-xii, and cf. J. Vendryes, RC xlviii, 411; J. Loth, Les
Mabinogion (Paris, 1913), i, 22-6. Ifor Williams was more guarded,
PKM xi-xii; and some uncertainty was expressed in 1961 with respect to
the texts of the Triads in W and R, TYP xxv-vi.
7 The variants between the forms of the names in the Court List arc
listed in CO(i) xvi. Sec the varia lecta.
x ii IN T R O D U C TIO N

addition o f words, phrases, and even whole sentences: yn y ueiscawn

322; dim y wrth 375; Ar eildyd ar trydyd dyd y kerdassant ac 0 vreid y
doethant hyt yno 415; llawer dyd yth rygereis 501; onyt dy uarw a uynny
546; ac onys rody ti ageffy dy angheu ymdeni 561; ar orgwenith hwnnw y
myntiaf i gwneuthur bwyt a llyn tymeredic yth neithawr di ti am merch i
575; oil or anoethau . . . yn neu itt 757-8; geyr broti gwrnach 788; ti a
orugost hynrt 810. In 376-7 R allots to Culhwch himself the words
which restrict to a year the period allowed to Arthur for finding
Olwen, and expands the passage: Y mab a dywawt rodaf yn llawen or
nos heno hyt y Hall ympenn y vlwydyn. Ac yna y gyrrwys arthur y
kennadeu y bop tir yn y deruyn y geissaw y uorwyn honno, ac ympenn y
vlwydyn y doeth kennadeu arthur drachevyn heb gaffel na chwedyl na
chyuarwydyt y wrth olwen mwy nor dyd kyntaf.
There are many differences between W and R in respect o f
individual words. Sometimes these can be accounted for as
deliberate modernizations on the part o f R, as appears in the
consistent substitution o f W’s archaic atnkawd, amkeudant, cither by
y dywat, y dywawt, y dywedassant, or (less frequently) by heb y. On
p. xvi below we have drawn attention to R ’s modernizations of the
more archaic prepositional and verbal forms employed by W. In the
following instances R substitutes the more usual MW words for
those given in W (those in W are here given first) kwt ynt . . . am
rydyallas/ble mae . . . am llathrudawd 37; ac ystrodur/a chyjrwy 62;
kerth/kylch 96; rac dy deulin/rac dy vronn 98; didawl/didlawt 145; ath
cret/ath glot 147; vyneb/agclot 154; hyt yr etil/y treigyl 158; yscwyt/
taryan 161; seith vrhyt/seith cuppyt 348; or/ol 416; douot/bud 446; pan at
pawb eu damsathyr/pan aeth pawb allan y chware 468; y gam/y drwc 471;
y falueu/y dwylaw 492; meglyt/ymauael 521; deu yskyuarn/deuglust 669;
kyfret/kyn ebrwydet 689; ar mil/ar Iwdyn 729. Occasionally R gives
mistaken equivalents: ac ays/a chroes 67; lloring/llugorn 68 (sec n. to 1.
68 ).
In other instances there arc word-changes for which there is little
apparent reason, as they can hardly be called modernizations:
mwyhaf/teckaf 413; kymryt/kyuurd 127; kymryt/kyjret 395\ gwynnach/
tegach 491; amrant/ael 518; kyfiet/kyn ebrwydet 689; gallel/gwybot 782;
gallel/y gwdost 789; na hanbwyllei/yny debycko 745. R ’s surprising
substitution o f ynys y kedyrn for ynys Pry dein in 368 can perhaps be
accounted for by the scribe’s familiarity with the text o f Mabinogi
Branwen, found in the same two manuscripts as those which contain
Culhwch. R ’s tendency to update the language appears in a
 IN T RO D U C TIO N X ll l

preference for 3rd. sing, forms in -awd over those in -wys (GMW
125, for exx. sec p. xxi below), and in pres, subjunctives in -0,
-ont over those in -wy, -wynt (GMW 128-9), as in am crettwy/am
cretto 484; mal na bwynt/mal na bont no; and in pres, indie, impers.
in -er, -ir over those in -(h)awr (with future meaning): pan agorawr/
part agorer 98; nyn lladawr/nyn llcdir 475; nyn hyscarhawr/tiyt yscarwtt
383. The perfective prt. ry- tends to be superseded by finite forms
in R: rydyallas /llathrudawd 37; ry syrthwys/a syrthwys 548. The two
texts frequently employ variant forms o f the verbs gwneuthur and
dyuot (GMW 130, 133), substituting gwnaetix/goruc; dyuu/doeth etc.
There arc differences in copula-formations,8 in which W’s forms
are markedly the more archaic. Frequently both manuscripts omit
to lenite initial consonants, but this tendency is even more
pronounced in R than in W: teulu Gleis/cleis 123; y gar gyssetün/
kysseuitt 694; oed well/gwell 795; yn bennguch/yn pennguch 326.
Taken together, all these minor variations between the two
texts are indicative o f an accepted mode o f copying in which to
paraphrase was as acceptable, and far more usual, than to
reproduce the original word-for-word. The frequent (and often
insignificant) substitution o f words and phrases for those in the
text being copied enforces the conclusion that medieval scribes
frequently wrote from dictation rather than from direct visual
contact. This would account for R ’s many departures from W, if
we are to conclude that both were following the same archetype
with varying degrees of fidelity. But there arc occasional
indications that the scribes o f W may also have worked in this
way (see n. to ti a merch 574-5 and to 772-3 below).
We have followed the text o f W until it ends at line 823, noting
R ’s variants at the foot of the page. R continues from 823 until the
end o f the tale.

8 See A. Watkins and P. Mac Cana, ‘Cystrawennau’r Cyplad mewn

Hen Gymracg’, B xviii (i960), 1-25.
 II. O RTH O G RA PH Y A N D LA N G U A G E

Some general features o f the orthography and language o f the text

arc described here. Features which arc unusual or distinctive arc
referred to in the Notes and Glossary.

O r th o g r a ph y

We find here in general the characteristics which belong to the

White Book o f Rhyddcrch (c. 1350) and to the Red Book o f Hergest
(e. 1400). The letters u, v, (less often f ) occur for [u] at the beginning
and in the middle o f a word: verch, uyttnei, ouyn\ but at the end o f a
word we invariably find / ef, uydaf, sef (arnaw= 2 ttì2lÍ in 558 is an
exception). is denoted by /and ff, /usually at the beginning o f a
word: frwyn,ford, affan, porfor, caffel, Ajjric. For [1\(h)] both ng(h) and
g(h) are found: ng(h): angerd, anghen, attgheu, anghleuaeh, anglot,
kynghor, dangosset, detig milltir a deugeint 348 (cf. dec aradyr ar ugeint
319), dienghis, di(h)engis, dihengy, Dygyflwng, edlirtg, enghi, engyl,
eitigon, ellwng, eilumgwyt, ellynghaf, g&uylgygwng, gellwng, gellyngei,
llong, lloring, llwng, ortgyl, ranghei, Penpingyon, (y,) ruw£, sangharwy,
tangneued(u), yttg Kelli Wie, yrtg Kerrtyw, yghongyl, ymgynghori; g(h):
aghengaeth, agheu, aghred, kyfrwg, kyuyg, kygltor, e^/yn, ellygwr,
estwg, uyg gwreie, uyghyuarws, uygkyueillt, Mygdwn, rwg,
tyghafjyghet, tygwys, y ^yf d, y# /Gier Loyw, yg carchar, y# Kelli Wie,
yg Kernyw, yg kyuenw, yggordwy, yggwaelawt Dinsol, yggwrthtir, y#
£wryi, yg gwyllt, ygder, yGhaer Brythweh, yGhaer Neuenhyr, yGhaer
Oeth, yGhaer Se, yGhamlan, yGherniw, ygwylldawc.
t and c occur for -d and kymryt, mynet, gwlat, gwledic, gwreic,
ygwylldawe\ b is usually found for -fc as in achub, atteb, feifc, heb, hob,
hub, wdb, «e/), pawb, pob, wyneb\ instances ofp are rare: crip, 0 bop tu. d
occurs for [d] in all positions: Kilyd, etiued, gwedi. There is,
however, evidence o f orthographic features which are different, and
which arc earlier, t occurs for [d]: keyryt, defiiyt, cwt, dyt, egweti,
Goleudyt, gorsetua, gwarthegyt, gweti, itaw, iti, utunt, Ieithoet, llemidit,
nawt, oet, rod, trydydyt, trydyt, yssyf, and d for [d]: aghred, berwid, bid,
bod, bwyd, cennad, eleuydawd, cred, kyd, diwarnawd, ducpwyd, dyuod,
dywawd, dywedud, gorucpwyd, gwlad, haered, hyd, llysuwyd, meiehad,
 IN T R O D U C T IO N XV

nod, nyd, offeirad, pechawd, y gyd, ysgafiied. This reminds us of the

practice in some earlier manuscripts, in particular the Black Book of
Carmarthen. It is worth noting that t for [d] and d for [d] is found in
the first part o f Culhwch. The last instance o f this occurs in 575 (dyt
‘day’) in a description o f the first o f the anoethau. This is doubtless a
fact o f some significance, although it is not now easy to determine
the precise nature o f this significance. It may be noted also that t for
[d] and d for [d] is not evidenced in R, except in two instances:
methawd 108, and ymchoelawd 109. Certain other features in the
orthography o f Culhwch are paralleled in the Black Book o f
Carmarthen: w alternates with / (yscawin (=ysgafii) L1DC 25,5;
kewin (=cefii) ibid. 13,9); in Culhwch h is found for ch in some
instances: kyuerheis ( = kyuercheis) 146, ymhoelwch 178, ymhoylwn 479
(see p. xix below). In 459 we find oheni (=ohonei) as in L1DC 12,82;
17,38 (also imdeni (=amdanei) ibid. 12,50). Sec further L1C, 14
(1983-4)» 210 -15.
Consonantal i is generally not denoted in MW prose, or— for that
matter— in the spoken language o f south Wales today. But it docs
occur in Culhwch, denoted by y; brychyon. There arc, however,
examples where it is missing, especially in a final syllabic:
anniueileit, anreitheu, arwydon, beichawc, bydydaw, keibedic, keissaw
(also keisswch, keisswys), kydymdeithon, kyfieitheu, kytbreinhawc,
datrithaw, deiuaw, dispeilaw, diffeithaw, Edeinawc, eillaw, eillwyt,
eingon, einon, eiroet, eisseu, golwython, gweisson, gweitheu, gwichaw,
gwreichon, meibon, meichad, meillonen, neithawr, neithawrwyr,
peinawc, rithwys, syrthwys, treissaw, treulaw, troedawc, weithon,
wyron, ymdiredaf, ymeneinaw, ymrithaw. Cf. GMW 6.

L anguage

In the part o f the tale found in the White Book there arc sections in
which the language is markedly more archaic than in others: at the
beginning, in the story of the Jealous Stepmother, in the
description o f Culhwch on his way to Arthur’s court, in the account
o f Culhwch’s dialogue with Glewlwyd Gafaelfawr, in the meeting
with Custennin and his wife, in the description of Olwen, in the
confrontation between Arthur’s men and Ysbaddadcn, in the quest
for Wmach’s swrord. There are a number of significant
correspondences betwen the language o f Culhwch and that of the
XVI IN T R O D U C T IO N

Cynfeirdd and the early Gogynfeirdd. In particular there arc in

Culhwch, as in the Black Book o f Carmarthen, examples o f cw(d)
(kwt 29, 37, 515): L1DC cu(d) 29,26; 29,30, pyr occurs for ‘why?’
in 83 and 771 (for the latter R has py rac): both forms occur in
L1DC (16,31; 16,42). There is one ex. o f ty as a form o f the prep.
y ‘to’ (L1DC 8,13), cf. dy in Culhwch l.io. As in Culhwch (470,
490-1, 496 etc.) ys ‘is’ and oed ‘was’ occur at the beginning o f a
sentence before a nominal predicate (L1DC 10 ,11; 31,68) and in
the construction o f the Mixed Order: Oed Maelgwn a uelutt in
itnuan (1,5). In L1D C, as in Culhwch (sec p. xiii above) there seem
to be eases where the scribe was copying from what he heard
rather than from what he saw: othdiwod (o’th ddyfod) 35,17, ys true (ys
drwg), 17,23. There arc also some striking correspondences in
vocabulary between Culhwch and the Black Book. The following
words occur in both, and arc only exceptionally found in other texts:
amsathir, anoeth, asswynaw, cafall, cysseuin (as adv.), diwlith, fion,
goruit, gordwy, gorysealawe, gwallaw, gurthtir, retkyr, teithiawc, ymda.
The Llywarch Hen and Heledd cycles also offer some striking
parallels to Culhwch. Note especially Arthur’s words to Culhwch:
Mae uyg kallon yn tirioni vrthyt. Mi a wn dy hanuot o’m gwaet,
which recall Llywarch’s words to his estranged son Gwen, Neut
atwen ar vy awen/Yn hanuot 0 un achen, C L 1H i,2. The twenty-four
sons o f Custennin Heusawr arc reminiscent o f the twenty-four
sons o f Llywarch Hen: Gorcu, like Gwen ap Llywarch, is the sole
survivor o f the twenty-four. Comparisons can also profitably be
made with Old Welsh texts and with the Laws o f Hywcl Dda.
The language o f W is noticeably more archaic than that o f R.
Differences in vocabulary, such as R ’s invariable substitution o f
dywat, dywawd, heb for W’s amkawd have already been noted
(p. xii above). The following examples illustrate the more
important differences in prepositional and verbal forms: W
gorucpwyt/R gwnaethpwyt 10, 12, etc.; W amkawd/R dywat,
dywawt, 16, 43, 49 etc., heb 29, 38, etc.; W amkeudant/R
dywedassant 430, 809; W racdu/R racdunt $13; W onadunt/R 0 honunt
510; W ry/R a 25, 55, 379, 548; W ganthu/R gantunt 32; W ar/R at
39, 58, 246, 444; W dothyw/R deuth 99; W dothwyf/R deuthum 152;
W dyuu/R doeth 114, 139; W dyuuost/R doethost 129; W tynhet/R
tynnit 303; W hyd uydei/R y bydei 386; W yt uei/R y bydei 390; W
dodywch /R doethawch 477; W dodym/R doetham 477; W crettwy/R
cretto 484; W dyccwy/R dycko 768, 774; W ymdewch/R doethawch
 IN T RO D U C TIO N XVII

51 5; W ymdawn /R doetham 515; W myn yd!R lie yd 563; Wpyr/R py rac

H i.
There are in Culhwch words, forms, and constructions which
appear to be generally limited to the kinds o f works mentioned
above, (namely the early poetry, Old Welsh texts, and the Laws).
First, words which are found also in the works o f the Cynfeirdd and
the Gogynfeirdd (references and meanings are given in the
Glossary); affwys, aghengaeth, amsathyr (L1DC 16,37; H 127,6, also
WM 133,2-3), anoeth (not found in prose, but cf. Anoeth byd brawt
bwyn kynnull C L1H v,28; Anoeth bit bed y Arthur L1DC 18,135; also
compare anoethach in Prydydd y Moch; Anoethach powys ae thir
amddyjrwys, (H 279,11); ardwyat, asswynaw (cf L1D C 123, G 45), ays
(aessaur L1D C 34 ,11; 34,32), kat (cf L1DC 127), cafall (cf. GPC 387
and see nn. to 336-7, 1015); cleheren, cw (L1DC 131), kytbrein(h)awc
(used by Gwynfardd Brycheiniog in his awdl to Saint David, H
198,23-4; see n. to 11.593-4); kyfret (BT 26-7; kyjret a gwylan, H
130 ,11), kyndynnyawc, chwechach, diotta, distrych, diwlith (L1DC
30,35 dit diulith); dygredu (CL1H ii, 19 N y ’m dygred na hun na’e ohen),
ertrei, gordwy (L1DC 22,14), gorwyd (cf. L1DC 16,71; 30,26; 30,69; G
578), gorysealawe (cf. L1DC 36,23 ath uit guin gorysgelho), gowan,
gwrthwan (used once by Cynddelw H 135, 17), hu (L1DC 34,17), par
(CL1H i,3a llym vympar, L1DC 30,38), recdouyt (found in poetry, but
without -d-, H 10,14; 33,13; 127,i; 217,19 ; also LLi27,20 rec douid;
seenn. to 11.17,176, and cf. Loth, RC ix, 274-6, J. Lloyd-Jones, B x v ,
198-200; also CO (i) xxiii-xxiii), retkyr (L1DC 17,2 Na chlat dy redcir
ympen minit), tardu (cf. AP I.25 and n.), ymda (cf. L1D C 29,29; 31,5).
Words found in OW: kythrymhet (cithremmet gl.bilance libra GPC
827); in the Laws: amwabyr, knithyaw, corfflan, edling (sec n. to 149),
enghi, grwmseit (cf. D. Jenkins, B xxxv, 55—61), gwallocau, mut.
Next, words in Culhwch which are found both in poetry and in
the Laws; adoet (also in SDR 118, etc.), amws, buelin, kysseuin (L1DC
18,128; 18 ,13 1; cf. G 137), erhyl, gordwy (rare in prose, but found in
poetry (L1DC 22,14)): it is said o f Gruffudd ap Cynan (the grandson)
bu gordwy ar allmyr, H 299,26); gwallaw (L1DC 23,2$)\gwest (seen, to
3); gwrthtir (L1DC 17,17; 18,104; 104,177); teithiawc (CA 1095 mab
brenhin teithiawc, L1DC 34,56 mab goholeth teithiauc; see n. to I.91).
Words found in poetry and also in OW: cusul (cf. L1DC 131), deon
(cf. G 312); dryssien.fion (L1DC 16,74; 16,81); pressen(t) (common in
religious poetry, L1DC 7,22; 20,6; HGC 292, also C L1H 136).
There are a number o f words in Culhwch which do not occur
xviii IN T R O D U C TIO N

elsewhere: aeruawc, alafon, amkaw<L(çí. however amgyhud C L1H i, i),

amdiuwynwys, anllawd, kymibiawc, damsathyr, darware, de/ŵyf (in the
sense o f ‘substance (to be), future’, cf. Ir. damnae, and n. to 1.51 8),
diednedic, dygrynnyaw, eirychu, gal pen, goranhed, gordibla, lloring,
malkawn (missing in R), pebreit. And there are words not attested
anywhere else in MW, but which are to be found in some later
sources: anghleuach, arswydwys, bwyellic, bwyttal (see n. to I.1065),
camse, carngragen, cleicaw, cnwch, cwaw, cyllagwst, kymrwt, dafates,
dygaboli, dyskymon, frawdunyaw, godrwyth, gwchi, llysuwyd.
The significance o f these words can be variously interpreted, but
in general they suggest close affinity with the Cynfeirdd, and
(especially) with the Gogynfeirdd, with OW material, and with the
Laws— rather than with later prose works. Other aspects of the
language here, such as the occurrence o f rare old forms, serve to
prove that the text is early. Furthermore, we must take account o f
other features in it which are reminiscent o f more modem times,
features which still appear in the spoken language o f areas of south
Wales, and which arc indicative o f the geographical background of
the tale in its present form. It is sufficient to say that dialect forms are
often (indeed, usually) more resistant to change than literary,
standard forms. These forms are modern, but they are also old,
unaffected by the flow o f time. It would be wrong to define the area
o f country where they occur with any firm precision, but in general
the evidence seems to point more especially to parts o f the South, to
old Carmarthenshire and Glamorgan: that is, to some o f the very
areas through which the Twrch Trwyth passed on his journey
through south Wales.
One can then cite certain words in Culhwch which still occur in
these areas, although our present knowledge does not warrant
limiting their use to these areas alone: cleheren ‘gadfly’ is still heard
in parts o f the South, as is cludweir ‘wood-pile’ in the form clidwer,
cledwer, fern, (north Carmarthenshire); golwc is still used with the
meaning ‘eye, eyesight’. According to T. J. Morgan (TC 25; L1C ii,
189) gwaelawt ty (143) lies behindglowty, still used for ‘cow-shed’ in
Pembrokeshire and parts o f Glamorgan. In Carmarthenshire we
hear lluchet (68) in the form Ilyched for ‘lightning’, and lludu ($72) for
‘ashes’; llwdwtt (420) is quite common for ‘animal, beast’. In B x
(1940), 1 3 1 the late Henry Lewis noted that the word ragot (1174)
‘waylay’ was still used in the form rhagod and rhacod in Brynaman
and Gwynfc, on both sides o f the Black Mountain (where it has the
 IN T RO D U C TIO N XIX

meaning ‘stop, prevent’), and it is used also as a noun; rachot occurs

as a noun in the Privilege o f Teilo in LL 120,15, and ragot is found as
a verbal noun in BD 174,8. The derivative ragotvaeu (pi. o f ragotva) is
found in H G VK 22,20 (see n. ibid. 90). It is also instructive to look
at some forms and formations which likewise reflect dialectal
features in approximately the same areas. Notice how the vowel,
usually a, e, or i has become unclear in some forms, and is
represented by y. In some (though not in all) cases it has been
influenced by the following vowel; in others it occurs in an
unaccented syllable; bydydyaw, klyuyehu (eleuyehu R), cryuangheu,
kydenawc, kyffy, dyallu (dyall is still heard for dealt), hyly, llywenyd,
trychan, trychanherw, trychanllong, trychantref, trywyr, tybygu, ydrych,
ymgyÿret, yskynuaen, ywythred (ewythred R).
Note also some other tendencies and variations: dd/a, /le/a, cf.
GMW 10. In MW the epenthetic vowel, which developed in certain
groups o f consonants, is usually represented by y; cf. ibid. 12 -13. In
spoken ModW for the most part it developed into a full vowel. In
Culhwch we have such a form: araf*weapon’ (226), baraf‘beard’ (327,
966), but apart from these forms the vowel is regularly y, e.g.
amsathyr, amwabyr, anadyl, aradyr, banadyl, foiry/ kenetyl, congyl,
kyn(n)edyf, damsathyr, dogyn, eithyr, ewythyr, gauylgygwng, gweuyl,
gwychyr, gwystyl, hagyr, hoedyl, mynwgyl, ongyl, paladyr, pedestyr,
racllauyn, seithlydyn moch, treigyl.
There are some other phonetic features, evidenced also in the
spoken language o f these parts o f Wales. (h)w, wh, h occur for the
standard literary r/iw-, -ch(w)-, (GMW n ): <1 wennych rei 662
(=chwennych, possibly a lenited form o f the alternative gwennych,
cf. chware/gware, and note darware 73), whedleu 784 (=chwedleu),
kychwhynnei 349 (=kychwytinei), ymhoelawd 109 (=ymchoelawd),
ymhoelwch 478, ymhoylwn 479 (= ymchoelwrt/ymchoelwch) kyuerheis
146 (=kyuercheis). Forms with h are still used in north
Carmarthenshire, but with -h- occasionally dropped. Moelid means
‘to upset, turn over’, and is the verb used in some parts for ‘to
plough, turn over the soil’.
In MW/[1/] may have been more o f a labial than in ModW, where
it is a labio-dental; consequently we find it alternating with w,
GMW 9. Forms with -w- still predominate in south Wales, and in
Culhwch also we find such forms: ysgawn, ‘light’ 1041 for ysgafii,
equat. ysgawnhet 80, with which may be compared ysgawnlysgon in
the spoken language; also Scilti Ysaiuwtroet 239.
XX IN T R O D U C TIO N

wy alternates with oe in MW, wyth/oeth, ‘eight’, GMW 4. Along

with eissoes we have in MW eisswys, 415, a form still surviving in the
south Wales dialect as ishws. This latter form exemplifies another
tendency, w y > w , o f which there is evidence in the spoken language
o f these parts. Here we can further mention the form trw (<trwy)
‘through’ in Culhwch 27, which is also found in the spoken
language. But this can with equal probability be explained as
resulting from an incorrect division o f words, as they were heard by
the scribe: trwy yt being heard as trw yt. Note also vt 170 = wyt R.
The form oheni (3rd. sing. fern, o f 0), another dialect form, occurs
here: 459 (twice), 470, 767, 817; but in all five instances R has ohonei.
Also deni 1213 W and R.
The a in diwamawt ‘day’ 385 can still be heard in some parts, cf.
also PKM 78,3.
In 729 we have the form ellwngwyt, where one would expect
ellyngwyt with vowel mutation o f w. But non-mutation o f w is a
feature o f the spoken language o f these parts: dwm ‘fist’, pi. dyrnau,
but colloquially in some parts dwrne, also pwnn ‘a load’, pi. pwnne.
Another dialect feature may be the adjectival use ofpwy 44, 89, 772,
where we have pa, py in R.
Next, some other features may be noted which distinguish
Culhwch from other prose texts, showing closer affinity with early
works, as we have already suggested. First, we may mention the
expression anghen yn anghen, ‘by sheer force’ 1176, used also by
Prydydd y Moch (c. 1173-1220) in his poem to Rhys Gryg: Anghen
yn anghen yn angheu oth gaf (H 287,3). Furthermore, there are some
early forms and formations which serve to underline the unique
nature o f the language o f Culhwch in comparison with later prose
works:
dy, ‘to’ and ‘from’, dy/di occurs regularly in OW, e.g. nit egid di a,
‘it goes not to a’ in the Computus fragment (B iii, 256), also in the
Cynfeirdd; Taliesin in Trawsganu Cynan Garwyn: keith ynt dy
gynan, ‘They are captive to Cynan’, PT i,25. In the Welsh o f the
Book o f Llan Dav both dy and y occur: di uinid and i uinid, ‘up’ (lit.
‘to a mountain’), but in the later prose texts di is not found. In
Culhwch it occurs once, in 12: keuynderw dy Arthur oed, ‘a cousin to
Arthur was he’ (= y R). We find also one .x . o f dy ‘from’, dy wrth y
gaffel yn retkyr hwch, ‘from his having been found in a pig-run’, 10.
It also occurs in the Book o f Llan Dav; di ar ir allt— but is not found
in later texts. Cf. B xiii (1950), 1-5; GMW 199-201.
 IN T R O D U C T IO N XXI

The 3 pi. ending o f the prep, is commonly -unt, as in other prose

works, but there are three exx. o f -w; ganthu, ohonu, racdu. The
ending -udd [u] does not occur, as it does in Hendregadredd: amadut
(dr), kyjiryngthut (kyjrwng), ganthut (gatt), racdut (rac), trostut (tros),
utut (y ‘to’), ymdanadut (am). Cf. GMW 58-60.
Some archaic verbal forms are attested, forms which are lacking
in other prose texts. The old independent ending -(h)awd (3rd. pres,
sing, with future meaning) is found in forms such as bydhawt,
methawd, ymhoelawd. It occurs in the Black Book and in the
Gogynfeirdd; cosbawd, kymerawd, gunahaud, gyrhawt, reddaud, cf.
GMW 1 19. Also the impers. pass, ending -(h)awr with future
meaning; agorawr (agerer R), lladawr (lledir R), ysgarhawr (yscarwn R).
Such forms are not infrequently found among the Cynfeirdd and
Gogynfeirdd-Aneirin: dygiawr, gattawr, purawr, Taliesin:
argollawr, bamawr, llycrawr, tamawr, Llywarch Hen: lladawr, L1DC
7,27 talhaur, guarwyaur 16,10 etc; Hendregadredd: canawr, edmycawr,
gwasgarawr, etc. (many other exx.). Cf. GMW 121.
In twenty-seven verbs -u/ys is employed as the ending o f the 3rd.
pret. sing.: amdiuwynwys, anwaydwys, arswydwys, asswynwys,
keisswys, kychwynnwys, kynnullwys, kyscwys, digribywys, dygwydwys,
dygyrchwys, esgynnwys, gallwys, gouynnwys, gweryskynnwys, gyrrwys,
Hygrwys, mynnwys, olrewys, plygwys, rithwys, syrthwys, tyuwys,
tygvys, tynnwys, ymyrrwys, yscarwys. -awd occurs in siy verbs:
gochelawd, lladawd, tardawd, ymauaelawd, ymladawd, ymordiwedawd.
With the latter cf. go(r)diwawd PKM 32,21; 91,6, and see GMW 125.
In PKM there are over fifty instances of-wys, and eighteen of-dwd.
In four verbs both are used: kerdwys 6,1 slkerdaud 6,25; kyrchwys
4,7/kyrchawd 43,14; mynnwys 27,11/mynnawd 27,24; tygywys
11,2/tygyawd 20,28. In PKM -tfwd seems to be beginning to
encroach on -wyj, whereas in Culhwch they are kept severely apart,
although R substitutes for -wyi in mynnawd 2, trigyawd, tyuawd
248.
The use o f certain particles is o f interest and significance:
ry. There are fifteen instances o f ry used before a verb, but only
four in the Red Book text. In the Gododdin there are twenty, ten in
the poetry o f Taliesin, twenty-one in Hendregadredd. There are ten
in the White Book text o f PKM, and seven in that of the Red Book;
two instances occur in the Book o f Blegywryd, and thirty-seven in
the Book o f Iorwerth. In BD there are twenty-seven, and twenty-
six in Gwyrthyeu y Wynwydedic Veir (c. 1250; B ix (1939), 334-41); ar
XXII IN T RO D U C TIO N

(a + ry) occurs once in Culhwch and once in Hendregadredd, but

instances abound in later texts sucH as Peredur and BD. neur (neu +
ry) occurs only once, and once also in the poetry o f Taliesin, but six
times in C L 1H, four times in Hendregadredd, and three times in
PKM. Cf. GMW 166-8.
The use o f ry- with a verbal noun must have been a new
development in Welsh (it is not attested in Irish). It does not occur in
the Cynfeirdd, but there are seven exx. in Hendregadredd. In the
early prose texts instances are rare: two in the Book o f Blegywryd,
sixteen in the Book o f Iorwerth, eight in Peredur, one in Owein, and
two in Gereint fab Erbin. In the text o f Gwyrthyeu y Wynvydedic Veir
we have eleven exx., and eighty-four in BD. Not one occurs in
Culhwch.
yr is a variant o f ry. It occurs once in the Gododdin (Gwarchan
Kynvelyn), six times in Hendregadredd, four times in PKM , once
in the Book o f Iorwerth and once in Gereint fab Erbin, but sixty-
three times in BD. Not once does it occur in Culhwch. Cf. GMW
169.
neu(t) (=Ir. no.) This affirmative particle occurs quite often in the
works o f the Cynfeirdd, and there are 145 instances in
Hendregadredd; two are found in the Book o f Iorwerth, one in the
Book o f Blegywryd, three in BD, six in PKM. In Culhwch we find
one: A minneu neut ydynt yn gynyon boneu vy esgyll 878, ‘And as for
me, the roots o f my wings are (mere) stumps’. On neur (neu + ry)
see above under ry. Cf. further GMW 169-70.
yt. This affirmative particle disappeared quite early. It occurs
before a consonant, and is followed by lenition. There are seven
instances in Culhwch\ trw yt gaffei wieicca 27, ohonot ti yt gaffo 41,
rwy yt werthey Arthur 381, dymued uch y law . . . yt uyd yn sych
389, y foe yt uerwit yndi 541, yt uerwid 556, bei oil yt uei val hynn
795. It is found quite commonly in the Cynfeirdd, and also in OW,
for example in the Privilege o f Teilo: y pop mynnic yt uoy LL 120.
In the Gododdin there are twenty-two instances, twelve in the poetry
o f Taliesin, fourteen in C L 1H, eighty-four in Hendregadredd.
There appears to be only one ex. in prose, in the Book o f
Blegywryd: am y deu ymwystlaw hynny yt uyd y dosbarth ar
awdurdaut llythyrawl, ‘it is concerning these two giving o f pledges
that there will be settlement by written authority’ 18,18-19. Cf.
GMW 171-2.
cwt, cw(d) ‘where ?’, also ‘whence?*, ‘whither?’. It occurs in early
 IN T RO D U C TIO N xxm

MW, in the Black Book and in the Book o f Taliesin; there are six
exx. in Hendregadredd. In Culhwch we find three, as follows: my net
a oruc y brenhin yg kyghor kwt gaffei wreic 28-9, kwt ynt plant y
gwr a’m rydyallas yg gordwy 37; neu chwitheu kwt ymdewch 515.
It does not occur in later prose texts. Cf. GMW 79. Note R pa le y
29, ble 37, pan 515.

Syn tax

There are two basic features o f syntax in Welsh which merit

attention here, and which may be described under the following
heads: the copula and nominal predicate, and the verbal noun.
Arwyn Watkins and Proinsias Mac Cana dealt with the
constructions o f the copula in B xviii (i960), 1-25, and outlined two
main types o f sentence in OW, namely ‘A ’ consisting o f copula +
predicate + subject: is discirr micoueidid ‘mean is my company’, and
‘B ’ predicate + copula -I- subject; etiuein di Sibellae int hinn ‘these are
the names o f Sibellae’ . ‘A ’ is the more common order in OW, but it
was in time superseded by ‘B ’. In the Gododdin there are fifty-three
instances o f ‘A ’ and twenty o f ‘B ’, in C L1H there are ninety-eight o f
‘A ’ and twenty o f ‘B ’.In Culhwch there are sixteen instances o f ‘A ’
and eighty-three o f ‘B ’, in PKM five o f ‘A ’ and 172 o f ‘B ’: so that in
Culhwch the balance has changed, but not to anything like the same
extent as in PKM. It is more in keeping with the practice in early
poetry, although it differs from this quite considerably.
Note the use o f ys and oed, especially at the beginning o f a
sentence before a nominal predicate. Both occur in this position in
the early poetry: exx. in the Black Book ys bud bartoni L1DC 10 ,11,
oet trum y dial 31,68, and (in the mixed order, GMW 146) Oed
Maelgun a uelun in imuan 1,5. In Hendregadredd there are upwards
o f sixty exx. o f ys thus employed, and 120 o f oed. Later their use in
that position becomes more rare. O f ys there is one ex. in the Book
o f Iorwerth, two in PKM, one in Peredur, one in Owein, four in
Gereint fab Erbin, one in BD; o f oed there is one in PKM, four in
Owein. In Culhwch we have three exx. o f ys: Ys dyhed a beth gadu
dan wynt a glaw y kyfryw dyn 132-3, ‘It is a shameful thing to leave
in wind and rain such a man’; Ys gohilion hwnn 472, ‘He is all that is
left’; Ys hwy yr rei hynny 598, ‘Those are they’; eight exx. o f oed:
Oed dyhed kelu y ryw was hwnn 470, ‘It were a pity to hide such a
XXI V IN T R O D U C TIO N

lad as this’; and in the sequence o f sentences 490-6 (see n. to

II.487-98) oed melynach y fenn . . . ‘Yellower was her hair .. .’(R
melynach oed, etc.); oed gwynnach y chnawd .. . ‘Whiter was her
skin . . .’; oed gvynnach y falueu . . . ‘whiter were her palms’; oed
gwynnach y dwy uron . . . ‘whiter was her breast’; oed kochach y
deu rud . . . ‘redder were her cheeks’— and again later; Oed reit y mi
wrth hwnnw 783, ‘I had need o f him’; Oed well gennyf.. . bei oil yt
uei val hynn 795, ‘I would prefer were the whole of it like this’. Poet
(3rd. impers. sing.) also occurs in this position: Poet emendigeit y
go f a’y digones 527, ‘Cursed be the smith who fashioned it’; Poet
emendigeit y foe yt uerwit yndi 541, ‘Cursed be the forge on which
it was heated’, and the same phrase is repeated in 556.
Originally, the copula came first in the construction o f the mixed
sentence, that is the type o f sentence in which emphasis was
intended to be placed on some part other than the verb. The order o f
words in the mixed sentence consisted first o f a form o f the copula,
corresponding in tense and mood to that o f the main verb, then the
part to be emphasized, which was followed by the remainder o f the
sentence. In its basic and original form the mixed sentence occurs in
OW, for example in the Computus fragment: isgurth ir serenti hai bid
in eir cimeir.o.retit loyr irdid hinnuith . . . Is aries isid in arcimeir aries, ‘it
is opposite the constellation which faces 0 that the moon runs that
day . . . It is aries that is opposite . . .’ (B iii, 256, 11.10-13). Also in
early poetry: Bydei re ruthrwn y waew, ‘It was with haste that I would
rush against a spear’, C L 1H i, 12c; Oed Maelgwn a welwn in imuan, ‘It
was Maelgwn I could see fighting’, L1D C 1,5. Later the pres, ys
came to be employed, irrespective o f the tense and mood of the
main verb. Such is the situation in PKM: ys glut a beth yd
ymdidanyssam ni, ‘continually have we conversed’ 7 ,16 -17; Ys Haw
gyffes y medrwys y Lieu ef, ‘with a deft hand has the Fair One hit it’
80,22. Ultimately the copula was dispensed with completely; cf.
GMW 1 41. It is significant that in Culhwch we have examples o f the
early, primitive form, providing us once more with unmistakable
evidence o f closer affinity with the earlier literature— Old Welsh
and early poetry— rather than with the later prose texts. Five exx.
occur, and they are presented in full here: bydhawt ragot ti gyntaf yd
agorawr y porth 99-100, ‘it will be for you that the gate shall be
opened first’; Poet yn gystal y ’th deon a’th niuer . . . y bo y gwell
hwnn 144-5, ‘May it be equally to your nobles and your retinue that
this greeting be’; bythawd o’th law pan y dechreuwyf 151, ‘it shall be
 IN T R O D U C T IO N X XV

at your hand that I will begin’; Ys mi a’e heirch 566, ‘It is 1who seek
her’; Oed digawn o drwc a wnaethoed Duw ynni 1087-8, ‘It was
enough harm that God had wrought us’.
The verbal noun, because o f its varied uses, constitutes one o f the
basic aspects and problems o f Welsh syntax. We shall note here
some o f the more important constructions as they are exemplified in
Culhwch, although they do not represent any unique feature. First,
the use o f a verbal noun in narrative in place o f a finite verb: mynet y
wlat y gwedi 3, ‘the country went to prayer’. For exx. with other
verbs see 4, 14, 22, 46, 164, etc.
When the verbal noun belongs to an intransitive verb, as in the
case o f mynet in 3 above, the subject immediately follows it in the
form o f a noun. For further exx. see 14, 22, 384, 469, 786, 802, 804,
990, 1053, 1102, 1104, m o , 1232. When the subject is a pers. pron. a
poss. pron is used, as follows: uyn dyuot 39, a’e dyuot ynteu 46, y uot
265, 970, eu hot 414, y uynet 456, a’e dyuot hitheu 461, 487, y uot ef
1028, eu mynet heibaw 1100. When the verbal noun belongs to a
transitive verb, that is when it takes an object, the subject is
governed by the prep. 0: A chaffael mab ohonu 4, Galw 0 Arthur ar
Gyndylic Kyuarwyd 399; also 175, 408, 413, 442, 459, 462, etc.
A common construction in MW is that o f verbal noun + a
+ (g)oruc/(g)wnaeth ‘did’, usually equivalent in meaning to a simple
form o f the verb: A chymryt y mab a oruc y meichad 9, ‘And the
swineherd took the boy (lit. ‘And take the boy the swineherd did’),
cf. GMW 160. For further exx. with goruc (gorucpwyd, -pwyt, also
gwnaeth(ant), -pwyd, -pwyt) in Culhwch see glossary.
A common construction in MW prose is the use o f sef(ys + ef). It
occurs in various combinations, o f which the following may be
noted as relevant to the construction described above. In this we
find sef + a (rel. pron. obj.) + goruc/gwnaeth, followed by a verbal
noun (cf. GMW 52), a construction which may be described as a
variant o f verbal noun + a + goruc. Note the following: Sef a oruc
Arthur dyuot a’e luoed 1139, ‘What Arthur did was bring his hosts’ =
Dyuot a’u luoed a oruc Arthur, ‘Arthur brought his hosts’. Cf. further
23, 806, 894, 938.
 III. TH E ST O R Y A N D ITS C H A R A C T ER S

Culhwch’s quest for Olwen belongs to the tale-type known

internationally as ‘Six Go Through the World’ (AT 513 A) or, more
popularly as ‘The Giant’s Daughter’. In stories of this kind the hero
succeeds in accomplishing a number o f apparently impossible tasks,
placed as calculated impediments in his way by a giant who knows
that he himself is fated to die when his daughter marries, and
therefore he will be prepared to do all he can to prevent her marriage
taking place.9 The nucleus o f this tale can be traced as related to the
Greek story o f the Argonauts, and a Celtic parallel, first pointed out
by Idris Foster, is to be found in the Middle Irish saga Tochmarc
Entire10 ‘The Wooing o f Emer’ which tells how Cú Chulainn won
his wife Emer. In neither the Welsh nor the Irish tale is the hero in
any way daunted by the tasks which the girl’s hostile father imposes
on him, and both Culhwch and Cu Chulainn are successful in
winning their brides— though it is only with the help of Arthur and
a selection o f his magically-gifted followers that Culhwch is
enabled to do so. Indeed, in the Welsh tale the hero’s ‘Helpers’ take
over such a large part o f the action that Culhwch himself is almost
entirely eclipsed: after his companions have assisted him in finding
Ysbaddaden’s fortress and have thus enabled him to meet with
Olwen and to declare his love, Culhwch is not heard o f again until
at the end o f the story he receives his bride. As Ysbaddaden does not
fail to point out, this result is entirely due to the strength of Arthur
and his men, who brought it about for Culhwch. If Culhwch’s
presence on the various adventures is to be taken as implied, this is
nowhere explicitly stated.
The tynged or compulsion which Culhwch’s evilly-motivated

9 I. LI. Foster, ‘Astudiaeth o Chwedl Culhwch ac Olwen’, MA thesis,

University ofWales, Bangor (1935), and CO(i) xxxiii. Cf. ST and TPC
under E 765.4.1; G 530.2; H 335,336; T 9 1.1; T 97; and IPT 72-5. The
parallel between Culhwch and the story of the Argonauts is noted by
Jackson; see also Stith Thomson, The Folktale, 54, 280; CO(i) xxxiii.
10 LU 307-19. Ed. A. G. van Hamel, Compert Con Culainn and Other
Stories (Dublin, 1933), 16-68. Cf. Doris Edel, Helden auf Freiersßissen
‘ Tochmarc Emire und ‘Mal y kavas Kulhwch Olwen’ (Amsterdam, 1980).
The parallel was noted even earlier by John Rhŷs, HL 487 (1898).
 IN T RO D U C TIO N XXV11

stepmother11 places upon him is that he shall never obtain any other
wife than Olwen, daughter o f the ‘Chief Giant’ Ysbaddaden.
Culhwch’s father therefore directs his son to go and seek the help of
Arthur, because o f the bond o f kinship which exists between them:
Arthur yssyd geuynderw it, ‘Arthur is your cousin’. This is because
Culhwch’s dead mother was Goleuddydd, daughter o f Anlawdd
Wledig (see n. to 1.2), and so too, according to Brut y Brenhinedd was
Eigr, Arthur’s own mother. In this, as in other details which recur
throughout the story, such as the names o f Gwenhwyfar and of
Caledfwlch, it is not easy to discount the possibility of influence
from Brut y Brenhinedd upon Culhwch ac Olwen, at some undefined
stage in the story’s development. This is hardly surprising, for it
must be remembered that the texts o f Brut y Brenhinedd go back to a
period at least a century earlier than the White Book o f
Rhydderch.12
Even before the year noo Arthur’s high status had become
established, at least in theory, as that o f a one-time ruler over the
whole o f Britain: in the Life o f St Cadog he is rex illustrissimus
Britanniae (VSB 68), and in the early poem on Geraint fab Erbin he is
amherawdr ‘emperor’(LlDC 21,24). 1° Culhwch Arthur is described
as Penteymedd yr Ynys hon ‘Chief o f Princes o f this Island’, and his
power, authority, and magnetism are implicit in all that he does,
and in the response o f others towards him. Arthur can make people
do what they are told: a famous prisoner is released at his bare word,
he can summon quarrelling men to come and be adjudicated by him,
the saints o f Ireland come to ask Arthur’s protection on his arrival in
the country— even the Oldest Animals appear to be under
obligation to serve the messengers o f Arthur. (The Twrch Trwyth
and his retinue o f pigs are almost alone in refusing to do anything at

11 For the motif of the Jealous Stepmother see ST and TPC under S 31;
H913. i ; P 282; M 4 11 . i . I. There are many parallels in Irish; for refs, see
CO(i) xxxv; K. Jackson, EC xi (1964-5), 92-4. For a Gaelic analogy to
the linking in a single tale of the two motifs of the Jealous Stepmother
and the Giant’s Daughter see J. E. Caerwyn Williams, Y Stonwr Gwy-
ddeleg a'i Chwedlau (University of Wales Press, 1972) ‘Merch Brenin
Dyffryn yr Unigedd’, 229-36, and note pp. 252-6.
12 First half of thirteenth century. On the Welsh Brut see B. F.
Roberts, ‘The Treatment of Personal Names in the Early Welsh
Versions of Historia Regum Britanniae\ B xxv (1973), 274; ibid. Brut
y Brenhinedd (Dublin, 1971), xxix. Cf. TYP xviii.
x xv iii IN T R O D U C TIO N

all at Arthur’s request.) The stages are obscure by which Arthur’s

name attained this eminence, but from at least the tenth century, if
not earlier, it had begun to act as a matrix to which were drawn the
names o f a number o f originally unrelated mythical and legendary
figures. No doubt we should take with a grain o f salt the rhetorical
passage in which the gatekeeper, Glewlwyd Gafaelfawr, elaborates
on the extent o f Arthur’s reputed exploits over a large part o f the
known and o f the unknown world:13 however, it is not easy to
discount the likelihood that these allusions to Arthur’s far-flung
conquests owe something to the exalted status accorded to him in
the Historia Regum Britanniae and in Brut y Brenhinedd.
In Wales the popular and the learned concept o f Arthur was above
all else that o f a defender o f his country against every kind o f
danger, both internal and external: a slayer o f giants and witches, a
hunter o f monstrous animals— giant boars, a savage cat monster, a
winged serpent (or dragon)— and also, as it appears from Culhwch
and Preiddeu Annum, a releaser o f prisoners. This concept is
substantiated from all the early sources: the poems Pa Gur and
Preiddeu Annwn, the Triads, the Saints Lives, and the Mirabilia
attached to the Historia Brittonum. In the Triads Arthur is the self-
appointed guardian o f his country against foreign invaders, and in
H RB Arthur’s great fight with the giant on Mont St. Michel
reminds him o f an earlier contest which he had fought with the
giant Ritho on Snowdon. This episode in H RB and in the Brut,
serves to recall a wealth o f indigenous folklore concerning Arthur’s
fights with a number o f giants on mountain-tops in Wales:
traditions which by their very nature are dateless, but which are
certainly indigenous, and can in no way be attributed to the single
influence o f the Historia Regum. In a significant lecture14 published
some years ago A. G van Hamel compared this concept o f Arthur
with that o f Fionn mac Cumhaill as portrayed in early Irish sources
and in folklore. Both are defenders, hunters, and slayers o f
monsters, and van Hamel enlarged on the comparison by noting
that Arthur, like Fionn, is presented as an intercessor in conflicts
between mythical beings: Arthur arbitrates between Gwyn ap
13 On the passage see B. F. Roberts, ‘Yr India Fawr a’r India Fechan’,
L1C xiii (1980-1), 281-3, and n. to lines 116-28. Cf. AoW 6.
14 ‘Aspects of Celtic Mythology’, PBA xx (1934), 207-48; G. Mur­
phy, Duanaire Firm iii, 213-17, ‘Professor van Hamel’s Views concern­
ing the origin of the Arthurian Cycle and the Finn Cycle’.
 IN T R O D U C T IO N XXIX

Nudd and Gwythyr ap Greidawl, as does Fionn between the

members o f the Tuatha Dé Danann. Whatever Arthur’s ultimate
origins may be, in early literature he belongs, like Fionn, to the
realm o f mythology rather than to that of history.
It is the less surprising that Arthur’s name and his growing
prestige, both as a great king and as a slayer o f monsters, should
have attracted towards it the tale o f another, and a no less
formidable giant, when the folk-tale o f ‘The Giant’s Daughter’
came to be established in Wales. For Culhwch, in strong contrast to
Arthur, is essentially an untraditional figure: outside Culhwch ac
Olwen he is virtually non-existent. As is frequently the case with the
heroes o f folk-tales, he has his existence solely for the purpose o f
this one story. Apart from one later citation o f Culhwch’s name in
Englynion y Clyweit (B iii, 13, 45), his name is attested once only, in
a single englyn in Canu Heledd: Kyndylan, Gulhwch gynnifiat llew/
Bleid dilin disgynnyat/Nyt atuer twrch tref y dat (CL1H xi.io),
‘Cynddylan, a lion-warrior (like) Culhwch; a wolf, an attacker in
pursuit, the boar (ie.Cynddylan) will not return to his patrimony’.
(In the previous stanza Cynddylan has been described as callon
gwythwch, ‘heart o f a wild boar’.) More than one parallel instance
has been cited in these and other englynion in which there has been
substitution among personal names, either one name in place of
another, or a name in place o f a common noun.15 Against this
background, it is not unreasonable to conclude that Culhwch’s
name in the englyn is a substitution. The names of Olwen and
Ysbaddaden are equally untraditional: neither o f them has any
existence outside Culhwch ac Olwen. Anlawdd Wledig and
Goleuddydd derive from the milieu o f the Lives and Genealogies o f

15 In C L IH 1,2 3b the texts o f R B and copies o f W B have substituted//w

kyndrwyn for the Black B o o k ’s Iv kigrun (=cynghrwn) ‘a compact/orderly
host’(= L 1 D C 18,49; see Ifor Williams’s note). J. Rowland discusses the
orthographic significance o f this error, B x xix (1981), 5 18 -19 , and sec
her Early Welsh Saga Poetry 580. See also J. T. Koch, SC xx/xxi (1985-6),
52. Other instances are C L 1 H xi, 1 5a where Siôn Dafydd R h ys’s copy o f
an englyn has substituted Cyndhelw for Cyndelan (Cynddylan), and n.
ibid., 200. A further instance is L 1 D C 4 0,8-10 where Tri meib kynuarch is
accepted as a necessary emendation o f Tri meib llywarch\ sec introduction
to L 1 D C X V , and B xvii, 180. Some such word as culwydd ‘lord, chief’
may have been displaced by Culhwch in the stanza quoted. See C O (i)
lxxxv.
XXX IN T R O D U C TIO N

the Welsh Saints; Culhwch’s father Kilydd appears to be one o f a

group o f names in the story which‘stem from the Gododdin poem.
None o f these names appear in any other o f the tales or romances,
nor in the Triads, nor are they cited in praise-poetry; Olwen’s name
does not figure as a paragon o f beauty in poetry any earlier than the
fifteenth century.16
It is true that Culhwch’s name (‘slender pigling’) retains mythical
reverberations which make it probable that his origin lies in the
surviving memory o f an ancient belief in animal transformations, a
belief which is so pervasive in Culhwch ac Olwen as to constitute an
underlying theme, and one which gains emphasis from a number
o f early Irish analogies (see below pp. lxviii-lix). But however
momentous Culhwch’s name may have once been in mythological
terms, mythology can offer no satisfactory explanation for the
choice o f ‘Culhwch’ as the name o f the hero o f ‘The Giant’s
Daughter’, when this folk-tale came to be told in Wales. Culhwch’s
birth in a pigsty indicates that the author was at least partially aware
o f some o f the layers o f meaning which were embodied in his name
(see n. to 1. io). These pig associations may in themselves have been
sufficient to cause the gravitation o f Culhwch’s story into the
established orbit o f Arthur, the great slayer o f giants and monsters,
who was known already from the ninth century as the hunter o f the
monstrous boar, the Twrch Trwyth.
Yet there is a rival to Culhwch as hero o f the tale or, more
probably, a doublet o f Culhwch. Culhwch ac Olwen is a story full o f
doublets, both in personae and in incidents, and Goreu son of
Custennin offers striking points o f similarity with Culhwch
himself. Like Culhwch he is a cousin o f Arthur, for his mother was
yet another o f the five daughters o f Anlawdd Wledig (TYP 366);
Goreu is therefore also a cousin to Culhwch himself. (Compare the
doublet o f prisoners, Eiddoel and Mabon, who are also presented in
the story as cousins.) Goreu, too, is hardly less an anonymous figure
than is Culhwch, since he is almost equally unknown and
unrecognized in Welsh tradition (see nn. to 11.455, 811).
Ysbaddaden is Goreu’s uncle, his father Custennin being a brother
to the giant (following R ’s text o f I.436). Ysbaddaden has
‘despoiled’ (or ‘dispossessed’) his brother, and has brought about

16 Cf. n. to Olwen I.498 below, and D. M. Lloyd, Rhai Agweddau ar

Ddysg y Gogynfeirdd (University of Wales Press, 1977), 10.
 IN T R O D U C T IO N XXXI

the deaths o f his twenty-three sons; Goreu is the last one

remaining, hence he is reared in secrecy (as other well-known
heroes, such as Peredur, are reputed to have been). Goreu first
distinguishes himself in the attack on the fortress o f the giant
Wmach, yet after this episode he is not heard o f again, until he is
named as one o f the huntsmen engaged in the hunt for the Twrch
Trwyth. Finally it is Goreu, not Culhwch, who cuts off
Ysbaddaden’s head and places it on a stake, thus avenging the
‘despoilment’ o f his father and the deaths o f his brothers. The
name o f Custennin, and perhaps Goreu’s own name (see n. to
I.811), fits well with the Cornish ambience which is indicated
from time to time by elements dispersed throughout the tale.
Goreu’s inclusion in a triad contained only in the later (WM and
RM) collection, Tri Goruchel Garcharawr, is discussed below
(pp. lx-lxi).
On his father’s advice, Culhwch proceeds to Arthur’s court to
ask for Arthur’s help in his difficult and dangerous search for the
Giant’s daughter. After his initial altercation with the gatekeeper
Glewlwyd Gafaelfawr, Culhwch makes a brash and aggressive
entrance into the court, riding right into the hall on horseback—
something which was contrary to royal custom and all the canons
o f good behaviour (though it is paralleled in the actions o f other
heroes, see n. to I.141). Arthur receives him with great courtesy,
and agrees to his initial request, which is that the king should trim
his hair. Arthur does this, employing a gold comb and scissors of
silver. The significance o f the hair-cutting, as a recognition and
acceptance o f consanguity, is made clear from a passage in the
ninth-century Historia Brittonum'7, relating to Guorthegirn’s
treatment o f his son (and grandson), a boy born by incest with
Guorthigern’s own daughter. The boy is placed in the care o f St
Germanus, who receives him with the following words:
‘Pater tibi ero, nate; nec te dimittam donec mihi nouacula cum
forcipe pectineque detur et tibi liceat haec patri tuo carnali dare’.
Sicque factum est. Et infans sancto obediuit Germano, perrexitque ad
auum suum— patrem scilicet carnalem— Guorthegirnum; et dixit illi
puer, ‘Pater meus es: capud meum tonde, et comam capitis mei! ‘Et
ille erubescens siluit, et infantulo respondere noluit, sed surgens
iratus est ualde.17

17 The Historia Brittonum: The Vatican Version, ed. D. N. Dumville,

90; ed. F. Lot, ch.39.
XXX11 IN T R O D U C TIO N

‘I will be a father to thee, and I will not let thee go until there be
given to me a razor with scissors and a comb, and it is permitted to thee
to give these to thy carnal father.’ And thus it was done. And the child
obeyed Germanus, and went to his grandfather— that is his carnal
father— Guorthegirn, and the boy said to him, ‘Thou art my father,
shear my head and comb my hair.’ And he was ashamed and remained
silent, and would not reply to the child, but rose up, and was very
angry.

Guorthegirn was evidently confounded and shamed by the

publicity o f this exposure, and the story implies that he did not
accede to the request. In Culhwch ac Olwen the subject o f cutting the
hair o f beards and head, and its necessary implements— razor,
comb, and scissors— is so central a theme as to warrant the
quotation o f this important passage. Its relevance for the tale of
Culhwch was pointed out long ago by Sir Ifor Williams.18 But it
appears that the narrator o f the story was not entirely clear as to the
ancient and symbolic significance o f the hair-cutting, for Arthur
grants Culhwch’s request even before he questions the boy as to his
name and parentage. Once his blood-relationship to the king has
been confirmed, Culhwch then claims from Arthur, as his pencenedl,
the cyfarws or privileged gift (see n. to 1.59) to which he is entitled on
the occasion o f his acceptance into the tribe. Culhwch’s cyfarws is
that the king should help him to discover Olwen. He invokes as his
sureties the whole company who are present at the court, led by Cei
and Bedwyr. With a select band o f companions and helpers,
Culhwch is then enabled to make his way to the fortress of
Ysbaddaden.
The story o f Culhwch ac Olwen falls into three parts.19 The first
part tells o f the hero’s birth and the quest imposed upon him by the
ill-will o f his jealous stepmother, and this brings him to Arthur’s
court. The second part describes the reception given to Culhwch
and his companions at the fortress o f Ysbaddaden, and it lists the
anoethau or difficult tasks imposed on them by the giant. The final
18 ‘Hen C hw edlau’, T H S C 1946, 53-4; sec also Idris Foster, A L M A
33. In both passages the implements— razor, comb, and scissors— are
identical with those between the ears o f the Tw rch T rw yth. Noticeable
also in the talc is the frequency o f such personal epithets as b a rfa w c ,
b a r f d r a w s , b a r ft r w c h , k e in fa r fa w c .
19 As pointed out by B. F. Roberts, Ast.H . 299-300; ibid., ‘Middle
Welsh Prose N arratives’ in L. A. Arrathoon (ed.), T h e C r a fi o f F ictio n
(Rochester, M ichigan, 1984), 223-4.
 IN T R O D U C T IO N XXX111

part is made up o f tales o f the accomplishment o f some ten o f these

tasks— tales which echo traditions o f certain archetypal feats which
were traditionally performed by Arthur and his men. Each o f the
first two sections ends with a long list: the first is the Arthurian
Court List, and the second is the list o f the anoethau imposed by the
Giant. From the point o f view o f antecedent Welsh and Celtic
tradition, the interest o f Culhwch ac Olwen centres principally in the
content o f these two long lists, and in the tales which follow o f the
accomplishment o f a selection o f the anoethau. It will now be
necessary to consider these two lists in greater detail, before passing
on to consider the narratives o f accomplishment.
 IV. TH E A R T H U R IA N C O U R T LIST

(i)

The oldest list o f the names o f Arthur’s companions— evidently

they represent his teulu or personal retinue— appears in an
unfinished poem, which has no title, in the Black Book of
Carmarthen (L1D C no. 31 = B B C 94.-6). It begins with the line Pa
Gur yw y Porthaur. This poem is the most significant among the
identifiable sources or analogues o f Culhwch ac Olwen. It proves that
already between the ninth and eleventh centuries Arthur’s name was
becoming the great matrix to which the names o f mythical and
legendary figures were being drawn. Although the poem has many
obscurities, there can be no doubt about a number o f the personal
names which are listed in it: these correspond with names in the
Court List in Culhwch, and for these the reader is referred to the
notes and index which follow the text o f the tale below. In the poem
a few o f these names appear in more archaic forms— Mabon (ap)
Mydron, Guin Godybrion, Anguas Edeinauc, Lluch Llauynnauc. As Dr
Brynley Roberts has pointed out (Ast.H. 298), in the poem as in
Culhwch these names appear in an Arthurian context, and in each
case are listed as ‘sureties’ by a warrior seeking to forward his
personal demand. The poem also provides a precedent for the
dialogue between Culhwch and Glewlwyd Gafaelfawr the
gatekeeper, and later for that between Cei and the guardian o f the
fortress o f Wrnach Gawr. In addition it foreshadows other
encounters by Arthur and his men with witches and hostile
monsters. Owing to the poem’s importance in relation to Culhwch,
we subjoin a working translation, for convenience o f reference, and
to be studied alongside the original text in the Black Book. The
poem opens with a verbal interchange between Arthur and
Glewlwyd Gafaelfawr: Glewlwyd is presented here as the
guardian— or perhaps the proprietor— o f a hostile fortress into
which Arthur and his men are seeking to gain admittance. But it
rapidly develops into a monologue in which Arthur names his
followers, giving precedence to Cei as leading hero. Arthur boasts
o f his followers’ wonderful monster-slaying feats, in places as far
apart as the vicinity o f Edinburgh and the island o f Anglesey.
 IN T R O D U C T IO N XXXV

Owing to the loss o f a leaf from the manuscript, this monologue

breaks off abruptly. We are indebted for our translation to the
edition and notes to the poem by Dr Brynley Roberts (Ast.H.
296-309).20 We have used italics for the lines, or half-lines, spoken
by Glewlwyd— the remainder o f the poem consists o f Arthur’s
long speech:
(1) What man is the Gate-Keeper? Gleuluid Gauaeluaur
(‘G.Mighty Grasp).
What man asks it? Arthur and Cei Guin (‘Fair Cei’).
What (company) goes with you? The best men in the world.
Into my house you shall not come, unless you reveal(?) them.
(5) I will reveal(?) them, and you will see them.
The vultures o f Elei(?) and wise men all three;
Mabon son o f Mydron, the servant o f Uthir Pendragon,
Kysceint son o f Banon, and Guin Godybrion.
M y servants were fierce in defending their claims;
(10) Manawidan son o f Llyr, profound was his council:
Manauid brought shattered shields from Tryfruid (or
‘shattered and broken shields’):
and Mabon son o f Mellt, he spattered blood on the grass,
and Anguas Edeinauc and Lluch Llauynnauc—
(15) they were defenders ofEidyn (Edinburgh) on the border.
A lord would cherish them . . .
Cei entreated them while he killed them by threes.
When Celli was lost, men endured savagery;
Cei mocked them as he cut them down;
(20) Though Arthur was laughing, the blood was flowing—
In the hall o f Awarnach, fighting with a hag.
He smote Pen Palach (‘Cudgel Head’) in the settlements
o f Dissethach,

20 Since going to press, the poem Pa Gur has been edited and discussed
by P. Sims-Williams in chapter 2 of The Arthur of the Welsh, eds. R.
Bromwich, A. O. H. Jarman and B. F. Roberts (Cardiff 1991). His
translation differs from ours only in some points of detail. See also A. O.
H. Jarman’s notes and glossary to L1DC. Also useful will be found T.
Jones, ‘The Early Evolution of the Legend of Arthur’, Nottingham
Mediaeval Studies viii (1964), 16-17 (=B xvii, 247-8), and Jones and
Jones, Mab xxiii-xxiv; ALMA 14-15; J. Lloyd-Jones, Ériu xvi, 123-4;
TYP 304, 362.
XXXVI IN T R O D U C TIO N

on the mountain o f Eidyn he fought with the Cinbiti

(‘Dog-Heads’);
They fell by the hundred, by the hundred they fell
(25) before Bedwyr Bedrydant (‘o f Perfect Sinew*) .. .
on the banks o f Tryfruid, fighting with a g a r v l u i d (‘Rough
Grey’)
furious was his nature, with sword and shield,
a host was futile, compared with Cei in battle:
he was a sword in battle, pledges came from his hand—
(30) he was a steadfast leader o f an army for a country’s good,
Bedwyr and Brydlaw (or ‘son o f Brydlaw’);
Nine hundred to listen, six hundred to scatter—
his onslaught would be worth.
I used to have servants— it was better when they were
alive.
(35) Before the lords o f Emrys (or ‘splendid lords’) I saw Cei in
haste,
Lord o f booty, the ‘long man’ was hostile (?)
heavy was his vengeance, fierce was his anger.
When he drank from a buffalo-horn, he drank for four,
When he came into battle, he slew for a hundred.
(40) Unless it were God who caused it, Cei’s death were
impossible.
Cei the Fair and Llacheu, they made slaughter
before the pang (i.e. ‘death’) from blue spears .. .
On the uplands o f Ystafingun
Cei killed nine witches.
(45) Fair Cei went to Môn (Anglesey) to destroy lions—
his shield was shattered (or P’polished’) against Cath
Paluc;
When people ask ‘Who killed Cath Paluc?’
Nine score warriors would fall as her food,
nine score champions . . .21
21 Here the poem breaks off. Some additional notes on obscure refer­
ences may be added. The names in 1.6 have not so far been satisfactorily
explained: B. F. Roberts compares E l e i with the River Ely in Glamor­
gan, Ast.H., 303. For U t h ir P en d ra g o ti (7) see TYP 520-3. T r y fr u id (26) is
the name given in HB to one of Arthur’s battles (ALMA 6,8). For
A w a m a c h (21) see n. to W m a ch G a w r , I.747 below. The ‘mountain of
Eidyn’ (23) must be either Arthur’s Seat or the Castle Rock of Edin-
 IN T R O D U C T IO N XXXV11

(II)

The long list o f the men and women assembled at Arthur’s Court
occupies some 200 lines o f the text o f Culhwch ac Olwen (175-373),
and more than nine columns o f WM. These names are invoked by
Culhwch as guarantors o f the cyfarws or privileged gift which he
demands from Arthur on the occasion o f his acceptance by the king
as his kinsman: a recognition which is symbolized by the act o f
Arthur’s combing and cutting his hair. The cyfarws which Culhwch
then demands from Arthur is that the king should obtain for him
the Giant’s daughter Olwen, with whom he has already fallen into
‘absent love’.
Discounting patronymics, and allowing for the duplication of
three names (Gormant mab Ricca, Gwyn mab Nwyvre, Llenlleawc
Wydel), and o f three others which recur in the list under variant
forms (GwawTdur/Gwaredur Kyruach; Anwas/Henwas Edeinawc;
Gallcoit/Gallgoic); together with some names o f animals, perhaps
inadvertently included (the pups o f the bitch Rhymhi, the boars
Twrch mab Perif, and Twrch mab Anwas, the horses Call, Kuall,
and Kauall)— the total count o f the members o f the Court amounts
to just under 260 names. These evidently derive from a wide variety
o f sources: there are names belonging to the genealogies and regnal
lists o f the early Welsh kingdoms— Morgannwg, Dyfed, Powys
and Erging, as well as those o f Devon and Cornwall and o f the ‘Old
North’— and names o f legendary or mythical characters, such as
those which appear in the poem Pa Gur, a group from the
Gododdin,22 and others which are recognizable variants o f names in

burgh. The ‘border’ o f Eidyn (15) m ay stand for the northern border
between the Britons and the Piets. The Cinbin (‘D og-H eads’) have been
associated with the cynocephali o f St Augustine (C y xxviii, 1 ion.); they
may also be compared with the mythical Coinchenn who figure in many
early Irish sources (see G. M urphy, Duanaire Finn iii, 9in.). With^ar-
vluid (26) cf. n. to Gwrgi Garwlwyd T Y P 391. For Llacheu (41) (son o f
Arthur) see idem 4 16 -18 ; for Cath Paluc (46-7) see idem 484-7: lleuon
‘lions’ would not be inappropriate for the monster Cath Paluc o f triad
no. 26. Ystafingun (43) is an unknown place-name, (but see now AoW
45).
22 Bratwen, Gwawrdur, Moren Mynawc, Nwython, Clydno Eidin (sic),
Greit, Cyndylic. Elsewhere in the tale: Kilyd (Culhwch’s father), Cilyd
Canhastyr, Cilyd Cyuwlch, Grugyn, Gwlgawt Gododin, Nwython.
XXXV111 IN T R O D U C TIO N

the Mabinogi.2324Five names are those*ofleading figures in the Irish

Ulster cycle o f tales (17 8 -8 0 ), 24 and one or two others are also Irish.
Dispersed through the list are groups o f men alleged to be Arthur’s
relatives, whether on the father’s or on the mother’s side (205, 222,
252 ,290). Farcical names such as Clust mab Clustfeinad ‘Ear son o f
Hearer’, Drem mab Dremhidydd ‘Sight son o f Seer’, Neb
‘Anybody’, Drwg a Gwaeth a Gwaethaf Oil ‘Bad and Worse and
Worst o f A ll’ intermittently bring the long incantatory sequence
down to earth. Alliteration is frequent between names o f father and
son (Greidawl Gallddofydd and Gwythyr fab Greidawl), between
two brothers (Gwalchmai and Gwalhafed, Yskyrdafand Yscudyd),
or two sisters (Gwenhwyfar and Gwenhwyfach; compare Esyllt
Vynwen and Esyllt Vyngul). There are also triads: Duach,
Brathach, and Nerthach; Bwlch and Cyfwlch and Sefwlch; and
three men named Gwyn ( 18 1- 2 ) who all seem to be emanations of
the legendary Gwyn ap Nudd. Triple unities o f this kind are in fact a
feature o f Celtic mythology and iconography, and they have been
perpetuated under a variety o f forms in both early Welsh and early
Irish literature.25 There are also larger groups o f names which may
rhyme or alliterate, such as the four men named Gweir, the five sons
o f Seithfed, the five sons o f Iaen, the five sons o f Erim, or the
nineteen sons o f C aw — groups in which the personalities merge
and at times seem to lack any but verbally distinguishing features,
being multiplied solely for rhetorical effect. More arresting are the
names o f historical figures which belong to near-contemporaries
who lived in the late eleventh and early twelfth centuries: Sulien,
whose name commemorates that o f the famous bishop o f St

23 Teyrnon Twr Bliant, Gwarae Gwallt Eurin, Pwyll, Teliessin Pen

Beird, Manawedan (sic) mab Llyr, Lluydeu mab Kelcoet (sic), Casnar Wledic,
Hyueid Unllen(?). Elsewhere in the tale: Rianhon (sic), Glinneueil Taran,
Gouannon mab Don, Glew mab Yscawt (=?Unic Glew YscwydPKM 39,2).
24 See notes to 11 .178-8 0 ; add Maylwys mab Baedan (178), Scilti Scawn-
troet (234). For discussion see P. Sims-Williams, B x xix (1982), 607-14,
and idem n. on Brys mab Bryssethach, 618.
25 As was first emphasized by J. Vendryes, ‘L ’Unité en trois personnes
chez les Celtes’ , Comptes-rendus de VAcademie des Inscriptions et des Belles
Lettres (1935), 325 (reprinted in his Choix d'Etudes Linguistiques et Celt-
iques). See further M . L. Sjoestedt (trans. Dillon) Gods and Heroes of the
Celts (London, 1949), 17, 3 1, 43 and passim-, P. M ac Cana, Celtic Myth­
ology 48; T Y P 155-6.
 IN T R O D U C T IO N X X X IX

David’s; ‘Sberin’ son o f the Breton Count Alan Fergant, and

William the Conqueror himself, if indeed it is he who appears under
the name o f Gwilenhen/hin brenin Freinc. Inset in the list are
intriguing fragments o f narrative: the triad o f the three men who
escaped from the battle o f Camlan (226-32), Sgilti and his two
companions who were preternaturally light-footed (233-44),
Teithi Hen whose lands were submerged by the sea (245), Cei’s
remarkable potentialities as described by his father (265-73), Osla
Gyllellfawr and his marvellous bridge-building knife (279-83).
Such diversions counteract any monotony in the long list and
enhance its verisimilitude by directing attention to familiar
narratives or—it may be, to narrative details which have been
invented for this very purpose.
Names receive either a patronymic— only exceptionally a
matronymic, as in Gwalchmei mab Gwyar, Mabon mab Modron—
or an epithet, Brenhin, Gouynnyat, Gwydel, etc. Almost never are
epithet and patronymic combined. D. Ellis Evans has shown (B
xxiv (1972), 420-2; EC xiii (1972), 178-89) that a type o f formation
frequent in both Continental and Insular Celtic personal names is
one in which a substantive precedes its adjective— Taliesin ‘Radiant
Brow ’ is a familiar example. In both Irish and Welsh such
formations occur most frequently in epithets, and he notes the
predominance in the first elements in such epithets of words
denoting parts o f the body, and this equally characterizes both
languages. Examples from the Court List are Barf Trwch ‘Cut
Beard’, Garanhir ‘Long Shank’, Gwallt Eurin, ‘Golden Hair’, Tal
Ary ant ‘Silver Brow ’, Mordwyt Twll ‘Mighty Thigh’, Pen Uchel
‘High Head’. Compounds o f this kind are well illustrated both in
the Court List and in names which appear elsewhere in CO.
Lenition o f epithets following personal names is not consistent in
the tale: in CO, as in TYP, the radical is often retained in instances
in which alliteration is best preserved by retaining it— we find
Cyndelic Kyuarwyd (177), but Elidir Gyfarwyd (329).26 In both
texts o f CO mab is only exceptionally lenited to uab when a
patronymic follows a personal name. In 359-72 lenition of epithets
after women’s names is variable (Esyllt Vynwen but Gwenlliant
Tec). There are examples in the iist which show the older usage by
26 Non-lenition of epithets is the older usage, as was shown by Ifor
Williams, CA lxxix-lxxx. There is a similar variation between lenition
and non-lenition of epithets in the Triads, sec TYP cxi,n.
xl IN T R O D U C TIO N

which patronymics following mersi} arc lenitcd, but there is no

consistency in this.2728
Though the Arthurian Court List is anticipated in a significant
manner in the poem Pa Gur, yet the closest parallel to this category
o f names is to be found in the Triads. Thirty-five names belong in
common to CO and to Trioedd Ynys Pry dein: fifteen o f these arc of
fairly frequent appearance (Cci, Bcdwyr, Gwalchmei, Drystan,
Gereint mab Erbin, etc), ten appear only in CO and in T Y P, and the
remaining ten are found only in these two sources and in one or all
o f three lists, each one quite clearly derived independently from
Culhwch ac Olwen. These are the list o f Arthur’s counsellors in
Breudwyt Ronabwy28 (WM I59-6 o= B R 19—20), that of the hero’s
companions in Chwedl Gereint fab Erbin (WM 4 11 - 12 = GER), and
the group o f some twenty-five personal names derived from CO in
Englynion y Clyweit (B iii (1927), 4-21 = Eng). The texts o f all three
o f these lists have been dated to the late twelfth or early thirteenth
centuries, and it is plain that each o f them is separately derived from
the list in CO . Each also includes a few names which appear
elsewhere in CO, but which do not in all cases figure in the Court
List as well: Goreu uab Custennin (BR and G ER),29 Osla Gyllellvawr
(BR), Gwryr Gwalstot (sic) Ieithoed (BR) = Gwrei Gwalstod Ieithoed
(GER)= Gwrlixr Gwalstawt (Eng), Gwyn mab Tringat (GER); Eng
even has Kulwch (sic). These names place beyond doubt the
dependence o f the three lists on the talc o f CO , rather than on some
independent list o f names drawn upon separately by each one o f
them. All three lists are supplemented by names which appear in
T Y P but which are absent from CO. A character named mab Alun
Dyuet appears twice in CO; BR and G ER both give this name in full
as Dyuyr mab Alun Dyuet (see n. to 1.185). This is but one o f several
indications which suggest that these lists derive from an earlier

27 The Triads show a similar variation between lenition and non-

lenition follow ing merely, sec T Y P no. 56 and n.; T C 1 0 1 ,1 .
28 The list in B R is usefully compared by J. K. Bollard with the lists in
C O , G E R , and T Y P in L 1 C xiii (19 8 0-1), 16 1-2 .
29 Significantly, the name o f Goreu m. Custennin already appears in the
corresponding passage in the text o f G E R in P 6, dated to c. 1300 (sec W M
p. 206), which indicates that it was integrated into the list o f Gereint’s
followers at least fifty years before the date o f WM. (Sec p. x above on
the close integration o f Culhwch with G E R in the texts o f both W and
R.)
 IN T R O D U C T IO N xli
recension o f CO than that o f either o f the two manuscripts which
have come down. Further evidence on this point— unless it is an
editorial correction— is that Eng preserves the correct reading mab
in place o f merch in citing the three names in which this obvious
mistake occurs (see n. to lines 341-2).30 Yet BR shares a mistake
which is common to both texts o f the Court List in CO, by
perpetuating the misreading ac Adwy for a Cadwy (182).
Each o f the three derived lists gives in addition eight or nine
names which do not appear cither in CO or in the Triads. Four such
names are common to B R and to GER: Peredur Paladyr Hir/Peredur
vab Eurawc; Riogan/Riogoned nab brenin Iwerdon; Gwilym nah rwyf
Freinc\ Hywel nab Emyr Llydaw. (This last name can only be
explained as derived from the Brut, see T Y P 407). Gwilym uab rwyf
Freitic may correspond to C O ’s Gwilenhen brenin Freinc, though
there is no available evidence as to which o f these is the earlier form
(see n. to 1. 720). A few o f the farcical invented names have been
adopted from CO: Eng has Dremhidydd in recollection o f C O ’s Drem
mab Dremhidydd ‘Sight son o f Seer’, and the names o f Arthur’s
servants Hygwyd ,Huarwar, and Hir Atrwm; while BR reproduces
Nertli mab Kadarti.
One or two triads, found only in the Early Version o f T Y P (P 16,
P 45, P 47) contain rare names which are found also in CO: Bytwini
(Bitwini) Esgob, Drych eil Kibdar, Llawvroded Varvawc, the oxen
Melyn Gwanhwyn and the Ych Brych (who appear in Culhwch among
the anoethau), Keinvarvawc as the epithet of Cci’s father (264),
Dalldaf eil Cunin (Kimin) C of Moruyd uerch Uryen. On the other
hand there are some names in the Court List in CO (including
Gwenhwyfar and her sister Gwenhwyfachf1 which do not appear in
the Early Version o f T Y P, but arc present only in the larger, and
later, collection o f Triads which is common to WM and RM. It may

3,1 Yet another indication of miscopying in CO appears in 11.182-3,

where the epithet gwledic has clearly been transferred to Fflewdwr Flam
from the following name in the list— Ru(v)awn Pebyr mab Dorath
(Wledic). The occurrence of both names in TYP and in BR make plain
that the epithet gwledic belongs properly to Dorath/Dcwrarth Wledic,
not to Fflewdwr Flam.
31 For Gwenhwyfar and Gwenhwyßach see notes to II.161, 359. The
Triads in P 47 have some additional early names which are found in CO:
Myngrwn march Gwedw, Xioruud uerch Uryen, Clydno Eidyn, Cadwy mab
Geraint (TYP nos. 46a, 70, 71, 75).
xlii IN T R O D U C TIO N

be noted also that the enigmatic ,triad Tri Goruchel Garcharawr

‘Three Exalted Prisoners’ (TYP 52) which is o f particular relevance
to Culhwch, appears only in WM and RM. This triad is fully
discussed below (pp. lx-lxi).
Already in the Early Version o f T Y P there appears an incipient
tendency to substitute the formula T r i. . . Llys Arthur in place of the
more general Tri . . . Ynys Try dein, for example Tri Vnhen Llys
Arthur: Gohrwy mab Echel Vordwytwll, a Chadreith tnab Porthawr
Gadw, a Fleudur Flam (triad 9) which contains two names which
occur in C O — it is tempting to surmise that the third name may
have been dropped from the Court List by a careless copyist: here it
is impossible to tell whether the triad underlies the text o f Culhwch,
or vice versa. Further instances o f the Llys Arthur formula are found
among the supplementary triads in WM and RM (nos. 18 and 65),
and increasingly in the later collections, such as P 47 (cf. T Y P
lxxxi). Besides employing the ‘Arthur’s Court’ formula, Culhwch ac
Olwen resembles the Triads in its perpetuation of the wider (and
older) Ynys Prydein formula, or— in the fuller form in which it
appears in C O — Teir Ynys Prydein a’e Their Rac Ynys (sec n. to
I.282). The Early Version o f T Y P , like Brut y Brenhinedd, appears to
have been in existence before the middle o f the thirteenth century:32
evidently, therefore, the ‘Arthur’s Court’ framework was an
established convention by this date: indeed, the poem Pa Gur
suggests that its origins may go back to a considerably earlier
period. It would be impossible to claim that any one o f the extant
series o f T Y P underlies the Court List in CO, yet it is obvious that
at some stage there has been considerable mutual influence between
the two. The most probable conclusion to be drawn from this is that
triads (but not necessarily in any o f the existing groupings) formed a
major constituent in the formation o f the Court List. This must
have occurred at a much earlier date than that of the text o f CO as
we now have it. Analogies for rhetorical categories o f a similar kind
are to be found in early Irish, as for instance in the lists o f the names
o f warriors o f Ulster and o f Connacht in the epic Táin Bó Cúailnge.33
32 Cf. B. F. Roberts, B xxv (1973), 274; ibid. B xxvii (1977), 33^; TYP
xviii.
33 C. O ’Rahilly, The Táin Bó Cúailnge (Recension i), 3455-3497,
trans. 218; and—for a long sequence of triadic groups—3946-3981,
trans. 231-2; O ’Rahilly Táin Bó Cúailnge from the Book of Leinster (Re­
cension 2), 4054-4100, trans. 247-9, and ibid. Ireland and Wales, 116-17.
 IN T RO D U C TIO N xliii

The court list in Fled Bricrend ‘Bricriu’s Feast’ gives a list o f the
women o f Ulster, led by Mugain, wife o f Conchobar: unlike the list
o f the women at Arthur’s Court, it gives the names o f their
husbands, as well as o f their fathers.34
From the long list o f the men and women at Arthur’s Court there
is abstracted a ‘short list’ o f Six Helpers, 35 and these are the men who
actually accompany Culhwch on his journey to Ysbaddaden’s
fortress, and subsequently in performing the tasks which the Giant
requires from the hero. Cei appoints himself as the first o f these
Helpers, but Arthur nominates the other five. This makes up the
conventional number o f Six (Magic) Helpers, required by the tale-
type ‘Six Go Through the World’ to which, as has been shown, the
tale o f Culhwch’s quest for the Giant’s Daughter belongs. The Six
Helpers are Cei, Bedwyr, Gwrhyr Interpreter o f Tongues, Menw
fab Teirgwacd, Gwalchmei fab Gwyar, and Cyndylic the Guide.
Each hero possesses an essential qualification for the undertaking,
whether it be for path-finding, 36liaison with men or animals, power
o f enchantment, or general warlike ability. All o f the Six have been
previously named in the Court List, and it is significant that both
the long and the short lists begin with the names o f Cei and Bedwyr.
These two arc Arthur’s foremost companions in all sources, in the
poem Pa Gur, in the Life o f St Cadoc, in the Historia Regum
Britanniae, and in Brut y Brenhinedd. Like Cei and Bedwyr,
Gwalchmei fab Gwyar and Menw fab Teirgwacd are also known in
TYP. Gwalchmei and Cyndylic receive no further mention in the
talc, though their presence on the subsequent adventures is no doubt
to be inferred, as is that o f Culhwch himself, though his name is not

O’Rahilly compares the triple groups in CO with similar triple groups

in the story of Da Derga’s Hostel (TBDD ed. Stokes, 107-33, AIT
93-126).
34 Fled Bricrend, LU lines 8405-8416; Fled Bricrend: Bricriu’s Feast cd. G.
Henderson, ITS vol. IV (London, 1899), 34.
35 Or ‘Skilful Companions’; sec ST and TPC under F.601.0.1.; and
further IPT 72, 101; Stith Thomson, The Folktale, 54.
36 Several names in the long list bring out the necessity had by
medieval travellers for guides, path-finders, and builders of impromptu
bridges: besides the two guides Cyndylic and Elidir, there is Gwadyn
Odeith who cleared the way for Arthur and his men (305), and Osla
Gyllellfawr, whose remarkable knife served as a bridge for Arthur’s
whole army to cross a river.
xliv IN T R O D U C TIO N

mentioned again after the scene at »Ysbaddaden’s fortress, until his

wedding takes place at the very end o f the story. It is clear that these
six men are the hero’s original Helpers, and not the farcical group
with fantastic powers who have been previously named in the
Court List— Drem mab Dremhidydd, Ol mab Olwydd, Medyr
mab Methredydd, Clust mab Clustfcinad, Sucgyn mab Sucncdydd.
None o f these reappear in any o f the adventures connected with the
accomplishment o f the tasks, nor are they ever mentioned again in
the tale.
It would appear that the Court List has been successively inflated,
probably at different stages in the evolution o f the text o f Culhwch ac
Olwen. Nearly all o f the names in the list arc inessential to the story
(their nominal role being merely that o f guarantors): apart from the
four special ‘Helpers’ alluded to above, individual members of the
large concourse at Arthur’s court play a barely minimal part in the
development o f the tale. About a dozen o f these names do recur, a
few o f them among the anoethau, and more in the story o f the hunt
for the Twrch Trwyth— in the course o f which a number o f them
are slain— including Osla Gyllellfawr, Gwilenhen brenin Freinc,
and Arthur’s ‘uncles’ Gwrbothu Hen and Llygatrudd Emys. Their
recurrence in these later episodes indicates that there had been
sufficient time for the contents o f the Court List to have become
integrated into the text o f CO , at an earlier date in the talc’s
transmission than that which is represented by the two existing
manuscripts. When these names do recur, they may reappear in a
slightly variant form from that in which they were originally found
in the Court List.3738
We suggest that the whole o f the Arthurian Court List is an
accretion to Culhwch ac Olwen,3* but an accretion made at a
considerably earlier date in the transmission o f the tale from that
which is represented by the two manuscripts. It may have been
based partly or wholly on some pre-existing list o f heroic names, or

37 Exx: Gluydyn/Gwlydyn Saer; Garwyli eil Gwythawc Gwyr/Arwyli eil

Gwydawc Gwyr; Kynedyr Wyllt mab Hettwn Tal Aryant/Kyledyr Wyllt
mab Nwython; Reidwn mab Beli/Reidwn fab Eli Atuer; Cledyf Kyuwlch/
Kilyd Kyuwlch.
38 C f. the somewhat similar suggestions made by Sims-Williams, B
xxix, 606, and P. L. Henry, SC iii, 34 ‘It seems to have little organic
connection with the talc’.
 IN T RO D U C TIO N xlv

on a collection o f triads and o f genealogies, and it is likely to have

been added to progressively. The fact that none o f the group o f six
Irish heroes in 178-80 reappears in any one o f the three derived lists
in BR, GER, and Eng suggests that these may be one such addition.
In the extant text there has evidently been some degree of
transference o f names between the list and the later part o f the talc.
But if the whole series o f names between lines 175-373 is excised,
the sense o f the tale runs on with greater clarity and smoothness:
line 174 being followed immediately by 374: Culhwch specifies his
cyfarws— that Arthur should help him to find and to win Olwcn,
and Arthur replies that he has never even heard o f Olwcn;
messengers are then dispatched to search for her, and return after a
year without success (like the similar fruitless year’s search by the
emperor’s messengers in Breudwyt Maxen). The Six Helpers are then
appointed, and it is principally these, with some additions, who arc
the hero’s companions throughout the rest o f the tale. Once the Six
have been appointed, it appears that they have no further difficulty in
finding Ysbaddaden’s fortress and Olwen’s home.
This conclusion in no way depreciates the very great interest of
the Arthurian Court List, nor docs it cast doubt on the antiquity of
the materials from which it is composed. The list incorporates a
wide conspectus o f the names o f traditional heroes, many o f whom
were known to poets o f the twelfth and thirteenth centuries (a few
even earlier), and a number appear also in the Triads and in early
Welsh regnal lists. It may have received progressive accretions at the
hands o f successive copyists of the talc. Similar lists o f the personnel
o f Arthur’s Court became a recurrent feature of Continental
Arthurian romances.39 Either the Triads with their ‘Arthur’s Court’

39 An example is the list of men assembled at Arthur’s Court (11.

1691-1750) and again later for the heroine’s marriage (11.1934-2024) in
Chrétien de Troyes’ Erec etEnide (cd. W. Focrster, Halle, 1934). This list
is placed differently in the story from its place in GER, and there is
almost no correspondence between the names of the members of
Arthur’s court in the French and the Welsh lists (see AoW 278). Cf. also
the account in HRB ix, 12 (=BD 157-8) of Arthur’s Whitsuntide court
held at Caerleon and attended by kings and bishops. Many of the names
here given correspond closely with names preserved in OW in the
Harleian Genealogies (EWGT 9-13) and bear no resemblances to the
names in the Culhwch list, except for Cci and Bedwyr and Run mab
Nwython (Culhwch I.257).
x lv i IN T R O D U C T IO N

framework, or the talc o f Culhwckac Olwen itself, could have been

the pattern for these, or else— as the Irish analogies suggest40—there
may have been similar lists incorporated in stories which have since
been lost.

40 There is some evidence that the Irish saga-lists originated in lists of

titles which may have been recited orally by poets before their patrons.
Cf. Myles Dillon, The Cycles ofthe Kings, 1 1 5; P. Mac Cana, The Learned
tales of Medieval Ireland, 33-4, 50. The same might well have been true at
one time of the triad sequences; TYP lxxi-lxxii. Cf. J. N. Radner, ‘Irony
in Culhwch and Olwen , CMCS 16 (1988), 49.
 V. THE ANOETHAU OR TASKS

Ysbaddaden exacts forty anoethau (‘things difficult to obtain,

marvels’) from Culhwch as the price o f winning Olwcn for his
wife. These are:

(1) to uproot a thicket and burn the roots, manure and plough the
ground with the ashes, sow and reap the whole within a single day,
in order to make food for the wedding-guests;
(2) to obtain Amaethon son o f Don to prepare the ground;
(3) Gofannon son o f Don to make ready the plough-shares;
(4) the two oxen o f Gwlwlydd Wincu to plough the land;
(5) the oxen Mclyn Gwanwyn (‘Yellow Spring’) and the Ych
Brych (‘the Brindled O x’) to be in a single yoke together;
(6) the two horned oxen, Nyniaw and Pcibiaw, under a single
plough;
(7) to sow the ploughed land with the same amount of flax seed as
the nine hestors which were sown when Ysbaddaden married
Olwen’s mother (but which have never grown) in order to get
enough flax from it to make a white head-dress for Olwen for her
wedding;
(8) honey nine times sweeter than the honey o f a first swarm of
bees, to make bragget for the wedding;
(9) the cup o f Llwyr son o f Llwyrion to contain the bragget;
(10) the trtwys (hamper) o f Gwyddneu Garanhir to contain the
food;
(11) the horn o f Gwlgawd Gododdin to serve the drink;
(12) the harp o f Tcirtu to entertain the Giant;
(13) the Birds o f Rhiannon to entertain the Giant (absent from R);
(14) the Cauldron o f Diwrnach the Irishman to cook food for the
wedding feast;
(15) the tusk o f Ysgithrwyn Chief of Boars to shave the beard of
Ysbaddaden;
(16) Odgar son o f Aedd to draw the tusk from the Boar’s head
while the Boar is still alive;
(17) Caw o f Prydyn to guard (cadw) the tusk;
(18) the blood o f the Black Witch to stiffen the Giant’s beard for
shaving;
x lv iii IN T R O D U C T IO N

(19) the bottles o f Gwyddolwyn the D w arf to keep the blood

warm;
(20) the bottles o f Rhynnon Stiff-bearded to hold milk for
everyone;
(21) the comb and scissors41 from between the two ears o f the
Twrch Trwyth, son o f Taredd Wlcdig, to cut and comb the Giant’s
hair;
(22) Drudwyn, the pup o f Grcid son o f Eri, to hunt the Twrch
Trwyth;
(23) the leash o f Cors Cant Ewin to hold Drudwyn;
(24) the collar o f Canhastyr Canllaw to hold the leash;
(25) the chain o f Cilydd Canhastyr to hold the collar;
(26) Mabon son o f Modron to lead Drudwyn;
(27) Gwyn My(n)gdwn the horse o f Gweddw, to be a horse for
Mabon;
(28) Eiddocl son o f Aer to search for Mabon;
(29) Garsclid the Irishman, chief huntsman o f Ireland, to hunt the
Twrch Trwyth;
[(30) the two pups o f the bitch Rhymhi;42]
(31) a leash o f the beard o f Dillus Farfawg (‘the Bearded” ) to hold
the two pups;
(32) Cynedyr/Cyledyr Wyllt (‘the Wild’) to hold the two pups;
(33) Gwyn son o f Nudd to hunt the Twrch Trwyth;
(34) Du, the horse o f Moro Ocrfeddawg, as a horse for Gwyn;
(35) Gwilcnhin, king o f France, to hunt the Twrch Trwyth;
(36) the son o f Alun Dyfcd to unleash the hounds;
(37) the hounds Aned and Aethlcm to hunt the Twrch Trwyth;43
(38) Arthur and his huntsmen to hunt the Twrch Trwyth;
(39) Bwlch and Cyfwlch and Syfwlch, the sons o f Cleddyf
Difwlch, to hunt the Twrch Trwyth;

41 Later a razor (ellyn) is added to these, 11.1090, 1185. The razor has
presumably been omitted from this item in the list of anoethau because
the ysgithr or tusk of Ysgithrwyn had already been stipulated as the
implement with which to shave Ysbaddaden.
42 This item has fallen out of both texts, but it is clearly implied by the
two following items 31 and 32 (sec n. to 11.930-1). There is some con­
fusion, since according to I.964 (sec n.) the leash made from the beard of
Dillus (no. 31) was required to hold Drudwyn. Clearly no. 32 relates to
no. 30.
43 Evidently this and the previous item should be transposed.
 IN T R O D U C TIO N x lix

(40) the Sword o f Wmach the Giant to kill the Twrch Trwyth.
There are doublets in the list, o f which the two most obvious
were pointed out long ago by W. J. Gruffydd (Cy xlii, 137)— the
two Boar Hunts for Ysgithrwyn Ben Beidd and for the Twrch
Trwyth, and the two prisoners, Eiddoel and Mabon. Nos. 16 and
17 constitute another doublet: in the event it is Caw of Prydyn,
not Odgar mab Aedd, who abstracts the tusk from the head of
Ysgithrwyn (1020). There are triplets also, or triple groups,— the
oxen in nos. 4, 5, 6, the items relating to Ysgithrwyn Ben Beidd
in nos. 15, 16, 17, and the leash, collar, and chain required to
hold Drudwyn, nos. 23, 24, 25. In effect, the essential contents of
the list o f anoethau could be more concisely summarized as
follows:
Items 1-7 are concerned with preparing, ploughing, and
cultivating a piece o f land to grow food for the wedding-feast.44
The task is endowed with the aura o f mythical associations by its
allusions to the sons o f Don— names which call to mind the
milieu o f the Mabinogi. The oxen in items 4 and 5 derive from the
‘Triads o f Horses’, as these appear in the Early Version o f TYP.
Item 7 is the culmination o f this group of anoethau, but the
incident o f the Lame Ant seems singularly inappropriate here, and
may be an addition or substitution, since the purpose of this
anoeth was to cause flax-seed to grow which had hitherto refused
to germinate. Ysbaddaden’s words (606) ‘I have that measure still’
seem to indicate that the seed was already in the soil, and did not
require ants to collect it: at the same time Ysbaddaden was not to
be outwitted as to the amount o f flax he expected from the seed.
Items 8-14 and 20 are further concerned with the provision of
food and drink and entertainment for the wedding. The vessels
described have affinities with the magical food-producing vessels

44 These items recall the episode in the Argonauts, a talc-type anal­

ogous to C u lh w c h (see IPT 73-5), in which Jason and his companions arc
required to plough with bulls a large field (and to sow it with dragons’
teeth which will grow into armed men) as the price o f obtaining the
Golden Fleece (H. J. Rose, H a n d b o o k o f G r e e k M y t h o lo g y (1928), 202).
Items 1-6 thus seem likely to reflect tasks original to this version o f the
Giant’s Daughter tale, although a different orientation is given to the
group o f agricultural anoeth au from that found in the Greek talc.
1 IN T R O D U C T IO N

listed among the ‘Thirteen Treasures o f the Island o f Britain’45— a

list which was very popular with the poets in the fifteenth and
sixteenth centuries, though items in it arc obviously much older
than this.
Items 15 -19 list the ‘razor’ (the tusk o f Ysgithrwyn Chief of
Boars), and the men who arc to obtain it, together with the
primitive shaving-soap (the witch’s blood) to be used for shaving
Ysbaddadcn for the wedding.
Item 21 is the most important o f all the anoethau, and it is central
to the whole story. It introduces the Twrch Trwyth, and names the
treasures— the comb and scissors46— which must be obtained from
between his cars. Items 22-39 supply the names o f the men, hounds,
horses and implements which arc required for the hunt o f the Twrch
Trwyth. Interpolated among these is another triplet— items 30-2
which arc concerned with the ‘two pups o f the bitch
Rhymhi’— though their real purpose seems to be to introduce the
story o f Dillus the Bearded.
Item 40, the Sword o f Wrnach, raises some special problems (sec
pp. liv-lv below). It has been long recognized that this task may
well be an addition to the original list o f the anoethau, and it is
significant that after the Sword has been obtained, Arthur enquires
o f his men ‘Which o f these anoethau ought to be sought first?'
As W. J. Gruffydd observed (Cy xlii, 134), all the anoethau
represent objects or actions or persons which are required, cither to
provide for the wedding-feast, or for the shaving o f Ysbaddaden
when this takes place. Items 1-14 and 20 arc required for the first
purpose, and except for no. 40, all the remaining items arc required
for the second: this second and larger group represents the tasks
which arc connected with the two boar-hunts. Such overlap as
exists between the names o f characters found in the Court List and
those found among the anoethau is restricted to the names in the
second group— that is, the men, hounds, horses, and their
accoutrements which arc required to take part in one or other o f the
45 See TYP cxxxiii-v, 240-1; EC x (1963), 434-77, L1C v (1958),
33-69. Items 10 and 14 constitute the earliest evidence for two of the
magical treasures among the Tri Thlws ar Ddeg. Sec now AoW 85-8.
Items 4, 5, 27, 34 betray an association with the ‘Triads of Horses’, a
distinct and early group of TYP (see TYP xcviii-cvii and triads nos.
44~4Óa), and cf. n. to Llamrci, I.1016 below.
46 See n.41 above.
 IN T R O D U C T IO N li
two boar-hunts. Evidently there have been accretions to both
groups o f the anoethau, though these arc most obvious in the second
or larger group (see further pp. lxxii-lxxiii below). The presence o f
some twelve men from the Court List is noted among the huntsmen
mentioned as participating in the great boar-hunt: half o f these arc
merely listed as having been slain by the Twrch Trwyth. With the
exception o f Gwyn ap Nudd, Caw of Prydyn, and Gwythyr ap
Greidawl, men who have been previously named in the Court List
play little or no further part in the story.
The last part o f the talc describes the achievement of ten of the
tasks which were stipulated by Ysbaddadcn. Most o f these stories of
achievement bear all the signs o f incorporating genuine early
traditions, whose antiquity is beyond all conjecture. For some o f
them there is supporting evidence in early poetry, in the Triads, and
elsewhere. The titles o f those which remain unaccomplished arc
suggestive o f similar talcs about mythical and legendary figures:
how far these denote stories which actually existed, either orally or
in writing, we can never know. In the following list the tasks arc
numbered in the order o f their accomplishment: the order in which
they were stipulated by the Giant is then sub-joined. In no way do
these numbers correspond— the last task to be stipulated is the first
to be performed:
(i) the Sword o f Wrnach (40);
(ii) Eiddoel son o f Aer (28);
(iii) Mabon son o f Modron, with the talc o f the Oldest Animals
(26);
(iv) the two pups o f the bitch Rhymhi (30);
(v) the nine hestors o f flax-seed, with the talc of the Lame Ant
(7);
(vi) the Beard o f Dillus the Bearded (31);
(vii) the tusk o f Ysgithrwyn Chief of Boars (15);
(viii) the Cauldron of Diwrnach the Irishman (14);
(ix) the comb and scissors from betwen the cars of the Twrch
Trwyth (21)
(x) the blood o f the Black Witch (18).
In addition, four o f the anoethau arc stated to have been obtained,
though no details are given. These arc Drudwyn, the pup o f Grcid
son o f Eri (22),the leash o f Cors Cant Ewin (23), Gwyn Myngdwn,
the horse o f Gweddw (27), and Cynedr/Cyledyr Wyllt (32). The
lii IN T R O D U C TIO N

obtaining o f the two pups o f the bitch Rhymhi (30) is also implied
by the story, without specific mention at this point; as also is the
achievement o f two other tasks which were never even demanded
by the Giant: these arc the obtaining o f the two hounds of
Glythfyr Lydewie (1009), and that o f Gwrgi Severi (1010). In
addition to these, the names o f six o f the huntsmen (or groups o f
huntsmen) demanded by Ysbaddaden are cited as having taken
part in subsequent adventures; evidently, therefore, these too
must have been obtained. These arc Caw o f Prydyn (17), Garselid
the Irishman (29), Gwyn son o f Nudd (33), Gwilenhin king of
France (35), Arthur and his men (although these are already
present as Culhwch’s companions) (38), the sons o f Cleddyf
Difwlch (39). To these can be added the hounds Aned and
Aethlem (37), since at the end o f the talc these are said to have
disappeared into the Severn estuary in pursuit o f the Twrch
Trwyth. There remain eighteen o f the anoethau to which the story
makes no further allusion: these arc items 1-6, 8-13, 19, 20, 24,
25, 34, 36.
The ‘short list’ o f Arthur’s warriors who arc appointed to assist
Culhwch on his quest has already been alluded to (p. xliii). The
first four o f these— Cci, Bedwyr, Gwrhyr the Interpreter, and
Menw son o f Tcirgwacdd— accompany Culhwch on his journey
to the fortress o f Ysbaddaden and on subsequent adventures,
while the other two, Gwalchmei and Cynddylig the Guide, arc
not mentioned again in the story. To the four ‘Helpers’ just
mentioned the names o f other heroes are successively added, in
connection with one or other o f the ensuing tasks. The following,
therefore, arc the hero’s companions in the achievement o f the ten
tasks which arc narrated:

(1) The attack on Wrnach Gawr: Cci, Bedwyr, Gwrhyr, Gorcu

fab Custennin.
(2) The release o f Eiddoel: Arthur and his men (unspecified).
(3) The release o f Mabon (after enquiry from the Oldest
Animals) Cei, Bedwyr, Gwrhyr, and Eiddoel take part, but it is
Cei and Bedwyr alone who go on the Salmon’s back up the
Severn to Gloucester to release the prisoner;
(4) The pups o f the bitch Rhymhi: Arthur and his men
(unspecified); the pups and their mother arc disenchanted ‘by God
for Arthur’.
 IN T R O D U C TIO N lÌÜ

(5) The Lame Ant: Gwythyr son o f Grcidawl is the solitary

achiever.
(6) Dillus the Bearded: Cci and Bedwyr (Cei then takes offence
at Arthur’s satirical englyn, and disappears from the story).
[At this point the story o f Arthur’s arbitration between Gwyn
ap Nudd and Gwythyr ap Grcidawl is interpolated.]
(7) The Hunt for the boar Ysgithrwyn: Arthur is accompanied
by Mabon son of Mellt and Caw o f Prydyn; Caw slays the boar
and captures its tusk.
(8) The Cauldron o f Diwrnach: Arthur is accompanied by
Bedwyr, Llenlleawc the Irishman, and Arthur’s gwas Hygwyd.
(9) The Hunt for the Twrch Trwyth: Arthur is accompanied by
a general muster o f men and horses and hounds from all his
dominions. They arc led by Bedwyr, Mcnw son o f Tcirgwacdd,
Gwrhyr the Interpreter, and Gwarthegyd son o f Caw. Eight
additional huntsmen arc here introduced, who have not
previously appeared in the story: Tarawg of Allt Clwyd, Gwydre
son o f Arthur, Kynlas son o f Cynan, Hir Pcissawg king of
Brittany, Madawg son o f Tcithion, Eiriawn Pcnlloran,
Rhuddfyw Rhys, Gwyngclli.47
(10) The Black Witch: Arthur’s companions arc named as Gwyn
ap Nudd and Gwythyr ap Grcidawl, together with his servants
Cacamwri and Hygwyd, Hir Amren and Hir Eiddyl. Arthur
himself kills the Witch with a cast of his knife Carnwcni.an, and
Caw o f Prydyn collects the Witch’s blood.

47 Cf. J. Rhŷs, CF 529, for the suggestion that some of these names
may conceal forgotten place-names.
 VI. GIANTS AND WITCHES

Culhwch ac Olwen introduces three other Giants besides Ysbaddadcn

Pencawr. These are Wrnach Gawr, Dillus Farfawg, and Diwrnach
Wyddel/Gawr.48 All three arc slain by Arthur’s men. Witches arc
the female counterparts o f Giants, and in the penultimate episode
Arthur’s companions attack the terrible Black Witch yg gwrthtir
Ufferrt, ‘in the uplands o f Hell’, and it is Arthur himself who gives
her the coup de grace with his dagger Carnwcnnan. This episode is to
some degree anticipated in the poem Pa Gur, where Arthur fights
with a gwrach (‘hag’), and where Cei is credited with having slain
naw widdort ‘nine witches’.49 Similarly, the episode o f Diwrnach
Wyddel is in a manner prefigured in Preiddeu Atmwn.5nThe atioethau
which are now to be considered arc all primary Arthurian
traditions, which depict Arthur and his band of men as the
defenders o f their land against Giants and other gomtesoedd, whether
enemy invaders or hostile monsters.
The task o f obtaining the Sword o f Wrnach Gawr (sec n. to I.747)
is the last o f the tasks demanded by Ysbaddadcn from Culhwch, and
the first to be accomplished. This task is only crudely aligned with
the other anoethau, and does not properly belong with either o f the
two groups which are listed above. The intended purpose o f the
Sword was that it should be used to slay the Twrch Trwyth, but the
purpose o f hunting the boar was not, in any case, to kill him, but to
obtain the valuable treasures from between his ears. In the event,
Wrnach’s Sword is turned upon the Giant himself, and at the end of
the story the Twrch Trwyth escapes unharmed into the sea. As was
indicated above (p. 1), there is good reason to believe that the
episode o f Wrnach is an addition to Culhwch ac Olwen, and that it
was attracted into the story by reason o f Arthur’s exalted reputation
as the greatest o f Giant Killers.
48 Caw of Prydyn is yet another Giant, who appears to have been
introduced into the story under the influence of the Vita Cadoci (sec n. to
I.647),but as an ally— not an opponent of Arthur, as is his son Hucil in
the Vita. Cf. also Cynwyl Sant (n. to I.230), whom Siôn Dafydd Rhys
lists among the Welsh Giants; see n. 52 below.
49 See nn. to 11.652-3.
50 BT 54-6. Ed. and trans. M. Haycock, SC xviii-xix (1983-4), 52-78.
 IN T RO D U C TIO N lv
In certain respects the whole episode duplicates earlier events in
Culhwch ac Olwen. The journey to Wrnach’s fortress is similar to
the earlier journey to the fortress o f Ysbaddaden: both arc
described as mwyhaf ar keyryt y byt ‘the greatest of fortresses in the
world’ (413, 760); Cei is the protagonist on both expeditions, and
Gwrhyr acts as his spokesman on both occasions— first with
Custennin Heusawr, who directs the band to Ysbaddaden’s
territory, and then with the gwr du who fulfils the same role as
guide to Wrnach’s fortress. Both guides give to Arthur’s men a
portentous warning as to their danger. The dialogue with
Wrnach’s gatekeeper parallels that held previously by Culhwch
with Glewlwyd Gafaelfawr before Arthur’s gate. Arthur and
Wrnach employ an identical formula in questioning their
gatekeeper, Chwedleu porth gennyt? ‘Have you news from the
gate?’(ii5 , 779). Feasting and carousal arc in progress in the halls
o f both Arthur and o f Wrnach, and no admittance is to be granted
except to a king’s son or to a craftsman; but whereas Culhwch
reverses this situation and gains admittance by the potency of his
threat to Glewlwyd, Cei wins entry to Wrnach’s fortress by
means o f his claim to possess the very craft for which Wrnach has
an immediate need. (The incident o f the furbishing of Wrnach’s
Sword is obscure: why did not Cei use it to kill the Giant as soon
as he had it in his hand, instead o f waiting to obtain the scabbard?)
Both o f these episodes have their prototype in the poem Pa
Gur, in which Arthur is required to specify the qualifications of
his men for admission into a hostile fortress guarded by
Glewlwyd Gafaelfawr. In Culhwch ac Olwen Glewlwyd has been
transmuted from the guardian o f a hostile fortress into the
gatekeeper o f Arthur’s own court. Yet in other respects the
incident o f Wrnach Gawr follows the outline of the poem more
closely than docs the account of Culhwch’s arrival at Arthur’s
court; for here, as in the poem, Cei is the primary hero. In
contrast, the account o f Culhwch’s arrival at Arthur’s court seems
to be a farcical burlesque of the situation presented in the poem.51
A less immediate, but no less significant parallel for both these
incidents is to be found in the early Irish saga Cath Maige Tuired
(‘The Battle o f Moytura’) which narrates how the god Lug (the

51 Cf. TYP 362.

Ivi IN T R O D U C TIO N

Welsh Lieu) applies for entry into, the fortress o f Tara,32 to which
admission is only allowed to the possessor o f a distinctive craft.
Since Lug was samildcmach (‘endowed with many arts together’) he
was admitted immediately, once his supreme qualifications were
recognized. This story and the poem Pa Gur arc likely to be
antecedent compositions which in different ways arc of equal
relevance for Culhwch ac Olweti: in C M T the Irish giant Balor offers
a unique parallel to Ysbaddadcn (sec n. to I.517) in that he, like
Ysbaddadcn, requires an attendant to lift up his eyelids so that he
can obtain a clear view o f his challenger (Lug or Culhwch). But it
would be impossible to assert the priority o f composition o f cither
C M T or Pa Gur over the other. Both incorporate myths which arc
certainly older than Culhwch in the form in which we now have the
story.
A main purpose o f the Wrnach Gawr episode appears to have been
to present Gorcu son o f Custcnnin as a hero who is second only to
Cei. We have suggested above (pp. xxx-xxxi) that Goreu is in some
measure a doublet o f Culhwch himself. It will be recalled that it is
Goreu, not Culhwch, who finally slays Ysbaddadcn Pcncawr.
Surely this was the task for which the Sword o f Wrnach was once
intended, as the murder-weapon which duplicated the ysgithr or
tusk o f the giant Boar, which was destined to slay Ysbaddadcn
Chief Giant in an early version o f Culhwch ac Olweti?
Dillus Farfawg (‘the Bearded’) is the next Giant to be introduced
into the story. The incident concerning him is but one variant
among a number o f traditions about Giants who arc associated with
ancient sites (mainly hill-top caerau or cestyll) which arc spread over
a wide area o f Wales, and each is precisely located. These Giant
traditions were collected from oral sources by Siôn Dafydd Rhys at
the beginning o f the seventeenth century.^3 Arthur is said to have
slain several o f these Giants; and no other hero is credited with a
similar achievement, except for Arthur’s nephew Gwalchmei, who
is said to have killed three witches, all of them sisters and wives of
the Giants. It appears that at least one o f these traditions of Giants
associated with Welsh mountain-tops has come down from the
twelfth century, in Geoffrey of Monmouth’s allusion to the story of
52 See C M T 38 -4 1; A IT 35-6, and C O (i) xciii-iv.
53 Ed. Hugh O wen, C y 27 (19 17), 115 - 5 2 , from P 118 , fo s.829-837.
Sec further C . R. Groom s, ‘Giants in Welsh Folklore and Tradition’,
Ph.D . thesis, U niversity o f Wales (Aberystwyth), 1988.
 IN T R O D U C T IO N lvii

the Giant Ritho/Rhita on Eryri (Snowdon), which is reproduced in

Brut y Brenhinedd.54 This Giant was engaged in the obnoxious
pursuit o f collecting the beards o f kings in order to make for
himself a mantle, and he wished to include Arthur’s beard in it, and
to give it precedence over all the others. Siôn Dafydd Rhys
recapitulates this story in words which clearly recall those of the
Brut, but which at the same time indicate that he knew o f a number
o f variants o f the talc, localized at several different places in Wales.
He sets the tale in context among his other Giant stories:
And all these Giants were o f enormous size, and (they were) in the
time o f Idris Gawr, which Idris was king and chief over them. And in
the land o f Meirionydd also, and close to Pen Aran in Pcnllyn, and
under the place called Bwlch-y-grocs, is a grave o f great size, where
they say Lytta or Ritta or Rithonwy or Itto Gawr was buried; whose
body some o f the tribe o f Giants removed from Eryri to somewhere
near Mynydd Aran Fawr in Pcnllyn. This Ricca Gawr was the one
with whom Arthur had fought and killed in Eryri. And this Giant
made for himself a mantle {pilis) o f the beards o f the kings he had
killed. And he sent to Arthur to order him to cut offhis own beard and
send it to him. And as Arthur was the chief o f the kings, he would
place his beard above the other beards as an honour to Arthur. And if
he would not do that, he asked Arthur to come and fight with him,
and that the strongest o f them should make a mantle from the beard o f
the other. And when they went to fight, Arthur obtained the victory,
and he took the Giant’s beard and his mantle. M (Translation)

The story o f Dillus, localized on Pumlumon, is clearly a loose

variant o f Geoffrey o f Monmouth’s tale, as told in Brut y
Brenhinedd. But against the background of the widespread Giant
stories which Sion Dafydd Rhys gives in summary, it is barely
conceivable that the Brut could have been his only source for the
version which he gives. As given here, it differs from the story of
Rhita Gawr in that Dillus did not himself collect the beards of
kings, nor was his own beard required to make a king’s mantle.
Instead it was required to make a leash for a particular hound
(Drudwyn),34 *36 and by this means it became an essential preliminary
for the great central boar-hunt. The story is likely to be at least as
ancient as that of Rhita Gawr: it is localized on Pumlumon, and it is

34 H R B x,3 (cd. Wright, 119 ; trans. Thorpe, 240), = B D 170.

55 C y 27, 126-9.
56 Either for the two pups o f the bitch Rhym hi, or alternatively for
the hound D rudw yn, see nn. to 11 .70 1, 964.
lviii IN T R O D U C TIO N

linked to this day with place-names and natural features which are
still identifiable in the area.57
Why Cei, rather than Arthur, should be the hero of this incident
as it is told in Culhwch is beyond conjecture, though Pa Gur serves as
a reminder that Cei, no less than Arthur, was renowned as a
proficient slayer o f monsters. On a purely functional level, the
offence which Cei is said to have taken at Arthur’s abusive englyn
(978-80) may simply reflect the author’s decision to remove Cei at
this point from the main story, in order to clear the stage for his final
sequence o f incidents, each o f which, from this point onwards
appears to reflect an archetypal feat in which Arthur was the leader.
The shaving o f Dillus prefigures the shaving o f Ysbaddadcn, and it
strikes a keynote in Culhwch ac Olwert owing to the story’s recurrent
preoccupation with the theme o f the cutting and shaving o f hair and
beards, frequently underlined by the attachment to personal names
o f such epithets as Barfawg, Barf Trwch, Barf Draws, Keinfarfawg.
The beard is an obvious symbol o f virility, and there is ample
evidence for the degrading nature o f forcibly cutting the hair o f
another’s head— as in the story o f Samson and Delilah.58
One o f these archetypal Arthurian feats was the winning o f a
magically endowed Cauldron from the ‘Otherworld’ . Diwrnach
Wyddel (‘D. the Irishman’) can with assurance be identified with
Dyrnbhwch Gawr (whom Siôn Dafydd Rhys locates in the district of
Ewias), and with Dyrnfwch/Dyrnog Gawr whose food-producing
and testing Cauldron is listed among the Thirteen Treasures o f the
Island o f Britain (see n. to I.635). This in turn plainly descends from
the peir pen Annwn, the ‘Cauldron o f the Chief o f Annw(f)n’ in the

57 See n. to I.954, and CO(i), lviii, n. 137. Siôn Dafydd Rhys (loc.cit.)
cites the place-name Rhiw y Barfau in Cwm Cynllwyd near Bala, in one
variant of the story. Erwbarfe is the name of a farm near Pontcrwyd,
Ceredigion.
58Judges xvi. Cf. ST and TPC under D 1831 (strength in beard), and
F.531.1.6.13 (a Giant’s strength in his beard). For an Irish parallel cf.
Aided Conroi maic Dairi, cd. Eriu ii (1905), 22; AIT 329. According to the
Welsh Laws, if a woman wished shame on her husband’s beard, it gave
him a right to strike her am unau meuel areuaryf'ior wishing shame on his
beard’, Llyfr Iorwerth, cd. A. R. Wiliam (University of Wales Press,
i960), 28; cf. WLW $2. There are a number of instances in the talcs and in
poetry of the asseveration Meß ar fy ntarf/dy fa r f'Shame on my/your
beard’; PKM 47,10; WM 134, 17-18; CL1H xi,88c; GDG 108,26; 152,3.
 IN T RO D U C TIO N lix

poem Preiddeu Annwn^— and it thus appears to be a Cauldron o f

mythical antiquity. In the poem, this Cauldron was fetched from
Annw(f)n (the Otherworld) by Arthur in his ship Prydwcn (sec n.
to I.938). The story as we have it in Culhwch is a cuhcmcrizcd
version o f the same myth, in which Ireland has taken the place of
Annw(f)n. Yet another reminiscence o f the magic Cauldron which
was brought from Ireland to Wales (and later returned to Ireland) is
to be found in Mabinogi B r a n w e n where Bcndigcidfran’s invasion
o f Ireland, like Arthur’s raid on Annw(f)n, is portrayed as a tragic
expedition which had disastrous consequences, emphasized in both
cases by the meagre number o f the seven survivors. Arthur’s
triumphant return from Ireland in Culhwch with his ship Prydwcn
carrying Diwrnach’s Cauldron ‘full o f the treasures o f Ireland’ is in
contrast to these two tragic presentations o f the basic myth.
Diwrnach Wyddel is slain with Arthur’s sword Caledfwlch,
although the act o f killing him is attributed, rightly or wrongly, to
another Irishman, Llcnllcawc Wyddel. The localization o f the story
in Ireland is sufficient in both cases to account for the epithet
Gwyddel, and an Irish derivation is unlikely for cither Llenlleawc or
Diwrnach (see nn. to 11.253, 635).590
6

59 BT 55,2; SC xviii/xix, 60, I.15.

60 PKM 34-5,45; Mab 29-30, 37. Cf. T. Jones, ‘Early Evolution’ 14
(=B xvii 246).
 VII. TH E TWO PRISO N ERS AND
TH E O LD EST AN IM ALS

The two Prisoners arc Eiddoel fab Acr and Mabon fab Modron.
Both are imprisoned at Gloucester, and the tales o f their release by
Arthur’s men have long been regarded as variants o f a single story,61
linked by the transparent device o f representing Eiddoel and Mabon
as cousins. The release o f Mabon is made to depend upon previously
freeing Eiddoel, so that he may join with the others in obtaining the
release o f Mabon. The name o f Eiddocl’s captor Gliui, derives from
a written form o f the Latin *G levi, and represents the genitive o f the
Roman name for Gloucester, as surely as does Caerloyw, the place
o f Mabon’s imprisonment (see nn. to 11.831, 923). Yet all that we
know o f Mabon fab Modron indicates that his mythical origins
belong far away from Gloucester: dedications to the god Maponos
son o f Mätrona are found on sites in the neighbourhood of Hadrian’s
Wall, and there is evidence that the centre o f his cult lay in south­
west Scotland (sec n. to I.685).
In 9 13 -16 Mabon fab Modron describes himself as a notorious
prisoner, yet no previous suggestion o f a tradition o f imprisonment
has come down in connection with the god Maponos. We learn o f his
imprisonment only from Culhwch ac Olweti and from a triad— T Y P
no. 52. This is a triad o f especial interest and relevance for the
subject-matter o f our talc:
Tri Goruchcl Garcharavr Ynys Prydein: Llŷr Lledyeith a uu gan
Euroswyd yg karchar, a’r cil Mabon ap Modron, a’r trydyd Gweir ap
Geirioed.
Ac vn a oed goruchelach no’r tri, a uu dcimos yg karchar yg Kaer
Oeth ac Anoeth, ac a uu deir nos yg karchar gan Wen Bendragon, ac a
uu deir nos yg karchar hut a dan Lech Echemcint. Ac y sef oed y
Goruchel Garcharavr hvnnv, Arthur. A ’r un gwas a’e gollygavd o’r tri
charchar hynny. Ac y sef oed y gvas hvnnv, Goreu vab Kustenin y
geuynderv.
(Three Exalted Prisoners o f the Island o f Britain: Llyr Half-Speech,
who was imprisoned by Euroswydd, and the second, Mabon son of
Modron, and the third, Gweir son o f Gciriocdd.
And one (Prisoner) was more exalted than the three o f them; (he)
was three nights in prison in Caer Oeth and Anoeth, and three nights
61 Cy xlii, 137, 139-40. Sec above p. xlix.
 IN T RO D U C TIO N lxi

imprisoned by Gwen Pendragon, and three nights in an enchanted

prison under the rock of Echeifyeint. This Exalted Prisoner was
Arthur. And the same lad released him from each of these three
prisons—Gorcu son of Custennin, his cousin.)
Mabon fab Modron is the only name to appear in both versions o f
the triad. The other names in the Culhwch version— Lludd Llaw
Ereint and Grcid son o f Eri— arc both alluded to elsewhere in the
story (in the episode o f Crciddylad, 988-1004)— where Grcid son o f
Eri does actually appear as a prisoner. In support of the T Y P version
there is corroborative evidence in Preiddeu Annwn('2 for the antiquity
o f a tradition o f Gweir’s imprisonment in Cacr Sidi: here Arthur
figures as a rclcascr o f prisoners, as in Culhwch. But in the triad
Arthur’s role is reversed, and here he is himself a goruchel garcharawr,
a prisoner more exalted than any one o f the other three.
Significantly, the triad T Y P no. 52 appears for the first time in the
text o f T Y P which is common to WM and RM. It is not found in the
‘Early Version’. Several o f the triads in the WM-RM collection
have additional notes appended to them similar to the one found
here, and these additional notes betray the influence upon them of
the text o f the Mabinogi, which is contained in the same two
manuscripts (sec T Y P xxvii-xxviii). It seems most probable that the
text o f Culhwch ac Olweti has similarly influenced the text o f the
triad, since the talc is also contained in WM-RM. This deduction is
further enforced by the allusion in the appended note to Arthur’s
‘cousin’ Goreu fab Custennin— a character who is virtually
unknown outside the tale o f Culhwch, and it is the tale o f Culhwch
alone which explains this relationship (see p. xxx above).
Variants o f a name which is not dissimilar to that of Eiddoel are
attested in HRB and in BD, where they are used to denote a duke
and a bishop of Gloucester. In the Historia Brittonum also the names
Eldat/Eldoc arc found among the descendants o f Gwrtheyrn,
himself a descendant o f the eponym Gloyw (sec n. to I.694). Two
allusions in poetry further substantiate the belief that there could
have been an ancient traditional hero who bore some such name as
Eiddoel. Perhaps all the variants o f this name which have been cited
derive from an original famous prisoner who was incarcerated at
62BT 54, ed. M. Haycock, SC xviii/xix, 52-78. (On Llech Ech-
emeint—perhaps Harlech—see Elin Jones and Ncrys Ann Jones, Gwaith
Llywarch ap Lleywelyn, I, 109 and n.) and Glyn Jones, L1C x (1969),
243- 4-
lx ii IN T R O D U C TIO N

Gloucester in Roman or sub-Roman times, as Sir Idris Foster

believed.63 If this is so, the story of Eiddocl’s release is the earlier of
the two prisoner stories, although in Culhwch ac Olwen as we have
it, this tale is hastily and summarily passed over, and all the
prominence is given to the story o f Mabon, the ‘Immemorial
Prisoner’ as W. J. Gruffydd considered him to be64— and the episode
o f Mabon’s delivery is focused into high relief by prefixing to it the
folk-tale o f the ‘Oldest Animals’.
Various scholars65 have indicated the antiquity and the
widespread distribution o f the international talc o f the ‘Oldest
Animals’, which has been adapted in different ways in different
countries. The version o f ‘The Oldest Animals’ in Culhwch is the
earliest to be recorded in Wales, but several independent popular
versions have come down from later times. The earliest o f these so
far known was published by Thomas Jones from a manuscript in
the hand o f the seventeenth-century Thomas Wilicms o f Trcfriw.66
Here the Oldest Animals are the Eagle, Stag, Salmon, Blackbird
and Owl: the Owl is the oldest o f them all. In most o f the popular
versions the subject o f the tale is the marriage o f the Owl with one
o f the other birds, and in several o f them an additional creature
‘Llyfant (the Toad of) Cors Fochrto’ is added. A triad preserved in a
few late manuscripts (TYP no. 92) gives Tri Hynaif Byd: Tylluan
Gwm Kowlwyd, Eryr Gwern Abwy, a Mwyalchen Gelli Gadarn. It is
interesting to find that the place-names with which the Oldest
Animals are associated remain remarkably stable throughout all the
Welsh versions o f the tale, although these names denote places
which are either remote or not certainly identifiable (see nn. to
II.847, 859, 871).67 This could be taken to imply either that the
folk-versions have taken the names from Culhwch ac Olwen, or that

63 This matter is treated more fully in CO(i) xlviii-xlix.

64 Cy xlii, 142; W. J. Gruffydd, Rhiannon, 91-102. Cf. CO(i) xliv-
xlv.
65 E. B. Cowell, ‘The Legend of the Oldest Animals’, Cy v (1892),
169-72; IPT 76-9. Cf. CO(i) 1-liv.
66 NLW Journal vii (1951), 62-6. Two other versions have been pub­
lished by Dafydd Ifans, B xxiv (1972), 461-4. See further T. Jones, ‘Y
Stori Werin yng Nghymru’, THSC 1970, 22-4.
67 These place-names are briefly discussed by M. Richards, ‘Arthurian
Onomastics’, THSC 1969, 256. Sec further D. Machreth Ellis, B xxi
(1966), 30-7 (on Cilgwri), and HL 555m (on Gwernabwy).
 IN T RO D U C TIO N lx iii

the ‘Oldest Animals’ in Culhwch was itself taken from a pre-existing

folk-tale. It is highly doubtful whether the redactor o f Culhwch had
any but an indistinct notion as to the location of the places with
which the ‘Oldest Animals’ were associated. Various o f the
cywyddwyr wish for their patrons a longevity comparable with that
o f one or other o f the Oldest Animals— Stag, Salmon, Eagle, or
(occasionally) the oak-tree. These allusions6* make plain that the
story o f the ‘Oldest Animals’ was widely known, at least from the
late fourteenth century.
Animal Helpers— usually ‘Grateful Animals’ alternate with the
human Helpers endowed with magical gifts, who belong to stories
o f the type A T 513 A to which Culhwch ac Olwen belongs. In one
sense, therefore, the ‘Oldest Animals’, who give essential help to
Arthur and his men, arc duplicated further on in Culhwch ac Olwen
by the episode o f the Lame Ant (942-52), who belongs very clearly
to the folk-tale motif listed in the category o f ‘Grateful Animals’.6
6970
8
Several Irish parallels have been pointed out to the story of the
Oldest Animals, including the talcs o f Tuan mac Carill and of
Fintan mac Bochra.7" Here the emphasis is slightly different from
that in the Welsh versions: the two protagonists arc presented as
types o f longevity who have survived from a remote pagan past in
order that they may transmit the heroic record o f that past to certain
early Irish saints, in a newly Christianized Ireland. To make this
credible they arc said to have passed through successive animal
transformations— Stag, Boar, Hawk, Salmon. These stories imply
the concept o f unimpeded transference between human and animal
form— a concept which continually recurs in Culhwch ac Olwen. In
Irish, as in Culhwch, the Salmon is characteristically presented as the
oldest o f all living creatures.

68 For refs, sec CO(i) liii-liv.

69 See ST and TPC under B .365.2.1; B .481.1; H. 1091.1. Cf. IPT 79;
Stith Thomson, The Folktale, 54-5; CO(i) lv-lvi.
70 LU 42-6 (Tuan); LU 305 (Fintan). Sec further CO(i) 1-lii; J. Carey
(ed. and trans.) ‘Scél Tuain mcic Chairill’, Eriu xxxv (1984), 93—111;
EIHM 318-19.
 VIII. TH E TWO B O A R H U N TS

‘The Boar is massive and ugly, black in appearance and character, the
archetype of unrelentingferocity. Completely fearless, unmoved by pain, it is
capable of killing dog, horse, or man. In imaginative literature it is the quarry
ofthe epic hero .. . It is depicted as huge, as big as a horse; its eyes are unde and
malevolent; the horrific mouth bristles with teeth: most awfiil are the curved,
gleaming tusks.’7'
The story o f Arthur’s great Boar Hunt, like that o f the release o f the
Prisoners, has come down in two versions.7172 The tusk of the boar
Ysgithrwyn Ben Beidd ‘White Tusk Chief o f Boars’ was required to
shave Ysbaddaden for Olwen’s wedding (638-40), and the comb
and scissors from between the ears o f the Twrch Trwyth were
required to trim the Giant’s hair in celebration o f the same occasion
(667-70). The two boar hunts are separated by the story of
Diwrnach Wyddel (Gawr), in a manner comparable to that in which
the release o f the two Prisoners is separated by the talc o f the Oldest
Animals. Sir Idris Foster believed (CO(i) lxiv) that the shorter and
simpler narrative o f the hunt to obtain the tusk (ysgithr) of
Ysgithrwyn Ben Beidd was ‘indigenous’ to the story in the sense
that it belonged to the original series o f tasks imposed when the tale
o f the ‘Giant’s Daughter’ came to be developed on Welsh soil.
Subsequently a narrative which existed independently and was
more widely known— that o f the hunt for the Twrch Trwyth—
became superimposed upon the story o f Ysgithrwyn, and this
development was facilitated by the fact that the Twrch Trwyth
story had previously been assimilated into the cycle o f Arthur’s
growing fame. This caused the narrator o f Culhwch to make some
adjustments in order to synchronize the two stories: a razor (ellyn)
became added to the Twrch Trw yth’s treasures (1090, 1185),
though this was not originally listed among the anoethau, since
Ysgithrwyn’s tusk was first intended as the sole instrument with
which the Giant was to be ‘shaved’ (i.e. to be killed). In the story as
we now have it, it is Caw of Prydyn who wins Ysgithrwyn’s tusk
and splits the boar’s head, and it is he who finally ‘shaves’

71 John Cummins, The Hound and the Hawk: The Art of Medieval
Hunting (London, 1988), 96.
72 Cf. Cy xlii, 136-7.
 IN T R O D U C TIO N lx v

Ysbaddaden Pencawr, presumably with the tusk o f Ysgithrwyn. In

the case o f the Two Boars, as in that o f the Two Prisoners, the
earlier and the more ‘authentic’ version is summarized and quickly
passed over, in order to give the greater amplification and
prominence to the second version— the events leading to the release
o f Mabon, and the hunt for the Twrch Trwyth.
The following allusions in poetry make it clear that traditions o f
the Twrch Trwyth, the mythical Giant Boar, were current over a
wide area o f Wales (and perhaps even beyond), and that they were
known from a very early period:
CA 1340 (Gwarchan Cynfelyn): Gweilging torch trychdrwyt/
trychinfwrch trychethin;73
H 104,19-20 (Cynddclw): Keffitor ymdwr am drwyd hevelyt/
Twrch teryt y ar uwyd;
RP 12 19 ,19 (Gr. ap Maredudd) milwr torch trin mal aerdwrch
trwyt;
GIG no.2, 19-20: A gŵr gwynllwyd, Twrch Trwyd trin,/
Nawswyllt yn rhoi farneiswin;
IGE(2), CIV (Rhys Goch) p.317, A wnai Wilym, dreiddlym
drafn/Dwrch Drwyd, â ffleimlwyd fflamlafn;
LGC 75,3-4: Tori y trevi trwy wŷth, ac archoll/Trychau tyrau oil
val y Twrch Trwyth;
Ibid, (quoted in DD): Y tro a aeth i’r Twrch Trwyd/l Ddafydd a
oddefwyd.
Trwyd is the boar’s name in all the examples except for the
penultimate one, and the fifteenth-century Lewys Glyn Cothi is late
enough for his allusion to have been derived from a knowledge of
the written text o f Culhwch ac Olwen. If there were need for
corroborative evidence that trwyd (see n. to 11.669-70) is the
authentic form o f the boar’s name, it is to be had from the famous
reference to Arthur’s boar hunt in the Mirabilia appended to the
ninth-century Historia Brittonum:74
73 See CA 363. As Jackson points out (OSPG 155), if this allusion is
contemporaneous with the earliest text of the Gododdin, it may be even
older than the allusion to the Twrch Trwyth cited below from the
Historia Brittonum.
74 On the Historia Brittonum sec HW 223-6; Wendy Davies, Wales in
the Early Middle Ages, 205-6; D. N. Dumvillc, ‘Nennius and the Historia
Brittonum’, SC x/xi (1975-6), 78-95; ibid., ‘Sub-Roman Britain: His­
tory and Legend’ History, 62 (June 1977), 176-7.
lx v i IN T R O D U C T IO N

Est aliud mirabile in regione quae dicitur Buelt. cst ibi cumulus
lapidum et unus lapis superpositus super congestum cum vestigio canis
in eo. quando venatus est porcum Troit, impressit Cabal, qui erat canis
Arthuri militis, vestigium in lapide, et Arthur postea congregavit
congestum lapidum sub lapide, in quo erat vestigium canis sui, et
vocatur Cam Cabal, et veniunt homines et tollunt lapidem in manibus
suis per spatium diei et noctis et in crastino dic invenitur super
congestum suum.73
(There is another marvel in the region which is called Buellt. There is a
pile of stones there, and one stone with a dog’s paw-mark on it is
placed on top of the pile. When he hunted the boar Troit, Cabal—who
was the dog of Arthur the warrior—left the imprint of his paw on the
stone, and Arthur afterwards collected a heap of stones beneath the
stone on which was the paw-mark of his dog, and it is called Cam
Cabal. And men come and take the stone away in their hands, for the
space of a day and a night, and on the next day it is found again upon
the pile.)
The name o f this mountain-top cairn has survived to the present
day as Corn Cafallt7576 (Cam Cafalt) near Rhayader (Powys), to give
onomastic justification for this ‘marvel’. It looks as though the
tradition which purports to explain the name was already ancient by
the ninth century, when the author o f HB set it down in an
imperfectly understood version. OW Cabal<caballus means a
horse, and Cafall actually appears elsewhere in Culhwch as a horse’s
name (337, 739). The most acceptable meaning o f cam in this place-
name is that o f a mountain ‘cairn’, but among the other meanings of
cam is a horse’s hard hoof: in no way can it denote a dog’s softer paw.

75 Ed. F. Lot, ch.73 (p. 216) from Harlcian MS 3859 (c. 1100). We have
adopted the reading Troit in accordance with four MSS of this passage,
in place of Harleian’s Troynt. Troit=Trwyd with wy<oe<oi and -/
misread at some stage by a copyist of CO as -th (sec n. to 11.669-70). For
further discussion of the Twrch’s name see Idris Foster in G. Murphy,
(ed.), Duanaire Firm iii, 200; P. Sims-Williams in D. Whitelock et al.
Ireland and Medieval Europe (Cambridge, 1982), 239. We retain Trwythin
the text (even though derived from an orthographical mistake) since
WM and RM are in accord in employing it. On this passage sec B. F.
Roberts, AoW 90-1.
76 On the site see Thomas Jones, ‘Early Evolution’, 11 (=B xvii
(1958), 243). Cf. Lady Charlotte Guest’s account of a visit to the place in
her note on the Twrch Trwyth; Guest,Mabinogioti 331-2. For a Rhos
Gafallt some fifteen miles away in Ceredigion, sec R. J. Thomas, B viii
(1937), 125.
 IN T R O D U C T IO N lxvÜ

‘The horse’s cairn’ is thus most probable as the original meaning of

Cam Cabal.
This seminal passage is the earliest and the only source outside
Culhwch which associares the story o f the Twrch Trwyth with the
name o f Arthur. Even though the detailed place-names given in the
story o f the hunt for the Twrch Trwyth indicate that the author o f
Culhwch was drawing for his story on popular folk-tradition from a
wide area o f Wales, covering Pembroke, Glamorgan, Ceredigion
and Brycheiniog,77 yet it is difficult to believe that he did not also
know o f the Mirabilia in HB, which had already associated the story
o f the Giant Boar with Arthur’s monster-slaying feats. This
supposition is further supported by the fact that the author o f
Culhwch perpetuated the name o f Cafall as that o f Arthur’s dog (see
n. to 1.1015). If current onomastic tradition had been his only
source, he would perhaps have been less likely to have mistaken the
meaning o f the name Cam Cabal.
It is difficult to judge how to estimate another story, which may
be related to that o f the Twrch Trwyth, since it concerns another
magically-endowed pig— the sow Hettwen (‘Old White’). In an
extended version o f a triad (TYP no. 26), Hen wen is pursued by her
keeper from Cornwall across the Bristol Channel and lands in
Gwent (thus reversing the itinerary o f the Twrch Trwyth), after
which her journey over much o f Wales is traced with some degree of
onomastic precision. In the south o f the country she gives symbolic
birth to a grain o f wheat, and a grain o f barley, and to a bee, but on
reaching Gwynedd she produces instead a wolf, an eagle, and the
ferocious Cath Palug ‘one o f the Three Scourges o f Anglesey’. It is
only in the WM-RM version that Henwen is hunted by Arthur and
his men, but the triad is preserved in a simpler form in the Early
Version o f T Y P (see n. to Datweir Dalipenn, I.197 below). The
incident may be based on a story o f comparable antiquity to that of
the Twrch Trwyth, or it may be a farcical adaptation o f the Giant
Boar’s story.
That the Twrch Trwyth was a divine being in animal form is
borne out by Arthur’s words in reply to his men’s question as to the
meaning and significance {ystyr) o f the Twrch ‘He was a king, and

77 In Culhwch the Twrch Trwyth docs not actually visit Buellt, as he

does in the Mirabilia, but he passes close to this region in traversing
Brycheiniog.
lx v iii IN T R O D U C TIO N

God transformed him for his sins, into a pig’ (1075-6). Two early
Irish sources preserve the Twrch’s name in its exact cognate Irish
form, and thus they have an immediate relevance for his
significance or ystyr. A list o f the members o f the mythical Tuatha
Dé Danann (‘People o f the Goddess Dana’) in the Lebor Gabala
Eretin78 (‘Book o f the Taking o f Ireland’) gives: Brigid banfile . . . is
aicci ro bhai Fé a Menn, da righ-damhraidhi . . . Oeus is aco ro bai Tore
Triath.i.righ torcraidhi Eretin agus is de ata Magh Triath-airne . . m
(‘Brigid the woman-poet, it is she who possessed Fé and Mcnn,
the two royal oxen . . . And with them was Tore Triath, king of
the boars o f Ireland, from whom Magh Triathairne is named.’)
Again, in Cormac's Glossary80 the term Ore Treith is explained as
nomen do mac rig . . . Triath enim rex vocatur, unde dixit poeta, Oinach
n-uire treith.i.biadh agus edach loghmar . . .' (‘Name for a king’s son
. . . a king is called triath, hence the poet said ‘Feast for a king’s
son, food and precious clothes . . .*’). These two sources arc at
least as old as the Mirabilia in HB.
An echo o f a similar belief in the exalted status and supernatural
character o f the boar persists in the story o f the semi-divine hero
Diarmaid Ui Dhuibhne,78 81 who was killed by an enchanted boar
0
79
who had been reared as his foster-brother, hence it was geis or
taboo, throughout his life, for Diarmaid to kill boars. The
Dindshenchas (Irish poems or prose notes with stories purporting

78 R. A. S. Macalister, (ed.), Lebor Gabála Érenn (ITS vol. xli, Dublin,

1941), 196. According to O’Rahilly, EIHM 193-5, the origins of the
Lebor Gabala go back to the eighth century.
79 That is, Treitheirne in Munster; E. Hogan, Onomasticon Goedelieon,
645. The ‘two royal oxen’ are reminiscent of Nynniaw and Peibyaw
among the anoethau (11.599-600).
80 Sanas Cormaie ed. J. O ’Donovan and Whitley Stokes, (Calcutta,
1 868), 1 79. Ore according to DIL (N-O-P, col. 153) has two meanings a)
‘a young pig’ (archaic and poetic), and b) ‘of the young of other animals’
referring to Sanas Cormaie. Tore means i) ‘boar’, ii) ‘hero, chieftain’, DIL
(to-tu col.259). For triath see ibid. 307 ‘lord, chieftain. Given in the Laws
as highest of 26 titles of dignity’—again with reference to Sanas
Cormaie.
81 Nessa Ni Shcaghdha, (ed. and trans.), Toruigheaeht Dhiarmada agus
Ghrainne (ITS vol. xlviii, Dublin, 1967), xxiv, 85-7; G. Murphy,
Duanaire Finn iii, xxxv-vi.
 IN T R O D U C T IO N lx ix

to give onomastic explanations o f place-names)82 preserve a number

o f anecdotes in which men and women arc transformed into boars
or sows, often with accompanying sex-transition. One o f these
tales relates to a certain Caelcheis, a name which is significantly
similar to that o f Culhwch (see n. to 1. io). And we have seen that the
divine Tore Triath was thought to be commemorated in the place-
name Treitheirne. The itinerary o f the Twrch Trwyth from his
arrival at Porth Clais in Dyfed to his final immersion in the Severn
estuary off Cornwall, is similarly regarded in the story as
commemorated in place-names spread widely over the southern
half o f Wales. The Twrch’s companion Grugyn is said to have been
slain at Garth Grugyn in Ceredigion (see nn. to 11.1083, 1160). These
traditions are paralleled in the Mabinogi, where each Mochtref and
Mochnant throughout the country is said to record a place through
which Pryderi passed when he brought his pigs from Dyfed to
Gwynedd. In the main these stories have usually been regarded as
post hoc attempts to explain pre-existing place-names.83
All the evidence goes to show that the concept o f a mythical
Giant Boar, who was in reality a god or a king under enchantment,
goes back for many centuries, and has its origins in pagan Celtic
religious belief. The comb, razor, and scissors between the ears of
the Twrch Trwyth appear to symbolize his regal status (he was son
o f Taredd Wledig), and may have held a profound significance for
the author o f the story— whether or not it was he, or a predecessor,
who endowed the Twrch with these anoethau. They cannot be
divorced from the identical implements used by Arthur when he
confirms his kinship with Culhwch by trimming his hair, or again
from those with which St Germanus intended that Guorthigirn
(Gwrtheym) should perform the same act for his own son (see
above, pp. xxxi-xxxii). There is no reason to conclude that either
Wales or Ireland borrowed the concept o f the royal boar Trwyd/
Triath from the other country; both language and iconography
prove that zoomorphism o f this kind was a prominent feature of
82 See E. J. Gwynn, The Metrical Dindshenchas (5 vols., Dublin
I9° 3~35) iii, 386-94; The Rennes Dindshenchas, RC xv (1894), 470-2. For
relevant material from the Dindshenchas see further CO(i) lxix-lxx.
83 Cf. W. J. Gruffydd, Mathfab Mathonwy, 33$, and CO(i) lxxii. Lady
Charlotte Guest speculates interestingly on this matter in the introduc­
tion to her Mabinogion. See also Met.Din. v, 91-2, on the importance of
onomastic knowledge for the learned orders in Ireland.
lxx IN T R O D U C T IO N

pagan Celtic belief, and one which has come down in both countries
from the remote past on the European continent. The boar has been
described as ‘the cult-animal par excellence' and the divine boar
was represented in the Gaulish swine-god Moccus. A deity in the
form o f a boar is very fittingly and strikingly typified by a sculpture
from pre-Roman Gaul8 85 which depicts a crude human figure
4
wearing a torque, and with a boar engraved across its torso. The
story o f Culhwch ac Olwen is fully charged with survivals of a faith
in the credibility o f frequent and easy interchange between human
and animal form.

84 See Anne Ross, PCB 308-21.

85 PCB 310 and plate 79a (from Euffigncix, France).
 IX. STYLE, S T R U C T U R E A N D IN FLU EN C E

The framework of Culhwch ac Olweti is that o f a pre-existing folk­

tale, containing a variety o f international themes. Celtic folklore,
and legendary matter are drawn upon as the story proceeds. Yet as it
stands Culhwch is a literary composition: the work o f an unknown
author. It is likely that the story was primarily intended for reading
aloud to a receptive audience— whether this was courtly or
monastic—an audience which shared with the author a common
cultural inheritance, common beliefs, assumptions, and ex­
pectations.
The variations in style which the story displays are deeply
indebted to the craftsmanship o f the oral storyteller. The short,
abrupt sentences of the opening section and the concise treatment
given to such later episodes as that o f the Lame Ant, the release o f
Eiddoel and the final release o f Mabon, have a good deal in common
with the summary style which characterizes a number o f Old Irish
tales. These have been characterized as ‘artistic compositions in
their own right’, and as demonstrating by their form that their
author was fully aware o f the different requirements o f oral and of
written literature.86 In Welsh, as in Irish, this terse style of narration
allows nevertheless for the frequent verbatim reporting of
conversations and descriptions. The pace o f the story quickens and
takes on a heroic dimension with Culhwch’s departure for Arthur’s
court, and the style is heightened at this point by two rhythmical
rhetorical passages, the one describing the hero’s splendid
appearance and equipment as he rides on his way, and the other

86 Cf. Gearóid Mac Eoin, Studia Hibernica 4 (1964), 245, ‘The short
sagas seem to be the result of an attempt to achieve an artistically satisfy­
ing form based on the invariable elements in the tales. For this dialogue,
descriptions, and other such matter was included. This . . . seems to
have led the writers to an appreciation of the different requirements of
oral and written literature, for the consistent style of the short sagas
shows that their authors were aware of this difference.’ Dr B. F. Roberts
regards this ‘crisp, brisk style’ in Welsh as ‘one clement in the passage
from an oral to a literary medium’: ‘Middle Welsh Prose Romances’
p. 221 in The Craft of Fiction cd. Leigh A. Arathoon (Rochester, Michi­
gan, 1984).
lx xii IN T R O D U C TIO N

reporting Glewlwyd’s extended boast about Arthur’s far-flung

conquests. Later variations in style and tempo include the harsh
comedy o f Ysbaddaden’s reception o f Arthur’s emissaries,
contrasted with the dramatic, even majestic style o f the successive
visits made in turn by these same emissaries to the Oldest Animals,
the representatives o f the primeval world. Subsequent episodes are
narrated in varying amounts o f detail, until they culminate in the
riotous sweep across Wales with which the story reaches its climax
in the great boar hunt. Primitive and rather slapstick humour
frequently appears: as in the account o f Cei’s reception by
Custennin’s wife, and above all in the violent final episode in the
cave o f the Black Witch. Burlesque elements recur throughout the
Arthurian Court List, and irony is never far absent,87 including
ironic understatement. Yet at this distance of time it is virtually
impossible for us to appreciate the finer shades o f this irony, since
the basic assumptions o f both author and audience are too far
removed from us, and too remote from our own culture.
Dr B. F. Roberts has drawn attention to the triple structure o f the
story,88 in which each o f the first two sections terminates with an
extended list. The first section recounts the hero’s early life, and
brings him to Arthur’s court; it ends with the long list o f court
members who arc named as Culhwch’s sureties; the second brings
Culhwch and his companions to the fortress o f Ysbaddaden, and
concludes with the list o f anoethau stipulated by the Giant; while the
remainder o f the story recounts the achievement o f the anoethau,
and leads up to the Giant’s death. Each o f the two lists has been
considerably inflated, probably at different periods and at the hands
o f successive scribes. In view o f these obvious accretions, the failure
o f the author to fulfil in detail the expectations aroused by the long
list o f anoethau is apparent rather than real, for evidently the
selection o f the tasks completed is intended to be representative,
and to imply the achievement o f all o f them. This is made clear in
Arthur’s question which introduces the final task ‘Is there any o f the
tasks still not obtained?’ Indeed one might venture to suggest that in
the original folk-tale three great tasks alone were specified: an
agricultural task o f ploughing, sowing, and reaping a field (as in the
Argonauts) in order to provide food and drink for the wedding-
87 See J. N. Radner, ‘Interpreting Irony in Medieval Literature: the
Case of Culhwch ac Olwen , CMCS 16 (1988), 41-59.
88 B. F. Roberts, loc.cit. 218-19; ibid. Ast.H. 299-300.
 IN T R O D U C TIO N lx xiii

feast; the task o f obtaining one o f the (Thirteen?) Otherworld

Treasures (the cauldron o f Diwrnach is the one which is narrated in
full), and the task o f obtaining the tusk o f a dangerous boar, with
which to ‘shave’ Ysbaddadcn, (a euphemism for killing him).
These tasks were not only duplicated and triplicated in the list as
we have it, but they became further inflated by the addition o f
more names o f men and animals not previously mentioned, and o f
feats which earlier tradition had associated with Arthur and his
men, comprising two more giant stories (Dillus and Wrnach),
Arthur’s release o f a famous prisoner, Arthur’s fight with a hag,
and Arthur’s contest with the giant boar Twrch Trwyth— an
episode which became superimposed upon the earlier story of
Ysgithrwyn Chief o f Boars (sec above p. lxiv). However this may
be, from the author’s point o f view the story was fully rounded off
and drawn to its logical conclusion with the terse account o f
Ysbaddadcn’s horrific end.
The lyrical description o f Olwcn in the second o f the tripartite
divisions (487-98) counterbalances the description o f Culhwch in
the first (60-81), even down to the detail o f the ‘four white trefoils’
left in her track, which purposely recall the four sods cast up by
Culhwch’s horse. These two passages arc early instances o f rhetoric
or araith (Latin oratio): passages o f heightened prose in rhythmical
periods, in which substantives may be welded into unfamiliar
compounds and governed by a scries o f alliterating compound
adjectives. This rhetorical style bears some resemblance to the
elaborate diction o f the Gogynfeirdd, the court poets o f medieval
Wales. Melville Richards89 traced its origins in Middle Welsh prose
texts, and showed that these origins appear already in sporadic
collocations in the Four Branches of the Mabinogi (gwas gwineu
mawr teyrneid, march drythyll llamsachus, etc.). They become
increasingly prominent in the later talcs Peredur, Gercint jab Erbin,
and Breuddwyd Rhonabwy, but none o f these later tales have such
striking and prominent passages o f rhetorical description as those
in Culhwch.
This style reaches its final development in the Areithiau Pros
(‘Prose Rhetorics’) which come to light in manuscripts towards the
middle o f the sixteenth century, though undoubtedly their origins

89 Melville Richards, Breudwyt Ronabwy (University of Wales Press,

1948), Rhagymadrodd.
lx xiv IN T R O D U C TIO N

go back to a very much earlier datç.90 Not only do these passages

contain echoes o f Culhwch and o f the other ‘Mabinogion’ tales, but
Dr B. F. Roberts has pointed out the survival in them o f a similar
rhythmical pattern to that which is found also in the two rhetorical
passages in Culhwch to which we have just referred.91 Both in their
earliest and in their latest manifestations these passages o f araith
reflect the manner o f delivery o f the cyfarwydd or oral storyteller,
and they clearly demand an oral delivery to do them full justice.
They are significantly paralleled in the inflated rhetorical style
which characterizes the later Middle Irish sagas, such as Recension II
(the Book o f Leinster) version o f the Táin. It is subsequently
reflected in the descriptive passages known as Tuns’ which have
remained a constant feature o f Gaelic folk-tales down to modem
times.92 These ‘runs’ are employed as markers to signify the arrival
o f a significant point in the story, such as the hero’s preparations for
battle or for a sea-voyage, or the description o f a heroine’s beauty,
or they are employed for the imposition o f a geis or taboo (cf.
Ysbaddaden’s imposing o f the anoethau). All the evidence suggests
that this kind o f rhetorical prose arose independently in Irish and in
Welsh, and that in both languages it derives from a common Celtic
inheritance which long antedates its appearance in written form. Sir
Idris Foster envisaged the Welsh passages o f araith as having
originated at a time when the division between poetry and prose
was not so clearly differentiated, nor so decisively marked as it was
normally to become in later times.93
It is in the nature o f the folk-tale framework o f Culhwch that the
‘primary’ characters (though not necessarily the principal ones) in
this story— Culhwch and his family, Olwen, Ysbaddadcn,
Custennin— are untraditional, and have almost no existence
outside the story itself. Cognate versions o f the tale ‘Six Go

90 D. Gwenallt Jones, Yr Areithiau Pros (University of Wales Press,

1934 )-
91 B. F. Roberts, ‘Tales and Romances’ in A. O. H. Jarman and Gwi­
lym Rees Hughes (eds.), A Guide to Welsh Literature I (Swansea, 1976),
241‘
92 Cf. Alan Bruford, ‘Gaelic Folktales and Mediaeval Romances’,
Bealoideas: The Folklore of Ireland Society, xxxiv (Dublin, 1966), esp.
pp. 36-40; CO(i), xcv.
93 I. LI. Foster, ‘Y Ccfndir’ in Y Traddodiad Rhyddiaith I (Llandysul,
1970), 20-1. See further CO(i) xciv-xcvi.
 IN TRO D U C TIO N lx xv

Through the World’ show it to be an entity which could, and

probably did, exist quite separately from the Arthurian complex
onto which it became subsequently grafted. In early British
tradition Arthur was the most notorious o f Giant Slayers, hence
‘Arthur’s Court’ provided a fitting context for Culhwch’s search for
Olwcn, and Arthur’s followers were pressed into service as
Culhwch’s companions on his quest. It is possible also that the
legendary fame o f Arthur’s great boar hunt caused the attraction to
it o f Culhwch’s name (‘slender pigling’, see n. to l.io): otherwise
this name seems an arbitrary choice for that o f the hero who wooed
the ‘Giant’s Daughter’. The names of Arthur’s immediate
followers— Cci, Bedwyr, and Gwalchmci— arc names o f general
currency throughout early Welsh sources, and arc equally familiar
in the Triads and in poetry, in the romances and in the Brut.
Although these familiar Arthurian names appear in Trioedd Ynys
Prydein, it is not easy to regard the ‘Early Version’ o f the Triads
cither as a source for Culhwch ac Olwen, or as a work derived from the
tale— at any rate in its final form. The two appear to be independent
developments o f Welsh Arthurian story, indebted similarly to both
written and unwritten sources, and each containing names not found
in the other. The same cannot be claimed for the collection o f Triads
in the White Book and the Red Book o f Hergest: since in several
instances this collection is suspect o f having been influenced by
written texts contained in the same two manuscripts (cf. Tri
Goruchel Garcharawr, pp. lx-lxi). In discussing the parallel (though
incomplete) versions of the Arthurian Court List which are found in
both Breuddwyd Rhonabwy and Gereint fab Erbin it was proposed
(p. xl) that these two lists derive from the Court List in Culhwch, but
apparently from an earlier text o f the talc from that which has come
down, and the same appears to be true o f the even lengthier list of
names derived from Culhwch in Englynion y Clyweit (see idem).
Actual verbal borrowings from Culhwch arc found both in Peredur
(sec nn. to 11.69, 522) and in Breuddwyd Rhonabwy where, as in
Culhwch, the battle o f Camlan is said to have been ‘woven’ or
‘plotted’ (estoui/ystoui; see n. to I.297): in Culhwch this was done by
nine plotters together, and in Breuddwyd Rhonabwy by the single
character Iddawg Cordd Prydein.
The description o f Peredur’s boorish entry into Arthur’s court
and his uncouth appearance is an obvious parody of Culhwch’s
splendid arrival at the court, and his aggressive behaviour there.
lx xv i IN T R O D U C TIO N

Another echo o f the tale— though in this case it is not a parody—

occurs in Seith Doethon Rufein,94 where a stepmother holds a
conversation with an old hag in words which almost exactly
reproduce the conversation between Culhwch’s stepmother and the
hen wrach whom she questions about her husband’s offspring. (This
incident is only found in the Welsh version o f Seith Doethon Rufein,
and in no other.) Among the Areithiau or ‘Prose Rhetorics’ the
parody Araith iolo Goch is the one most obviously indebted to
Cuihwch ac Olwen:959 6apart from verbal echoes it includes the names
o f Olwen and Ysbaddaden, together with a number o f other names
from the Court List.
Among the poets it seems virtually certain that Dafydd ap
Gwilym was the earliest to quote from the actual written text of
Cuihwch ac Olwen, (as he appears also to have done when he quotes
names from the Mabinogi).% He recalls the dau ychen Fannog (GDG
130,15-16 ) and he reproaches Gruffudd Gryg with the taunt that if
forks were to be had to raise his eyelids (recalling those of
Ysbaddaden) it would be possible for words, like a poisoned spear,
to make an impact on him (GDG 154,15-20). These allusions are the
less surprising since there is ample evidence for Dafydd’s
acquaintance with much o f the story material which has come down
in the White Book, and his evident familiarity with Rhydderch ab
Ieuan Llw yd,97 its apparent owner, may quite possibly have given
him access to the White Book itself. More then one copy o f the
written text o f Cuihwch ac Olwen was certainly in circulation after
the mid fourteenth century, and thereafter the allusions made by
poets to Cuihwch and to the other native and foreign tales become
too numerous to need any accounting for.

94 H. Lewis (ed.), Chwedleu Seith Doethon Rufein (University of Wales

Press 1925, 1967),esp. pp. 23, 44-5.
95 Yr Areithiau Pros pp. 12-17. Preserved only in a late manuscript
Mostyn 133 (RWM i, 114) in the hand of the copyist John Jones
Gellilyfdy.
96 R. Bromwich, ‘Cyfeiriadau Dafydd ap Gwilym at Chwedl a
Rhamant’, Y B xii (1982), 59-60.
97 On Rhydderch ab Ieuan Llwyd and his connection with the White
Book see introduction by R. M. Jones to WM (2), xiii-xiv, and Daniel
Huws, ‘Llyfr Gwyn Rhydderch’, CMCS 21 (1991), 19-22.
 X. DATE AND PROVENANCE OF THE TALE

The world envisaged by the author o f Culhwch ac Olwen extended

from St David’s westwards to Ireland and through Pembrokeshire,
Brycheiniog, Ceredigion, and Glamorgan to Devon, Cornwall,
and Brittany. Evidently the author was also vaguely aware o f places
in north Britain— Penn Blathaon (262), trugein cantref Pryd(y)n (647),
Y Gogled (997, 1012, 1208), Dunart brenhin y Gogled (254). And he
had at least heard o f countries further afield— Normandy, France,
Llychlyn (Scandinavia), Europe, India, and Africa. He may have
heard stories concerning some o f the more exotic legendary places
in which Glewlwyd locates Arthur’s far-flung adventures (117-26).
But his detailed local knowledge o f places and their geographical
relation to each other was confined to the area of south Wales
traversed by the Twrch Trwyth and his attendant boars when they
were hunted across the country by Arthur and his men. Traces o f
the cults o f several o f the Welsh saints are manifested over the whole
area o f the great hunt, from Ireland through Wales and across to
Cornwall. The influence o f these saints must have been long felt as a
living force in these areas between the ninth and eleventh centuries:
the very period when the traditions which made up Culhwch ac
Olwen were being assembled. For early audiences many o f the places
and people alluded to in the story would have held resonances which
they can no longer hold for us: their names would have evoked
familiar landmarks by land or by sea, and they would have recalled
other stories, familiar to these early audiences but now irretrievably
lost to us.
The story takes us back to an archaic world whose primitive
manners lie beyond our sympathy and comprehension.98 Very little
emotion or human response is in any way expressed, and there is a
total absence o f compassion. No apology or explanation is either
given or expected for deeds o f unprovoked violence: King Doged is
killed and his wife is forcefully abducted, Wrnach the Giant is slain
with his own sword, and for no apparent reason, Nwython is killed
and his son is compelled to eat his father’s heart, Ysbaddaden is
violently decapitated and his dismembered head is placed on a stake

98 Cf. D. S. Evans, Y B xiii (1985), 101-13.

lx xv iii IN T R O D U C T IO N

before his own fortress. Such- .crude barbarities outdistance

anything— even the atrocities o f Efnisien— which is in the least
comparable in the Four Branches o f the Mabinogi. There is a
complete lack o f moral perspective in Culhwch. But the same is true,
if only to a lesser degree, in the miracle-working Lives of the Welsh
saints.
In contrast to all this savagery Culhwch ac Olwen bears the signs o f
having been shaped by an author familiar with Christian customs
and practices. There is mention o f prayer: Cilydd’s countrymen
pray that he shall have an heir, and when Culhwch is born, he is
baptized (io). Though the custom o f baptism is alluded to in the
Four Branches, it is distanced from the author’s own world by the
explanation o'r bedyd a wneit yna ‘with the baptism which was used
then’, and God’s presence is recognized only in the frequent
greetings and asseverations Duw a ro da it, Y rofa Duw, etc. These are
partly paralleled in Culhwch by the greetings Nawd Duw ragoch
(438), Henpych w ell. . . oDuwacodyn (513-14), and the asseveration
Gwir Dyw (147, 162, 172), though these occur less frequently than
in PKM. The Arthurian Court List includes both a bishop (Bitwini
Escob) and a priest (Kethtrwm Offeirad), and reference is made to a
guardian angel (engyl canhorthwy, 230), and to a saint (Cynwyl
sant)— as having been present at the battle o f Camlan. The
existence o f both saints and devils is recognized: the saints o f Ireland
come to ask Arthur’s protection on his arrival in the country (1062),
and the mythical Gwyn ap Nudd is said to possess the nature o f
dieuyl Annwuyn ‘the devils o f Hell’.99 The number o f references in
the tale to Duw, Dyw (God) is both distinctive and significant. Both
the Stag and the Blackbird direct Arthur’s men to ‘a tribe o f animals
God created before me’ (857, 870). On more than one occasion God
is perceived to have intervened in human affairs by transforming
men into animals as a punishment for their unspecified sins: the
Twrch Trwyth was a king who had been transformed into a boar
99 See n. to I.714. Annwfoi, normally the Celtic ‘Otherworld’, here
clearly denotes hell, just as gwrthdir Uffern ‘the uplands of hell’ is
employed on three occasions in the talc (11.189, 653, 1207) as a eu­
phemism for the pagan Otherworld. In I.409 there is reference to zgwlat
aghred, an‘unbelieving’ or pagan country. Ini. 715 the world is described
as pressen, a word which recalls the early religious englynion in the
Juvencus MS (BWP 101), and is found in religious verse in the Black
Book and elsewhere (see p. xvii above).
 IN T RO D U C TIO N lx x ix

(1075-6), as had his accompanying pigs (1081-2); Nynnyaw and

Peibyaw, kings o f Erging, had been metamorphosed into oxen
(599-600), and the bitch Rhymhi had (presumably) been turned into
the form o f a she-wolf (935). Such direct divine intervention is
unparalleled in the other Welsh tales: Math fab Mathonwy can
unaided transform his errant nephews into the alternating shapes of
stag, boar, and w olf (with accompanying sex-changes)— before
causing the offspring o f these strange unions to be baptized (PKM
75.25).
Culhwch ac Olwen is unique among the medieval Welsh talcs in
respect o f its author’s evident familiarity with the native learning of
the Welsh church, comprising the Lives and genealogies o f the
saints, the Bucheddau and Bonedd y Saint. The Life of St Cadog by
Lifris o f Llancarfan,<*) and the Life o f St David by Rhigyfarch of
Llanbadam101 are the two earliest, as well as the two most important
o f these Lives in relation to Culhwch ac Olwen. Both were written in
Latin by Welsh (as distinct from Norman) ecclesiastics, and arc
believed to have been originally composed at some date during the
last decades o f the eleventh century, though the original
manuscripts have not come down.102 Both show points o f contact
with the Irish church, and with the traditions o f Irish saints. They
are the only two Lives o f Welsh saints which certainly antedate the
publication o f Geoffrey o f Monmouth’s Historia Regum Britanniae in
1138. This fact gives an especial interest to the Life of St Cadog, as
one o f the small group o f Welsh saints’ Lives in which Arthur— rex
illustrissimus Britanniae— plays the part o f a rex tyrranus who is
100 Ed. and trans, VSB 24-141. See H. D. Emanuel, ‘An Analysis of
the Composition of the‘Vita Cadoci4’, NLW Journal vii (1952), 217-26.
101 Ed and trans. J. W. James, Rhigyfarch’s Life of St David (University
of Wales Press, 1967).
102 Recensions of the Life of St David date from the mid twelfth
century (James, op.cit. xi-xiv; WLSD xli; cf. D. P. Kirby, ‘A Note on
Rhigyfarch’s Life of David’, WHR 4 (1969). The earliest MS of the Life
of St Cadog (Cot.Vcsp.A. xiv),dates from c.1200 (VSB viii; Emanuel,
op. cit. 217). The date of the two Lives relative to each other has not yet
been satisfactorily established. See further W. Davies, Wales in the Early
Middle Ages (Leicester, 1982), 208; C. N. L. Brooke, ‘St. Peter of Glou­
cester and St. Cadog of Llancarfan’, ch.Ill in C. N. L. Brooke, The
Church and the Welsh Border in the Central Middle Ages (Boydcll and
Brewer, 1986) (= revised version of chapter first published in N. K.
Chadwick (ed.) Celt and Saxon (Cambridge, 1963).
lx x x IN T R O D U C TIO N

obliged to submit to St Cadog’s higher authority and to make

restitution to the saint for his misdeeds. It is only in the Life o f St
Cadog that Cci and Bedwyr arc named, and play their traditional
part as Arthur’s companions, appearing with him in two episodes
which purport to explain archaic place-names in south-east Wales—
Boch Rhiw Carnm and Rhyd Gwrthebau.,iM The frequency o f such
onomastic stories— which explain place-names by reference to
events which arc believed to have occurred at them— is but one o f
the features which indicate that the Life o f St Cadog draws on a
traditional background which is in some ways closely similar to
that o f Culhwch ac Olwen.
The existence o f a special relationship between Culhwch and the
Life o f St Cadog is further borne out by the prominence in both o f
the character o f Caw o f Prydyn (see n. to I.647), and o f certain other
names which appear in the Court List— Samson, Sawyl Penn
Uchel, Brys mab Bryssethach (see nn. to 11.214, 332 and 344). These
references add weight to the strong suggestion which is offered by
the occurrence in Culhwch o f the two place-names Dinsol and Mynyd
Batmawc (11.106, 597, see nn.) to the effect that the text o f the Vita
Cadoci was actually available and known to the final author o f
Culhwch ac Olwen.
Caw o f Prydyn was to become a legendary figure in Wales, but he
is recorded first in the earlier o f the two Lives o f Gildas, written in
the ninth century by a monk o f Ruys in Brittany. Both here and in
the later Life by Caradog o f Llancarfan, Caw is presented as the
father o f St Gildas and o f a number o f other sons, some o f whose
names appear in the Arthurian Court List (see nn. to 11.206-13).
There is evidently some connection between these names and one or
both o f the Lives o f Gildas. Another figure who forms a
fundamental link between Culhwch and the Lives and genealogies o f
the Welsh saints is Anlawd/Amlawd Wledig (sec p. xxx above, and n.
to I.2), the grandfather o f Arthur, Culhwch, and Goreu fab
Custennin, as well as o f St Illtud. The Life o f St Illtud appears to
provide the earliest instance o f his name— Anlaud Britannie rex.
Anlawd(d)is an untraditional figure, in the sense that he is known
only from ByS, the Life o f St Illtud, and from Brut y Brenhinedd,
rather than from poetry or Triads. But his name proved convenient
103 ‘The check of the cairn’s slopc’(?), VSB 26.
104 ‘The Ford of Responses’(or ‘Objections’), VSB 72. On Lifris’s
fondness for giving explanations of place-names sec Brooke, loc.cit. 86.
 IN T R O D U C T IO N lx x x i

as that o f the progenitor o f the mothers o f all these secular and

religious heroes. We have seen above (pp. lxv-lxvi) that an additional
document o f ecclesiastical provenance which may have been known
to the author o f Culhwch ac Olweti was one which contained the
Mirabilia attached to the Historia Brittonum.
The chief significance for Culhwch o f the Life o f St David lies in
the evidence it provides for cultural links with Ireland during the
very period in which the story was taking shape. Rhigyfarch, the
author o f the Life, was one o f the sons o f Sulicn, the famous scholar
o f Llanbadarn and bishop o f St David’s, who had spent years of
study in Ireland and was in a position to transmit the fruits o f this
study to his sons. Sulieti— a rare name— is even included in the
Arthurian Court List (203). The close proximity o f Ireland and of
Irish ecclesiastical learning (together with a suspicion o f national
rivalry) is made apparent from the very beginning o f the Life of St
David, when an angel warns St Patrick against settling on the site
which was later to become M ynyw or St David’s, on the grounds
that the place was to be reserved for a more holy saint who was yet
to be born. David is baptized by Ailbc, a bishop from Munster, and
later he has several Irish disciples, including St Aidan of Ferns. A
number o f Irish saints arc said to have visited St David, and the
allusions to journeys by ecclesiastics between Ireland and St David’s
are corroborated by references in the Irish Lives of saints. St David’s
local conflict with the pagan Irishman Boia is a reminiscence of the
strong Irish presence in Dyfcd in the early centuries. There is
evidence that the area covered by the cult o f St David corresponded
approximately and significantly with the route o f the Twrch
Trwyth through Wales after he landed at Porth Clais, close to St
David’s— a place from which roads led through south Wales, and
continued as far as Devon and Cornwall. As in the Life o f St Cadog,
there are references which arc evocative o f names in Culhwch— a
Constantine king o f Cornwall (sec n. to I.435), and ‘Proprius’ a
Latinization o f the name o f Pcibyaw king of Erging (599), more
correctly named as Pebiawc in the Welsh version of the Life of St
David. It is tempting to discern a covert reference to the ascetic
practices o f St David’s monks in the allusion to the ychen bannawg
(see nn. to 11.593-6).
All the evidence we have surveyed points to the last decades of the
eleventh century, perhaps the turn o f the century, c.uoo, as the
most likely period for the redaction o f Culhwch in a form
lx x x ii IN T R O D U C TIO N

approaching that in which we now have it. The linguistic evidence,

though by its nature it cannot be precise, is in general conformity
with this dating. Obviously Culhwch has received subsequent
accretions in the course o f its long transmission between the
eleventh century and the date o f the two fourteenth-century
manuscripts in which the text is preserved. In particular, additions
have surely been made both to the Arthurian Court List and to the
list o f anoethau. The relative dating o f Culhwch to elements in Brut y
Brenhinedd also poses some virtually insoluble problems (sec nn. to
Gwalchmei, Gwetihwyfar, Caledfivlch). Sir Idris Foster105 stressed the
historical events o f the year 1081 as significant for the dating of
Culhwch, and these events point to a period o f composition similar
to that indicated by the ecclesiastical sources. In 1081 Gruffudd ap
Cynan came across from his exile in Ireland and landed (like the
Twrch Trwyth) at Porth Clais near St David’s, where he joined
with Rhys ap Tcwdwr, the ruler o f Dehcubarth, and won the battle
o f Mynydd Carn.,<ir’ In the same year William the Conqueror is said
to have visited St David’s, where it is most likely that he made peace
with Rhys ap Tcw dw r.107 It is not unlikely that these happenings
were in the mind o f the author o f Culhwch, and that they had an
influence on his portrayal o f certain events in the story.
This seems to be as far as we can go in determining the probable
historical, geographical, and cultural background o f the author of
Culhwch ac Olweti. Where could the story have been committed to
writing? Everything points to the south-west o f Wales, to an
important monastic centre such as St David’s, Carmarthen, or
Llandcilo Fawr. In Wales, and particularly in the south, there took
place between the ninth and the eleventh centuries a revival of
interest in the country’s past, together with the cultivation o f a new
genre o f prose, and these together amounted to a cultural
renaissance. We have seen that Culhwch ac Olwett shares a similarity
o f intellectual background and betrays certain common interests
with more than one o f the Lives o f the saints. In south Wales there
was a continual awareness o f closeness to Ireland, with Porth Clais
and St David’s as places from which passage between the two
countries was both frequent and relatively easy. The famous bishop
Sulicn must have taken this route when he travelled to Ireland, and
105 ALMA 38-9; CO(i) lxxxix.
106 HW 384-5; HGVK X V I , 77-8.
107 HW 393- 4-
 IN T RO D U C TIO N lx x x iii

it is difficult to avoid seeing in the Twrch Trwyth’s arrival at Porth

Clais a reverberation o f Gruffudd ap Cynan’s return to the same
place after the first o f his two periods o f exile in Ireland.
It has been seen above (pp. xv-xxv) that the language o f Culhwch
ac Olwen is archaic and belongs to the end o f the OW period, and
that it shows a greater similarity to the language o f the early poetry
and that o f the Gogynfcirdd, as well as to the earliest fragments of
OW prose preserved in the Laws and other documents, than to the
language o f the later prose talcs. It has been seen also that certain
comparisons can be made with the language spoken today in certain
areas o f south Wales: with the speech o f Pembroke and west
Glamorgan, and more particularly with that o f Y Cantrcf Mawr in
north Carmarthenshire. It is tempting to set Culhwch ac Olwen
against the background o f the spoken language of this area, and to
relate it to a centre where such Old Welsh documents as the Surexit
Memorandum and possibly the Computus fragment were produced
and preserved.
We have also considered in detail the significant correspondences
between the language o f Culhwch and the language o f the Black
Book o f Carmarthen, together with some o f its contents,
particularly the poem Pa Gur yw y Porthaur. This manuscript was
inscribed at the priory o f Carmarthen in the mid thirteenth
century.108 Linguistic evidence indicates that Culhwch was produced
at some monastic centre which lay close to the route taken by the
Twrch Trwyth. We do not know exactly where this was, but there
seems to be a good case for believing that Culhwch ac Olwen, like the
Black Book itself, belongs to Carmarthen.

108 L1DC xvii. See further A. O. H. Jarman, ‘Llyfr Du Cacrfyrddin/

The Black Book of Carmarthen’, PBA lxxi (1985), 333-56, and AoW
7- 8 .
 Culhwch ac Olwen
Culhwch’s Birth: His Jealous Stepmother
[WM. col. 452]
Kilyd mab Kyledon1 Wledic a uynnei wreic kynmwyd ac ef.
Sef gwreic a uynnwys2, Goleudyt merch Anlawd Wledic.
Gwedy y west genti,3 my net y wlat y gwedi malkawn a
geffynt etiued. A chaffael4 mab ohonu5 trwy weti y wlad.
5 Ac o’r awr y delis beichogi, yd aeth hitheu ygwylldawc heb
dygredu anhed. Pan dyuu y thymp idi, ef a dyuu y iawn
bwyll iti. Sef y dyuu myn yd oed meichad6 yn cadw kenuein
o uoch. A rac ouyn y moch enghi a oruc y urenhines. A
chymryt y mab a oruc y meichad hyt pan dyuu y ’r llys. A
10 bydydaw y mab a orucpwyt,7 a gyrru Kulhwch amaw dy8
vrth y gaffel yn retkyr hwch. Bonhedic hagen oed y mab;
keuynderw dy Arthur9 oed. A rodi y mab a orucpwyd10 ar
ueithrin.
A gwedy hynny klyuychu11 mam y mab, Goleudyt merch
15 Anlawd Wledic. Sef a oruc hi galw y chymar attei, ac
amkawd hi12 vrthaw ef, ‘Marw uydaf i o’r cleuyt hwnn, a
gwreic arall a uynny ditheu. A recdouyd ynt y ^wraged
weithon. Drwc yw iti hagen llygru dy uab. Sef y harchaf it
na mynnych wreic hyt pan welych dryssien deu peinawc ar
20 uym bed.’13 Adaw a oruc ynteu hynny idi. Galw y hathro
attei a oruc hitheu ac erchi idaw amlymu14 y bed pob [453]
blwydyn hyd na thyffei15 dim arnaw. M arw16 y urenhines.
Sef a wna[e]i17 y brenhin gyrru gwas pob bore y ydrych
malkawn18 a dyffei dim ar y bed. Gwallocau a oruc yr athro
25 ym penn y seith ulwydyn y ryn ry adawsei19 y ’r urenhines.
'Kelydon. ncleuychu.
2ffynnwys W., vynnawd R. 12yna y dywat hi.
3genthi. 13vym bed i.
,4amlynu.
15nathffei W., na thyuei R.
marw uu.
nn
17a wnaei.

9v arthur. 19seith mlyned yr hynn a adawssei.

10wnaethpwyt.
 C U LH W C H AC OLW EN

Diwarnawd yn hyly yr Jbrenhin;1 dygyrchu y gorfflan2 a

oruc;3gweled y bed a uynnei trw yt gaffei wreicca. Gwelet y
dryssien a oruc. Ac mal y gwelas mynet a oruc y brenhin yg
kyghor kwt gaffei4 wreic. Amkawd5 un o’r kyghorwyr,
30 ‘Mi a wydwn wreic a6 da it a wedei. Sef yw honno gwreic
Doget Urenhin.* Kyghor uu ganthunt7 y chyrchu. A Had y
brenhin a dwyn y wreic atref ganthu8a orugant ac un uerch a
oed idi gyd a hi. A gwereskyn9 tir y brenhin a wnaethant.
Dytgweith10 yd aeth y wreicda allan y orymdeith. Y deuth
35 y dy hen wrach a oed yn y drei heb dant yn y fenn. Amkawd11
y urenhines, ‘Ha wrach, a dywedy di imi y peth a ouynnaf it,
yr Dyw? Kwt ynt12 plant y gwr a’m rydyallas13 yg gordwy?’
Amkawd14 y wrach, ‘Nyd oes plant itaw.’ Amkawd14 y
urenhines, ‘Gwae uinheu uyn dyuot ar15 anuab.* D ywawt16 y
40 wrach, ‘N yt reit iti hynny. Darogan yw itaw kaffel ettiuet;
ohonot ti yt gaffo ef kanys ry gaffo17 o arall. [454] Na wna
tristit heuyt; un mab yssyd itaw.*
Mynet a oruc y wreicda yn llawen atreff, ac amkawd hi18
vrth y chymmar, ‘Pwy ystyr19 yw gennyt ti kelu dy blant
45 ragof i?’ Amkawd20 y brenhin, ‘A mineu nys kelaf.’21
Kennatau y mab a orucpwyt, a*e dyuot ynteu22 y ’r llys.
Dywedut a oruc y lysuam wrthaw, ‘Gwreicca yssyd da iti, a
mab.23 A merch yssyd imi gwiw y bob gwrda yn y byt.’
Amkawd24 y mab, ‘Nyt oet y mi etwa wreicca.’ Dywawd
50 hitheu,25 ‘Tyghaf tyghet it na lath[o]26 dy ystlys vrth wreic
hyt pan geffych Olwen merch Yspadaden Penkawr.*
Lliuaw27 a oruc y mab, a mynet a oruc serch y uorwyn ym

'yn hely y brenhin. 15dyuot at.

2gordlan. ,6ac yna y dywawt.
3+y brenhin. 17o honat ti. yr nas kaffo.
4pa le y kafifei. 18y dywawt hi.
5Heb. 19pa ystyr.
6wreica W.; wreicka R. “ Heb.
7gantunt. 21+ weithon.
8y wreic gantunt. “ a dyuot ac ef.
9goresgyn. “ gwreic yssyd da itti y chael.
,0Dydgweith. 24y dywawt.
uac y dywawt. “ Ac yna y dywawt hitheu.
,2ble mae. “ Mi a tynghaf dynghet itt na
13am llathrudawd. chyflado.
14heb y. ^niiwaw.
 C U LH W C H AC O LW EN 3
pob aelawt itaw kyn nys rywelhei eiroet.1 Amkawd2 y dat
vrthaw, ‘Ha uab, py liuy ti? Py drwc yssyd amat ti?’ ‘ U y
55 Uysuam ry dygvys3 im na chaffwyf wreic byth hyt pan
gaffw yf Olwen merch Yspadaden Penkawr.*4 ‘Hawd it
kaffel hynny, uab,’5 heb y tat vrthaw. ‘Arthur yssyd
geuynderw it. Dos titheu ar6 Arthur y diwyn dy wallt, ac
erchych hynny idaw yn gyuarws it.’
Culhwch goes to Arthur’s Court
60 Mynet a oruc y mab ar orwyd penlluchlwyt pedwar gayaf
gauylgygwng carngragen, a frwyn eur kymibiawc yn y
penn. Ac ystrodur7 eur anllawd y danaw, a [455] deu par
aryanhyeit lliueit yn y law. Gleif (ennillec)8 yn y law,
kyuelin dogyn gwr yndi9 o drum10 hyt awch. Y gwaet y 11 ar
65 y gwynt a dygyrchei; bydei kynt12 no’r gwHthin kyntaf o’r
konyn hyt y llawr, pan uei uwyaf y gwlith mis13 Meheuin.
Cledyf eurdwm ar y glun a racllauyn eur itaw, ac ays14
eurcrwydyr arnaw, a lhw lluchet nef yndi, a lloring15 eUfeint
yndi. A deu uilgi uronwynyon urychyon racdaw,16 a
70 gordtorch rudeur am uynwgyl pob un o cnwch17 yscwyd hyt
yskyuarn. Y r hwn a uei o’r parth asseu a uydei o’r parth
deheu, a’r hwnn a uei o’r parth deheu a uydei o’r parth
asseu, mal dwy morwennawl18 yn darware yn y gylch.
Pedeir tywarchen a ladei pedwar cam19 y gorwyd, mal pedeir
75 gwennawl yn yr awyr uch y benn, gweitheu uchtaw,
gveitheu istaw.20 Llenn borfor21 pedeir ael ymdanaw, ac aual
rudeur22 vrth pob ael iti. Can mu oed werth pob aual.
Gwerth trychan mu o eur gwerthuawr a23 oed yn y archenat
a’e warthafleu (sangharwy),24 o benn y glun hyt ym blayn y
80 uys. Ni chwyuei ulaen blewyn arnaw25 rac yscawnhet tuth y
*yr nas gwelsei eiryoet. 14a chroes.
2A c yna y dywawt. 15llugom.
3a dynghwys. 16tu racdaw.
4Yspadaden benn kawr. 17gwrd torch rudem . . . o gnwch.
5hawd yw itti hynny. ,8dwy uorwennawl.
6dos att. ,9bedwarcam.
7a chyfrwy. ^uchot . . . issot.
8gleif penntirec W. R. 21o borffor.
9om. ^aual eur wrth bop ael.
10drwm. 23om.
"yr W.; om. R. 24ae warthafleu sangnarwy W.R.
12_vnt ^ny chrymei . . . y danaw.
4 C U LH W CH AC OLW EN

gorwyd y danaw1 yn kyrchu porth llys Arthur.

[456] Amkawd2 y mab, ‘A oes porthawr?’3 ‘Oes. A
thitheu, ni bo teu dy benn, pyr4 y kyuerchy di? Mi a uydaf
porthawr5 y Arthur pob dyw6 kalan Ionawr, a’m
85 raclouyeit, hagen, y ulwydyn eithyr hynny; nyt amgen
Huandaw a Gogigwr7 a Llaeskemyn,8 a Ffenpingyon a
ymda ar y penn yr eiryach9 y draet, nyt vrth nef nyt vrth
dayar, mal10 maen treigyl ar lawr llys.* ‘Agor y porth.’ ‘Nac
agoraf.’ ‘P w y11 ystyr nas agory ti?* ‘Kyllell a edyw ymwyt, a
90 llynn ymual, ac amsathyr y 12 neuad Arthur. Namyn mab
brenhin gvlat teithiawc, neu y gerdawr13 a dycco y gerd, ny
atter y mywn. Lhth y ’th gwn ac yd y ’th uarch,14 a golwython
poeth pebreit i titheu, a gwin goryscalawc, a didan gerdeu
ragot. Bw yt degwyr a deugeint15 a daw attat y ’r yspytty.
95 Yno y bwyta peUenigyon a mabyon gwladoed ereill nyd
ergyttyo kerth16 yn llys Arthur. N y byd gwaeth it17 yno
nocet y 18 Arthur yn y llys. Gwreic y gyscu gennyt,19 a didan
gerdeu rac dy deulin.20 Yuory, pryt anterth, pan agorawr y
porth rac y niuer a dothyw hediw yma,21 bydhawt ragot ti
100 gyntaf yd agorawr22 y porth. A chyueisted a wnelych yn y lie
a dewissych yn neuad Arthur, o’e gwarthaf hyd y
gwaelawd.’ Dywedut a oruc y mab, ‘N y wnaf i dim [457] o
hynny. Ot agory y porth, da yw. Onys agory, mi a dygaf
anglot y ’th arglwyd a drygeir y titheu. A mi a dodaf23 teir
105 diaspat ar drws y porth hwnn hyt na bo anghleuach24 ym
Penn Pengwaed yg Kem yw ac yg gwaelawt Dinsol yn y
Gogled, ac yn Eskeir Oeruel yn Iwerdon. Ac yssyd o wreic
ueichawc yn y llys honn, methawd eu beichogi, ac ar nyd

Joed y danaw. 14ac yth ueirch; om. yd.

2y dywawt. 15degwyr ar dcugeint—r in red and
3borthawr. deleted.
4byrr.
5borthawr.
6duw.
7gogigwc W.R.
8llaeskenym. ^rac dy vronn.
9ar yvr benn
h p n n yr
vrr arbet.
ar 21pan agerer y porth rac y niuer a
10namyn ual. deuth yma hediw.
^agorir.
12om. y R. ^ad a dodaf W.
13y gerdawr W.R. 24agheuach.
 CU LH W CH AC OLW EN 5
beichawc onadunt, ymhoelawd eu calloneu yn vrthtrwm1
no amadunt mal na bwynt2 ueichawc byth o hediw allan.’
Amkawd3 Glewlwyt Gauaeluawr, ‘Py4 diaspettych ti
bynhac am gyfreitheu llys Arthur, ny’th atter ti y mywn
hyny elw yf ui y dywedud y Arthur gesseuin.’5
Ac y dyuu Glewlwyt y ’r neuad. Amkawd6 Arthur
1 15 vrthaw, ‘Chwedleu porth genhyt?’ ‘Yssydynt genhym.7
Deuparth uy oet a dodyw,8 a deuparth y teu ditheu. Mi a
uum gynt yGhaer Se ac Asse, yn Sach a Salach, yn Lotor a
Fotor. Mi a uum gynt yn yr India Uawr a’r India Uechan. Mi
a uum gynt yn ymlad deu Ynyr pan ducpwyt y deudec
120 gwystyl o Lychlyn. A mi a uum gynt yn yr Egrop, a mi a
uum yn yr Affric, ac yn ynyssoed9 Corsica, ac yGhaer
Brythwch a Brythach10 a Nerthach. Mi a uum gynt pan
ledeist ti teulu Gleis11 mab Merin, pan ledeist Mil Du [458]
mab Ducum. Mi a uum gynt pan wereskynneist Groec12 vrth
125 parth y dwyrein. Mi a uum gynt yGhaer Oeth ac Anoeth, ac
yGhaer Neuenhyr Naw Nawt13: teymdynyon tec a welsam
ni yno, ny weleis i eirmoet dyn kymryt14 a’r hwnn yssyd yn
drws y porth yr awr honn.M5 Amkawd16 Arthur, ‘Or bu ar dy
gam y dyuuost17 y mywn, dos ar dy redec allan. A ’r sawl a
130 edrych y goleu ac a egyr y lygat ac a’e kae, aghengaeth idaw.
A gvassanaethet rei a buelin18 goreureit ac ereill a golwython
poeth pebreit19 hyt pan uo goranhed20 bwyt a llynn idaw. Ys
dyhed a beth gadu dan wynt a glaw y kyfryw dyn a dywedy
di.’ Amkawd21 Kei, ‘Myn llaw uyghyueillt, bePgwnelhit
135 uyg kyghor i ny thorrit kyfreitheu llys23 yrdaw.’ ‘Na wir,
Kei wynn. Ydym wyrda hyt tra yn dygyrcher. Yd ytuo
mwyhaf y kyuarws a rothom, mwyuwy uyd yn gwrdaaeth

’yn wrthrwm heint. 13naw nawd.

2bont. 14eiryoet dyn kyuurd.
3heb y. 15y porthawr awr honn W., y porth
yr awr honn R.
5Pa' ellyngir di .. . gysseuin.
5nyth ‘6ac y dywawt.
6ac yna y doeth .. . ac y dywawt. 17os ar dy gam y doethost.
7om. 18o vuelin.
8ys ethyw gennyf deuparth vy oet. 19pybreit.
Vnyssed. ^parawt.
1(H)rytach W.; brythach R. 21heb y.
ndi deulu Cleis. 22P«-
12oresgynneist roec. ^kyfreitheu y llys.
6 C U LH W C H AC OLW EN

ninheu ac an cret1 ac an hetmic.*

Ac y dyuu2 Glewlwyd y ’r porth, ac agori y porth racdaw.
140 Ac a goryw pawb3 diskynnu vrth y porth ar yr yskynuaen,
nys goruc ef,4 namyn ar y gorwyd y doeth y mywn.
Amkawd5 Kulhwch, ‘Henpych gwell, Penn Teymed yr Ynys
honn. N y bo gwaeth y ’r gwaelawt ty [459] noc y ’r gwarthaf
dy.6 Poet yn gystal y ’th deon a’th niuer a’th catbritogyon7 y
145 bo y gwell hwnn. N y bo didawl8 neb ohonaw. Mai y mae
kyflawn y kyuer[c]heis i well i ti, boet kyflawn dy rat titheu a’th
cret9 a’th etmic yn yr Ynys honn.’ ‘Poet gwir Dyw, unben.10
Henpych gwell titheu.11 Eisted kyfrwg deu o’r milwyr, a
didan gerd ragot12 a breint edling (gwrthrychyad teyrnas)
1 50 amat13 byhyt bynnac y bych yma. A ffan ranhwyf uyn da y
ospeit a ffellennigyon, bythawd o’th law14 pan y dechreuwyf
yn y llys honn.* Amkawd y 15 mab, ‘N y dothwyf16 i yma yr
frawdunyaw bwyt a llynn. Namyn or kaffaf uyghyuarws, y
dalu a’e uoli a wnaf. Onys caffaf, dwyn dy vyneb17 di a wnaf
155 hyt y bu dy glot ym pedryal18 byt bellaf.’ Amkawd Arthur,
‘Kyn ny thriccych ti19 yma, unben, ti a geffy [y] kyuarws20 a
notto dy benn a’th tauawd,21 hyt y sych gwynt, hyt y gwlych
glaw, hyt yr etil22 heul, hyt yd ymgyffret mor, hyt yd ydiw
dayar,23 eithyr uy llong a’m lien, a Chaletuwlch uyg cledyf, a
160 Rongomynyat24 uyg gvayw, ac Vyneb Gwrthucher uy
yscwyt,25 a Chamwenhan uyg kyllell, a Gwenhvyuar uyg
gwreic. ’ ‘Gwir D yw 26ar hynny?’ ‘Ti a’e keffy yn llawen. Not
a nottych.’ [460] ‘Nodaf.27 Diwyn uy gwallt a uynaf.’ ‘Ti a

'cret perhaps half-changed to clot ychyat teymas R.

W., clot R. yth
fth law
law.
2doeth. y-
3ac yr y pawb disgynnu. euthum.
4nys disgynnawd ef.
5ac y dywawt Kulwch. ual.
6gwaelaw tty .. . gwarthaf dy. r arthur yna. Kan ny thrigyy
7ath gatwridogyon.
8didlawt. ws W.; y kyuarws R.
9crot W., ath glot R. uawt.
1.
ir.
11+ heb yr Arthur. >m yarn W., rongomyant R.
,2a geffy rac dy uron. iryan.
13breint edling amat gwrthrychyad
teymas W.; breint teym amat
 C U LH W C H AC OLW EN 7
gyffy hynny.' Kymryt crip eur o Arthur, a gwelliu1 a doleu
165 aryant itaw, a chribaw y benn a oruc. A gouyn pwy oet a
oruc.2 Amkawd Arthur,3 ‘Mae uyg kallon yn tirioni vrthyt.
Mi a wn dy hanuot o’m gvaet. Dywet4 pwy vyt.’
‘Dywedaf.5 Kulhwch mab Kilyd mab Kyledon Wledic o
Oleudyt merch Anlawd Wledic, uy mam.’ Amkawd
170 Arthur, ‘Gwir yw hynny.6 Keuynderw vyt7 titheu y mi.
Not a nottych, a thi a’e keffy, a notto dy benn a’th dauawt’.8
‘Gwir D yw im ar hynny, a gvir dy deymas?’ ‘Ti a’e keffy yn
11awen.’ ‘Nodaf amat kaffel im Olwen merch Yspadaden
Penkawr; a’e hasswynaw a wnaf ar dy uilwyr. ’

Culhwch invokes his Sureties from the Court

175 Asswynaw y gyuarws ohonaw ar Kei9 a Bedwyr, a
Greidawl Galldouyd, a Gwythyr uab Greidawl, a Greit mab
Eri, a Chyndelic Kyuarwyd, a Thathal Twyll Goleu, a
M aylwys10 mab Baedan, a Chnychwr mab Nes a Chubert m.
Daere, a Fercos m. Poch, a Lluber Beuthach, a Chonul
180 Bemach.11
A Gwyn m. Esni, a Gvynn m. N w yw re,12 a Gwynn m.
Nud, ac Edem mab Nud, a Cadwy13 m. Gereint, a Fflewdwr
Flam Wledic, a Ruawn Pebyr m. Dorath, a Bratwen m.
Moren Mynawc14 a Moren Mynawc e hun, a Dalldaf eil
185 Kimin C o t a mab Alun Dyuet, a mab Saidi, a mab G wry on, ac
Vchdryt Ardwyat15 Kat, a Chynwas Curyuagyl,16 a Gwrhyr
Gwarthecuras, ac Isperyr Ewingath, [461] a Gallcoit
Gouynnyat,17 a Duach a Brathach18 a Nerthach, meibon
Gwawrdur Kyruach— o vrthdir Uffem pan hanoed y gw yr.19
190 A Chilyd Canhastyr, a Chan[h]astyr Canllaw, a Chors
Cant Ewin, ac Eskeir Gulhwch Gonyn Cawn,20 a Drustwm
Hayam, a Glewlwyt Gauaeluawr, a Lloch Llawwynnyawc,
'gwelleu. nchoruil bemach W.R.
2+arthur. 12nwyfure.
3om. 13ac adwy W. R. . .. a fflewdur.
4dywet im. 14mynac W.; mynawc R.
5Dywedaf heb y mab. ,5uchtrut ardywat.
6Gwir yw hynny heb yr arthur. 16curuagyl.
7vt W.; wyt R. 17gouynynat W.; gallcoyt gouynynat
8athdauawt (d in a later hand) W.; ath R.
dauawt R. ,8grathach.
9ar gei. 19y gwyr hynny.
,0maelwys. ^gouynkawn.
8 C U LH W C H AC O LW EN

ac Anwas Edeinawc,1 a Sinnoch mab Seithuet, a Watu mab

Seithuet, a Naw mab Seithuet,2 a Gwenwynwyn mab Naw
195 mab Seithuet,3 a Bedyw mab Seithuet, a Gobrwy mab Echel
Uordvyt Twll, ac Echel Uordvyt Tw ll4 e hun, a Mael mab
Roycol, a Datweir Dallpenn, a Garwyli eil Gwythawc
Gwyr, a Gwythawc G w yr e hun, a Gormant mab Ricca, a
Menw mab Teirgwaed, a Digon mab Alar, a Selyf mab
200 Sinoit, a Gusc mab Achen,5 a Nerth mab Kadarn, a Drutwas
mab Tryffin, a Twrch mab Perif, a Thwrch mab Anwas,6 a
Iona urenhin Freinc, a Sei mab Selgi, a Theregut mab Iaen, a
Sulyen mab Iaen, a Bratwen mab Iaen, a Moren mab Iaen, a
Siawn mab Iaen, a Chradawc mab Iaen— gwyr Kaer Tathal
205 oedynt, kenetyl7 y Arthur o pleit y tat.
Dirmyc mab Kaw, a Iustic mab Kaw, ac Etmic mab Kaw, ac
Angawd mab Kaw, ac Ouan mab Kaw, a Chelin mab Kaw, a
Chonnyn [462] mab Kaw a Mabsant mab Kaw, a Gwyngat
mab Kaw, a Llwybyr mab Kaw, a Choch mab Kaw, a Medic
210 mab Kaw, a Chynwal8 mab Kaw, ac Ardwyat mab Kaw, ac
Ergyryat mab Kaw, a Neb mab Kaw, a Gildas9 mab Kaw, a
Chalcas mab Kaw, a Hueil mab Kaw— nyd asswynwys
eiroet yn llaw arglwyd.
A Samson Uinsych, a Theliessin10 Penn Beird, a
215 Manawedan11 mab Llyr, a Llary mab Casnar Wledic, ac
Sberin12 mab Flergant brenhin Llydaw, a Saranhon mab
Glythwyr, a Llawr eil Erw, ac Anynnawc13 mab Menw mab
Teirgwaed, a Gwynn mab N w ywre a Fflam mab Nwywre, a
Gereint mab Erbin ac Ermit mab Erbin14 a Dyuel mab Erbin,
220 a Gwynn mab Ermit a Chyndrwyn mab Ermit, a Hyueid
Unllenn, ac Eidon Uawrurydic, a Reidwn Arwy, a Gormant
mab Ricca— brawt y Arthur o barth y uam; Pennhynef
Kem yw y tat. A Llawurodet Uaruawc,15 a Nodawl U aryf
Trw ch,16 a Berth mab Kado, a Reidwn mab Beli, ac Iscouan
225 Hael, ac Yscawin mab Panon, a Moruran eil Tegit— ny
’Annwas Adeinawc. 8a chynwas.
2a Watu . .. Seithuet om. gilda.
3mab Seithuet om. ,öa theleessin.
4uordyttwll W. nmamawydan.
5gusc m. atheu. ,2ysperin.
6a thwrch m. perif a thwrch 13annyannawc.
annwas. 14ac e W.; m arg., ac erinit m erbin R.
7kenedyl . .. o bleit. 15Llawnrodet.
16twrch W.R.
 C U LH W C H AC O LW EN 9
dodes dyn y araf yndaw yGhamlan1 rac y haccred, pawb a
tybygyiit2 y uod yn gythreul canhorthwy; blew a oed arnaw
mal blew hyd. A Sande Pryt Angel3— ny dodes neb y wayw
yndaw yGhamlan1 [463] rac y decket, pawb a debygynt y
230 uod yn engyl3 canhorthwy. A Chynwyl Sant— y trydygwr
a dienghis o Gamlan;4 ef a yscarwys diwethaf ac Arthur y ar
Hengroen y uarch.
Ac Uchdryt mab Erim ac Eus mab Erim a Hen was
Edeinawc mab Erim a Henbedestyr mab Erim a Scilti
235 Scawntroet5 mab Erim. Teir kynedyf a oed ar y trywyr
hynny: Henbedester ny chauas eiroet a’e kyfrettei o dyn nac
ar uarch nac ar droet; Henwas Edeinawc6 ni allwys mil
pedwar troedawc eiroet y ganhymdeith hyd un erw,
anoethach7 a uei bellach no hynny; Scilti Yscawntroet, pan
240 uei wyn hwyl8 kerdet yndaw vrth neges y arglwyd, ny
cheisswys ford eiroet am gwypei py le yd elei; namyn tra uei
coet,9 ar uric y coet y kerdei, a thra uei uynyd, ar ulaen y
kawn y kerdei,10 ac yn hyt y oes ny flygwys konyn dan y
draet, anoethach11 torri rac y yskafned.12
245 Teithi Hen mab Gwynhan a weryskynnwys13 mor y
kyuoeth, ac y dihengis ynteu o ureid ac y doeth ar Arthur14—
a chynedyf a oed ar y gyllell: yr pan deuth ymma ny
thrigwys15 cam ar [464] nei uyth, ac vrth hynny y tyuwys16
heint yndaw a nychdawt hyt tra uu uyw, ac o hynny y bu
250 uarw. A Charnedyr mab Gouynyon Hen, a [Gwenwynwyn
mab N af],17 gysseuin rysswr Arthur, a Llygatrud Emys a
Gwrbothu Hen— ewythred Arthur oedynt, brodyr y uam.
Kuluanawyt mab Goryon, a Llennleawc Vydel o Bentir
Gamon, a Dyuynwal Moel, a Dunart brenhin y Gogled.
255 Teyrnon Tw r Bliant,18 a Thecuan Glof, a ThegyrTalgellawc.
Gwrdiual mab Ebrei, a Morgant Hael, Gwystyl mab

'yg kat gamlan. nyghwaethach.

2a debygynt. 12ysgawnet.
3agel. 13oresgynnwys.
4o gat kamlan. l4att arthur.
5ac sgilti yscawntroet. l5ny. thrigyawd.
6Henwas adeinawe. ,6y tyuawd.
7yghwaethach. 17om. W.
8wynhywl W.; wyn hwyl R. 18+oedynt W.; Teimon twryf bliant
9tra uei y mewn coet. R.
10a thra . . . y kerdei om.
IO C U LH W C H AC OLW EN

[Nwython] a Run mab^ Nwython1 a Lluydeu mab

Nwython, a Gwydre mab Lluydeu, o Wenabwy merch Kaw
y uam— Hueil y ewythyr a’e gwant, ac am hynny y bu gas
260 rwg Arthur a Hueil2 am yr archoll.
Drem mab Dremidyd, a welei o Gelli Wie yGhemiw hyt
ym Penn Blathaon ym Predein pan drychauei3 y gwydbedin
y bore gan yr heul. Ac Eidoel4 mab Ner, a Gluydyn Saer5 a
wnaeth Ehangwen neuad Arthur. Kynyr Keinuaruawc—
265 Kei a dywedit y uot yn uab itaw. E f a dywawd vrth y wreic,
‘Osit rann imi o’th uab ti,6uorwyn, oer uyth uyd y galon, ac
ny byd gwres yn y dwylaw. Kynedef arall a uyd amaw:7
[465] os mab y mi uyd, kyndynnyawc uyd. Kynedyf arall a
uyd8 amaw: pan dycco beich, na mawr na bychan uo, ny
270 welir uyth na rac vyneb na thra’e geuyn.9 Kynedyf arall a
uyd amaw: ny feit neb dwuyr a than10 yn gystal ac ef.
Kynedyf arall a uyd amaw: ny byd gwasanaythur11 na
swydvr mal ef.’
Henwas a Hen Vyneb a Hengedymdeith,12 Gallgoic13 un
275 arall— y dref y delhei idi,14 kyt bei trychant tei15 yndi, or
bei eisseu dim amaw ny adei ef hun uyth ar legat16 dyn tra uei
yndi. Berwynn mab Kyrenyr, a Fferis17 brenhin Freinc— ac
am hynny y gelwir Kaer Paris.18 Osla Gyllelluawr, a
ymdygei Bronllauyn Uerllydan; pan delhei Arthur a’e luoed
280 y uron llifdwr, y keissit Ile kyuyg19 ar y dwuyr, ac y dodit y
gyllell yn y gwein ar draws y llifdwr— digawn o bont
uydei y lu Teir Ynys Prydein a’e Their Rac Ynys ac
eu hanreitheu. Gwydawc mab Menester, a ladawd Kei,
ac Arthur a’y lladawd20 ynteu a’e urodyr yn dial Kei.
285 Garanwyn mab Kei, ac Amren mab Bedwyr, ac Ely a Myr
a Reu Rwyddyrys, a Run Rudwern, ac Eh a Thrachmyr,

’Gwystyl mab. Run m. nwython. ngwasanythurW.;gwassanaethwrR.

2rwng hueil ac arthur. 12+ arthur above line.
3ym prydein pan dyrehauei. 13Gwallgoyc.
4eidyol. ,4Y drei y drei W.; idi om. R.
5Glwydyn Saer. 15trychantr e f {del.) W.; trychant tei
6oth uab di. R.
7kynnedyf arall amaw. ,6ar lygat.
8heuyt a uyd. 17gerenhir a pharis.
9nac rac y wyneb na thraegeuyn R. ,8kaer baris.
na thaegeuyn W. ,9kyuing.
,0a dwuyr ac a than. ^a lladawd.
 C U LH W CH AC OLW EN II

penkynydyon Arthur. [466] A Lluydeu mab Kelcoet, a

Hu[n]abwy* mab Gwryon, a Gwynn Gotyuron, a Gweir
Dathar Wenidawc, a Gweir mab Kadellin Tal Ary ant, a
290 Gweir Gwrhyd Enwir, a Gweir Gwyn Paladyr2— ywythred3
y Arthur, brodyr y uam; meibon Llwch Llawwynnyawc o’r
tu draw y Uor Terwyn.
Llenlleawc Vydel ac ardyrchawc Pry dein, Cas mab Saidi,
Gwruan Gwallt Auwyn, Gwilenhen4 brenhin Freinc,
295 Gwittart mab Aed5 brenhin Iwerdon, GarseHt Vydel,
Panawr Penbagat, Atleudor6 mab Naf, Gwynn Hyuar maer
Kem yw a Dyfneint— nawuet7 a estoues Cat Gamlan. Kelli a
Chuel,8 a Gilla Goeshyd— trychanherw a lammei yn y un
11am,9 pen llemidit Iwerdon.10
300 Sol a Gwadyn Ossol a Gwadyn Odeith11— Sol, a allei
seuyll un dyt ar y un troet; Gwadyn Ossol, pei saf hei ar benn
y mynyd m w yaf yn y byd ef a uydei yn tyno gwastat dan y
droet;12 Gwadyn Odeith, kymeint a’r uas twym pan dynhet13
o’r eueil oed tan llachar y wadneu pan gyuarfei galet ac ef;14 ef
305 a arllwyssei ford y Arthur yn lluydd.15 Hir Erwm a Hir
Atrwm, y dyd y delhynt y west, trychantref a achubeint yn
eu kyuereit;16 gwest hyt nawn [467] a diotta hyt nos. Pan
elhynt y gyscu, penn y pryuet17 a yssynt rac newyn mal pei
nat yssynt uwyt eiroet. Pan elhynt y west nyd edewynt18 wy
310 na thew na theneu, na thwym nac oer, na sur na chroyw, nac
ir na hallt.19
Huarwar mab Halwn,20 a nodes y wala ar Arthur yn y
gyuarws; trydyt gordibla Kernyw21 a Dyfneint22 pan gahad
idaw y wala; ny cheffit gwyn gwen amaw uyth23 namyn tra

'hunabwy. 13tynnit.
2gweir baladyr hir. 14gyuarffei galet ac wynt.
3ewythred. 15yny Uud.
4-hin changed to hen W.; gwyllennhin 16a achubit yn eu kyfueir.
R. 17a wneynt a diotta hyt pan vei nos
5+oed. pan elynt y gysgu. Ac yna penneu y
6a fflendor. pryuet.
7y nawuet gwr a ystoues. *8ny dywe nyd edewynt W.
8Keli a chueli. 19+na brwt nac of.
’ llan. penn llemhidyd. ^aflawn.
,0+oed hwnnw. 21kemyw vu.
ngwadyn odyeith. 22om.
,2y traet. “ vyt.
12 C U LH W C H AC OLW EN

315uei lawn. Gwarae1 Gwallt Eurin, deu geneu Gast Rymhi,

Gwydrut a Gwyden2 Astrus, Sucgyn mab Sucnedut, a
sugnei y morawl y bei trychanllong amaw hyt na bei namyn
traeth sych; bron llech rud a oed yndaw. Caccymuri3 gwas
Arthur— dangosset itaw yr yscubawr,4 kyt bei rw yf dec
320 aradyr ar ugeint5 yndi ef a*y trawei a fust heyemyn6 hyt na
bei well y ’r rethri a’r trostreu a’r tulatheu noc y ’r man geirch
ygwaelawt yr yscubawr.7 Llwng8 a Dygyflwng ac Anoeth
Ueidawc a Hir Eidyl a Hir Amren— deu was Arthur9
oedynt, [a Gweuyl mab Gwastat10— y dyd y bei drist y
325 gellyngei10a y lleill weuyl idaw y waeret hyt y uogel a’r Hall
a uydei yn bennguch11 ar y benn].
[468] Vchdryt U aryf Draws, a uyryei y uaraf2 goch
seuydlawc a oed amaw dros dec trawst a deugeint13 oed yn
neuad Arthur. Elidir Gyuarwyd, Yskyrdaf ac Yscudyd—
330 deu was y Wenhwyuar oedynt; kynhebrwydet oet eu traet
vrth eu neges ac eu medwl.
Brys uab Bryssethach o dal y Rydynawc14 Du o Brydein, a
Gmdlwyn Gorr; Bwlch a Chyuwlch a Seuwlch,15 meibion
K ledyf Kyuwlch, vyron Cledyf Diuwlch. Teir gorwen gwen
335 eu teir yscwyt, tri gouan gwan eu tri gwayw; tri benyn
byneu eu tri chledyf; Glas, Glesic, Gleissat eu tri chi; Call,
KuaU, KauaU eu tri meirch; Hwyr Dydwc a Drwc Dydwc a
Llw yr Dydwc eu teir gwraged; Och a Garym16 a Diaspat eu
teir vyryon; Lluchet a Neuet ac Eissywed eu teir merched;
340 Drwc a Gwaeth a Gwaethaf OH eu teir morwyn.
Eheubryt mab17 Kyuwlch, Gorascwrn mab17 Nerth,
Gwaedan mab17 Kynuelyn Keudawc,18 Pwyll Hanner Dyn,
Dwnn Diessic Unben, Eiladar19 mab Penn Llarcan,
Kynedyr20 WyUt mab [469] Hettwn Tal Aryant, Sawyl Penn

’Gware. nyn pennguch.

2gwydneu. 12uaryf.
3Racymwri. ,3idaw dros wyth drawst a deugeint a.
Mangossit yr yscubawr a uynnit 14redynawc.1678
idaw. I5Sefwlch.
16.
5dec eredyr ar hugeint. 16ac arym W.; a garym R.
6hayam. 17merch W.R.
7+yn y ueiscawn. 18keudawc W.; keudawt R.
*om. ,9Fi1
,9Eiladyr.
^ yu ed y r W.; Kyvedyr R.
 C U LH W CH AC OLW EN 13
345 Uchel, Gwalchmei mab Gwyar, Gwalhauet mab Gwyar,
Gwrhyr Gwalstawd Ieithoed—yr holl ieithoed a wydat’1— a’r
Kethtrwm Offeirad. Clust mab Clustueinat— pei cladhet
seith vrhyt2 yn y dayar, deng milltir a deugeint y clywei y
morgrugyn y bore pan gychwhynnei y ar lwth.3 Medyr mab
350 Methredyd— a uedrei y dryw yn Eskeir Oeruel yn Iwerdon
trwy y dwy goys4 yn gythrymhet o Gelli Wie. Gwiawn
Llygat Cath5— a ladei ongyl ar lygat y gwydbedyn heb
argywed y*r llygat.6 Ol mab O lwyd— seith mlynet kyn no’e
eni a ducpwyd moch y dat, a ffan drychauwys7ynteu yn wr
355 yd olrewys y moch ac y deuth attref8 ac vynt yn seith
kenuein. Bitwini9 Escob, a uendigei uwyt a llyn10 yr mwyn
merchet eurtyrehogyon11 yr Ynys honn.
Y am Wenhwyuar, Penn Rianed yr Ynys honn, a
Gwenhwyach y chwaer, a Rathtyen12 merch Vnic Clememyl,
360 Kelemon13 merch Kei, a Thangwen14 m. Weir Dathar
Wenidawc, Gwen Alarch m. Kynwal15 Canhwch, Eumeit
merch Clydno Eidin, Eneuawc merch Uedwyr, Enrydrec
merch Tutuathar, Gwenwledyr merch Waredur16 Kyruach,
Erduduyl17 merch Tryffin, Eurolvyn18 merch [Wdolwyn
365 Gorr],19 Teleri [470] merch Peul, Indec merch Arwy Hir,
Moruyd20 merch Uryen Reget, Gwenlliant Tec,21 y uorwyn
uawruredic,22 Creidylat merch Llud Llaw Ereint, y uorwyn
uwyaf y mawred a uu yn Teir Ynys Pry dein23 a’e Their Rac
Ynys— ac am honno y may24 Gwythyr mab Greidawl a
370 Gwynn mab Nud yn ymlad pob dyw kalan Mei uyth hyt dyt
brawt; Ellylw merch Neol Kyn Croc— a honno a uu teir
oes gvyr yn uyw; Essyllt Vynwen ac Essyllt Uyngul.25
Amadunt oli y hasswynwys Kulwch mab Kilid26y gyuarws.
'Gwastawt .. . a wydyat. ,5kynnwyl.
2cledit seith cuppyt. 16waledur.
3pan gychwynnei . . . y lwth. 17Erdutuul.
4goes. 18Eurolwen.
5Lygat Cath. 19Wdolwyn Gorr om. W.
V llygat om. ^Moruud.
7dyrchauawd. 21Dec.
8adref. ^ a w r vrydic.
9Betwini. ^teir ynys y kedym.
10vwyt a llyn arthur. 24y mae.
neur dyrchogyon. ^Essyllt vinwen ac Esyllt vingul.
12Rathtyeu merch unic clememhill. ^y hasswynwynwys Kulhwch mab
,3a relemon. Kilyd.
14a thannwen.
14 C U LH W CH AC OLW EN

The Quest for the Giant’s Daughter

Arthur a dywawd,1 ‘Ha unben, ny rygiglef i eirmoet2 [y
37$ wrth]2 y uorwyn a dywedy di na’e rieni. Mi a ellynghaf
genhadeu o’e cheissaw yn llawen.’3 O ’r nos honno hyt y llall
ym penn y ulwydyn y bu y kenhadeu yn krwydraw. Ympen
y ulwydyn, hyny uyd kenhadeu Arthur heb gaffel dim.
Dywawd yr unben,4 ‘Pawb ry gauas5 y gyuarws ac yd v y f i
380 ettwa yn eissywet.6 Mynet a wnaf i, a’th wyneb di a dygaf i
genhyf. * Dywawd Kei, ‘Ha unben, rwy yt werthey Arthur.
Dygyreh ti genhym ni. Hyd pan dywettych ti nat oes hi7 yn y
byt, neu ninheu a’e caffom, ny’n hyscarhawr8 a thi.’
Kyuodi yna Kei. Angerd oed ar Gei: naw nos a naw
3 8$ diwamaw[t]9hyt y anadyl y dan dwuyr; naw [471 ] nos a naw
dieu hyd uydei10 hep gyscu. Cleuydawd11 Kei ny allei uedyc y
wäret. Budugawl12 oed Kei.13 Kyhyt a’r prenn uchaf yn y
coet uydei pann uei da ganthaw.14 Kynnedyf arall oed arnaw:
pan uei uw yaf y glaw, dymued uch y law ac arall is y law yt
390 uyd [ei]15 yn sych yr hynn a uei yn y law, rac meint y angerd; a
ffan uei uw yaf y anwyd ar y gydymdeithon, dyskymon16
vydei hynny utunt y gynneu tan.
Galw a oruc Arthur ar Uedwyr, yr hynn nyt arswydwys17
y neges yd elhei Gei idi.18 Sef a oed ar Uedw yr,19 nyt oed neb
39$ kymryt20 ac ef yn yr Ynys honn namyn Arthur a Drych eil
Kibdar. A hynn heuyt, kyt bei unllofyawc nyt anwaydwys
tri aeruawc kyn21 noc ef yn un uaes ac ef. Angerd arall oed
amaw: un archoll a uydei yn y wayw22 a naw gwrthwan.

’a dywawt yna. 8nyt yscarwn.

2+dim y with. 9diwamaw W.; diwamawt R.
3+dyro ym yspeit y cheissaw; Y mab 10y bydei.
a dywawt rodaf yn llawen or nos "cleuydawd W.; cleuydawt R.
heno hyt y llall ympenn y vlwydyn. 12budugal W.; budugawl R.
Ac yna y gyrrwys arthur y kennadeu 13oed Gei.
y bop tir yn y deruyn y geissaw y 14gantaw.
uorwyn honno. ac ympenn y 15yt uei W; y bydei R.
vlwydyn y doeth kennadeu arthur 16gedymdeithon diskymon.
drachevyn. heb gaffel na chwedyl na 17+eiryoet.
chyuarwydyt y wrth olwen mwy 18y delei gei idi vynet.
nor dyd kyntaf. 19om.
4Ac yna y dywawt kulwch. ^ y fir e t.
5a gauas. 21yn gynt.
6yn eissywedic ettwa. 2 y waew.
7nat ydiw y uorwyn honno.
 C U LH W C H AC OLW EN 15
Galw o Arthur ar Gyndylic1 Kyuarwyd. ‘Dos ti im2 y ’r
400 neges honn y gyt a’r unben. * Nyt oed3 waeth kyuarwyd yn y
wlad ny rywelei4 eiroet noc yn y wlad e hun.
Galw Gwrhyr Gwalstawt5 Ieithoed:6 yr holl ieithoed a
wydat.7
Galw Gwalchmei mab Gwyar, cany deuth attref8 eiroet
405 heb y neges yd elhei o’e cheissyaw.9 Goreu pedestyr oed a
goreu marchawc. Nei y Arthur, uab [472] y chwaer a’y
gefynderw oed.
Galw o Arthur ar Uenw mab10 Teirgwaed, kanys o
delhynt11 y wlat aghred12 mal y gallei yrru lleturith
410 amadunt,13 hyt nas gwelei neb vynt ac vyntvy a welynt
pawb.
Custennin the Shepherd and Ysbaddaden Chief Giant
Mynet a orugant hyd pan deuuant14 y uaestir mawr, hyny
uyd kaer15 a welynt, mwyhaf16 ar keyryt y byt. Kerdet17
ohonu y dyt hwnnw. Pan debygynt vy eu bot yn gyuagos y ’r
415 gaer nyt oydynt18 nes no chynt. Mai19 y deuant eisswys ar un
maes a hi, han ny uyd dauates uawr a welynt heb or20 a heb
eithaf iti, a heusawr yn cadw y deueit ar benn gorsetua a
ruchen o grwyn amdanaw, a gauaelgi kydenawc21 ach y law
noc amws naw gayaf oed m w y.22 Deuawt oet amaw ny
420 chollet oen eiroet23 ganthaw anoethac[h]24 llwdwn mawr.
Nyd athoed kyweithyd25 hebdaw eiroet ny wnelei ae anaf ae
adoet amei. Y sawl uarw brenn a thwympath a uei ar y
mays26 a loskei y anadyl hyt y prid dilis.
Amkawd27 Kei, ‘Gwrhyr Gwalstawd Ieithoed, dos y
’gyndelic. 16teckaf o geyryd.
2dos di; om. im. 17a omgant . . . +hyt ucher.
3achaws nyt oed. 18oedynt nes nor bore.
4nys rywelsei. 19Ar eildyd ar trydyd dyd y
5gwas (del.) gwalstawt W.; gwall- kerdassant ac o vreid y doethant hyt
tawt R. yno. a phan deuant ym bronn y gaer
6+achaws. jny vyd ....
7a wydyat.
8adref eiryoet. 21kedenawc.
9y cheissaw. 22oed vwy noc amws naw gayaf.
lduab. ^eiryoet.
not elynt. 24anoethac W.; agwhaethach llwdyn
12angkret. R.
13lletrith amadunt a hut. ^gyweithyd.
14deuthant. ^maes a losgei.
,5yny uyd kaer uawr. ^yna a dywawt.
i6 C U LH W C H AC OLW EN

425 gyfrwch a’r dyn racco. ’ ‘Kei,1 nyt edeweis uynet namyn hyd
yd elhut titheu.’ ‘Down2 y gyt yno.* Amkawd3 Menw mab
Teirgwaed, ‘Na uid amgeled genhwch mynet yno. Mi a
yrraf Uedrith ar y ki hyd na wnel argywed y neb.’
Dyuot a wnaethont4 [473] myn yd oed yr heusawr.
430 Amkeudant,5 ‘Berth yd ytw yt,6 heusawr.’ ‘N y bo berthach
byth y boch chwi no minheu.* ‘Myn D yw, can wyt penn.’
‘Nyd oes anaf y ’m llygru namyn vym priawt. ’ ‘Pieu y deueit
a getwy di, neu pieu y gaer?’7 [‘Meredic a wyr ywch].8Dros y
byt y gwys pan yw Yspydaden Penkawr bieu y gaer.’9 ‘Neu
435 titheu, pwy wyt?* ‘Custenhin Amhynwyedic v y f i,10 ac am
uym priawt y ’m ryamdiuwynwys Yspydaden Penkawr.11
Neu chwitheu, pwy ywch?’ ‘Kenhadeu Arthur yssyd yma yn
erchi Olwenn.’12 ‘Vb, wyr. Nawd D yw ragoch. Y r y byt na
wnewch hynny. N y dodyw neb13 y erchi yr arch honno a
440 elhei a’e uyw ganthaw. *14 Kyuodi a oruc yr heusawr y uynyd.
Mai15 y kyuyt, rodi modrwy eur a oruc Culhuch16 itaw.
Keissaw gwiscaw y uodrwy ohonaw17 ac nyd a[e]i18idaw, a’y
dodi a oruc ynteu ymys y uanec, a cherdet a oruc adref a rori y
uanec ar y kymhar.19 A chymryt a oruc hitheu y uodrwy o’r
445 uanec. ‘Pan yr [doeth]20 y ti, vr, y uodrwy honn? Nyt oed
uynych it caffel douot.*21 ‘Mi a euthum22 y ’r mor y geissaw
moruwyt. Nachaf gelein23 a welwn yn dyuot gan yr ertrei24 y
m ywn.25 N y weleis i eirmoyt gelein gymryt a hi,26 ac am27 y
uys ef y keueis [474] y uodrwy hon. ’ ‘ Oia wr, cany at [y]
^ h eb ef. 12+ merch yspadaden penn kawr.
2+ninheu. 13ny doeth neb eiryoet y erchi yr
3+heb y menw mab T. arh.
4a orugant. 14ae vywyt gantaw.
5amkeudawt W.; ac y dywedassant 15ac ual.
wrthaw R. ,6culhwch.
6yd wyt. ,7gwisgaw y uodrwy honno ohonaw.
7bieu . . . + racko. 18nyt ai W.; nyt aei R.
8 om. W . 19att y gymhar y gadw.
9. .. pan y w caer yspydaden penkawr x om. W .

bieu y gaer, W . . .; pan yw kaer ys­ 21pan ryattei y dywawt hitheu. gwr y
padaden penkawr yw R. uodrwy hon nyt oed vynych itt
‘°Custennin yn gelwir uab dyfnedic. affel bud.
ê!+heb
nam uym priawt ym ryamdiuwyn­ ef.
wys uym priawt yspydaden pen­ “ kelein.
kawr, W.; ac am vym priawt ym 24gan y tonneu.
rylygrwys vym brawt yspadaden ^om.
pen kawr R. ^kelein degac no hi.
27om.
 C U LH W C H AC OLW EN 17
450 mor1 marw dlws yndaw, dangos imi y gelein honno.’ ‘Ha
wreic, y neb pieu y gelein ti a’y gwelho2 yma ochwinsa.’3
‘Pwy ef* hwnnw?’, heb y wreic. ‘Kulhwch mab Kilid mab
Kelydon Wledic, o Oleudyt merch Anlawd Wledic, y uam, a
doeth y erchi Olwen. ’5 Deu synhwyr a oed genthi: llawen a
455 oed genthi6 dyuot y nei uab y chwayr7 attei, a thrist oed
genthi kany rywelsei8 eiroet y uynet a’e eneit ganthaw a
delhei y erchi y neges honno.
Kyrchu a orugant vy porth llys Custenhin heusawr.
Clybot oheni9 hitheu eu trwst10 yn dyuot. Redec oheni yn eu
460 herbyn o lywenyd.11 Goglyt a oruc Kei ym prenn o’r
gludweir,12 a’e dyuot hitheu yn eu herbyn y geissaw mynet
dwylaw mynwgyl udunt. Gossot o Gei eiras kyfrwg13 y
dwylaw. Gwascu ohonei hitheu yr eiras hyt pan yttoed14 yn
vden diednedic. Amkawd Kei, ‘Ha wreic, pei mi ry wascut
465 uelly,15 ny oruydei ar arall uyth rodi serch im. Drwc a serch
hwnnw.’16
Dyuot a orugant hwy y ’r ty a gvneuthur eu gwasanaeth.
Ym penn gwers, pan at pawb eu damsathyr, agori kib a oruc
y wreic yn tal y pentan,17 a chyuodi gwas pengrych [475]
470 melyn oheni. Amkawd Gwrhyr, ‘Oed dyhed18 kelu y ryw
was hwnn. Gwn nat y gam19 e hun a dielir amaw.’
Amkawd20 y wreic, ‘Ys gohilion hwnn tri meib ar ugeint ry
ladawd21 Yspydaden Pen Cawr imi. Nyd oes oueneic22 imi o
hwnn mwy noc o’r rei ereill.’ Amkawd23 Kei, ‘Dalet
475 gydymdeithas a mi, ac ny’n lladawr24 namyn y gyd.’
Bwyta ohonunt. Amkawd25 y wreic, ‘Pa neges y

'mor W.; y mor R. I5Ha wreic heb y kei pei mi a wascut

2gwely. ueUy.
3y chwinsaf. 16y serch amaf. drycserch oed
4pwy yw. hwnnw.
5+yn wreic idaw. 17pan aeth pawb allan y chware. agori
6genti. kib uaen a oed yn tal y penntan a oruc
7chwaer y wreic.
8kany welsei. l8heb y gwrhyr ys oed gryssyn.
9o honei. 19y drwc.
10+wy. ^ e b y.
"lewenyd. 21a ladawd.
12glutweir. ^o uenic W.; oueneic R.
13y rwng. ^ac yna y dywawt.
14yny yttoed. 24nyn lledir.
^ac yna y dywawt.
i8 C U LH W C H AC OLW EN

dodyvch1 yma chwi?* 4Y dodym y erchi Olwen.*2 ‘Y r Dyw,

canywch rewelas3 neb etwa o’r gaer, ymhoelwch. *4 ‘Duw a
vyr nat ymhoylwn hyt pan welhom y uorwyn.5 A daw
480 hitheu yn teruyn6 y gweler?’ ‘Hi a daw yma pob dyw
Sadwm y olchi y fenn, ac yn y llestyr yd ymolcho yd edeu y
modrwyeu oil. Nac hi7 na’e chennad ny daw byth
amdanunt.’ ‘A daw hi yma o chenneteir?*8 ‘Duw a wyr na
ladaf i uy eneit. N y thwyllaf ui a’m crettwy.9 Namyn o
485 rodwch cret na wneloch gam iti, mi a’e kennattaaf. *10 ‘As
rodwn.*11
Olwen and her Father
Y chennatau a orucpwyd. A ’e dyuot12 hitheu a chamse
sidan flamgoch amdanei, a gordtorch rudeur am y mynwgyl
y uorwyn,13 a mererit gwerthuawr [476] yndi a rud
490 gemmeu.14 Oed melynach15 y fenn no blodeu y banadyl.
Oed gwynnach16 y chnawd no distrych y donn.17 Oed
gvynnach y falueu18 a’e byssed no chanawon19 godrwyth o
blith man gray an20 fynhawn fynhonus.21 Na golwc hebawc
mut, na golwc gwalch trimut, nyd oed olwg tegach22 no’r
495 eidi. No bronn alarch gwynn oed gwynnach y dwy uron.23
Oed kochach24 y deu rud no’r fion.25 Y sawl a’e gwelei
kyflawn uydei o’e serch. Pedeir meillonen gwynnyon a dyuei
yn y hoi myn yd elhei.26 Ac am hynny y gelwit hi Olwen.
Dygyrchu y ty27 a oruc, ac eisted kyfrwg28 Kulhwch a’r
500 dalueinc. Ac ual y gwelas yd adnabu.29 Dywawt Kulhwch

*.. . y doethawch chwi yma oe 15Melynach oed.

hachaws. 16Gwynnach oed.
2Ni a doetham y erchi Olwen yr 17distrych tonn.
gwas hwnn. Heb y wreic yna.... 18Tegach oed y dwylaw.
3canych gwelas. 19no channawan.
4ymchoelwch dracheuyn. ^gaean.
5+heb y kei. 21ffynhonws.
6yn theruyn W.; yn teruyn R. ^olwc degach.
7na hi. ^Gwynnach oed y dwyuron no
8ony chennetteir. bronn alarch gwynn.
9na thwyllafi am cretto.. .gret. 24Cochach oed.
10rodwch gret. . . idi .. . kannattaaf. ^ffuon cochaf.
11 As redwn [the e is uncertain and m ay Äa uydei yn y hoi pa fford bynnac y
be an o]. W., Rodwn heb wynteu R. delhei.
12Dyuot a oruc. ^Dyuot yr ty.
13gwrd dorch rud eur am vynwgyl y ^geyr 11aw.
uorwyn. ^gwel y hadnabu. + Ac y ...
,4rud emeu.
 C U LH W C H AC OLW EN 19
vrthi, ‘Ha uorwyn, ti a gereis. A dyuot a wnelych genhyf?’
‘Rac eirychu pechawd iti ac i minheu, ny allaf ui dim o
hynny.1 Cret a erchis uyn tat im nat elw yf heb y gyghor,
kanyt oes hoedyl itaw namyn hyny2 elw yf gan vr. Yssit,3
505 hagen, cussul a rodaf it, os aruolly. Dos y ’m erchi4 y ’m tat, a
ffa ueint bynnac a archo ef iti, adef ditheu y gaffel,5 a minheu
a geffy.6 Ac ot amheu dim, mi ny cheffy,7 a da yw it o
dihengy a’th uyw genhyt.’8 ‘Mi a adawaf hynny oil, ac a’e
caffaf.’9
510 Kerdet a oruc hi y hystaueU. Kyuodi onadunt10 vynteu
[477] yn y hoi hi y ’r gaer, a llad naw11 porthawr a oed ar naw
porth heb disgyrryaw gw r,12 a naw gauaelgi heb wichaw un.
Ac y kerdassant racdu a’r neuad.13 Amkeudant,14 ‘Henpych
gwell, Yspadaden Penkawr, o Duw ac o dyn.’ ‘Neu
515 chwitheu, kwt ymdewch?’15 ‘Yd ymdawn16 y erchi Olwen
dy uerch y Gulhwch mab Kilid*17 ‘Mae uy gweisson drwc
a’m direidyeit?’18 heb yrteu. ‘Drycheuwch19 y fyrch y dan
uyn deu amrant20 hyt pan w elw yf defnyt uyn daw.’
Gorucpwyt hyn[n]y.21 ‘Dowch yma auory. Mi a dywedaf
520 peth atteb iwch.’22
Kyuodi23 a orugant vy, a meglyt24 a oruc Yspadaden
Penkawr yn un o’r tri llechwayw gwenhwynic a oed ac[h] y
law a’e odi25 ar eu hoi. A ’e aruoll a oruc Bedwyr a’e odif
ynteu, a gwan Yspadaden Penkawr trwy aual y garr yn
525 gythrymhet. Amkawd26 ynteu, ‘Emendigeit anwar daw,
hanbyd gwaeth27 yd ymdaaf gan anwaeret. Mai dala cleheren

Myuot a wnelhych gennyf. rac eiry­neuad.

14amkeudawt W.; Henpych gwell
chu pechawt itti ac y minneu, llawer
dyd yth rygereis. Ny allaf i dim oheb wy R.
hynny. 15pan doethawch.
2kanyt hoedel idaw namyn hyt pan. 16neur doetham.
3Yssyd yssit W.R. 17mab kilyd mab kelydon wledic.
4Dos di ym erchi i. 18direitwyr.
19dyrcheuwch.
5a phob peth or a notto ef amat ti y
gael adef y gel. ^vyn dwy ael a dygwydawd ar vy
I» gey- llygeit.
7ot amheu ef dim mi nys keffy. 21Hynny a wnaethpwyt.
8or dihengy ath uywyt gennyt. ^chwi a geffwch atteb.
9+heb ynteu. 23+ ymeith.
10o honunt. 24ac ymauael.
ny naw. ^ac W.; oed geir y law ae dodi R.
12un gwr. ^y dywawt ynteu, Ymendigeit...
13a dyuot racdunt a orugant ac yr ^gwaeth byth.
20 C U LH W C H AC O LW EN

y ’m tostes yr hayarn gwenwyrçic.1 Poet emendigeit y gof a’y

digones a’r einon2 y digonet amei, mor dost y w .’
Gwest a orugant vy3 y nos honno4 yn ty Gustenhin.5
530 A ’r eil dyt gan uawred a gyrru gwiw grip y mywn gwallt6 y
doeth[478]ant y ’r neuad.7 Dywedut a orugant, ‘Yspadaden
Penkawr, doro8 in dy uerch dros y hegweti a’e hamwabyr iti
a’e dwy garant.9 Ac onys rody, dy agheu a geffy ymdanei.*10
‘Hi a’y ffedeir gorhenuam a’e fedwar gorhendat yssyd uyw
535 ettwa— reit yw im ymgyghori11 ac vynt.’ ‘Dypi12 iti hynny,’
heb v y .13 ‘Awn y ’n bwyt.* Mai y kyuodant, kymryt a oruc
ynteu yr eil llechwayw a oed ach14 y law a’e odif ar eu hoi. A ’e
aruoll a oruc Menw mab Teirgveth,15 a’e odif ynteu a’e wan
yn alauon y dwyuronn, hyt pan16 dardawd y ’r mein gefyn
540 allan. ‘Emendigeit anwar daw,17 mal dala gel bendoll y ’m
tostes yr hayarn dur. Poet emendigeit y foe yt uerwit yndi.18
Pan elw yf yn erbyn allt hatuyd ygder dwy uron amaf,19 a
chyllagwst, a mynych lysuwyd. ’ Kerdet a orugant w y y eu
bwyd.
545 A dyuod y trydydyt20 y ’r llys. Amkeudant,21 ‘Yspadaden
Penkawr, na saethutta ni bellach. Na uyn anaf ac adoet a’th
uarw arnat.’ ‘Mae uyg gweisson? Drycheuwch22 y fyrch—
uy aeleu ry syrthwys23 ar aualeu uy llygeit— hyt pan gaffwyf
edrych ar defnyd uyn daw.’ Kyuodi a orugant,24 ac mal y
550 kyuodant kymryt25 y trydyt llechwayw gwenwynic a’e26
odif [479] ar eu hoi. A ’e aruoll a oruc Kulhwch a’e odif yn
[teu] mal27 y rybuchei a’e wan ynteu yn aual y lygat hyt pan

' + hwnn. 16hyn W.; hyt R.

2eingon. 17+heb ynteu.
3om. 18y berwit yndi ar gof ae digones mor
4+heuyt. dost yw.
5+heussawr. Yr eil dyd. 19+ weithon.
6gwall. ^y trydyt dyd.
7yr gaer ac y mywn yr neuad. 2,amkeudawt W.; Y dywawt yspad­
8dyro. aden penkawr. Na saethutta vi
’ hengwedi ae hamwabyr y titheu. ae bellach onyt dy uarw a uynny R.
dwy gares. ^dyrcheuwch.
10+ Y dywawt ynteu. ^a syrthwys.
"ym gyg h o r. 24+hwy.
,2Dybi itti. ^a oruc yspadaden pennkawr.
,3wynt. ^ac.
14awch W.; ach R. ^yn W., ynteu ual R.
15teirgwaed.
 C U LH W C H AC O LW EN 21
aeth y ’r gwegil allan.1 ‘Emendigeit anwar daw, hyt tra y ’m
gatter yn uyw hanbyd gwaeth drem uy llygeit. Pan elw yf yn
555 erbyn gwynt berw2 a wnant; atuyd gal penn a ffendro
amaw3 ar ulaen pob lloer. Poet emendigeit foe yt uerwid4
yndi. Mal dala ki kyndeirave5 yw genhyf mal y ’m gwant yr
hayam gwenwynic.’6 Mynet onadunt y eu bwyt.
Tranhoeth y deuthant7 y ’r llys. Amkeudant,8 ‘Na
560 saethutta ni.9 Na uyn10 adoet ac anaf a merthrolyaeth11 yssyt
amat, ac a uo mwy os mynhy. Doro in dy uerch.*12 ‘Mae y
neb y dywedir vrthaw13 erchi uy merch?’ ‘Mi a’e heirch,
Kulhwc[h] mab Kilyd.*14 ‘Dos yma myn yd15 ym w elw yf a
thi. ’ Kadeir a dodet y danaw, vyneb yn vyneb ac ef.
Ysbaddaden stipulates the A n oethau
565 Dywawt Yspadaden Penkawr, ‘Ae tia_£ÍrdL uy merch?’
‘Ys mi 3/eJidrch.’16 ‘Cred a uynhaf y genhvt.^ a wnelhych
waefh no gwir.-arnar* ‘Ti a’e keffy.’17 ‘Pan gaffwyf inhéu18^.
Qottwyf amat ti. titheu a geffy uy merch.’19 ‘Nod a
nottych.’20
570 ‘Nodaf.21 A wely di y garth mawr draw?’ ‘G w elaf’ ‘Y
diwreidyaw o’r dayar a’e losci kr vyneb y tir hyt pan uo glo
Tiwnnw^i’e ludu\äÌ48.o].uo tsUitaw)a uynha§ a’e eredic a’y heu
[hyd pan uo y borejrbyn pryt diwlithLvn aeáuet]22J y d pan uo
hwnnw a wneîìt yn uwyd a llynn y ’th neithawrwyr ti a
575 merch} A hynny ol[l] a uynaf y wneuthur yn un dyt.’23
‘Hawd yw genhyf gaffel24 hynny, kyd tybyckych na bo
hawd.’
*ae wan trwy aual y lygat hyt pan 15lle yd.
aeth trwy y wegil allan. 16uy merch i. Mi heb y kulhwch.
^erw i. l7om.
3amaf. 18om.
4gweirwyt. 19+ti a gehy yn 11awen heb y
5kanderawc. Kulhwch.
6+hwnn. ^notta yr hyn a vynnych.
7doethant. 21 + heb ynteu.
8amkeudawt W.; ac y dywedassant R. ^Diwreidaw hwnnw or dayar a
9+beUach. uynnaf ae loski ar wyneb y tir. hyt
10namyn. pan uo yn lie teil idaw ae eredic ae
11 anaf ac adoet a merthyroly aeth. heu yn undyd ae uot yn aeduet.
12Dyro inn dy uerch. ac onys rody ti a ^a hynny gouot undyd. ac or gwenith
geffy dy angheu ymdeni. hwnnw y mynnaf i gwneuthur bwyt
ßy dywir W.; yssyd yn erchi vy a llynn tymeredic yth neithawr di ti
merch i R. am merch i.
24kaffel. kyt tybyckych di.
22 C U LH W C H AC O LW EN

‘Kyt keffych hynny, yssit1 ny xheffych. Amaeth a^

amaetho y tir hwnnw xíSC a’e j í gonbo.f Änyt2 Amaethon
580 mab Don. N y daw ef o’e uod genhyt ti,3 ny diy ditheu trcis
amaw ef.’
‘Hawd yw genhyf gaffel hynny4 kyt tybycckych ti na bo
hawd. ’
‘Kyt keffych hynny, yssit ny cheffych.5 Gouannon mab
585 Don y dyuot yt ym penn6 y tir^Dwaref yr heyni. N y wna ef
weith o’e uod namyn y(yrenhin teithiawci ny elly ditheu
treis amaw ef.’
‘Hawd yw genhyf.*
‘Kyt keffych.7 Deu ychen Gwlwlyd Wjneu, yn deu
590 gytbreinawc8y eredic y9tir dyrys drawfyn vych)10 Nys ryd ef
o’e uod, ny elly ditheu treis amaw.*
‘Hawd yw genhyf.’
‘Kyt keffych.11 Y Melyn Gwanhwyn a’r Ych Brych yn deu
gytbreinhawc a uynhaf.’12
595 ‘Hawd yw genhyf.’13 ,, ,
‘Kyt keffych.14 Deu ychen bannawc, y lleill yssyd o’r parth
hwnt y ’r M ynyd Bannawtf a’r Hall o’r parth hwnn,15 ac eu
dwyn y gyt.y dan yt unaradyr;16Y s hwy ýr t£rf48i] hynny,
Nynhyaw a Pheibyaw,17 a rithwys Duw yn ychen am eu18
600 pechawd. ’
‘Hawd yw genhyf.’19
‘Kyt keffych.20 A wely di y keibedic rud draw?’
‘Gwelaf. ’
‘Pan gÿuamum gyseuin a mam y uorwyn honno yd hewyt
605 naw hestawr llinat yndaw; na du na gwynn(ny doeth ohonaw

'yssyd W.R.. 12gyt breinawe a dynnaf af uynnaf.

2+mor dyrys yw nyt oes. namyn. 13Hawd yw gen W.; Hawd yw
3y gennyt ti. Ni elly ditheu dreis. eennyfi kaffel hynny R.
4hawd y kaffaf i hynny .. . di. ‘4Kyt keflfyeh hynny yssit nas
5Kyt keffych ditheu hynny yssit. nas keffych.
keffych .. . gouannon uab. 15yma.
6y penn. 16aradry W.; aradyr R.
7kyt keffyc W.; Kyt keffych di hynny 17sef yw y rei hynny. nynnyaw a
yssit nas keffych R. pheibaw.
"gyt preinyawc. *8y pechawt.
’ W. y om. 19Hawd yw gen.W.; Hawd yw
,0yn wych. eennyf kaffel hynny R.
nkyt keff. W.; kyt keffych hynny yssit ®kyt kef W. Kyt keffych hynny yssit
nas kaffy Y melyn gwannwyn R. nas keffych R.
 C U LH W C H AC O LW EN 23

etwa, a’r messur hwnnw [yssyd gennyf ettwa. Hwnnw a

vynnafinheu y gaffel1 yn y tir newyd draw, hyt pan vo ef|a
uo.pennlliein guynn am penn vym merch2 ar dy nëithàwr/
‘Hawd yw genhyf.*3
610 ‘Kyt keffych.4 Mel a uo chwechach (haw mod; no mel
kynteit heb wchi heb wenyn5 y vragodi y wled.’
‘Hawd yw genhyf. *6
‘Kyt keffych.7 Kib Lwyr8 mab Ldwyryon, yssyd pennllat9
yndi; canyt oes lestyr yn y byt aaam yoy llyn cadam hwnnw
615 namyn hi. N y cheffy ti hi o’e uod ef, ny elly titheu treis10
am aw.’
‘Hawd yw genhyf.*3
‘Kyt keffych.11 M w ys Gwydneu Garanhir: pob tri nawyr
*pei delheiý byt oduchti)(bwyt12[a uynho pawb wrth y urytja
620 ^ëìff yndi. Mi a uynnaf uwytta o honno y nos y kysco vy
merch genhyt. Nys ryd ef o’e uod y neb} ny elly titheu y
dreissaw ef.’
‘Havd yw genhyf.*13
‘Kyt keffych.14 Com Gwlgawt Gododin15 y wallaw arnam
625 y nos honno. Nys ryd ef o’e uod, ny elly titheu y treissaw ef. ’
‘Hawd yw genhyf.’16
[482] ‘Kyt keffych.17 Telyn Teirtu y ’m didanu y nos
honno. Pan uo da gan dyn, canu a wna(e hunant pan uynher
idi, tewi a wna.18 Nys ryd ef o’e uod, ny elly titheu treis
630 amaw ef.’

*ar llinat hwnnw a uynnaf i y gaffel y nkyt kefF W.; kyt keffych hynny.
heu. yssit nas keffych R.
2uym merch i. ^ yt delei y byt y gyt bop trinaw
3hawd yw genh’ W.; Hawd yw wyr. y bwyt.
gennyf kaffel hynny kyt tebyckych 13havd yw genh’ W.; Hawd yw
di na bo hawd R. gennyf kaffel hyny kyt tybyckych di
4Kyt keffych di hynny yssyd nas na bo hawd R.
keffych. 14kyt W.; Kyt keffych hynny yssit
5heb wychi ac heb wenyn yndaw a nas keffych R.
vynnaf. 15gogodin.
6hawd yw W.; Hawd yw gennyf 16hawd yw W.; Hawd yw gennyf
kaffel hynny. kyt tebyckych di na bo kaffel hynny kyt tebyckych na bo
hawd R. hawd R.
1 om. 17kyt kefF W. Kyt keffych hynny
8llwyr uab Uwyryon. yssit nas keffych R.
9bennllat. 8idi tewi hi a teu. a honno.
10nys keffy d i.. . ni elly ditheu dreis.
24 C U LH W C H AC O LW EN

‘Hawd yw genhyf.*1
‘K yt keffych.2 Adar Rianhon y rei a duhun y marw ac a
huna y byw a vynhaf y *m didanu y nos honno. *3
‘Hawd yw genhyf. *4
635 ‘Kyt keffych.*5 Peir Diwmach Wydel, maer Odgar mab
Aed brenhin Iwerdon y verwi bwyt dy neithawrwyr. *6
‘Hawd yw genhyf.’7
‘K yt keffych.8 Reit yw ym olchi vym penn ac eillaw vym
baryf. Ýsíúthyr Yskithyrwyn Penn Beid9 a uynnaf y eillaw
640 ym. N y hanwyf well ohonaw onyt 'yn vyw y tÿnnir10 o’e
pen.*
‘Hawd yw genhyf.’11
‘K yt keffych.12 N yt oes yn y bytia’e tynho o’e penn namyn
Odgar mab Aed brenhin Iwerdon.*
645 ‘Hawd yw genhyf.’13
‘Kyt keffych.14 N yt ymdiredaf y neb o gadw yr yskithyr
namyn y Kaw 15 o Pry dein. Trugein cantref Pry dein yssyd
[yjdanaw ef. N y daw ef o’e uod o’e teymas, ny ellir16 treis
amaw ynteu.’
650 ‘Hawd yw genhyf.’17
‘Kyt keffych.18 Reit yw ym éstynnu vym blew wrth eillaw
ym. N yt estwg uyth ony cheffir guaet y Widon Oirdu merch
y Widon Orwen o Pennant Gouut yg gwrthtir Uffem.*
‘Hawd yw genhyf.*19
655 ‘Kyt keffych.20 N y mwynha y gwaet onyt yn dwym y
keffir.21 N yt oes lestyr yn y byt a gattwo gwres y llyn a dotter

!hawd W.; Hawd yw gennyf kaffel hynny kyt tebyckych na bo hawd R.

hynny kyt tebyckych na bo hawd R. ,2kyt W.; kyt keffych hynny yssit nas
^ y t keff W.; Kyt keffych hynny keffych R.
yssit nas keffych R. 13hawd W.; Hawd yw gennyf kaffel
3Adar . . . honno om. hynny R.
4hawd W.; Hawd yw gennyf kaffel 14kyt W.; kyt keffych hynny yssit nas
hynny kyt tebyckych na bo hawd R. k’ R.
5kyt kefF W.; Kyt keffych hynny 15y kadw W.; y gado R.
yssit nas keffych R. 16ny elly ditheu dreis.
°neithawr. 17hawd W.; Hawd y w gennyf kaffel
7hawd W.; Hawd yw gennyf kaffel hynny kyt tebyckych na bo hawd R.
hynny kyt tebyckych na bo hawd R. l8kyt W.; Kyt keffych hynny yssit
8kyt W.; Kyt keffych hynny yssit nas nas keffych R.
keffych R. 19hawd W.; Hawd yw gennyf kaffel
9Beird. hynny. kyt tebyckych na bo h’a R.
10tinnir. ^ y t W.; Kyt k’ R.
nhawd W.; Hawd yw gennyf kaffel 21Ny mynnaf. .. y keffych.
 C U LH W CH AC OLW EN 25
yndaw namyn botheu Guidolwyn Gorr, a__gatwant_guies
yndunt pan [483] dotter yn ý dwyreiri yndunt ý llyn)hyt pan
dyffer y ’r gdfrjllewin.1 N y ryd2 ef o’e voct, ny elly titheu y
660 treissaw. *
‘Hawd yw genhyf.*3
Kyt keffych.4 Llefrith a wennych rei; nyt aruaeth5 kaffel
lleurith y bawbiies kaffel botheu Rinnon Rin Baruawc.6 N y
surha uyth llyn yndunt. Nys ryd ef o’e uod y neb, ny ellir
665 treis amaw.*7
‘Hawd yw genhyf.’8
‘Kyt keffych.9 Nyt oes yn y byt crib a guelleu y galler
gwrteith vyg uallt ac w y ,10 rac y rynhet, namyn y grib a’r
guelleu yssyd kyfrwg deu yskyuam11 Twrch Trwyth mab
670 Tared Wledic. Nys ryd ef o’e uod et cetera.’
‘Hawd yw genhyf.12
‘Kyt keffych.13 N y helir Twrch Trwyth hyny gaffer
Drutwyn, keneu Greit mab Eri.’
‘Hawd yw genhyf.*14
675 ‘Kyt keffych.15 Nyt oes yn y byt gynllyuan a dalhyo
amaw, namyn kynllyuan Cors16 Cant Ew in.’
‘Hawd yw genhyf.*17
‘Kyt keffych.’18 Nyt oes torch yn y byt a dalhyo y
gynllyuan, namyn torch Can[h]astyr19 Canllaw.’
680 ‘Hawd yw genhyf.*20
‘Kyt keffych.21 Cadwyn Kilyd Canhastyr y daly y torch22
gyt a’r gynllyuan.*
‘Hawd yw genhyf.*23
‘Kyt keffych.24 Nyt oes yn y byt kynyd a digonho

*hyt pan deler yr gorUewin. uhawd W.; Hawd yw R.

^ys ryd . . . ditheu y dreissaw cf. 15kyt W.; Kyt keff R .. . kynllyuan
3Hawd W.; ‘Hawd yw gennyf et R.
cetera R. 16cwrs W.; kwrs R.
4kyt W.; Kyt k’ R . . . a whennych. 17hawd W.; Hawd yw g’ R.
sarllaeth W.; aruaeth R. 18kyt W.; Kyt keff. h’ R.
6baruawt W.; bamawt R. 19canhastyr.
7ny elly ditheu dreis amaw ef. ^ a w d W.; Hawd et cetera R.
8hawd W.; Hawd yw gennyf k’ R. 21kyt W.; Kyt keffych hynny yssit
’ kyt W.; Kyt keffych h’ R. nas keffych R.
10uyg gwallt ac wynt. dorch.
ny rwng deuglust. ^hawd W.; Hawd yw R.
,2hawd W.; Hawyd yw gennyf k’.R. 24kyt W.; Kyt k’ et cetera R.
13kyt W.; Kyt keffych et cetera R.
26 C U LH W C H AC OLW EN

685 kynydyaeth ar y ki1 hwnnw, .onyt Mabon mab Modron, a

ducpwyt yn teir nossic y wrth y vam. N y wys py tu2 y mae,
na pheth yw, ae byw ae marw.’
‘Hawd yw gen h yf’3
‘Kyt keffych.4 Guyn M ygtw n,5 march Gwedw—kyfret a
690 thon yw 6— dan Vabon y hela Twrch Trwyth.7 Nys ryd8 ef
o’e vod et cetera.*
Hawd yw genhyf.*9
‘Kyt keffych.10 N y cheffir Mabon vyth, [484] ny wys py
tu11 y mae, nes kaffel Eidoel y gar gysseuin12 mab Aer, kanys
69$ diuudyawc uyd yn y geissaw. Y geuynderw yw.*
‘Hawd yw genhyf.*13
‘Kyt keffych.14 Garselit15 Wydel, penkynyd Iwerdon yw.
N y helir Twrch Trwyth uyth hebdaw.*
‘Hawd yw genhyf.*16
700 ‘Kyt keffych.17 Kynllyuan o uaryf Dillus18 Varchawc,
canyt oes a dalhyo y deu geneu hynny namyn hi. Ac ny ellir
mwynyant a hi onyt ac ef yn vyw y tynnir o’e varyf, a’e
gnithyaw a chyllellprenneu. N y at neb19 o’e vywyt
gwneuthyr hynny idaw. N y mwynha hitheu yn uarw canys
705 breu vyd .’
‘Hawd yw genhyf.*20
‘Kyt keffych.21 Nyt oes kynyd yn y byt a dalhyo y deu
geneu hynny, namyn Kynedyr Wyllt mab Hettwn
Clauyryawc. Guylltach22 naw mod yw hwnnw no’r
710 gwydlwdyn guylltaf yn y mynyd. N y cheffy ti ef byth, a
merch23 inheu nys keffy.*
‘Hawd yw genhyf.*24
‘Kyt keffych.25 N y heli[r]26Twrch Trwyth nes kaffel Guynn
'ar ki .. . “ Garselit W.R.
2pa du. 16hawd W.; Hawd yw R.
3hawd W.; Hawd yw R. 17kyt W.; Kyt k\ R.
4kyt W.; Kyt k’ et cetera R. 18dissull W.R.
5mygdwn. 19neb om.
6kynebrwydet yw a thonn y dan. ^ aw dd W.; Hawd yw R.
7y twrch trwyth. 2,kyth W.; Kyt keffych hynny et
8ryd om. W. cetera R.
’ hawd W.; Hawd yw g’. R. 22Glafyrawc, gwylltall.
,0kyt W.; Keffych h’.R. “ Nys keffy .. . na merch.
nkany wys pa tu. 24hawd W.; Hawd yw g. R.
,2kysseuin. “ kyt W.; Kyt keff Ny helir. R.
13hawd W.; Hawd et cetera R. “ heli W. helir R.
,4kyt W.; Kyt k\ R.
 C U LH W CH AC OLW EN 27

mab Nud ar dodes1 Duw aryal dieuyl Annwuyn yndaw rac

715 rewinnyaw y bressen. N y hebcorir ef odyno.’
‘Hawd yw genhyf.’2
‘Kyt keffych.3 Nyt oes uarch a tyckyo4 y Wynn y hela
Twrch Trwyth, namyn Du march Moro Oeruedawc.’
‘Hawd yw genhyf.*5
720 ‘Kyt keffych.6 Nes dyuot Guilenhin brenhin Freinc,7 ny
helir Twrch Trwyth uyth hebdaw. Hagyr yw idaw adaw y
teymas,8 ac ny daw9 uyth yma.’
‘Hawd yw genhyf.*10
‘Kyt keffych.11 N y helir Twrch Trwyth vyth heb caffel
725 mab Alun Dyuet. EUygywr da y w .’12
‘Hawd yw genhyf.’13
‘Kyt keffych.14 N y helir [485] Twrch Trwyth uyth nes
kaffel Anet ac Aethlem. Kyfret15 ac awel wynt oedynt;16 ny
ellwngwyt eiroet ar mil nys lladwynt.’17
730 ‘Hawd yw genhyf.*18
‘Kyt keffych.’19 Arthur a’e gynydyon y hely20 Twrch
Trwyth. Gwr kyuoethawc yw ac ny daw genhyt;21 sef yw yr
achaws, dan uy llaw i y mae ef.’22
‘Hawd yw genhyf.’23
735 ‘Kyt keffych.24 N y ellir hela Twrch Trwyth vyth nes kaffel
Bwlch a Chyuwlch a Syuwlch, meibyon Kilyd Kyuwlch,
wyryon25 C ledyf Diuwlch. Teir gorwen guen eu teir yscwyt;
tri gouan guan eu tri guayw;26 tri benyn byn eu tri chledyf;
Glas, Glessic, Gleissat,27 eu tri chi; Call, Cuall, Cauall, eu tri
740 meirch; Hwyr Dydwc, a Drwc Dydwc, a Llwyr Dydwc, eu

’a ry dodes. 15kynebrwydet.
^awd W.; Hawd yw R. 16ynt.
3kyt W.; Kyt k\ R. 17ny ellyngwyt eiryoet ar Iwdyn nys
4yn y byt a dycko. ledynt.
5hawd W.; Hawd yw R. ,8hawd W.; Hawd et cetera R.
6kyt W.; Kyt. k\ h\ R. ,9kyt W.; Kyt keffych h’. R.
7gilennhin urenhin ffreinc. ^gedymdeithon y hela.
8y deymas + yrot ti. 21ef yrot ti. ny elly ditheu dreis
9daw ef. amaw ef.
10hawd W. Hawd yw R. 22om.
"kyt W. Kyt k\ et cetera R. ^hawd W.; Hawd et cetera R.
,2heb gaffel .. . gell llyngwr da yw 24kyt W.; Kyt. k’. et cetera R.
hwnnw. ^wryon W.; wyryon R.
,3hawd W.; Hawd yw R. ^gwaew.
14kyt W.; Kyt. et cetera R. ^Gleissic Gleissac.
28 C U LH W C H AC OLW EN

teir guraged; Och a Garam! a Diaspat, eu teir gureichon:

Lluchet a Neuet2 ac Eissywet, eu teir merchet; Drwc a
Gwaeth a Guaethaf Oll, eu teir morwyn. Y trywyr3 a ganant
eu kyrn, a’r rei ereill oil a doant y diaspedein, hyt na
745 hanbwyllei neb pei dygwydei4 y nef ar y dayar. *
‘Hawd yw genhyf.*5
‘Kyt keffych.6 Cledyf Wmach Gawr. N y ledir uyth
namyn ac ef. Nys ryd ef y neb7 nac ar werth nac yn rat, ny
elly dtheu treis amaw ef.*
750 ‘Hawd yw genhyf.*8
‘Kyt keffych.9 Anhuned heb gyscu nos a geffy yn keissaw
hynny, ac nys keffy, a merch inheu nys keffy.*
‘Meirych a gaffaf inheu a marchogaeth. A ’m harglwyd gar
Arthur a geiff imi hynny oil. A ‘th verch titheu a gaffaf ui,
755 a’th eneit a golly titheu.*
[486] ‘Kerda nu ragot. N y oruyd amat na bwyt na dillat y
merch i.10 Keis hynny.11 A ffan gaffer hynny,12 vym merch
inheu a geffy.*13
The Sword o f Wrnach the Giant, and the naming
o f Goreu , __ »
Kerdet a orugant w y y dyd hwnnw educher, h yny>:V£yd]
760 kaer uaen gymrwt a welasit, uwyhaf ar keyryd y byt.14
Nachaf gwr du, mwy no thrywyr y byt hwnn, a welant yn
dyuot o*r gaer.15*Amkeudant wrthaw, ‘Pan doy ti, wr?’16
‘O ’r gaer a welwch chwi yna.’17 ‘Pieu y gaer?’18 ‘Meredic a
w yr ÿwcEI. N yt oes yn y byt ny wyppo pieu y gaer honn.
765 Wmach19 Gawr pieu.’ ‘Py uoes yssyd y osp a phellenhic jy
diskynnu yn y gaer honn?’ ‘Ha vnben, Duw a’ch hotho. N y
dodyw neb guestei20eiroet oheni a’e uyw ganthaw.21 N y edir
neb idi namyn1a dyccŵy y_gerd.*22
’acaram W.; agaram R. anoetheu.
2auynet W., a vynet R. 13+yn ueu itt.
3y trywyr hynny. ukaer uawr a welynt vwyhaf or byt.
4a phawb or rei ereill a diaspedant 15wr du mwy oed no thrywyr yn y
yny debycko pawb dygwydaw. byt hwnn yn dyuot or gaer.
8hawd W.; yw et cetera R. 16ac y dywedassant wynteu wrthaw.
6kyt W.; Kyt. k\ R. Pan deuy di wr.
7nys ry ef oe uod. ,7racco.
8hawd W.; Hawd yw et cetera R. ,8+heb wynt.
9Kyt W., Kyt keffych R. 19wmac gawr bieu.
10ym merch i tra geissych hynny. ^nodho. ny deuth gwestei.
om . 21vywyt gantaw.
12a phan geffych hynny oil ^dycko y gerd gantaw.
 C U LH W C H AC OLW EN 29
Kyrchu y porth a orugant. Amkawd1 Gwrhyr Gualstawt
77O Ieithoet, 4A oes porthawr?’2 4Oes. A titheu, ny bo teu dy
penn/pyr ỳ kyuerchy dy?’3 ‘Agor y porth.’ ‘Nac agoraf.’
‘Pwy ystyr4 nas agory ti?’ ‘Kyllell a èdỳw ym mwyt a llynn
ỳmual, ac amsathyr yn neuad Vmach.5 Namyn(pgerda^£r-|jL
dyccwy y gerd.6 nyt agorir.*7 Amkawd Kei,8 4Y porthawr,
775 y mae kerd genhyf i.* 4Pa gerd yssyd genhyt ti?* ‘Ysli^äriŵr
cledyueu goreu yn y byt&vyfiui. * 4Mi a i f y dywedut hynny y
Vmach Gawr, ac a'dygaf àtteb yt.’
Dyuot a oruc y porthawr y mywnx Dywawt Wrnach
Gawr,9 [487] ^Hedléu portli y genhyt?’ /‘Yssydynt
780 genhyf.10 Kyweilhyd yssyd yn drws y porth ac a uynnynt11
dyuot y m yw n.’ 4A oüyfthèist ti a oed gerd ganthunt?’12
‘Gouynneis.13 Ac (yn onadunt^ a dywawt gaìîeí yslipanu
cledyueu.’^ {Oed reit y m ?5 wrth hwnnw) Ys ^wers'yd w y f
yn keissawta olcliei vyg cledyf; nysCrÿgeüeis.16 Gat hwnnw y
785 mywn, cans oed17 gerd ganthaw.’
Dyuot18 y porthawr ac agori y porth, a dyuot Kei y mywn
(e hui). A chyuarch giiell a oruc ef)y Wrnach Gawr. Kadeir a
idodet y danaw.*19 Dywawt Wrnach, ‘Ha wr, ae gw ir'a
dywedir amat,20 gallel21 yslipanu cledyueu? ‘Mi a’e
790 digonaf^22 Dydẃyn y cledyf attaw a orucpw om< vt.23 Kymryt
Ŵgáìèn gleis\a oruc Kei y dan y gesseil.24^
agalen gleis^a gesseil.^lÊwy weil genhyt
am aw,'ae guynseit aegrwmseitfl Y r hwnn auo dagenhyt ti,
;m alpeileu ueijt gwna'amaw.’ Glanhau a oruc hanher yQleill
gyBel^idaw, a’e rodi yn y îa w a voruc, ‘IA reihe dŷ üod di
795 hynny?’ ‘Oed weU25 genhyf(noc ýssyd y ’m gwlatfcéì.oíl yt uei

'heb y .i 15as oed reit ynni (w ith attempt to correct

2borthawr. ynni i ymi).
3dy dauawt yth benn py rac ý? 6ac nys keueis.
4pwystyr W. Py ystyr R. 17kan oes.
5wmach gawr. ,8+a oruc.
6dycko y gerd y mywn. ,9+geyr bron gwmach. Ac y
7yma heno bellach. dywawt wrnach wrthaw.
8Heb y kei yna. “ amat ti.
9ac y dywawt wrnach wrthaw. 21y gwdost.
Chwedleu. ^Mi a wnn hynn yn da heb y kei.
10Ys ydynt gennyf. “ Dwyn cledyf wrnach a wnaeth-
nyn drws y porth a uynnynt. pwyt attaw.
12+hwy. 24+a gouyn or deu pwy oed oreu
,3+heb ef. gantaw.
ugwybot yslipanu cledyueu o Boed gwell.
honaw yn da.
30 C U LH W CH AC OLW EN

val hynn.1 (DyHed a betfc bot gwr kystal a thi heb

geclymdeith.* 4Oia wrda, mae imi gedymdeith kyny
dygo[n]ho2 y gerd honn.’ ‘Pwy ýẃ hwnnw?* ‘AÖ: y porthawr
allan, a mi a dywedaf^ar arwydtínNidaw.3(Penn y wayv^a ctaw
800 y aç^y baîaayr, ac (yfeePa dygyrcli y guaet y ar y güynt, ac a
cfislcyn ar y baladyr. ’4 Agori y porth aCwnaeth0^ ^ pwy& a
dyuot Bedwyr y mywn. Dywawt5 Kei, ‘Buäugawl ÿwj
Bedwyr, kyn ny digonho6 y gerd hon.*
A dadleu mawr a uu ar y gw yr hynny allan. Dyuot7 Kei a
805 Bedwyr y mywn, a guas ieuanc a doeth gyt ac wynt y
mywn8— vn mab Custennhin heussawr. Sef a wnaeth ef a’e
gedymdeithon a glyn9 wrthaw, mal nat oed vw y no dim
ganthunt mynet dros y teir catlys a wnaethant hyt pan
dyuuant y mywn y gaer.10Amkeudant y gedymdeithon wrth
810 vab Custenhin, ‘Goreu dyn yw.* O hynny allan y gelwit11
Goreu mab Custenhin. Guascaru a orugant wy y eu llettyeu
mal y keffynt Had eu Hettywyr heb wybot y ’r Cawr. Y cledyf
a daruu y wrteith, a’e rodi a oruc Kei yn Haw Wrnach Kawr12
y malphei y edrych a ranghei y uod idaw y weith13 Dywawt14
815 y Kawr, ‘Da yw y gweith, a ranc bod yw genhyf. ’ Amkawd15
Kei, ‘D y wein a lygrwys dy gledyf. Dyro di imi y diot y
kelleUprenneu oheni,16 a chaffwyf inheu gwneuthur rei
newyd idaw.’17 A chymryt y wein ohonaw, a’r cledyf18 yn y
Haw arall. Dyuot ohonaw vch pen y Kawr malphei y cledyf a
820 dottei yn y wein. Y ossot a oruc ymphen y Kawr, a Had y
penn y ergyt y arnaw. Diffeithaw y gaer a dwyn a vynnassant
o tlysseu.19 Y g kyuenw yr vn dyd20 ymphen y vlwydyn y
deuthant[*] [R. col. 833] y lys Arthur, a chledyf Wrnach
Gawr gantunt.
*pei bei oil ual hynn. wrth uab Custennin. ti a orugost
2dygoho W.; dycko R. hynn. goreu dyn wyt. Ac o hynny
3idaw y arwydon. allan y gelwit e f . ..
4+eilweith. 12Wmach gawr.
5ac y dywawt. ,3y gweith.
6wypo. 14ac y dywawt.
7Dadleu mawr a uu gan y gwyr a oed 15y dywawt kei dy wein di.
allan am dyuot . . . 16o honei.
8A dyuot gwas ieuanc oed gyt ac 17A c y w n e u th u r ereill o new yd
wynt y mywn. id a w .
9yg glyn R. mal . . . ganthunt om. R. 18chedyf W.
,0dyuot dros y teir katlys hyt pann 19or da ar tlysseu.
yttoed y mywn y gaer. ^hwnnw del. W.
'Y dywedassant y gedymdeithon [*W f i n ., R. henceforth].
 C U LH W CH AC OLW EN 31
The Freeing o f Eiddoel fab Aer
825 Dywedut a wnaethant y Arthur _y ual y daniu udunt.
Arthur a dywawt, ‘Pa beth yssyd iawnaf y geissaw gyntaf o’r
annoetheu hynny?’ ‘Iawnaf y w ,’ heb wynteu, ‘keissaw
Mabon uab Modron, ac nyt kaffel amaw nes kaffel Eidoel
uab Aer y gar yn gyntaf.’ Kyuodi a oruc Arthur a miiwyr
830 Ynys Prydein gantaw y geissaw Eidoel, a dyuot a orugant
hyt yn raclcaer Gliui yn y lie yd nrH F.iHnpl y g karrhar Seuylr
a oruc Gliui ar varin y gaer, ac j dywawt, ‘Arthur, py holy di
Y mi(j>rỳt na>’m gedy yn y feçren honn?|HýÄda im yndi ac'yyti
digrif, ftÿfr gẃenith,\nýökeirch im, kyn ny chëissych ditheu
835 wneuthur cam im .’ Arthur a dywawt, ‘N y t yr drwc itti y^
deuthum i yma namyn y geissaw y karcharawr yssyd
gennyt, ’ ‘Mi a rodaf y carcharawr itti, ac ny darparysswn y
rodi y neb. Ac ygyt a hynny vy nerth a’m porth a geffy di.’

The Oldest Animals

Y gwyr a dywawt wrth Arthur, ‘Arglwyd, cfos di adref.
840 N y elly di uynet a’th lu y geissaw peth mor uan a’r rei hynn. ’
Arthur a dywawt, ‘Gwrhyr Gwalstawt Ieithoed, itti y mae
iawn mynet y ’r neges honn. Y r holl ieithoed yssyd gennyt, a
Vcfiyfyeitfi; wyt a’r rei o’r adar a’r anniueileit. Eidoel, itti y
mae iawn mynet y geissaw, dy geuynderw yw, gyt a’m gwyr
845 i. Kei a Bedwyr, gobeith [834] yw gennyfjy neges yd eloch
ymdaneLy chaffel. Ewch im y ’r neges honn.’
Kerdet a orugant racdunt hyt att Vwyalch Gilgwri.
Gouyn a oruc Gwrhyr idi, ‘Y r Duw, a wdost ti dim y wrth
Uabon uab Modron, ajlucpwyt yn teir nossic ody rẁng y
850 vam a’r paret?’ Y Uwyalch a dywawt, ‘Pan deuthum i yma
gyntaf, eingon gof a oed yma, a minneu ederyn ieuanc
oedwn. N y wnaethpwyt gweith amei, namyn Yra uu
uyg geluin amei bob uchier. Hediw nyt oes kymmeint
krieuen ohonei heb dreulaw. Dial Duw amaf o chigleu i
855 dim y wrth y gwr a ovynnwch chwi. Peth yssyd iawn,
hagen,'a dýìye^ym i y^JWJieuthur y gennadey. Arthur, mi
a’e gwnaf. Kenedlaeth1 vileir yssyd gỳht rithwys2 Duw no
mi. Mi a af yn gyuarwyd ragoch yno. ’
Dyuot a orugant hyt yn lie yd oed Karw Redynure. ‘Karw
^enedlaet*1. 2gYnt a rithwys: ‘a’ in a later hand.
32 C U LH W C H AC O LW EN

860 Redynure, ymayjdoetham ni attat, kennadeu Arthur, kany

wdam aniueil hyn no thi. Dywet, a wdost di dim y wrth
Uabon uab Modron, a ducpwyt yn deir nossic y wrth y
uam?’ Y Karw a dywawt, ‘Pan deuthum i yma gyntaf, nyt
oed namyn vn reit o bop tu ý ’m penn, ac nyt oed yma góét
865 ^namyn un o gotlen derweii^ ac y tyîwys honno ynidar can
feeing* ac y dygjwydwys y dar gẅedy hynny, a hediw nyt oes
namyn ẁystyn coch ohonei. Y r hynny hyt hediw yd w y f i
yma. N y chigleu i dim o’r neb\a ouynnwch chwi. Miui hagen
a uydaf gyfarwyd ywch, [835] kanys kennadeu Arthur ywch,
870 hyt lie y mae aniueil gynt a rithwys Duw no mi.’
Dyuot a orugant hyt lie yd oed CÍuan Cum Kawlwyt.
‘Cuan Cwm Kawlwyt, yma y mae kennadeu Arthur. A
wdost di dim y wrth Vabon uab Modron a ducpwyt yn teir
nossic y wrth y uam?’1 ‘PÖ aS gwỳp'syn, mi a’^dywedwn.
875 Pan deuthum i yma gyntaf, y cwm mawrU welwch glyhn
coet oed, ac y deuth kenedlaeth o dŷnyon idaw, ac y
diuawyt, ac y tyuwys yr eil coet yndaw. A ’r trydyd coet yw
hwnn. A minneu, neut ydynt2 yn gyriyon boneu vy esgylL
Y r hynny hyt hediw ny chiglef i dim o’r gwr a ouynnwch
880 chwi. Mi hagen a uydaf gyuarwyd y genadeu Arthur, yny
deloch hyt lle/y mae yr anniueil hynaf yssyd yn y byt hwnn, a
imwyaf a dreigyl) Eryr Gwern A bw y.’
Gwrhyr a dywawt, ‘Eryr Gwern Abwy, ni a doetham,
gennadeu Arthur, attat y ouyn itt a wdost dim y wrth Vabon
885 uab Modron a ducpwyt yn teir nossic y wrth y uam?’3 Y r
Eryr a dywawt, ‘Mi a deuthum yma ryr ys/pell o'amser, a
phann deuthum yma gyntaf maen a oed^ym> ac y ar y benn ef
y pigwjj y syr bop ucher. Weítìion nyt oes áymuecf yn y
iichet. Y r hynny hyt hediw yd w y f i yma, ac ny chiglef i dim
890 y wrth y gwr a ouynnwch chwi. Onyt un treigyl yd euthum
y geissaw liym bwyt hyt yn Llynn Llyw, a phann deuthum i
yno y lledeis uyg cryuahgheu y mywn eliawc, o debygu bot
vym bwyt yndaw (wers yawr, ac y tyrinwýs ynteu uibyt yr
affwys, (hyt pánq; uu atrèid im ymdíánc y gantaw. Sef a
895 wneuthum inheui mi aVn [836] holl garant, (mynet yg gwrys
wrthaw y geissaw y aluetha. Kennadeu a yfrwys ynteu y

*a ducpwyt et cetera. 3a due et cetera.

2ydydynt.
 C U LH W C H AC OLW EN 33
gymot a mi, a dyuota oruc ynteu attaf i, y diot dpr t;ryilpr a
dengpint o’e geuyn. Onyt ef a wyr peth o’r hynn'a geisswch
çhwi, fay wnhr,neh\a’e gwypo. Mi hagen a uydaf gyuarwyd
900 ywch hyt lie y mae.’
Djruot a orugant hyt lie yr oed. Dywedut a oruc yr Eryr,
‘Enaŵc Llyn Lliw, mi a deuthum attat gan gennadeu
Arthur y ouyn a wdost dim y wrth Vabon uab Modron, a
ducpwyt yn teir nossic y wrth y uam?’ ‘ Y gymeint a w ypw yf
905 i, mi a’e cjywedaf. Gan bob llanw yd(af i ar hyt yr auon ucHò$
hyt pan delwýf hyt y mach mur Kaer LoyW, ac yno y keüeis i
\ny dietieis eifmoet o d rw c y gymeint. Ac maf y crettoch,
doei un ar uýn dẃy ýsgẃyd i yma ohonawch. ’ Ac ysef yd
"aeth ar dwy ysgwyd yr Ehawc, Kei a Gwrhyr Gwalstawt
910 Ieithoed. Ac y kerdassant hyt pann deuthant am y uagwyr
a’r karcharawr, yny uyd kwynuan a griduan a glywÿnt am y
uagwyr ac wy. Gwrhyr a dywawt, ‘Pa dyn a gwyn yn y
maendy hwnn?’ ‘Oia wr, yssitle idaw;y gwynaw y neb yssyd
yma. Mabon uab Modron yssyd yma yg carchar,1 ac ny
915 charcharwyt neb kyn dostet yn llwirw carchar a mi, na
charchar Llud Llaw Ereint, neu garchar Greit mab E ri.’ ‘Oes
obeith gennyt ti ar gaffel dy ellwng ae yr eur ae yr aryant ae yr
goliît presehfiawl, ae yr catwent ac ymlad?’ ‘Y gymeint
ohonof i a gaffer^ a geffir drwy ymlad.’

The Freeing o f Mabon fab Madron

920 Ymchoelut ohonunt w y odynd, a dyuot hyt [837] Ile yd
oed Arthur. Dywedut ohonunt y Ile yd oed Mabon uab
Modron yg karchar. Gẅyssyaw a oruc Arthur milwyr yr
Ynys honn, a mynet hyt yg Kaer Loyw y Ile yd oed Mabon yg
karchar. Mynet a oruc Kei a Bedwyr ar dwy yscwyd y pysc.
925 T raÿttoedfyilwyr Arthur yn ymlad a’r gaer, rwygaw o Gei y
uagwyr^ a chymryt^y carcharawr ar y geuyn, ac ymlad a’r
gwyr(ual^kynt:2 Á trefy doeth Arthur a Mabon gantaw yn
ryd.
The bitch o f Rhymhi and her Pups
Dywedut a oruc Arthur, ‘Beth iawnhaf weithon y geissaw
930 yn gyntaf o’r annoetheu?’ ‘Iawnhaf yw keissaw deu geneu
Gast Rym hi.’ ‘A w ys,’ heb yr Arthur, ‘pa du y mae hi?’ ‘Y
mae,’ heb yr un, ‘yn Aber Deu Gledyf.’ Dyuot a oruc Arthur
’ygcarch. 2ar gwyr ual kynt ar gwyr.
34 C U LH W C H AC OLW EN

hyt yn ty Tringat yn Aber Cledyf, a gofyn a oruc wrthaw, ‘A

glyweist ti y wrthi hi yma? Py rith y mae hi?* ‘Yn rith
935 bleidast,* heb ynteu, ‘a’e deu geneu genthi yd ymda. Hi a
ladawd vy ysgrybul yn vynych, ac y mae hi issot yn Aber
C ledyf y mywn gogof. ’
Sef a oruc Arthur, gyrru ym Prytwenn y long ar uor, ac
ereill ar y tir, y hela yr ast, a’e chylchynu ueUy hi a’e deu
940 geneu. Ac eu datrithaw1 o Duw y Arthur yn eu rith e hunein.
Gwascaru a oruc llu Arthur bob un bob deu.

The Lame Ant

Ac ual yd oed Gwythyr mab Greidawl dydgweith yn
kerdet dros vynyd, y clywei leuein a gridua girat, a
garwson2 oed eu clybot. Achub a oruc ynteu parth ac yno, ac
945 mal y deuth yno [837b] dispeilaw cledyf a wnaeth, a Had y
twynpath wrth y dayar, ac ev diffryt uelly rac y tan. Ac y
dywedassant wynteu wrthaw, ‘Dwc uendyth Duw a’r
einym gennyt, a’r hynn ny alio dyn vyth y wäret, ni a down y
wäret itt.’ Hwyntwy wedy hynny a doethant a’r naw
950 hestawr llinat a nodes Yspadaden Pennkawr ar Culhwch yn
uessuredic oll, heb dim yn eisseu ohonunt eithyr un
llinhedyn, a’r morgrugyn cloffa doeth a hwnnw kynn y nos.

The Beard o f Dillus the Bearded

Pan yttoed Gei a Bedwyr yn eisted ar benn Pumlumon ar
Gam Gwylathyr, ar wynt m w yaf yn y byt, edrych a
955 wnaethant yn eu kylch, ac wynt a welynt vwc mawr parth a’r
deheu, ym pell y wrthunt heb drossi dim gan y gwynt. Ac
yna y dywawt Kei, ‘Myn llaw vyng kyueillt, syll dy racco
tan rysswr. ’ Bryssyaw a orugant parth a’r mwc, a dynessau
parth ac yno dan ymardisgwyl o bell, yny uyd Dillus
960 Uarruawc yn deiuaw baed coet. Llyna, hagen, y rysswr
m w yaf a ochelawd Arthur eiryoet. Heb y Bedwyr yna wrth
Gei, ‘A ’e hatwaenost di ef?’ ‘Atwen,’ heb y Kei, ‘Llyna
Dillus Uarruawc. Nyt oes yn y byt kynllyuan a dalyo
Drutwyn keneu Greit uab Eri namyn kynllyuan o uaryf y
965 gwr a wely di racko. Ac ny mwynhaa heuyt onyt yn vyw y
Mat rithaw.
2garscon.
 C U LH W C H AC OLW EN 35
tynnir a chyllellprenneu o’e uaraf, kanys breu uyd yn uarw. ’
‘Mae an kynghor ninneu wrth hynny?’ heb y Bedwyr.
‘Gadwn ef,* heb y Kei, ‘y yssu y wala o’r kic, a gwedy hynny
kyscu a wna.’ Tra yttoed ef yn [837c] hynny, y buant wynteu
970 yn gwneuthur kyllellbrenneu. Pan wybu Gei yn diheu y uot
ef yn kyscu, gwyneuthur pwll a oruc dan y draet, mwyhafyn
y byt, a tharaw dymawt amaw anueitrawl y ueint a oruc, a’e
wascu yn y pwll hyt pan daroed udunt y gnithiaw yn llwyr
a’r kyllellbrenneu y uaryf. A gwedy hynny y lad yn gwbyl.
975 Ac odyna yd aethant ell deu hyt yg Kelli Wie yg Kem yw, a
chynllyuann o uaryf Dillus Uaruawc gantunt a’e rodi a oruc
Kei yn llaw Arthur. Ac yna y kanei Arthur yr eglyn hwnn:
Kynnllyuan a oruc Kei
O uaryf Dillus uab Eurei.
980 Pei iach dy angheu uydei.
Ac am hynny y sorres Kei hyt pan uu abreid y uilwyr yr Ynys
honn tangneuedu y rwng Kei ac Arthur. Ac eissoes, nac yr
anghyfnerth ar Arthur nac yr llad y wyr, nyt ymyrrwys Kei
yn reit gyt ac ef o hynny allan.
G w yn ap Nudd and Gwythyr and Creiddylad
985 Ac yna y dywawt Arthur, ‘Beth iawnaf weithon y geissaw
o’r annoetheu?’ ‘Iawnaf yw keissaw Drutwyn keneu Greit
uab E ri.’
Kyn no hynny ychydic yd aeth Creidylat uerch Lud Law
Ereint gan Wythyr mab Greidawl, a chynn kyscu genthi
990 dyuot Gwynn uab Nud a’e dwyn y treis. Kynnullaw llu o
Wythyr uab Greidawl, a dyuot y ymlad a Gwynn mab Nud,
a goruot o Wyn, a dala Greit mab Eri, a Glinneu eil Taran, a
Gwrgwst Letlwm, a Dyfnarth y uab. A dala o Penn uab
Nethawc, a Nwython, a Chyledyr Wyllt y uab, a llad
995 Nwython a oruc a diot y gallon, a chymhell ar Kyledyr yssu
callon y dat, ac am hynny yd aeth Kyledyr yg gwyllt. Clybot
o Arthur hynny, a dyuot hyt y Gogled, a dyuynnv a oruc ef
Gwynn uab Nud attaw, [83yd] a gellwng y wyrda y gantaw
o’e garchar, a gwneuthur tangneued y rwng Gwynn
1000 mab Nud a Gwythyr mab Greidawl. Sef tangneued a
wnaethpwyt, gadu y uorwyn yn ty y that yn diuwyn oT dwy
barth, ac ymlad bob duw kalan Mei uyth hyt dyd brawt oT
dyd hwnnw allan y rwng Gwynn a Gwythyr, a’r un a orffo
onadunt dyd brawt, kymeret y uorwyn.
36 C U LH W CH AC OLW EN

1005 A gwedy kymot y gwyxda hynny uelly, y kauas Arthur

Mygdwn march Gwedw, a chynUyuan Cors1 Cant Ewin.
The Slaying o f Ysgithrwyn Chief o f Boars
Gwedy hynny yd aeth Arthur hyt yn Llydaw, a Mabon
uab Mellt gantaw, a Gware Gwallt Euryn, y geissaw deu gi
Glythmyr Ledewic.2 A gwedy eu kaffel yd aeth Arthur hyt
1010 yg gorllewin Iwerdon y geissaw Gwrgi Seueri, ac Odgar uab
Aed brenhin Iwerdon gyt ac ef. Ac odyna yd aeth Arthur y ’r
Gogled, ac y delis Kyledyr Wyllt, ac yd aeth [y geissaw]
Yskithyrwynn Penn Beid. Ac yd aeth Mabon mab Mellt a
deu gi Glythuyr Ledewic yn y law, a Drutwyn geneu Greit
1015 mab Eri. Ac yd aeth Arthur e hun y ’r erhyl, a Chauall ki
Arthur yn y law. Ac yd esgynnwys Kaw o Brydein ar Lamrei
kassec Arthur, ac achub yr kyfuarth.3 Ac yna y kymerth
Kaw o Brydein nerth bwyellic, ac yn wychyr trebeht y doeth
e f y ’r baed, ac y holldes y benn yn deu hanner. A chymryt a
1020 oruc4 Kaw yr ysgithyr. N yt y kwnn a nottayssei Yspadaden5
ar Gulhwch6 a ladawd y baed, namyn Kauall ki Arthur e
hun.
Menw fab Teirgwaedd in Bird’s Form
A gwedy Had Ysgithyrwyn Benn Beid, yd aeth Arthur
a’e niuer hyt yng Kelli [837c] Wie yng K em yw .7 Ac odyno y
1025 gyrrwys Menw mab Teirgwaed y edrych a uei y tlysseu y
rwng deuglust Twrch Trwyth, rac salwen oed uynet y
ymdaraw ac ef, ac ony bei y tlysseu gantaw. Diheu, hagen,
oed y uot ef yno. Neur daroed idaw diffeithaw traean
Iwerdon. Mynet a oruc Menw y ymgeis ac wynt. Sef y
1030 gwelas wynt yn Esgeir Oeruel yn Iwerdon. Ac ymrithaw a
oruc Menw yn rith ederyn, a disgynnu a wnaeth uch penn y
gwal, a cheissaw ysglyffyaw un o’r tlysseu y gantaw. Ac ny
chauas dim, hagen, namyn un o’e wrych. Kyuodi a oruc
ynteu yn wychyrda, ac ymysgytyaw hyt pan ymordiwedawd
1035 peth o’r gwenwyn ac ef. Ac odyna ny bu dianaf Menw uyth.

‘Cwrs. 5yspaden.
2lewic. 6gwlhwch.
3kyfuarch. 7yngkemy w—r in a later hand.
4aorc.
 C U LH W CH AC OLW EN 37

The cauldron o f Diwrnach Wyddel

Gyrru o Arthur gennät gwedy hynny ar Odgar uab Aed
brenhin Iwerdon, y erchi peir Diwrnach Wydel, maer idaw.
Erchi(o Otgar^idawjr rodi. Y dywawt Diwrnach, ‘Duw a
wyr, pei íhaSffei w elf o welet un oíwc arnaw nas kaffei. ’ A
1040 dyuot o gèríhat Arthur a nac genthi o Iwerdon. Kychwynnu
a oruc Arthur ac ys^awn niuer ganthaw a mynet ym Prytwen
y lonfg, a dyuot y Ywerdon, a dygyrchu ty Diwrnach Wydel a
orugant. Gwelsant "niuer Otgar^eu meint, a gwedy bwyta
onadunt, ac yuet eu döjgyn, erchi y peir a oruc Arthur. Y
1045 dywawt ynteu pei as rodei y neb, y rodei ^vrth eir; Odgar
brenhin Iwerdon. Gwedy lleuerya nac udunt, kyuodi a
oruc Bedwyr ac ymauael yn y peir a’e doch ar geuỳn [838]
Hygwyd, gwasr Arthur (brawt oed hwnnw (vn uara') y
Gachamwri gwäs Arthur). Sef oed y swyd ef yn (wastat
1050 ymcftvyn peir Arthur a dodi tan y danaw. Megfyt o
Lenlleawc Wydel yg Kaletvwlch a’e ellwg ar y rot, a Had
Diwrnach Wydel a’e niuer acîiíah.1 Dyuot lluoed Iwerdon ac
ymlad ac wy. A gwedy y lluoed acnláh, mynet Arthur a’e
wyr yn eu gwỳd yn y llong, a’r peir yn llawn ojswUt Iwerdon
I0 55 gantunt. A diskyrinu yn ty Llwydeu mab Kel Coet ym Rqrth
Kerdin yn Dyuet. Ac yno y maeimessur y peirT

Hunting the Twrch Trw yth

Ac y na y kynnu^wy s Àrthurâ oed o gynify wr yn T eir Y ny s
Pry dein a’e Their Rac Ynys, ac a oed yn Freinc, a Llydaw, a
Normandi, a Gwlat yr Haf, ac a oed o gi gordethol2 a march
1060 clótuawr. Ac yd aeth a’rCniueroed hynny olj hyt yn Iwerdon.
ac y Eü ouyn mawr ac ergryn racdaw yn Iwerdon. A gwedy
disgynnu Arthur y ’r tir, dyuot seint Iwerdon attaw y erchi
nawd idaw. Ac y rodes ynteu nawd udunt hwy, ac y
rodassant wynteu eu bendyth idaw ef. Dyuot a oruc gwyr
1065 Iwerdon hyt att Arthur a rodi bwyttal idaw. Dyuot a oruc
Arthur hyt yn Esgeir jOeruel yn Iwerdon, yn y He yd oed
Twrch Trwyth, a’e^seithlydyn mochgantaw. GeHwng kwn
amaw p bop parth. Y dyd.hwnnw educher yd ymladawd y
Gwydyl ac ef.^Yr hynny j^ymliet ran ý Iwerdon a wnaeth yn
1070 (teSeith. A thrannoeth yd ym [83p]ladawd teulu Arthur ac ef;

'achan. 2gicwr dethol.

38 C U LH W C H AC OLW EN

iiamyn a gawssant o drwc y.gantaẃ, ny chawssant dim o da.

Y trydyd dyd yd ymladawd Arthur e ^iun) ac ef, naw nos a
naw nieu. N y ladawd namyn un parchell o’e uoch.
Gouynnwys y gw yr y Arthur peth oed ystyr yr hwch
1075 hwnnw. Y dywawt ynteu, ‘Brenhinluu, ac am y bechawt y
rithwys Duw ef yn hwch. *
Gyrru a wnaeth Arthur Gwrhyr Gwalstawt Ieithoed y
geissaw ymacirawd ac ef. Mynet a oruc Gwrhyr yn ritlf
ederyn, a disgynnv a wnaeth Vch benẁ y wal ef a’e seithlydyn
1080 moch. A gouyn a oruc Gwrhyr Gwalstawt Ieithoed1 idaw,
‘Y r y Gwr a’th wnaeth ar y delw honn, o£ gellwch dywedut,
y narchaf dyuot fun ohonawch y ýmdidan ac Arthur.’
Gwrtheb a wnaeth Grugyn /G wrych Ereint— mal adaned
aryant oed y wrych oil— y fford y kerdei ar goet ac ar uaes j
1085 gwelit ual y tlithrer y wrych. Sef atteb a rodes Grugyn, ‘Myir
y gwr a’n gwnaeth ni ar y delw honn, ny wnawn, ac ny
dywedwn dim yr Arthur. Oed digawn o drwc a wnathoed
Duw ynni, an gwneuthur ar y delw hon, kyny delewch
"chwitheu y ymlad a ni. ’ ‘Mi a dywedaf ywch yd ymlad
1090 Arthur am y grib a’r ellyn a’r gwelleu^ssyd rwng deu glust
Twrch Trw yth.’ Heb y Grugyn, *Hyt parui gaffer y ërieit ef
yn gyntaf, ny\cheffiny tlỳsseu hynny. A ’r bore auory y
kychwynnwn ni odyma, ac yd awn y wlat Arthur, a’r meint
mwyhaf^a allom ni o drwcja wnawn yno.’
1095 Kychwyn a orugant hwy ar y mor parth a Chymry, ac yd
aeth [840] Arthur a’e luoed a’e ueirch a’e gwn ym Prytwen,ji
tharaw [l]lygat^njwelet aowynt. Disgynnu a wnaeth Twrch
Trwyth ym Porth Cleis yn Dyuet. Dyuot a oruc Arthur hyt
ym M ynyw y nos honno. Trannoeth dywedj^t y Arthur eu
1 100 mynet lieibaw, ac ýmòráíwes a oruc ac ef yn llad gwarthec
Kynnwas Kwrryuagyl, a gwedy llad a oed yn Deu Gledyf o
dyn a mil kỳhn dyuot Arthur.
O ’r pan deuth Arthur y kychwynnwys Twrch Trwyth
odyno hyt ym Presseleu. Dyuot Arthur a lluoed y byt
1105 hyt yno. Gyrru a oruc Arthur y wyr y ’r erhyl, Ely, a
Thrachmyr, a Drutwyn keneu Greit mab Eri yn y law e hun,
a Gwarthegyt uab Kaw yghongyl arall, a deu gi Glythmyr
Letewic yn y law ynteu, a Bedwyr a Chauall ki Arthur yn y
T hese words are written above the line.
 C U LH W C H AC OLW EN 39
law ynteu. A restru a oruc y milwyr oll o deu tu Nyuer.
1 1 io Dyuot tri meib Cledyf Divwlch, gwyr a gauas clot mawr yn
llad Ysgithyrwyn Penn Beid. Ac yna y kychwynnwys ynteu
o Lynn Nyuer, ac y doeth y Gwm Kerwyn, ac y rodes
kyuarth yno. Ac yna y lladawd ef bed war rysswr y Arthur—
Gwarthegyd mab Kaw, a Tharawc Allt Clwyt, a Reidwn
1 1 1 5 uab Eli Atuer, ac Iscouan Hael. A gwedy llad y gwyr hynny,
y rodes yr eil kyuarth udunt yn y lie, ac y lladawd Gwydre
uab Arthur, a Garselit Wydel, a Glew uab Yscawt, ac
Iscawyn uab Panon. A ’e doluryaw ynteu yna a wnaethpwyt.
A ’r bore ym bronn y dyd drannoeth yd ymordiwedawd rei
1120 o’r gwyr ac ef. Ac yna y lladawd Huandaw, a Gogigwr, a
Phen Pingon, tri gweis Glewlwyt Gauaeluawr, hyt nas
gwydyat Duw was yn y byt ar y helw ynteu, eithyr
Llaesgemyn1 e hunan, gwr ny hanoed well neb ohonaw. Ac
y gyt a hynny y lladawd llawer o wyr y wlat, a Gwlydyn
1125 Saer, pensaer y Arthur. Ac yna yd ymordiwedawd Arthur
ym Pelunyawc2 ac ef, ac yna y lladawd ynteu Madawc
mab Teithyon, a Gwyn mab Tringat mab Neuet, [841] ac
Eiryawn Pennlloran. Ac odyna yd aeth ef hyt yn Aber Tywi.
Ac yno y rodes kyuarth udunt, ac yna y lladawd ef Kynlas
1130 mab Kynan, a Gwilenhin brenhin3 Freinc. Odyna yd aeth
hyt yg Glynn Ystu, ac yna yd ymgollassant y gwyr a’r
cwn ac ef.
Dyuynnu a oruc Arthur Gwyn uab Nud attaw, a gouyn
idaw a wydyat ef dim y wrth Twrch Trwyth. Y dywawt
1135 ynteu nas gwydyat. Y hela y moch yd aeth y kynnydyon yna
oil, hyt yn Dyffryn Llychwr. Ac y digribywys Grugyn
Gwallt Ereint udunt a Llwydawc Gouynnyat, ac y
lladassant4y kynnydyon hyt na diengis dyn yn vyw onadunt
namyn un gwr. Sef a oruc Arthur dyuot a’e luoed hyt lie yd
1140 oed Grugyn a Llwydawc, a gellwng yna amadunt a oed o gi
ry nodydoed yn llwyr. Ac wrth yr awr a dodet yna, a’r
kyuarth, y doeth Twrch Trwyth ac y diffyrth wynt. Ac yr
pan dathoedynt dros uor Iwerdon, nyt ymwelsei ac wynt hyt
yna. Dygwydaw a wnaethpwyt yna a gwyr a chwn amaw.
1145 Ymrodi y gerdet ohonaw ynteu, hyt ym Mynyd Amanw, ac

’llaesgenym. 3brein.
2pelumyawc. 4lladass.
40 C U LH W C H AC O LW EN

yna y lias banw o’e uoch ef._^c yna yd aethpwyt eneit dros
eneit ac ef, ac y lladwyt yna Twrch Llawin. Ac yna y lias arall
o’e voch, Gwys oed y enw. Ac odyna yd aeth hyt yn
Dyffrynn Amanw, ac yno y lias Banw a Bennwic. Nyt
1150 aeth odyno gantaw o’e uoch yn vyw namyn Grugyn Gwallt
Ereint a Llwydawc Gouynnyat.
O ’r lie hwnnw yd aethant hyt yn Llwch Ewin, ac yd
ymordiwedawd Arthur ac ef yno. Rodi kyuarth a wnaeth
ynteu yna. Ac yna y lladawd ef Echel Uordwyt Twll, ac
1155 Arwyli eil Gwydawc Gwyr, a 11awer o wyr a chwn heuyt. Ac
yd aethant odyna hyt yn Llwch Tawy. Yscar a wnaeth
Grugyn Gwrych Ereint ac wynt yna, ac yd aeth Grugyn
odyna hyt yn Din Tyw i. Ac odyna yd aeth hyt yg
Keredigyawn, ac Eli1 a Thrachmyr gantaw, a lliaws gyt ac
1160 wynt heuyt. Ac y doeth hyt yg Garth Grugyn,2 ac yno [842]
y lias Grugyn yn y mysc,3 ac y lladawd Ruduyw Rys, a llawer
gyt ac ef. Ac yna yd aeth Llwytawc hyt yn Ystrat Y w , ac yno
y kyuaruu gwyr Llydaw ac ef, ac yna y lladawd ef Hir
Peissawc brenhin Llydaw, a Llygatrud Emys, a Gwrbothu,
1165 ewythred Arthur, vrodyr y uam. Ac yna y lias ynteu.
The Tw rch T rw yth is driven into the sea
Twrch Trwyth a aeth yna y rwng Tawy ac Euyas.
Gwyssyaw Kernyw a Dyfneint o Arthur(yn^y erbyn)hyt yn
Aber Hafren, a dywedut a oruc Arthur wrth vilwyr )rr
Ynys honn, ‘Twrch Trwyth a ladawd^llaWèr o’m gwyr. Myn
1170 (gwríiyt gwyrl[nyt a mi yn uyw yd(aho éfjy öem ÿw } Nys
ymlityaf i ef bellach, namyn mynet eneit dros eneit ac ef a
wnaf. Ównewch chwi a Wnelhoch.’ Sef a daruu o gyghor
gantaw, elíwng kat o uarchogjyon, a cîíwn yr Ynys gantunt,
hyt yn Euyas. Ac ymcnoelut odyno hyt yn Hafren, a’e ragot
1175 yno ac a oed o (vilwyr prouedic yn yr Ynys honn, a’e ÿrfü'
angfieiVyn anghen yn Hafren. A mynet a wnaeth Mabon uab
Modron gantaw ar Wynn Mygdwn march Gwedvj; yn
Hafren, a Goreu mab Custennin, a Menw mab Teirgwaed, y
rwng Llynn Lliwan ac Aber Gwy. A dygwydaw o Arthur
1180 arnaw, a rysswyr Prydein gyt ac ef. Dyriessau a oruc Osla
Gyllelluawr, a Manawydan uab Llyr, a Chacamwri4 gwas
'eil. 3y lias llwydawc gouynnyat yn y
2gregyn. mysc.
4a chacmwri.
 C U LH W C H AC O LW EN 41
Arthur, a Gwyngelli, a dygrynnyaw yndaw. Ac ymauael yn
gyntal^fl^ ttaèt^a’e gîäcàw ohonunt yn Hafren, yny yttoed
■\ _ yirUënwi'ocIy*uchta\y). Brathu amŵs o Uabon uab Modron
1185 o’r neil[l] partly a chael yr eîlyn y gantaw, ac p ’r parth aralí y
dygyrchwys ^Kyledjrr Wyllt y ar aniws arall gantaw uyn
Hafren, ac y duc y g'weÚéu y g^ntgw. SJyrrn kaffel aiot y grib'f
kaffej dâyàr ohonaw ynteu (a’e draet} ac o’r pan gauas y tir
ny allwys na chi na dyn na march y ganhymdeith hyt pan
1190 aeth y Gemyw. Noc^á gaffat o drwc yn keissaw y dys|eu
hynny y j^ant^w, gwâêth a gaffat j n keissaw diSryt y
deu wr ric feu bpdi) Kacamwri,1 ual y ifynnit ef ỳ uvnvdV y
lynhei^eiTuaen ureuan] ynteu [843] y ’r affwys. Qsla Gyllell-
uawr, yn redec yn ol y twrch, y dygẃydwýs y gyllell o’e
1195 weirfac y kolles; a’e ẁèíri ynteu gwëdy Kynny^yp llawn o’r
cíwtyr, ual y tynnit ef y uynycl^ tynnei liitneu ef y ’r affwys.
Odyna yd aeth Arthur a’e luoed2 hyt pan ymofdiwèdawd
ac ef yg Kemyw.^Öware oedla gafat o drwc gantaw lcyn ho,
hynny^wrth)a gaffat yna gantaw yn keissaw y griblO drwc
1200 y gilydj y kaffat y ^rib y gantaw. ^Ac odyma^r holet ynteu o
"Gemyw, ac y gyírw ÿt y ’r mor ^n y^ gyuei^ N y w ybu^yt
vyth fc>hynny alíanVpa lç)yd aeth, ac Anet ac Aethlenj gantaw.
Ac odyno yd aeth Arthur y ymëneinàw ac yiirwrw y ludefy
amaw hyt yg jCelli Wie, yg Kemyw.

ThV^ery Black Witch

120$ Dywedut o Arthur, ‘A oes dim weithon o’r anoetheu heb
gaffel?’ Y dywawt vn o’r gwyr, ‘Oes, gwaet y Widon Ordu,
merch y Widon Orwen o Penn Nant Gouut yg gwrthtir
Uffem .’ Kychwyn a oruc Arthur parth a’r Gogled, a dyuot
hyt lie yd oed gogof y wrach. A chynghori o Wynn uab Nud
1210 a Gwythyr uab Greidawl gellwng Kacamwri3 a Hygwyd y
urawt y ymlad a’r wrach. Ac ual y deuthant y mywn y ’r ogof
y hachub a oruc y wrach, ac ymauael [a oruc] yn Hygwyd
herwyd gwallt y benn, a’e daraw y ’r llawr deni. Ac ymauel
o Gacamwri4 yndi hitheu herwyd gwallt y phenn, a’e
121 $ thynnu y ar Hygwyd y ’r llawr, ac ymchoelut a oruc hitheu ar
Kacamwri,5 ac eu dygaboli yll deu ac eu diaruu, a’e gyrru6
'Kacmwri. 4gacmwri.
2a lluoed. 5kacmwri.
3kacmwri. 6above the line.
42 C U LH W C H AC OLW EN

allan dan eu hub ac eu hob. A llidyaw a oruc Arthur o welet y

deu was hayachen wedy eu Had,1 a cheissaw achub yr ogof.
Ac yna y dywedassant Gwynn a Gwythyr wrthaw, ‘Nyt dec
1220 ac nyt digrif genhym dy welet yn ymgribyaw a gwrach.
GeUwng Hir Amren a Hir Eidil y ’r ogof.’ A mynet a
orugant. Ac or bu drwc trafferth y deu gynt, gwaeth uu
drafferth y deu hynny, hyt nas gwypei Duw y vn ohonunt eU
pedwar aUu mynet o’r He, namyn mal y dodet eU pedwar ar
1225 Lamrei kassec Arthur. Ac yna achub a oruc Arthur drws yr
ogof, ac y ar y drws a uyryei y wrach a Chamwennan y
gyUeU, a’e tharaw am y hanner yny uu yn deu gelwm hi. A
[844] chymryt a oruc Kaw o Brydein gwaet y Widon a’e
gadw ganthaw.

Ysbaddaden’s D eath: C ulhw ch m arries O lw en

1230 Ac yna y kychwynnwys Kulhwch, a Goreu uab Custennin
gyt ac ef, a’r sawl a buchei drwc y Yspadaden Pennkawr^ a’r
anoetheu gantunt hyt y lys. A dyuot Kaw o Brydein y eiflaw
y uaryf, kic a chroen hyt asgwm, a’r deu glust îýn llwyr. Ac y
dywawt Kulhwch, ‘A eiUwyt itti, wr?’ ‘Eillw yt,’ heb ynteu.
1235 Ae meu y minheu uerch di weìthon?’ ‘Meu,’ heb ynteu.
‘Ac nyt reit itt diolwch y mi hynny, namyn diolwch y
Arthur y gwr a’e peris itt.\0 ’m bod flnys kaffut ti hi vyth.
A ’m heneit inheu ymadẁs yw y cßot.’ Ac yna yd ym-
auaelawd Goreu mab Custemiin yndaw hefwyd gwaUt y
1240 penn, a’e lusgaw yn y ol y ’r dom, a Had y penn a’e docíì ar
bawl y gatlÿs. A goresgyn y gaer a oruc a e gyuoeth.
A ’r nos honno y kyscwys Kulhwch gan Olwen. A hi a uu
un wreic idaw tra uu vyw. A gwSscaru lluoed Arthur, pawb
y wlat.
1245 Ac ueily y kauas Kulhwch Olwen merch Yspadaden
Pennkawr.

'w ed y eu Had on the e d g e o f the p a g e .

 Notes

1. K ilyd : Cilydd (Ir. céle) ‘comrade, companion’, GMW 96-7. This

is one o f a group o f personal names in CO which are paralleled in the
Gododdin: according to C A 1.120 Kilyd was the name o f the father of
Tudfovlch Hirt a warrior from Eifionydd, to whom the Gorchan
Tudfivlch is dedicated. Another descendant o f Kilydd (perhaps a
brother o f Tudfwlch, C A lviii) was Gorthyn Hir, described as mab
brenhin teithiawc/ud gwyndyt gwaet kilyd gwaredauc, CA 1095-1100
(see n. to I.586 below). For other names from the Gododdin in CO
see introduction p. xxxvii. n. 22 above.

K yledon: (R: Kelydon) Wledic. The name corresponds to that of the

Coed Celyddon, first mentioned in HB ch.56 as the site o f Cat Coit
Celidon, one o f Arthur’s battles. The silva Caledonii extended over a
large part o f the south-west o f Scotland, and was within easy reach
o f both Carlisle and Glasgow. It remained a site o f legendary
importance in early Welsh tradition: for exx. see G 128, and on the
location see K. Jackson, Modern Philology xliii (1945), 48-50. Rhys
suggested (HL 487) that the name o f Kilydd’s father as here given is
corrupt, and that it was originally intended to be ‘Cilydd Wledig
Celyddon’ . Kyledon is one o f the five men in CO who are given the
title o f Gwledig (see index). GPC 1682 lists other exx. and defines
gwledig as originally denoting one o f ‘a number o f early British
rulers and princes who were prominent in the defence o f Britain
about the time o f the Roman withdrawal’; see further T Y P 451-4
(n. on Maxen Wledic). Subsequently gwledig came to be employed
more widely by the Gogynfeirdd, both for temporal rulers and for
God. Note here the lenition o f a noun in apposition after a personal
name (irregularly shown in this text); cf. GMW 15.

K ily d . . . a uynnei wreic: note the order: subject + a + verb, one

o f the types o f Abnormal order which are commonly found in MW:
exx. abound in this text; GMW 179-80.

2. a uynnwys: note the ending -wys for the pret. sing 3 o f the vb.;
cf. GMW 123. By the ModW period -awd, -odd had superseded the
various endings found in MW.
44 NOTES

G oleudyt: ‘Light o f the D ay’. The earliest occurrence o f this

personal name is found in the list o f the daughters o f Brychan
Brycheiniog, as given in J 20 (EWGT 43). According to Melville
Richards ‘Gwýr, Gwragedd a Gwehelyth’, TH SC (1965), 40,
Goleuddydd was not at all a common name in the Middle Ages. Only
two instances are listed by Bartrum in Welsh Genealogies 300-1400
among women born in the period before 1215, and very few in the
following period - though ‘Goleuddydd’ was known to the poets as
the name o f the girl loved by Gruffudd Gryg (GDG 20, 20; DGG 75,
38).
m erch: usually a noun in apposition after a personal name
undergoes lenition, but this is rare in both texts o f CO; see GMW
15, n. to II.168-9 below, and introduction p. xxxix.
A n law d Wledic: A .O .H . Jarman has suggested Anlawd<an
(intensive) with blawdd ‘tumult, commotion” ; as adj. ‘swift,
nimble; L1C ii (1952), 127; see also H G VK cxvi and n.; T Y P 366 and
n. The 12th.-cent. Vita Iltuti (based on older materials) preserves
this name in the form Anblaud Britanniae regis as that of the father o f
the saint’s mother Rieingulid (VSB 194; cf. LWS 124). This appears
to be the oldest occurrence o f the name, and the OW spelling
Anblaud is closer to the form in CO than are the other forms o f the
name which occur: Amlawd Wledic (sic) BD 136,15 is the father of
Eigyr, Arthur’s mother. (No corresponding name is given as the
father o f I(n)gema in H RB viii, 19.) Amlawt Wledic is named also in
the I3th-cent. ByS, and BG G (EWGT 61(43), 73(1 3))- The
relationship o f first cousins which is postulated between Culhwch
and Arthur (and later, by implication, between Culhwch, Arthur,
and Goreu fab Custennin (see n. to I.811)), and again between
Arthur and Illtud in the Vita Iltuti (VSB 196), depends on the
kinship o f their four mothers as four daughters o f Anlawd/Amlawd
Wledic. (A fifth daughter is named in BG G no. 13 and ByS no. 43
(see n. to Goreu mab Custenhin, I.811.).) Outside these sources
Anlawd/Amlawd is almost unknown. He is not named in TYP, nor
anywhere in the Welsh tales except in CO, nor is he ever alluded to
by the poets (for a few later refs, see index to EWGT). It is fair to
conclude that Anlawd/Amlawd derives from the ecclesiastical
tradition o f the genealogies and Lives o f the saints, and that his
name was borrowed from these (perhaps independently) by the
redactors o f CO and o f the Brut. On Amlawd Wledic see also B. F.
 NOTES 45

Roberts, B xxv, 284, and TWS 109. For Gwledic see n. above on
Kyledon Wledic.
3. y west: gwest is found in cywestach ‘copulation, wedded partner’,
and in dirwest ‘abstinence, fasting’. It is to be equated with Ir. feiss;
see DIL: F-fochraic 67-8. This is the vn. o ffoaid ‘spends the night’,
and may be different from feis ‘feast’. In the use o f gwest here the idea
o f spending the night is uppermost, an idea more usually expressed
by kyscu gan ‘sleep with’, as in 11.620-1, 989, 1242. Whether gwest
‘feast’ is a different word is not easy to determine: cf. B, ii (1923),
41-4; and I.306 etc. below.
mynet y wlat y gwedi: ‘the country went into prayer’. The second
y here is a form o f the prep, yn ‘into’, and# in gwedi represents ng.
Note that this is an ex. o f a very common construction in MW
prose: the use o f a vn. instead o f a finite vb., especially in the
past. Cf. GMW 16 1.
malkawn: ‘if, whether’, followed by the interr. prt. a. Cf. 1. 24
below: these are the only attested exx. o f malkawn, which seems to
consist o f mal ‘as, so that’ + kawn, 1 sing, imperf. o f cael ‘get,
obtain’ (GPC 2327). There are other cases in which personal forms
have developed an impersonal meaning. Cf. ot gwnn PKM 8,16,
which literally means ‘if I know’, but has come to mean ‘indeed,
surely’; also uchot, issot (2 pers. sing.) which have come to mean
‘above, below’.
4. a chaffael mab ohonu: ‘and they obtained a son’ . Cf. mynet y wlat
y gwedi (I.3 above. Ohonu is 3 pi. o f the prep. 0. The form ended
formerly in -ud, then as a result o f the tendency to drop -dd (which is
a marked feature of some dialects) the ending assumed the form -u.
It later became -unt/-ynt under the influence o f the 3 pi. of the vb.
5. o’r awr y delis beichogi: ‘from the hour she became pregnant’:
delis beichogi ‘she caught pregnancy’: delis is pret. sing. 3 o f daly\ cf.
GMW 10, 122-3. Beichogi means ‘conception, pregnancy’; cf. a’r
lleian a gauas beichogi WLSD 2,19. The pret. sing. 3 here is not
followed by lenition o f the object; GMW 18.
yd aeth hitheu ygwylldawc: ‘she went mad’. Normally the
prt. yn/y is followed by lenition, in which case we would have
yn/y wylldawc. But there are cases where the nasal mutation is used,
as here; cf. ymhell/yn bell ‘far’; ynghynt/yn gynt ‘earlier, sooner;
46 NOTES

ynghyntaf/yn gyntaf ‘first’; yngham/yn gam ‘bent*; cf. yd aeth Kyledyr

yg gwyllt I.996; see T C 245.

6. tymp: (Lat. tempus) means ‘appointed time’ for delivery or birth

o f a child. Cf. naw mis tymp in ‘Y Trioedd Arbennig’, B xxiv (1972),
441.

7. Sef y: adv., with meanings such as ‘thus, now, then’; cf. GMW
52-3, and 18, 908, 1029; ysef yd 908.

myn: means ‘place (where)’, and is followed by an improper rel.

clause: myn yd ‘where’; GMW 67.

meichad: ‘swineherd* consists o f moch ‘swine’ and -(i)ad denoting

the agent. The consonantal i causes affection o f the preceding vowel
(o>ei), but here, as often in MW prose, it drops; cf. GMW 6 and
p. X V above.
kenuein: appears to be a learned borrowing from Lat. conventio, and
means ‘herd, host, family, community’. Note the loss of -f, from
earlier kenueint/cenfaint\ cf. GMW 120. It came to be used o f a herd of
pigs, as here; and in I.356 below; also o f a herd o f cattle, LIB 94,6;
LI.lor. 22,20 below.

8. enghi a oruc y urenhines: ‘the queen was delivered’. Cf. p. xxv

above.

10. a gyrru Kulhwch arnaw: ‘and he was named Kulwch’. On the

use o f gyrru/dodi/rodi ar cf. GMW 186. Note how baptizing and
naming are closely associated, here as in PKM 23,14-16: Peri a
wnaethont bedydyaw y mab, o’r bedyd a wneit yna. Sef enw a dodet
arnaw, Gwri Wallt Euryn; 77,21-3 mi a baraf uedydyaw hwn . . . Sef
enw a baraf, Dylan.

Kulhwch: to the redactor o f the story it is evident that the hero’s

name meant ‘pigsty’ (cul + hwch; cf. Foster, ALM A 33 ‘burrow of
swine’). But cul with this meaning is a borrowing from E. kil(n),
and is not attested in GPC before Dafydd ap Gwilym in the 14th
cent. (=a doubtful ex: O ’r kul i’r felin o’r sach i’r hopran, GDG
421,5; GPC 629); that is, it cannot be shown to be earlier than the
approximate date o f the text o f CO in WM and RM. But cul with
the meaning ‘lean, slender’ is attested in the Beddau stanzas, and in
three other instances in L1DC. Its Ir. equivalent cael ‘thin’ is found in
 NOTES 47
the I2th-cent. Dindshenchas where Caelcheis is the name o f one o f
three women who were enchanted into swine o f the opposite sex
(Met. Din. iii, 388, 438; RC xv (1894), 471-2; cf. DIL ‘C ’ col. 10 cael
‘thin’; ibid. 104 ceis ‘a young pig’). Idris Foster noted the equivalence
between the name Culhwch and the semi-cognate Ir. Caelcheis
(CO(i) lxix-lxx and n. 178), and this equivalence was
independently pointed out by P. Ní Chatháin (‘Swineherds, Seers
and Druids’, SC xiv/xv (1979-80), 202). Foster believed that the
story o f Culhwch’s birth reflected an original (perhaps only dimly
perceived by the narrator) in which Culhwch was conceived to be a
king’s son transformed into a boar (as is said in 11. 1075-6 to have
been the origin o f the Twrch Trwyth; see introduction p. lxvii).
This belief is not inconsistent with E. P. Hamp’s interpretation of
cul as ‘a North-European substratum term’ (that is, one which is
pre-Indo-European), denoting a pig, which he believes to underlie
the prominence o f boars in pagan Celtic culture (ZCP 41 (1986),
257-8). However this may be, the element hwch in the hero’s name
would in itself have been sufficient to account for the pig-
associations o f Culhwch” s birth-tale. Cf. Lhuyd, Arch. Brit., 236b
‘huch, a swine, whether Boar or sow*. Hwch ‘pig’ is an element which
appears also in the personal name Unhwch, C L1H iii, ia; PT xi, 6;
Unhu LL 143, 23. P. K. Ford has seen in the story o f Culhwch’s birth
a memory o f the swine-god Moccus (The Mabinogi, 14-16). See
further introduction p. xxx.

10-12. dy wrth y gaffael: ‘because he was found’. On dy wrth and

dy Arthur (I.12) sec introduction p. xxx above.

II. hagen: conj. ‘however, but, for’. It never occurs first in the
sentence, GMW 233. A number of examples occur in this text, but it
is not found in ModW. Cf. Ir. immurgu.

12 -13. ar ueithrin: ‘to be nurtured’. There are other references in

Welsh tales to the placing o f children in the care o f foster-parents,
for example PKM 37,18. It was clearly a feature o f Welsh and Irish
life in the early period. Fosterage ended for boys at seventeen, and
for girls at fourteen, then they returned home. But the bonds
remained close, and there are many references to foster-brothers,
sisters, and parents, cf. PKM 19,20 and n. In HGVK 10,28 a certain
man named Cerit is described as Gruffudd’s foster-father, and in 1,6
there is a ref. to his foster-mother (mamvaeth). Cf. also Peryf ap
48 NOTES

Cedifor’s marwttad for his foster-brother Hywel ab Owain

Gwynedd, H 332.
14. Goleudyt; merch: see nn. to I.2 above.
15. Sef a oruc hi galw: on sef see introduction p. xxv above.
16. amkawd: cf. pp. xii, xvi above.
17. a uynny: in MW -y forms the ending o f the pres. sing. 2; GMW
115 -16 .
ynt: on the use o f a pi. vb. before a pi. subject, cf. GMW 179, also n.
to I.37 below.
recdouyd: cf. introduction p. xvii above. On dofydd, -ojydd ‘lord,
master o f’, etc. see n. to 1.176 below; T Y P no. 19 Tri Galouyd Enys
Pry dein, and refs, there cited; cf. B xv, 199.
18. Sef y: the y here is probably a conflation o f the prt. y+y, the
infixed pron. obj. sing. 3; and it is the pron. which accounts for the h
in harchaf. Cf. GMW 23.
20. athro: the meaning o f this word is not easy to define in detail.
Generally it denotes a man in religious orders, higher in status than
the yscolheic or scholar. The pi. athraon, occurs in H GVK 13,2 1: aV
escop a’e athraon a holl das er argluyd Dewi. In BD 297 athraon
translates doctores, phylosophorum, pontifices, clericos; cf. also PKM 21,
19. where Rhiannon summons athrawon a doethon to advise her. In
Rhigyfarch’s Life o f St David we find scriba corresponding to athro
in the Welsh version. On the scriba or sui in Ireland see K. Hughes,
The Church in Early Irish Society (London, 1966), 136: ‘His presence
indicates a school o f Latin learning, and his prestige was analogous
to that o f the fili who professed secular learning.’
22. marw y urenhines: ‘the queen died’. Cf. mynet y wlat y gwedi,
I.3 above and n.
24. malkawn: see n. to I.3 above.
gwallocau: ‘to neglect’, a denominative vb. consisting of
gwallog-\-ha-\-u\ cf. GMW 117.
25. y seith ulwydyn: this ought to be y seith mlyned as in R, or y
seithuet ulwydyn ‘the seventh year’.
 NOTES 49
y ryn: that is, yr hyn ‘that which’.

26. diw am aw d: ‘one day’. Here a n. is used adverbially without a

prep. Cf. PKM 78,3 Ual yd oed Wydyon diwarnawt yn y wely. See
further GMW 226-7.

yn h y ly y r brenhin: ‘as the king was hunting’. Note that the

subject o f the vn. follows immediately without a prep. Cf. n. on
I. 22 above.

corfflan: ‘graveyard’, from corff'body, corpse’, and llan ‘enclosure’ ,

as in gwinllan, perllan, corlan.

27. trw yt: on the prt. yt cf. p. xx above. Trw may be a phonetic
development and variant o f trwy, or the -y may have been lost
through proximity with the y o f yt. We may well have here a
survival o f an old construction in which the prep, occurs before a
rel. clause, a construction which appears to be attested also in Irish;
cf. GOI 312 f. Here it means something like ‘whereby’.

28-9. y g kyghor: ‘into counsel’, that is, ‘he sought counsel’ or

‘advice’. In MW yn (here yg) can mean ‘into’ as well as ‘in’; GMW
215.

30. sef: here used substantially, as nominal pred.; cf. GMW 52, and
II. 732, 1049 below.

31. D oget urenhin: Doget vrenhin ap Cedic ap Cunedha Wledic is

listed in a late addition to ByS in the hand o f Thomas Wiliems,
Trefriw, c. 1550-1622 (EWGT 67, no. 95, also Achau’r Saint, ibid.
70, no. 30). Llanddoged in the commote o f Uwch Dulas is the only
church in Wales which bears his name: it is a place of easy access
from Trefriw and from Llanrwst. FJynnon Ddoged is to be found
about sixty yards north o f the church; see Francis Jones, The Holy
Wells of Wales (University o f Wales Press, 1954), 173 and refs, there
cited. An awdl to ‘St Doged Frenin’ composed by Ieuan Llwyd
Brydydd (c. 1460-90) is found in two manuscripts: (P 225,160, and J
1 5*497)» both o f which are in the hand o f Thomas Wiliems, and
which thus demonstrate the latter’s particular interest and
dedication to his local saint, whose fame seems to have been in the
main restricted to the Llanrwst area o f Denbigh. See LBS ii, 347-9;
iv, 393-5; TWS 10, 250.
50 NOTES

k ygh or uu ganthunt: ‘they decided’. On the use ofgan with nouns

and adjectives to denote activity or attitude o f mind, see GMW 190.
34. gorym deith: ‘travel, take a walk’. It consists o f gor+ymdeith
(Ir. imthecht)\ cf. GMW 156.
y deuth: seldom do we find the affirmative prt. y before the vb. at
the beginning o f a sentence, but examples do occur; cf. 11.114, 139,
246 etc.; GMW 171.
37. k w t ynt plant: lenition o f the subject would be expected after a
pi. vb., but is here absent; see on ynt n.17 above.
rydyallas: ‘has seized’. It consists o f the prt. ry (see introduction
p. xxi) + dyalias (dy + gallu), prct. sing 3 o f dyallu ‘to apprehend,
seize’. Later it came to mean ‘grasp with the mind, comprehend,
understand’; ModW dyall, dealt.
go rd w y: here means ‘(to abduct by) violence’. It is a precise legal
term which recurs in the Laws in various contexts; see WLW 63, and
p. xvii above.
41. yt gafFo kanys ry gafFo: subj. pres. sing. 3 of ca(ff)el ‘to get,
obtain’. In the first ex. the pres. subj. is used to denote future
meaning, in the second, with ry- it denotes the perfect; see GMW
112 - 13 .
44. p w y ystyr: ‘what reason?’ Cf. also 11.89, 772 below. Pwy is here
used adjectivally, as it is still in the spoken language of south Wales.
See further GMW 74-5.
46. kennatau: ‘to send for’; a denominative vb. from kennat
‘messenger’ + ha + w; cf. GMW 117.
47. a mab: the vocative prt. is usually followed by lenition, a uab\
GMW 15.
50. ty g h a f tyghet: ‘I will swear a destiny’. The same phrase appears
in PKM 79,3; 81,7; 83,12, where Aranrhod swears her three
destinies on Lieu. But in C L 1H ii,21 tynghet appears as a blind
impersonal force, and one which is not imposed by a human agent.
Both usages are paralleled by geis in Irish.
llatho: subj. pres. sing. 3 o f Had, here used with the meaning ‘to
strike’, with wrth ‘against’. The â oillad has become [0] = th under
 NOTES 51
the influence o f h which originally formed part o f the ending o f the
subjunctive; cf. GMW 128. Note here that the pres. subj. is used
with future meaning, as in yt gaffo I.41.

51 . Olwen merch Yspadaden Penkawr: for Olwen see n. to 1. 498

below. For the lack o f lenition in merch see n. on I.2 and cf. I.14
above.

Yspadaden Penkawr: ‘Hawthorn Head Giant’ according to Rhys,

CF 487. Ysbaddad(en) is the name for hawthorn or whitethorn.
Gorwyn blaen ysbydat is the opening line o f one verse in a series of
englynion which lists the names o f trees and plants, RP 1034,11. Cf.
also ysbydat in the tree-list in the poem Cad Goddau, B T 25,5, ed. M.
Haycock in M. J. Ball et al. (eds.), Celtic Linguistics: Festschrift for A.
T. Watkins (Amsterdam, 1990), 297-331. In spite o f its traditional
associations with Mayday festivities, the hawthorn has slightly
sinister connotations in folklore: ‘Above most plants in the far west
o f Europe (it is) a supernatural tree’ according to Geoffrey Grigson,
The Englishman’s Flora (St Alban’s, 1975), 180. Ysbyddaden is found
in place-names: dirispidatenn LL 202, 2-3; Waun Yspyddaden and Bryn
Yspyddaden are recorded in and near the parish of Llandybie by
Gomer M. Roberts, Flanes Plw yf Llandybie (Gwasg Prifysgol
Cymru, 1939), 248. Ton Yspyddaden is the name o f a farm in the Vale
o f Neath, D. Rhys Phillips, History of the Vale of Neath (Swansea,
1925), 28; on this name see also Ifor Williams, Enwau Lleoedd, 68. Dr
J. C. Grooms, ‘Giants in Welsh Folklore and Tradition’ (Ph.D.
thesis, University o f Wales, 1988) has recorded that local folklore
associates the story o f a giant with this locality. Yet both here and
elsewhere the name o f the plant may have attracted to it a literary
(or popular) recollection o f the story of Ysbaddaden Pencawr. An
obscure allusion by Y Prydydd Bychan (H 245,16) to Yspadaden
Ddinbych in a marwnad to Maredudd ab Owain (d. 1265) appears to
associate the Giant with Dinbych y Pysgod (Tenby), according to
the interpretation of the poem by Vendryes, EC iii (1938), 316-17.
In HRB ii,8 Spaden is given as the name o f one of the sons of
Ebraucus = Yspladen BD 24,27; Spadaden in LI. i (see B. F. Roberts,
B X X V , 280).

It is easy to believe that Ysbaddaden’s very name could inspire

terror in Arthur’s warriors, not least because o f the Giant’s later
claim concerning Arthur dan uy Haw i y mae ef 1.73 3—whatever the
52 NOTES

exact implication o f these words may be. (With this phrase cf. nyd
asswyttwys eiroet yn Haw arglwyd 11.212-13 below.)
52. mynet a oruc serch y uorwyn: love for a man or woman who
has never been seen is paralleled in the Mabinogi in Rhiannon’s love
for Pwyll, and in Irish there is a technical term for it - gradh/sercc
ecmaise - ‘absent love, love o f someone absent’, DIL ‘E ’ 43.
57. Arthur: for the portrayal o f Arthur in the story see the
introduction pp. xxvii-ix. For general accounts o f Arthur in early
Welsh sources see T. Jones, ‘The Early Evolution o f the Legend o f
Arthur’, Nottingham Medieval Studies viii (1964), 3-21 (= B xvii
(1958), 235-52); K. Jackson, ALM A chs. 1 and 2; R. Bromwich,
T Y P 274-7; AoW passim. For Arthur’s relation to Culhwch see n. 2
above on Anlawd Wledic.
58. keuynderw: ‘cousin’; ModW cefhder. On the loss o f non-
syllabic -w cf. GMW 11, and I.407 below.
ar Arthur: ar ‘to’ is usual at an early period before names o f persons;
cf. GMW 187, and I.246 below.
diwyn dy wallt: the stem o f diwyn is diwyg-\ cf. G 380. Other verbs
with similar formations are gorllwyn ‘to watch’ (indie, pres. sing. 3
gorllwc), dwyn ‘bring’ (dyg-). The cutting o f hair was a symbolic act
indicative o f the acceptance o f consanguinity, cf. I.163 and see n.
on 1.164 below.
59. erchych: subj. pres. sing. 2 o f erchi ‘to seek, request’, here used
with imperative meaning; GMW 113 .
yn gyuarws it: cyfarws or cyfarwys meant a gift, bounty, or boon.
According to J. Lloyd-Jones (B ii (1923), 5-6) it derives from *feow-
are-wid-to\ cf. *wid-to > gwys ‘is known’. A variant is *weid >
gwydd; cf. gwyddost, also arwydd ‘sign, token’ < *are-weid. A sign or
token seems to be the basic meaning of cyfarws, indicating a
recognition by the donor o f the nobility, respect, or honour o f the
recipient, and at the same time indicating that he was o f a lower
status than the donor. Cyfarws was given by a king, and paid to all
according to their status. The different kinds o f gifts which it would
be natural for a king to give as a cyfarws are listed in BD 129, 6-10,
where Emrys Wledig makes gifts at his Whitsuntide feast: to some
he gives lands, to some gold and silver, to some horses and rich
 NOTES 53
garments: yna y gelwit ar bawb y dalu eu kyuarws udunt herwyd eu
hanryded. Cf. WM 174 ,15-16 , (Peredur) a’rdwy iarllaeth a rodafit y ’th
gyfarws ‘and the two earldoms I will give to thee as thy cyfarws. Cf.
D. cyvarwysog: cui terra a principe donata est. The cyfarws that
Culhwch demanded from Arthur, his lord and kinsman, in
recognition o f their relationship, was that he should obtain Olwen
for him; Arthur’s acceptance o f his obligation was symbolized by
his act in cutting Culhwch’s hair. On cyfarws see B xxvi (1975),
147-8; GPC 684; H G VK 66-7; T Y P 183-4, and refs, there cited.
60- 81. The rhetorical passage which follows, describing Culhwch
riding to Arthur’s court, should be compared with the description
o f Olwen, II.487-98 below. Both are composed in the style
characteristic o f the medieval araith (‘oration’, see introduction
pp. lxxiii-iv). Much use is made o f elaborate and fanciful compd.
nouns and adjectives, and there is a fondness for nominal
constructions. The description o f Culhwch is static: the only
movement is that of his hounds who circle about him.

6 1- 2. yn y penn: the art. is sometimes used instead of a poss. pron.,

which may explain the absence o f lenition here. Y could, however,
be explained as the poss. pron. sing. 3 masc. with the lenition not
formally represented, as is occasionally the case in MW; cf. GMW
14,25, and n. on ar y penn 1.87 below.

63. gleif: is a gloss on ennillec. as was shown by T. Jones, B xiii

(1950), 75-7. It derives from ME and OF glaive (probably through
Anglo-Norman, acc. M. E. Surridge, EC xxi (1984), 247-8, 251),
and appears to be a unique occurrence in Culhwch o f a word o f
French derivation. Cf. the list o f Arthur’s regalia BD 148,27-8: gleif
a rodet yn y lav, yr hon a elwit Ron ( = lancea HRB ix, 4). Bwyall ennillec
‘battle-axe’ is attested in Brut y Tywysogyon (P 20 version)
1 50,1 0 - 1 1 , and appears to be the equivalent of bvall deuvinavc in BD
22,18, as pointed out by B. F. Roberts (B xxiii, 121-2); cf. Lhuyd,
AB, 216 enilheg ‘a hatchet’. Since a lance is not the same thing as a
hatchet, gleif is clearly an inappropriate rendering of ennillec, also
since gleif is masc. yndi in I.64 is also inappropriate, and has perhaps
supplanted some such word as bwyell (fern.). The form gleif
penntirec, common to W and R, was explained by T. Jones as due to
miscopying an original archetype, in which ‘p’ was a sign in the MS
denoting a gloss (a sign used similarly in Brut y Tywysogyon).
54 NOTES

64. kyuelin dogyn gw r yndi o drum hyt awch: ‘(having) the

length o f a full-grown man’s forearm in it from ridge to edge’. Cf.
GER, dogyn kyuelin uawr yndaw o'r paladyr, WM 419,36-8.

68. lloring elifeint: lloring was explained by Idris Foster and

Thomas Jones as derived from OE. laerig ‘shield-boss, shield’, with
confusion o f 0 and e as in W’s as redwn for as rodwn I.486 below (see B
viii, 2 1-3 ; xiii, 75). R has misread the word as llugorn ‘lantern’, cf.
introduction p. xii. elifeint < Lat. eliphantus (eliphant), ‘ivory’; cf.
ysgwyt eliphant (Cynddelw), H 89,29.

69. deu uilgi uronwynyon urychyon: ‘two greyhounds,

whitebreasted, brindled’. The same collocation o f words is found in
Peredur, WM 157,22-3. Note the lenition o f the adjectives after the
noun preceded by the numeral ‘two’; cf. GMW 34; note also the pi.
forms o f the adjectives, GMW 36.

71. yr hwn: = yr un ‘the one’, also a'r hwnn I.72. Cf. GMW 69.

77. can mu: ‘a hundred cows’; mu represents the nasal mutation of

bu. In primitive society values were originally calculated in cattle,
Lat. pecunia < pecus. In Vita Cadoci ch. 62 a sword is named
Hopiclour, quod habuit precium Ixx uaccarum ‘which had the worth of
seventy cows’ (VSB 130).

79. a’e warthafleu (sangharwy): gwarthafl is well attested with the

meaning ‘stirrup, upper part of the boot’, GPC 1587. Sangharwy is
unknown, but Thomas Jones showed (B xiii, 17-19) that sang = the
‘tread’ or metal part o f a stirrup. W and R both read sangnarwy, in
which the second a is redundant and ngn = -ng or -tigh, for both of
which he cites analogies, and interprets the cmpd. sang(h)rwy as
‘stirrup-leather’ or ‘stirrup-strap’; that is, a strap which stretched
from Culhwch’s thigh to his toe. Owing to uncertainty as to the
precise meaning o f these words, it is difficult to decide whether
gwarthafleu is to be interpreted as a gloss on sangharwy or the reverse.
Cf. introduction p. xi above.

80. ulaen: note the lenition o f the subject after the sing. 3 imperf. in
MW, and cf. also 11.304, 386.

84. pob dyw kalan Ionawr: ‘every first day o f January’. Note the
adv. form dwy ‘day” , and cf. I.370 pob dyw kalan Mei, GMW 33.
 NOTES 55
86. Huandaw: ‘good hearer (-ing)’; andaw with the affirmative prt.
hu-y hy-t as in huawdl, hygar etc.; cf. GPC 1945.
Gogigwr: lit. ‘little meat-man’, perhaps ‘meat-eater’ or ‘butcher’.
This form o f the name is supported by 1.112 0 below.
Llaeskemyn: ‘?slow step’; cam ‘step’, cf. Ir. ceimm.
a Ffenpingyon: cf. Pen Pingon 11. 1120-3 (where the three servants
o f Glewlwyd (see 1. 1 1 1 and n.) are slain together, Llaesgemyn alone
escaping). Cf. WM 386,2-4: A phen pighon. A Hays gymyn. A
gogyuwlch (GER).
89. pw y ystyr: pwy could here be explained as consisting o fpy/pa
‘what?” and wy/yw ‘is’, that is, ‘What is the meaning/reason that
you do not open it?’ Or pwy could be taken as adjectival ‘what’, cf.
GMW 75, and I.44 above, I.772 below.
89, 90. ym w yt, ymual: both forms contain yn ‘into’ and bwyt, bual\
cf. also II.772 and 773.
91. teithiawc: (Ir. techtae) ‘one possessing legal claims, lawful,
rightful, as prescribed by law’, DIL ‘T ’, col. 100. Cf. C A 1095 where
Gorthyn Hir (a descendant o f Kilyd, see n. to 1.1 above) is described
as mab brenhin teithiauc\ also y urenkin teithiawc I.586 below.
94. yspytty: ‘hospice’, consisting of esbyd (pi. of osb ‘guest’), in the
form ysbyd+ ty ‘house’. Cf. EL 43.
98. pryt anterth: < Lat. ante tertiam ‘before the third hour’, that is
nine o’clock.
100. gwnelych: a clear example o f the pres. subj. used to denote the
meanings o f the imperative and optative; cf. GMW 113 , and I.501
below.
105. diaspat as P. K. Ford has pointed out (B xxvi (1975), 147),
Culhwch’s diaspad was intended to be no ordinary shout: it recalls
the diaspad uwch Annwfn which is cited in an obscure passage in the
Laws as a formal means for seeking legal redress; LI. lor. §85; trans.
HDdL 104 (see n.).
106. Penn Pengwaed yg Kernyw: Penn Pengwaed corresponds to
Penwith, that is Land’s End, the furthest extremity of the Cornish
peninsula. In L1C xiii (1980-1), 278-81, B. F. Roberts has drawn
56 NOTES

attention to the corresponding Cornish form Pen penwyth in Exeter

Cathedral Library MS 3514, ff. 58-60; cf. T Y P (2) 542. The
conventional measurement o f Britain as estimated in Enweu Ynys
Pry dein (TYP 228) was 900 miles from Penryn Penwaed yng Ngherniw
to Penryn Blathaon (Dunnet Head?) in Scotland (see notes to Celli
Wie yGhemiw and to Penryn Blathaon, 261-2 below). Cf. LI.lor. §90
(Dyfnwal Moelmut) a uessurus er enys hon 0 Penryn Blathaon em
Pryden hyt em Penryn Penwaed eg Kemyu: sefyu henne, nau can mylltyr,
a henne yu hyt er enys hon (= HDdL 120); Brut y Tywysogyon (P 20
version) 59, ann. m i - 1 4 : ef a gynnullawd henri vrenhin lu dros holl
ynys brydein. 0 bennryn penngwaed yghernyw hyd ymhenryn blathaon
ymhrydein. The evidence cited in n. to I.261 below suggests that
Culhwch was at Celliwig when he threatened to give his great
shout, and that Celliwig was in fact situated at Penwith or Pen
Pengwaed.

D insol yn y G ogled: each time ‘Y Gogled’ is alluded to in Culhwch

(see index) the meaning is yr Hen Ogledd, the ‘Old North’, that is,
the lost Brittonic territories in Cumbria and in southern Scotland.
The Vita Cadoci gives Dinsol as the Cornish name for St Michael’s
Mount: mons sancti Michaelis. . . qui in regione Cornubiensium esse
dinoscitur, atque illius prouincie Dinsol appellatur (VSB 94). The
identification o f Dinsol with St Michael’s Mount was rejected by
Idris Foster, B viii (1937), 23-5, and by J. Lloyd-Jones, G 359.
Foster’s opinion was that o:e had been confused in the original o f the
White Book text o f the tale (cf. n. to lloring, 1.68 above), and that the
original form o f this name was Dinsel - modern Denzell, in the
parish o f Padstow, where there is an ancient ruined chapel (now a
farm) dedicated to St Cadoc. We are indebted to Oliver Padel for
the information that this capella sancti Cadoci is recorded as late as
1339. Since the name Dinsol is unknown outside these two allusions
in Culhwch and the Vita Cadoci, the conclusion seems inevitable that
there has been mutual influence between them, and that one o f the
two has derived the name from the other. But in his threat to give
teir diaspat Culhwch is claiming that his shout would be so loud and
penetrating that it would be heard in places regarded as being at a
great distance from each other. It would be natural for him to
compare Penn Pengwaedd, the furthest extremity o f Cornwall, with
some place which represented one o f the furthest extremities o f the
island, such as Penryn Blathaon ym Prydein (= Prydyn, Pictland); see
 NOTES 57
previous note, and cf. n. to I.262 below. If Dinsol really represents a
Cornish place-name, either Denzell or St Michael’s Mount, it could
be explained as a name superimposed upon one o f the old and nearly
forgotten place-names at Britain’s northern extremity, such as
Pen(ryn) Blathaon or Pentir Gafian, both o f which were places
known to Welsh poets, and both are named in EYP. The Exeter
Cathedral MS, mentioned above, gives the measurement o f 800
miles from St Michael’s Mount to Pentir Gajran in Caithness -
evidently therefore this was another traditional measurement.
E. Anwyl in fact corroborated the above view, when he concluded
rightly that Dinsol represents ‘one o f the more northerly points o f
Caithness’ (RC xxxiv (1913), 412).

107. Eskeir Oeruel yn Iwerdon: ‘The Ridge o f Coldness in

Ireland’. This Welsh name for a place in Ireland is quite unknown
outside Culhwch, and therefore it is uncertain whether or not it can
have been a traditional name. Kuno Meyer (THSC 1895-Ó, 73)
interpreted it as a semi-phonetic rendering o f Ir. Sescenn Uairbeoil,
the name o f a place in Leinster, in which sescenn means
‘unproductive ground, swamp, bog’ (DIL ‘S’ col. 196), and uarbel
‘cold mouth’, is used figuratively for a mountain pass or gap. Meyer’s
identification was followed by Rhŷs, CF 5ion., and by Thurneysen,
Heldensage 654m According to G. Murphy, DF iii, 406 Sescenn
Uairbeoil denoted ‘the great marsh near Newcastle, Co. Wicklow’.
For Hogan (Onomasticon Goedelicon 577) Sescend Uarbeoil ‘seems near
Boherbreena and between it and the sea’. E. Gwynn (Met. Din. iii,
499) equates it with Tonn Uairbeoil, named in one text o f TBD D as
the place on the shore near Dublin where the pirates landed before
attacking Da Derga’s Hostel (which was situated somewhere on the
River Dodder). Whether or not there are adequate grounds for
equating the Irish and the Welsh names, all the indications show
that Eskeir Oeruel denoted some place visible from the sea on the east
coast o f Ireland. Giraldus Cambrensis (Itin. Cam. ii, i) observes that
on a clear day ‘the mountains o f Ireland’ (that is, the Wicklow
mountains) can be seen from St David’s. After a discussion of the
geography o f all the Irish allusions to Sescenn Uairbeoil, P. Sims-
Williams makes the suggestion ‘that Uarbel was the Irish name for
the gap between the Little Sugar Loaf and Bray Head, the only
coastal high ground between Howth and Wicklow’ (‘The Irish
Geography o f Culhwch and Olwen’, 413-14). Lying south of
58 NOTES

Dublin, this identification fits well with the indications given in the
Dindshenchas and in TBD D . But for the redactor o f Culhwch, Eskeir
Oeruel, even if it was a landmark well known to Welsh mariners, is
likely to have meant little more than an unidentified place on the
Irish coast, to be juxtaposed with Ditisol (by which some place in the
far north was originally intended) and Penn Pengwaed on the western
extremity o f the Cornish peninsula.
107-8. yssyd o wreic ueichawc: ‘as many pregnant women as
there are’; cf. GMW 68.
h i . Glew lw yt Gauaeluawr: ‘Bold Grey Mighty Grasp’. In
Culhwch ac Olwen Glewlwyt Gafaelfawr figures as Arthur’s gate­
keeper, if only on special occasions (see 11.84-6 above). But in Pa
Gur he is presented as the guardian o f a hostile fortress, into which
Arthur and his men are seeking to gain admittance. It is suggested in
T Y P 361-2 that the situation depicted in Culhwch is a burlesque
reversal o f that in the poem, where Glewlwyt appears as porthawr of
the fortress o f Awamach (=Wmach Gawr ? see n. to I.747). Here in
Culhwch, instead of presenting his credentials for admission to
Arthur’s Court, as he was required to do, Culhwch threatens
Glcwlwyd, and it is Glewlwyd himself who in his address to Arthur
enlarges on the young hero’s qualifications for admittance (cf. B. F.
Roberts, Ast.H. 298-9). Under the influence o f Culhwch,
Glewlwyd figures again as Arthur’s gate-keeper both in Owein and
in GER: WM 223,17-18 and WM 385,35-6 = Mab 135,229) -
though his status is not very clear in either tale. The duties and
privileges o f the king’s porthawr arc specified in the Laws; LIB 7,18;
24,21; HDdL 35, etc.
1 1 5. Chwedleu porth genhyt?: ‘Have you news from the gate?’ cf.
II.778-9 Dywawt Wrnach Gawr, ' Whedleu porth y genhyt?' and
Matholwch’s words to his swineherds *Duw a rodo da ywch . . . a
chwedleu genhwch?' (PKM 39,19). Cf. the corresponding Irish phrase
Scèla lib? ‘Have you news?’
116-28. The rhetorical and bombastic speech in which Glewlwyd
introduces Culhwch to Arthur’s Court has earlier precedents, and
may be regarded as formulaic; cf. the series o f englynion beginning
Mi a wutn ‘I have been’, L1DC 34,43-63. Margcd Haycock has
shown (CM CS 13 (1987), 13, 27) that Glewlwyd’s speech is closely
paralleled in the poem B T 5 1,10 -17 , which lists the conquests of
 NOTES 59
Alexander, and makes a similar use o f exotic and alliterating names
for unknown and far-away places: E. Anwyl did in fact suggest that
the Culhwch passage incorporates a memory of the Alexander story
(RC 34 (1913), 413). Idris Foster noted what may be an even earlier
precedent in a parallel formulaic speech made by Curoi mac Dairi in
the Old Irish tale Fled Bricrend ‘Bricriu’s Feast’, in which Curoi lists
his foreign travels (see ALM A 35, 38; text and trans, in G.
Henderson (ed.) Bricriu’s Feast ITS vol. 2 (London 1899) 118; LU
II.9201-5; trans. AIT 277). Like Glewlwyd, Curoi has visited
Europe, Africa, and Greece, as well as Asia, Scithia, and the
columns o f Hercules. Glewlwyd’s speech has been the subject o f a
detailed analysis by B. F. Roberts, ‘Y r India Fawr a’r India Fcchan’,
L1C xiii (1980-1), 281-3. He shows that its purpose was to create a
feeling o f wonder by citing a list of strange and unfamiliar names
which served to enhance the speaker’s boastful recital o f his exploits
in far-off unknown places. Rhyming pairs o f names such as Caer Se
ac Asse, Sach a Salach, Lotor a Fotor are resounding but
meaningless invented names, and similar doubts arise concerning
Caer Brythwch a Brythach a Nerthach (I.122) - all of them
names which are otherwise unknown. But Caer Oeth ac Anoeth is
found in a triad (TYP no. 52), and teulu Oeth ac Anoeth is known
from the Beddau stanzas, L1D C 18, 90: this name may therefore be
assumed to have some traditional background. The same is
probably true o f ymlad deu Y n yr (11. 119-20), since ynyr wystlon
are named in B T 42,2. Caer Neuenhyr naw Nawt (1.126) has been
discussed by J. Lloyd-Jones, B xiv, 35-7; he shows that Nawt
should be emended to nant on the authority of Prydydd y Moch’s
allusion to newenhyr naw nant (H 276,30), where nant (‘nine streams’)
is proved by the rhyme. In Cad Goddau (BT 24, 1) the Taliesin
persona boasts bum yg kaer nefenhir and the word naw has been deleted
in the text after nefenhir. Egrop in 1.120 is here an obvious mistake for
‘Europ(a)’: the three continents affrica, europa, asicia (Asia) are listed
in B T 5,3-4; 80, 2-3 - although Glewlwyd here only names the first
two o f these. India (1.118) was a land o f magic and enchantment in the
Middle Ages, as also were Greece and Llychlyn (I.120), an early
borrowing from Ir. Lochlann (Norway). The source for the hear-say
knowledge o f these countries lay in the works of Isidore and Orosius,
which are reflected in the Imago Mundi, translated into Welsh in the
thirteenth century as Delw y Byd. Though Corsica is named in this
work, a lack o f exact knowledge is probably the reason for
6o NOTES

Glewlwyd’s ynyssoed Corsica (j.j2 i). For a note on geographical

knowledge in medieval Wales see N. Lloyd and M. E. Owen, Drych
yr Oesoedd Canol (Gwasg Prifysgol Cymru, 1986), 116 -18 .
123-4. Gleis mab Merin. In RC 34, 4 13-14 , Anwyl prefers R ’s
reading cleis for Gleis, comparing Porth Cleis (1.1098 below). Merin
< Marinus (a name found in Bodferin, Gwynedd).
Mil Du mab Ducum. Mil Du ‘the Black Animal’. In the early life o f
St Malo (RC 6, 384; LBS iii, 417) a giant named Mildu is resuscitated
by the saint from his burial in a cairn. See further Histoire Litteraire et
culturelle de la Bretagne ed. J. Balcou and Y. Le Gallo (Paris, 1987),
132, where the name in a Breton lay Mildumarec (Mil du + marchog)
is compared.
127. eirmoet: ‘ever, during my time’: With the infixed pron. sing.
3 the form is e(i)ryoet in MW. Later this form becomes general, and
it developed as an impers. adv. with the meaning ‘ever’. Under the
influence o f y [1] er- became eir, which spread by analogy to eirmoet, a
form which disappeared during the MW period; see GMW 222, and
II.314, 448, 907 below.
kym ryt consists ofkym+pryt ‘appearance, form’ and means ‘o f like
form, as fair’. Such formations are attested in Welsh, where ky(f)-,
kym- are prefixed to nouns: kyfliw, kyuurd, kymoned, kyfret, kyjryw,
kyhyt, kyflet, kymeint, kyniuer. See GMW 38 also 11.395, 448 below.
132-4. Ys dyhed a beth gadu . . . y kyfryw dyn a dywedy di: ‘It
is a shameful thing to leave such a man as you speak o f’. On the use
o f ys initially before a nominal pred. see p. xxiii above.
134. Kei and 136. Kei wynn: (‘Fair Kei’). Cei is derived from Lat.
Caius; see Vendryes, EC v, 34; M. Richards ‘Arthurian
Onomastics’, TH SC 1969, 257. For a collection o f early allusions to
Kei/Cei see T Y P 303-7, and for a suggestion as to an alternative
derivation for the name see R. M. Jones, B xiv, 119-23. Cei is
Arthur’s foremost warrior in Culhwch ac Olwen, as he is in the poem
Pa Gur (see pp. xxxv-vi above). In the poem Cei receives the epithet
Keiguin, as in 1.136, also (y) gur hir ‘the tall man’. These two epithets
are constantly attached to Cei in the Three Romances, cf. T Y P 304n.
In HRB ix, 11 Kaius is described as Arthur’s senescallus ‘seneschal,
steward’ (= pen swydwr BD 156,30); cf. 11.272-3 below ny byd
gwasanaythur na swydvr mal ef. Cei is portrayed for the most part in a
 NOTES 6l

favourable light in Welsh tradition, as is manifest from the allusions

to him by the poets. In Culhwch he is distinguished for his
miraculous cyneddfau (11.266-73): his great natural heat and his
ability to go without sleep recall the similar attributes possessed by
Cú Chulainn (see C. O ’Rahilly, Táin Bó Cúailnge from the Book of
Leinster, 40-1, 179). He is distinguished for his valour and cunning
in slaying Wrnach Gawr and Dillus Farfawg, and for riding on the
‘two shoulders’ o f the salmon on his journey up the Severn to free
Mabon fab Modron from his prison at Gloucester. But having taken
offence at the satirical englyn Arthur addressed to him (11. 978-80),
Cei disappears from the story, and plays no part in the final
adventures. Nevertheless, Arthur is said to have avenged Cei’s
death (I.284). The nucleus o f the later adverse and contentious
portrayal o f Cei is indicated already in Culhwch, and is further
developed in the Three Romances, ln T Y P no.21, as in I.264 below
(see n.), Cei’s father is named Kenyr Keinuaruavc, but some
uncertainty nevertheless exists as to his parentage, and there are
suggestions o f an unknown story relating to the ambiguous
circumstances o f his birth. The epithet gwyn which is already
attached to Cei in Pa Gur is evidently a term o f endearment: it
belongs exclusively to Cei and is never given to any other of
Arthur’s companions.
134. myn llaw uyghyueillt: ‘by the hand o f my friend’; an
asseveration introduced by the prep, myn ‘by’, as in 1.957 below; cf.
GMW 245.
kyueillt: note that -lit has not here been reduced to 11. Cf.
BWP 28-9.
136. Ydym wyrda hyt tra yn dygyrcher: these words from
Arthur are significant as an anticipation o f the chivalrous monarch
o f later Arthurian romance. (On this see B. F. Roberts, AoW 73-4.)
137. cyfarws: see n. to I.59 above.
139. Glewlwyd: see n. to l . i i i above.
agori. an ex. o f a vn. used instead o f a finite vb. in narrative, with a
finite vb. preceding it. C f GMW 161, CFG 47; also I.1017 below.
140. a goryw pawb: ‘what everyone did’; pret. sing. 3 ofgoruot, cf.
GMW 147, n. 3. For a rel. clause without an expressed antecedent,
cf. GMW 72.
62 NOTES

141. ar y go rw y d y doeth y m yw n: an audacious and disrespectful

act. M. L. Sjoestedt has compared the entry o f the boy Cu Chulainn
into the court o f his uncle king Conchobar in the same violent way ;
(Gods and Heroes of the Celts, trans. Dillon (London, 1949), 61-3.
P. L. Henry points out (SC iii (1968), 33m) that Suailtaim, Cú
Chulainn’s father, also makes a violent entry into the court o f King
Conchobar (O’Rahilly, Táin Bó Cúailnge from the Book of Leinster
I.4009, trans, p. 246). There are suggestions that Peredur entered
Arthur’s court in a similar fashion (though the burlesque parallel is
more clear in the French version o f the story, where Perceval
actually rides into the court, and up to Arthur, so that his horse
knocks the cap from the king’s head). Peredur’s uncouth dress and
accoutrements are no doubt in intentional contrast to those of
Culhwch (WM 122,20 = Mab. 186-7).
142. henpych gw ell: ‘Hail, may you fare the better’. Here we have
an ex. o f the pres. subj. used to express a wish, cf. GMW 113 ; also 1.
148 below. The vb. here is hanuot a compd. of hot ‘to be’ . The first
element is han ‘from’, and the vb. means ‘to be from’ . But it can
mean simply ‘to be” , as is the case here. (With han cf. ohanaf'irom
me’ in MW, also the vb. gwahanu ‘to separate’).
143- gw aelaw t ty: ‘the lower part o f the house’. This may well
have yielded glowty (from gwalowty) a form used in parts o f south
Wales (Pembroke and Glamorgan) for ‘cow-house’; T C 25, cf. also
L1C ii (1953), 189.
147. g w ir D y w : (also 11.162 and 172). Gwir Duw ‘truth o f God’.
This oath is explained by T. M. Charles-Edwards (THSC 1970,
284) as corresponding to h .firn D é ‘truth o f God’ ‘a solemn binding
oath . . . ’ The fir nDé was a method o f deciding a legal case when all
else failed. Thurneysen translates it as ‘divine verdict’ or ‘ordeal’. It
involved an oath on relics or on an altar. This, no doubt, replaced
other solemn forms o f oath which were used in the pre-Christian
period’. Cf. DIL ‘F’ 147 ‘a religious ordeal or attestation’; HGVK
14, 19, 75-
149. breint edling (gw rthrychyat teyrnas) araat (R: breint teym)
‘the dignity o f an edling (R: ‘o f a prince’) for you, the one who
expects a kingdom’. Both texts incorporate separate glosses on the
archaic term gwrthrychyat ‘one who expects’ or ‘looks forward’, an
old term for the heir-apparent, cf. Ir. tánaise rig. It was already
 NOTES 63
displaced in the Welsh Laws by edling (<O .E. aetheling). Acc. LIB
4,16-20 Gwrthrychyat, nyt amgen, yr etlig, y neb a dylyo gwledychu
gwedy ef} a dylyir y enrydedu ymlaen pawb yny llys eithyr y brenhin a’r
urenhines. In this place R cannot be copying W, since teyrn ‘prince’ is
not the equivalent o f edling; see introduction p. xi and on the
significance o f the difference between the two texts here see further
T. M. Charles-Edwards, ‘The Heir-Apparent in Irish and Welsh
Law’, Celtica ix (1971), 185-6, and D. A. Binchy, ‘Some Celtic
Legal Terms’, Celtica iii (1956), 2 2 1-3 1. The edling was normally a
son, nephew, or first cousin o f the king; sec D. Jenkins, HDdL 6-7.
15 1, bythawd: an old formation whereby an archaic independent
ending -(h)awd (with future meaning) is added to the form byd, fut.
sing. 3 o f the vb. ‘to be’; cf. GMW 119.
pan y: here pan means ‘that’ (conjunct.) and is preceded by 0 ‘from’.
This occurs elsewhere in MW: ae 0 bysgotta pan deuy di YC M 81,5-6.
Cf. GMW 79, also 1. 1 89 below 0 vrthdir Uffern pan hanoed ygwyr. The
y in pan y probably consists o f the pers. pron. obj. sing. 3 ‘that I will
begin it’.
153. uyghyuarws: on cyfarws see n. on I.59 above.
154. dwyn dy vyneb: (R: dwyn dy agclot). Wyneb ‘face’ denoted
honour; cf. wynebwerth ‘honour-price’, and its Ir. equivalent log
n-enech. Cf. T. M. Charles-Edwards (THSC 1970, 277), ‘in the WB
text Culhwch threatens to take away Arthur’s honour, in other
words to dishonour him as far as the furthest corners o f the earth. In
the RB text, however, Culhwch threatens to carry Arthur’s
“ dispraise” , in other words, to satirize him’. On Ir. enech cf.
D. Binchy, Crith Gablach (DIAS 1941), 84-6.
157. a’th tauawd: note how th+d- (representing the lenition o f t
after -th (GMW 16) becomes -tht-, cf. GMW 17. Otherwise a’th
dauawt, as in 1.171.
1 57-9. hyt y sych gwynt etc: for a similar hyperbole see GDG 7, 28
Hyd y try hwyl hy haul haf etc. P. L. Henry cites a number o f Irish
parallels to the citation o f the elements as guarantors of an oath, Eriu
X X (1969), 233-6.

158. hyt yr etil heul: (R: hyt y tteigyl heul). The text is not
satisfactory as it stands, and the two texts differ. It would appear
64 NOTES

that the original drawn on by both was not very clear: here the vb.
etil, pres. sing. 3 ‘reaches’ is from eddylaf (GPC 1169).
159. uy llong a ’ m lien: Prydwen was the name o f Arthur’s ship; see
n. on Prytwenn 1.938 below. Arthur’s lien or mantle is not named in
Culhwch, but is called Gwenn in B R 11,19 . It is described, though
without being named, in ‘The Thirteen Treasures o f the Island of
Britain’: Lien Arthur yng Ngherniw, pwy bynnag a fai deni, efe a welai
bawb, ac ni welai neb ef* Arthur’s Mantle in Cornwall, whoever might
be under it could see everyone, and no one was able to see him’, L1C v
(1958), 36, 53-4; cf. EC X (1963), 442, 461; T Y P 241, 247-8. In B X X X
(1983), 268-73, P- K. Ford comments on the possibly magical
connotations o f the element gwyn/gwen in the names of Arthur’s
possessions - Prydwen, Gwenn (= his mantle), Ehangwen (= his
hall), Carnwennan (= his dagger), and even in Gwenhwyfar, his wife.
Gwyn/Gwen can mean not only ‘white’, but also ‘pure, sacred’. This
leads Ford to advocate the mythical Otherworld origin o f Arthur’s
regalia, though this is nowhere expressly stated.
a C haletuw lch u yg cledyf: Caletjwlch is a compd. o f caled, as adj.
‘hard’ or as n. ‘battle’ + bwlch ‘breach, gap, notch’ (GPC 352).
Taking caled to be the n., meaning ‘battle’ (GPC 392) as in L1DC
18,76 ny kilieu 0 caled, ‘Battle-breach’ or ‘Breach o f Battle’ thus
appears preferable to ‘Hard notch (gap)’ or the like, as the meaning
o f this name. In BD 148 Caletuvlch translates Caliburnus, the name
for Arthur’s sword in H RB ix, 4 etc. - a form which Geoffrey of
Monmouth must have derived from a written text earlier than any
which has survived, since it must have been one in which bwlch was
as yet unlenited. It thus appears that the Brut gives the earliest
written appearance o f the name Caledfwlch. For a number o f years
Caledfwlch was looked upon as a borrowing from the cognate Ir.
Caladbolg (calad ‘hard’, as noun ‘hardship’; DIL, ‘C ’ 58 + bolg ‘gap’
DIL ‘B ’ 1 39, on which see O ’Rahilly, Eriu xiii, 163-4). But this now
seems unlikely, in spite o f the superficial correspondence between
the two names. In the Táin Bó Cúailnge fiom the Book of Leinster (ed.
O ’Rahilly, (DIAS 1967), I.4720 Caladbolg is the name o f a sword
which Fergus mac Róig inherited from Fergus mac Leite; elsewhere
in the same manuscript (LL 1. 32517) caladbuilg (pi.) appears in the
tale Togail Troi as a general and unspecific name for swords (cf.
EIHM 68n.). Vcndryes has argued convincingly (EC v (1940), 15)
that in Irish Caladbolg was originally a generic name for a sword,
 NOTES 65
rather than the name for any one sword in particular. The editors of
the Book o f Leinster, R. I. Best, Osborn Bergin, and M. A. O ’Brien
(DIAS 1954-67) state that the manuscript is the work o f one hand
written over a long period in the second half of the 12th cent, (see
further W. S. O ’Sullivan, ‘Notes on the Script and Make-up o f the
Book o f Leinster’, Celtica vii (1966) 1-3 1, esp. 26-8). Since Geoffrey
o f Monmouth’s HRB first appeared c. 1136-8, Geoffrey’s Caliburnus
is older than the date now accepted for the Book o f Leinster: if
Caliburnus is accepted as the Lat. rendering o f Caledfivlch, the Welsh
name must predate 1138. With respect to the occurrence of
Caletfivlch in Culhwch, it must remain uncertain whether the name
is a borrowing from the early I3th-cent. Brut, or whether it can go
back to an earlier redaction o f the tale. In favour of its antiquity,
however, is the very early occurrence o f the name o f Arthur’s ship
Prydwen (see n. to 1-93 8): Caledfivlch, as the name o f Arthur’s sword,
may well be equally ancient and traditional. In his Heldensage
1 14-15, Thumeysen took it for granted that Caliburnus is a
borrowing from Ir. Caladbolg, and this led him to believe that the
Book o f Leinster predates HRB. Since modern palaeographical
scholarship does not concur with so early a dating for the Book of
Leinster, Thurneysen’s view can now be discounted. As there is no
means o f knowing how much older the names Caladbolg and
Caledfivlch may be than the manuscripts in which they first appear-
whether in written or in oral sources - the question of the
relationship between the two remains incapable o f final solution:
both may have similarly arisen at a very early date as generic names
for a sword. With Caladbolg the name o f Cu Chulainn’s spear the
Gai Bolga, may also be compared. See further EIHM 68-71, and P.
K. Ford, B xxx, 271.

Caledfivlch occurs as a place-name between Llangadog and

Llandeilo, Dyfed: here bwlch may denote a mountain-gap or pass,
that is, ‘Pass o f Battle’. The names Kledyf Kyuwlch, CledyfiDiuwlch
in I.334 below, may also be compared, see n.

160. R o n gom yn yat u yg gvayw : both W and R read rongomyant,

which should plainly be emended to Rongomynyat (as indicated Mab
100, 279) from rhon ‘spear’ and gomyniad ‘striker, slayer’ a word
attested in the Gododdin, CA 345, 1378. Cf. BD 148,27-8 (= HRB
ix,4) G le if. . . yr hon a elwit Ron.
66 NOTES

Vyneb Gwrthucher: ‘Evening Face’ - an unlikely name for a

shield; cf. P. K. Ford, B xxx, 270. Gwrthucher ‘evening’ is a word
which occurs in B T 47,24, and Old Cornish gurthuher glosses
vespera, GPC 1735.
160- 1. uy yscwyt: R replaces this archaic word for a shield by
taryan, a borrowing from OE targe, c f K. Meyer, TH SC 1895-6;
CA 353.
161. a Charnwenhan uyg kyllell: ‘Little White Haft’. One
meaning o f cam is the hilt or haft o f a sword or knife, here found
with an affectionate diminutive ending. On (g)wen, (g)wyn in the
names o f Arthur’s weapons see on 1.159 above.
16 1- 2. a Gwenhvyuar uyg gwreic: Arthur’s queen is named in 1.
358 below as Penn Rianed yr Ynys honn. She makes no subsequent
appearance in the tale. In BD 153 her origin is given as follows: y
kymerth y brenhin (Arthur) wreic a hanoed 0 dyledogyon Ruuein, a
Guenhvyuar oed y henw, ac yn llys Cadvr yarll Kernyv y magadoed. A
phryt a thegvch y wreic honno a orchyuygei holl wraged enys Prydein. This
is the earliest written appearance o f the name Guenhvyuar, and it
renders Guenhumara, Guenhuuara etc. in HRB. (On the variant Lat.
spellings o f this name see H RB ed. Neil Wright, lii and n.; 156.) In
EC V (1949), 34 J. Vendryes explained the form Guenhumara as a
written misinterpretation o f OW Guenhuiuar, indicating that
Geoffrey o f Monmouth derived the name from a written Welsh
source. (With this cf. n. on Caletuwlch 1.159 above.) The Ir. cognate
o f Gwenhwyfar is Findabair ‘white fairy, enchantress’, the name of
the daughter o f Queen Medb in the Táin Bó Cúailnge; see M.
Richards ‘Arthurian Onomastics’, THSC 1969, 257. For early
allusions to Gwenhwyfar see T Y P 380-5. She is named in the Triads
and in the Three Romances as Arthur’s wife and queen but it should
be noted that her name does not appear anywhere in the early
version o f T Y P , only in that o f W and R. She appears as Guennuvar
in the Life o f Gildas by Caradog o f Llancarfan (Gildas, ed. Hugh
Williams, 408-10; TWS 137; on this allusion see further TYP(2)
553). But she is unknown in all o f the other Lives o f the Saints. In
T Y P , as in Culhwch, she has a sister Gwenhwy(f)ach (TYP 380; see n.
on I.359 below). Gwenhwyfar’s father is named in T Y P no.56 as
Gogjran Gawr ‘G. the Giant’ . (On the possibility of influence from
the Brut see introduction p. lxxxii.)
162. Gwir D yw : see n. on I.147 above.
 NOTES 67
164-5. crip cu r«• - a gwelliu a doleu aryant: with the symbolic
significance o f Arthur’s cutting and trimming Culhwch’s hair cf.
the parallel incident quoted from HB in the introduction pp. xxxi-ii
above.
167. Mi a wn dy hanuot om gwaet: Arthur’s words indicate
intuitive recognition o f Culhwch as his kinsman; cf. Llywarch’s
words to his son: Neut atwen ar vy awen/Yrt hanuot 0 un achen (CL1H
I, 2).
168—9. tnab__ merch: these words form close compds. with
preceding personal names, and are normally lenited in MW (GMW
15), but only very rarely in either o f the two texts o f Culhwch, so
that the following instances are exceptional: Gwythyr uab Greidawl
(I.176), Brys uab Bryssethach (I.332), Mabon uab M odron. . .
Eidoel uab Aer (11.828-9), Gwyn uab Nud (I.1133).
170. keuynderw vyt: see n.2 above on Anlawd Wledic.
171. Not a nottych: ‘Name what you will’. This ritualistic formula
recurs in the words used by Ysbaddaden, 11.568-9 below.
172. gvir dy deyrnas: ‘truth o f thy kingdom’ is paralleled in the Ir.
term fir do flátha (DIL ‘F’ 146). Cf. n. on Gwir Dyw, I.147 above.
173. Olwen merch Yspadaden Penkawr: see n. on I.498 below.
175. asswynaw: a borrowing from late Lat. assegno (assigno), with
the meaning influenced by swyn ‘charm” , and meaning ‘to beseech,
invoke’ with ar = ‘on’ or ‘in the name o f’ . Culhwch invokes from
Arthur his boon (that is, that he obtain Olwen for him) in the name
o f all the men and women present in his court: all are made his
witnesses and his sureties that the king will fulfil his obligation. By
invoking them, Culhwch places an additional sanction upon the
king. The best analogy for this use o f asswynaw is Cynddelw’s poem
o f dadolwch to Rhys ap Gruffudd (L1DC no. 23) Assuynaw naut duv
. . . ar dy guir . . . ar dy gulad\ though in this case the boon invoked by
the poet is that of reconciliation with his patron. The legal force of
aswyno as a binding compulsion is discussed by P. K. Ford, ‘Welsh
asswynaw and Celtic Legal Idiom’, B xxvi (1975), 147-53). In I.212
below its meaning is more like ‘to submit’, and yet another meaning
is ‘to create by magic’, as in PKM 83,24.
Kei a Bedwyr: in the earliest sources these arc Arthur’s two
68 NOTES

inseparable companions: in the poerçi Pa Gur, in the Vita Cadoci, in the

Triads, in H RB and in Brut y Brenhinedd. Their names head Arthur’s
Court List, and they are also the first to be appointed o f the hero’s Six
Helpers (11.3 8 1-4 11), where it is said that Bedwyr never held back
from any enterprise undertaken by Cei. For Cei see on 1.134 above. In
Culhwch Bedwyr receives no patronymic, but in T Y P no. 21 he is mab
Bedravc/Pedrawt;=Bedwyr uab bedrawt in G ER (WM 4 11,4 1); Beduir
bedrydant in Pa Gur (see p. xxxvi above). Acc. BD 156 y rodes Arthur y
uedwyr y ben trullyat (=butler) yarllaeth Normandi.
176. G reidaw l G alldouyd: cf. B R 19,27 Greidyal Galldojyd. The
meaning oigreid(i)ol is ‘hot, passionate, fierce’; cf. CLIH 115. On
the various meanings o f ofydd and dofydd in compds. see J. Lloyd-
Jones, B xv, 198-200; GPC 1375, G $19. A triad T Y P no. 19 Tri
Galouyd Enys Prydein (‘Three Enemy-Subduers’) includes Greidyawl
Galouyd mab Envael Adrann. The forms in Culhwch and in BR attest
that medial d = dd should be restored in Galouyd in the triad, and
that the second element is douyd ‘lord’. Cf. recdouyd 1.17 above, and
introduction p. xvii.
G w y th y r uab G reidaw l: Gwythyr comes from an oblique case of
Lat. Victor-, (G 754). Cf. Withur, Uuithur\ Chr. Br. 101,176; T Y P
403-4 and n. to triad 56. Gw ythyr’s descent from Greidyawl Galouyd
mab Envael Adrann (triad 19) receives some late corroboration from
an entry in Bonedd yr Arwyr EW GT 89,22) which adds further names
connecting father and son with northern genealogies in BGG.
Gwythyr figures later in the tale as hero in the episode o f the Lame
Ant (11.942-52), and in his fight with Gwyn ap Nudd for Creiddylad
(11.989-1004). Cf. also L1D C 18,133 bet y guythur.
176-7. G reit m ab E ri: graid ‘passion, ferocity, valour etc.: (as in
Greid(y)awl above). Cf. Ir. greit ‘champion’, DIL ‘G \ 152. Greit vab
Hoywgi C A 266; greit confessoris LL 3,24-5. Cynddelw compares
Rhys ap Gruffudd (d.1197) to this hero: gwr greidyawl ual greid uab
ery, H n o , 2 = RP 1438, 17 val greidyawl uab greit uab ery. The rhyme
proves that Ery is the correct form o f the patronymic: perhaps =
er(h)y ‘brave, daring, courageous’, CA 135, GPC 1239. Greit mab Eri
is later listed in a triad o f unhappy prisoners (I.916), and later again
is imprisoned by Gwyn ap Nudd I.992..
177. C yn delic K yu arw yd : ‘C. the Guide’ is later appointed by
Arthur as one o f the hero’s Six Helpers to go with him on his search
 NOTES 69
for Olwen (1-399)- Kittdilic Corknud is named in Englynion y Beddau
as an alltud or foreigner, L1D C 18,126. But there is no special reason
to identify the two. Cindilic was also the name of a son o f Llywarch
Hen, C L1H vii,9c, and o f one o f the Gododdin warriors, CA 824
(see n.).

Tathai T w y ll Goleu: T . o f Evident Treachery’ or ‘Frank Deceit’.

Cf. Tethel H G VK 54, and Caer Tathal 204 below; Kaer Dathyl yti
Arfon PKM 67,10. Idris Foster (‘Irish Influence’,34) compares the
Irish name Tuathal Techtmar EIHM 154 flf. and Rex quidam hibemie
. . .nomine Tathalius, VSB 270. In B xxix, 614 P. Sims-Williams
doubts the Irish derivation o f this name, citing Ifor Williams’s note
PKM 251-2, and the O B forms Taital, Tatal, Chr. Br. 166.

178. M aylw ys m ab Baedan: mael ‘prince’; Ir. mal. Baedati could be

a diminutive o f baedd ‘boar’. An alternative explanation which has
much to recommend it was first proposed by J. Rhŷs in The
Arthurian Legend (1891), 344, and has recently been revived by P.
Mac Cana, Y Gwareiddiad Celtaidd (ed. G. Bowen, Llandysul, 1987),
160-1. This would equate the name with Máel Umai mac Baitán, an
early historical figure belonging to one o f the northern Irish
dynasties, who is said in the Annals o f Tigernach to have slain the
brother o f the English king Aethelfrith at the battle o f Degsastan in
AD 603, when it appears he was fighting as an ally o f the Scottish
ruler Aedán mac Gabráin. Subsequently he became the subject o f a
lost saga Echtra Mailuma maic Baitâin which told o f his career (see
Mac Cana, Learned Tales of Medieval Ireland, 45). This surmise is
made the more plausible by the fact that Aedán o f Dál Riada has
himself entered Welsh tradition as Aed(d)an Fradawc ‘the Wily’ (see
T Y P 264—6). If correct, this would place Maylwys/Màel Umai as the
first in the group o f Irish saga heroes whose names fill lines 178-180.
It is a more acceptable identification than that of E. K. Chambers in
his Arthur of Britain (London, 1927), 85, where he equates Maylwys
with Melwas, the abductor o f Gwenhwyfar. On Mael Umai see
further F. J. Byrne, Irish Kings and High Kings (London, 1973), h i ,
259-60. Like the name which here follows, Maylwys can hardly be
explained in any other way than as an oral borrowing.

178-80. C n ychw r m ab Nes: = Ir. Conchobar mac Sessa, king of

Ulster in the Táin Bó Cúailnge and elsewhere in the Ulster Cycle of
tales. On this and the following four names see especially P. Sims-
70 NOTES

Williams, ‘The Significance o f the Irish Personal Names in Culhwch

and O lwen, B xxix (1982), 607-10; HGVK cxiv-cxvii. (Earlier
discussions arc by Idris Foster, ‘Irish Influence’, 28-35; ibid. ALM A
34; C. O ’Rahilly, Ireland and Wales, 114). Not one o f these Irish
characters appears subsequently in the talc. C nychw r m ab Nes
may represent a relatively late oral borrowing; the other names
reflect corruption at the hand o f a scries o f scribes who arc unlikely
to have understood the names they were copying, and very little - if
anything - o f the talcs to which they belonged. A corrupt written
borrowing can be the only explanation for Fercos m. Poch with ‘p’ for
the Insular long V and o f C onul Bernach = Ir. Conall Kernach (‘C.
the Triumphant’). This form in the text represents Foster’s revised
reading o f the two manuscripts: the letters n/u and rln arc at times
difficult, if not impossible to distinguish, in both W and R (the varia
lecta give the reading o f Gwenogvryn Evans in WM and RM). Cf.
the n. to Llawurodet Uaruawe I.223, and to Gliui 11.831-2 below.
Llu b er Beuthach: < Ir. Laegaire Buadach (‘L. the Victorious’)
looks like a mixed oral and written borrowing. Cubert m . Daere:
< Curoi mac Dairi is o f particular interest, since the early poem BT
66-7 Marwnad Corroi m. Dayry seems to reflect an indistinct memory
o f the 8th-ccnt. Irish talc Aided Conroi tnaic Dairi (Eriu ii, 18-35),
which tells how Cú Chulainn slew the Munster hero Cú Roi. (For a
discussion and trans, o f the B T poem see P. Sims-Williams
‘Evidence for Irish Literary Influence’, 248-57.)
181-2. On the triad o f men called G w yn(n) sec introduction
p. xxxviii. In HL 179 J. Rhŷs identifies Gwynn m. Nwywre with the
more famous Gwyn(n) m. Nud(d), the only one o f the three who is of
mythical and legendary fame elsewhere; see on 11.713-14 below.
Gwyn ap Nudd is prominent later in the talc in his fight with
Gwythyr ap Grcidawl, 11.988-1004. The name o f Gwynn mab
Nwywre is duplicated later in the Court-List, I.218 below. Nwyfire
‘firmament, sky’ is compared by Rhŷs with Cumall, the patronymic
o f the Irish Fionn, whom he relates to Gwyn ap Nudd. For
additional references to Nwyfire see T Y P 423.
182. Edern m ab Nud: < Aeternus son of Nodotis, a mythical figure,
but one far less prominent in Welsh sources than his brother Gwyn
ap Nudd. In HRB x,iv he appears as Hiderus filius Nu/Nucii
(corrupted in BD 172 as Hedyr uab Mut. His name appears also in the
Isdernus o f the Modena archivolt (ALMA 61), and as Yder fiz Nut in
 NOTES 71
Chrétien de Troyes’ poem Erec et Enide, while in William of
Malmesbury’s De Antiq. Glast, he is Ider son o f Nuth, and Yder son
o f Nuc in the I3th-cent. French romance o f Yder (ALMA 375-6). He
is therefore far more widely known in continental than in Welsh
sources. Yet he is one o f the rare instances in which the combined
names o f father and son have been transferred together from Welsh
(or Breton) into French. Edern mab Nud is unknown in TYP; in
GER he plays an unfavourable role parallel to that o f his counterpart
Yder in Chretien’s poem (WM 405, 34). He is also listed in BR 10,1,
and was known to Gruffudd ap Marcdudd; for refs, sec G 438.

182. a C ad w y m . Gereint: both MSS read ac adwy m. vereint. In B

xiii (1950), 136, M. Richards showed that the first name has been
wrongly divided, since Cadw(y)/Cado mab Gereint is the form o f this
name attested in ByS, and in the genealogies and triads; sec EWGT
index 175; T Y P 297. BR 19,20, however, retains the misreading ac
adwy (=R M 159,27; cf. Mab. 151), thus proving the close
dependence o f B R ’s Court-List on a text of Culhwch (sec
introduction p. xli) Cadwy’s background is that o f the Lives o f the
Saints: his name is Latinized as Cato in the Vita prima S. Carantoci
(VSB 144), where he is a contemporary of Arthur, and as Catovius
rex Britannici in the Life o f St Winwalocus (EWGT 23). Cf. S. M.
Pearce ‘Traditions o f the Royal King-List o f Dumnonia’, TH SC
(1971), 128-139, and see further on Gereint mab Erbin, n.219
below.

182-3. Fflew dw r Flam Wledic: T Y P no. 9 Tri Vnben Llys Arthur

lists Ffleudur Flam (WR adds ap Godo). With Flam ‘flame’ cf. Fflam
mab Nwyfre I.218 below, and the name Fflamdwyn PT vi, 18. For the
title Gwledic see on Kyledon Wledic n. 1 above. The evidence o f T Y P
no. 3 (see following n.) suggests that (G)wledic has been wrongly
borrowed from Dewrarth (R: Dorath) Wledic, the patronymic of
Ruawn Pebyr, whose name follows in the CO list. Ffleudur Fflam is
cited also in the list in BR 19,27 (=R M 160,2). This suggests
miscopying from an earlier text; see introduction p. xlii.

183. Ruaw n P eb yr m . D orath: T Y P no. 3: Tri Gwyndeyrn Enys

Pry dein . . . Ruuavn Beuyrmab Dewrarth (Dorath R) Wledic. Ru(v)awn
< Romanus, OW Rumaun (the name o f one of the sons o f Cuncdda,
from whom Rhufoniog is named, EWGT 13). Pebyr- pefi ‘shining,
brilliant’. Dorath/Dewrarth ‘Brave Bear’. Cf. Rwawn Bybyr uab
72 NOTES

Deorthach Wledic BR 6,4 (= RM 148,17-18), and for further refs, see

T Y P 500.
183- 4. B ratw en m . M oren M ynaw c a M oren M ynaw c e hun:
Brad in this name has a positive rather than a pejorative meaning:
‘cunning, w ily’. Cf. Bratwen m. Iaen a Moren m. Iaen I.203 below,
and the epithet o f Acdan Fradawc ‘A, the Wily’, T Y P 264. The
names o f both Bratwen and Mor(y)en arc found in the Gododdin, CA
465, 468, 495 (where Moren is attested by the rhyme, sec n.); also in
Englynion y Beddau (Stanzas o f the Graves), L1DC 18,6, 190. Mynawc
means ‘noble, courteous’; as a noun ‘lord, prince’ (sec CA p .17 1
where Ifor Williams compares Breton Morgen-munuc, Chr. Br. 152).
Mynawc Gododin as a proper name occurs in CA 949 (if this is not an
error for Mynydawc, sec n.). In a late genealogy in the hand of
Gruffudd Hiracthog, Moren Mynac is named as a son o f March ap
Meirchion (NLWJournal xx, 373).
184- 5. D a lld a f eil K im in C of: Cunin C ofis named as son to one of
the daughters of Brychan Brychciniog, EWGT 15,4. Cunin
‘splendid, royal’ is found in the early inscriptions CVN IG N I
(ECMW 142) and C V N E G N I (ibid. 172); on these names sec LHEB
182, 191 etc. Cof* mind, memory, memorial’ . For Cunin C of see
T Y P 313-14 . Dalldaf eil Cvnyn Kofis named in T Y P no. 73 as one of
the ‘Three Peers o f Arthur’s Court’, and his horse Ferlas is listed
among the Triads o f Horses, T Y P no.41. Eil corresponds to Lat.
alter, Ir. eile; it can sometimes mean ‘heir, son’ (PKM 213; T Y P 497;
Celtica ix, 182).
185. a m ab A lun D yuet: the son o f Alun Dyfcd is not named in
Culhwch, but in BR and GER he is named Dyuyr (BR 19,25 = RM
!59,3°); WM 411,39 ; Run mab Alun Diwed/Alun Dywed. . . mab
Meigen L1D C 18,74-7. Mab Alun Dyuet is named a second time
among the anoethau, 725 below. There arc two possible refs, to this
hero by Gr. ap Maredudd: alun gryfder RP 1 2 1 1 , 1 1 ; Hit mab alun RP
1327,28.
a m ab Saidi: cf. Cas mab Saidi I.293 below. The Triads list
Kadyrieith (Fine Speech) (ap Seidi in WR only) among Tri Unben Llys
Arthur, T Y P no.9.
a m ab G w ryon : cf. Huabwy/Hunabwy mab Gwryon I.288 below.
186. V ch dryt A rd w yat Kat: Uchtrit occurs as a personal name in
 NOTES 73
LL 279,12; tref meibion Uch(t)rit LL 43,24-5. Cf. Uchdryt tn. Erim
I.233 below, and Vchdryt U a ryf Draws I.327. Ardwyat ‘defender,
protector, guardian’, with kat ‘host-sustainer’; cf. Ardwyat mab K aw
I.210 below.
Cynwas Curyuagyl: (R: curuagyl) ‘C. Pointed Staff’?; from cwr
‘corner, edge, point’ and bagl (Ir. bachall) ‘staff’ . For Cynwas cf. LL
173,27 Conguas. On the name cf. P. Sims-Williams, B xxix (1982),
615, and refs, cited. Later in the story this character’s cattle are slain
by the Twrch Trwyth 1. 1 101 below and n.
186- 7. Gwrhyr Gwarthecuras: gwartheg ‘cattle’ + bras ‘fat, stout’.
With Gwrhyr cf. G w rh yr Gwalstawd Ieithoed I.346 below.
187. Isperyr Ewingath: ‘1. Cat’s C law ’. Ysperir is named in
Englynion y C lyw eit , B iii (1927), 12, 27.

187- 8. Gallcoit Gouynnyat: both MSS readgouynynat: evidently a

miscopying (see introduction p. xi). Idris Foster proposed the
emendation gouynnyat , that is gofyniad ‘suppliant’, comparing
Llw ydawc Gouynnyat in 1.113 7 below (see n.). This seems preferable
to M ab.’s rendering ‘the Hewer’, taking the word to be gomyniad
‘striker, killer’ both here and in 1.113 7 . With Gallcoit cf. Gallgoic in
I.274-
189. Gwawrdur Kyruach: with Gw awrdur cf. CA 359 and n. In
this namegw aw r ‘dawn’ is used fig. for a warrior, as also in BT 48,6,
a march gwa(w)rdur. Kyruach is ‘hunchback’ or ‘wizened’, GPC 807.
Cf. the doublet Gwaredur Kyruach, I.363. The -ach termination
appended to the names of Gwawrdur’s three sons Duach, Brathach,
Nerthach ‘Black, Wily, Strong’, is likely to have a pejorative nuance.
On -ach sec P. Sims-Williams, B xxix, 616. He cites the name
Duach, however, from the Ir. Life o f St Macdoc.

o vrthdir Uffern: ‘from the uplands of Hell’. For the same phrase
see I.653 and n., also 1- 1207 below and cf. introduction p. lxxviii and
n.99. With pan cf. GMW 80, and cf.n. on I.151 above.
190. Cilyd Cannhastyr: for C ilyd see n. on l.i above. Cannhastyr
‘Hundred Holds’ from can(t) + astyr ‘hand, hold’ (GPC 408). The
epithet seems to imply that its bearer was a thief, since in the Laws a
cyhyryn canastr was a receiver of stolen goods; see HDdL 160; LIB
114,23: Tri cheheryn canhastyr yssyd . . . Similarly derogatory
74 NOTES

epithets are attached to his two companions, Canhastyr Cartllaw ‘C.

Hundred Hands’, and Cors Cant E w in ‘C. Hundred Claws’. Cors
‘bog, swamp’.
19 1. Eskeir Gulhwch Gonyn Cawn: Eskeir is cither ‘leg’ or
‘mountain ridge’, as in I.107 above. Conyn Caw n ‘Reed-Stalk’, but
conyn ‘grumbler’ is attested in Dyfcd dialect. Alternatively Gouyn
Caw n ‘reed-cutter’ through confusion o f n and u. This name defies
explanation.
191-2. Drustwrn Hayarn: ‘Drust Iron-Fist’ (dwrn + haearn). Drust
and its dim. Drosten , the cognate o f Welsh Drystan < Drustanos arc
names which recur in the Pictish regnal lists. Sec T Y P 329, and
M. O. Anderson, Kings and Kingship in Early Scotland (Edinburgh,
1973), 90, 271-3, etc. The form here is evidently a scribal corruption
o f the name Drystan (Tristan), more particularly in view o f the fact
that Drystan/Dyrstan mab Talluch is found in two o f the three lists
derived from Culhwch (sec introduction, p. xl): BR 19,21 (=RM
159,27); Englynion y C lyw eit (B iii, 15 no. 67). The name Esyllt
(Isolt) is found in I.372 below. For the story o f Tristan in Welsh
sources see now AoW ch. 10.
192. Glew lw yt Gauaeluawr: See n. on 1. i i i above.
Lloch Llawwynnyawc: ‘LI. o f the Striking Hand’, also Llwch
Llaw w ynnyaw c I.291 below. Identifiable with Lluch Llauynnauc in Pa
G u r (p. X X X V I.14 above). In ALM A 34, Idris Foster compared Ir.
lonnbemnach ‘o f the Fierce Blow s’ - one o f the epithets o f the god
Lugus (= L u g h , Lieu). Lonnbemnach is partly cognate with
llaw wynnyawc , since the second clement in both derives from the
root ben- ‘hew, cut’ (cf. Thurncysen, A Grammar o f O ld Irish, DIAS
I94b, 356). The hand or arm o f the god Lugus/Lugh is a common
element in this tradition; cf. Lieu Llawgyffes.
193. Anwas Edeinawc: ‘A. the Winged’. This name appears in OW
spelling in Pa G u r (p. xxxv 1.14 above). A n - (ncg. + gwas ‘dwelling,
home’; hence anwas ‘restless, turbulent’ (Ir. anfoss). Cf. GPC 164;
edeinawc < ad a in ‘winged’. For Edenawc as a personal name cf. T Y P

There follow the names o f five sons o f Seithuet ‘seventh’: the name
suggests that two more may have dropped from the list. Cf. Llew ei
verch Seitwed T Y P no. 58.
 NOTES 75
194-5. Gwenwynwyn mab Naw mab Seithuet: the name is
repeated as G w enw ynw yn mab N a f in I.250, described as cysseuin
rysswr Arthur ‘Arthur’s foremost champion’. In T Y P no. 14
G w enw ynw yn mab N a f (sec n.) is one o f the Tri Llyghessawc or
‘Seafarers’. N a f ‘lord’ has replaced naw ‘nine’, unless the latter
represents an older spelling o f N af.
195. Gobrwy mab Echel Uordvyt Twll: Gobrwy is a var. of
gwobr, gwobrwy ‘reward, gift’. G obrw y/G ovrow y mab Echel
Vordwytwll is one o f the Tri Vnben L lys Arthur , T Y P no.9.

Echel Uordvyt Twll: evidently the name o f a native hero (TYP

335-6), though Echel in BD 158 corresponds to Aschill(us) (Achilles)
in HRB ix, 12. Idris Foster’s early suggestion o f influence from Ir.
Eccel C Irish Influence’ 33) can now be rejected in view o f the
evidence o f BD and HRB; sec on this B. F. Roberts, B xxv, 276;
P. Sims-Williams, B xxix, 615. The name Echel is used several times
by the Gogynfcirdd for purposes o f eulogistic comparison, and an
earlier instance occurs in the scvcnth(?) cent. Moliant Cadwallon , B
vii, 24,10 (cd. R. G. Gruffudd, Ast.H. 28,30). The epithet Morddwyd
T w ll ‘Mighty Thigh’ was discussed by Ifor Williams, C L 1H 70.
Since it is not combined with Echel in any o f the poetic citations of
this name, it is uncertain in each one o f them whether the allusion is
to the native hero or to the classical Achilles.
197. Datweir Dallpenn: ‘D. Blind Head’. Cf. D allw yr Dallpen ,
T Y P no. 26, the owner o f the sow Hen wen at Glyn Dallwyr in
Cornwall (cf. introduction p. lxvii). Two MSS of the early version
o f the triad give the form Datweir for D allw yr (P 47 and C 18). With
the name cf. Dallmor Dallme in Lly welyn Sion’s version o f the Hanes
Taliesin , EC xiv, 452.

197.8. Garwyli eil Gwythawc Gwyr: cf. A rw yli eil Gwydawc

G w y r I.1155 below. On eil sec n. to D alldaf eil Kimin C o f 1.184
above.
198. Gormant mab Ricca. This name is repeated in the list, I.221
below; see n.
199. Menw mab Teirgwaed: ‘Little, son o f Three Cries (?)’. C f Ir.
menb ‘little’. This name, as Rhŷs pointed out (CF 5ion.) may have
suggested to the narrator the bird-form assumed by Menw in 1. 103 1
below. Menw is a magician both in Culhwch and in T Y P nos. 27 Tri
76 NOTES

Lleturithavc and 28 Teir P rifH u t E n js Prydein\ see n. T Y P 457-8. In

I.408 below Menw is appointed by Arthur as one o f Culhwch’s Six
Helpers: he possesses the especial gift o f invisibility, 11.408-11.
Digon mab Alar: "Enough son o f Surfeit'.
199- 200. Selyf mab Sinoit: in BD 193 S e ly f renders Solomon HRB
xii, I. But the occurrence o f Selim (Selyf) for the son o f Cynan
Garwyn in the Harleian Gens. (EWGT 12, 22) indicates that the Lat.
name had already been borrowed into Welsh at a date prior to that of
the Brut ; see B. F. Roberts, B xxv, 276; T Y P 507.
200. Nerth mab Kadarn: ‘Might son o f Strong’.
200- 1. Drutwas mab Tryffin: this name appears in a triad first
recorded in P 47 ( = T Y P 46A), but it is not found in cither o f the
two main collections. An anecdote in M 146 (17th. cent.) describes
an encounter between Arthur and Drudwas, in which Drudwas was
slain by his own adar llw chgw in or ‘griffins’; sec T Y P 327-8; RWM i,
168. His sister Erduduyl merch Tryffin is listed in I.364 below.
201. Twrch mab Perif a Thwrch mab Anwas: two boars,
incongruously listed here, whose names would seem to belong
more properly to the story o f the great boar-hunt. P ery f ‘lord’.
With Anwas cf. Anwas Edeinawc 1.193 above. Under the influence of
this list Twrch mab Pm/appears as one o f Arthur’s ‘counsellors’ in
BR 19,18 (= RM 159,25). Neither recurs in the story.
202. Sei mab Selgi: ‘Watch son o f Watchdog’ (sei).
203. Sulyen mab Iaen: Sulien (‘Sunday-born’) was the name of the
famous 11 th.-cent, abbot o f Llanbadarn Fawr, and later bishop o f St
David’s; see WLSD xxi-xxix. It was also the name given to an abbot
o f Nantcarfan in two charters appended to the Life o f St Cadoc;
V SB 130,134. BD 64,28 gives Sulyen for Geoffrey’s Sulgentius/
Fulgentius , HRB v,2 (cf. B xxv, 277). A genealogy in J 20 renders
the same name by OW Ssulgen (EWGT 50). Sulien is otherwise
extremely rare. Iaen ‘ice’.
Bratwen mab Iaen a Moren mab Iaen. cf. Bratwen m. Moren
M ynawc. 11.183-4 above, and n. Iaen ‘Ice’ .

204-5. Siawn mab Iaen a Chradawc mab Iaen: Siaun and

Kyradawg arc listed in Bonedd yr A rw yr among the six sons and
daughters o f ‘Iaen’ (EWGT 85,2). The daughter, Eleirch, is
 NOTES 77
described as mam Kyduan ap Arthur. If this late corroboration o f 11.
203-5 in Culhwch has any significance, it means that Arthur’s
supposed relationship to the family o f Iacn was through the
daughter Elcirch, and that kenetyl y Arthur 0 pleit y tat (I.205) means
that the sons o f Iacn were ‘Arthur’s kinsmen on their (not “ his” )
father’s side’ - they were, in fact, his ‘in-laws’.

gw yr Kaer Tathal: Caer Dathyl yti Arfbtt was the chief llys o f Math
fab Mathonwy, PKM 67, 10; 251. Ifor Williams favoured as the site
the remote Iron Age settlement o f Tre’r Cciri. difficult of access, on
the summit o f the mountain Y r Eifl above Clynnog Fawr. west ot
Caernarfon; similarly W. J. Gruffydd, Math f i b Mathonwy, 343-4.
Cynddclw alludes to ardal caerdathal in his maruniad to Owain G w y­
nedd, H 89,21. For the name Tathal see n. on Tathal T w yll Goleu
1.177 above.

206-13. meibion Kaw: on K aw (of Pry dein—Pry dyn) see n. to 1.

647 below, and T Y P 301-3. Nineteen sons arc listed in this passage,
and one more is added —Gwarthegyt , in 1.1107. Some o f the names
given here correspond to the names o f the twenty’ sons and one
daughter listed as Plant K aw 0 Dwrkelyti in Bonedd yr A rw yr (EWGT
85). In some instances better forms o f the names arc preserved in the
latter text; see also B xviii (i960), 242. Some o f the names are
obviously farcical: with Dirm yc ’Slander’ I.206. (cf. Dinnig (comeu)
in EWGT 85, lists 2 and 3); Etmic ‘fame’ 1.206; ac Ouan 1.207 should
perhaps be emended to a Gouan (as emended Mab. 101); Connyn
‘Stalk’; Mabsant ‘saint’s son’ I.208; Llw ybyr ‘Path’; Coch ‘Red’
I.209; Ardwyat ‘Protector, Sustaincr’ I.210 (cf. 1.186 above). With
An gawd I.207 cf. Bangar mab K aw in Englynion y C lyw eit . B iii. 13
(39). Others o f the names are slightly more identifiable: according
to the 12th.-cent. Life o f Gildas by Caradoc of Llancarfan. the
saint’s father S a u (leg. Can) rex Scoriae had twenty-four sons, but
only two o f these, Gildas and H ueil . arc named. The earlier 9th.-
cent. Breton Life by Vitalis o f Ruys gives Mailocus as one o f the
brothers o f Gildas, and this name evidently corresponds to Meilic
mab Kaw, 1.209-10. as does Egreas to Ergyryat in line (see edn. in
Hugh Williams (cd.) Gildas , 326). For C aw as the progenitor o f a
family o f saints cf. T Y P nos. 81, 96.

2 1 1. Gildas mab Kaw: the most famous of the sons of Caw ^see
above) is Gildas, the 6th.-cent. Welsh Breton saint and historian, of
78 NOTES

whom two Vitae have been preserved: Vita i by Vitalis, and Vita II
by Caradoc o f Llancarfan. According to Vita I: Beatus Gildas
Arecluta fertilissima regione oriundus patre Cauno nobilissimo et catholico
viro genitus (ed. Hugh Williams, G ildas , 322). The Lives o f Cadoc
and o f David also name Gildas Cau filius, (VSB 84-6, 152, etc.; cf.
TWS 135-40).

212. Calcas mab Kaw: this appears to be a borrowing o f the name

Kalchas in the Iliad (strangely, however, this name is not included in
the Welsh version o f Dares Phrygius or in HRB). Alternatively, the
name may be independent: it appears as Kalchaw in Englynion y
C lyw eit (B iii, 15), a form corroborated by the rhyme, and further
corroborated by Galchaw in the list o f the sons of Caw in EW GT 85
(3), H-
Hueil mab Kaw: the oldest son and heir o f Caw, according to both
the Lives o f Gildas (he is named Cuillus in Vita I). Evidently the
author o f Culhwch had inherited parallel traditions about Hueil to
those which are found in the two Lives o f Gildas, especially Vita II.
The phrase nyd asswynwys eiroet yn Haw arglwyd ‘he never submitted
to a lord’s hand’ 11.2 12 -13 , is closely paralleled by Caradoc’s words
nulli regi obedivit, nec etiam Arthuro (Hugh Williams, Gildas , 402).
But if indebted to Caradoc’s Vita, the phrase must post-date c. 1130.
For the meaning o f asswyno see on 1.175 above. Lines 259-60 below
refer to the enmity between Hueil and Arthur, and in Caradoc’s Life
(op. cit, 402) it is claimed that Arthur killed Hueil in the island o f
Minau (that is, the Isle o f Man, unless this means in Manau
Gododdin). Giraldus Cambrensis also knew o f the story (Descr. Cam.
ii, 2, trans. Thorpe, 259), and states that Gildas denounced his
fellow-Britons in the way he did because o f his anger at Arthur’s
having killed Hueil. He adds that Gildas threw into the sea many
books in which he praised the Britons, and told o f Arthur’s
achievements. Hueil mab Caw is included in T Y P no.21, Tri
thaleithyawc Cat (in the Early Version only). For further refs, sec
T Y P 408-10, and Thomas Jones, ‘Chwcdl Hueil fab Caw ac
Arthur’ in Astudiaethau Am ryw iol a gyfiw ynir i Syr Thomas Parry-
Williams, ed. Thomas Jones (Gwasg Prifysgol Cymru, 1968),
48-66. The author concludes that a story about Hueil and Arthur
was in circulation at least by the nth. cent.

214. Samson Uinsych: ‘S. Dry-Lip’. Samson is listed as one o f the

 NOTES 79
sons o f Kaw in EWGT 85(3)8, and this suggests that his name may
have been misplaced, and inadvertently omitted from the list of
R aw ’s sons in Culhwch. Yet the name o f St Samson would have been
well known as that o f the early founder o f the cathedral o f Dol in
Brittany, and St Samson was a saint who had no original connection
with Kaw or his family. His Vita may be as old as the 7th cent, (a
later version is preserved in LL 6-24). Samson also figures in the
Vita Iltuti, VSB 214-16, and the name Samson occurs among the
witnesses to a charter affixed to the Vita Cadoci, VSB 132,12. On
Samson cf. TWS 115-20.
Teliessin Penn Beird: from an early date the poet Taliesin was
presented as a fictional character, as in PKM 44,26. For discussion
see Ifor Williams, Chwedl Taliesin , and M. Haycock lPreiddeu
Annwn and the Figure o f Taliesin’, SC xviii/xix, 53. Taliesin is the
only one o f the Cynfeirdd to be named in Culhwch.
215. Manawedan (R : Mamawydan) mab Llyr: Manawydan is a
mythical character, familiar from the Mabinogi, who is named also
in Pa G u r (p. xxxv 1.10 above), and in T Y P nos.8 and 67.
Manawydan has frequently been associated with the Ir. Manannán
mac L ir , a god connected with the sea. The relation between them is
far from clear, however, and a recent view expressed by J. T. Koch
(CM CS 14 (1987), 20) is that the figure o f Manawydan derives from
a long and independent British tradition, and one which has merely
been ‘assimilated’ to that o f Manannán mac Lir. On the form of the
name see Ifor Williams, B iii, 49; T Y P 441-3.
Llary mab Casnar Wledic: Llary ‘generous’; casnar ‘hero, lord’; for
Gwledic see n. to Kyledon Wledic, 1.1 above. Casnar Wledic, father of
G lo yw Walltlydan (an eponym o f Gloucester) is named in PKM 27,
25. Cf. also Llara m. Kasnar Wledic m. G loyw gwlat lydan , EWGT
39,3 (in the genealogy of Madog ap Maredudd); Llara uab Kasnar
Wledic BR 19,26 (= R M 160,2).

216. Sberin (R : Ysperin) mab Fiergant brenhin Llydaw: Flergant

was identified by Loth (Mab. 1, 29 and 209n) with Alan Fyrgan , or
Alan IV, Duke of Brittany, an enemy and subsequently an ally of
William the Conqueror (whose daughter he married) and of Henry
I. He died in 1119 (see T Y P 270-1). He was therefore an important
contemporary figure, who appears also in T Y P no.30 and in ByS
(EWGT 63, no. 58). L. Fleuriot explained the epithet Fergant as
8o NOTES

acompd. o f ffer ‘strong, brave’ and*cant ‘circle’, used figuratively to

denote ‘complete, perfect’ (EC xi, 139). He notes also that Alan
Fergant is the last Breton ruler to have borne a Breton epithet. See
further T Y P cxii-cxv, 270-1; TYP(2) 528; Tatlock, Legendary
History , 195. Idris Foster suggested that Alan’s son (Y)sperin could
possibly be identified with Brian fitz Count , Lord o f Abergavenny in
1 1 19 (HW 443), and a prominent figure in the reign o f Stephen (sec
F. M. Stenton, First Century o f English Feudalism (Oxford, 1932),
28n.). He is the Brianus filiu s comitis o f LL 93,8. According to the
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (E Text, ed. Whitclock et al ., 193) in the year
1127, Brian son o f Alan Fergant accompanied Henry I’s daughter
Maud on her journey to Normandy for her wedding to the Count of
Anjou’s son.
216 -17. Saranhon mab Glythwyr: with the patronymic cf.
glithuir (glythfyr) ‘hell, abyss’; attested elsewhere only in L1DC
5,71,140, GPC 1414. Cf. G lythm yr Ledewic 1009.
217. Llaw r eil Erw: L la w r ‘single, pre-eminent’; as a n. it denotes a
champion who fought alone in the front o f the army, CA 107. Cf.
T Y P n o.1 5 Teir llyghes G ynn iw eir (‘Three Roving Fleets;)...
Lly(n)ghes L la w r mab Eiryfi and n. T Y P 419. E rw ‘acre’: possible
emendations are Eiryfi as in the triad, and Erim (as in 11.23 3-5
below). For eil see on Dalldaf eil Kimin Cof, 11.184-5 above.
Anynnawc: (R: Annyannawc) from anian(?) ‘nature, disposition’.

Menw mab Teirgwaed: see n. on I.199 above.

218. Gwynn mab Nw yw re: a repetition o f the name, sec n. on 1.
18 1 above.
Ffiam mab N w yw re: J flam ‘flame’; Lat. flamma.
219. Gereint mab Erbin: a hero o f south-west Britain in the late
6th cent.; better known from the romance which bears his name
Chw edl Gereint Jab Erbin (WM 385-451 = GER). This tale is more
closely related to Culhwch ac O lwen than either of its companion
tales O wein and Peredur: see introduction, p. xl. But the hero
Gereint was commemorated at an earlier date than this story in the
poem L1D C no. 21 (ed. B. F. Roberts, Ast.H. 286-96), which
describes Gereint’s prowess at the battle o f Llongborth (?Langport in
Somerset), where Gereint was supported by Arthur’s followers.
 NOTES 8
Thus Gereint is shown to have been brought into the orbit o f Arthur
at an early date. (On the poem sec P. Sims-Williams, AoW 46-9,
and Thomas Jones, ‘Early Evolution’, 15-16). The poem and the
romance together indicate that in the medieval tradition known in
south Wales, Gereint was regarded as having been a hero o f Devon-
Comwall: more than one o f the early rulers o f Dumnonia did in fact
bear the name o f Gerent. In T Y P no. 14 Gereint ab Erbin is described
as one o f the Tri Llynghesawg ‘Fleet-owners’ or ‘Seafarers’ o f
Britain. For further refs, to Gereint see T Y P 355-60. Erbin appears
in early genealogies (EWGT 45, 10 and 11) as ancestor o f ‘at least
one branch o f the ruling dynasty o f Dyfcd’, as R. G. Gruffydd has
shown (SC xiv/xv, 96), and it is perhaps significant that in ByS
Erbin’s father is named as Custennin G om eu , a name apparently
remembered in Custennin (heusawr) (1.43 5 below) and in the name o f
his son Goreu (I.811). In GER Geraint’s father Erbin ap Custennin is
portrayed as Arthur’s uncle (WM 409,34-5) which implies a similar
pedigree to that in ByS, and one in which Erbin and Uthyr were
brothers, both sons o f Custennin. Din Gereint w*as the original name
for the town and castle o f Cardigan (see M. Williams, EC ii (1937),
219-22).

Ermit mab Erbin: unknown; see n. on I.220.

Dyuel mab Erbin: D yu el/D yw el ab erbin is referred to twice in

L1DC i , 1 9-20 and ibid. 18, 81, where his grave is said to be at Caco,
Dyfed. A. O. H. Jarman has argued (Ym. M. Th. 18,33 etc.) that
the Erbin here referred to was a ruler o f Dyfcd, and cannot be
identified with the Erbin who was father o f Gereint, and who
belonged to Devon (see n.). This Erbin was a son of Aircol La whir,
EW GT 45,12; cf. the ‘head of Erbin’s line’ referred to in the poem
Etmic Dinbych (THSC 1940, 66-83; BWP 163). Even if such a
distinction can be made, it was clearly unknown to the author of
Culhwch , who presents the three sons o f Erbin in I.219 as though
they were brothers.

220. Gwynn mab Ermit a Chyndrwyn mab Ermit: Ermid

‘honourable, famed’. It seems to be implied by I.219 that these too
are descendants of Erbin. But Cyndrwyn is known elsewhere as the
father o f Cynddylan o f Powys; sec C L 1H xi. In B xxix, 526-7, and
in her Early Welsh Saga Poetry , 125-6, Jenny Rowland has
ingeniously compared this entry with Harl. Gen. 24 (EWGT 12, 24)
82 NOTES

which relates to a royal line of- Powys (see Bartrum’s note,

ibid. 128): Selim m. Iouab m. Guitgen m. Bodug m. Carantinail ( =
Caranfael?) m. Cerennior m. E r m ic - where Ermic = Ermit reflects the
common confusion o f c and t in Insular script. Cyndrwyn mab Ermit
may thus provide a further link in the lost genealogy o f this
Powysian dynasty. For another link cf. G viavn ap Kyndrvyn T Y P
60.

220. Hyueid Unllenn: ‘H. One-Mantle’. The name is repeated in

B R 19,2 (= RM 159 ,11). The name H yueid occurs several times
elsewhere; H yueid H ir C A 56; Heueid Hen PKM 12,23; Hyueid ap
Bleidic T Y P no. 68. The latter may be equated with king Hemeid , a
9th-cent. ruler o f Dyfed, referred to by Asser, who oppressed St
David’s, and died in 892 (HW 262, 327-30). With Unllen(n) cf. the
epithet Unbais ‘one robe’ cited B iii, 43.

221. Eidon Uawrurydic: ‘E the Magnanimous’ is elsewhere

unknown.

2 2 1- 2. Gormant mab Ricca: the name is repeated, see 1.198 above.

If gor + mant = ‘Great Mouth(?)’ or gormant ‘excess, superfluity,
splendid’ (GPC 1491). Cf. the name Gorlois ‘Great Warrior’,
husband o f Eigr/Igernay the mother o f Arthur (HRB viii, 19 = BD
136; Gw rlois R B B 162). Gorlois is a Cornish name; see B. F. Roberts,
B X X V , 278, and - on the formation - T. Jones, B xiii, 74-5 (n. on
anorles). Gormant could equally well be Cornish (with the same
prefix appearing in the names o f father and son). This relationship
seems to be implied by the words brawd y Arthur 0 barth y uam.

222- 3. Pennhynef Kernyw y tat: Gorlois was dux Cornubiae/yarll

kernyw in H RB and BD: hence Gormant would have been half-
brother to Arthur through Igerna/Eigr , the wife o f Gorlois and
mother o f both. These words could therefore possibly reflect a
genuine Cornish tradition, drawn upon independently by Geoffrey
and the author o f Culhw ch , even though both W and R state
unequivocally that Gormant was mab Ricca. Ricca occurs as a var. of
the name o f Rita G a w r (Cy 27,126; cf. CF 478 n.). But it may be
more relevant - if wholly conjectural - to quote the name on the
ioth-cent. inscribed stone at Penzance in Cornwall, which
Macalister read as Regis ricati crux ‘The Cross o f King Ricatus’ (CIIC
ii, 181).
 NOTES 83
Pennhynef Kerayw: according to the triad T Y P no.i Tri
Lleithiclwyth Ynys Prydein, there was a Pen H y n e(i)f at each o f the
‘Tribal Thrones’ at which Arthur was Pen teym ed- at Mynyw, Penn
Ryoned, and Celliwig in Cornwall. For hynaf, henyf ‘elder, lord,
forebear’ etc. see T Y P 2-3, GPC 1974. In spite o f uncertainty as to
its status, it seems not unreasonable to equate Pennhynef K em yw
with dux Comubiae/yarll K em yw . Ifor Williams’s emendation of
eineuyd in PT ii, 3 to heneuyd (PT 29m; TYP(2)53o) indicates that this
title could be used o f a ruler o f the status o f Urien Rheged himself.
Cf. n. to I.235 below.

223. Llawurodet Uaruawc: ‘LI. the Bearded’. Either Haw ‘hand’ or

Haw ‘small’ -I- brodedd < brawd as in cymrodedd ‘concord, agreement’;
see C A 286, GPC 770. This form is corroborated by other
occurrences o f the name: Llauuroded uaruauc EW GT 62 (54); ibid. 66
(85), 1 18 (10,b); buwch Llawuroded Varvawc T Y P 46; K yllell
Llawfiodedd farfawc in Y XIII Thlws (TYP 240, EC x, 447; L1C v,
57-8). The letters n and u are often barely distinguishable in both W
and R; cf. the n. on G liu i/G lin i I.831 below. In the texts o f Y XIII
Thlws the forms o f the epithet vary between varchawc/varvawc (cf.
on Dillus Varvawc/Varchawc I.700 below). With the popularity of
barf ‘beard’ in epithets cf. K yn yr Keinuarvawc I.264, Vchdryi U aryf
Draws I.327, and the name in the following line.

223- 4. Nodawl U aryf Trwch: ‘N. Cut-Beard’. W and R both read

U a ryf twrch ‘boar-beard’, which is paralleled by Gurgant Varyftvrch
BD 39 (cf. B X X V , 284). The older form o f this epithet is G.
Barmbtruch in Harl. Gen 18 (EWGT 11, 18) and this indicates that
trwch should be restored as the correct form of the epithet in both
cases (as pointed out in Mab. 276).
224. Berth mab Kado: Berth ‘fair, rich, valuable’ (as in I.430
below). Cado occurs as a var. o f Cadw y mab Gereint; see n. on 1.182
above, and cf. n. to K aw 0 Prydein I.647 below.
Reidwn mab Beli: cf. Reidwn uab E li atuer 1.1 114 - 1 5 below. Beli is
a name o f frequent occurrence in the genealogies (see EWGT index);
ex. B eli M awr, a mythical ancestor-deity claimed by many royal
dynasties in Wales and the ‘Old North’ (TYP 281-3).
224- 5. Iscouan Hael (also 1. 1 115 below). With Hael ‘Generous’ cf.
Morgant Hael I.256 below, and n.
84 NOTES

225. Yscawin mab Panon: (alsoAscawin uab P, I.1118 below).

Ysgafit ‘light’. Cf. Kysceint mab Barton in the poem Pa G u r (p. xxxv
1.8 above) and G 266 on Kysceint; cf AoW 64, n.31. The form,
Yscawin/íscawin in CO is evidence against emending Kysceint in the
poem to K y steint < Constantius (as proposed Ast.H. 300 and 304 n.).

Moruran eil Tegit: Morfran ‘Great Raven’. The name o f his father,
Tegit Voel, derives from the name o f Llyn Tegid, or Bala lake, as
told in the mythical talc Hanes Taliesin , first recorded in the 16th
cent, by Elis Gruffydd. A version similar to his is the basis o f the
translation by Lady Charlotte Guest, Mab. 263-85. Text and
translation (from another version) by P. K. Ford, EC xiv (1974-5),
451-9. For general discussion o f the story see Ifor Williams, Chwedl
Taliesin ; LEWP 60-1; T Y P 463-4; P. K. Ford, The Mabinogi,
159-64. The ref. here to Morfran, together with those in T Y P nos.
24 and 41, prove that he was known to tradition as a warrior at a
considerably earlier date than that which is assigned to the Hanes
Taliesin. On eil see n. on 11.184-5 above.

226. y araf: araf ‘weapon’. The basic form is a r f but between rand/
an epenthetic vowel developed, as it did in other groups of
consonants; cf. GMW 12 -13 . This indistinct vowel in MW took the
form y, but there was throughout a tendency for it to become
assimilated to the preceding vowel, as has happened in this instance.
In ModW the vowel is not represented in the written language, but
it can usually be detected in the spoken form. Cf. baraf below.

228. yGhamlan: the triad o f the three men who escaped from the
battle o f Camlan looks like a farcical invention, rather than a
traditional triad, sec T Y P xcii. It docs not appear in cither of the
two main collections, although the battle o f Camlan docs receive
mention elsewhere in TY P. The allusion here to the battle reflects
an underlying tradition, which persisted among the poets, of
Camlan as a ferocious, tragic, and ill-fated contest which had been
brought about for frivolous or insufficient reasons - a view which
persisted under various forms throughout Arthurian romance. The
earliest allusion to Camlan is found in Ann. Cam. 537: Gueith cam
lann in qua arthur et medraut corruerunt. (On this ref. sec T. Jones,
‘Early Evolution’, 6 = B xvii (1958), 238.) The traditional site of
the battle is impossible to determine: Camlan may be derived from
 NOTES 85
Camboglanna ‘crooked bank’ and it has been frequently located at the
site o f the Roman fort o f this name at Birdoswald on Hadrian’s
Wall, near a double bend o f the River Irthing (sec K. Jackson,
ALM A 5, and refs, cited). But OW Catnglann is nowhere attested as
a name for Birdoswald, and Camlann in Ann Cam suggests that the
second element is equally likely to be lann ‘enclosure’ as glan ‘bank’.
There are many other ‘crooked banks’ to be found throughout
Britain, and Geoffrey o f Monmouth had no hesitation in locating
the battle on the river Camel or Camblanus in Cornwall (HRB xi, 2
= BD 184). However, there can be no certainty that this
identification antedates the HRB. Sec further O. J. Padcl, ‘Geoffrey
o f Monmouth and Cornwall’, C M CS 8 (1984), 13-14. A tradition
that there were ry few survivors (three or seven) from this
disastrous battle has come down under various forms. With the
seven escapers cf. the refrain in Preiddeu A nnw n: Namyn seith ny
dyrreith 0 Gaer S id i , and the variants o f this motif cited by M.
Haycock, SC xviii-xix (1983-4), 68; TWS 201-3.

rac y haccred: ‘because he was so ugly’; rac with the equativc has
causal meaning; cf. GMW 42-3, also I.229 below rac y decket ‘because
he was so fair’.

228. Sande Pryt Angel: ‘S. Angel’s Form’. With the name Sandef
cf. LL 279,7. Elsewhere this name is found among the sons of
Llywarch Hen, C L 1H i , 3 7 C , and in a number o f instances in early
genealogies (see EWGT index). Tudur Aled recalls Sandde . . . Bryd
angel, byrr i dynged (GTA i, 355, 63-4).

230. engyl: this form is usually pi. o f angel ‘angel’, but here it is
clearly meant to be sing.
canhorthwy: ‘help’, a var. o f cynhorthwy. Note that a alternates
with y before a nasal in an unaccented syllabic; GMW 2.
Cynw yl Sant: the patron saint of C ytiw yl Gaeo and C yn w yl Elfed,
Dyfed; sec O. Jones, Cymru i, 260, 367. Lcwys Glyn Cothi makes
several allusions to the saint (for refs, sec G 263). It is somewhat
surprising to find St Cynwyl listed among the Giants of Wales by
Siôn Dafydd Rhys, Cy 27 (1917), 134. Yet something o f his sanctity
survives in the allusion: Ac yghwlad Caer Bhyrdhin yn C yn w il Gayo
ydh oedh C aw r a elwid C yn w il G aw r, a dyna yr achaws, agatbhydh
paham y gelw ir y Ihe eto C yn w il, a gw r dwywaw l ydoedh hwnnw.
86 NOTES

C ynw yl’s name is preserved also,in Larin cinuil, LL 275, 17-18.

Otherwise little is known o f him. The influence o f lolo Morganwg
is evident in the allusions to Cynwyl in LBS ii, 275-7.

y trydygwr: for y trydyd g w r ‘the third man’, or rather ‘one of the

three men’. Note the loss o f -rf [d] in trydy\ it is frequently lost in
final position, GMW 10. Cf. I.545 trydydyt, and OW triti in the
Computus, B iii (1927), 261-2.

232. Hengroen: ‘Old Skin’.

233. Uchdryt mab Erim: with Uchdryt cf. 1.186 above; on Eritn sec
on I.235 below.

234. Henbedestyr: ‘Old Walker’.

234-5. Scilti Scawntroet: (R: Yscawntroet), Yscawntroet 239. ‘S.

Lightfoot’. With prosthetic Y - cf. Yscawin I.225 above, and GMW
10 -12. This name corresponds to that o f the Irish hero Caoilte in the
cycle o f tales relating to Fionn mac Cumhaill. His epithet ysgafiitroed
is a half-translation o f lr. cos-luath ‘swift-footed’. Both name and
epithet can be traced back to the ioth-cent. tale ‘Finn and Gráinne’,
ed. and trans. Z C P i, 458. Cf. G. Murphy, Duanaire Finn iii,lix;
Idris Foster, ‘Irish Influence’, 34; P. Sims-Williams, B xxix (1982),
610-14.

235. Erim: this patronymic has no counterpart in Irish, where

Caoilte is on all occasions mac Rondin. As Sims-Williams points out
(loc. cit., 6 11) this name does not appear to be Irish, in spite o f Kuno
Meyer’s attempt to associate it with lr. erimtn ‘course, career’
(THSC (1895-6), 73). Sims-Williams suggests the possibility o f
miscopying, either o f the rare name Eiryf, T Y P 341, or of he(i)nyf/
h en yf ‘Elder’, etc. (see n. to P en nhynefl. 222 above), with confusion
o f n and r. Cf. as in Enim for H ein if in several instances in LL, as is
pointed out in Wendy Davies (ed.), The Llandaff Charters, 163.

trywyr: ‘Three men’, consisting o f try ‘three’ + ‘men’; cf. also

I.761. Note the lenition o f the n. in a compd. after a numeral which
is not normally followed by lenition; similarly in pumwyr, seithwyr,
nawwyr; cf. T C 133. Note also in these instances the pi. form o f the
nn., whereas the sing, is usual with numerals. (For some similar
instances o f the pi. with numerals sec GMW 47.)
 NOTES 87
236. ny chauas eiroet a’e kyfrettei o dyn: ‘he never found any
man who could keep up with him’; cf. GMW 68.

239. anoethach a uei bellach no hynny: ‘not to mention

(anything) that would be further than that’; anoethach is comparative
o f anoeth ‘strange, difficult’; GMW 39-40. Cf. I.420 below.

241. am gwypei: as it stands, this reading is not satisfactory: one

would expect the prt. y between am and gw ypei.
241-2. tra uei: in MW, unlike ModW, tra ‘while’ is followed by
lenition, as here; cf. I.276 uei; I.249 hyt tra uu.
244. anoethach torri rac y yskafned: ‘let alone break, because he
was so light’. Cf. I.239 above, and I.420 below.
245-50. Teithi Hen mab Gwynhan a weryskynnwys mor y
kyuoeth: this is one o f several allusions in medieval Welsh sources
to the inundation o f low-lying parts o f the coastal areas, from the
Conwy estuary to Cardigan bay. The best known o f these are the
allusions in Mabinogi Branwen , PKM 39,12 (= Mab 33) where a
phrase closely corresponding to this is used pan oreskynnwys y weilgi
y tyrnassoed ‘when the ocean conquered the kingdoms’ cf. also ByS
(EWGT 60), no. 40 Seithennin vrenhin 0 Vaes Gwydno a oresgynwys
mor eu tir, and the poem on the submersion of Cantref y Gwaclod,
L1DC no. 39 (sec n. on I.618 below on Gwydneu Garanhir). Thomas
Jones discovered yet another allusion to the inundations in a Lat.
triad, evidently translated from Welsh, which is found as a gloss on
the I3th-ccnt. Cronica de Wallia in Exeter Cathedral MS 3514, 522;
see his ‘Triawd Lladin ar y Gorlifiadau’, B xii (1948), 79-83. One of
the three kingdoms which were inundated was Regnum Thewthy hen
mab Guinnan (sic) brenin kaerrihog. Istud regnum uocabatur tunc Heneys
Teithy hen, que ju it inter Meneuiam et Hyberniam. Nullus ex ea
hominum siue iumentonum euasit nisi Theithy Hen solus cum equo suo,
postea cunctis diebus uite sue infirmus fiuit pro timore. For discussion and
trans, sec T Y P xc-xci, and on the legends in general F. J. North,
Sunken Cities (University of Wales Press, 1957), esp. 148. This
passage therefore constitutes independent evidence for the tradition
alluded to in Culhw ch , since there can hardly be any direct
connection between the two. Thomas Jones rejects any direct
connection between the names of Teithi Hen and Seithennin , as was
proposed by W. J. Gruffydd, Math fab M athonwy , 147m With the
88 NOTES

epithet Hen cf. Gouynyon Hen 250, and n. on Gwrbothu Hen I.252
below.
248-9. y tyuwys heint yndaw a nychdawt hyt tra uu uyw: cf.
postea cunctis diebus uite sue infirmus fiuit pro timore in the passage
quoted in n. to 11.245-50 above.
250. Gw enwynw yn mab Naf: (in R only; Womits). A repetition o f
this name; see n. on I.194 above.
251. gysseuin rysswr Arthur: ‘A ’s foremost champion’.
Llygatrud Emys: ‘Red-eyed Stallion’. Emys < Lat. amissus, <
admissus, GPC 1 2 1 1. An old sing, form which came to be used as a
pi., and a new sing, amws was formed. This is either a farcical name,
or emys may be a misreading o f emyr ‘lord’, as was proposed by
Wade-Evans, Welsh Christian Origins (Oxford, 1934), 102.
252. Gwrbothu Hen: ‘G. the Old’ . In some instances Hen appears
to denote ‘ancestor’, ex. Priafh en urenhin Tro , T Y P 494. For further
exx. see EW GT 226, T Y P 432, and cf. Teithi Hen I.245 above,
Gouynyon Hen I.250. In OW orthography Gwrbothu represents
Gw rfoddw (cf. C A 179, n. on mab Bodw). His name derives from
Gurvodius (Guruodu, Guomodu) rex ercy(n)g LL 161,2; 162,1.
According to the reckoning made by Wendy Davies, Gwrfoddw
ruled c. 6 10 - 15, though he was not a member o f the main line o f the
rulers o f Ergyng (as was Peibyaw , see n. on I.599 below); Wendy
Davies, The Llan daff Charters 39, 75, 103, 172; ibid. A n Early Welsh
Microcosm (London, 1978), 17-18.

Later in the talc these two alleged ‘uncles’ o f Arthur are slain by the
Twrch Trwyth, 1.1164.
253. Kuluanawyt mab Goryon: for cul ‘lean, slender’ see n. on
Kulhwch, l.io above. M anawyt occurs as a variant o f Manaw
(Gododdin), C A I.35, and as an abbreviation o f M anawydan , BT 34,
9-10; L1D C 31, 21. But the alternative manawyd ‘awl’ is also possible
here. According to a late triad, T Y P no. 80, Kuluanawyt Prydein was
the father o f Essyllt Fyngwen (see n. on I.372 below). The name is
traditional, since the I2th-cent. Cynddelw alludes to Kynon vab
kulvanawyd (H 148,10). Sec T Y P 3 11- 12 .

Llennl(l)eawc Vydel: (repeated I.293 below). Gw yddel =

‘Irishman’, but there is no possibility o f interpreting Llenlleawc as
 NOTES 89
an Ir. name. Alternative derivations are from lien ‘mantle’, and lien
‘literature’ or ‘cleric(s)’, GPC 2152. Hence llen(n)tleawc ‘one who
reads literature’, or else lleawc ‘death-dealing’ - if the word is to be
connected with the lie in dileaf, dileu. This difficult name is discussed
by M. Haycock (SC xviii-xix, 70) in connection with the ref to
cledyf lluchlleawc in Preiddeu Annwn. If there is a connection between
these two similar forms, as seems likely, it would be possible for
lleawc , the element common to both, to have caused the
substitution o f lien in Culhwch for the earlier clement lluch
‘flashing’. Llenllyaw c gw ydel (sic) is named in Englynion y C lyw eit (B
iii, 13 (47)), in the group o f names taken from Culhwch ; sec
introduction p. xl.

253-4. o Bentir Gam on: that is Loch Garman in Co. Wexford, the
south-western tip o f Ireland. Like Esgeir Oervel (see n. to 1.107) this
headland is likely to have been a well-known landmark for seafarers
coming from Wales (see Sims-Williams, ‘Irish Geography’, 417).
Llwch Garmawn en Ywerdon is cited in HGVK 11,13 ; Elwch Garman
in B. y Tyw ys. (P 20 version), ann. 1168. Wexford was a
Scandinavian settlement since the 9th cent.

254. Dyuynwal Moel: ‘D. the Bald’. Harl. Gen. no. 10 (EWGT
10,10) lists Dumngual moilmut map Garbaniaun as ancestor o f Morcant
map Coledauc , one o f the ‘Men o f the North’. In the corresponding
genealogy in J 20 (EWGT 48 (37)) he appears as D yuynw aw l m.
Carbaniaun. The name was borrowed from the Harl. Gen. (or its
equivalent) by Geoffrey o f Monmouth, who claims that the
‘Molmutine Laws’ were established by Dunuallo molmutius filius
clotenis regis Cornubiae (HRB ii, 17). BD 3 2 ,11 renders this name as
D yuynw al M oel Mut ‘D. Bald and Silent’ (cf. B xxv, 277). A different
tradition is found in some versions o f the Welsh Laws, which claims
that Dyfnwal Moelmut was responsible for measuring Britain from
Pen Pengwaed in Cornwall to Penryn Blathaon in the North; HDdL
120; D. Jenkins, L ly fr Colan (University o f Wales Press, 1963),
38-9. On the places mentioned see nn. on 11.106 above and 262
below. BD 35 (= HRB iii, 5) substitutes Bclinus son o f Dyfnwal as
the ruler who engineered the chief highways across the length and
breadth o f Britain.

Dunart brenhin y Gogled: y Gogled in Culhwch always means the

‘Old North’ and Dunart is the Brittonic equivalent o f Domangart in
90 NOTES

Ir., the name o f the grandfather o îA ed â n mac Gabráin , as pointed out

by K. Jackson, Y B xii, 21. Domangart, with his son Gabrán and his
grandson Aedán were among the early rulers o f Scottish Dál Riada,
and Aedán entered early into Welsh tradition as Aedan Vradawc ‘A.
the Wily’ (TYP 264-6). Cf. Ann. Cam. 558: Gabran filius Dungart
moritur.

255. Teyrnon T w r Bliant: (R: T . tw ry f bliant). One o f the group

o f twelve characters in Culhwch whose names are found in the Four
Branches (pp. xxxvii-viii and n.23 above): Teimon T w r y f Uliant
PKM 22,2. Teyrnon < Tigernonos ‘Great Prince’. His epithet is
found here in a more archaic form than in PKM, but appears to have
been misunderstood and wrongly divided in both W and R: Ifor
Williams explained it as composed o f twrb (OW form o f twrj) +
lliant ‘flood, current, sea’; hence ‘Roar(Noise) o f the Flood-tide’,
taking the allusion to be to the great inrush o f the sea into the Severn
estuary, known as the Severn ‘bore’ (PKM 145-7). With the name
cf. the poem Kadeir T eyr (non) (BT 34).

a Thecuan Glof: C l o j f ' Lame’.

256. Gwrdiual mab Ebrei: diual = dyfal ‘diligent, assiduous’, etc.
+ gor = intensive prefix. (Ebrew (-iw , -yw ) ‘Hebrew’ does not
appear before the 14th cent.: if this is the meaning intended, it can
only be an addition to the text.)
Morgant Hael: ‘M. the Generous’. Morgant is a very common
name in the genealogies (see EW GT index). This prohibits any
certain identification: the epithet Hael suggests possible confusion
with Mordaf H ael , one o f the Tri Hael (TYP no. 2). More than one
Morcant is given among the descendants o f Dumngual Moilmut ,
associated with the ‘Old North’ (see n. on I.254 above). More
probably in this context, he may be Morgan ap Athrwys, or Morgan
M w ynfaw r , eponymous founder o f Morgannwg in the latter half of
the 7th cent. (HW 274; see also Wendy Davies, The LlandaffCharters,
76, she suggests he lived c. 635-710). Morgant M w ynfaw r is included
(with Arthur) in the triad Tri Ruduoawc or ‘Red Ravagers’, T Y P
no.20. The same name is given to a brother o f Rhydderch Hael,
EW GT 89(18). See n. T Y P 465-6.
256-7. Gwystyl mab Nwython: gwystl ‘hostage’ . Cf. G w eir m.
N w ython , T Y P 378. For Nwython see n. on I.994 below.
 NOTES 91
257. Run mab Nwython: BD 158,18 Run uab Noython (— Run map
Neton H RB ix, 12). For Run map Neithon see Harl. Gen. 4 (= Run m.
Neidaon in J 20, no. 19) and Harl. Gen. 16. From some version of the
genealogy Geoffrey o f Monmouth adopted this name, and BD in
turn derived it from HUB. But it is interesting to find that in these
sources Run mab Nwython/Neithon appears in a list of the attendants
at Arthur’s Court, in part based on the Harleian Genealogies, but
including names o f foreign kings and names o f the earls o f British
cities. This is the only instance in which one o f these names
corresponds to a name in the Arthurian Court-List in Culhwch.

257- 8. Lluydeu mab Nwython a Gwydre mab Lluydeu o

Wenabwy merch Kaw: with G w ydre cf. G w ydre mab Arthur 1.1 116
below. With G w enabwy merch K aw cf. G w enaw y in the list o f Plant
K aw 0 D w rkelyn , EW GT 85, 3(21).

258- 60: On K aw and H ueil mab K aw see nn. on 11.206, 212, 647.
261. Drem mab Dremidyd: ‘ Sight son o f Seer’. The first in the
group o f farcical invented names among Arthur’s followers; cf.
Clust mab Clustfeinat (see n.), M edyr mab Methredydd etc. and
introduction pp. xxxviii, xli. The first two arc named together in
a poem by Gruffudd Llwyd (1380-1410) - presumably being derived
from a written text o f Culhwch.

a welei: ‘who could see’. Note that the imperf. in Welsh can denote
possibility; cf. GMW n o , also I.410 below gw elei, gwelynt\ I.41
gwelynt.

Celli Wie yGherniw: celli ‘grove’ + gw ig ‘forest’ . C elliw ig ‘forest

grove’ is the name o f Arthur’s court in Cornwall both in Culhwch
and in the Triads, as well as in the tradition known to the poets from
the 1 2th. cent, onwards; see T Y P 3-4; G 128. There have been a
number o f suggestions as to the location o f Celliwig. Killibury
hill-fort or ‘Kelly Rounds’ in the parish o f Egloshayle has been the
most popular o f these until recently, when Oliver Padel drew
attention to the name Thomas de K ellew ik in an entry in an Assize
Roll relating to the hundred o f Pen with for the year 1302 (Cornish
Archaeology 16, 115 -2 1, and see now AoW 236-7). Though this is
not conclusive, it nevertheless constitutes substantial evidence in
favour o f equating Celliwig with Penn Pengwaed (= Penwith, see n.
to 1.106) at any rate in the mind o f the narrator of the tale. It would
92 NOTES

mean that Culhwch was in fact speaking from Arthur’s court at

Celliwig, when he threatened to give the great shout which would
be heard from the furthest extremity o f Cornwall to a point in the
extreme north and to ‘Eskeir Oeruel’ in western Ireland. This might
well be deduced from 11.104-7 above, yet the location o f Arthur’s
court to which Culhwch came is nowhere actually stated. Probably
the exact location o f Celliwig was as nebulous in the minds o f
Welsh poets and storytellers as were the places in Ireland and in the
north o f Scotland which are cited in the same passage. There is a
marked contrast between the detailed localization o f the places in
south and west Wales through which the hunt for the Twrch
Trwyth passed, and the total absence o f directions when the Twrch
crossed over to Cornwall. Under the influence o f HRB and o f the
Brut , Celliwig was displaced by Caerleon-on-Usk in B R and in the
three romances. For another and different Celliwig, in Gwynedd,
see M. Richards ‘Arthurian Onomastics’, TH SC (1969), 265.
262. Penn Blathaon ym Predein: (R: Pry dein). A promontory in
the far north o f Scotland, perhaps John O ’Groats, or Dunnet Head
in Caithness; see T Y P 228, 233-4. The tract Enweu Ynys Prydein
states that the length o f Britain from Pen(ryn) Blathaon ym Brydein to
Pen(ry)n Penwaed in Cornwall (cf. 1.106) is 900 miles. Predein/
Prydein in these instances stands for Prydyn < Priteni, that is
Pictland, the north o f Scotland. The two forms Prydyn/Prydein are
constantly confused in medieval Welsh texts; see AP 21-2; K.
Jackson, ‘Prydein : Prydyn’, Scottish Historical R eview xxxiii (1954),
16-18, and E. P. Hamp, B xxx (1983), 289-90. See further n. to K aw
0 Brydein (= Prydyn) on I.647 below.
263. Eidoel mab Ner: (R: Eidyol m. Ner). Presumably he is to be
identified with Eidoel mab A er (I.694), though his presence in the
Court-List is hardly consistent with the fact that Eiddoel appears
among the anoethau as a prisoner yet to be released (11.825-37
below). N er could however represent the name Ynyr (as in y deu
Ynyr , 1.119 ), since in T Y P no. 69 Idon ap N er is to be equated with
Idon mab Ynyr Gw ent (ibid. no. 42); see n. T Y P p. 412. Idon rex filius
Ynyr Gw ent is named in LL 12 1,7, etc. On the refs, to him see
Wendy Davies, The Llandaff Charters, 40,174, where it is suggested
that the son o f Ynyr was ruler o f Gwent Uwchcoed in the years c.
595-600, and that he was a contemporary o f Gwrfoddw o f Erging
(see n. to Gwrbothu H en , I.252 above).
 NOTES 93
Gluydyn Sacr: ‘G. the Craftsman’ . Cf. 11. 1 124-5 G w lydyn saer,
pensaer y Arthur.

264. Ehangwen: ‘Fair and Spacious’. There is no other reference to

the name o f Arthur’s hall, but cf. 11.3 28-9 below. O n gwyn/gwen in
the names o f Arthur’s royal possessions, see n. on I.159 above.
Kynyr Keinuaruawc: ‘K. fair-Bearded’. On the name see T Y P
307; TH SC (1969), 257; and cf. n. on K ei I.134 above. K yn yr <
C unorix , a name found on an inscription at Wroxeter, (B xxiv,
420n.), The name C yn yr is listed in LL 232,13. Kei’s father is named
here and in T Y P no.21, but elsewhere is almost unknown, and the
epithet Keinuaruawc seems to be limited to Culhwch and to the early
version o f TYP. Cynddelw couples the names o f C yn yr and C ei, H
95,5-
269. na mawr na bychan uo: ‘be it large or small’ ; GMW 232.
270. na rac vyneb na thra’e geuyn: ‘neither in front nor behind
him’; tra’e geuyn consists o f the old prep, tra ‘over, beyond’ +
infixed pron. sing. 3 masc. + the n. keuyn (= cefri ‘back’). Later, an
impersonal form tracheuyn developed, and was employed as an adv.
with the meaning ‘again’; GMW 210.
271. ny feit neb dwuyr a than: ‘no one suffers water and fire’; peit is
indie, pres. sing. 3 of peidyaw, and means ‘suffers’; cf. GMW 165m It
comes from Lat. patior. Later it came to mean ‘to stop, cease’, and in
ModW it is commonly employed to express a negative meaning
with the vn: peidio à mynd ‘not to go’; cf. CFG 60-3. The ability here
attributed to Cei, o f enduring extremities of heat and cold, is one of
the magical attributes pertaining to one of the Helpers or
‘Extraordinary Companions’ in the folk-tale type to which the
‘Giant’s Daughter’ belongs; see introduction p. xxvi. and Stith
Thompson, The Folktale 54. Cci’s remarkable heat is again listed
among his cyneddfau in 11.389-93 below.
272-3. ny byd gwasanaythur na swydvr mal ef: the swydwr llys
was one o f the officers of the King’s Court, according to the Law of
Hywel Dda. His function was to carry food to the court and to
distribute it. With ref. to this passage see n. on K e i , 1.134 above.
274. Henwas: Cf. Henwas Edeinawc, 11.23 3-4 above.
Gallgoic: (R: Gwallgoyc). Cf. Gallcoit Gouynnyat 11.187-8 above.
94 NOTES

274-5. un arall: ‘another companion^?)-

275. trychant tei: ‘three hundred houses’. The sing, o f the n. is
usually found with the numeral, but there are exx. in MW where the
pi. is used, as here. Cf. GMW 47.
or: ‘if ’, consisting o f 0 (GMW 240-1) + ry (ibid. 166-70). This is
the explanation usually offered and accepted, but it is hardly
satisfactory: ry is usually followed by lenition, as is -r when it is part
o f a compd. such as neur (neu + ry) as in neurgauas efenw ‘he has got a
name’, PKM 80, 23. Or, however, is never followed by lenition,
which leads one to suspect that -r should be explained in some other
way.
277. Berwynn mab Kyrenyr: cf. Barrivendi in an inscription at
Llandawke, Carms, cited by D. Ellis Evans (EC xiii (1972), 178;
also the mountain name Berw yn. With K yrenyr cf. LL 240,11
cerennhir (name o f a bishop).

278. y gelwir: ‘it is called’; y probably consists o f the prt. y + the

infixed pron. 3 sing. masc. y; GMW 55.
Osla Gyllelluawr: ‘O. Great Knife’. In BR 8,25 (= RM 150, 24)
this character is transposed to become Arthur’s Saxon enemy. M.
Richards suggests (BR 46) that this is owing to a recollection o f the
name o f Offa, 8th-cent. King o f Mercia, and builder o f the dyke
between England and Wales which bears his name. The name
appears as Offa KyWellvawr vrenin Lloegr in ByS no.71 (EWGT 64).
279. Bronllauyn Uerllydan: ‘Breast-Blade Short Broad’ - his
dagger. (For its ultimate fate see 11.119 4-6 below.)
282. Teir ynys Prydein a’e Their Rac Ynys: ‘The Three Islands
o f Britain and her Three Adjacent Islands’. This formula, which
recurs in I.368 (= R: teir ynys y Kedyrn) and in I.1057, derives
ultimately from a phrase which is first recorded in HB ch. 9 (ed.
Dumville 63; ed. Loth, 151-2): tres magnas insulas (Britannia) habet
. . . insula Gueith . . . Eubonia uel Manau . . . Orch . Sic in proverbio
dicitur antiquo, quando de iudicibus et regibus sermo fit ‘iudicavit
Brittaniam cum tribus insulis '. In Enweu Ynys Prydein (TYP 228) this is
rendered as Ynys Brydein . . . teir p r if Rac ynys yssyd id i . . . Mon a
M anaw ac Ynys Weir (R. Vaughan emends the last to Ynys Weith).
Prydydd y Moch addresses Rhodri ab Owain as 0 ynys brydein briawd
 NOTES 95
ureint/ae their rac ynys rec hofeint (H 271,7-8). In Culhwch we find that
Ynys Prydein is triplicated, just as it is in the praise-poem to Hywel
ap Goronwy (LIDC 22,20) Teir racynis ar teir inis, and again in the P
50 version o f EYP, which has Teir ynys Prydein: Lloegyra Chymry a ’r
Alban. This division goes back to Geoffrey of Monmouth’s division
o f Britain between the three sons o f Brutus - Locrinus, Camber, and
Albanactus, H RB ii, 1. Thomas Jones showed in B xvii (1958),
268—9 that ynys can mean ‘land, kingdom’, and he quoted examples
in which ynys renders Lat. regnum and Eng. ‘realme’, as in the
passage quoted in n. to 11.245-50 above, where Regnum Thewthy Hen
and Heneys Teithy Hen are used interchangeably. According to this
interpretation Teir Ynys Prydein would mean ‘The Three Realms of
Britain’, and Geoffrey may have had in mind the phrase tres magnas
insulas habet in HB, when he detailed Brutus’s division of the island
between his three sons. But the earliest examples show that the
original formula was ‘The Island o f Britain and her Three Adjacent
Islands’, though it seems that the teir racynys had the effect o f causing
Ynys Prydein to be similarly triplicated, following a process which is
very familiar in Celtic mythology and early literature (cf. T Y P 155,
and introduction p. xxxviii). As P. Mac Cana has phrased it
‘triplication may have had an intensifying force, and it may also
convey the concept o f totality’ (Celtic M ythology , 48-9). In Culhwch
the phrase Teir ynys Prydein probably means simply ‘Britain’ as in
HB: with Geoffrey o f Monmouth the original mythical concept of
the sovereign unity o f the Island of Britain has become obscured,
and the ancient phrase comes to be given a contemporary geo­
political interpretation.
283. Gwydawc mab Menester: Menester = mynystr < L a t .
ministra, which gave OF menstre ‘cupbearer’ (found in Hirlas O w ein ,
RP 1434,1, for the servant who poured out drink for the warriors).
In discussing uch med menestri in the Gododdin (CA 372), Ifor
Williams argued that menestri derives from the pi. of Lat. ministra,
and that there is no need to conclude that its occurrence in the poem
is an indication o f a derivation from French. Owing to the
ambiguity o f e in both C A and CO, the same argument applies here
to the sing, form Menester. On K ei see n. on 1.134 above.
285. Garanwyn mab K ei: Garanwyn ‘White Crane’ or,
alternatively, ‘White Shank’; cf. Gwydneu Garanhir ‘G. Long
Shank’, I.618 below.
96 NOTES

Am renm ab Bedwyr: Ambren uab Bedw yr in GER, WM388, 2. For

Bedw yr see n. on I.175 above.
285-6. E ly a M yr . . . ac Eli a Thrachmyr: the first of these pairs
may be a miscopying, since E li a Thrachmyr recurs in 1.1159 . For E li
as a personal name cf. Ellinus , the name o f a disciple o f St Cadoc
(VSB 56). Rhys refers to a Garth E li in the parish o f Llanddewibrefi,
CF 537. There is a River M eheli in Powys; C L1H 208, E A N C 162-3.
R. J. Thomas cites also the river name E lei in Glamorgan, LL 10, 43,
204; E A N C 14 1-2 and compares the ref. in Pa G u r (p. xxxv, 1.6
above).
Reu Rwyddyrys: ‘R. Easy-Difficult’(?). For Reu as a personal name
cf. LL 169,7; 201,4.
Run Rudwern: ‘R. Red Alder’.
287. penkynydyon Arthur: the king’s penkynyd or Chief
Huntsman is listed among the Officers o f the Court; HDdL 21-3;
LIB 2,18 etc. Cf. Garselit Wydel, penkynyd Iwerdon , I.697 below.
287. Lluydeu mab Kelcoet: cf. PKM 64,5-6, L lw yt uab K il Coet,
and n. ibid. 247, where it is suggested that the name survives in C il
coed in the parish o f Ludchurch, Pembs.; sec Pem. i, 906, n. 2. In
II.1055-6 below, Lluydeu’s home is at Porth Kerdin yn D yuet . The
derivation from the Ir. Liath mac Celtchair, suggested by J. Rhŷs and
W. J. Gruffydd, has little to recommend it; see P. Sims-Williams, B
xxix, 615. With Lluydeu cf. Lluydeu mab Nwython I.257 above. For
the group o f names in Culhwch which correspond to names in PKM
see introduction p. xxxviii, n.23 and cf. Teyrnon T w r Bliant I.255
above.
288. Hu[n]abwy mab Gwryon: (R: Hunabwy). In G ER this name
recurs as Kadwry uab G w ryo n , WM 4 11,4 1 (RM 265,18 Hadwry uab
Gw ryon).
Gwynn Gotyuron: Guin Godybrion is found in Pa G ur (above
p. xxxv 1.8). In a corrupt form it recurs as G w yn Goluthon among
the sons o f laen (EWGT 85,2). On laen see n. on I.204 above.
288-90. Four men all with the name o f G w eir ‘Arthur’s uncles, his
mother’s brothers’. They do not reappear in the story, though T Y P
377-8 lists four others named G w eir. In Preiddeu A nnw n , G w eir is the
name o f the prisoner in Caer S id i , see edn. M. Haycock, SC xviii/
xix, 65 (perhaps identical with G w eir ap Geirioed of T Y P no. 52).
 NOTES 97
Gweir Dathar Wenidawc: ‘G. Bird-Servant’ appears to
correspond to Gueiryd Adar Wenydyawc BD 55 (the epithet signifies
that he fed birds with corpses on the field o f battle). BD evidently
has the better form, and it suggests that Dathar here should be
emended to Adar. The corresponding name in HRB is Arviragus. As
B. F. Roberts points out (B xxv (1973), 283), this is clearly an
instance in which the Welsh translator has used the name o f a
traditional hero called Gweir in place o f the classical name used by
Geoffrey o f Monmouth. Prydydd y Moch employs adar weinidawc as
a complimentary epithet for a patron, H 273,23.

Tal Aryant: ‘Silver B row ’. Kadellin is unknown.

Gweir Gwrhyd Enwir: ‘G. o f False Valour’ . Cf. T Y P no. 19 Gueir

G w rhytvavr ‘G. o f Great Valour’, GER: G w eir gwrhyt uawr WM
, .
411 35

Gweir Gwyn Paladyr: (R: G.baladyr hir). ‘G. White Spear’.

290- 1. ywythred y Arthur, brodyr y uam: the phrase is repeated

from I.252 above where others o f Arthur’s ‘uncles’ are named. The
line implies that Llwch was father of Eigr, Arthur’s mother.

291. Llwch Llawwynnyawc: the name is repeated; cf. Lloch

Llawwynnyaw c I.192 above, and n.

2 9 1- 2. o’r tu draw y Uor Terwyn: ‘from beyond the Tyrrhene

Sea’ (M ab ), that is, the western Mediterranean between Sicily and
Sardinia. There are var. spellings o f this name: y M or Tiren BD 15,5;
M or Teryti R B B 53,25 (= Tyrrenum Equor HRB i, 12); y M or Tyren
HGVK 4,3 and n. Cf. OI M uir Torrian DIL ‘M ’ col. 193 and A.
Bruford in Bealoideas xxxiv (1966), 21. M or Terwyn ‘the Tyrrhene
Sea’ is the most probable meaning here, taking it to be an exotic
place-name comparable with the list of remote or unknown places
in Glewlwyd’s speech to Arthur, 11.116 -2 7 above. Nevertheless
terruin occurs in collocation with mor in L1DC 39,6 finaun wenestir
mor terruin, where terruin is an adj. ‘savage’ - which is a possible
(though less likely) meaning in the present instance. In the line
quoted from the above poem, the rhyme terruin/morvin/cvin
precludes equating terruin with terfyn < Lat. terminus, as advocated
by J. T. Koch, B xxx (1983), 299. See P. Sims-Williams, ‘The Irish
Geography o f Culhwch and O lwen , 419 and n. 79.
98 NOTES

293. Llenlleawc Vydel: a repetition o f this name; see I.253 above,

and n.
ac ardyrchawc Prydein: ardderchog ‘famous, excellent’ . With
Prydein it should perhaps be understood as an epithet belonging to a
name which has been inadvertently dropped from the text, rather
than as an epithet belonging to Llenlleawc (Prydein seems illogical,
since he was an Irishman). On Pry dein/Pry dyn in medieval texts see
n. on I.262 above. Arthur is described as arderchawc luydawc lyw in
Englynion yr E ryr (B ii, 276,34), and Cadwallon as lluydawc Prydein
in Moliant Cadwallon (B vii, 25,29); on llwyddawg see n. on I.1137
below. Or Ardyrchawc could itself be a personal name.
Cas mab Saidi: cf. mab Saidi I.185 above. For Cadrieith mab Seidi
see T Y P no. 9, and idem pp. 291-2 and refs, cited.
294. Gwruan Gwallt Auw yn: afivyn means ‘bridle-rein’, but here
it is more likely to be an error for add(f)wyn ‘fair, beautiful’. Cf.
Gwarae G w allt Eurin I.315 below and p. xxxii above (with n. 18).

Gwilenhen brenhin Freinc: (R: Gw yllennhin) . This name very

probably stands for William the Conqueror, though there can be no
absolute certainty as to this. Guilenhin (sic) brenhin Freinc is listed
again among the anoethau in I.720, and in I.1130 he is slain by the
Twrch Trwyth (see n.). G w ilim uab r w y f Freinc is listed in both BR
and G ER (see introduction p. xli). In H GVK 4,16 the Conqueror is
described as G uilim vrenhin.
295. Gwittart mab Aed brenhin Iwerdon: in spite o f its apparent
irrelevance in the present context, Gwittart may perhaps derive
from OF Withard, as suggested by P. Sims-Williams, B xxix, 606.
With his patronymic cf. Odgar mab A ed brenhin Iwerdon , see I.635
below.
Garselit Vydel: another Irishman. In I.697 Garselit is described as
‘chief huntsman o f Ireland’, and in 1.1 1 1 7 he is one o f the huntsmen
slain by the Twrch Trwyth. Kuno Meyer derived his name from Ir.
gearr + selut ‘a short while*, though this seems an improbable
meaning for a personal name. Sims-Williams (B xxix, 614) rejects
any Ir. derivation and proposes gar ‘leg’ as the first element, as in
Garanwyn, I.285, Garanhir , I.618 (see n.).

296. Panawr Penbagat: ‘P. Head o f the Host’.

 NOTES 99
Atleudor mab Naf: (R: a jflendor). This name may represent
(a)Fleudor, as suggested by Idris Foster (cf. T Y P 352), thus
connecting it with Flew dw r Flam (Wledic), 1.182 above (see n.).
Atleudor is a completely unknown character, and the fact that
Flew dw r Flam has already appeared in the Court-List is no obstacle
to the identification, since several other names are twice repeated in
the List (see introduction p. xxxvii). With N a fc i. Gwenwyttwyn mab
Naß I.250.
Gwyn Hyuar: ‘G. the Irascible’. H y u a r < h y + bar ‘anger, wrath’.
296. maer: < Lat. maior. The maer was a royal official who shared
with the canghellor (who ranked above him), the local
administration o f land which was occupied by self-employed
husbandmen; cf. HDdL 122-4.
297. nawuet a estoues: ‘one o f the nine’; cf. GMW 48. with the
idiom cf. BR 5 ,11 (=R M 147,28) 0 hynny yd ystovet y Gatgamlan.
(Ystof is the thread used as the weaver’s warp.) For allusions to the
battle o f Camlan see n. on 11.226-32 above, and refs, cited.
297-8. Kelli a Chuel: two names which are certainly derived from
the poem Pa G u r , L1DC 31, 33-4 (see pp. xxxiv-v 1.18 above),
although they arc here presented as personal names, and in the poem
they appear to be place-names. C elli could be derived from call
‘wise, sensible’ (cf. dall, delli) as suggested by B. F. Roberts, Ast. H.
305n. If they arc place-names, it is tempting to connect the first with
C elliw ig see n. on I.261 above. Cuelli ‘fury, ferocity’ is paralleled in
a single ex. by Prydydd y Moch, (H 263,10).
298. Gilla Goeshyd: ‘G. Stag-Leg’. The epithet suits his
description. Cf. Ir. gilla ‘boy, servant’.
299. pen llemidit Iwerdon: ‘Chief leaper o f Ireland’. In HGVK
5,7 Mathgauyn is described as llemhidyd anryved ‘a wonderful leaper’,
unequalled among the Irish.
300. Sol a Gwadyn Ossol a Gwadyn Odeith: (R: odyeith). Sol and
Gosol both represent sawdl ‘heel’, gwadn ‘sole’, andgoddaith ‘bonfire’.

304-5. ef a arllwyssei ford y Arthur yn lluydd: ‘he would clear

the way for Arthur in (his) hosts’ (that is ‘on the march’).
305. Hir Erw m a Hir Atrwm : these names recur in corrupt form
100 NOTES

in Englynion y C lyw eit (B iii, 13(40)): A g ly weist di a gant lluerwm

(sic)/wrth y gyfeillt hirattrwm.
312. Huarwar mab Halwn: (R: Aflawn). On hy-, hu- as an
intensive prefix usually with adjs, as in hygar, hyglyw etc. see GPC
1945. Huarwar = hu + arwar ‘delight, pleasure’; cf. n. to Gw ynn
H yuar (hy + bar ‘anger’) I.296 above. Alternatively, R ’s aflawn
( = aflawen) ‘unhappy’ would give a contrasting pair with Huarwar.
For a late triad composed by Moses Williams on the basis o f this
passage in Culhwch see T Y P no. 93. Like the last two names
Huarwar has been introduced into Englynion y C lyw eit (B iii, 14(57)).
313. yn y gyuarws: on cyfarws see n. on I.59 above.
315. Gwarae Gwallt Eurin: ‘G. Golden-Hair’. To be equated with
G w ri Wallt Euryn PKM 26,15, as pointed out by W. J. Gruffydd,
Rhiannon 91. Cf. Gwruan G w allt A uw yn I.294 above.
3 15 -16 . deu geneu Gast Rymhi: ‘the two pups o f the bitch
Rymhi’ - named in 1.316 as Gw ydrut a Gw yden Astrus. With Gwyden
cf. Guidgen LL 149,27, Guitgen EW GT 12 (24). Astrus ‘crafty,
cunning’. It is clear from the account given in 11.930-40 below that
the deu geneu have been inadvertently omitted from the list of
anoethau specified by Ysbaddaden; see introduction p. xlviii and
n.42. As with Gwilenhen brenhin Freinc (I.294) their appearance both
in the Court-List and then again among the anoethau appears
illogical.
317. Sucgyn mab Sucnedut: ‘Suck son o f Sucker’.
318. bron llech rud: ‘a red breast-fever’ (Mab.); llech Tickets,
mumps’ etc. (GPC).
3 1 8-19. Caccymuri gwas Arthur: brother to H ygw ydgw as Arthur ,
I.1048, etc.
322. yr yscubawr: R adds yn y ueiscawn. Beisgawn ‘stack, heap of
corn-sheaves’. This is the only ex. recorded before the 17th. cent,
but y wisgoti has come down in Ceredigion dialect, with w in place
o i f through false association with gwasgu\ see B iv (1929), 304,
343- 4-
Llw ng a Dygyflwng: llwng ‘gullet’; cyflwng ‘a swallowing’ (? with
neg. di-)
322-3. Anoeth Ueidawc: annoeth ‘foolish’; beiddiog ‘daring, bold’.
 NOTES IO I

323. Hir Eidyl a Hir Amren: ‘Long E. and Long A ’. Eiddyl ‘weak’.
324. Gweuyl mab Gwastat: gw efl ‘lip’; Gwastad ‘level, constant’.
327. Vchdryt U aryf Draws: ‘U. Cross-Beard’. With this name cf.
Vchdryt Ardwyat Kat 1.186; Vchdryt mab Erim I.233.

329. neuad Arthur: named Ehangwen ‘Fair and Spacious’ I.264

above.
Elidir Gyuarwyd: ‘E. the Guide’. Cf. Cyndelic G yuarw yd 11.177,
399-
Yskyrdaf ac Yscudyd: the first may be connected with ysgryd
‘shiver’; with the second cf. ysgud ‘swift’.
330. On Gw enhw yuar see n. on 11.16 1-2 above.
332. Brys uab Bryssethach: in a list o f the ancestors o f St Cadog
(VSB 1 18, ch. 46) Briscethach, father o f Brusc, is described as ancestor
o f Gladus , the daughter o f Brachanus (Brychan Brycheiniog) de
optimis prosapiis regum Hibernensium. This name appears to
correspond with the Irish dux named Briscus (VSB 142) in the Vita
Prima Sancti Carantoci, and with Brosc, father o f Aed, one o f the
progenitors o f the Irish tribe o f the Deisi who settled in Dyfed and
founded the ruling dynasty there, perhaps as early as the third
century (Kuno Meyer (ed.) ‘The Expulsion o f the Deisi’ , C y 14
(1901), 104-35; EW GT 4 and n. 124). In B xxix (1982), 619 P. Sims-
Williams concludes from this that ‘a text about the Irish settlements
o f Wales was circulating between Ireland and Wales as early as the
12th. cent., and (that) the list o f names in Culhwch drew on this lost
text, directly or indirectly’ . Brys uab Bryssethach must however be
set beside the other names in Culhwch which demonstrably derive
from Vita S. Cadoci (see nn. to Dinsol I.106, Saw yl Penuchel I.344,
K aw 0 Prydein I.647, M ynyd Bannawc I.597, and introduction
p. lxxx). This suggests that Brys uab Bryssethach derives either from
the Brychan documents which underlie the saint’s genealogy as
given in the Vita, or from a text o f the Vita (not necessarily the
earliest) in which the saint’s genealogy had become incorporated.
Cf. H. D. Emmanuel, ‘An Analysis o f the Composition o f the Vita
Cadoci’, NLW Journal vii (1952), 220. With Bryssethach cf. Caer
Brythach I.122 above, and on -ach in proper names see Sims-
Williams, loc.cit. 615-16.
102 NOTES

y Rydynawc Du o Brydein: ‘The Black Fernbrake in Prydein;

(rhedyn ‘fern’). No specific place o f this name has been identified: it
is a name o f so general a character that it could be almost anywhere.
On the ambiguity o f Pry dein/Pry dyn see n. on I.262 above.
333. Grudlwyn Gorr: ‘G. the D w arf’, (grudd ‘cheek’ + llwm ?
‘bare’). Cf. G w dolw yn Gorr 1.364; Guidolwyn Gorr 1.657 (seen.), and
T Y P no.28: Teir P r if H u t . . . Hut G w ythelin Gorr/Rudlwm Gorr (R )
a dysgawd y G o ll uab Collurewy y nei. Cor glosses nanus in the
Vocabularium Cornicum , and is rendered into OE as dweorh ‘dwarf’
(B xi,3). Another early ex. o f cor in Welsh is found in L1D C 35,22.
On dwarves in early Welsh sources see SC xiv/xv (1979-80), 61.
Bwlch: ‘gap, breach’. Cyfivlch ‘complete, perfect’; cf. cywlauan
gyuulch L1D C 18,105. As a personal name cf. Kyuwlch I.341 below;
also C A II.137, 1312, and Cimulch as the name o f a witness in the
Book o f St Chad, LL xlvi.
334. K ledyf Kyuwlch: ‘Perfect Sword’. This name, and those of
his three sons listed previously, seem more appropriate as names for
swords than for men. ln I.736 below, this name is given as K ilyd
Kyuwlch. Cf. Caletuwlch , the name o f Arthur’s sword, 1.159 above.

Cledyf Diuwlch: ‘Unbroken (Gapless) Sword’.

336-7. Glas, Glesic, Gleissat: ‘Grey, (?), Salmon’. Cf. B T 22,19:
bum glas gleissat. Call ‘Sharp, Wily’; Kuall ‘Speedy’; Kauall <
caballus ‘horse’. Kauall is given as the name o f Arthur’s hound,
I.1015 below (see n.).
337. H w yr D ydw c a D rw c D ydw c a LIw yr Dydwc: ‘Late-Bearer
and Ill-Bearer and Full-Bearer’ (Mab.).
338. Och a Garym a Diaspat: ‘Alas and Scream and Shriek’.
339. teir vyryon . . . teir merched: for a pi. n. with a numeral cf.
try w yr I.235 above (GMW 47). But the sing, occurs in teir morwyn
I. 340 below.
D rwc a Gwaeth a Gwaethaf Oil: ‘Bad and Worse and Worst of
AH’. This whole passage, 11.333-40, recurs in the list o f anoethau
II. 736-43 below (see n.).
341-2. Merck in place o f Mab in all three o f the names given here, is a
mistake which is common to both W and R. Clearly some copyist
 NOTES 103

mistook m in his original as an abbreviation for merch instead o f for

mab (probably through anticipation ofll.359-72 (see T. Jones, B xiii
(1950), 13-14). The correction is corroborated by Englynion y
C lyw eit (B iii, 15 (66)): A glyweisti agant eheubryt/mab Kyuwlch (see
introduction p. xi).
Gorascwrn mab Nerth: ‘Big-Bone son o f Strength’.
342. Gwaedan: ‘(P)Shouter’. According to the Life of St Teilo (LL
1 16, 6) a certain regulus Guaidan nomine violated the sanctuary o f St
Teilo’s church at Llanteilo Fechan, and consequently became
demented. Dafydd ap Gwilym also appears to have known a story
about some man called Gwaeddan (GDG 84,19), though the allusion
is obscure. For some further instances o f the name see G 601.
342. Kynuelyn Keudawc, Pw yll Hanner Dyn: W’s form of the
epithet keudawc is favoured by its adjectival ending (cf. baruawc,
beidawc, etc), but since no adj. keudawc is anywhere attested, R ’s
keudawt ‘thought, mind, heart’ is a possible alternative. Jones and
Jones (Mab 106) take keudawt p w y ll hanner dyn as together
constituting Kynuelyn’s epithet, and render it ‘Half-Wit’,
understanding p w y ll ‘sense, wisdom’ to be a gloss on keudawt hanner
dyn which subsequently became incorporated into the text in an
earlier manuscript (see n. to Mab 276). This interpretation followed
that o f J. Lloyd-Jones, C y xl (1929), 260-1, ‘ hanner dyn is most
certainly descriptive o f Kynuelyn, and not o f an imaginary Pwyll’.
In arguing against this interpretation we would urge that Pwyll was
a well-known traditional character, and one among eleven or
twelve names from the Mabinogi which are incorporated in the
Court-List and elsewhere in the tale (see introduction p. xxxviii,
n.23), and that hanner dyn (‘half-man’) would be apt as an ironic
allusion to Pwyll’s lack o f sense and foresight which incurred
Rhiannon’s taunt at the wedding-feast ni bu uuscrellach gw r ar y
synnwyr e hun nog ry uuost ti (PKM 14,14). Cf. Loth, Les Mabinogion
i,28i, for a similar interpretation. But the epithet keudawc/keudawt
is not as yet satisfactorily explained.
343. Dwnn Diessic Unben: ‘D. Vigorous Chieftain’ (di + ysig) cf.
L1DC 18,66; 18,143, Bed mor mauridic diessic unben . . . mab peredur
penwetic.

Penn Llarcan: the Ir. name Lorccan has been compared by P. Sims-
Williams, B xxix, 615.
104 NOTES

344. Kynedyr Wyllt mab Hettwn Tal Aryant: ‘K. the Wild son
o f H. Silver B row ’. This name recurs among the anoethau as
K ynedyr Wyllt mab Hettwn Clauyryawc 1. 708. A saint Kynedyr is
commemorated in lanncinitir LL 277, 9. On the significance o fg w y llt
‘Wild, mad, deranged’ see GPC 1766, and c f Ir. geilt. This was the
term used in the early literatures o f both Wales and Ireland to denote
wild and deranged men living in the wilderness and evading human
contacts: the most famous Welsh ex. being Myrddin Wyllt (TYP
469-74, and refs, cited). Cf. also C yledyr Wyllt I.994 below. With
Kynedyr’s patronymic cf. Kadellin Tal Aryant 1. 289 above.
344-5. Sawyl Penn Uchel: ‘S. High Head’. One o f the Tri
Thrahawc or ‘Three Arrogant Men’ o f Britain, acc. T Y P no. 23 (see
n. idem p. 506). In the Harl. Gen. (EWGT 12(19)) Samuil Pennissel
‘S. Low Head’ appears as a descendant o f Coel Hen, one o f the ‘Men
o f the North’. In HRB iii, 19 this name has been borrowed from the
Harl. Gen. (or a similar genealogy), but divided into two successive
kings, Samuil and Penissel . (These are correctly united again as
Sa w yl Ben Yssel, BD 44.) The source for this name in Culhwch,
however, is probably the Life o f St Cadog (VSB 58), where a certain
dux named Sauuil Pennuchel is punished for his high-handed
behaviour towards the saint. Possible influence from the triad
cannot however be excluded. See also ByS (EWGT 56,13) Saw yl
bennuchel m. Pabo Post Prydein. OW Samuil > M W Saw yl.

345. Gwalchmei mab Gwyar: the Black Book o f Carmarthen lists

Keincaled m(arch) Gualchmei among the Triads o f Horses (L1DC
6,12), and Englynion y Beddau (Stanzas o f the Graves) give bet
Gwalchmei ym Peryton (ibid. 18,24). But as Gwalchmei mab G w ya r
he first appears in a triad (TYP no.4), and in the Brut (BD 171,175),
where his name renders Gualguainus, Gwalgwinus etc. in HRB (x, 4,
6 etc.); Gwalchmei uab G w ya r nei y brenhin BD 183. According to
H RB ix,9 the father o f Gualguanus was Loth o f Lodonesia (= Lieu
ap Cynfarch BD 152), who married Arthur’s sister Anna. After a
single allusion to Anna as Gwalchmei’s mother in BD 152 (= HRB
ix, ix), elsewhere throughout the Brut Gwalchmei is designated mab
G w ya r , and in Welsh texts G w ya r came to be regarded as the name of
Arthur’s sister. Hence in 11.406 below, Gwalchmei is N ei y Arthur,
uab y chwaer. For a fuller discussion see T Y P civ, 369-75, and on the
confusion as to Gwalchmei’s parentage see B. F. Roberts, B xxv,
287-8. In a late text o f ByS Gwyar is made a daughter o f Am lawd
 NOTES IO5

Wledic, (EWGT 65 (76)), as are the mothers o f Arthur and of

Culhwch in other sources (see n. on I.2 above). On the derivation o f
the name Gwalchmei < Ualcos Magesos ‘Hawk o f the Plain’ see
LH EB 449n. and T Y P (2), 552. Gwalchmei’s traditional distinction
is commemorated in Ó yT yw ys. (P 20 version) where the annal for
1189 describes Maelgwn son o f the Lord Rhys as ‘the best Knight, a
second Gwalchmei’. Gwalchmei is an exceptional instance in the
Court-List in which a hero is given an apparent matronymic instead
o f a patronymic: Mahon mab Modron appears to be the only other
example.

Gwalhauet mab Gwyar: the names o f the two brothers share a

common first element gwal(c)h, but elsewhere the name Gwalhauet
is almost unknown. He is cited once in a complimentary epithet by
the poet Llygad Gwr in a marwnad to Hywel ap Madawg (d. 1268):
gwalch gw raw l gw rhyd gwalhafed ‘a valiant hawk o f the might of
Gwalhafed’ (H 60,23) which indicates that he may be a traditional,
rather than an invented character. But any association o f his name
with that o f Sir Galahad (proposed in G 610) is certainly to be
rejected.

346. Gwrhyr Gwalstawd Ieithoed: ‘G. Interpreter of Languages’.

This is the earliest occurrence o f the word gwalstawd < OE
wealhstod ‘interpreter’ (GPC 1567). Since he was familiar with the
languages o f birds and o f animals as well as those of humans,
Gwrhyr was an essential member o f the Six Helpers who
accompany Culhwch on his quest for Olwen; cf. I.402 below. He is
able to speak on behalf o f the others with the Oldest Animals
(11.842-3), and to negotiate on Arthur’s behalf with the Twrch
Trwyth and his retinue o f pigs (11.1077-82). C. Bullock-Davies has
made an interesting comparison between Gwrhyr’s activities and
the functions expected o f the latimarii or interpreters on the Welsh
marches in the 12th. cent, in her Professional Interpreters and the
Matter o f Britain (University of Wales Press, 1966), 25-6. G w rh yr’s
name was borrowed from Culhwch into each one of the three
‘Derived Lists’ (see introduction p. xl) GER (WM 4 11,4 1 = RM
265,7); BR 19,25 = RM 160,1); Englynion y C lyw eit (B iii, 11 (20)).

347. Kethtrwm OfFeirad: ‘K. the Priest’. It is significant that two

clerics are introduced into the Court-List - though neither plays any
further part in the story. Cf. Bitwini Escoh 1.3 56 below.
io6 NOTES

Clust mab Clustueinat: ‘Ear son o f Hearer’. Neither Clust, nor

any other o f the group o f men similarly described below (11.349-53)
as possessing extraordinary powers, are named ever again in the
story (see introduction p. xliv). Much later the poet Gruffudd
Llwyd (c. 1380-1410) names Clust fab Clustfeinydd with Drem fab
Dremhidydd (I.261 above) in a poem o f abuse directed against the
alert sight and hearing o f a Jealous Husband (IGE (2) xlv, 25-30).
Both names are also cited in G ER (WM 386,6-7).
348. seith vrhyt: Gwrhydhere has the meaning o f ‘fathom’: cf. CA
1.2 .

349. Medyr mab Methredyd: ‘Aim son o f Aimer’. The feat

ascribed to him is similar to that ascribed to Lieu Llaw Gyffes in
shooting a wren with a needle y rwggiewyn y esgeir a’r ascwm at Caer
Aranrhod, PKM 80.
kychwhynnei: imperf. sing. 3 ‘he rose’; vn. kychwynnu/kywhynnu.
Here we have a combination o f chw and hw/wh. The latter prevails
in MW prose, as well as in the spoken language o f south Wales (as
opposed to that o f north Wales). They seem to represent the original
form. See introduction p. xix.
350. Eskeir Oeruel yn Iwerdon: see n.on 1. 114 above.
351. yn gythrymhct: ‘directly, exactly’; equative o f cythrwm <
*kom + *trumbos. OW cithremmet gloss libra. Cf. Ol cutrumme
‘equal’. The basic adj. is trwm ‘heavy’.
Celli Wie: see n. on I.261 above.
351-2. Gwiawn Llygat Cath: ‘G. Cat’s Eye’. For other
occurrences o f the name Gwiawtt/Gwion see G 676.
353. Ol mab Olwyd: ‘Track son o f Tracker’(?). This is the last in
the group referred to in 1.347 above, o f men with peculiar
attributes. Some o f these - such as Gwiawn Llygat Cath - are
paralleled by characters possessing similar attributes in other
versions o f the tale-type A T 513 A ‘Six Go Through the World’ (see
IPT 72-5; Stith Thompson, The Folktale 53-5). In the event, none of
these characters play any further part in the tale, and it is obvious
that they are farcical inventions, and not traditional figures, and
that they have been purposely created to conform with the tale-type
to which Culhwch belongs. Their role as the hero’s Helpers is taken
 NOTES IO 7

over by the Six Helpers who are appointed by Arthur and are named
in II.381-410 below. See introduction p. xliv.
353-4. kyn no’e eni: ‘before he was born’ . On kyn(n) ‘before’ see
D. S. Evans, SC xiv/xv (1979-80), 74-80.
356. Bitwini Escob: ‘B. the Bishop’. In a triad (TYP no. 1) Bytw ini
Esgob is named as Pen Esgyb at Celliwig in Cornwall, Dewi Sant as
Pen Esgob in M ynyw (St David’s), and Cyndeyrn Garthwys (St
Kentigern) as Pen Esgob at Pen Ryoned in the North (see n. to the
triad, and T Y P 289). Bytwini’s reappearance in Culhwch is
interesting, since T Y P no.i is a rare triad which is absent from
nearly all texts o f T Y P (see introduction p. xli). In BR 6 ,10 -12 (RM
148,24) Betwin escob is one o f Arthur’s counsellors, and is placed to
sit beside him. He appears also in Englynion y C lyw eit (B iii, 12 (33):
A glyweisti a gant bedwi? oed escob donyawc difii. Elsewhere he is
unknown, though there may be faint memories o f his name in the
‘Bishop Bawdewyn’ who figures in some medieval romances, such
as Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (ed. Norman Davis (Oxford,
1968) 78m).
357. eurtyrchogyon: ‘golden torqued’, that is, wearing gold
collars as a mark o f their nobility. The form is pi. o f eurtyrchog
(eu r+ tyrch, pi. o f torch ‘collar’) with adjectival ending -og.

357-72. Few o f the names o f the ladies o f Arthur’s Court are known
from any other source: some appear to be corrupt, and others to be
invented names, created to designate the daughters of men already
listed as present at the Court. They are said to be the daughters of
these heroes: none, except for Gwenhwyfar, are described as their
wives. Merch in these names is for the most part unlenited, like mab
(see n. on 11.168-9 above). The patronymics following merch are
more frequently unlenited than lenited: cf. T Y P no.56 and n.; TC
100, i, and n. to I.2 above.
358. Gwenhwyuar: See n. on 1.161 above. With Penn Rianed ‘Chief
o f Queens’ cf. Arthur as Penn Teyrned yr Ynys honn (1.142), and T Y P
no. 56 Teir P rifR iein Arthur ‘Arthur’s Three Great Queens’ - where
all three are given the name Gwenhwyfar, each with a different
patronymic. (On triplication cf. I.282 above, and n.) Cf. also
Branwen as tryded p r if rieni ( = riein ?) PKM 3 1,1.
359. Gwenhwyach y chwaer: cf. T Y P no. 53: Teir Gvith Baluavt
io8 NOTES

(‘Three Harmful Blows . . . ’) o f which one was the blow struck by

Gwenhvyuach on G w enhvyuar , which is said to have brought about
the battle o f Camlan. The same episode is recalled in T Y P no. 84,
where Camlan is described as one o f the Tri Ouergat or ‘Frivolous
Battles’ because it was brought about as the result o f a quarrel
between Gwenhwyfar and Gwenhwyfach. But there is no other
allusion to G w enhw y(ßach outside Culhwch and T Y P. On the battle
o f Camlan see n. on 11.226-31 above.
360. Kelemon merch Kei: On K ei see n. on I.134 above. His
daughter is quite unknown.
360- 1. Tangwen merch Weir Dathar Wenidawc: unknown. For
G w eir Dathar Wenidawc see 11.288-90 above, and n.

3 6 1- 2. Eurneit merch Clydno Eidin: Eur- is used figuratively in

this name; cf. eurneit ‘11am neu dro gwych’, G 498. Cf. Euronwy (var.
Creirwy) ferch Clydno Eidyn in ByS (EWGT 57(15)). Clydno Eidyn is
known from BG G (TYP 309; EW GT 178) as one o f the rulers o f the
‘Men o f the North’. His more famous son Cynon was a leader o f the
Gododdin army; see T Y P 323-4, Ast. H. 151-64. Clydno derives
from clod ‘fame’ and gno(u) ‘famous, conspicuous’ (CA 176,235).
For Cynon fab Clydno see n. on I.366 below.
362. Eneuawc merch Bedwyr: unknown. For Bedw yr see n. on
I.175 above.
362- 3. Enrydrec merch Tutuathar: unknown. With the
patronymic cf. tud ‘tribe, people’, as in Tudyr and Tudri < Toutorix
‘lord o f the tribe’ (found on an amphora in Gaul, EC xiii (1972),
177-8).
Gwenwledyr merch Waredur Kyruach: Cf. Gw awrdur Kyruach,
1.189.
364. Erduduyl merch Tryffin: cf. Drutwas mab T ryß n I.200. The
name Erduduyl is found in one other instance, in a version o f the
triad Tri G w yn D orllwyth (TYP no. 70), found among the
genealogies in J 20 (EWGT 43,3(5)). Here it is evidently copied
from a text much older than the 14th.-cent. MS o f the genealogy. In
the note to the triad it is suggested that Erduduyl may be an error for
Ejrddyl (sister o f Urien Rheged); see T Y P 186.

364. Eurolvyn (R: Eurolwen) merch Wdolwyn Gorr: ‘Golden

 NOTES IO9

Wheel’. With Eurolvyn cf. Goroluyn T Y P no.66 and n. to O lwen

I.498 below. With G w dolw yn Gorr (‘D w arf’) cf. Grudlwytt Gorr
I.333; Guidolwyn Gorr I.657 and n.
365. Indec merch Arwy Hir: One o f Arthur’s Tair Karedicwreic ,
T Y P no. 57. Gruffudd ap Maredudd alludes to Arthur’s love for
Indeg RP 1326,16-18, and Dafydd ap Gwilym frequently makes use
o f her name as a standard o f comparison for beauty; see T Y P 354-5;
412 -13.
366. Moruyd merch Uryen Reget: according to the triad Tri
Gwyndorliwyth ‘Three Fair Womb Burdens’, T Y P no.70 (P 47),
Moruyd was a twin with her more famous brother Owein ab Urien
Rheged; in T Y P no. 71 her lover Cynon ap Clydno is named as one
o f the Tri Serchawc. In contrast, Culhwch makes no allusion to Urien
Rheged or to his son Owein.
Gwenlliant Tec: ‘G. the Fair’ . Nothing is known o f her or her
alleged nobility. Gw enllian was one o f the most popular medieval
womens’ names; see TH SC (1965), 59; EWGT 192.
367. Creidylat merch Llud Llaw Ereint: for Creidylat see n. on
I.988 below, and for Llud L la w Ereint see n. on I.916 below.
368. Teir Ynys Prydein a’e Their Rac Ynys: (R: teir ynys y
kedym)\ cf. PKM 30,21; 41,13). For this recurrent phrase see n. on
I. 282 above.
369. Gwythyr mab Greidawl: see n. on 1.176 above.
370. Gwynn mab Nud: See n. on 11.18 1-2 above.
pob dyw kalan Mei: ‘every M ay-Day’. D yw ‘day’ is used
adverbially with names o f days and feasts, cf. GMW 33, and
II. 480-1 below pob dyw Sadwrn. kalan < Lat. calandae, calendae. It
means the first day o f the year, and also the first day of each month.
For the contest here referred to, see 11.988-1004 below.
371. Ellylw merch Neol Kyn Croc: ‘N. Hang-cock’ (Mab.).
Nothing is known of Ellylw, her father, or her longevity. E lly lw is
however a popular name in genealogies; exx. EWGT 48 (32 and 33).
372. Essyllt Vynwen ac Essyllt Uyngul: (R: vinwen/vingul). ‘E.
White/Fair Neck and E. Slender Neck’ (cf. myn in mytiwgl, mwnwgl
‘neck’). R ’s ‘Slender Fair’ minwen and mingul for meinwen, meingul
no NOTES

would be equally acceptable as suitable poetic epithets for a girl.

Es(s)yllt is attested from the ioth. cent, both in the Cornish place-
name hryt eselt ‘E ’s Ford’ (see O. Padel, C M CS i (1981), 66), and in
the var. form Et(t)hil, Ethellt , the name of a daughter o f Cynan
Tindaethwy from whom the second Gwynedd dynasty descended
(see EW GT 9(i); 3 6 (i); 47(22), etc.; HGVK ccviii). This name is
reproduced as Esyllt EW GT 90 (27a), and in refs, by the poets. Esyllt
is the Welsh name which corresponds to Isolt, Iseut in the French
‘Tristan’ romances, and it is fair to deduce that the allusion here is to
the Welsh heroine who later became famous in the continental
romances, although the appearance o f the name Esyllt in duplicate
raises certain problems, in comparison with other alliterating pairs
o f names in Culhwch (see introduction p. xxxviii). If Drustwm
hayam I.191 above (see n.) represents a misreading (or duplicate
form) o f the name Drystan , then Culhwch presents the names o f both
the protagonists in the medieval ‘Tristan’ romances (as also does the
early version o f T Y P , no. 26). With the exception o f Gwenlliant Tec
(I.366), the two Esyllts are the only ones among Arthur’s ladies who
receive no patronymic. This suggests that their names, coming at
the end o f the Court-List, may be an addition to it. (Nor do their
names appear in any one o f the three derived lists, BR, GER, and
Eng. see introduction p. xl.) In a late triad (TYP no. 80) Esyllt is
given as father K ulvanawyt Prydein , and this rare name should
probably be equated with Kuluanawyt mah Goryon , I.253 above (see
n.). Esyllt’s name was popular among the cywyddwyr as a standard of
perfect beauty. See further T Y P 349-50; SC xiv/xv (1979-80),
54-65, and refs, cited; ‘The Tristan o f the Welsh’, AoW ch. 10,
209-28.
373. y gyuarws: for cyuarws see n. on I.59 above.
374. kiglef: pret. sing. 1 o f clybot ‘to hear’. This is an ex. o f forming
the pret. by reduplication o f the initial k. (An old formation, found
in the classical and Celtic languages.) Cf. GMW 124-5; GOI 624-5.
376. o’e cheissaw: ‘to seek her’ ; cf. GMW 53, n. 2; also I.405 below.
378. hyny uyd kenhadeu Arthur heb gafFel dim: ‘the messengers
o f Arthur had not obtained anything’; hyny ‘until, in order that,
that’ is here employed as an affirmative preverbal prt.; cf. GMW
245m, also I.412 below, uyd is here a dramatic present with a past
meaning; cf. GMW 109; also 11.4 12-13 below.
 NOTES III

379. Pawb ry gauas y gyuarws: ‘everyone has obtained his

cyfarws’. This is a clear ex. o f the prt. ry- giving a perfect meaning to
the pret. ‘obtained, got’; GMW 166-7.
380. wyneb: ‘face’. Often used in the sense o f ‘honour’, see n. on
I.154 above, and PKM 33,19 -19 ; I75“ b; HDdL 392.
Kei: see n. on I.134 above.
382-3. nat oes hi yn y byt: ‘that she is not in the world’; oes is used
with an indef. noun or pron. as subject, but there are a few exx. in
OW and MW where the subject is a definite noun or pron., as here;
cf. GMW 144.
383. yscarhawr: pres, impers. passive. Here we have the
independent ending -hawr used with future meaning; GMW 121.
384. angerd: the meaning varies; cf. GPC 50. Here (as in 1. 397) it
seems to denote ‘special attribute, feature, peculiarity’; in 1. 390 it is
‘heat’. Kei’s magical attributes are described in 11. 266-73 above.
386. dieu: pi. o f dyd ‘day’, used with numerals; GMW 33.
hyd: a form o f the affirmative preverbal prt. yt, found at an early
period; cf. GMW 171 n., and 1.389 below.
ny allei uedyc: (ntedyc). The subject frequently undergoes lenition
after the imperf. sing. 3; GMW 17.
391. kedymdeithon: ‘fellows, companions’, pi. o f kydymdeith ,
which consists o f kyd- ‘with’ and ymdeith (GMW 156); cf. y ymdeith
‘to travel’ but later as adv. ‘away’, also ymdeith and ymeith (GMW
222-3). In ModW the form is cymdeithion, sing, cydymaith.
Bedwyr: see n. on 1.175 above.
394. Sef a: here sef is used substantially, followed by a , rel. pron.
subj.; cf. GMW 52, and n. to I.800 below, where the full form yssefa
occurs.
395-6. Drych eil Kibdar: Drych ‘aspect, reflection, example’. It is
difficult to estimate its meaning as a personal name. On eil see n. to
1.184 above. This triad is not included in any o f the collections, but
T Y P no.27 (found only in the early version) lists Drych eil Kibdar as
one o f the Tri Lleturithavc or ‘Enchanters’.
1 12 NOTES

396. unllofyawc: ‘one-handed’. It-consists o f the adjectival ending

-yawc following u n llo f: un ‘one’ + llo f with vowel mut. from lla w f
‘hand’ . The -/ultimately disappeared leaving llaw; cf. praw , GMW
9. But when llaw forms part o f a compd. the -/is restored in the
form llof, as here; cf. llofrudd ‘murderer’, llofiiod ‘signature’.
397. aeruawc: consists o f aerfa ‘battle, slaughter, army’ + -awe
(adjectival ending). Here it is a substantive meaning ‘warrior’ .
398. gwrthwan: ‘counter-thrust’ (gwrth ‘counter’ + gwan ‘thrust’).
The only other ex. o f the word is by Cynddelw, H 137,17; see also
Lhuyd, A B 235c gwrthvan ‘a stab’.
399. Cyndylic Kyuarwyd: see n. on I.177 above, and cf. Elidir
G yuarw yd I.329. Both names indicate the importance o f path­
finders in untracked country. See introduction p. xliii and n.36.
402. Gwrhyr Gwalstawt Ieithoed: see n. on I.346 above.
404. Gwalchmei mab Gwyar: see n. on I.345 above. Neither
Gwalchmei nor Cyndylic play any further part in the story.
408. Menw mab Teirgwaed: see n. on 1.199 above.
412. deuuant: ‘they come’, also deuant I.415. Both are exx. o f the
dramatic present. By bringing the event out o f the past into the
present, the intention is to make the account more real and vivid. It
is a device often employed in MW narrative; cf. GMW 109; also
I.378 above; and 11.441, 468, 536, 550, 761 below.
4 12 -13 . hyny uyd kaer a welynt: ‘they could see a fort’. Cf. I.378
above, and I.416 below, yny introduces an independent affirmative
clause in which there is an element o f wonder or surprise; GMW
245m
415. eisswys: ‘nevertheless, however’ (ModW ‘already’). The more
common form is eissoes; on wy/oe see GMW 4, n. 4 on moe/mwy
‘more’, etc.
416. han ny uyd dauates uawr a welynt: ‘They could see a great
flock o f sheep’ . Cf. I.412 above.
heb or a heb eithaf iti: ‘without end or limit to it’. Cf. CA 416 -17
catiaf yty ior/clot heb or heb eithaf

418. ach y law: ‘by, near’ (Haw ‘hand’). Cf. GMW 182.
 NOTES 113
419. amws naw gayaf: ‘a horse o f nine winters’; that is, ‘nine
winters old’. On amws see n. to I.251 above.
420. anoethach: that is, ‘much less’ or ‘let alone’. On the formation
see GMW 40.
421. eiroet: ‘ever’ . Cf. eirmoet 1.127 above. Note the loss o f i in the
final syllable, a feature o f MW prose and some modern south Wales
dialects; cf. GMW 222.
422. y sawl: ‘such, as many’; GMW 95.
423. dilis: here with prid ‘soil’ it apparently means ‘genuine, real,
very’. In the form as here found we have a case o f assimilation, the
original form seems to have been dilys , from di (neg.) + llys
‘objection, bar’. As an adj. it means basically ‘someone or
something which cannot be rejected’. See further WLW 209-10.
425. racco: here it is an adv. based on rac, with the meaning
‘yonder’; GMW 6on.
427. amgeled: ‘care, anxiety’: a and y alternate before a nasal, hence
ymgeled is a variant form. With the prep, gan it means ‘to feel desire
or anxiety’; that is, ‘Do not be anxious about going there’.
430. Berth yd ytw yt: ‘It is fine you are’. As a form o f greeting, the
phrase here is quite unique. Berth as an adj. is found in CA and
L1DC, but this is the only instance in prose in which it has been
recorded.
432. Pieu consists o f p i (a form o f pw y) and eu ‘is’. Originally pieu is
interrog. in meaning, as here; ‘to whom is? whose is? who owns?’.
Later it developed into a rel. cf. GMW 80, also 11.433, 763 below.
433. Meredic a w yr: ‘Fools o f men’. Note the constr. adj. + a ‘o f’
+ n. = n. + adj. Cf. 11.763-4 below, and dyhed a beth 1.133 ‘a
shameful thing’; drwc a serch I.465 ‘a bad (kind of) love’.
434. pan yw : ‘that it is’, GMW 80; bieu here is rel. ‘who owns’.
Yspydaden Penkawr: see n. on I.51 above.
435. Custenhin Amhynwyedic: (R: uab dyjhedic). R ’s reading
strengthens the case for believing that we have a patronymic rather
than an epithet; Mab. 109 renders it ap M ynwyedig. But in favour of
taking it as an epithet is the analogy with C L1H xi, 78a, heled hwyedic
II4 NOTES

y'm gelw ir. Ifor Williams’s note to this line points out that in the case
o f Heledd an adj. seems to be required, and that hwyedig as a var. of
the n. hwyedydd ‘hawk, falcon’ (GPC 1936-7) can hardly be relevant.
The one feature shared in common by Custennin and Heledd,
however, was their dispossessed status (cf. T Y P 405-6), and some
word implying ‘expelled from home, exiled’ would be acceptable,
(see now J. Rowland, Early Welsh Saga Poetry 601-2). Custennin
derives from Constantinus, the name o f the first Christian emperor
in the 3rd. cent. Under his influence the name spread in Britain, and
several instances are recorded, including the 6th.-cent. Devon ruler
Constantinus tyrannicus Damnoniae , who was the subject o f a diatribe
by Gildas. In Welsh tradition, Custennin became the ancestor o f the
Dyfed dynasty by his alleged marriage with Elen Luyddog (Harl.
Gen. ii; EW GT 10). Geoffrey o f Monmouth employed the name for
three separate Constantines (see T Y P 314-15), one o f whom was
said to be the father o f Uthyr Pendragon, and hence the grandfather
o f Arthur (=Custennyn Uendigeit, BD 86,19). Rhigyfarch’s Life of
St David names a certain Constantinus Comubiensium rex who
submitted to the saint and was baptized by him (Rhigyfarch’s Life
o f St David, ed. James, ch. 32; VSB 159; cf. Ann. Cam 589
Conversio Constantini ad Dominum). This Cornish king could well be
the same as Custennin Gorneu (‘C. o f Cornwall’), who is alluded to
several times in ByS, where he is father o f Erbin (EWGT 58, nos. 26,
27; 65, nos. 73, 76). The name Constantine survives in that o f a
village near Helston in Cornwall, and in Wales it is attested in Lan
Custenhin garthbenni in ercicg, LL 72,1. See also nn. to Gereint mab
Erbin 1. 219 above, and to Goreu mab Custenhin I.811 below.

435-6. am uym priawt: ‘because o f my wife Ysbaddaden has

despoiled me (wrought my ruin)’. Note the significant var. in R:
‘because o f my wife my brother Ysbaddaden has ruined me’ .
438. Olwenn: See n. on 11.487-98 below.
444. y kymhar: if y is to be understood as a poss. pron. 3 sing., one
would expect lenition to indicate ‘his mate’ . But y could be
explained as the def. art. used instead o f a poss. pron., as it is
occasionally; cf. GMW 25.
445. Pan: is usually interrog., meaning ‘whence’; as in Pan doeth yti
y peir a rodeist y mi? ‘Whence came to thee the cauldron thou hast
given me?’ PKM 35,2. See further GMW 79, and cf. I.762 below.
 NOTES US
vr: from gw r ‘man’. A vocative is lenited, with or without a
vocative prt.; GMW 15.
446. douot: also dyuot and dyouot means ‘a find, prize, treasure-
trove’. Cf. WLW 194-5 ‘casual acquisitions’; that is, things found
by chance. Among these were objects thrown up by the sea. Further
instances are cited, WLSD 19-20.
447. ertrei: er + trei ‘ebb’ means the breaking or surging o f waves,
the first ebb after high water.
451. pieu: is rel. here, and means ‘who owns’, as in 11. 434, 764, 765.
gwelho: subj. pres. sing. 3 o igw elet ‘to see’. We have here an ex. of
the pres. subj. used with a fut. meaning; see GMW 113 . As to its
form, notice the retention o f -h- in the ending o f the subj.; GMW
128.
454-5. 11awen a oed genthi: ‘she was glad’. On the use o igan with
nouns and adjectives to express an attitude o f mind or feeling see
GMW 190. a is unusual and unexpected here between the nominal
predicate llawert and oed, as this is not a rel. construction; cf. a thrist
oed later in this line.

455. ynei uaby chwayr: seen, on A nlaw d Wledic, 1.2 above, and on
Goreu mab Custenhin , 1.811 below. Allusions scattered through the
tale indicate that the mothers o f Arthur, Culhwch, and Goreu were
all sisters, and all were daughters o f Anlaw d Wledic (as also was the
mother o f St Illtud, VSB 194) see n. to I.2 above. But Goreu’s
mother is never given a name (nor is Goreu himself on his first
introduction into the tale, 11.469-70). It is tempting to connect her
with D yw anw merch A nlaw d Wledic o f BGG 13, who was ‘married’
to Tutuwlch Comeu.
456. eneit: here means simply ‘life’, not ‘soul’, as is usual in MW;
cf. I.484 below.
461-2. mynet dwylaw mynwgyl: an expression consisting of
mynet ‘to go’ + dwylaw ‘ (two) hands’ + mynwgyl ‘neck’, and
meaning ‘to embrace’. It is not infrequent in MW texts; ex. GDG
53,7- 8.
464-5. pei mi ry wascut uelly: ‘were it me you had squeezed thus’.
Here pei is subj. imperf. sing. 3 of the vb ‘to be’, which later
116 NOTES

developed as a conditional conjunction, usually in the form o f pe in

ModW. Note that ry- with the imperf., as in ry wascut, conveys the
sense o f a pluperfect.
465. ny oruydei ar arall uyth rodi serch im: 'no one else would
ever have to make love to me’, goruydei is imperf. sing. 3 o fgoruot ‘to
overcome, oblige, compel’ (gor + bot ‘to be over’, GMW 146-7).
The subject is usually a vn.; here rodi (serch im) lit, ‘to make love to
me would not overcome another’.
drwc a serch hwnnw: ‘that was an evil love’. Cf. dyked a beth 1.133
above.
468. pan at pawb eu damsathyr: lit. ‘when all allow(ed)
themselves to be busied’: gat is indie, sing. 3 o igadu ‘to let, allow’,
and is an ex. o f the dramatic present; cf. deuuant I.412 above. This is
the only recorded ex. o f damsathyr, but cf. amsathyr ‘trampling,
thronging, etc.’ 11.90, 773, (GPC 102).
472. ys gohilion hwnn: ‘he is what remains’. Gohilion = gwehilion
‘remnant’. Note the order o f the words in this nominal sentence;
copula (yi) + pred. (gohilion ) + subject (hwnn). Cf. GMW 139m3.
488-9. y mynwgyl y uorwyn: ‘the maiden’s neck’. The y before
mynwgyl may be the def. art. or the poss. pron. 3 sing, fern.; either
‘the neck’ or ‘her neck’. In any event, neither is usual before a
definitive genit., but a few exx. do occur in MW; see GMW 25 (d).
487—98. This rhythmical and rhetorical passage describing Olwen
(see n. on I.498) and her beauty may be compared with the parallel
rhetorical description o f Culhwch riding to Arthur’s court, 11.60-81
above. Each is elaborately constructed in balanced periods
embodying formulaic phrases or fanciful similes: the whole being
reminiscent o f the device o f ‘runs’ in Gaelic folk-tales (see
introduction p. lxxiv). The comparison of Olwen’s beauty with the
beauty o f running water finds many parallels in the poetry o f the
Gogynfeirdd and the Cywyddwyr. The colour-comparisons are
conventional: the comparison with the whiteness of the swan is
familiar (and cf. Gwen Alarch 1.361 above): so is that of Olwen’s hair
as more yellow than the broom (banadyl) I.490), and that o f her
cheeks as more red than the rose or the foxglove (fion), I.496. Fion is
cognate with Ir. sian , which is similarly used in a famous OI
description of the heroine Deirdre (Longes mac n-Uislenn , ed.
 NOTES 117
Vemam Hull, (New York, 1979)» 1-34-)* Canawon godrwyth
(I.492) ‘the shoots o f the marsh-trefoil’ (Mab. cf. GPC 1424), ‘wood
anemone’, (Guest). Cenawon coed means ‘buds, catkins’. But cf. Ir.
ceann(a)bhán ‘bog cotton, cotton-grass’ (Dinneen, Irish-English Dic­
tionary); with godrwyth < go + trwytho) ‘moist, steeped, damp’,
that is, ‘moist cotton grass’. The comparison o f Olwen’s eye
to that o f a hebawcmut (I.493) o r ‘mewed hawk’ (11.393-4), though
it is unparalleled elsewhere, has been explained by ref. to the Laws of
Hywel Dda (see B. Lewis-Jones, B xxiii, 327-8): the falcon was kept
in a mut ‘cage’, it was ‘mewed’ or kept quiet while it moulted.
According to the Laws it was more valuable after this, that is, when it
had moulted and lost its feathers. Mut < Lat. müto\ cf. LIB 54-5;
HDdL 183. The significance o f this comparison seems to be that no
falcon thrice moulted (trimut), that is, a falcon in its prime, and with
freshly-grown feathers, had eyes more fair than were Olwen’s. Cf.
Culhwch’s horse pedw argayaf(\.60): evidently it was a young horse in
its prime. With golwc ‘eye’ cf. golygon orwyllt PKM 42,16.

497. Pedeir meillonen gwynnyon: ‘Four white trefoils’. Cf. the

pedeir tywarchen or ‘four sods’ cast up by the hooves o f Culhwch’s
horse, I.74 above. With the use o f a pi. adj. after a sing. n. preceded
by a numeral, cf. deu uilgi uronnwynyon urychyon I.69 above, and
GMW 36m

a dyuei: note that the vb. here is sing, with a pi. subject in the
Abnormal Order, whereas it is usually pi., though exx. o f the sing,
are found in sentences o f this type; cf. GMW 180; SC vi (1971),
45-6.

498. y gelwit hi Olwen: with the fanciful explanation o f Olwen’s

name, as deriving from ôl ‘track’ and the fern, o fg w y n ‘white’, cf.
the fanciful explanation given for the name o f Culhwch vrth y gaffel
yn retkyrhwch (1.1 1 above), and o f Goreu - Goreu dyn yw (1.810), and
that o f Pryderi (PKM 26). There are many exx. in Irish o f such
fanciful etymologies, and the text o f Cóir Anmann ‘True
Explanation o f Names’ (ed. Stokes, Irische Texte (Leipzig, 1897),
285-444) gives a series o f such interpretations o f the names of Irish
legendary and historical figures. To the redactor (or author) of the
tale, Olwcn’s name meant ‘White Track’, yet this is not necessarily
its original meaning. In EIHM 304 T. F. O ’Rahilly compared Olwen
with the girl’s name Eurolvyn ‘Golden Wheel’ in I.364 above, and
118 NOTES

compares this name with Ar(y)anrs>{ ‘Silver Wheel’ (PKM 269-70;

T Y P 277-8). O ’Rahilly rejects O lwen in favour o f O lw yn ‘wheel’
(with the older spelling o f e for y) as the original form o f this name,
and adds abstruse mythological speculations. However that may
be, there is no doubt as to the meaning o f Olwen’s name for the
writer o f the tale: the ‘four white trefoils’ which grew miraculously
in her footsteps are a folklore motif (ST ‘A ’ 262.1 and ‘F’ 971.6)
associated in some sources with the Virgin Mary and with saints -
according to TWS 230 this same miracle was associated in
Glamorgan with St Dwynwen. The secondary meaning o f gw yn /
given ‘holy* may have given a semi-religious connotation to
Olwen’s name, even if its primitive meaning lay elsewhere.
The name o f O lwen was unknown to the poets before the 15th.
cent. exx. GD E p. 33,13; LG C 372,69, etc.
500. y gwelas: the y here consists o f the affirmative verbal prt. y +
the infixed pron. obj. y which has coalesced with it ‘he saw her’.
501. ti a gereis: a clear ex. o f the Mixed Order, with the emphasis
on the initial element: ‘It is you whom I have loved’ . Originally this
element was preceded by a form o f the copula; see GMW 140-1.
gwnelych: subj. pres. sing. 2; an ex. o f the pres. subj. denoting
command or wish ‘Will you come with me?’ Cf. GMW 113.
503. elwyf: subj. pres. sing. 1. Here the pres. subj. denotes future
meaning; cf. GMW 113 . Also g w e lw y f I.518 below. This use is
common in early poetry, but is more rare in prose.
510. y hystauell: ‘to her chamber’, consisting o f the prep, y and the
poss. pron. y, followed by h-\ cf. GMW 23.
ystauell: according to the Laws o f Hywel Dda the ystauell
‘chamber’ was normally occupied by women. The king had his own
ystafell, which contained his bed. It was the duty o f the gwas ystafell
or ‘chamberlain’ to look after the king’s bed, and to carry messages
between the hall and the chamber. No doubt he came to know many
secrets, as is implied in PKM 3 ,11; also see n. idem, 138.
5 1 1, porthawr: the reading departs from that of G. Evans in WM,
who reads keithawr. Thomas Jones deciphered the reading of W as
porthawr (not keithawr), corresponding to R ’s porthawr (see B xii,
85).
 NOTES lip

513. neuad: in contrast to the ystauell, the neuad was a scene o f great
activity, and a focal point o f the court, where the war-band would
be gathered around the chief, and there would be carousing and
drinking. Arthur’s neuad was called Ehangwen , I.264 above, see n.
513-14. Henpych gwell . .. o Duw ac o dyn: the same form o f
greeting ‘from God and from man’ is employed by Prydydd y Moch
to Llywelyn ab Iorwerth, H 282,26.
516. Mae: this can be employed in MW (and by some later classical
poets, such as Goronwy Owen) at the beginning o f a sentence with
the meaning ‘Where is/are . . . ? Cf. GMW 143; also 547, 561, 987
below.
517. Drycheuwch y fyrch: The forks needed to lift Ysbaddaden’s
eye-lids have a striking and unique parallel in the OI tale ‘The Battle
o f Moytura’, where the giant Balor has a similar characteristic; see
AIT 44; E. Gray (ed. and trans) Cath Maige Tuired 60-1; CO (1)
xciii-xciv. The giant’s injunction is repeated in I.547 below.
518. defnyt uyn daw: ‘the substance (that is, the future shape) of
my son-in-law’. On this use o f defitydd ‘material, substance’ see
GPC 914 D. A. Binchy, Celtica iii (1956), 225, and n. on deifiiyawc ,
T Y P no. 4. Cf. also I.549 below.
522. tri llechwayw gwenhwynic: ‘three poisoned stone spears’.
Cf. the llechwayw gwenwynic cast by the addanc in the tale o f Peredur,
WM 156,30. The ref. to hayarn in I.527 suggests that the spear-point
alone was o f stone (flint?). Lluchwayw ‘flashing/lightning spear’, is
an alternative favoured by Jackson (A Celtic Miscellany 316) and this
word is in fact attested in GIG xx, 112 (see n.). There are no other
exx. o f either word; unless there has been mutual influence between
the two texts in WM, the occurrence o f the word in Peredur is
evidence against the possibility o f the substitution o f lluchwayw as
the correct word here.
524-5. yn gythrymhet: cf. I.351 above.
529. Gwest a orugant vy y nos honno: ‘they spent the night’; cf.
gwest n. on I.2 above.

532. egweti: also agwedi, a legal term meaning ‘dowry’. It was the
bride’s property, handed over by her father to the bridegroom on
her marriage. It could be recovered by her, if before the end of seven
120 NOTES

years she was separated from her. husband. Cf. HDdL xxix, 310;
WLW 117 -18 .
amwabyr: (var. amwobr, amobr) the fee payable by the girl’s father
to his overlord on the occasion o f her marriage. See HDdL 3 11.
534. Hi a’y fiedeir gorhenuam a’e fed war gorhendat: ‘She and
her four great-grandmothers and her four great-grandfathers’. This
was the basic family unit o f four generations, which shared both
privileges and responsibilities, according to the primitive Celtic
social structure. The necessity to obtain their permission for
O lwen’s marriage was therefore raised by her father in order
(purposely) to present a legal obstacle to it. The same unit o f
relationship was known in Irish as the derbfine (‘certain kindred’),
and it had similar connotations; see DIL ‘D ’ 32; and cf. WLW 199.
The Welsh unit o f the gwely was broadly similar in meaning,
though etymologically unrelated.
538. mab Teirgveth: elsewhere mab Teirgwaed (see n. on I.199).
The name is here preserved in OW spelling.
560. yssyt: this is the only regular rel. form o f the vb. in Welsh,
consisting o f ys(s) ‘is’ + yt [id]. The meaning is ‘who/which is’; cf.
GMW 63.
562. mi a’e heirch: ‘it is I who seek her’; an ex. o f the Mixed Order,
with emphasis on the initial element, as in I.566 below ys mi a’e
heirch. Originally it was preceded by a form o f the copula; cf. GMW
140-1.
563. Dos yma: ‘Come here’ - whereas dos usually means ‘Go’; GMW
136.
567-8. a nottw yf arnat ti: ‘that which I shall name to thee’. This is
an ex. o f a rel. clause without an expressed antecedent; cf. nod a
nottych I.17 1 above, and 11.568-9 below, ‘Name what you will’;
GMW 72-3.
There follows the long list o f the anoethau or tasks stipulated by
Ysbaddaden, o f which barely a quarter are actually fulfilled; see
introduction pp. xlvii-viii, li.
570-1. y diwreidyaw o’r dayar: the text as printed here is based on
the reading o f the manuscript by Thomas Jones, and discussed by
him, B xii (1948), 85. It includes losci for WM’s loski. The reading of
 NOTES I2I

the MS was unclear to Gwenogvryn Evans, who reproduced this

passage differently. R ’s reading is again differently phrased, and is
slightly confused.
574-5. a merch: ‘and (my) daughter’ for a ’m merch. Occasionally
the form o f certain combinations, such as a ’m - here for a ’m m -
suggests that the copyist wrote what he heard, rather than what he
read; in other words, somebody was dictating to him. (See
introduction p. xiii.) Also II.710 -11, 752. Cf. 11.756-7 y merch i.

578. yssit ny chefFych: ‘there is that which thou wilt not get’ - a
neg. rel. clause without an expressed antecedent, as in I.584 below.
Cf. also II.567-8 above.
579. Amaethon mab Don: that is, ‘Great/Divine Ploughman’
(1amaeth < Gaul, ambactus ‘ploughman, husbandman’, GPC 80). In
this name it is possible that there may be a recollection o f the name
o f the pagan Celtic god o f agriculture. Dort is the equivalent o f Ir.
Donu, D anu , the mother o f the gods or Tuatha D é Danann , the
‘tribes o f the goddess Danu’ . In Wales the family o f Don are
associated with magic and enchantment, and play a large part in the
Mabinogi - in Math fab M athonwy , Gwydion (the supreme magician)
and Aranrhod are children o f Don. (See PKM 252-3, Mac Cana,
Celtic Mythology 75—6; and cf. EW GT 90.) Only two allusions, other
than the present one, survive to Amaethon mab D on : the poem Echrys
Ynys (BT 68,16, discussion BWP 172-80) and a prose fragment
from P 98B referring to a dispute between Amaethaon (sic) and
Gwydion sons o f Don, which brought about the battle of Goddau
(see C L1H 1-li; RWM i,6i3).
580-1. ny elly ditheu treis arnaw ef: ‘you cannot force him’ also
U.586-7, 591, 615, 629-30, 664-5, 748-9. But ny elly titheu y dreissaw
e f II.621-2, also II.625, 659-60.

584-5. Gouannon mab Don: ‘Great/Divine Smith’ (W.^o/ Ir.goba

‘smith’). The Gaulish Gobannonos was evidently a smith-god; see
previous note, and refs. Like his brother Amaethon , Gofannon is a
shadowy figure, obliquely alluded to in Math fab Mathonwy as the
slayer o f his nephew Dylan eil Ton , the son of Aranrhod, which is
described as trydyd anuat ergyt ‘one of the Three Ill-Fated Blows’
(PKM 78; the triad is not found in TYP). Gouannon is also named in
a poem belonging to the story of Taliesin (RP 1054,35-7): neu bum
122 NOTES

gan w yr keluydon/gan uath hen gap gouannon . . . blwydyn ykaer

gofannon (= B T 3,2: yg kaer ofanhon). Gofannon’s cognate figure in
Ir. is G oibniu , the skilled craftsman-god in Cath Maige Tuired (ed.
Gray, 125; AIT 42-3; cf. EIHM 314-17), and in Lebor Gabála Érenn ,
the ‘Book o f Invasions o f Ireland’ (ed. Macalister, ITS vol. 41
(Dublin, 1941) 164-5, etc.). In Ir. folklore he appears as Gobban Saer
‘G. the Craftsman’. The Gaul, personal name Gobannitio may be
compared, and also the British place-name Gobannio , now
(Aber)gavenny\ see D. E. Evans, Gaulish Personal Names (Oxford,
1967), 350-1, and G 545. For Llyn Gofannon in the commote of
Uwch Gwyrfai, Gwynedd, see B xxi, 147-9; Y B xiii, 33m

585. y wäret: ‘repair, renew, mend’, cf. 1.387 above. Here it means
to ‘set’ the plough; that is, to turn it at the head o f the ‘selion’ or
furrow.

586. y urenhin teithiawc: ‘for a lawful/rightful king’. Cf. mab

brenhin gvlat teithiawc I.91 above; C A 1095 mab brenhin teithiauc; ibid.
1072 mab teyrn teithiawc; L1D C 34,56 mabgoholheth teithiawc (see Ast.
H. 318); teithi ‘innate characteristics’; Ir. techte ‘fitting, rightful’.
589. deu ychen: ‘two oxen’; ychen could be explained as a survival
o f the old dual, but it could also be the ordinary pi., which in MW is
sometimes used with numerals; GMW 34,47.
Gw lw lyd Wineu: this is a var., if not a corruption, o f a very early
triad (TYP no.45): Tri P h ry f Ychen Enys Prydein: M elyn
Gw aianhw yn, a Gw ineu Ych G w ylw ylyd , a'r Ych Brych (see n. to
triad). Gw ineu (‘Chestnut’), the name o f the ox, has here been
converted into an epithet for G w lw lyd , the owner o f the other two
oxen named in the triad, as in 1.593 below. This anoeth is duplicated,
as is clear from the repetition o f yn deu gytbreinhawc ‘both yoked
together’ in I.594 below. If G w lw ly d is acompd. o f gw lf/gw lw
‘notch’ (cf. GPC 1684), and llw yd ‘grey’, then ‘Grey-Notched’ is an
epithet more suited to an ox than the name o f a man, and it should
perhaps be understood as such, both here and in the triad.
G w ylw y ly d ‘meek and gentle’ (GPC 1764) in the triad would then be
a corruption o f gw lw lw yd, the older form preserved in CO and also
in the P 47 text o f the triad (see v.l. to triad). Elsewhere Gwineu is
given as the name of Cei’s horse, T Y P no.42.
593. Y Melyn Gwanhwyn: ‘Yellow Spring’ (?), the first o f the
 NOTES 123

three oxen named also in triad no. 45. The oldest version o f the triad
in P 16 reads M elyn Gw aianhwyn (see also the v.l. to the triad), rather
than gw anhwyn/gwannw yn , the forms given in the two MSS of
Culhwch. Gwaeanwyn (OW guiannuin) is the older form o f gwanwyn
‘spring’, a form attested as tri-syllabic by the metre in GDG 14,31
(see n., and GPC 1575-6), indicating that ‘Yellow Spring’ is the
name here intended, rather than a colour compd. o f gwan ‘pale,
weak’ and gw yn, giving ‘Yellow Pale-White’ (as wrongly translated
both in T Y P and in Mab. 114m).
Y r Ych Brych: ‘the Speckled (brindled) O x’ - the third name also
given in the triad. The antiquity o f this name is proved by the entry
in Preiddeu A nnwn (BT 21,2) yr ych brych bras y penrwy ‘the brindled
ox, stout the collar* (see M. Haycock’s note, SC xviii/xix, 74).
593-4. yn deu gytbreinhawc: the same phrase is employed by
Gwynfardd Brycheiniog in his awdl to St David, when he describes
the saint’s oxen as deu ychen . . . deu gar a gertynt yn gydpreinyawc ‘two
kinsmen who strode yoked together’, H 198,23-4. St David’s oxen
have been conflated in folklore with the ychen bannawg (see
following note). It is tempting to see here an ironic allusion to the
traditional asceticism o f David’s monks: Bourn nulla ad arandum cura
introducitur, quisque sibi et fratribus diuitie, quisque et bos ‘There is no
bringing in o f oxen to have ploughing done, rather is everyone both
riches and ox unto himself and the brethren’ Rhigyfarch’s Life o f St
D avid , ed. James, ch.22.

596. deu ychen bannawc: bannawc means ‘high, conspicuous’, but

in ref. to oxen it means ‘horned’.
597. Mynyd Bannawc: ‘horned’ or ‘peaked’ mountain, an ancient
Welsh name for a mountain in Scotland, one of the nearly-forgotten
place-names in the ‘Old North’. It survives today only in the name
o f the ‘Bannock’ Burn. According to K. Jackson lBannog is a range
o f uplands . . . which almost entirely blocks the narrow neck-land
o f Scotland between Stirling and Dumbarton . . . the Bannock
Burn . . . flows out into the Forth near Stirling . . . Strategically (it
is) one o f the most significant mountain barriers in Scotland,
forming the southern boundary o f Pictland in the west’ (OSPG 5-6,
78-9; cf. W. J. Watson, Celtic Place-Names o f Scotland (Edinburgh,
1926), 195-6). References in early poetry always refer to tra
Bannawc ‘beyond B .’, apparently in every instance denoting the
124 NOTES

land o f the Piets (Prydyn): un mabqn e gian o dra bannawc CA 255;

Yssydd Lanfawr tra Bannawg C L 1H v,7a: clywed ygym a yd tra bannawc
H 3,8 (Meilyr Brydydd). More significant in the present context,
however, are the allusions in the Vita Cadoci (VSB 82,100) which
preserve the same opposition between ultra/citra montem Bannauc as
is found here in y parth hwnt and y parth hwnn (1V M ynydd Bannawg ),
since these are strikingly suggestive o f a textual relation between
CO and the Vita Cadoci (see further n. to K aw 0 Brydein I.647
below). In folklore the dau ychen bannog are associated with the
building o f Llanddewibrefi (see TWS 66-7). The story o f these
famous oxen appears to be recalled in the place-name C w ys yr Ychen
Bannog ‘the furrow o f the Y. B .’ - a mountain dyke which divides
the parishes o f Caron-uwch-Clawdd and Caron-is-Clawdd, north­
east o f Tregaron in Dyfed. Certain o f the Cywyddwyr recall the
story o f the ychen bannawg : see GDG 130 ,15-16 , and especially GLM
xci,5-8, xlii,75-6, G TA 338,43.

598. Ys hwy yr rei hynny: ‘They are those/Those are the ones’. An
early form o f the nominal sentence, consisting o f copula -I- pred. +
subject. Later the pi. form hwy, which anticipates N ynnyaw a
Pheibyaw was replaced in all cases by the sing, ef, ys e f becoming sef.
Cf. s e f in the glossary, and GMW 52-3. Note the form y ro f the art.,
where y would be normal; cf. GMW 24.

599. Nynhyaw a Pheibyaw: these are the only instances o f

incontrovertibly historical figures among the anoethau (although
the Court-List offers a number o f others). N ynhyaw and Peibyaw
were two sons o f E rb , traditionally a king o f Erging or Archenfield
in the 6th. cent. Wendy Davies conjectures that Erb ruled from c.
525—55 (The Llandaff Charters 75; A n Early Welsh Microcosm 66). On
Erging see HW 280. The genealogy o f the two brothers is given in J
20 (EWGT 45 (9) and (10). Peibyaw < Pab (Lat. papa -I- iaw (io), acc.
M. Richards, B xix, 113 . In the genealogy Peibyaw is named Pibiawn
glawrawc , that is, claforog, clafyr(i)og ‘drivelling” , or alternatively
‘scorbutic, leprous’ (GPC 488). (Cf. Hettwn Clauyryawc 11.708-9
below.) In the life o f St Dubricius (LL 78) the saint’s grandfather is
described as Quidam rex fuit ercychi (sic) regionis, Pepiau nomine
clauorauc uocatus britannice Latine uero spusosus. His name is Latinized
as Proprius in Rhigyfarch’s Life o f St David (ed. James, ch. 13, from
Digby MS) = Pepiau VSB 154 (Vespasian MS). WLSD 39 gives the
 NOTES I 25
name as Pebiawc : in all these versions St David is said to have cured
the king o f his ‘blindness’. Cf. TWS 99-100.
a rithwys Duw yn ychen am eu pechawd: cf. the similar
explanation given for the Twrch Trwyth’s transformation into a
boar in 11.1075—6 below: Brenhin uu, ac am y bechawt y rithwys D uw e f
yn hwch.

607-8. hyt pan vo ef a uo pennlliein guynn am penn vym

merch: ‘so that it may be a white veil for my daughter’s head’. Here
we have an ex. o f the mixed construction in a subordinate clause,
where the emphasized part (ef ‘it’) is brought forward to the
beginning o f the sentence or clause, preceded by a form o f the
copula (vo) corresponding in tense and mood to that of the main vb.
(uo). The latter is rel., preceded by the rei. pron. a. SeeGMW 140-1.

vym merch: similarly I.757, but cf. a merch 11.574-5 and n.

6 11, bragodi: ‘to make bragget’. MW bragawt was a drink made of
honey and ale fermented together; later it was made from sugar and
spice and ale. Cf. Meilir Brydydd in his elegy to Gruffydd ap Cynan
(d. 1137): kyn myned mab kynan ydan dywawd/keffid yny gyntet uet a
bragawd (H 2,1-2) ‘Before the son o f Kynan went under the earth,
there were obtained in his hall mead and bragget’.
613. Llwyr mab Llwyron: ‘Complete son o f Complete’ llwyr, pi.
llwyr(i)on; cf. L lw y r D ydwc (I.338): both fabricated names. L lw y r ’s
kib is the first in a series o f vessels o f plenty, some o f which have
specific parallels in the ‘Thirteen Treasures of the Island o f Britain’
(see introduction pp. xlix-1); others, such as this, are absent from
the list, but bear a general resemblance to items in it.
pennllat: from penn ‘chief’ and Hat ‘ale, beer’; fig. ‘gift, virtue’
(GPG 2076). Cf. llawen gw yr odywch Hat ‘Happy are men over beer’
(CL1H vi,26b). Pennllat here means ‘the choicest drink’.
618. Mwys Gwydneu Garanhir: mwys ‘basket, hamper’ < Lat.
mensa\ cf. C L1H 129. One o f the Vessels of Plenty listed among the
‘Thirteen Treasures’ is M w ys Gwyddno Garanir: bwyd i un gw r a roid
ynddo, a bwyd i ganwr a gaid ynddo pan agorwyd (TYP 240: L1C v, 55;
EC X , 463). Gwydneu Garanhir ‘G. Long Shank’ was a legendary (and
possibly historical) character of the ‘Old North’ who became a
figure in Welsh traditional stories, in particular in the legendary
126 NOTES

Taliesin story, and in that o f the submersion o f ‘Cantrefy Gwaelod’

in Cardigan Bay, commemorated in the poem ‘Boddi Maes
Gwyddneu’ (L1D C no. 39), and in a dialogue poem with Gwyn ap
Nudd (seen, on 11.7 1 3 - 1 4 below). See furtherB. F. Roberts, Ast.H.
3 11- 18 ; T Y P 397-400; and cf. n. on Teithi Hen 11.245-50 above.

pob tri nawyr: ‘every three nine men’. For nawyr ‘nine men’ cf.
trywyr I.235 above. On the construction cf. T C 145-6 on pob +
numeral; here ‘three nines at a time’ . Cf. bob un bob deu I.941 below.

624. G wlgawt Gododin: the name corresponds to that of Gw lyget

Gododin , C A 369-70, the steward o f Mynyddawg Mwynfawr:
ancwyn mynydawc enwawc e gwnaeth ‘he made the feast o f
Mynyddawg famous’. The ref. shows that the redactor o f Culhwch
must have known not only the name, but also the function of
Mynyddawg’s steward. The form here is nearer to the original than
that o f the scribe o f CA: as Ifor Williams has pointed out (n. CA
p. 166), it would have been easy for a scribe to miscopy an original
G w lgot (later written as Gwlgaut) as G w lget . For other names in the
tale which are paralleled in the Gododdin see n. on K ilyd y 1.1 above,
and introduction p. xxxvii n.22.
627. Telyn Teirtu: this item is not included in the list o f the
‘Thirteen Treasures o f the Island o f Britain’, though it seems quite
probable that it may have originally belonged to the list, as is
indicated by P. C. Bartrum, EC x, 460. The only other known
allusion to it is by Dafydd ab Edmwnd, who claims that telyn
Deirtud (sic) is silenced because o f the death o f Sion Eos (meaning
that poetry is silenced) O xford Book o f Welsh Verse ed. T. Parry,
140,18. Since Castell Teirtut is named in LL 134,8 Teirtud (‘three
peoples’) is most probably the correct form o f the name.
628. Pan uo da gan dyn: for the requirement that an early Ir. harper
should be able to play golltraige, gentraige, suantraige ‘a sorrow-
strain, a joy-strain, and a sleep-strain’ see K. Meyer (ed.) The Triads
o f Ireland (Dublin, 1906), no. 122, and D 1L ‘S’ col. 402.

632. Adar Rianhon: on the Birds o f Rhiannon (three in number)

who enchanted the followers o f Bendigeidfran with their singing
during their stay at Harlech, see PKM 45, 3; Mab. 38-9; and for a
similar description o f magic birds see O wein (ed. R. L. Thomson,
Dublin, 1968) II.180-2, 268-9; Mab. 160-1, 163. Irish parallels are
 NOTES 127

cited by Anne Ross, ‘Sacred and Magic Birds’, PCB ch. vi. This task
has been omitted from the text o f the Red Book, and neither text
refers to its completion.
635. Peir Diwrnach Wydel: ‘The Cauldron o f D. the Irishman’ .
This item unmistakably corresponds to another of the ‘Thirteen
Treasures’: Pair Dyrnwch G aw r (var. Dyrnog, Tyrnog, Dyrn(f)wch
etc.), pe rhoid iddogig i wr llw fyr i ferw i, ni Jerw ai fyth ; 0 rhoid iddo gig i
w rdew r, berwi a wnai yn ebrwydd (TYP 240, L1C v, 60, EC x, 467-8).
The similarity between the names of the giants Diwrnach and
Wmach was noted by Idris Foster, CO (i) lxii, who advocated an Ir.
derivation for Diwrnach , comparing Ir. Diugurnach, Digornaig , etc.
(‘Irish Influence’ 32). P. Sims-Williams (B xxix, 603-4) shows that
this can hardly be assumed. Cf. the Gaul, name Durnäcos, recorded
by Holder, A lt celtische Sprachschatz (Leipzig, 1898-1913), i, 1382,
and by J. Whatmough, Dialects o f Ancient G aul (Michigan, 1983),
item 78. Sims-Williams prefers some variant o f Dyrnawc/Dyrnog as
the original form o f this name. Both D yrnawg G a w r and Diwrnach
Wydel possessed a magic peir or cauldron, and there is good reason to
identify the two. The epithet G w ydel here is certainly the equivalent
o f Gaw r. Cf. Dyrnbhwch G aw r yghwlad Euas (Ewyas) listed by Siôn
Dafydd Rhys among the Welsh Giants in Cy 27, 144. It is also
relevant to compare peir pen annwjh . .. ni beirw bwyt llw fyr in
Preiddeu A nnwn (BT 55,2-3), and M. Haycock’s note, SC xviii/xix
(1983-4), 69. Cf. introduction pp. lviii-lix. For the completion o f
this task see 11.1036-56 below.
635-6. Odgar mab Aed brenhin Iwerdon: P. Sims-Williams has
shown (B xxix, 605-6) that this name corresponds to Fr. Og(i)er <
Audagari. Cf. Odyarfranc in GER (WM 385,26). Odgar (later Odyar)
may be a fairly early French borrowing into Welsh, not least
because ffranc is attested as early as the 9th. cent, in the Juvencus
englynion , B vi, 102; BWP 90-2). Sims-Williams comments that ‘the
most likely explanation is the author o f the story was unable to
distinguish one foreign name from another, and used Irish and
Frankish names interchangeably’ . Yet there may have been a native
hero o f a similar name, since Prydydd y Moch describes Llywelyn
ab Iorwerth as rwysc odyar (H 271,24) and as gymrawd gotyar (H
297,7), and Gruffudd ap Maredudd refers to lluryc Otar (R 1206,32).
The Ir. name A ed occurs too frequently to allow it to be associated
with any particular king. It was early adopted into Welsh as Aed(d)\
128 NOTES

see EW GT 168; B xxix, 60411.7, andTYP 263-4 for A ed and its dim.
Aedan. Cf. Gwittard mab A ed brenhin Iwerdon I.295 above.

639. Yskithyrwyn Penn Beid: ‘White Tusk Chief o f Boars’. In

11.1018-20 this boar’s head is cloven in two by Kaw ofPrydein, who
abstracts the ysgithr (tusk) from his head. For the ysgithr see further
n. on I.1090 y grib a ’r ellyn a ’r gwelleu below.
643. a’e tynho o’e penn: ‘who may draw it (that is, the ysgithr)
from his head’. Here it is stipulated that Odgar mab Aed is to
perform this act, but in the event (11.1018-20) it is Kaw ofPrydein
who accomplishes it. It looks as though the name o f Odgar (in
1036-9 a hostile king o f Ireland) has been substituted for that of
Kaw o f Prydein because the redactor o f the tale could not refrain
from making his pun on the name o f C aw /C adw in 11.646-7.
o’e penn: one would expect lenition o f penn here, as also in o’e
teyrnas I.648 below.

647. y Kaw o Prydein: (y kadw 0 Prydein W; y gado R). This name

should certainly be restored here as K aw (pace the readings o f both
W and R), and this is corroborated by the fact that it is Kaw of
Prydein/Prydyn, not Odgar mab Aed, who obtains the tusk of
Ysgithrwyn (I.1020). He is K aw 0 Prydein in all subsequent
appearances in the tale (although wc must depend on the text o f R
alone for these). The occurrence o f the names H ueil, Gildas , and
other identifiable names in the list o f the sons o f Kaw in 11.206-13
above (see notes) confirms the identity o f their father with K aw 0
Prydein. Cado occurs in the genealogies as a variant o f Cadwy
(EWGT 174-5), and cf. also Berth mab Kado 1. 224 above. But K adw /
Kado here is an instance o f word-play on the name o f Kaw, who is
required to ‘keep’ (0 gadw) the tusk o f Ysgithrwyn Ben Beid. (A
similar collocation o f Kaw/cadw is found in 11.1228-9 below, and cf.
n. on I.700 for a similar jocular play on words.) C aw 0 Prydein/
Prydyn is a legendary figure known from the Lives o f Cadoc and of
Gildas and from ByS as the father o f the saint. According to one
version o f T Y P nos. 81, 96, his family was one of the Tair
Gwelygordd Saint (‘Families o f Saints’) o f Britain. The two Lives of
Gildas (ed. Hugh Williams, Gildas 322-413) agree that the saint’s
father Caunus (Cawus) ruled somewhere in Scotland: this was at
Arecluta ‘the Rock o f the Clyde’ (Dumbarton) according to the 9th.
cent. Breton Vita\ or (less precisely) in Scotia according to the 12th.
 NOTES I29
cent. Vita by Caradog o f Llancarfan. The Vita Cadoci (VSB 82—4)
tells how on a visit to Scotland the saint and his followers exhumed
the bones o f an enormous giant, whom St Cadog miraculously
resuscitated, and by doing so won for the giant a temporary respite
from hell. The giant names himself as Cau Pritdin seu Caur, and tells
how he had ruled formerly ultra montem Bannauc (see n. on I.597),
that is, in Prydyn or Pictland. There, no doubt, were to be found the
trugein cantref Prydein over which he ruled. Prydein ‘Britain’ and
Prydyn ‘Pictland’ (Ir. Cruithne) were constantly confused in
medieval texts, as was pointed out by Ifor Williams, AP 21-2. (On
the confusion of the two see further K. Jackson, Scottish Historical
R eview 33 (1954), 16-18.) In the Vita Cadoci Caw is portrayed as an
oppressive ruler who has much to answer for, whereas in Culhwch
he is a leading hero who accomplishes two o f the anoethau single-
handed: winning Ysgithrwyn’s tusk, collecting the blood o f the
Gwiddon Orddu for the Giant’s shaving, and finally shaving
Ysbaddaden with the tusk. In accordance with the frequent
transference to Wales o f the traditions o f northern heroes, Caw is
described as 0 D wrkelyn (a commote in Anglesey) in Bonedd y rA rw y r
(EWGT 85(3)). One version o f this genealogy (LI 187) adds further
that Caw was arglwydd Cwm C ow lw yd: C aw oedd yn trigo yn edeirnon
yn amser Arthur (sec variants listed in B xviii, 242). Sec further T Y P
301-3; TWS 135-7; OSPG 79-
652-3. Y Widon Ordu merch y Widon Orwen: ‘the Very Black
Witch daughter o f the Very White Witch’ . With the latter cf. the
Breton woman’s name O rven , Orguen, Chr. Br. 223. Witches are
familiar and sinister figures in the popular literature o f all countries:
together with the Nine Witches o f Gloucester who gave instruction
to Peredur in the use o f arms, cf. the nine witches, all sisters, who
attacked St Samson during his journey from Wales to Brittany (CO
(1) lxxiii-v; and refs, cited TWS 117). Like the ‘Very Black Witch’
these too had a mother who was a witch. But the episode of the
witches has its closest parallel in the poem Pa G u r (L1DC no. 31; sec
introduction pp. xxxv-vi, 11.21,44) which refers to Arthur’s contest
with a witch, and also to Cci’s having slain nine witches.
653. Pennant Gouut yg gwrthtir Uffern: ‘The Valley o f Grief in
the Uplands o f Hell’. Gouut = gofid ‘grief, distress’; for gwrthtir
Uffern see also 11.189, 1207-8. Uffern the ‘Otherworld’ is evidently
synonymous in the tale with A n n w (f)n , cf. the dievyl Annwuyn I.714
130 NOTES

below), as it is also in Preiddeu Annum cf. (I.20) rac drws porth vffem
llugym lloscit (see M. Haycock’s note in her edition o f the poem, SC
xviii/xix (1983-4), 71). In the present instance the ‘Otherworld’
appears to be located in north Britain: Arthur travelsparth a'r Gogled
(I.1208) to reach the witches’ cave. Yet the place-names Foel
Wyddon, Padell Nant Wyddon etc. in the area o f Pumlumon appear to
indicate a secondary localization o f the story in Ceredigion (cf.
CO (i) lxxv n. and n. on Dillus Varchawc I.700 below).

655-6. y keffir: the y here is a conflation o f the pre-verbal prt. y +

the infixed pron. obj. 3 sing. y. Cf. GMW 23.

657. Guidolwyn Gorr: ‘G. the D w arf’. Cf. Eurolvyn merch

Wdolwyn Gorr 1.364 (R), and Grudlw yn Gorr 1.333 (seen.). A similar
(and perhaps identical) name in T Y P no.28 is Gwythelin Gorr : this
suggests that an original G w yddelyn ‘little Irishman’ may lie behind
this name, especially in view o f Dafydd ap Gwilym ’s version o f the
triad (GDG 84,40) which has Eiddilig Gor, Wyddel call (see notes,
T Y P pp.55 and 403). But olwyn ‘wheel’ is the second element in this
name, as in those o f the father and daughter in I.364; cf. also
Goroluyn T Y P no. 66.

a gatwant: ‘which keep’. Here we have an affirmative rel. clause, in

which the rel. is subject. In such a clause the vb. is usually sing, but
sometimes, as here, it is pi.; cf. GMW 61, and further SC vi (1971),
42-56.

662. aruaeth: ‘manner, w ay’. R ’s reading here is undoubtedly

correct, as was pointed out by T. Jones, B xiii, 77.

663. Rinnon Rin Baruawc: ‘R. Stiff Beard’ (rhyn ‘stiff’). B a r(y )f
and baruawc ‘beard, bearded’ are prominent epithets in Culhwch (see
introduction p. xxxii, n. 18).

667. crib a guelleu: ‘the comb and scissors’. In 1. 1090 a razor (ellyn)
is added to them, to take the place o f Ysgithrwyn’s ysgithr or tusk,
which was undoubtedly originally intended as the implement with
which the Giant was to be shaved. C f 1.164 above, and n.

668. rac y rynhet: ‘because o f its stiffness’; cf. GMW 43.

669. deu yskyuarn: ‘the two ears’. Cf. ysgyfamog ‘hare’ (Cornish
scovam). On the prosthetic y see GMW 11- 12 .
 NOTES UI
669-70. Twrch Trwyth mab Tared Wledic: ‘The Boar Trwyth’.
Refs, in poetry from the Gwarchan Cynfelyn onwards (see
introduction p. lxv) provide secure evidence that trwyd was the
original form of this name, and trwyd is cognate with Ir. triath
‘king/boar’ (see DIL ‘T ’ 307-8). The Tore Triath or Twrch Trwyth
was thus a mythical giant boar known from the earliest sources in
both Irish and Welsh. To account for the form trwyth in both W and
R it must be supposed that an earlier copyist o f the story misread t =
d in his prototype for t = th - an easy enough mistake to make when
the name trwyd no longer held meaning for him. (For a similar error
see n. to Gwrbothu ( = Gwrfoddw) H en , I.252 above.) The earliest
refs, in Welsh poetry suggest that the tradition o f the giant boar was
at one time known independently o f both Culhwch and HB,
whether or not it existed independently o f the story o f Arthur. The
unique citation here o f Tared Wledic as the name o f the Twrch’s
father indicates that the boar was regarded as a king transformed,
and this supposition is borne out by 11.1075-6 below Brenhin uu, ac
am y bechawt y rithwys D uw e f yn hwch. Though unparalleled
elsewhere in Welsh sources, it has been pointed out that the names
o f both the Twrch Trwyth and his father have been transmitted in
slightly var. forms in two 12th.-cent. French romances; see Idris
Foster in ALM A 39, and R. Roberts, ‘Tors fils Ares, Tortain’,
BBIAS xiv (1962), 91-8, and cf. AOW p. 280.
673. Drutwyn keneu Greit mab Eri: Drutwyn ‘Fierce/Brave
White’. There is some confusion over the purpose for which
Drudwyn the ‘whelp’ or pup o f Greit mab Eri was required, since in
I.701 below Drudwyn has become deugeneu , probably by confusion
with deu geneu gast Rhym hi , said to have been captured in 11.930-40
below (see nn. on 11.315, 930-1). Later Drudwyn participates in
both o f the great boar-hunts (11.1014, 1106). On Greit mab Eri see on
I.176 above.
676-81. Cors Cant Ewin, Canhastyr Canllaw, Kilyd
Canhastyr: all three have been previously named as members of
Arthur’s Court (11.190-1). Their inclusion here seems redundant,
and appears to be an inept borrowing from the Court-List,
especially since in 1.984 it is stated that the cynllyuan or leash to hold
Drudwyn must be made from the beard o f Dillus Farfog. But this is
duplicated by the statement in 11.1005-6 that Arthur obtained the
leash o f Cors Cant Ewin.
132 NOTES

681, y daly: note the form with the consonantal -y, deriving from
an original g. In ModW the form o f the vn. is dala/dal; cf. GMW io.
The stem is dal(h)y , as in dalhyo 11.675, 678, 701, 707.

685. Mabon mab Modron: < Maponos son o f Mátrona ‘the Youth
God son o f the Mother Goddess’. Evidence for the cult o f the god
Maponos comes mainly from North Britain, where dedications to
him were made by high Roman officials garrisoning the Wall: on
four o f these Maponos is equated with Apollo. His name survives in
that o f the village o f Lochmaben in Dumfriesshire, and in that o f the
‘Clochmabenstane’ near Gretna on the Solway estuary. One or
other o f these places may well be the locus Maponi listed in the
Ravenna Cosmography. Anne Ross shows that this area o f southern
Scotland was the centre o f the cult o f Mabon/Maponos, PCB 368-70.
See further P. Mac Cana, Celtic Mythology 32-3; T Y P 433-5, and
introduction p. lx above. Traces o f the cult o f Maponos have also
been found in Gaul, and his mother Modron < Mátrona is the
tutelary goddess o f the River Marne. Mabon am Mydron (sic) is
named in Pa G u r (p. xxxv, I.7 above), and in the additional Beddau
stanzas in P 98B, where his grave is located in Nantllc, Gwynedd
(see T. Jones, PBA liii (1967), 136 (16).

689. Guyn M ygtwn, march Gwedw: ‘White Dark Mane’ (<

mwng ‘mane’ + dwn ‘dark, dun’). A var. o f this name occurs among
some additions to Trioedd y Meirch in P 47 (TYP no. 46A, see T Y P
xxx) which lists M yngrwn (‘round/curved mane’) march G w edw as
one o f the tri rodedicvarch or ‘three bestowed horses’. It is stated
briefly below that Arthur obtained Mygdwn (1.1006), and that
Mabon rode Mygdwn into the Severn in pursuit o f the Twrch
Trwyth (I.1177). With M ygdwn’s name cf. the list o f horses by
their colour made by the poet Gwalchmai: lliaws du a dwn a mygdwn
melyn , H 28,17.

kyfret: kyf- + ret, ModW rhed, meaning ‘as swift as, o f equal pace
with’. As regards the formation, cf. kyfoet, kyfryw , kyniuer , etc. See
GMW 38, and I.728 below.

690. hela: ‘to hunt’, also 1. 735. We also find hely in I.731 (< *selg ), a
consonantal stem as in daly above. There were two separate
developments in these forms: y was vocalized as a , or it was dropped
to produce forms such as dal, hel, etc. Cf. GMW 10.
 NOTES I 33
694. Eidoel. . . mab Aer: (A er ‘slaughter, battle’). Eidoel mab N eris
named in the Court-List, I.263 above. Presumably the two are
identical, and either patronymic could have arisen as a miscopying of
the other. The medial -d- in Eidoel is ambiguous, since it may stand for
either -d- or -dd-. J. Lloyd-Jones interpreted the first name as Eiddoel
(G 455), and suggested it is the same name as is found in L1D C 3,15 gur
oet eitoel gorvy reol. (But it is possible that eito(e)l here is a common
noun ‘praise’; see Jarman L1D C 87, and refs, cited.) In CO (1) xlvii-ix
Idris Foster discussed Geoffrey o f Monmouth’s forms Eldad and
E ldol, Eidol which are translated in the Brut respectively as Eidal esgob
Caerloyw (BD 123) and Eidol yarll Caer G loev (BD 99); see
introduction pp. lxi-ii. Foster concluded that the same name,
transmitted either orally or in writing, underlies all the var. forms in
H RB and BD, as well as Eidoel in Culhw ch , who was said to be
imprisoned in the fortress o f G liu i , that is, in Gloucester (see nn. to
II.831, 923 below), and released from there, in the episode recounted
in II.825-38 below. R ’s variant form o f this name is Eidyol in I.263,
and this form may be compared with an allusion by Casnodyn to eil
eidyol y lit (RP 1246, 33), which adds to the evidence that the name
derives from an older tradition. To these forms may be added that of
Eltat (Eldad), son o f Eldoc , in the direct line o f descent from G loyw ,
the eponym o f Gloucester, in the genealogy o f Gwrtheyrn as given in
the Historia Brittonum (EWGT 7-8; HB ed. Dumville, 102; ed. F. Lot,
189). Cf. also Prydydd y Moch, H267,11, Eidol.
697. Garselit Wydel, penkynyd Iwerdon: a character previously
named in the Court-List, I.295 above (see n.). Though there is no
story o f the achievement o f this task, it is evident that it was
accomplished, since Garselit Wydel is slain by the Twrch Trwyth in
1. 1 1 1 7. His name is one o f the names borrowed from Culhwch in
Englynion y C lyw eit (B iii, 14 (59)). The penkynyd or Chief
Huntsman was one o f the twenty-four officers of the king’s court,
LIB 2,16 etc., see HDdL 10,14.
700. Dillus Varchawc: (dissull varchawc in W and R) ‘D the
Horseman’. Elsewhere Dillus Uar(r)uawg ‘D. the Bearded’ in the
story o f the completion o f this task, 11.953-84 (where the text o f R is
alone available), but Dillus uab Eurei in Arthur’s satirical englyn
(I.979). This latter patronymic is attested by Cynddelw’s allusion in
his marwnad to Owain Gwynedd (d.1170): Grym dillut dullus uab
eurei, H 95,4. A similar variation between farchawc/farfawc is found
134 NOTES

in the name Llawjrodedd Farchog/Farfog in the different texts of the

‘Thirteen Treasures o f the Island o f Britain’ as listed by E.
Rowlands, L1C v (1958), 58. In spite o f the concurrence o f the two
M SS in giving this epithet, it seems likely that in this instance
varchawc is a jocular word-play upon an original epithet varuawc ‘the
Bearded’, since it is with the victim’s beard that this task is
concerned. (This is comparable with the jocular word-play upon
the name o f Caw/cadw in I.647 (see n.).) The idea o f a giant’s
strength as embodied in his hair is a widespread folk-tale motif (ST
‘D ’ 1831, and ‘F’ 531.1.6 .13). Evidently the story o f Dillus was
localized in the Pumlumon area by the time that Culhwch took shape
(see CO (1), lviii, n.137). Variants from other parts o f Wales are
cited in the introduction pp. lvii-viii.

701. y deu geneu hynny: presumably the ‘two pups o f the bitch
Rymhi’ (11.315, 930-1) are here meant. They have been omitted
from the list o f the anoethau, though they should clearly have been
included in it: see n. on 11.930-1 below. There is additional con­
fusion, since according to I.964 the leash from the beard o f Dillus
was needed to hold Drutwyn keneu Greit mab Eri (I.673).

702. ac e f yn vyw: ‘and he being alive, while he is alive’; cf.

Arthur’s words a mi yn uyw (1.1170), and GMW 231.
703. o’e vywyt: ‘o f his life, in his life, while he lives’. Cf. ac e f yn
vyw I.702 above.

708-9. Kynedyr Wyllt mab Hettwn Clauyryawc: ‘K. the Wild,

son o f H. the Leprous’ . (On clafyr(i)og see n. to N ynhyaw a Pheibyaw
I.599 above.) Kynedyr Wyllt receives a different patronymic in I.344;
see n. There may be a further confusion with C yledyr Wyllt mab
Nwython\ see n. to I.994 below.

7 13 -14 . Guynn mab Nud: a mythical figure, associated in origin

with Uindos son o f Nodons. Both Nudd and Nodons are the Brittonic
equivalents o f the Irish deity Nuadu ; see T Y P 428; C M T 130-1.
G w yn n mab Nudd was identified by Rhŷs (HL 179) with the Ir. Fionn
mac Cum haill , though it is difficult to determine how far the
identification can be maintained on the basis o f existing sources (see
G. Murphy, The Ossianic Lore and Romantic Tales o f Medieval Ireland
8; ibid. Duanaire Finn iii,lxxxi-ii, and note by Idris Foster, ibid.
198-204). That Culhwch may perpetuate an original concept of
 NOTES 135
Gwyn ap Nudd as a divine huntsman gains some support from the
continuity o f his portrayal in folklore as a mythical huntsman, and
as the leader o f the cwn A nnwn or ‘hell-hounds’ . Dafydd ap Gwilym
makes a number o f allusions to Gwyn ap Nudd, and these always
portray Gwyn in a sinister light: the Mist is a deception caused by
Gwyn (GDG 68), the Owl is the bird o f Gwyn (GDG 26), and the
bog-hole is Gw yn’s fish-pond (GDG 127), etc. See E. I. Rowlands,
L1C V (1959), 122-35, and for a comprehensive discussion o f all the
allusions to Gwyn ap Nudd in medieval Welsh prose and poetry, see
B. F. Roberts, L1C xiii (1980-1), 283-9; ibid. Ast. H. 3 11-18 , for an
edition and discussion o f the dialogue poem between Gwyn ap
Nudd and Gwyddno Garanhir (L1D C no. 34). The fulfilment o f the
task o f capturing Gwyn ap Nudd in compliance with the Giant’s
demand is implied though not narrated in Culhw ch : it seems to have
been superseded by the episode in which Arthur arbitrates between
Gwyn and Gwythyr ap Greidawl (11. 988-1003).

714. ar: the form is a combination o f the rel. prt. a and the pre­
verbal perfective prt. ry- (preserved in R). Cf. GMW 62-3.

dieuyl Annwuyn: A nnw (j)n is a name for the Celtic Otherworld.

In PKM 99-101 Ifor Williams explained the name as composed
from dwfii ‘world’ and a prefix an- meaning ‘in’. Hence Annwfii was
frequently regarded as ‘in’ or ‘under’ the earth, the ‘In-world’ or
‘Otherworld’. Under Christian influence Annwfii came to be
regarded as synonymous with hell, as is evident in the present
instance: conversely Uffern ‘hell’ is used in the tale in a context where
it plainly designates the pagan Otherworld (see n. to I.653 above.)
Gw yn’s partaking o f the ‘nature o f the devils o f Annwfn’ indicates a
recognition on the part o f the redactor o f the tale that Gwyn ap
Nudd belonged to a sinister and forbidden mythology. In Buchedd
Collen , the ‘Life o f St Collen’, Gwyn is described as Brenin A nnw n ,
and is defeated by the superior powers o f the saint. In one text he is
entitled brenin A nnwn a'r tylwyth teg, which suggests that dieuyl
Annwuyn here is synonymous with the tylwyth teg or fairy people.
(For Buchedd Collen see T. H. Parry-Williams (ed.) Rhyddiaith
Gymraeg I (Gwasg Prifysgol Cymru, 1954), 36-41, and refs, in TWS
224-5.)

718. Du march Moro Oeruedawc: Cf. B T 48 ,10 -11 Du moroed

enwawc/march brvyn bro(n) bradawc, and T Y P no.44: Tri Meirch a
136 NOTES

dugant y Tri Marchlwyth: Du M om (R: Du y Moroed) march Elidir

M w yn vavr . . . D u ‘Black’ is the name o f the horse in each o f these
three instances: in Culhwch D u ‘Black’ belongs to an otherwise
unknown Moro Oeruedawc (? = aeruedawc ‘leading in battle’; see
G 12; T Y P no. 25 and n.), but in the triad Moro /Moroed is a part o f the
horse’s name, and his owner Elidir M wynfawr is a character famous
in other contexts (TYP 344). In the line quoted from B T the
meaning o f moroed is uncertain: it may be an exclamation ‘D m, how
famous (he was), the horse o f B ’. This celebrated horse was known
to the poets: see G G 1 xxii, 41-6; GTA 392,75-6; 400,59-60. (An
additional note in TYP(2) 536-7 cites Lat. morellus, F. morelle as a
name for a black or dark chestnut horse, and cites morellus de cornubia
as a description given to King Edward I’s horse.) Neither Du nor his
owner play any further part in the tale.
720. Guilenhin brenhin Ffreinc: ‘William king of France’ . This
name is generally believed to denote William the Conqueror, who
lived from 1027-87, and ruled from 1066 over England and
Normandy together. (Note, however, that France is distinguished
from Normandy in 11.1058-9 below.) Gwilenhen (sic) brenhin Freinc
has already been included in the Court-List (I.294 above); later in
the tale he is slain by the Twrch Trwyth (1.1130). The Conqueror’s
visit to St David’s in 1081 is considered to be an important date in
relation to the composition o f C ulhw ch ; see introduction p. lxxxii,
ALM A 38-9, WLSD xxx. G w ilim uab rwyfffreinc appears in both of
the two lists o f names derived from Culhwch in BR 19,15 (= RM
159,23) and G ER (WM 41 1 , 31 = RM 265,13) - though it is possible
that these latter allusions could be to the Conqueror’s son William
Rufus (1087-1100).
725. mab Alun Dyuet: though previously included in the Court-
List (1.185) this character receives no name throughout Culhwch ,
though in the lists in BR and GER he is named D yuyr mab Alun
D yuet (WM 411, 39 = RM 265,17; BR 19,25 = RM 159,30-160,1).
The Beddau stanzas name Run mab A lun D iw ed (L1DC 18,74), also
Bet alun dywet . . . mab M eigen , (ibid. 75-7) = PBA LIII, 122; 24,25.

ellygyw r da: ‘a good unleashed, from ellwng ‘to loose, unleash’.

There are various forms o f this vb.: gellwng, gillwng, gollwng,
dillwng , and ellwng , as here.

728. Anet ac Aethlem: with Aethlem cf. Aethlon, Chr. Br. 105.
 NOTES I 37
Evidently these two swift hounds were obtained, though they are
not referred to again until at the end o f the tale when they disappear
into the sea in pursuit o f the Twrch Trwyth.

732. kyuoethawc: an adj. formed from kyuoeth ‘territory,

dominion, power, wealth’.
733. dan uy 11aw i y mae ef: ‘he is under my hand’. These
significant words are found only in the text o f W. Cf. the
corresponding Ir. phrase teit f i laimh ‘submit to’ (DIL ‘L ’
39-40,F171), and 2 12 -13 above (of Hueil mab Kaw) nyd asswynwys
eiroet yn Haw arglwyd. Clearly some form o f subjection to an
overlord is implied in both cases, though this need not be a feudal
act o f homage (see P. Ford, B xxvi, 152). Yet they fail to clarify the
relationship between Ysbaddaden and Arthur: more particularly
since in 11.374-5 Arthur declares that he has never even heard of
Olwen or her father.
736-43. A repetition o f 11.333-40 above, see n. In I.736 Syuwlch
appears in the place o f Seuwlch in 1.333, and Kilyd Kyuwlch in
place o f Kledyf Kyuwlch in 1.334; in I.741 eu teir gureichon ‘their
three witches’ replace eu teir vyryon (with teir for tri) ‘their three
grandsons’ in I.739. No more is heard in the tale o f this interesting
family. On the use here o f the pi. with numerals see GMW 47, and
cf. n. on trywyr I.235 above.
745. pei dygwydei y nef ar y dayar: ‘though the sky should fall on
the earth’. Dygwydei consists o f dy- + cwydei, imperf. sing. 3 of
cwydaw ‘to fall’. Dygwydaw later came to mean ‘befall, happen’. In
ModW the form of the vn. is digwydd, and the meaning is invariably
‘to happen’. Other prefixes are employed with cwydaw, in forms
such as gogwydaw, tramgwydaw. The fear that the sky should fall was
the ultimate disaster feared alike by the Gauls and the early Irish. Cf.
Cynddelw’s words in his marwnad to Rhirid Flaidd, Gwr am gwnaeth
hiraeth hir ysgar ac ef/yny del llu nef ar llu daear (RP 1429,29-30, also
L1DC 17,215 Kyn duguitei awir y lavra llyr en Ui). Cf. C. O ’Rahilly,
Táin Bó Cuailnge (Recension I, 4043-4, trans. 234); K. Jackson, The
Oldest Irish Tradition: A Window on the Iron Age, 13, 31. P. L. Henry
points out the existence o f Ir. and Gaul, parallels to these words of
Ysbaddaden, SC iii (1968), 35m
747. Wrnach Gawr: ‘W. the Giant’. The syntax in I.765 below
i 38 NOTES

establishes beyond any doubt that- Wrnach is the radical form of the
name, not *Gwrnach as was previously supposed by J. Rhŷs and
T. F. O ’Rahilly (CF 565; Ériu xvi (1952), 12); see n. by Thomas
Jones, L1C i (1950), 129. In the list o f the civitates o f Britain in HB
(ed. F. Lot, 2 11) there is an unidentified city named C air Urnarc (var:
Urnahc, urnach, urnath, etc.); see B v (1931), 19--21 for Ifor Williams’s
study o f the names o f the civitates, comparing the forms given in
Mommsen’s edition o f HB with those in RM p.309. The names o f
Wrnach G a w r and Diwrnach W ydel/Gawr should be compared (see n.
to I.635 above): Sir Idris Foster in ALM A (38n.) considered the -ach
termination in Wrnach as indicative o f lr. influence, following
O ’Rahilly’s view. But this need not necessarily be the case, as was
shown subsequently by P. Sims-Williams, B xxix, 615-16. He
proposes that the Welsh termination -ach ‘is suggestive o f various
shades o f uncouthness, brute vigour, and primitive heroism’. More
significant in the present instance is a comparison o f Wrnach with
the form Awarnach in the poem Pa G u r (above p. xxxv I.21), where
Arthur is said to have fought with a witch in neuat awarnach. It is not
difficult to believe that Awarnach here conceals the name o f Wrnach,
as has been proposed by B. F. Roberts in a note to his edn. o f the
poem, Ast. H. 305. The completion o f this task follows
immediately: the last o f the anoethau is thus the first to be
accomplished.

747. N y ledir: these words are slightly ambiguous: we would

expect N y ledir e f or N ys lledir , if the ref. were to the Twrch Trwyth,
as might be expected. But it is Wrnach himself who in the event is
slain by his own sword, and the purpose o f hunting the Twrch
Trwyth was not, in any case, to slay him, but to obtain the treasures
from between his ears.

752. a merch: cf. on 11.574-5 above.

763-4. Meredic a w yr ywchi: ‘Fools o f men that you are’. Cf.
I.433 above.
768. kerd: ‘craft, occupation’; OI cerd ‘craft’; also 11.774, 775, 781,
785, 798, 803.
771. pyr: consists o f p y ‘what?’ and the prep, yr ‘for’, and means
‘Why, for what?’. It exemplifies an old constr. in which the prep, is
placed after the interr. pron.; GMW 77. But there is here a further
 NOTES 139
semantic development, in that pyr seems to mean ‘that’ rather than
‘why?’ Cf. the development in the meaning o f pan, which is first
interrogative, and then a conjunction meaning ‘that’; cf. GMW
79-80.
772-3. ym m w y t . . . ym u al. . . yn neuad: the practice regarding
the separation or coalescing o f the prep, seems to vary. This may be
indicative o f a copy made by dictation rather than by the copyist’s
direct vision; cf. nn. on 11.574-5, and 89, 90, 608.
783. Oed reit y mi wrth hwnnw: ‘I had need o f him’ (that is, ‘need
would be to me o f him’) - an archaic constr. with the copula in the
form oed coming first; cf. 11.490-1, 496 above, 795 below, and
GMW 139-40.
783-4. Ys gwers yd w y f yn keissaw a olchei vyg cledyf: ‘For a
while I have been seeking (one) who would polish my sword’. In ys
gwers ys ‘is’ is used with nouns o f time to denote a period o f time ‘it
is a while, for a while’; cf. Fr. U y a. In yd w yf the present is used with
perfect meaning ‘I have been seeking’.
a olchei vyg cledyf: The rel. clause occurs without an expressed
antecedent; cf. GMW 72.
787-8. Kadeir a dodet y danaw: ‘a chair was placed beneath him’,
another alternative form o f the Abnormal Order: object + a/yr +
vb.; cf. GMW 180.
792. ae guynseit ae grwmseit: ‘white-bladed or dark-bladed’. On
seit ‘blade’ see n. by D. Jenkins, B xxxv (1988), 55—61.
793. malpei teu uei: ‘as if it were thine’.
y lleill: more usually y neill ‘the one’; cf. GMW 86.
795. oed well: cf. n. on I.783 above.
y ’m gwlat: ‘in my country’; cf. GMW 199.
795-6. bei oll yt uei val hynn: ‘were it completely like this’; on oil
see GMW 98-9.
796. Dyhed a beth: ‘a shameful thing’; GMW 37, also 11.132-3
above.
797. kydymdeith: ModW cydymaith ‘companion, fellow’. On the
loss of d cf. (y) ymdeith > ymeith ‘away’; GMW 156, 222-3.
140 NOTES

799. ar arwydon: ‘by means o f signs/tokens’.

800. ysscf a dygyrch y guaet y ar y guynt: ‘it is that which will
draw’, that is, ‘it will draw’. Here we have the constr. of the Mixed
Sentence, with the copula in the form ys coming first; cf. GMW
1 40-1. Later yssef was reduced to sefi GMW 52-3.
806. Custenhin heussawr: previously named as Custenhin
Am hynw yedic , 1.43 5 above, and cf. n. to Goreu mab Custenhin I.811
below.
809. amkeudant: note the agreement between a pi. vb. and a
following subject in the pi.
807-8. mal nat oed vw y no dim ganthunt: this phrase is absent
from R. The variant readings o f the two texts and the difficult syntax
o f the passage in 11.804-12 is the subject o f a discussion by J.
MacQueen entitled ‘Goreu mab Custennin’, EC viii (1958), 154-63.
8 11. Goreu mab Custenhin: Goreu ‘Best’. As in the case o f
Kulhwch (1.10) and O lwen (1.497-8) a fanciful onomastic explanation
is once more given for a personal name whose composition was
either misunderstood by the redactor, or he was making a deliberate
pun upon it, as is the case with Kaw/cadw in I.647 above. But Gurou,
Guorou is an attested personal name in LL 172,10; 221,10; 232,20.
Alternatively, the name could have originated here from a wrong
division o f Custennin Gorneu ‘C. of Cornwall’, which is attested in
ByS and elsewhere in genealogies (for refs, see EW GT 179). Here
OW Corneu = MW C ern yw , the ref. being to Custennin
Amhynwyedic/heusawr (see n. to I.435) the father o f the boy. It may
be significant that the same epithet ‘o f Cornwall’ in OW spelling
occurs in BG G no. 13 Tutuwlch Corneu tyuysavc 0 kernyw (TYP 239,
EW GT 73) - who is said to have married an unnamed daughter of
Am lawt Wledic. Goreu’s name is reproduced in both BR 19,16 (=
RM 159,23-4) and G ER (W M 411, 34), as well as in T Y P no. 52. On
the triad, and on Goreu’s role in the story see introduction p. xxx-i,
lx-lxi above.
812. heb wybot y ’r Cawr: ‘without the Giant’s knowing’. An ex.
o f an early constr. where the subject o f a vn. follows the vn.
governed by the prep. / ‘to’; GMW 162, cf. I.26 above yn hyly yr
brenhin , where yr appears to be the form o f the article, though it
could alternatively be explained as consisting o f y ‘to’ + r.
 NOTES I4I
813. daran: pret. sing. 3 o f daruot ‘to happen’. It is used as an
auxiliary vb. with a vn. as grammatical subject, to convey a passive
meaning ‘the sword’s burnishing was completed’; cf. GMW 163.
814. a ranghei y uod idaw y weith: ‘whether his workmanship
pleased him’. The idiom rengi bod (stem ranc) means ‘to please,
satisfy’; cf. GMW 154-5. Also I.815 a ranc bod yw g e n h y f' and I am
pleased with it’.
817. a chaffw yf inheu gwneuthur: ‘and may I be allowed to
make/let me make’. The pres. subj. in a principal clause may denote
wish or desire, as it does here; cael ‘to get, obtain’ with vn. as object
is used with the meaning ‘to be allowed to’. In ModW a g a ffi ddattgos
y ffordd i chi ‘may I be allowed to show you the way?’

821-2. dwyn a vynnassant o tlysseu: ‘(they) took as many jewels

as they wished'. On the constr. here cf. GMW 68, and 11.107—8
above.
822. yg kyuenw yr un dyd ymphen y vlwydyn: ‘on that same
day at the end o f a year’. K yuenw consists o f kyu+ettw ‘name’ and
means ‘cognomen, epithet’; here the anniversary o f that day, cf.
GPC 691.
828. Mabon uab Modron: see n. on I.685 above.
828-9. Eidoel uab Aer: see n. on I.694 above.
831. 832. Gliui. The correct form o f this name is certainly G liu i
< G le ri. genit, o f Lat. Glevum < Brit. Gleuon. OW Gloiu (LHEB
325-6), and G liu i is the eponym o f Gloucester. C air Gloiu is listed
among the cities o f Britain in the Historia Brittonum (HB ed.
Dumville. 62; B v. 19). From this point in the tale the text o f RM is
alone available, and Gwenogvryn Evans read the form in the MS as
G lini. But the letters n and u are continually liable to confusion in
the texts o f both W and R (cf. nn. to Conul Bemach 11.179-80, and to
L law u rodetl.22 3 above), and as the name stands in R col. 833 it can be
as easily interpreted either as the one or as the other, as can be seen
from the plate in RM facing p.128 o f the Oxford edn. Idris Foster
re-examined the Red Book, and concluded that the form is Gliui.
(see V Traddodiad Rhyddiaith yti yr Oesoedd Catiol (ed. G.
Bowen). 75. The form G lini. since this form had become conven­
tional. owing to its adoption by Jones and Jones in Mab. Lady
142 NOTES

Charlotte Guest’s translation reads.G liv i (Everyman edn. 122-3),

evidently on the basis o f the transcript o f the Red Book made for her
by Tegid (= J. Jones, 1792-1852). The three 1 8th.-cent, transcripts
from the Red Book made by Moses Williams (see introduction
p. ix, n.2) both have G lin i, but it is clear that the persistence o f this
misreading has taken no account o f the word’s etymology, which
was first demonstrated by Idris Foster. Var. forms o f the Lat. name
for Gloucester are Clevum (for Glevum) in the Antonine Itinerary,
and Glebon Colonia in the Ravenna Cosmography (LHEB 325; see n.
on I.923 below). OW G loiu rapidly became personalized, as can be
seen from the descent given in HB to Fernmail, king o f Buellt and
Gwerthrynion r.8oo: G loiu da . . . Ipse autem Gloiu da aedificavit
urbem magnam super ripam flum inis Sabrinae quae vocatur Brittanico
sermone C air G loiu, saxonice autem Gleucester (EWGT 8; HB ed.
Dum ville, 102; cf. B xi, 44). In H RB iv, 15 Geoffrey o f Monmouth
tells that the emperor Claudius built Gloucester, and he derives the
city’s name from G loius , son o f the emperor Claudius: in BD 55,58
the emperor’s name is changed to G loev and it is said that from him
the city is called Caer G lo ev , adding that according to some it is
named after the emperor’s son G loev G vlat Lydan. Cf. EW GT 46, 15
(from J 20) G loew Gw alltir, y gw r hwnnw a wnaeth ar ymyl Hafiren tref
ac oe enw e fy gelw ir yn Caer Loew\ and PKM 27 G lo yw Walltlydan uab
Cassnar Wledic 0 dyledogyon yr ynys hon. For amplification see CO(i)
xlvi-xlviii and notes.

841. Gwrhyr Gwalstawt Ieithoed: see n. on I.346 above. The

story o f the search for the Oldest Animals here begins, see
introduction pp. lxii-iii.

845-6. gobeith yw gennyf y neges yd eloch ymdanei y chafFel:

‘I am hopeful regarding the mission on which you go that it can be
accomplished.’ On this use o f the prep, gan see GMW 190.

847. Mwyalch Gilgwri: ‘the Blackbird of C .’ C ilgw ri < cil

‘corner, retreat’ + personal name G w ri. C ilgw ri in the form K ill-
gury is first attested as a name for the Wirral peninsula in Camden’s
Britannia (1587). This is confirmed later by Lewis Morris in his
Celtic Remains (London, 1878), 90. But there is another C ilgw ri in
the parish o f Llangar near Corwen, as pointed out by M. Richards,
‘Arthurian Onomastics’ 256 and n. In B xxi (1966), 30-7 D.
Machreth Ellis listed five refs, to C ilgw ri by medieval poets: the
 NOTES 143

earliest o f these is by Seisyll Bryffwrch in his marwnad to Owain

Gwynedd (d. 1170), MA(2) 236a, 49 (= NLW 4973B 21 v, 22). Both
writers conclude that, in default o f further evidence, the Wirral
C ilgw ri is the most likely to be the one referred to in Culhwch,
though this is incapable o f final proof. The late triad T Y P no.92
gives the Blackbird a different habitat, describing it as Mwyalcheti
G elli Gadam.

849. yn dcir nossic: cf. 11.686, 873-4, 885, 904.

859. Redynure: ‘Femhill’ or ‘Brackenhill’ is a name which might
be found at a number o f different places in Wales. J. Rhỳs identified
it with the name o f a farm, shortened to ‘Dynvra’ in the parish o f
Aberdaron at the extremity o f the Llŷn peninsula (HL 5$5n.). A sa
possible alternative M. Richards suggests (loc. cit.) that it might be
the original name o f Farndon in Cheshire (OE fearn-dun): this would
bring it into the probable neighbourhood o f C ilgw ri (see n.847
above).
867-8. yr hynny hyt hediw yd w y f i yma: ‘from then until today
I have been here’. Note how the present w y f has acquired perfect
meaning; cf. GMW 109, and n. on 11.783-4 above, also I.889.
871. Cuan Cwm Kawlwyt: Cuan ‘O w l’ (Old Breton couanrt). This
is the only instance o f cuan attested before the 1 8th. cent. (GPC 626):
the common word for owl is tylluan, and Tylluan Cwm C aw lw yd is
found in all the folk-tale versions of the ‘Oldest Animals’ (see T.
Jones, NLW Journal vii (1951), 62-6; TH SC (1970), 22-4; D. Ifans,
B xxiv (1972), 461-4; T Y P 220-1). Llyn C ow lyd is the name o f a
small lake between Capel Curig and Llanrwst, Gwynedd. J. Lloyd-
Jones suggested that this may be the place which is here intended by
the name Cwm K aw lw yt , and he draws attention to ad stagnum
C aw lw yd in a charter o f Llywelyn ab Iorwerth to the abbey of
Aberconwy (Enwau Lleoedd Sir Gaernarfon (Gwasg Prifysgol
Cymru 1928), 93). This seems the most probable identification,
though M. Richards (loc. cit.) cites two other instances of the name
in Radnorshire and Carms.
874. as: a syllabic form of the infixed pron. obj. sing. 3; cf. GMW
56.
882. Gwern Abwy: Gwern ‘alder tree’ sometimes means ‘swamp’.
Unlike the other place-names with which the Oldest Animals are
144 NOTES

associated, Guernabui is attested as ,a personal name in LL 75,27;

guemapui 166,4 (see Ifor Williams’s note on G w e(r)nabw y , CA
1 50-1, and the variants cited LH EB 451). Rhys identified the name
with that o f a farm Bodernabwy (< Bod Wernabwy) near Aberdaron
(HL 555n.), and his conjecture was confirmed by J. Lloyd-Jones,
Enwau Lleoedd , 36, 61.

886. yr ys pell o amser: ‘a long time past’. On the use o f ys ‘is’

before a noun denoting time see GMW 142-3. Later yr was
combined with ys: yr ys > ers in ModW, but ys in the form ’5 still
occurs in the spoken language - 'slower dydd’ ‘since many a day, in
times past’. Note the use here o f pell to denote time rather than
distance; cf. OW amgucant pel amtanndi ‘they contended long for it’
in the Surexit Memorandum, C M C S 7 (1984), 99.
888. weithon: ‘now’; adverbial use ofgw eith ‘time’; y weith hon ‘this
time, now’; cf. GMW 227.
890. un treigyl: ‘one time, once’; treigyl means ‘turn, time’. Note
the epenthetic vowel y (GMW 12); treigylgweith (PKM 1,2) is used
similarly.
891. Llynn Llyw: no doubt the place is the same as Llyn Lliw an in
I.1179 below (see n.); a pool situated somewhere on the Severn
estuary (see map). L liw ‘colour, hue, tint’, as adj. ‘bright, shining’ ;
cf. OI li ‘brightness’, as in PKM 39,10 L li ac Archart. L liw is a
recurring element in place-names; exx. include Lliw en, Y Iliwedd ,
etc. see E A N C 12 1.
893. wers vawr: ‘for a long time’; gwers ‘a while’ is here used
adverbially, which explains the lenition; cf. GMW 15, 227.
895. carant: ‘kinsmen’; pi. o f car. Later we have the analogical
formation kereint, GMW 29.
895-6. mynet yg gwrys wrthaw: ‘to launch an attack upon it’;
gw rys ‘attack, onslaught’.

896. kennadau a yrrwys ynteu: ‘he sent emissaries’: the Abnormal

Order, cf. 11.786-7 above.
904. y gymeint: kymeint ‘as much’ is here used with the def. art.,
and is clearly regarded as fern., hence the lenition. Cf. T C 80, GMW
94- 5-
 NOTES H5

905. gan bob llanw: ‘with every flood-tide’. The Severn is tidal; cf.
n. on 1.1 179 below.
906-7. yno y keueis i ny cheueis eirmoet o drwc y gymeint: ‘I
never obtained (before) in my life as much harm as I obtained there’;
on eirmoet see n. on 1.127 above.

908. ysef yd: cf. n. on I.7 above on s ef y, where sef is employed

adverbially. Here we have the full form of the combination o f
copula + pron. consisting o f ys + e f ‘it’, later reduced to sef, which
is commonly employed in both MW and ModW.

9 10 -11. am y uagwyr a’r karcharawr: ‘on the other side of the

wall from the prisoner’. On am . . . a(c) . . . cf. GMW 182.

klywynt: imperf. pi. 3 o f klywet ‘to hear’. The imperf. o f klywet

and gwelet ‘to see’ can also denote possibility; cf. GMW 110. Hence
‘they could hear’ .

914/ Mabon uab Modron. See n. on I.685 above.

914-16. ny charcharwyt neb kyn dostet . .. a mi. T Y P no. 52

gives a var. form o f this triad Tri Goruchel G ar charavr ynys Pry dein. It
is found only in the WR series o f Triads (not in the Early Version),
and therefore the authority for it is neither less nor more than that
for the triad given here: there can be no certainty as to which is
anterior to the other (see introduction pp. lx-lxi above). Mabon uab
Modron is the only name which is common to the two versions of
the triad.

916. Llud Llaw Ereint: ‘LI. Silver Hand’ is named in 1.367 above as
the father o f Creidylat , but is otherwise a name unknown outside
this tale. Rhys argued (HL 125, CF 447-8) that Llud(d) is derived by
metathesis from Nud(d) (the father o f G w yn ap Nudd), originally the
Romano-British deity Nodons , (to whom the Roman temple at
Lydney Park on the Severn was dedicated), and also the Ir. deity
Nuadu , a protagonist in the tale o f Cath Maige Tuired , where he bears
the epithet Argat Lam h , which corresponds to L law Ereint , and an
elaborate myth is told to account for his ‘Silver Hand’ (see CM T
1 30—i ; AIT 32; PCB 201; T Y P 428).

Greit mab Eri: see n. on 11.176-7 above. Later in the talc (1.992)
he is a prisoner o f Gwyn ap Nudd.
146 NOTES

917. ar gaflfel dy ellwng: ‘that you may be freed’. Note the use ofa r
with the vn. to denote purpose or intention; cf. GMW 188.
aryant: ‘silver’ < * arganto-. The -nt- belongs to the original form,
cf. Cornish arghans; Breton arc’hant. Later it was reduced to -«(«), as
happened generally in final unaccented syllables; cf. ugeint >
ModW ugain; also 3rd. pi. o f verbs and prepositions.
918. presennawl: ‘worldly’; an adj. form o f pres(s)en(t) ‘world’
(I.715) found in early poetry, especially religious verse; ex. L1DC
7,22; 20,6.
y gymeint: ‘as much’; cf. I.904 above.
920. ymchoelut: ‘to turn, return’. Note the use o f a vn. instead o f a
finite vb., with a following subject governed by the prep. 0. This
vb. assumes a variety o f forms: ymchwelut , ymhwelut, ymhoelut\ cf.
GMW i i .
923. Kaer Loyw. See n. on 11.831-2 above, where G liu i is shown to
be derived from G le v i , genit, o f Lat. Gleuum. He became in Welsh
the eponym o f (Cair) Gloiu, MW Caer L o y w , OE Gleucester.
According to LH EB 325-6 ‘the etymology in relation to W. gloyw
and Ir. glé is obscure’. On the Roman city Gleuum colonia established
in a d 96-8 on the site o f the former legionary fortress at Gloucester
see P. Salway, Roman Britain (Oxford, 1984), 97, 153, 471, etc.; S.
Frere, Britannia (London, 1987), 189, 229-30.
925. tra yttoed vilwyr Arthur: ‘while Arthur’s soldiers were’.
Note the lcnition o f the subject after the imperf. sing 3: this is
common in MW, cf. I.953 below, and GMW 17-18.
927. atref y doeth Arthur: ‘A. came home’: another type of
abnormal word-order, with adv. + y + vb.; GMW 180.
930-1. deu geneu Gast Rymhi: on the ‘two pups o f the bitch
Rymhi’ (named Gw ydrut and Gwydren Astrus) see n. on 11.3 15 -16
above. This task appears to have dropped from the list of the
anoethau as stipulated by the Giant; see introduction p. xlviii, n.42.

931. a wys: gw ys is an old pret. passive (< *wid-to ) ‘is known’; cf.
GMW 127.
932. Aber Deu Gledyf: the confluence o f the two rivers Cleddau,
near to Milford Haven (cleddyf cleddau ‘sword’) cf. Ifor Williams,
 NOTES 147

Enwau Lleoedd 57. Hence the commote named Daugleddau (-yj) in

the cantref o f Rhos. See n. to 1. 110 1 below.
933. Tringat: with this name cf. the name on the 5th.- or 6th-cent.
inscribed stone at Llanybydder, Carms., which reads
T R E N A C A T U S 1C IACIT FILIUS M A G LA G N 1, with
T R E N A C C A T L O in Ogham lettering on the reverse side; sec
ECMW 102 and no. 127; LHEB 645. Tren ‘strong’ equates with Ir.
trén, and there are several instances o f names ending with -cat (cad
‘battle’), ex. Gw yngat mab Caw 208; Dinogat CA 110 1. In 1.112 7
below the Twrch Trwyth kills G w yn mab Tringat mab Neuet. A late
version o f the ‘Thirteen Treasures’ includes cwlldr (the coulter of)
Tringer Jab Nuddnot (see T Y P cxxxii n.i.).

934. rith: ‘form’; Ir. rieht (*prptu ), cf. LP 27.

936. ysgrybul: also ysgrybyl H GVK 272; LIB 27,21; WLSD 5,19. A
collective term for a full stock o f animals, a borrowing from Lat.
scripulum, scrupulus (EL 13-14); OW scribi; cf. B v (1931), 234-5. See
further LIB 177, H GVK 96.
938. Prytwenn: Arthur’s ship Prydwen ‘Fair Form’ is named three
times in Preiddeu Annum in the recurrent refrain tri lloneit prytwen
‘three full loads o f P’; B T 54,23; 55,12; 55,17. See edn. by M.
Haycock, SC xviii/xix, 60, 68; and cf. n. on I.159 above. In LL
207,19-20 messurpritguenn is recorded as a place-name in the diocese
o f Llandaff (cf. Y B xii, 22-3). Due to a misunderstanding, Geoffrey
o f Monmouth borrowed Pridwen as the name of Arthur’s shield
(HRB ix, 4). On Arthur’s regalia see P. Ford, B xxx (1983), 268-73.
940. yn eu rith e hunein: ‘into their own form’. From this
statement it must be deduced that the bitch Rymhi and her pups
were transformed back into the form o f human beings.
941. bob un bob deu: ‘every one, every two’, that is, ‘one by one,
two by two’.
942. Gwythyr mab Greidawl: see n. on I.176 above,
clywci: ‘he could hear’. Cf. I.911 klywynt.
944. achub: a borrowing from Lat. occupo. The meaning varies; here
it means ‘to make for, rush’.
949-50. naw hestawr llinat: cf. 11.605-8 above.
148 NOTES

952. a’r morgrugyn cloflfa doeth:*on the international folk-tale o f

the ‘The Grateful Ants’ see introduction p. lxiii above, and IPT
79-81. In C y xlii, 132 W. J. Gruffydd noted that the very rare detail
o f the Lame Ant is paralleled in a version from Yugoslavia, for
which see Wratislaw, Sixty Folk-tales (London, 1889), 25-9. Cf.
C O (i) lv.
954. Carn Gwylathyr: the name has not survived, and Pumlumon
has many heights upon which this incident might have been
localized. Since Cei and Bedwyr saw the smoke ‘towards the south’,
the cairn on the top o f Drum Peithnant has been suggested as a
suitable site; see C O (i) lviii n.
957. Myn llaw vyng kyueillt: ‘By my friend’s hand’ - a frequent
expletive in MW. Kyueillt < *kom + altio ; cf. BWP 28-9; LHEB
663. Later it became cyfeill, cyfaill, with -lit > //. Also 1.134 above.
959-60. On Dillus Uarruawc and the variations in his epithet
between Var(r)vawc. Varchawc see n. on I.700 above.
960. llyna: ‘behold < syll yna ‘look there’; GMW 246. Also llyma
‘look here’ . Both are obsolete in ModW, where the forms are dyma,
dyna.
961. heb y Bedwyr: ‘said B ’. Cf. also 11.962, 967, 968, heb y K e i : the
y here is not the def. art., which in any event would not be used
correctly before the name o f a person. It belongs to the vb. heb
( *sequ), Ir. sech-. This vb. also has the forms hebyr (*sequ + re, which
is deponent) and heby\ the one being used before consonants, the
other before vowels: ModW ebr, ebe, eb. It is used in reported speech;
cf. also MW hebu ‘to speak’; ateb} gwrtheb ‘to answer’. Cf. further LP
394; WG 377; GMW 154.
962. A ’e hatwaenost di ef?: ‘Do you know him?’ (2 pers. sing.).
Here the infixed pron. e is used with the interr. prt. a; cf. GMW 55;
on the h- see ibid. 23.
964. Drutwyn keneu Greit uab Eri: on Drutwyn and his owner
Greit uab Eri see nn. on 11.176, 673 above. There is confusion here,
since in I.676 it is said that the leash o f Cors Cant Ewin is needed to
hold Drutwyn, and here it is the leash of the beard of Dillus that is
needed for this purpose: conversely, in I.700 above, the leash from
the beard o f Dillus is required to hold y deu geneu hynny (that is, the
pups o f the bitch Rymhi - recte Drutwyn).
 NOTES 149
967. wrth hynny: ‘concerning that’.
969. kyscu a wna: ‘he will fall asleep’ . On the use oigwneuthur as an
auxiliary vb. cf. 1.8 above enghi a oruc y urenhines.
977. y kanei Arthur yr eglyn hwnn: Arthur’s satirical verse
implies that if Cei had not caught Dillus at a disadvantage by a trick,
it is Dillus who would have been the winner. The verse is a three-
lined englyn m ilwr , with seven syllables to the line, end-rhyme and
alliteration (see Morris-Jones, Cerdd Dafod 319-20). Englynion are
also attributed to speakers in the tale o f Math fab Mathonwy (PKM
89-90), and Ifor Williams gave his opinion that their employment
for inset speech-passages in tales (as here) reflected the technique of
the oral story-teller (cf. C L 1H xxxvii-li). Englynion are
appropriated elsewhere to Arthur: in T Y P no. 18 he is said to have
composed an englyn in honour o f his three Cadfarchog or ‘Battle-
Horsemen’. Later, the treatise on Giants by Sion Dafydd Rhys (Cy
27, 140) quotes an englyn in which Arthur gave his reply to a giant
named C ribw r , whose sisters (witches) Arthur had slain. Since
Arthur is listed as one o f the Tri Oferfeirdd or ‘Frivolous Bards’ of
Britain (TYP no. 12), it is the less surprising to find that occasional
examples o f his awen have come down. In this case Cei took such
great offence at Arthur’s englyn that from this point he disappears
completely from the tale, and is heard o f no more.
979. Dillus uab Eurei: See n. on I.700 above.
986. Drutwyn keneu Greit uab Eri: See n. on I.673 above. The
ensuing incident, concerning the contest for Creiddylad seems to
have replaced two o f the stories o f the achievement o f anoethau: the
obtaining o f Drutwyn and the obtaining of Gwyn ap Nudd.
988. Kyn no hynny ychydic: ‘shortly before then’: kyn ‘before’ is
regularly followed in MW by no ‘than’ before a personal and
demonstrative pron.; cf. GMW 44; D. S. Evans, SC xiv/xv
(1979-80), 74-80.
Creidylat uerch Lud Law Ereint: the name of Creidylat was
previously given in the Court-List (I.367), where the contest for her
between Gwyn ap Nudd and Gwythyr uab Greidawl was
anticipated; Gwyn and Gwythyr have also been previously included
among the members o f Arthur’s Court (11.176, 181). The dialogue
in englynion in the Black Book between Gwyn ap Nudd and
150 NOTES

Gwyddno Garanhir also names CFeiddylad: hud im gelw ir guin mab

nud/gorterch creurdilad (sic) merch lut (L1DC 34,17-18; ed. B. F.
Roberts, Ast. H. 3 11-18 ). The terms o f Arthur’s arbitration
between the two contestants have been compared with Arthur’s
arbitration between March and Drystan in the Ystoria Trystan - that
the one shall have Esyllt as wife during the winter, and the other
during the summer; see CO (i) lix-lx, T Y P 332 and refs, cited. For
L lu d L la w Ereint see n. on 1.916 above, where he is included in the
triad o f Famous Prisoners. (Credeilat uerch lud is named also in the
derived list in Englynion y C lyw eit (B iii, 14 (60)).
990. G w yn uab Nud: see n. on 11.7 13 -14 above.
a’e dwyn y treis: on the idiom y treis ‘by force’ see B xiii, 3; GMW
201, and cf. T Y P 50 on ae y dw yll ae y dreis. Lenition would be
expected after y ‘of, from’ which derives from OW di < *de (Lat.
de).

992. goruot o Wyn: ‘Gwyn was the victor’. Another ex. o f a vn.
used instead o f a finite vb. in narrative: cf. mynet y wlat y gwedi (I.3
above). On goruot ‘to overcome’ see GMW 146-7.
dala: ‘to catch, hold’; again the vn. is used instead o f a finite vb. In
MW the more common form is daly < *dalg\ cf. GMW 10.
Greit mab Eri: see nn. on 11.176, 673 above.
Glinneu eil Taran: ‘G. son o f Thunder’. One o f the group o f some
ten names in the tale which correspond to names in the Mabinogi\ see
introduction p. xxxviii and n.23 and cf. Gliuieu E il Taran , PKM 44,
26. On eil see n. on 11.184-5 above.
993-4. The characters named in these lines all have associations with
the ‘Old North’. As K. Jackson indicated (YB xii (1982), 20-2) this
concentration o f northern names suggests that north Britain was
the ultimate place o f origin for the Creiddylad episode, and that this
incident was one o f the surviving fragments o f tradition emanating
from there - however imperfectly this was realized by the redactor
o f the tale. There are parallels in both Irish and Welsh to the
intervention o f mortal rulers as arbitrators in quarrels between
Otherworld rulers, ex. Pwyll’s intervention in the contest between
Arawn and Hafgan in the Mabinogi , and the similar interventions
made by Cu Chulainn and Laeghaire mac Crimthann in OI tales, as
 NOTES ISI

pointed out by Jackson, ‘Some Popular Motifs in Early Welsh

Tradition’, EC xi (1964-5), 84-7; cf. AIT 181.

993. Gwrgwst Lctlwm : ‘G. Half-Bare’. Gorust Letlwm is named in

BGG (EWGT 73 (i)) as a grandson o f Coel Hen, and hence as
belonging to one o f the two main branches o f the G w y r y Gogledd ;
cf. also the older but imperfect version o f the same genealogy from
Harl. MS 3859 (EWGT 10 -1, nos. 8 and 12). With this epithet
Jackson compares the deu Wydel uonllwm ‘two bare-bottomed
Irishmen’. PKM 44,18; both epithets being similarly suggestive of
some primitive kind o f kilt being worn by their possessors.

Dyfnarth y uab: this name does not appear in any Welsh

genealogy, but Jackson compares (loc.cit) the name Dunart brenhin y
Gogled in the Court-List, I.254 above, and suggests that both
represent the name o f Domangart, who was grandfather o f the
Scottish ruler Aedán mac Gabráin , the son of Fergus mac Erca, who
founded the kingdom o f Dal Riada in Scotland (on Aedan mac
Gabrain in Welsh tradition see T Y P 264-5, and cf. n. to M aylwys mab
Baedan I.178 above). If correct, this identification would o f course
preclude any historical connection with Gwrgwst Letlwm.
993-4. Penn uab Nethawc: some element appears here to be
lacking. Pert(n) is by itself an unlikely personal name. Nethawc could
be a corruption o f Neithon, the name which developed in Brittonic
as N wython , corresponding to Nechton, Nechtan in Irish and Pictish;
cf. OSPG 48m If so, it would be a doublet o f Nwython, which
follows immediately in the text. Pen(n) would in that case be a
possible corruption of Run, corresponding to Run mab Nwython,
I.257 above (see n.).
994. Nwython. See previous note. This name is familiar from the
allusion in the Gododdin to wyr N wyth(y)on ‘the grandson of N .’
(CA 967), in the lines which celebrate the victory o f the men of
Strathclyde over those o f Dal Riada in 642, and the slaying o f their
ruler Domnall Brecc. The royal genealogy o f Strathclyde is given in
Harl. MS 3859 (EWGT 10, no. 5): in it is named Eugein map Beli map
Neithon, and Ifor Williams argued that Eugein (= O wein ) is the
‘grandson o f Nwython’ referred to in the poem; see BWP 80-1;
OSPG 98.
Cyledyr Wyllt: ‘C. the Wild’. With the name cf. CVLIDORI on a
152 NOTES

5th.-cent, inscribed stone at Llangefni, CIIC 320; LH EB 597. The

epithet gw yllt invites comparison with that o f Myrddin Wyllt and of
Suibhne who bears the cognate Ir. epithet G eilt : both o f them being
from stories essentially belonging to north Britain, as Jackson
points out. But any such association borne by the epithet gw yllt is
lost sight o f here, and Cyledyr’s dementia is explained as due to the
gruesome compulsion imposed on him o f eating his father’s heart.
The incident here has an Ir. parallel in the story o f Labraid
Loingsech; see C O (i) lx; RC xx, 429 ff.; and Myles Dillon, The
Cycles o f the Kings (Oxford, 1946), 7-8. Cf. n. to Kynedyr Wyllt I.344
above.
995. kymhell: < Lat. compello. The meaning in MW is ‘to force,
compel’ . Later it came to mean ‘urge, persuade’.
996. yd aeth Kyledyr yg gwyllt: cf. yd aeth hitheu ygwylldawc 1.5
above.
997. dyuot hyt y Gogled: the meaning o f Y Gogled throughout
Culhwch is Y r Hen Ogledd ‘The Old North’, that is the lost Brittonic
kingdoms in Cumbria and in southern Scotland - Manaw
Gododdin, Rheged, and Strathclyde. Cf. I.106 above, and n.
1002. bob duw kalan Mei: ‘every May day’. On Celtic May Day
customs see A. and B. Rees, Celtic Heritage (London, 1961), 285-90.
1006. Mygdwn march Gwedw: G uyn M ygdwn march G w edw has
been previously listed among the anoethau, I.689 above (see n.).
Nothing is known o f this horse’s owner.
cynllyuan Cors Cant Ewin: another o f the anoethau; see on I.676
above.
1007- 8. Mabon uab Mellt: ‘M. son o f Lightning’: a name which
appears in the poem Pa G u r (L1D C 31,23), though it is otherwise
unknown. In both cases it is tempting to regard him as a doublet of
Mabon uab Modron , though O ’Rahilly inferred his origin from a
lightning-god *Meldos (EIHM 52 and n.). He takes part in the hunt
for Ysgithrwyn, 1.10 13 below. Ifor Williams compares the name of
the Gaulish tribe M eldi , B x (1939), 41.
1008. Gware Gwallt Euryn: see n. on I.315 above.
1008- 9. deu gi Glythmyr Ledewic: (G lythuyr 1014). Neither
 NOTES 153
these hounds nor their owner are specified among the anoethau, but
the ref. here implies that their owner’s name has dropped from the
list. Ledewic ‘Breton’; that is, he came from Llydaw (Brittany);
hence Arthur’s expedition thither to obtain the hounds. Later these
hounds are led by Gwarthcgyt mab Caw on the hunt for the Twrch
Trwyth, I.1107 below. Cf. Saranhon mab G lythw yr 216-17.
1010. Gwrgi Seueri: a character known only from this reference,
and not previously included among the anoethau. G w rgi (< g w r + ci)
‘Man Hound’ is not uncommon as a personal name; see refs, cited
T Y P 391; G U RC I is found on an inscr. from 7th-9th cents, at
Llangors, Brecon (ECMW no. 59). Seueri presumably derives from
the name o f the 3rd.-cent, emperor Severus, known from a number
o f allusions in HB (sec Dumville’s edn. 117), in one of which he is
associated with the building o f Hadrian’s Wall (Guaul). From this
source or from the Brut (BD 64), his name became included in Welsh
genealogies; for refs, see EW GT 213. The genit, form o f the name
found here suggests derivation from a written source, see P. Sims-
Williams, B xxix (1982), 606.
Odgar uab Aed: see n. on 11.63 5-6 above.
io n - 12 , yd aeth Arthur y ’r Gogled: evidently the redactor, or a
preceding scribe, had forgotten that Arthur had just returned from
the North, and from freeing the prisoners held there by Gwyn ap
Nudd. Cyledyr Wyllt (see n. on I.994) appears not to have been
included among those freed: hence the second journey to the North.
Alternatively there may well be confusion here with Kynedyr Wyllt,
listed in I.708 among the anoethau.
1013. Yskithyrwynn Penn Beid: see n. on I.639 above.
1014. D ru tw yn geneu G reit m ab E ri: see n. on I.673 above.
1015. Cauall ki Arthur: instances o fc a fa ll< Lat. caballus ‘horse’ are
found in the Hengerdd (CA 1203; C L1H vii, 22a; and cf. PT 38m on
caffon). This word in its original meaning ‘horse’ is found above in
11.337, 739, where C all, K u all , and Kauall are the three horses of
Cleddyf Kyuwlch. Since cam means both ‘hoof’ and ‘cairn’ it seems
more probable that Cabal/Cafall originally designated Arthur’s
horse (whether as a common noun or as a personal name) rather than
his hound. But the misunderstanding goes back at least as far as the
passage describing Arthur’s hunt for the Twrch Trwyd (Trwyth) in
154 NOTES

the Mirabilia attached to HB (see introduction p. lxvi and n.75). In

G ER the mistake - if it is one - o f representing Cauall as Arthur’s
hound rather than his horse is perpetuated in the ref. to annwylgi
Arthur, C avali oed y enw (WM 402,19-20). On the mountain-name
Com Cafallt near Rhaeadr Gwy, seeCF 538-40. Tw o places in Meiri­
onnydd are designated Carreg C am March Arthur acc. Pern, iv, 530.
1016. Kaw o Brydein: see n. on I.647 above.
10 16 -17. Llamrei kassec Arthur: this name is given in C anu’r
Meirch B T 48,15; (TYP c-ci), though Llamrei is not specifically
appropriated to Arthur in these lines: A march Arthur . . . a Llamrei
llavn elwic. G. suggests that llavn here is an error for llam , which
would give ‘Llamrei o f surpassing leap(?)’. Llamrei < llam ‘Leap’ +
grei ‘grey’ meaning ‘Grey Leap(er)’ or alternatively llam + re ‘swift’
hence ‘Swift Pace(d)’, as rendered in GPC 2094.
1017. achub yr kyuarth: this seems to mean that Kaw went up to
the boar (achub) so that it stood at bay, or because it stood at bay. On
yr cf. GMW 219-20.

1020. a nottayssei Ysbadaden: Ysbaddaden had not in fact

specified any particular hounds for the hunt o f Ysgithrwyn Ben
Beid. Cf. 11. 1 1 10—1 1 , where it is claimed that the tri meib C le d y f
D ivw lch had won great fame in slaying this boar.

1024. Kelli Wie yng Kernyw: see n. on I.261 above.

1025. Menw mab Teirgwaed: see n. on I.199 above.
1026. Twrch Trwyth: see introduction section VIII and n. on
669-70 above.
salwen: here the MS clearly requires emendation to salwett,
equative o f salw ‘mean, ugly’. With rac a causal meaning is expressed
‘because it would be so mean to go to fight with him’; cf. GMW
42-3.
1028. Neur daroed idaw diffeithaw traean Iwerdon: ‘he had
destroyed’, lit. ‘to destroy had happened to him’. We must here
distinguish between the grammatical subject, which is the vn.
diffeithaw , and the logical subject contained in idaw ‘to him’. Cf.
CFG 34-5; B xvi (1955)» 76-87.
neur: < neu + ry, GMW 170.
 NOTES I55
daroed: imperf. sing. 3 o f daruot y ‘to happen to’ (GMW 145-6);
here with pluperfect meaning.
1028-9. traean Iwerdon: ‘the third part o f Ireland’. This may mean
three o f the five coiceda or ‘Fifths’ o f Ireland; see n. to 1.1069 below.
1029. y ymgeis ac wynt: ‘to seek them out’; that is, to search for
the Twrch Trwyth and his seven piglings; cf. I.1067 below.
Esgeir Oeruel yn Iwerdon: see n. on 11.106-7 above.
1036. Odgar uab Aed: see n. on I.635 above.
1037. peir Diwrnach Wydel: see introduction pp. lviii-lix and n.
on I.635 above.
1040. kychwynnu: ‘to start, rise, set forth’. The meaning ‘to rise’
survives in dialect (Glam.) > kywhynnu > kywynnnu > cwnnu/
cwnni\ cf. LP 19. Here, as elsewhere in MW, it means ‘to set forth’;
cf. also I.1095 Kychwyn.
1041. ysgawn: (adj.) ‘light’; an interesting form which shows the
alternation o f w/f, cf. GMW 9. Whereas the standard literary form is
now ysgafri, ysgawn is still echoed in ysgon in south Wales.
1041-2. Prytwen y long: see n. on 1.938 above.
1043. gwelsant niuer Otgar: ‘the host o f Otgar saw’. Note here
how a subject in the form o f a collective noun is preceded by a pi.
vb.; cf. GMW 179, also SC vi (1971), 42-56. The vb. is usually sing,
in such cases.
1045. pei as rodei: ‘if he were able to give it’. Pei (later pe) ‘if ’ is
here a conditional conj., but was originally the subj. imperf. sing. 3
o f the vb. ‘to be’; cf. GMW 242-3. A s is a syllabic form of the infix,
pron. obj. sing. 3. GMW 56.
1047. keuyn: (noun) ‘back’, ModW cefii. Note that the epenthetic
vowel (between u and n) is here represented by y, as is usual in MW;
cf. GMW 12.
1051. Llenlleawc Wydel: see n. on I.253 above.
Kaletvwlch: see n. on I.159 above.
1054. swllt: < Lat. solidus; cf. OCo sols, gl. pecunia, Br. saout
‘cattle’. Now it means ‘shilling’, but formerly it meant ‘treasure,
156 NOTES

wealth’: yn y lie yd oed swllt y brenhin a’e vrenhinolyon oludoed

‘where was the king’s treasure and his royal riches’, B . y Tyw ys.
(J. Rhŷs andj. G. Evans, The Texts o f the Bruts from the Red Book o f
Hergest (Oxford, 1890), 406).
1055. diskynnu: ‘land, disembark’ . The vn. is used instead o f a
finite vb.: with regard to the meaning, cf. ac yn Abermenei e
disgynnassant ‘and in Abermenei they disembarked’ HGVK
12 ,10 - 11; also II.1062, 1097 below.
Llwydeu mab Kel Coet: see n. on I.287 above.
1055-6. Porth Kerdin yn Dyuet: cerddin ‘rowan tree’.
Unfortunately this place is unknown: Lady Charlotte Guest in her
note (The Mabinogion , 333) suggested that it is Porth Mawr, near St
David’s Head, or else Pwll Crochan, five miles west o f Fishguard.
These suggestions were agreed by Idris Foster, ‘Irish Influence’,
30-1.
1056. ac yno y mae messur y peir: this direction would favour
Pwll Crochan (‘Pool o f the Cauldron’) as the place where
Diwrnach’s cauldron came to land. Cf. messur pritguenn (I.938
above, and n.). The latter may well have been a name for the same
place.
1057. a oed o gynifywr: ‘all the warriors there were’ . Here we have
a rel. construction found in MW, in which a noun or pron. governed
by 0 ‘o f’ (forming part o f the antecedent) is placed within the rel.
clause, or at the end o f it. The antecedent may not be formally
expressed, in which case the noun governed by the prep, is usually
sing., as it is here. The meaning conveyed is ‘all the, as many as’. Cf.
a oed 0 o f yn Iwerdon ‘all the smiths that were in Ireland’, PKM 36,9.
1057. From this point onwards a number of names o f persons are
introduced, many o f whom have not previously been named in the
story (sec introduction p. xliv).
1057-8. Teir Ynys Prydein a’e Their Rac Ynys: see n. to I.282
above.
1059. Gwlat yr Haf: ‘the Summer Country’. This came to mean
the county o f Somerset, but originally it denoted the greater
Dumnonia, the whole o f the south-western peninsula. (Not to be
confused with Iolo Morganwg’s equation o f G w lad yr H a f with
Defrrobani, or Ceylon: see TH SC (1968), 323-4.)
 NOTES 157
1059. a oed o gi gordethol a march clotuawr: ‘all the picked dogs
and famous horses that were’. The MS readinggicwr dethol indicates
miscopying from an earlier prototype. See n. on I.1057 above.

1062-3. y erchi nawd idaw: the phrase erchi nawd seems here to
have superseded the older asswynaw nawdd, as employed by
Cynddelw in his englynion to Rhys ap Gruffydd (L1DC no. 23; H
1 50-1) see P. Ford, B xxvi (1975), 151-2 . Cf. also n. on I.174 above.

1065. bwyttal: later known as dawnbwyd ‘food-gift’, the tribute of

food (pigs or sheep, butter, bread, vats o f bragget) to which the
king was entitled twice-yearly from his subjects; LIB 20in.; HDdL
128-9.
1067. a’e seithlydyn moch: ‘and his seven piglings’; llydyn (pi. of
llwdwti , a word for the young o f any animal) is one o f the special pi.
forms employed only with numerals; see B xxv, 117 -18 , GMW 47.
Moch serves as the pi. ofhw ch: the pi. hychod is not attested before the
late 15th. cent., nor does the sing, mochyn appear at an earlier date
than DD. Six o f the seven piglings are named below: Grugyn G w allt
Ereint, Llw ydaw c Gouynnyat, Twrch Llaw in, G w ys, B anw , and
Bennwic (see 11.1136-65). The seventh (unnamed) is slain in 1.1073.

1067-8. gellwng cwn arnaw: ‘dogs were let loose on him’. Here
we have a vn. used instead o f a finite vb., with passive meaning; cf.
GMW 163. For another ex. o f the same use cf. brathu Bendigeituran
yn y troet ‘B. was wounded in the foot’, PKM 44,23.

1069. pymhet ran y Iwerdon: ‘the fifth part o f Ireland’. Clearly

the narrator knew o f the ancient and traditional division o f Ireland
into five provinces or coiceda; Ulster, Munster, Leinster, Connacht,
and Meath. See EIHM 171-83; PKM 48; HGVK 38; and cf. traean
Iwerdon 1028-9 above.

1071. namyn a gawssant o drwc y gantaw: ‘except for all the ills
they got from him’. Cf. 1.1057 above.

1073. naw nieu: ‘nine days’. Note the nasal mutation in dieu after
naw; cf. GMW 22. Also note the pi. form dieu, used with numerals;
GMW 47.
1074. ystyr: ‘meaning’, here used in the sense o f ‘history’, < Lat.
historia. See B. F. Roberts, ‘Ystorya’, B xxvi (1974), 13-20.
158 NOTES

1075. Brenhin uu . .. y rithwys*Duw ef yn hwch: the Twrch

Trw yth’s father was named Tared Wledic\ see n. on 11.669-70 above,
and introduction pp. lxvii-viii.
1078-9. yn rith ederyn: the same words are used o f Menw in
I.1031. G w rh yr , the linguist, adopts a bird’s form in order to
negotiate with the boars in their lair.

ef a’e seithlydyn moch: see n. on I.1067 above. E f a ‘he and’ or

‘with’. Cf. WG 422, LP 123, T C 150, 348-9, GMW 50-1.

1082. y harchaf: on h- here cf. GMW 23m 1.

1083. Grugyn Gwrych Ereint: ‘G. Silver-Bristle’. Grugyn is one

o f the group o f names in Culhwch which are paralleled by names in
the Gododdin (see n. to K ilyd, l.i above). Grugyn is the speaker on
behalf o f the Twrch Trwyth and his retinue o f pigs: his words and
those o f Gwrhyr make it evident that he too had been transformed
from a human into a boar. Grugyn derives from grug ‘heather’ +
dim. suffix. It is cognate in form and meaning with OI froich , MI
fràech (GPC 1536). It is therefore significant that the dim. form
Fráechán is the name given in the Dindshenchas o f Dumae Selgae to
one o f three men who were enchanted into swine o f whom Caelcheis
(= Culhw ch , see introduction p. lxix) is another; see RC xv (1894),
470-2; Met. D in. iii, 386-94; C O (i) lxix.
According to Siôn Dafydd Rhys, Grugyn G aw r was the name of
the giant who occupied Garth Grugyn (see n. to 1.1160).

1090. y grib a’r ellyn a’r gwelleu: ‘the comb and the razor and the
scissors’. In the Giant’s original specification o f the treasures to be
obtained from between the ears o f the Twrch Trwyth (11.668-90)
the ellyn (razor) was omitted: this was because the ysgithr (tusk) of
Ysgithrwyn Ben Beid was intended to be the razor with which
Ysbaddaden was to be ‘shaved’. Although the tusk was obtained
(1.1020), its purpose seems to have been forgotten by the narrator:
hence the addition here o f a razor to the other implements. In 1.1185
the razor is obtained, in I.1187 the scissors (gwelleu ) are obtained,
and in 1.1200 the comb (crib). Yet, in the event, nothing is said of any
o f these implements being used for the ‘shaving’ o f Ysbaddaden. It
is Caw o f Prydein, who had won the tusk o f Ysgithrwyn (I.1020)
who eventually ‘shaves’ Ysbaddaden, and it can be assumed that he
used Ysgithrwyn’s tusk with which to do so.
 NOTES 159
1095. parth a Chymry: Cym ry < * Combrogi ‘fellow-countrymen’
originally denoted the inhabitants o f both Wales and o f Cumbria,
hence the modern name. The earliest use of the term Cym ry for
Wales is found in the praise-poem o f the 7th. cent. (?) to Cadwallon
ap Cadfan (B vii, 23-32; ed. R. G. Gruffydd, Ast. H. 27-34). In the
10th. cent. Armes Pry dein, Kym ry is employed a number o f times (see
AP(2) 20-1). In WG 13, J. Morris-Jones pointed out that the mis­
spelling Cymru came to be used subsequently for ‘Wales’, and the
true form Cym ry was then retained as the pi. o f Cymro to mean
‘Welshman’. Brython - rather than Cym ry - is used invariably in the
poetry o f Aneirin and Taliesin to denote all or any o f the Brittonic
peoples. The present instance is the only occurrence o f the name in
Culhwch ; cf. PKM 37,22; 38,4.

1096-7. a tharaw [l]lygat: adv. ‘and in the twinkling o f an eye’. Cf.

yn enkyt y trawyt yr amrant ar y Hall ‘the moment one eyelid was struck
against the other’ WLSD 7, 36-7. The / o f R must be changed to //.
1096. Prytwen: see n. on I.938 above.
1098. Porth Cleis yn Dyuet: the harbour at the mouth of the River
Alun, five miles south-west o f St David’s, famous as the place
where Gruffudd ap Cynan landed from Ireland in 1081, before
joining with Rhys ap Tewdwr and advancing with him to meet
with his adversaries at the battle o f Mynydd Cam; see HGVK
13-14 ; CO (i) lxxi, and introduction p. lxxxii.
1099. Mynyw: Meneuia , the old name for St David’s. See HW
263-4; H GVK 73, WLSD 55-6.
110 1-2 . Kynnwas Kwrryuagyl: In her edn. o f the Mabinogion
(Everyman, 334) Lady Charlotte Guest identified this personal
name with the place-name Canaston Bridge (now on the main A40
road between Narberth and Haverfordwest). However, Cynwas
Curyuagyl is a character who has been previously named in the
Court-List; see n. on I.186 above.
a oed yn Deu Gledyf o dyn a mil: ‘all the men and beasts there
were in Dau G led d y f ’ (= Milford Haven, sec n. on I.932 above).
With the constr. cf. a oed ogyn ifyw rl. 1057 above, and GMW 68. The
extent o f the commote o f Deugleddyf is defined by Giraldus
Cambrensis (Descr . Cam. I, v: ‘From the same mountains [Preselau]
come the two Cleddau streams. Between them is the region called
i6o NOTES

Deugleddyf, which is named after them. One runs by Llawhaden

Castle and the other through Haverfordwest, and so they join the
sea. Deugleddyf means “ Tw o Swords” .’
1104. Presseleu: the Preselly mountain in Pembs.
1105-6. E ly a Thrachmyr: in 11.286-7 the pair are described as
penkynydyon Arthur ‘A .’s chief huntsmen’; see n.
1106. Drutwyn keneu Greit mab Eri: cf. I.673 above, and n.
1107. Gwarthegyt mab Kaw: Gwarthegyd ‘cattle-raider’. An
addition to the sons o f Kaw listed in 11.206-12 above, and a character
unknown elsewhere.
1107-8. deu gi Glythm yr Ledewic: see n. on 11.1008-9 above.
1108. Cauall ki Arthur: see n. on I.1015 above.
1 109. o deu tu Nyuer: ‘on the two banks o f the N yfer’. The River
Nyfer (Nevern) divided the cantref o f Cemais into two commotes,
Uch Nyfer and Is Nyfer. On the importance o f Nanhyfer or Nevern
in the Middle Ages see HW 263.
1 1 10. gw yr a gauas clot mawr: ‘men who obtained great fame’.
Notice that the obj. clot retains the radical after the pret. sing. 3
cauas\ cf. GMW 18, T C 216 -17. This would be helped by the
tendency for -5 to cause provection; GMW 17, n.2.
1 1 12. Cw m Kerwyn: Foel Cwm Cerwyn (1760 ft.) is the highest
point on the Preselly mountains; it is the source of the River
Clydach; see Pern. i. 97. Cerwyn ‘tub, cask, barrel’; cf. PKM 86,27
and n.
1 1 14. Tarawc Allt Clw yt: previously unmentioned. Allt Clwyt =
Al(t) Glut ‘the rock o f the Clyde’. This was the central stronghold
o f the kingdom o f Strathclyde, now Dumbarton, the ‘Fortress of
the Britons’.
1 1 14-15. Reidwn uab Eli Atuer: cf. Reidwn mab Beli, named in the
Court-List, I.224 above; see n.
1 1 15. Iscouan Hael: also named in the Court-List, 11.224-5 above.
With the previous name and Iscawyn mab Panon (1.1 118 below) these
names form a triad, apparently transplanted together in a group
from the Court-List.
 NOTES l6l

1 1 16-17. Gwydre uab Arthur: a character unknown elsewhere (cf.

G w ydre mab Lluydeu 1.258).

1 1 17. Garselit Wydel: also named previously in the Court-List,

I.295 above. In I.697 he is described as penkynyd Iwerdon.
Glew uab Yscawt: Yscawt = ysgod ‘shadow, ghost’, but cf. Unic
G lew Yscwyd PKM 33,16. On names in Culhwch from the Mabinogi,
see introduction p. xxxviii n. 4.
1 1 18. Iscawyn uab Panon: see I.225 above; cf. n. on I.1115 .
1 120-3. Huandaw a Gogigwr a Phen Pingon . .. Llaesgemyn:
According to 1.85 above, these four were raclouyeit or ‘deputies’ to
G lew lw yt Gauaeluawr (see n. on 1. h i above).

tri gweis: ‘three servants’; cf. tri meib L in o above.

1123. gwr ny hanoed well neb ohonaw: ‘a man because o f whom
no one was the better’. Hanoed is imperf. sing. 3 of hanuot, which
consists o f han ‘from, o f’ (cf. gwahanu, gwahaniaeth, o h a n a f'o f me’),
and means ‘to be from’. The prep. 0 forms part o f its construction,
as here. Hanuot can also simply mean ‘to be’.
1 1 24-5. Gwlydyn Saer: cf. Gluydyn Saer , the craftsman who built
Arthur’s hall Ehangwen (I.264 above).
1126. Pelunyawc: now Peuliniog , the easternmost of t íe eight
commotes o f Cantref Gwarthaf, which lay between Narbcrth and
Carmarthen, Pern, i, 388. It is explained as ‘the land o f Paulinus’,
HW 265, CF 5 12-13.
1126-7. Madawc mab Teithyon: another name new to the story;
see n. on 1.1057.
1127. Gwyn mab Tringat mab Neuet: on Tringat mab Neuet see n.
on I.933 above. G w ynn mab Tringat's name is reproduced in GER
(WM 4 11,3 3-4 = RM 265,14). For Neuet cf. 11.339, 742.
1128. Euryawn Pennlloran: another new name. Horan is perhaps
a dim. o f llawr ‘champion’; cf. Llaw r, Lloryen as personal names,
C L1H i, 42c, 43c.
1129. y rodes kyuarth udunt: ‘he stood at bay against them’. On
rhoi cyfarth see n. PKM 237. Cf. I.1158 below, which provides
another ex. o f the non-lenition o f the obj. after the pret. sing. 3.
IÓ2 NOTES

1129-30. Kynlas mab Kynan: again, a name not previously

introduced. Cf. Kyttlas kynweis CA 1448; Cinglas map Eugein
dantguin, EW GT 10(3); HW 133.

1130. Gwilenhin brenhin Frcinc: see nn. to 11.294 and 720. If these
allusions do indeed refer to William the Conqueror, it is tempting
to speculate as to whether there may be here an ironic reference to
the Conqueror’s death in 1087 - perhaps, for the narrator, an event
o f the recent past. But it can only be a matter o f speculation whether
the author would have been more, or less, likely to have permitted
William to have been slain by the Twrch Trwyth, if his death had
taken place before the time o f writing. William I died in France
under doubtful circumstances (apparently as the result of an
accident with his horse), and he was buried afterwards at Caen in
Normandy (DNB xxi, 300; F. M. Stenton, Anglo-Saxon England ,
620). The introduction into the narrative o f the names of
contemporary figures of the nth. and 12th. cents, can be paralleled
in the Triads: see T Y P cxii-iv on Alan Fergant, the Breton ruler who
was William’s contemporary and ally - the Flergant brenhin Llydaw
o f I.216 above.

1 1 3 1. Glynn Ystu: the ref. is to a wooded area in Carnwyllion

commote along the right bank o f the Gwendraeth Fawr river,
equidistant at some eight miles from Aber Tyw i (I.1128) and the
Llychwr valley (I.1156) to the east. The extent o f the forest is
defined thus in a 1609 survey o f the lordship o f Carnwyllion (part of
the duchy o f Lancaster): ‘the place called Glynystun alias Glynystyn
lyeth in the parishes o f Llanelly and Llanon from the brook
Carwyly [sic] unto Mynidd Mawre alongst the easte syde o f the
river called Gwendraeth Vawr’ (SDLLW 282; cf. ‘West Ynis Ystu’,
idem. 260). This description seems to indicate that the wood ran
from Carway up along the Gwendraeth Fawr valley as far as
Mynydd Mawr, near Tumble - a distance o f some six miles. Rhŷs
noted a farm called Clyn Ystyn in the upper reaches o f the valley
(CF 513, TH SC (1894-5), 146-7. Cf. also Pern, iv, 416). A vast
wooded area such as this would explain why Arthur’s men and dogs
should have lost their quarry, as is stated.

11 31-2. yd ymgollassant y gwyr a’r cwn ac ef: ‘the men and dogs
lost (sight of) him’. Note once more the use o f a pi. vb. before a pi.
subject; cf. I.1043 gwelsant niuer Otgar.
 NOTES 163
1135. hela: ‘to hunt’ < *selg, Ir. selg, LP 33. In MW the form hely
also occurs, with non-syllabic -y, along with a var. hela. Later -y
was dropped, yielding hel, found mainly in north Wales, whereas -a
persisted in the south o f the country.
1136. Dyffryn Llychwr: the valley o f the River Llychwr from
present-day Ammanford down to Pontarddulais; the river’s course,
in this area, marks the boundary between the commotes of
Camwyllion and Gŵyr uwch Coed.
1136-7. Grugyn Gwallt Ereint: ‘G. Silver Hair’, clearly an error
for G. Gwrych Ereint ‘G. Silver-Bristle’, I.1083 above.
1137. Llwydawc Gouynnyat: one of the Twrch’s seven piglings
(see on 1.1067 above). For gojyniad ‘suitor, suppliant’ see GPC 1434.
But the editors o f Mab. render the epithet ‘the Hewer’, as in the case
o f Gallcoit Gouynnyat (see n. to 11.187-8 above), taking it to be an
error for gomynyat ‘striker, killer, hewer’ (GPC 1459), a word which
is elsew'here attested in only two other instances: CA 345 en trin
gomynyat,, ibid. 1378 gomynyat gelyn. For a possible onomastic
association with Llwydawc’s name cf. Cam Pen R hiw Llw ydog (see
n. to 1. 1 1 58 below). Another instance o f the personal name occurs in
L1DC 18,99 Llvytauc uah Lliw elit. Llwyddog ‘having an army,
warlike, etc. ’ is also an epithet applied to Arthur in Englynion yr Eryr
(B ii, 276,34); to Cadwallon, who is lluyddawg Prydain in the praise-
poem addressed to him (B vii, 25, 29; see n. Ast. H. 33), and to Helen
luicdauc (sic. EW GT 10), Elen Luydavc T Y P no. 35). Cf. n. on
ardyrchawc Pry dein, I.293 above.

11 40-1. a oed o gi ry nodydoed: ‘all the dogs that had been

named’. Cf. a oed 0 gynifyw r I.1057 above. At an early period the
pre-verbal prt. ry- was used without a in a proper rel. clause; cf.
GMW 62-3, 166-8. nodydoed, plup. impers. pass, o f nodi ‘to name’;
cf. GMW 127-8.
1143. dathoedynt: ‘they had come’; an early formation in which
the imperf. o f hot (oed, etc.) was added to the pret. stem to form the
plup. Such forms had become rare by the late MW period, and have
disappeared completely in late lit. ModW. Cf. further GMW 130-6.
nyt ymwelsei ac wynt: ‘he had not seen them’. Ytnwelsei is the
plup. sing. 3 o f ymwelet, which consists of ym- + gwelet ‘to see’. A
vb. containing this prefix is usually followed by a(c) ‘with’; cf.
164 NOTES

GM W 1 81-2. Ymwelet a here mean» ‘to see’, but it can also mean ‘to
visit’, which is the usual meaning in ModW.
1144. dygw ydaw: ‘to fall, attack’, consisting o f dy + cwydaw ‘to
fall’ (Br. coezaff, di-gouezout). Later in ModW in the form digwydd it
developed a different (but not unrelated) meaning: ‘to happen,
befall’. Cf. also 1.745 above, and I.1179 below.
1145. ymrodi y gerdet ohonaw ynteu: ‘he endeavoured to
proceed’. Ymrodi consists o f ym (reflexive) and rodi ‘to give’. In
ModW ymroi means ‘to do one’s best’. Kerdet in MW generally
meant ‘to travel, go’; in ModW it means ‘to walk’.
M ynyd Am anw: also D yjryrt A m anw , I.1149. The name survives
in that o f the Aman stream (Ordnance Survey 22/7517), which
flows into the Llychwr (see Pern, iv, 416). The mountain may well
be near to the source o f the stream: cf. the location o f the village of
Brynaman. It is here associated by folk-etymology with bartw
‘pigling’: the first o f a series o f onomastic allusions which are
continued through the next paragraph o f the text. Most o f the
locations mentioned in this section o f the text - Dyffryn Llychwr,
Mynydd Amanw, Twrch, Gwys, Dyffryn Amanw, Llwch Ewin
and Llwch Taw e-can be identified in general terms. But it is difficult
to offer a coherent account o f the boar’s wanderings between the
rivers Llychwr and Tawe.
1 147. Tw rch Llawin: the river Twrch flows into the Tawe below
Ystradgynlais; cf. Turch LL 134,12; adblairt Turc 42,20. Llaw in
contains the adj. llaw ‘small’. With these names cf. Twrch mab P erif
and Twrch mab Anwas I.201 above.
1148. gwys means ‘young pig’, more specifically, a sow (GPC
1788). Here it is the name o f a rivulet which runs into the River
Twrch near Ystradgynlais. Ifor Williams comments on this and the
following two names, ‘Cydio y mae’r storiwr bob enw lie sy’n
cadw enw mochyn â hela’r Twrch Trwyth. Yn Nhrefaldwyn y mae
gw ys yn byw ar fochyn hyd heddiw’, Enwau Lleoedd 45.

1149. Dyffryn Am anw: the valley o f the Aman river, between the
villages o f Ammanford and Brynaman. Cf. the reference to a
payment pro terris vocatis G lyn Amon ii s. (shillings) (SDLLW 228) in
a survey o f 1609. The non-syllabic w o f the ending is not found in
later references to the stream: ‘Amman’ in 1541 (Dynevor MS
 NOTES 165
collection) and ‘the river Ammon’ in 1609 (SDLLW 296): c. 1584/5
we read o f the entrance o f the River Aman into the Llychwr at
Aberaman (MA 123).
Banw a Bennwic: Bennwic is a dim. o f banw ‘young pig’ (see n. on
1.1145), and is recorded in GPC 272 in this one instance alone.
1 1 50-1. Grugyn Gwallt Ereint. See n. on 1.113 6 -7 above.
1 1 51. Llwydawc Gouynnyat: see n. on I.113 7 above.
1152. Llwch Ewin: Rhŷs’s identification o f Llwch Ewin with a
bog mere Llw ch is awel in Betws parish (CF 515) is unacceptable; the
lake L lyn Llech O wain (cf. SDLLW 294) deserves consideration, but
the boar is unlikely to have re-crossed the Llychwr river. Can there
be a connection with the ‘castellum Lluchewin’ (Llangadog castle)
mentioned in A nn. Cam. under the years 1205 and 1208? See Pern,
iv, 416 and B y T y w y s. 195 (P20 version). Castell Luchewein is said to
have been burned in 1205 and again in 1208, acc. Pern, iv, 416.
However, Siôn Dafydd Rhys in a note in C 18,4 seemingly suggests
a location for the lake (and Llwch Tawe) on the Black Mountain:
‘Pylher y twrch Trwyth yssydh yn ami ar hyd y mynydh dv yn
Swydh Coer Bhyrdin ac yn lheodh eraill’. On the basis o f ‘rwng
Tawy ac Euyas’ (1.1166), one should perhaps look for the lake on the
south Wales coast well to the west o f the Wye’s mouth; cf. ‘rwng
Llynn Lliwan ac Aber G w y’ (I.1179).
1153. rodi kyuarth: see n. on I.1129 above.
1154. Echel Uordwyt Twll: a stream called Egel flows into the
Clydach, a tributary o f the Tawe; see CF 536. This could have been
spuriously identified with the place where Echel - evidently a
traditional figure (see n. on 11.195-6 above) - was thought to have
been slain by the Twrch Trwyth.
1155. Arwyli eil Gwydawc Gwyr: cf. G arw yli eil Gwythawc
G w y r 1.197 above.

1156. Llwch Tawy: this is the older name for Llyn y Fan Fawr,
Brecon (see Pern, iv, 372, 417). It is the place where the boars
separate, and Grugyn goes northwards. Cf. Rhys Amheurig c.
1584/5 in Morganiae Archaiographia\ ‘TAW E; a river which springeth
out o f Llyn Llwch Tawe, in Brecon, and issuing there forth in a
swift course, runneth to Ystradcallwen and thence to Ystradgynlais
166 NOTES

about one mile by south. The river, called Twrch doth enter Tawe
at Aber Twrch’ (MA 122).
1158. Din Tywi: the location seems uncertain. Acc. Phillimore’s
note (Pern, iv, 408) ‘The present writer does not agree with Rhŷs’s
suggestion (CF 515) that the Din T y w i where Grugyn next went
after Llwch Tawy, was possibly Grongar. The old suggestion of
Lady C. Guest that Din T y w i was the dinas above Twm Sion
Catti’s cave is rendered probable by the fact that on the top o f the
mountain, a mile or two to the east, there is a C am Twrch , and
four or five miles up the (stream) Pysgottwr there is a Cam Pen
R h iw Llw ydog , which may commemorate the boar Llwydog, who
seems to have gone with Grugyn from D in T y w i to Llanilar’ (that
is, to Garth Grugyn).
1159. Eli a Thrachmyr: see n. on 11.285-6 above.
1160. Garth Grugyn: acc. B y T y w y s. Kastell Garth Grugyn was
built in 1242 by Maelgwn Fychan, grandson o f Rhys ap Gruffudd.
The place is now Castle Hill, Llanilar ‘on the top o f which Robert
Vaughan saw a work where a castle had been’, Pern, iv, 491 (cf.
RWM ii, 848; HW 700n.). In Sion Dafydd Rhys’s account o f the
Giants (Cy 27,138) Grygyn gaw r 0 oedh yn trigaw yn Castelh Crygyn
obhywn plw ybh lhan Hilar. On Grugyn see n. on I.1083 above.

116 1. Ruduyw Rys: another character introduced for the first

time. Rhỳs equated his epithet with rhysswr ‘champion’ (as in
I.251, etc.); cf. CF 530n. Alternatively it could be the personal
name R(h)ys. Ruduyw may derive from rhudd ‘red’ or grudd ‘cheek’
+ byw.
1162. Llwytawc: that is, Llw ydaw c Gouynnnyat , see nn. on 1.113 7 ,
and on I.1158 for C am Pen R hiw Llwydog.
Ystrat Yw : the rivulet Y w is a branch o f the River Rhiangoll,
which flows into the Usk. It gave its name to the commote of
Ystrat Y w in the south-east o f the cantref o f Talgarth, which
formed the south-east corner o f the kingdom o f Brycheiniog (HW
272; CF 517-18).
1 163-4. Hir Peissawc: another name previously unmentioned. H ir
Peissawc ‘Long tunic’ is more easily acceptable as an epithet than as a
proper name. Cf. Peisrudd ‘Red Tunic’ (pesrut EWGT 9 (1)).
 NOTES 167

1 164. Llygatrud Emys a Gwrbothu (Hen): Arthur’s two ‘uncles’

were previously named in the Court-List; see n. on 11.2$ 1-2 above.
1165. vrodyr: notice the occurrence o f lenition in a noun in
apposition after a personal name; cf. GMW 15; also T C 22-3.
1166. Tawy ac Euyas: the River Tawe (Tauuy L L 13 4 ,12) flows into
the sea at Abertawe (Swansea). Ewias (Euias LL32,22) was the cantrcf
which lay between Talgarth and Erging (HW 279). See W. Rees, A
Historical Atlas o f Wales, plate 28.

1167. Gwyssyaw Kernyw a Dyfneint: that is, Arthur mustered all

the fighting men from the whole o f south-west Britain, (= G w lat yr
H a f I.1059 above, see n.).

1168. Aber Hafren: the mouth o f the River Severn. But it is not
made clear at what point on the Severn estuary the mustering took
place. On Hafren < Lat. Sabrina see LHEB 519, 591.
1169-70. myn gwrhyt gwyr: ‘by the valour o f men’. An unusual
expletive.
1170. nyt a mi yn uyw yd aho: ‘not while I live (not with me being
alive) shall he go to Cornwall’. The independent phrase is an
absolute construction, with the meaning o f a subordinate clause; cf.
GMW 231, also I.702 above. Aho is subj. pres. sing. 3, a formation
which conforms to that o f the regular vb.: a-ho , cf. car-ho. Mynet ‘to
go* is an irregular vb., and the usual form o f the pres. sing. 3 is el,
GMW 133. The form here denotes future meaning, but with an
affective element.
1174. a’e ragot: ‘to waylay (ambush) him’: another ex. o f the vn.
used instead o f a finite vb.; cf. 000. It occurs as a noun: orachot yn
luhyn hac dieithyr luhyn ‘as regards ambush in the woods and outside’
(Privilege ofT eilo ) LL 120,15-16. As a vn: A c y kerdws y niuer hwnnw
yny gawssant lie adas y eu ragot ac ymgudyaw yno ‘and that company
proceeded until they found a suitable place to waylay them, and hid
there’, BD 174,8-9. It occurs also in the Laws; BD 6,15, n.
1176-7. anghen yn anghen: ‘need for need’, that is, ‘by sheer
force’, see introduction p. xx. On Mabon uab Modron see n. on 1.685
above, and introduction pp. lx-lxi.
1177. Gwynn Mygdwn march Gwedw: see n. on I.689 above.
i68 NOTES

1178. Goreu mab Custennin: see n. on 1.811 above, and

introduction pp. xxx-xxxi.
Mcnw mab Teirgwaed: one o f the original ‘Six Helpers’; see n. on
I. 199 above.
1179. Llyn Lliwan: named in I.891 above as L lyn L ly w y the home
o f the Salmon. Evidently it was a lake or pool which overflowed
into the Severn estuary. Among the Mirabilia o f Britain described in
HB ch. 69 is O per (= aber) Linn Liuan (see HB ed. Loth 213; text and
trans. CF 407). According to this description, where the Severn
estuary is tidal and the river meets it in spate, it causes a whirlpool
and a very great noise. This phenomenon is known as the Severn
‘bore’ or ‘eagre’. Ifor Williams describes it in his note on the name
Teirnon T w r y f Uliant (PKM 147, see n. on I.255 above), and
suggests that the latter’s epithet ‘Roar o f the Flood-Tide’ may have
reference to it; cf. also Kenneth Jackson, Y B xii, 17-18. It is
tempting to suggest that there is another ref. to the Severn ‘bore’ in
II. 118 3-4 below, which describes the great commotion caused by
the Twrch Trwyth in the Severn estuary. The ‘marvel’ o f Linn
Liuan was borrowed from HB into H RB ix, 7 (ed. Wright, 106),
where it appears as Linliguum\ BD 151 Lynn Llyw an. The location of
the tidal pool is here given as near the Welsh border yn emyleu Kym ry
ar glan Hauren ; similarly in the i6th.-cent. text Rhyfeddode yr Ynys
‘yn ymyl Kymru ar lan Havren . . . llyn Lliwon’ (T. H. Parry-
Williams, Rhyddiaith Gymraeg: Y G yjrol G y n ta f (Gwasg Prifysgol
Cymru (1954), 66). Its border was defined by the course o f the River
Severn, according to H RB ix,7. Should we then look for the lake on
the river’s English shoreline in Gloucestershire? Camden does not
mention the pool in his Britannia (edn. 1695), but describes the
Severn bore as ‘a Gulph or whirlpool’, before adding ‘Sometimes it
overfloweth its bank, and wanders a great way into the
neighbouring Plains (of Gloucestershire), and then returneth back
as conqueror o f the land’. Further, in view o f the ref. to ‘Oper Linn
Liguan’ and ‘fluminis illius’ in the M irabilia , should we be looking
for a river-mouth in this area? However, to judge from the present
ref. linking Aber Gw y with Llyn L liw an , the pool was situated on
the Welsh side o f the Severn estuary. From the testimony o f the
Salmon we know that the lake lay some way below the town of
Gloucester, and in view o f the Salmon’s assertion that he would
regularly swim with each tide as far as the town (11.905-6), it is
 NOTES 169
interesting to note that Camden depicts the ‘daily rage’ o f the
Severn as losing its force ‘at the first bridge’ - namely at Gloucester
itself.
1 1 80-1. Osla Gyllelluawr: sec nn. on 11.278 above, and 1193-6
below.
1 1 81. Manawydan uab Llyr: sec n. on I.215 above.
Cacamwri gwas Arthur: sec n. on 1.318 -19 above.
1182. Gwyngelli: ‘White Grove’ - an improbable personal name,
hitherto unattested.
1183. yn y traet: ‘in (= by) his feet’; an ex. o f the non-lenition after
the poss. pron. sing. 3 masc; or else, as happens sometimes, o f the
art. used as a poss. pron. Cf. GMW 25, also 11.61-2 above.
1185. a chael yr ellyn: sec n. on I.1090 above.
1186. Kyledyr Wyllt: see n. on I.994 above.
1190. a gafiat o drwc: ‘all the ill that was got’; cf. GMW 68, also
1.1 198 below.
1193. deu uaen ureuan: ‘two qucrnstoncs’. Cf. the mein sugyn
(‘load-stones’ or ‘suction-stones’) which hindered Bcndigcidfran,
PKM 40,20 and n.
1 199-1200. o drwc y gilyd: ‘from (the one) ill to the other’. On the
use o f cilyd ‘fellow, companion’ cf. GMW 96-7. Here the y consists
o f the prep, y ‘to’ and the poss. pron. infixed sing. 3 y. Cf. GMW 53
n.2.
1202. Anet ac Aethlem: the two hounds who were specified
among the anoethau, I.728 above.
1204. Kelli Wie yg Kernyw: see n. on I.261 above.
1206- 7. y W idonOrdumerchy W idonOrwen:seen, on 11.652-3
above.
1207- 8. Pennant Gouut yg gwrthtir UfFern: sec n. on I.653
above. For the parallel phrase 0 vrthdir Uffern cf. 1.189 above. In the
episode of the Black Witch ‘the upland of Hell’ is clearly situated in
north Britain. The ‘Old North’ is the meaning o f ‘ Y Gogledd’ here
and elsewhere in the talc; cf. 1.107, etc. The episode appears to bear
I 70 NOTES

some relation to Arthur’s fight with a witch in Pa Gur, and this

poem also appears to have a northern location (see introduction
pp. xxxv-vi and n.21).
1209-10. Gw yn uab Nud a Gw ythyr uab Greidawl: these
characters were both previously associated with an episode located
in north Britain (11.988-1004).
1216. yll deu: ModW ill dau. Yll is a form o f oll, holl, and occurs
with numerals in apposition after pers. prons. or endings; here it
means ‘both’. For the 1 and 2 pi. the forms o f the poss. pron. arc
used before the numeral. Cf. GMW 99.
1219. dywedassant: a pi. vb. before a subject which consists o f two
personal names; cf. I.1043, etc.
1221. Hir Amren a Hir Eidil: previously named as Arthur’s
servants, I.323 above.
1223. drafferth: in MW lenition is attested o f the subject after the
pret. hu\ GMW 18.
1224-5. ell pedwar ar Lamrei kassec Arthur: On Llamrei sec n.
on 11.10 16 - 17 above. This farcically excessive load on a horse’s back
is reminiscent o f the ‘Three Horses who carried the Three Horse-
Burdens’, T Y P no.44. Each o f the three went on a journey carrying
several men on its back. With ell pedwar cf. yll deu 1.1216.
1226. Carnwennan y gyllell: see n. on 1.161 above.
1227. yny uu yn deu gelwrn hi: ‘until she was as two tubs’. Notice
how the pron. hi is separated from the copula uu by the nominal
predicate yn deu gelwrn. The more normal construction would be
yny uu hi yn deu gelwrn. But the order in which the pron. is deferred
until the end is also attested. It is found in Irish and in modern
spoken Welsh. Cf. GMW 58, n.2.
1234-5. Eillw yt . . . Meu. These two forms represent affirmative
answers to questions, the one introduced by the prt. a, and the other
by ae. Notice that the answer is denoted by repeating the form
following a/ae, here by Eillwyt/meu. Later the form do came to be
used for the first, and ie for the second. Cf. GMW 176-7.
1236. diolwch: ‘to thank’, consisting of di = golwch ‘praise’, which
was later reduced to diolch\ cf. B ii (1924), 125. In MW diolwch has a
 NOTES I7I
direct obj., as here (representing the thing for which thanks are
due), and an indirect obj., governed by the prep, y ‘to’, which refers
to the person(s) to whom the thanks arc due.
diolwch y mi hynny: ‘to thank me for that’. In ModW am came to
be used to denote that for which thanks arc due: diolch i mi am hynny.
1239-40. gwallt y penn: ‘the hair o f the/his head’. On y penn cf. yn
y traet 1.1183 above.
1242. y kysewys Kulhwch gan Olwen: ‘C. slept with Olwcn’. A
more archaic phrase is used in I.3 above, gwedy y westgenthi (see n.).
1243. tra uu vyw : ‘while he lived’. Notice that tra ‘while’ in MW
(unlike ModW) is followed by lenition (uu < bu); cf. GMW 21.
 Abbreviations

Languages ModW = Modern Welsh; MW = Middle Welsh; ME =

Middle English; OI = Old Irish; OW = Old Welsh; OF = Old
French.

Manuscripts C = Cardiff; J = Jesus, LI. = Llanstephan; M =

Mostyn; P = Peniarth; R = Red Book o f Hcrgest ( Jm ) ; W =
White Book o f Rhydderch (P4).

AB Edward Lhuyd, Archaeologia Britannica (Oxford,

1907)
AIT T. P. Cross and C. R. Slover, Ancient Irish Tales
(London, 1936; repr. with revised bibliography by
C. W. Dunn, Dublin, 1969)
ALM A R. S. Loomis (ed.), Arthurian Literature in the Middle
Ages (Oxford, 1959)
Ann.Cam Annales Cambriae\ Cy ix, 141 fF.; cd. J. Morris,
Nennius’ British History and the Welsh Annals (see
under HB below)
AoW R. Bromwich, A. O. H. Jarman, Brynley F. Roberts
(eds.), The Arthur of the Welsh (University o f Wales
Press, 1991)
AP Ifor Williams (ed.), Armes Prydein (University of
Wales Press, 1955, etc.); English edn. trans. R.
Bromwich (DIAS, 1972, 1982)
Ast.H. R. Bromwich and R. Brinley Jones (eds.),
Astudiaethau ar yr Hengerdd (University o f Wales
Press, 1978)
AT Anti Aarnc and Stith Thompson, The Types of
Folktale: A Classification and Bibliography (Folklore
Fellows Communications, no.74, Helsinki 1928,
1961)
B Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies
BBC J. Gwenogvryn Evans (ed.), The Black Book of
Carmarthen (Pwllheli, 1907)
BBIAS Bibliographical Bulletin of the International Arthurian
Society
174 A BB R EV IA TIO N S

BD Henry Lewis ( e d ^Brut Dingestow (University of

Wales Press, 1942)
BGG Bonedd Gwŷr y Gogledd (EWGT 73; T Y P 238-9)
BR Melville Richards (ed.) Breudwyt Ronabwy
(University o f Wales Press, 1948)
BT J. G. Evans (ed.), Facsimile and Text of the Book of
Taliesin (Llanbedrog, 1910)
BWP Ifor Williams (ed. R. Bromwich), The Beginnings of
Welsh Poetry (University o f Wales Press, 1972, 1980,
1990)
ByS Bonedd y Saint (EWGT 54-67; VSB 320-3)
By Tywys. T. Jones (ed.), Brut y Tywysogyon (Peniarth 20
version) (University o f Wales Press, 1941)
CA Ifor Williams (ed.), Canu Aneirin (University of
Wales Press, 1938, 1970, etc.)
CF John Rhys, Celtic Folklore (Oxford, 1891, 1980)
CFG Melville Richards, Cystrawen y Frawddeg Gymraeg
(University o f Wales Press, 1938)
Chr.Br J. Loth, Chrestomathie Bretonne (Paris, 1890)
CIIC R. A. S. Macalister, Corpus Inscriptionum Insularum
Celticarum (2 vols., DIAS 1945, 1949)
C L 1H Ifor Williams (cd.), Canu Llywarch Hen (University
o f Wales Press, 1935, 1953)
C M CS Cambridge Medieval Celtic Studies
CMT E. A. Gray (ed. and trans.) Cath Maige Tuired: The
Battle of Mag Tuired (ITS vol. liii, Naas, Kildare,
1982)
C O (I) Culhwch ac Olwen (testun Syr Idris Foster wedi ei
olygu a’i orffen gan Rachel Bromwich a D. Simon
Evans, University o f Wales Press, 1988).
Cy Y Cymmrodor
DD J. Davies, Dictionarium Duplex Britannico-Latinarum,
1632.
DIAS Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies.
DIL Contributions to a Dictionary of the Irish Language
(Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, 1942-1976)
DNB Dictionary of National Biography
EAN C R. J. Thomas, Enwau Afonydd a Nentydd Cymru
(University o f Wales Press, 1938)
EC Etudes celtiques
 A BB REV IA TIO N S I 75
ECMW V. E. Nash Williams, The Early Christian Monuments
of Wales (University o f Wales Press, 1950)
EIHM T. F. O ’Rahilly, Early Irish History and Mythology
(DIAS, 1946)
EL Henry Lewis, Yr Elfen Ladin yn yr Iaith Gymraeg
(University o f Wales Press, 1943)
EWGT P. C. Bartrum (cd.) Early Welsh Genealogical Tracts
(University o f Wales Press, 1946)
EYP Enweu Ynys Prydein (TYP 228-37)
G J. Lloyd-Joncs, Geirfa Barddoniaeth Gynnar Gymraeg
(University o f Wales Press, 1931-63)
GDE Thomas Roberts, Gwaith Dafydd ab Edmwnd (Bangor,
1914).
GDG Thomas Parry, Gwaith Dafydd ap Gwilym (University
o f Wales Press 1952, 1963, etc.)
GER Chwedl Geraint fab Erbin.
GIG D. R. Johnston, Gwaith Iolo Goch (University of
Wales Press, 1988)
GG1 J. LI. Williams and Ifor Williams (cds.), Gwaith Guto’r
Glyn (University o f Wales Press, 1939, 1961)
GLM Eurys Rowlands (cd.), Gwaith Lewys Mon
(University o f Wales Press, 1975)
GMW D. S. Evans, A Grammar of Middle Welsh (DIAS, 1964).
GOI R. Thurncyscn (trans. Binchy and Bergin), A
Grammar of Old Irish (DIAS, 1946)
GPC Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru (1950-)
GTA T. Gwynn Jones (cd.), Gwaith Tudur Aled
(University o f Wales Press, 1926)
H J. Morris-Joncs and T. H. Parry-Williams (cds.),
Llawysgrif Hendregadredd
HB Historia Brittonum cd. (i) T. H. Mommsen, Monumenta
Germanica Historica xiii, Chronica minora Saeculi iv-vii,
vol. iii (Berlin, 1888); cd. (ii) F. Lot, Nennius et
I'Historia Brittonum (Paris, 1934); ed.(iii) D. N.
Dumville, The Historia Brittonum; The Vatican
Recension (D. S. Brewer, Cambridge, 1985); ed. (iv)
with trans. J. Morris, Nennius' British History and the
Welsh Annals (London and Chichester, 1980); trans.
A. W. Wadc-Evans, Nennius's History of the Britons
(London, SPCK, 1938).
176 A BB REV IA TIO N S

HDdL Dafydd Jenkins, - The Law of Hywel Dda

(Llandysul, 1986)
H GCr Henry Lewis, Hen Gerddi Crefyddol (University o f
Wales Press, 1931)
H G VK D. Simon Evans (ed.), Historia Grufiud vab Kenan
(University o f Wales Press, 1977)
HL John Rhŷs, The Hibbert Lectures on Celtic
Heathendom (London, 1898)
H RB Historia Regum Britanniae ed. (i) A. Griscom (from
Camb. Univ. Lib. MS 1706, London, 1929); ed.
(ii) J. Faral, La Légende Arthurienne (from Trin.
Coll. Camb. MS 1126; Paris, 1929); ed. (iii) Neil
Wright (from Bern MS 568; Woodbridge, Suffolk,
1985). trans. Lewis Thorpe (Harmondsworth,
1966).
HW J. E. Lloyd, A History of Wales (London, 19 11, 1939)
IGE(2) Henry Lewis, Thomas Roberts and Ifor Williams
(eds.) Cywyddau Iolo Goch ac Eraill (University o f
Wales Press, 1937)
IPT K. H. Jackson, The International Popular Tale and
Early Welsh Tradition (University o f Wales Press,
1961)
ITS Irish Texts Society
IW Ifor Williams
LBS S. Baring-Gould and J. H. Fisher, Lives of the
British Saints (4 vols., London, 1907-13)
LEWP Ifor Williams, Lectures on Early Welsh Poetry
(1944, repr. 1970)
LGC Gwaith Lewis Glyn Cothi, ed. Tegid (2 vols.
Oxford, Hon. Soc. Cymmrodorion, 1837)
LH EB K. H. Jackson, Language and History in Early
Britain (Edinburgh, 1953)
LL The Text of the Book of Llan Dav ed. J.
Gwenogvryn Evans and J. Rhŷs, (Oxford, 1893)
LIB S. J. Williams and J. Enoch Powell, Cyfieithiau
Hywel Dda yn ol Llyfi Blegywryd (University of
Wales Press, 1942)
L1C Lien Cymru
L1D C A. O. H. Jarman (ed.), Llyfi Du Caerfyrddin
(University o f Wales Press, 1982)
 A BB R EV IA TIO N S 177
LI.Ior. Aled Wiliam (cd.), Llyfr Iorwerth: The Venedotian
Code of the Welsh Laws (University o f Wales Press,
i960)
LP H. Lewis and H. Pedersen, A Concise Comparative
Celtic Grammar (Göttingen, 1937)
LU R. I. Best and O. J. Bergin, Lebor na h-Uidre; The
Book of the Dun Cow (Dublin; Royal Irish Academy,
1929)
LWS D. Simon Evans (ed.), Lives of the Welsh Saints by G.
H. Doble (University o f Wales Press, 1971)
MA L. James (ed.), Rice Meyrick’s Morganiae
Archaiographia (South Wales Record Soc. I, 1983)
Mab Gwyn Jones and Thomas Jones (trans.) The
Mabinogion (London, 1949, 1963, 1989)
Met.Din. E. J. Gwynn, The Metrical Dindshenchas: Text,
Translation, and Commentary (Dublin, Royal Irish
Academy, 1903-35)
NLW Journal Journal of the National Library of Wales
OSPG K. H. Jackson (trans.) The Oldest Scottish Poem: The
Gododdin (Edinburgh, 1969)
PBA Proceedings o f the British Academy
PCB Anne Ross, Pagan Celtic Britain (London, 1967)
Pern Owen’s Pembrokeshire ed. Henry Owen (4
pts. London: Cymm. Record Series i) 1892-1936)
PKM Ifor Williams (ed.), Pedeir Keine y Mabinogi
(University o f Wales Press, 1930, 1951, etc.)
PT Ifor Williams (ed.; trans. J. E. Caerwyn Williams)
The Poems of Taliesin (DIAS, 1968, 1987)
RC Revue celtique
RIA Royal Irish Academy
RM (R) J. Rhŷs and J. Gwenogvryn Evans (eds.), The
Mabinogion from the Red Book of Hergest (Oxford,
1887)
RP J. Gwenogvryn Evans (ed.), The Poetry from the Red
Book of Hergest (Llanbedrog, 1911)
RWM Report on Manuscripts in the Welsh Language
(Historical MSS Comission, London, 1898)
SC Studia Celtica
SDLLW William Rees (ed.), A Survey of the Duchy of Lancaster
178 A BB R EV IA TIO N S

Lordships in Wales, -1609-1613 (University o f Wales

Press, 1953)
SDR Henry Lewis (cd.), Seith Doethon Rufein (University
o f Wales Press, 1967)
ST Stith Thompson, Motif-Index of Folk Literature (6
vols., Copenhagen, 1955-8)
TB D D Togail Bruidne Da Derga ed. i) E. Knott (DIAS,
1963); ii) cd. and trans. W. Stokes (RC xxii; repr.
Paris, 1902)
TC T. J. Morgan, Y Treigladaua’u Cystrawen (University
o f Wales Press, 1952).
TH SC Transactions of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion
TPC T. P. Cross, Motif-Index of Early Irish Literature
(Bloomington, Indiana, 1952)
TWS E. R. Hencken, Traditions of the Welsh Saints (D. S.
Brewer, Woodbridge, 1987)
TYP R. Bromwich (ed. and trans.), Trioedd Ynys Prydein:
The Welsh Triads (University o f Wales Press, 1961;
new edition 1978, repr. 1991)
V SB A. W. Wadc-Evans (ed. and trans.), Vitae Sanctorum
Britanniae et Genealogiae (University of Wales Press,
1944)
WG J. Morris-Jones, A Welsh Grammar (Oxford, 1913)
WLSD D. Simon Evans, The Welsh Life of St David (UWP
1988)
WLW D. Jenkins and M. E. Owen, The Welsh Law of Women
(University o f Wales Press, 1980)
WM (W) J. Gwenogvryn Evans (ed.), The White Book
Mabinogion (Pwllheli, 1907); new edition with
introduction by R. M. Jones (University o f Wales
Press, 1973)
YB J. E. Caerwyn Williams (ed.), Ysgrifau Beirniadol
(Denbigh, 1965-)
YCM S. J. Williams (ed.), Ystorya de Carolo Magno
(University o f Wales Press, 1930)
YmM Th A. O. H. Jarman (ed.), Ymddiddan Myrddin a Thaliesin
(University o f Wales Press, 1951; new edition 1967)
ZC P Zeitschrifi fur celtische Philologie
 Select Bibliography
(in addition to works cited above under Abbreviations)

Anwyl, E. ‘Notes on Kulhwch and Olwen’ RC xxxiv (1913), 152-6;

406-17.
Bowen, Geraint (ed.) Y Traddodiad Rhyddiaith yn yr Oesau Canol
(Llandysul, 1974).
Cowell, E. B. ‘The Legend o f the Oldest Animals’, C y v (1882),
169-72.
Davies, Wendy, Wales in the Early Middle Ages (Leicester, 1982).
------ The Llandaff Charters (National Library o f Wales, 1979).
Dillon, Myles, Early Irish Literature (Chicago, 1948).
------ The Cycles of the Kings (Oxford, 1946).
------ (ed.) Irish Sagas (Dublin Stationery Office, 1959).
Edel, Doris, Helden und Freiersjussen: ‘ Tochmarc Emire und ‘Mal y
kavas Kulhwch Olwen (Amsterdam, 1980)
------‘The Catalogues in Culhwch ac Olwen and Insular Celtic Learn­
ing’, B X X X (1983), 253-73.
------ ‘The Arthur o f Culhwch ac Olwen as a Figure of Epic Heroic
Tradition’, Reading Medieval Studies ix (1983), 3-15.
Emmanuel, H. D. ‘An Analysis o f the Composition o f the Vita
Cadoci\ NLW Journal vii (1951-2), 217-27.
Evans, D. Ellis, ‘A Comparison o f the Formation o f Some Con­
tinental and Early Insular Celtic Personal Names’, B xxiv (1972),
415-34 (repr. EC xiii, 171-93)-
------ Gaulish Personal Names (Oxford, 1967).
Evans, D. Simon, ‘Culhwch ac Olwen: Tystiolaeth yr Iaith’, Y B
xiii (1985), 10 1-13 .
------ ‘Y Bucheddau’ ch. ix in Y Traddodiad Rhyddiaith yn yr Oesau
Canol ed. Geraint Bowen (Llandysul, 1974).
------ ‘Llyfr Du Caerfyrddin’, LIC xiv (1983-4), 210-15.
------ See also GMW, HGVK, WLSD, LWS.
Ford, P. K. The Mabinogi and Other Medieval Welsh Tales (Berkeley,
1977)-
i8o SELECT BIBLIO G R A PH Y

Ford, P. K. ‘Welsh asswynaw and Celtic Legal Idiom’, B xxvi (1975),

I47- 53-
------ ‘On the Significance o f Some Arthurian Names in Welsh’, B
X X X (1983), 268-73.

Foster, I.-LI. Astudiaeth 0 Chwedl Culhwch ac Olwen (University of

Wales M A thesis, Bangor, 1935).
------ ‘The Irish Influence on Some Welsh Personal Names’, Feils-
ghribhinn Eoin Mhic Neill (Dublin, 1940), 28-36.
------ ‘Gwyn ap Nudd’ in Duanaire Finn, ed. Gerard Murphy (ITS
vol. xliii, Dublin, 1953), 198-204.
------ ‘Culhwch ac Olwen’ and ‘Rhonabwy’s Dream’, ch. iv in
A LM A, 31-43.
------ ‘Rhagarweiniad: Y Cefndir’, ch. i in Y Traddodiad Rhyddiaith
ed. Geraint Bowen (Llandysul, 1970).
------ Notes on lloring, Penrhyn Pengwaedd, Dinsol, Porth Clais, B
viii (19 3 7), 2 1 - 7 .
------ ‘Culhwch ac Olwen’, ch. iii in Geraint Bowen (ed.) Y Tra­
ddodiad Rhyddiaith yn yr Oesau Canol (Llandysul, 1974).

Ganz, Jeffrey, (trans.) The Mabinogion (Harmondsworth, 1976).

------ (trans.) Early Irish Myths and Sagas (Harmondsworth, 1981).
Gray, E. A. (ed. and trans.) Cath Maige Tuired; The Battle of Mag
Tuired (ITS vol. Iii; Naas, Kildare, 1982).
Gruffydd, W. J. ‘Mabon fab Modron’, RC xxxiii (1912), 452-60.
------ ‘Mabon vab Modron’ TH SC xlii (1930), 129-47.
------ Math fab Mathonwy (University o f Wales Press, 1928).
------ Rhiannon (University o f Wales Press, 1953).
Guest, Lady Charlotte, (trans.) The Mabinogion (London, 1949;
repr. Everyman, 1932). See also Mab.
Gwynn, E .J. The Metrical Dindshenchas; Text, Translation, and Com­
mentary, 5 vols. (Dublin, Royal Irish Academy Todd Lectures
Series, viii-xii, 1903-35).

van Hamel, A. G. (ed.) Compert Con Culainn and Other Stories (Dub­
lin Stationery Office, 1933).
------ ‘Aspects o f Celtic M ythology’, PBA xx (1934), 207-48.
Hamp, E. P., ‘Culhwch, the Swine’ ZC P 41 (1986), 257-8.
------ ‘The Pig in Ancient Northern Europe’ (1) Marija Gimbutas
Festschrifi (ed.) S. N. Skomal and E. C. Polome (Washington,
1987).
 SELECT B IBLIO G RA PH Y 181
Haycock, Marged (ed.) ‘Preiddeu Annwn’, SC xviii/xix (1983-4),
52-78.
Henry, P. L. ‘Culhwch ac Olwen; Some Aspects o f Style and Struc­
ture’, SC iii (1968), 30-8.
Hogan, E. Onomasticon Goedelicum (Dublin, 1910).

Ifans, Dafydd ‘Y r Anifeiliaid H ynaf, B xxiv (1972), 461-4.

------ with Rhiannon Ifans, Y Mabinogion (Version in Modern
Welsh with an introduction by Professor B. F. Roberts (Llan-
dysul, 1980).

Jackson, Kenneth. ‘Some Popular Motifs in Early Welsh Tra­

dition’, EC xi (1964-5), 83-99.
------ ‘Rhai Sylwadau ar Culhwch ac Olwen’, Y B xii (1982), 12-23.
------ The Oldest Irish Tradition: A Window on the Iron Age (Cam­
bridge, 1964).
------ See also IPT, LH EB, OSPG.
James, J. W. Rhigyfarch’s Life of St. David: Text, Introduction, Trans­
lation (University o f Wales Press, 1967).
Jenkins, Dafydd, Hywel Dda: The Law (Llandysul, 1986).
------ Notes on said, gwrmsaid, gwynsaid, yslipanu; B xxxv (1988),
55-61.
------ with M. E. Owen (eds.) The Welsh Law of Women (University
o f Wales Press, 1980).
Jones, Bedwyr L. note on nagolwc hebawc mut, na golwcgwalch trimut
(=C O lines 493-4) B xxiii (1970), 327-8.
Jones, D. Gwenallt Yr Areithiau Pros (University o f Wales Press,
1934)-
Jones, Thomas ‘Chwedl yr Anifeiliaid H ynaf, NLW Journal vii
(1951), 62-6.
------ ‘Triawd Ladin ar y Gorlifiadau’, B. xii (1948), 79-83.
------ ‘Nodiadau Testunol ar Lyfr Gwyn Rhydderch,’ B xii (1948),
83-6.
------ Notes on sangnarwy, lloring, G leif penntirec, B xiii (1950),
17-19, 75- 7-
------ ‘Datblygiadau Cynnar Chwedl Arthur,’ B xvii (1958),
235 - 52 .
------ ‘The Early Evolution o f the Legend o f Arthur’ (= trans. of
the above by Gerald Morgan) Nottingham Medieval Studies viii
(1964), 3-21.
i 82 SELECT BIBLIO G RA PH Y

Jones, Thomas ‘Teir Ynys Pry dein a’e Their Rac Y nys,’ B xvii
(1958), 268-9.
------ ‘Chwedl Huail fab Caw ac Arthur’ in Thomas Jones (ed.)
Astudiaethau Amrywiol a gyflwynir i Syr Thomas Parry-Williams
(University o f Wales Press, 1968).
------ ‘The Black Book o f Carmarthen Stanzas o f the Graves,’ PBA
liii (1969), 97-136.
------ See also Mab.
Knight, Stephen Arthurian Literature and Society (London, 1983)
(with a chapter on ‘Culhwch ac Olwen*).
Knott, Eleanor (ed.) Togail Bruidne Da Derga (Dublin, 1935; 2nd edn
DIAS 1963).
Loth, J. (trans.) Les Mabinogion (Paris, 1913).
------ ‘La date de la composition de Kulhwch et Olwen,’ RC 32
(19 1 1), 428-41; repr. in his Contributions á Vetude des Romans de la
Table Ronde (Paris, 1912), 37-51.
------ See also Chr. Br.
Lloyd-Jones, J. Enwau Lleoedd Sir Gaernarfon (University o f Wales
Press, 1928).
------ See also G.
Mac Cana, Proinsias Celtic Mythology (London, 1970).
------ The Mabinogi (University o f Wales Press, 1977).
------ The Learned Tales of Medieval Ireland (DIAS 1980).
------ (with Arwyn Watkins) ‘Cystrawennau’r Cyplad mewn Hen
Gymraeg’, B xviii, 1-25.
MacQueen, John ‘Goreu son o f Custennin’, EC viii (1958), 154-63.
Murphy, Gerard (ed. and trans.) Duanaire Finn: The Book of the Lays
of Firm; Part iii: Introduction, Notes and Glossary (ITS vol. xliii,
Dublin, 1953).
------ The Ossianic Lore and Romantic Tales of Medieval Ireland (Dub­
lin, 1955).
N í Chatháin, P. ‘Swineherds, Seers, and Druids’, SC xiv/xv
(1979-80), 200-11.
Ní Shéaghdha, Ncssa, Tóruigheacht Dhiarmada agus Ghráinne: The
Pursuit ofDiarmaid and Gráinne (ITS vol. xlviii, Dublin, 1967).

O ’Rahilly, C. Ireland and Wales: Their Historical and Literary Rela­

tions (London, 1924).
 SELECT BIBLIO G RA PH Y 183
------ Táin Bó Cúailnge: Recension I (DIAS 1976).
------ Táin Bó Cúailnge fiom the Book of Leinster: Recension II (DIAS
1967).
O ’Rahilly, T. F. ‘Buchet the Herdsman’ Ériu xvi (1952), 7-20.
------ See also EIHM.
Owen, Hugh (ed. and trans.) Siôn Dafydd Rhys’s treatise on the
Giants from Peniarth M S118, C y 27 (1917), 115-52.

Padel, Oliver ‘Kelliwic in Cornwall’, Cornish Archaeology 16 (1977),

115-20 (includes note by Peter Moreton on ‘Killibury Fort and
Kelli Wie’).
------ ‘Geoffrey o f Monmouth and Cornwall’, C M CS 8, 1-20.
Pearce, S. M. ‘Traditions o f the Royal King List o f Dumnonia’,
TH SC 1971, 128-39.
------ ‘Cornish Elements in the Arthurian Tradition’, Folklore 85
(1974), 1 4 5 - 6 3 .

Radner, Joan N. ‘Interpreting Irony in Medieval Celtic Narrative:

the Case o f Culhwch ac Olwen\ CM CS 16, 41-59.
Rees, Alwyn and Brinley, Celtic Heritage (London, 1961).
Rhŷs, John, ‘Notes on the Hunting o f Twrch Trwyth’, TH SC
1894-5, 1-34; 146-8.
------ See also CF, HL.
Richards, Melville, ‘Arthurian Onomastics’, TH SC 1969, 251-64.
------ See also BR.
Roberts, B. F. ‘The Treatment o f Personal Names in the Early
Welsh Versions of Historia Regum Britanniae’, B xxv (1973),
274-90.
------ (ed.) ‘Ymddiddan Arthur a Glewlwyd Gafaelfawr’, Ast. H,
296-309.
------ ‘Tales and Romances’ ch. ix in A. O. H. Jarman and Gwilym
Rees Hughes (eds.) A Guide to Welsh Literature, vol. 1 (Swansea,
1976).
------ Notes on Pen Pengwaedd, Yr India Fawr a’r India Fechan, Gwyn
ap Nudd, LIC xiii (1980), 278-89.
------ ‘From Traditional Tale to Literary Story’, ch. 7 in L. A.
Arrathoon (ed.) The Crafi of Fiction (Rochester, Michigan, 1984).
Roberts, Ruth ‘Tors fils Ares, Tortain’, BBIAS xiv (1962), 91-8.
Rowland, Jenny Early Welsh Saga Poetry (The Boydell Press, Bury
St. Edmunds, 1990).
184 SELECT B IBLIO G RA PH Y

Sims-Williams, P. ‘The Significance o f the Irish Personal Names in

Culhwch ac Olwen,’ B xxix (1982), 600-20.
------ ‘The Evidence for Irish Literary Influence on Early Medieval
Welsh Literature’ in Ireland and Medieval Europe ed. D. Whitelock
et al. (Cambridge, 1982), 235-57.
------ ‘The Irish Geography o f Culhwch and Olwen’, Celtic Studies
in Honour of ProfessorJames Carney ed. Liam Bretnach et al. (May-
nooth, 1988).

Thompson, Stith The Folktale (New York, 1951).

------ See also ST.
Thorpe, Lewis (trans.) Geoffrey of Monmouth: The History of the
Kings o f Britain (Harmondsworth, 1966). See also HRB.
------ (trans.) Gerald o f Wales: The Journey Through Wales/The Des­
cription of Wales (Harmondsworth, 1978).
Thurneysen, R. Die irische Helden und Königsage (Halle, 1921).

Watkin, Morgan, La Civilisation Française dans les Mabinogion (Paris,

1963).
------ ‘Sangnarwy ac oed yn Culhwch ac Olwen y Llyfr Gw yn’, B
xiii (1950), 132-6.
Whitelock, D. (trans.) The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle; A Revised Trans­
lation (London, 1961).
Williams, Hugh (ed. and trans.) Gildas: De Excidio Britanniae (in­
cludes Vitae Gildae) (London, 1899).
Williams, Ifor Chwedl Taliesin (University o f Wales Press, 1957).
------ Enwau Lleoedd (Liverpool, 1945; University o f Wales Press,
1962).
------ See also C A , C L 1H, PKM .
Williams, J. E. Caerwyn, ‘Olwen’, Y B vii (1971), 57-71.
------ Traddodiad Llenyddol Iwerddon (University o f Wales Press,
1958).
------ Y Stori'wr Gwyddeleg a’i Chwedlau (University o f Wales Press,
1972).
 Glossary
The numbers refer to the lines where the word occurs; ‘n.’ following a number
denotes that the word is further explained in the notes; ‘n.’ used as part of a
grammatical description, for example ‘nm.’ ‘n f’ or ‘n.pl.’ refers to a noun.
When a word is referred to in the introduction, the page where this occurs is
given in roman numbers.

a pre-verb, affirm, prt. i, 8, 9, 10, 12, s in g . I. a t w e n 9 62, 2. atw a en o st

17 etc. 9 0 2 n .; pret. s in g . 3 . ad n abu 500 .

a interr. prt: direct qu. 36, 82, 479, a d re f ad v. h om e 4 4 3, 839, atref 32,
483, 570, 602, etc; indirect qu. 927m a tre ff 43, attref 3 5 5 , 404.
whether, if 3, 24, 781, 814, 861, ad aw v n . p r o m is e 2 0 ; p res. s in g . 1.

884. a d a w a f 5 0 8 ; p ret. s in g . 1. e d e w e i s

a rel. pron. subj. 30, 32, 35, 37, 71, 72 4 2 5 ; p lu p . s in g . 3 . adaw sei 25.
etc. 657 n. a d e f v n . co n fe s s , p r o m is e ; im p e r.
a rel. pron. obj. 2, 15, 23, 36, 133, s in g . 2 . a d e f 50 6 .
137 etc. adoet n m . d e a d ly h a r m , h u rt 4 2 2 ,
a rel. prt. 245, 354, 606, 813. 5 4 6 , 5 6 0 : x v ii.
a prep, of 133, 405n., 7630., 79Ón. Cf. ae in te rr. p rt. is it? 5 6 5 , 7 8 8 , 1 2 3 5 ,
GMW 37. a e ____a e ____ w h e th e r . . . o r 6 8 7 ;
a ( c ) prep, as 1, 127, 271, 303, 331, 387 ae ... ae ... e ith er ... or .. . 421,

etc. 7 9 2, 9 1 7 -1 8 .
a ( c ) conj. and 4, 8, 8, 9, 12, 14, 15 aeduet ad j. rip e 573.

etc. but 17, 45, 82, 84, 1032, a * m ael n f. c o m e r 76, 77; pi. a e le u e y e lid s
and my a m a r c h 574 n., 752; before 548.

e u 282, 597, 940, 946, 1216, 1217, a e la w t n m f. lim b 5 3 .

Cf. GMW 54. ae ru a w c n m . w a r r io r 3 9 7 n .: - .
a inteij. oh! 47 n. aual n m . a p p le 7 6 , 7 7 ; pi. a u a le u 548,
a b r e i d adv. hardly, with difficulty aual y ga rr n. k n e e -c a p 5 2 4 , aual y
894, 981. ly g a t e y e -b a ll 5 5 2 .
a c h y l a w prep, beside him 418, au on n f. r iv e r 9 0 5 .
522-3 (R g e i r y l a w ) , 537. Cf. au o ry ad v. to m o r ro w 5 19 , 10 9 2.
GMW 182. a ffw y s n m . d e p th , a b y ss 8 9 4 , 1 1 9 3 ,
a c h a w s nm. cause, reason 733. I 1 9 6 : x v ii.
a c h l a n adv. entirely 1052, 1053. a g a le n n f. w h e ts to n e 7 9 1 .
a c h u b vn. seize, rush forward/ ag o ri v n . o p e n I 3 9 n ., 4 6 8 , 7 8 6 , 8 0 1 ;
towards, make for 944 n., 1017, p res, (fu t.) s in g . 1. a g o ra f 89, 7 7 1 ,
1212, 1218, 1225; imperf, pi. 3 2. ag o ry 89 , 1 0 3 , 1 0 3 , 7 7 2 , 3. egy r
a c h u b e i n t 306. 1 3 0 ; im p e rs . ag ora r (R a g o r e r ):
a d a n e d n.pl. of a d e i n wing 1083. x x i, x x i 9 8 , 10 0 , a g o rir 7 7 4 ; im p e r.
a d a r n.pl. birds 632, 843. s in g . 2. ag o r 88 , 7 7 1 .
a d a w vn. leave 721; pres. sing. 3 e d e u an ge rd n m f. p e cu lia r q u a lity , s tre n g th
481; imperf. pi. 3. e d e w y n t 309. 3 8 4 , 3 9 7 ; h eat 39 0 .
a d u o t vn. happen, be: fut. sing. 3. an gh en yn an gh en a d v . b y sheer
a t u y d 555, h a t u y d 542. Cf. GMW fo r ce , need fo r need 1 1 7 6 : x x .
U5 - agh en gaeth n m . in ju n c tio n 1 3 0 : x v ii.
a d n a b o t vn. know, recognize; pres. agheu n m f. death 5 3 3 , an gh eu 980.
186 GLO SSARY

a n g h le u a c h adj. comp, of a n g h l e u an af nm. harm, wound 421, 432, 546,

inaudible 105: xviii. * 560.
a n g h y f n e r t h nmf. infirmity, an u ab nm. man without offspring,
weakness, misfortune 983. childless 39.
a n g l o t nmf. dishonour, satire 104. See a n u e i t r a w l adj. immeasurable,
n. on 154. immense 9 7 2 .
a g h r e d adj. without faith, pagan 409. a n h e d nfm. abode 6.

a l a u o n nf. middle, pit of the stomach a n h u n e d nm. wakefulness,

539: xviii. sleeplessness 7 5 1 .
a l a r c h nmf. swan 495. a n l l a w d adj. precious 6 2 : xviii.

a l l a n adv. out 34, 129, 540, 553, 799, a n ( n ) i u e i l nm. animal, beast 8 6 1 ,
804, 1217. 8 7 0 , 8 8 1 ; pi. a n n i u e i l e i t 8 4 3 .
a m conj. because 24 m; prep, around a n o e t h nm. wonder, marvel, (thing)

70, 488, for 369, 1090, about 112, on difficult to find; pi. a n ( n ) o e t h e u
448, 608, 1227, because of 259, 260, 8 2 7 , 9 3 0 , 9 8 6 , 1 2 0 5 , 1 2 3 2 : xvi, xvii.

278, 435, 498, 599, 981, 996, 1075; a n o e t h a c h adv. (comp, of a n o e t h )

sing. 3. masc. a m d a n a w 418, much less, not to speak of 2 3 9 ( R

y m d a n a w 76; fern, a m d a n e i 488, y g h w a e t h a c h ) n., 2441 1 ., 4 2 0 ( R

y m d a n e i 533, 846; pi. 3. a m d a n i m t a g w h a e t h a c h ) n.: xvii.

483 a m y • • • a ( c ) the other side .. . a n r e i t h nf. spoil, booty; pi.

from 910-un., 911-12. a n re ith e u 283.

a m a e t h nm. husbandman 578. an w a r adj. cruel, savage, undutiful

a m a e t h u vn. till, cultivate: subj. pres. 525, 5 4 0, 553-
sing. 3. a m a e t h o 579. an w ay d u vn. draw blood: pret. sing.
a m k a w d vb. pret. sing. 3. said 16, 29, 3. 396: xxi.
an w ay d w y s

35, 38, 38, 43, 45, 49, 53, 82, i n , a n w y d nm. cold 391.

1 14, 128, 134, 142, 152, 155, 166, 169, a r dem. pron. antecedent to rel. clause

424, 426, 464, 470, 472, 474, 476, 525, those (who) 108.
769, 774, 815; pi. 3 a m k e u d a n t 430, a r ( a rel. prt. + r y pre-verb. prt.).

5*3, 545, 559, 762, 8o9n. ( R d y w a t 714m R a ry.

16, d y w a u t 3$, d y w a w t 43, 49, 53, ar prep, on, upon 19, 24, 60, 67, 68,
82, 1 14, 128, 142, 424, 474, 476, 525, 87 etc., to 3 9 , 5 8 n . , 2 4 6 , 4 4 4 ; + vn.
545, 815, h e b 29, 38, 45, in , 134, 917m at 5 5 6 , o f 4 1 3 , 7 6 0 , among
152, 155, 470, 472, 769, 7 7 4 . pi- 3 8 0 4 , by means o f 7 9 9 ; sing. 1. a m a f

d y w e d a s s a n t 430, 559, 762: xvi, xvi, 542, 567, 854, a r n a w 5 5 6 , 2. a r n a t

xvi. ) 54, 150, 173, 547, 561,5 6 8 , etc., 3.

a m d i u w y n a w vn. destroy, despoil: masc. a r n a w 10, 2 2 , 8 0 , 2 2 7 , 2 6 7 ,
pret. sing. 3. a m d i u w y n w y s 436: 2 6 9 etc.; fern, a r n e i 2 4 8 , 4 2 2 , 5 2 8 ,

xviii, xxi. 8 5 2 , 8 5 3 ; pi. I. a r n a m 6 2 4 , 3.

a m g e l e d nm. care 427m arn ad u n t no, 373, 410, 1140, (R

a m h e u vn. dispute, doubt: pres. sing. a t (t )3 9 , xvi).

58, 2 4 6, 4 44:

3. a m h e u 507. ar b e i m prep, on top o f 3 0 1 , 4 1 7 , 9 5 3 .

a m l y m u vn. clean, strip 21 (R a m l y n u ) . ar d r a w s prep, across 2 8 1 .

a m r a n t nm. eyelid 518 (R a e l : xii.) ar d r o e t adv. on 6 0 0 ^ 3 7 .

a m s a t h y r nm. throng 90, 773: xvi, ar d y g a m adv. (by) walking 1 2 8 - 9 .

xvii. ar d y r e d e c adv. (by) running 1 2 9 .

a m w a b y r nm. maiden fee, paid by the ar d r w s prep, at the entrance to, in

bride’s father to the lord 532n.: xvii. front o f 1 0 5 ; also y n d r w s .

a m w s nm. horse 4i9n., 1184, 1186: ar e u h o i adv. after them 5 2 3 , 5 3 7 ,

xvii. 551 -
a n poss. pron. prefix, pi. 1. our 138, ar u arch adv. on horseback 2 3 7 .
138, 967, 1088; also y n . a r u e it h r in adv. to be reared, nursed
a n a d y l nfm. breath 385. 423. I2-I3n.
 GLO SSARY I8?

ar u or a d v . b y sea 9 3 8 . atteb nm. answer 520, 777, 108$.

ar hyt p re p , a lo n g 9 0 5 . a th ro nm. instructor, preceptor 2on.,
ar y h e lw y n teu a d v . in his 24.
p o s se s sio n 1 1 2 2 . aw ch nfm. edge 64.
ar w erth a d v . fo r sale 7 4 8 . aw el w y n t nf. a gust of wind 728.
ar y d e lw h o n (n ) a d v . in this fo r m a w r nf. hour, time 5.

1 0 8 1 , 1 0 8 6 , 10 8 8 . a w y r nfm. air 75.

ar y m o r a d v . b y sea 1 0 9 5 ; a lso ar a y s nf. shield 67. Cf. G 13-14 (R

u or. c h r o e s ) : xii, xvii.

ar y rot a d v . in a circle 1 0 5 1 .
ar y t ir a d v . b y lan d 9 3 9 . bach nf. bend 906.
ara d y r n m f. p lo u g h 3 2 0 , 5 9 8 . baed nm. boar 1019, 1021, b a e d c o e t
a ra f n m . w e a p o n 2 2 6 m : x ix . n. wild boar 960.
a r a ll p r o n . o th e r su b st. 41, 389, 465, b a n a d y l n. coll, broom 490.

1 1 4 7 ; adj. 1 7 , 2 6 7 , 2 6 8 , 2 7 0 , 2 7 2 b a n n nm. top, point, peak 832.

e tc .; pi. e r e i l l 9 5 , 4 7 4 , 7 4 4 . 9 3 9 - b a n n a w c adj. homed 596m

arc h n f. re q u e st 4 3 9 . b a n w nmf. pigling 1146.

arc h en at n m . fo o t g e a r 7 8 . b a r y f nf. beard 639, 700, 702, 964,

a r c h o ll n fm . w o u n d , th ru st 2 6 0 , 3 9 8 . 974, 976, 979, 1233, b a r a f 327, 966:

ard y rch aw c a d j. fa m o u s , e m in e n t xix.
293n. b e d nm. grave 20, 21, 24, 27.

aru aeth n fm . p la n , m a n n e r 6 6 2 n . b e i cond. conj. if 134; also pei.

a r u o ll v n . ta k e , re c e iv e , h o ld 5 2 3 , b e i c h nm. burden 269.

5 3 8 , 5 5 1 ; pres. s in g . 2 . a r u o lly 505. b e i c h a w c adj. pregnant 108, 109, no.

a r g lw y d n m . lo rd 1 0 4 , 2 1 3 , 2 4 0 , 7 5 3 , b e i c h o g i nm. pregnancy sn., 108.

839 - b e l l a c h adv. further, more 546, 1171.

a rg y w e d n m . h a rm 3 5 3 , 4 2 8 . b e l l a f adv. farthest 155.

ary al n m . sp irit, p a ssio n 7 1 4 . b e n d i g a w vn. bless: imperf. sing. 3

a ry a n h y e it adj. s ilv e r 6 3 . b e n d i g e i 356.

ary an t n m . s ilv e r 9 i 7 n . ; adj. 1 6 5 , b e n d y t h nf. blessing 947, 1064.

10 8 4. b e n y n nm. carver 335, 738.

a r llw y s s a w v n . e m p t y , cle a r; im p e rf. b e r t h adj. fair, prosperous 430n.;

s in g . 3 . a r llw y s s e i 305n . comp, b e r t h a c h 430.

arsw y d aw v n . fear g r e a tly , dre a d : b e r w vn. water 555, b e r w i boil 636;

pret. s in g . 3 . arsw y d w y s 3 9 3 : x v iii, heat imperf. impers. b e r w i t 541,

x x i. b e r w i d 556 (R g w e i r w y t ) .

a rw y d n m . s ig n , to k e n : pi. arw y d o n b e t h interr. pron. what? 929, 985.

799- b i e u rel. whose is, who owns 434;

a s pers. pron. infix, obj. sing./pi. 3. also p i e u . Cf. GMW 80-1.
syllabic form 485, 874n., I045n. Cf. b l a y n / b l a e n nm. tip 79, 8on., 242,
GMW 56. beginning, start, 556.
asgw rn nm . bone 12 3 3 . b l e i d a s t nf. she-wolf 935.
asseu adj. left 7 1 , 7 3 . b l e w n. coll, hair, beard 227, 228,
assw yn aw v n . b e se e ch , im p lo re , 65 1; b l e w y n sing, a hair 80.
in v o k e 1 7 4 , I 7 5 n . ; p ret. sin g . 3. b l o d e u npl. flower(s) 490.
assw yn w ys 212 , 373. Cf. B xxvi b l w y d y n nf. year 22, 25m, 85, 377,

(1 9 7 5 ), U 7 - 5 3 , 1 5 4 - 8 : x v i , x v ii, 378, 822; pi. b l y n e t (with num.)

x x i. 353-
at p rep , to: s in g . 1. attaf 8 9 7 , 2. attat bod vn. to be 227, 230, bot 265, 414,
9 4 , 8 6 0 , 8 8 4 , 9 0 2 , 3 . m a s c. attaw 796, 892, 970, 1028; indie, pres,
7 9 0 , 9 9 8 , 1 0 6 2 , 1 1 3 3 , fern, attei 15, sing. I. v y f 379, 435, 776, 783n.,
21, 455 - 867n., 889, 2.wyt 167, 170, 431,
a tre f: see a d re f above. 435, 843, ytwyt 430, 3. yw 18, 30,
188 GLO SSA RY

40, 44, 103, 170 etc., y d i w 158, y b re n h in t e ith ia w c nm. rightful king
m a e 145, 686, 694, 733. 775. 841 586m
etc., y m a y 369, m a e 166, 797, b re n h in e s nf. queen 8, 22, 25, 36, 39.
m a e ? (GMW 143) 51611., 547, 561, b reu adj. brittle 705, 966.
967, o e s 38, 82, 82, 38211., 432, 473, b r i e nm. top 242.

504 etc., y s (GMW 141—3) 13211., b r o n ( n ) nf. edge 280, breast, bosom
47211., 566, 59811, 78311,: xxiii, xxiv, 495, d w y u r o n 495, 542, b r o n
y s s i t [there is] 504, 57811, 584, 913, l l e c h breast-fever 318m

o s i t [if there is] 266, y s s y d rel. b r o n w y n y o n adj. pi. whitebreasted

(GMW 63) 107, 127, 437. 5 3 4 . 596, 69m

606 etc., y s s y t 56011., pi. 1. y d y m b r y c h y o n adj. pi. of b r y c h brindled,
136, 2. ywch 433, 437, 869, ywchi spotted 69m
764, 3. ynt 1711., 3711., ydynt 878, b r y t nm. mind, desire, will 619.

yssydynt [they are] 115, 779; b r y s s y a w vn. hasten 958.

consuet, pres. fut. sing. 1. bydaf b u nfm. (head of) cattle 77m, 78.

16, 83, 869, 880, 899, 3. byd 96, b u d u g a w l adj. victorious, clever, able
137, 266, 267, 268, 268, 269, 271, 387, 802.
272, 272, 378, 4i3n., 4i6n., b u e l i n nm. drinking horn 1 3 1 : xvii.
b y d h a w t 99, b y t h a w d 15m., b w r w vn. throw, aim at: imperf.

imperf. sing. 1. o e d w n 852, 3. o e d sing. 3 . b y r y e i 3 2 7 , 1 2 2 6 ; b w r w

7, II, 12, 33, 35, 77 etc.: xxi, XXV, l l u d e t get rid of weariness 1 2 0 3 .

o e t 165, 419, = b y d e i 470, 783n. b w y t nm. food, meat 8 9 , 9 4 , 1 3 2 ,

(cf. GMW 1 10—11 ) y t t o e d 463, 153, 309, 3 5 6 etc, b w y d 544, 5 7 4 -

925n., 953, 969, 1183; pi. 3. o e d y n t b w y e l l i c nf. small axe, hatchet 1018:

205, 252, 324, 728, o y d y n t 415; xviii.

consuet, past. sing. 3. b y d e i 65, 71, b w y t ( t ) a vn. eat 476, 620, 1043; pres.

72, 282, 302, 326, 386, 388, 390, sing. 3. b w y t a 95.

392, 398, 497, 980; pret. sing. 1. b w y t t a l nm. tribute of food io65n.:

b u m 1 1 7, 1 1 8, 1 19, 120, 121, 122, xviii.

124, 125, 3. b u 31, 128, 155, 249, b y c h a n adj. small 2 6 9 .

249, 259, etc., pi. 3. b u a n t 969; b y t nm. world 4 8 , 1 5 5 , 3 8 3 , 4 1 3 , 4 3 4 ,

subj. pres. sing. 2. b y c h 150, 3. b o 4 3 8 etc, b y d 3 0 2 .

83, 105, 132, 143, 145, 145 etc., pi. b y d y d y a w vn. baptize 10: xix.

2. b o c h 431, 3. b w y n t no ( R b y h y t b y n n a c indef. rel. however

b o n t ) : xiii imperf. sing. 3. p e i long 1 5 0 .
464m, 980, b e i 66, 71, 72, 239, 240, b y n adj. keen 738, b y n e u 336.

241 etc.; imper. sing. 3. p o e t 144, b y s nm. toe 80, finger 449; pi. b y s s e d

147, 527, 541, 556, b o e t 146, b i d 492-

427- b y t h adv. ever 55, no, 431, 482, 710;

b o d nm. will, pleasure 794. also u y t h .

b o d i vn. drown 1192. byw adj. alive 249, 372, 534. 554,
b o g e l nmf. navel 325. 687, 702n, 1243; n. life 440, 508,
b o n e u (n. pi. of b o n root) 878. 767 (R b y w y t 440, 5 0 8 , 7 6 7 ).
b o n h e d i c adj. noble 11. b y w y t nm. life 703n.
b o r e nm. morning 23, 1092, 1119.
b o t h e u n. pi. bottles 657, 663. kat nf. army, host, band 1173: xvii.
b r a g o d i vn. make bragget 61 in. cad arn adj. strong 614.
b r a t h u vn. pierce, prick, spur 1184. k a d e i r nf. chair 564, 787.
b r a w t nm. brother 222, 1048, 1211; c a t l y s nf. bailey 808, 1241.
pi. b r o d y r 252, 284, 291, n65n. c a d w vn. keep, tend 7, 417, 646,

b r e i n t nfm. privilege 149m 1229; pres. sing. 2. k e t w y 433, pi.

b r e n h i n nm. king 23, 26, 28, 32, 33, 3. c a t w a n t 657; subj. pres. sing. 3.
45 etc. c a t t w o 656.
 G LO SSA RY 189

catw en t nf. battle, assault 918. kanys conj. ( k a n + n y + s pers.

c a d w y n nf. chain 681. pron. infix, sing./pi. 3 obj.) since
k a e r nf. fort 413, 415, 433, 434, 478, . .. not .. . it 41; ( k a n + y s it is)
511 etc. pi. k e y r y d 760, k e y r y t for 408, 694, 704, 869, 966.
413- c a n y w c h conj. ( c a n y + w c h pers.

c a e u vn. close, shut: pres. sing. 3. pron. infix, pi. 2. obj.) since . . .
k a e 130. not .. . you 478. (R c a n y c h
c a f f a e l vn. get, obtain, be able 4n, g w e la s ).

c a f F e l i i , 40, 57, 173, 378, 446 car nm. kinsman 694, 753, 829; pi.
etc., c a e l 118511., c a h e l ; pres, ca ran t 533 (R c a r e s ) , 895n.
sing. I. k a f i f a f 153, 154, 509, 753, c a r c h a r nm. prison, captivity 831,

754, 2. k e f l f y 156, 162, 171, 172, 914, 915, 916, 916, 922, 924, 999.
507, 507, 533. 5 6 7 , 568, 710, 7 11, c a r c h a r a w r nm. prisoner 836, 837,

751, 7 5 2 , 7 5 2 , 7 5 8 , 838 (R k e h y 9 11, 926.

568) k y f f y 164: xix, 3. k e i f f 620, c a r c h a r u vn. imprison: pret. impers.

754; imperf. sing. 2. k a f f u t 1237, c a r c h a r w y t 915.

3. c a f f e i 27, 29, 1039; pi. 3. earn nfm. hoof 7 4 , haft 2 4 8 .

k e f f y n t 4, 812; impers. k e f f i t 314; ca rn gra gen adj. shell-hoofed 6 1 : xviii.
pret. sing. 1. k e u e i s 449, 784, 906, earn vn. love: pret. sing. 1. k e r e i s
907, 3. c a u a s 236, 379, 1005, 1033, 501.

1 1 10, 1188, 1245, pi. 3. c a w s s a n t cas nm. hatred, enmity 259.

1071, 1071, impers. c a h a d 313, k assec nf. mare ioi7n., 1225.
k a f i a t ii9on., 1191, 1199, 1200, c a t b r i t o g y o n n. pi. leaders of hosts

k a f a t 1198; subj. pres. 1. c a f f w y f 144.

55, 56, 548, 567, 8i7n., 2. k e f f y c h k aw n n. coll, reeds 243; sing, c o n y n

51, 578, 578, 584, 584, 589 etc., 3 - 243. Cf. n. E s k e i r G u l h w c h
c a f f o 4m., 4m., pi. 1. c a f f o m G o n y n C a w n 191 .

383, impers. c a f f e r 672, 757, 919, c a w r nm. giant 812, k a w r 815, 819,

1091. 820.
k a l a n I o n a w r nm. first day of k e d y m d e i t h nm. companion, fellow

January k a l a n M e i first day of 797n., 797; pi. k e d y m d e i t h o n 807,

May 84n., 370n., ioo2n. 809.
c a l e t nm. something hard, battle 304 k e u y n nm. back 8 9 8 , 9 2 6 , i047n.
(see n. to C a l e t u w l c h 159). k e u y n d e r w nm. cousin 12, 5 8 n .,

c a l l o n e u n. pi. of c a l l o n womb 170, 6 9 5, 8 44, k e f y n d e r w 407.

109, k a l l o n heart 166, 995, 996, k e ib e d ic past partic. hoed, tilled,

c a l o n 266. 602.
c a m nm. fault, wrong, harm 471 ( R k e in g nf. branch 866.
d r w c ) , 485, 835: xii. k e irc h nfm. oats 3 2 1 , 8 3 4 .
c a m s e nm. robe 487: xviii. k e i s s a w vn. seek 3 7 6 , 4 4 2 , 4 4 6 , 6 9 5 ,
c a n num. + n. hundred 77, 865. 7 5 1 , 7 8 4 etc. try 4 6 1 , 1 2 1 8 ; pres,
c a n conj. since, because 43 m. pi. 2 . k e i s s w c h 8 9 8 ; imperf.
c a n h o r t h w y nm. help 227, 230n; see impers. k e i s s i t 2 8 0 ; pret. sing. 3.
also e n g y l . k e i s s w y s 2 4 1 xxi; subj. pres. sing.
c a n h y m d e i t h vn. accompany, keep 2. k e i s s y c h 834; imper. sing. 2.
up with 238, 1189. k e is 757-
c a n s conj. since, because 785. k e le in nf. body, corpse 447, 448,
c a n t r e f nm. cantred, district 647. 450, 451
c a n u vn. sing, play (music) 628; k e lu vn. conceal 44, 470; pres. sing.
pres. pi. 3. c a n a n t 743. I. k e l a f 45.
c a n y t conj. ( c a n + n y ( t ) ) for/since k e lw r n nm. tub 1227m
. . . not 404, 456, 504, 614, 701, k e n e d la e t h nf. race, kind 857, 876.
860. k en etyl nf. kindred 205.
190 GLO SSA RY

keneu nm. cub, whelp, pup 315, 673, 996; imperf. sing. 3. c l y w e i 348,
70m., 708, 93on., 935, 940, 964, 943n., pi. 3. k l y w y n t 91 in.; pret.
986, 1014, 1106; pi. c a n a w o n sing. I . k i g l e f 374n, 879, 889,
shoots 492, or cotton grass (see 11. k i g l e u 854, 868, 2 . k l y w e i s t 934.

to 492) c n a w d nm. flesh 491.

k e n u e i n nf. a herd (of swine) 7n., 356. k n e u e n nf. nut 854.

k e n n a t nfm. messenger, k n i t h y a w vn. pluck 703, k n i t h i a w

representative 1036, 1040, k e n n a d 973: xvii.

482; pi. k e n h a d e u 376, 377, 378, c n w c h y s g w y d nm. shoulder-swell

437, k e n ( n ) a d e u 856, 860, 869, 872, 70: xviii.

880, 884, 896n., 902. c o c h adj. red 3 2 7 , 8 6 7 ; comp,

k e n n a t a u vn. send for 46m, 487; pres. cochach 496.

sing. I . k e n n a t t a a f 485. coct npl. trees, woods 242, 242, 864,

k e r d nf. craft 91, 768n., 774, 775, 876, 877, 877, 1084.
781, 785, 798, 803, k e r t h 96: xii; c o n g y l nfm. comer, quarter 1107.

pi. k e r d e u songs 93, 98. c o l l e n d e r w e n nf. oak-sapling 865.

k e r d a w r nm. craftsman 91, 773. c o l l i vn. lose, be lost: pres. sing. 2.

k e r d e t vn. go, travel 240, 413, 443, c o l l y 755; pret. sing. 3. k o l l e s

510, 543, 759, 847, 943, 1 145n-; 1195, impers. c o l l e t 420.

imperf. sing. 3. k e r d e i 242, 243, c o n y n nm. stalk 66.

1084; pret. pi. 3. k e r d a s s a n t 513, c o r f f l a n nf. graveyard 26n. (R

910; imper. sing. 2. k e r d a 756. c o r d l a n ) xvii.

k e s s e i l nf. armpit 791. c o r n nm. horn 624; pi. k y r n 744.

k i nm. dog 336, 428, 557, 685, 739, c o y s nf. leg 351.

1008, 1014, 101$, 1021, I059n., c r e t nf. faith 138, 147, word, pledge

1107, 1108, 1140, 1189; pi. k w n ( n ) 485, 503, 566 (R c l o t 138), 147: xii.
92, 1020, 1067, 1096, 1132, 1144, c r e d u vn. believe, trust: subj. pres,

1155, 1 173- sing. 3. c r e t t w y 484 (R c r e t t o :

k i b nfm. coffer 468, cup 613. xiii); pi. 2. c r e t t o c h 907.
k i c nm. meat, flesh 968, 1233. c r i b nf. comb 667n, 668, i09on.,

c i l y d pron. the other, another, 1187, 1187, 1199, 1200, c r i p 164,

companion; cf. n. to l.i: o d r w c y 530.

g i l y d from one mischief to another c r ib a w vn. comb 165.
ii99-i20on. Cf. GMW 96-7. cro en nm. skin 1233; pi. c r w y n 418.
c l a d u vn. bury: subj. imperf. impers. c r o y w adj. sweet 310.

c l a d h e t 347. k r w y d r a w vn. wander 377.

d e d y f nm. sword 67, I59n., 336, 738, c r y u a n g h e u n. pi. c l a w s 892: xix.

747, 784 etc.; pi. c l e d y u e u 776, c u a n nf. owl 871: xviii.

783, 789- c u s s u l nm. advice 505: xvii.

c le u y t nm. ailment, sickness 16. k w t conj. where? 29, 37m, 515 (R p a

c le u y d a w d nmf. wound (from a l e 29, b l e 37, p a n 515: xii, xvi,

sword) 386. xvii, xxii.
c l e h e r e n nf. gadfly 526: xvii, xviii. c w m nm. valley 875.
c l e i c a w vn. immerse 1183: xviii. k w y n a w vn. lament 913; pres. sing.
c l e i s nm. streak, stripe 791. 3. k w y n 912.
c l o t nmf. fame 155, iiion. k w yn u an nmf. lamentation,
c l o t u a w r adj. praiseworthy, mourning 911.
celebrated 1060. k y c h w y n ( n u ) vn. rise, get up, set out
c l o f l f adj. lame 952. 104011, 1095, 1208; pres. pi. I.
c l u d w e i r nf. wood-pile 461: xviii. k y c h w y n n w n 1093; imperf. sing.
c l u n nf. thigh 67, 79. 3. k y c h w h y n n e i 349m : xix; pret.
k l y u y c h u vn. fall ill 14: xix. sing. 3. k y c h w y n n w y s 1103, 1111,

k l y w e t vn. hear, c l y b o t 459, 944, 1230: xxi.

 GLO SSA RY I9I
k yt conj. though 275, 319, 396, 578, k y u y g adj. narrow 280.
582, 584 etc., k y d 576. k y g h o r nm. counsel, advice 29m,

k y t b r e in (h )a w c adj. yoked together 3m ., 135, 5 0 3 , 9 6 7 , 1172.

590» 5 9 4 n.: XV, xvii. k y n gh ori vn. advise 1209.
k y d e n a w c adj. shaggy 418: xix. k y n g h o rw y r n.pl. counsellors 29.
k y d y m d e i t h a s nfm. company 475. k y h y t equat. adj. as long/tall as 387.

k y d y m d e i t h o n n. pi. of c y l c h y n u vn. surround, encircle 939.

k y d y m d e i t h comrade 39m.; also k y l l a g w s t nfm. stomach-ache, colic

k e d -. 543: xvii.
k yu agos adj. close, near, 414. k y l l e l l nf. knife, dagger 89, i6in.,

k y u a rc h vn. ask, k y u a r c h g w e ll 247, 281, 772, 794, 1194, 1227.

greet 7 8 7 ; pres. sing. 2. k y u e r c h y k y lle llp r e n n e u npl. wooden tweezers

83, 771; pret. sing. 1. k y u e r ( c ) h e i s 703, 966, 970, 974, k e lle llp r e n n e u

i w e l l I greeted 1 4 6 : xv, xix. 817.

k y u a r u o t vn. come against, meet: k ym h ar nmf. companion, mate,
pret. sing. 1. k y u a r u u m 6 0 4 , 3. spouse 444, k y m ( m ) a r 15, 44.
k y u a r u u 1 1 6 3 ; subj. imperf. sing. k y m h e l l vn. force, compel 995m

3. k y u a r f e i 3 0 4 . k y m i b i a w c adj. tubular 61: xviii.

k y fu a rth nm. barking, baying ioi7n., k y m ( m ) e i n t equat. adj. as much 303,

1 142, stand at bay

ro d i k y u a rth 853, y g y m e in t 9040., 907m, 918m
1 1 12, ii 16, 1 129m, 1153. Cf. GMW 94-5.
k y u a r w s nm. gift, boon 59m, 137, k y m m w y d adj. equal, as well-born
1 53n-, 156, 175, 3 i 3n., 373 . 379- (M S k y n m w y d ) 1.

k y u a rw y d nm. guide 399m 400, 858, k y m o t vn. to make peace, reconcile

869, 880, 899. 897, 1005.

k y u e i l l t nm. friend 134m, 9570. k y m rw tn m . cement, mortar 760: xviii.

k y u e i s t e d vn. take a seat 100. k y m ry t equat. adj. as handsome, of
k y u e l i n nf. forearm 64m like form I27n., 395, 448 ( R
k y u e n w nm. anniversary 822m k y u u r d ) 127, k y f r e t 395, d e g a c n o
k y u e r e i t nm. need 307 (R k y f u e i r ) . 448.
k y u y e i t h adj. of the same language k y m r y t vn. take 9 , 1 6 4 , 4 4 4 , 5 3 6 , 5 5 0 ,
843. 7 9 0 , 8 1 8 , 9 2 6 , 1 0 1 9 , 1 2 2 8 ; pret. sing.
k y f l a w n adj. complete, full 146, 146, 3 . k y m e r t h 1 0 1 7 ; imper. sing. 3.

497 - k y m eret 1004.

k yu o d i vn. rise 384, 440, 469, 510, k yn (n o ) p rep , b e fo re 353m , 397 (R
521, 549, 829, 1033, 1046; pres, yn g y n t ), 9 8 8 m , 1198, k y n n
sing. 3. k y u y t 441, pi. 3. (w it h o u t n o ) + n. 952, + vn. 989,
k y u o d a n t 536, 550. 1102, 1187.
k y u o e t h nm. territory, country 246, k yn (+ equat. adj.) as 9 1 5 .
1241. k yn n y conj. though . .. not 156, 8 0 3 ,
k y u o e t h a w c adj. having territory, 834, k y n y 797, 1088, k y n n y s (n y
power, authority 732m + *s pers. pron. infix obj. though
k y f r e t equat. adj. as swift 689m, 728 . . . not . . . her) $ 3 .
( R k y n e b r w y d e t ) : xii, xii, xvii. k y n d y n n y a w c adj. tenacious, resolute
k y f r e d e c vn. keep pace with: subj. 268: xvii.
imperf. sing. 3. k y f r e t t e i 2 3 6 . k y n d e i r a w c adj. mad 557.
k y fre ith e u n. pi. o f k y f r e i t h law k y n h e b r w y d e t equat. of e b r w y d

1 1 2 , 135- swift 330.

k y frw c h vn. meet, converse 4 2 5 . c y n i f y w r nm. warrior I057n.
k y frw g prep, between 1 4 8 , 4 6 2 , 4 9 9 , k y n y o n n. pi. of k y n stump 878.
669 (R y rw n g ) 462, g e y r H aw k y n ( n ) e d y f nf. quality, peculiarity

499- 235, 247, 268, 270, 272, 388,

k y fry w adj. such a 133. k y n e d e f 267.
192 G LO SSA RY

k yn n eu vn. kindle, light 392. dan gos vn. show: imper. sing. 2.
k y n (n )lly u a n (n ) nm. leash 675, 676, dan gos 450, 3. d a n g o s s e t 319.
679, 682, 700, 963, 964, 976, 978, d a l a vn. capture 992m, 993, sting 526,

1006. bite 540, 557, d a l y hold 68in.: xix

k y n n u l l a w vn. gather 990; pret. pret. sing. 3. d e l i s sn., 1012; subj.
sing. 3. k y n n u l l w y s 1057: xxi. pres. sing. 3. d a l ( h ) y o 614, 67$,
k y n t comp, of k y n n a r prompt, 678, 701, 707, 963; imper. sing. 3.
quick 65, adj. former 1222, adv. d a l e t 474.

before, formerly 415 (R n o r b o r e ) , d a m s a t h y r nm. throng 468n. (R y

k y n t a f superl. of k y n n a r prompt, c h w a r e ) : xii, xviii.

quick 6$. d a n prep, under. 133, 243, 302, 690,

k y n t e i t nf. first swarm 6 1 1 . 733. 791. + vn. while 959; sing. 3

k y n y d nm. huntsman 684, 707; pi. fern, d e n i 1213: xx, d a n e u h u b a c
k y n ( n ) y d y o n 731 ( R e u h o b squealing and squalling

k e d y m d e it h o n ), 1 135, 1138. 1217.

k y n y d y aeth nf. huntsmanship 685. d a n t nm. tooth 35.

k y r c h u vn. seek out 3 1 , approach, d a r nf. oak tree 86$, 866.

make for 81, 458, 769. d a r u o t vn. happen: imperf. sing 3.

k y s c u vn. sleep 97, 308, 386, 751, d a r o e d 973, I0 2 8 n.; pret. sing. 3.

9 6 9 , 9 7 1 , 9 8 9 ; pret. sing. 3. d a r u u 8i3n., 825, 1172.

k y s c w y s 1 2 4 2 xxi; subj. pres. sing. d a r o g a n nfm. prediction, prophecy

3. k y s c o 620. 40.
k y s s e u in adj. first 251: xiii, xvi. d a r p a r u vn. prepare, intend: plup.

k ystal equat. of d a good 144, 271, sing. I . d a r p a r y s s w n 837.

796. d a r w a r e vn. frolic, sport about 73:

k y th re u l nm. devil 227. xviii.

k y th ry m h e t adj. direct, exact, 35m., d a t r i t h a w vn. transform, restore to

525n.: xvii. original form 940.

k y w e i t h y d nf. troop, company, 421, d a w nm. son-in-law $25, $40, 549,

780. 553-
d a y a r nf. earth, ground, land 159,

*ch pers. pron. infix, obj. pi. 2 , 7 6 6 . 348, 571, 745. 946, 1188.
ch w aer nf. sister 3 5 9 , 4 0 6 , c h w a y r d e c h r e u vn. begin 151.

455- d e u a w t nf. custom, practice 419.

c h w e c h a c h comp. adj. sweeter 610: d e u e i t n.pl. sheep 417, 432.

xvii. d e f n y t u y n d a w nm. my future

c h w e d l e u n . pi. news ii5n. son-in-law $i8n., 549: xviii.

c h w e n n y c h vn. desire, long for: d e c a r a d y r a r u g e i n t n. thirty

pres. sing. 3. w e n n y c h 662. ploughs 319-20.

c h w i pers. pron. simple affix, aux. pi. d e n g m i l l t i r a d e u g e i n t n. fifty

2. 431, 477, 763, 855, 868, 880, miles 348.

890, 899. d e g t r a w s t a d e u g e i n t n. fifty beams

c h w ith e u pers. pron. conjunct, 328.

indep. pi. 2. 437, 515; affix, aux. d e c t r y u e r a d e u g e i n t n. fifty

1089. tridents 897-8.

c h w y u y a w vn. stir, move: imperf. d e g w y r a d e u g e i n t n. fifty men 94.
sing. 3. c h w y u e i 80 (R c h r y m e i ) . d e h e u nm. south 956, adj. right 72,

72.
da n. possessions 150, good 1071; adj. d e iu a w vn. singe 960: xvii.
good 47, 103, 388, 507, 628, 725, deon n.pl. of d a nobles 144: xvii.
792, 815, adv. well 30. d e u num. masc. two 62, 69, 119, 148,

d a d l e u nm. debate 804. 315, 323 etc., fern, d w y 73, 351,

d a u a t e s nf. dock of sheep 416:. 495* 533. 542, 908 etc.
 GLO SSA RY 193
deu p e in a w cadj. two-headed 19. d ih e u adj. sure, certain, true 970,
d e u d e c num. twelve u y . 1027.
d e u g l u s t n. (the) two ears 1 0 2 6 , d e u d i l i s adj. real, true, genuine 423m

g lu s t 1090, 1233. d i l l a t n.pl. clothes 756.

deu p arth n. two thirds 1 1 6 , 1 1 6 . d i m pron. anything 22, 24, 102, 276,

d e w i s s a w vn. choose 1 0 1 ; subj. pres. 378, 502 etc.

sing. 2. d e w i s s y c h 101. d i o t vn. take out/away 816, 897, 995,

d i pers. pron. simple affix, aux. sing. 2. 1187, 1238.

36, 83, 134,, 154, 380, 433, 570, 602, d i o l w c h vn. thank 1236m, 1236.

794, 816, 832, 838, 839, 840, 861, d i o t t a vn. partake of drink 307: xvii.

873, 962, 965, 1235, d y 771. 957- d i r e i d y e i t adj. pi. of d i r y e i t wicked,

d i a l nm. vengeance 854; vn. avenge villainous 517 (R d i r c i t w y r ) .

284; pres, impers. d i e l i r 471. d i s k y n n u vn. dismount 140, arrive

d i a n a f adj. unwounded, unhurt 1035. 766, descend 1031, 1079, land,

d i a n c vn. escape: pres. sing. 2. disembark 1055m, 1062, 1097; pres,
d i h e n g y 508; pret. sing. 3. sing. 3. d i s k y n 801.
d i e n g ( h ) i s 231, 1138, d i h e n g i s 246. d i s g y r r y a w vn. shout, cry out 512.

d i a r u u vn. disarm 1216. d i s p e i l a w vn. unsheathe, draw 945.

d i a s p a t nf. shout I05n. d i s t r y c h nm. foam 491: xvii.

d i a s p e d e i n vn. shout, cry out 744; d i t h e u pers. pron. conjunct, affix,

subj. pres. sing. 2. d i a s p e t t y c h h i . aux. sing. 2 17, 1 16, 506, 586, 591,
d i d a n adj. pleasant, entertaining 93, 834.
9 7 , 149- d i w a r n a w t nm. day 385, d i w a r n a w d

d i d a n u vn. entertain 6 2 7 , 6 3 3 . adv. one day 26m: xx.

d i d a w l adj. without a share 145 ( R d i w e t h a f adv. last 231.

d i d l a w t 7 1 4 1 1 .): xii. d i w r e i d y a w vn. uproot 57m.

d i e d n e d i c vb. adj. twisted 4 6 4 : xviii. d i w y n vn. trim 58m, 163.

d i e u y l n.pl. of d i a f w l devil, demon d o d i vn. place, put 443, 1047, 1050,

7i4n. 1240, raise (a shout) 1141; pres,

d ie u npl. of d y d day (with numerals) sing. I. d o d a f raise 104; imperf.
386n., I073n., Cf. G M W 33, 4 7 . impers. d o d i t 280; pret. sing. 3.
d i u a vn. destroy, lay waste: pret. d o d e s 226, 228, 714, imp« rs. d o d e t
impers. d i u a w y t 8 7 7 . 564, 788, 1141, 1224; subj. pres,
d iu e t h a vn. destroy 8 9 6 . impers. d o t t e r 656, 658; imperf.
d i u u d y a w c adj. tireless, vigorous 695. sing. 3. d o t t e i 820.
d i u w y n adj. unmolested, untouched d o u o t nm. a find 446m (R b u d ) xii.
1001. d o g y n nmf. (full) measure, fill 64m,
d i f i e i t h adj. desolate, wild 1070. 1044.
d i f i e i t h a w vn. lay waste, destroy 821, d o l e u n.pl. loops 164.
1028. d o l u r y a w vn. hurt, wound 1118.
d i f f r y t vn. defend 9 4 6 , 1 1 9 1 ; pret. d r a n n o e t h adv. on the morrow 1119.
sing. 3. d i f f y r t h 1142. d r a w adv. yonder, beyond 292, 570,
d i g a w n nm. sufficiency, enough 281, 590, 602, 607.
1087. d r e m nf. sight 554.
d i g o n i vn. make, do, prepare: pres, d r o s prep, over 328, 433, 808, 943,
sing. i. d i g o n a f 790; pret. sing. 3. 1143, in return for 532.
d i g o n e s 528, impers. d i g o n e t 528; d r w c nm. ill, evil, mischief 54, 835,
subj. pres. sing. 3. d i g o n h o 579, 907, 107m., 1087, 1094, 1190m,
584, 803 d y g o ( n ) h o (R g w y p o ) 798. 1198, 1222, 1231; adj. bad, evil 18,
d i g r i b y a w vn. rush into, towards; 465, 516.
pret. sing. 3. d i g r i b y w y s 1 1 3 6 : xxi. d r w s nm. door, entrance 1225, 1226.
d i g r i f adj. pleasant, agreeable 8 3 4 , d r w y prep, through, by means of
1220. 919.
194 G LO SSA RY

d r y c h a u e l v n . r is e , ra is e ; i m p e r f . s in g . I . d o t h w y f 1 5 2 , 3. d o t h y w
s in g . 3. d r y c h a u e i 2 6 2 ; p r e t . s i n g . 99, 1 16 ( R e t h y w ), 439, d o d y w

3. d ry ch a u w ys 354; im p e r . p i. 2. 7 6 7 ; p i. i. d o d y m 4 7 7 , 2.
d ry ch e u w ch $17, $47 (R d y r -). d o d y w ch 477: x v i, x v i, x v i, x v i;

d ry g e ir nm . i ll r e p o r t 104. p lu p . p i. 3. d a t h o e d y n t 114311.;

d r y s s ie n n f. b r ia r 19, 2 8 : x v i i . s u b j. p re s . s in g . 3. d e l w y f 9 0 6 , p i .
du nm . b la c k 6 0 5 , 7 6 1. 2. deloch 881. im p e rs . dyfier 659;
d u h u n aw v n . w a k e 632. im p e rf. s in g . 3. delhei 275, 279,

d u r a d j. h a r d 541. 4 5 7 , 6 1 9 , p i. 2. d e l e w c h 1 0 8 8 , 3.
d u w adv. day io o 2 n . C f. G M W 33. d e lh y n t 306, 4 0 9; im p e r. s i n g . 2.

d w u y r nm . w a t e r 2 71, 280, 385, 1196. dos 5 0 3 n ., 3. d o e t 9 0 8 , p i . 1. d o w n

d w y : see d e u . 4 2 6 , 2. d o w c h 519.

d w y u ro n n f. b re a s t 539. d y u y n n v vn. su m m o n 997, 1133.

d w y la w n. d u a l h a n d s 267, 463. d y g a b o l i v n . b e a t s o u n d ly , d ress

d w y n v n . b r in g , b e a r 32, $98, tak e dow n 1216: x v iii.

aw ay 154, 8 2 1 , 8 4 9, 9 9 0 ; p r e s . s in g . d y gred u v n . v is it 6: x v ii.

I . d y g a f 103, 3 8 0 , 7 7 7 ; p re t. s in g . d y g ry n n y a w v n . c l o s e in 1182.

3. d u e 1187, im p e r s . d u c p w y t 119, d y g w y d a w vn. fa ll, a t ta c k ii4 4 n .:

6 85, 862, 873, 885, 9 04, d u c p w y d XXV, 1179; im p e r f . s in g . 3.

354; s u b j. p re s . s in g . 3. d y c c o 91, d y g w y d e i 7 4 5 m ; p re t. s in g . 3.

269, d y c c w y 768 (R . d y c k o ) 768, d y g w y d w y s 866, 1194: x x i.

7 7 4 )i 7 7 4 : x v i ; i m p e r . s in g . 2. d w e d y gy reh u vn. m a k e fo r, seek 26, 499

947 - (R d y u o t ), 1042; p re s . s in g . 3.

d w y re in n m . east 125, 6 5 8 . d y gy rch (d r a w ) 800; im p e r f. s in g .

d y p oss. p ro n . p r e fix , s in g . 2. + n. 3. dygyrehei ( d r a w ) 6 5 ; p r e t . s in g .

18, 4 4 , 50, 58, 83, 1 46, e t c ., + vn. 3. d y g y r c h w y s 1186; x x i s u b j.

167, 9 1 7 , 1220. p re s, im p e r s . d y g y r e h e r 136;

d y a llu v n . c a tc h , c a p t u re ; p re t. s in g . im p e r . s in g . 2. d y g y r c h c o m e ! 382.
3. d y a l l a s 3711. ( R lla t h r u d a w d ) dy h ed a d j. d e p lo r a b le , s h a m e fu l 133,

x ii, x iii, x ix . 470, d y h e d a beth a d e p lo ra b le

d y d nm . day 306, 324, 759, 822, 1068, t h in g 133, 7 9 6 n . C f . fu r t h e r G M W

1072, i f 19, d y t 301, 4 1 4. 530, 575; 37 -

d y d b r a w t d a y o f ju d g m e n t 1002, d y l y e t n fm . d u t y , o b lig a t io n 856.

1004, d y t b r . 3 7 0 -1 . d y n nm . m an 127, 133, 2 2 6 , 2 3 6, 2 7 6,

d y d g w e ith ad v . o n e d a y 942, 4 2 5 e t c ., a n y o n e 1 1 38 ; p i. d y n y o n

d y tg w e ith 34. 876.

d y d w y n vn. b rin g 790. dynessau vn. ap proach , m o v e to w a rd s

d y u ot vn. c o m e 39, 46, 4 2 9, 4 4 7, 455, 958, 1180.

4 5 9 e t c ., d y u o d 5 45; p re s . s in g . 2. d y r n a w t n m . b lo w 972.

d o y 7 6 2 , 3. d a w 94, 479, 480, 482, d y rn u ed n m f. han d bread th 389, 888.

483, 5 8 0 e t c ., p i. I. d o w n 9 4 8 , 3. d y ry s a d j. ro u g h , w ild 590.

d e u u a n t 412 (R d e u t h a n t ) n ., d y sk y m on nm . fu e l, k i n d li n g 391:

d e u a n t 4 1 51 1 ., d o a n t 7 4 4 ; c o n s u e t , x v iii.

p res. fu t . s in g . 3. d y p i 535; p ret. d y w adv. day 84m (R d u w ), 370n,

s in g . I. d eu th u m 836, 850, 863, 480.

8 7 5 , 8 8 6 , 8 8 7 , 8 9 1 , 9 0 2 , 2. d y u u o s t dywedut v n . s a y , s p e a k , t e ll 47, 1 0 2 ,
1 2 9 , 3. d y u u 6, 6, 7, 9, 1 14, 139: 531, 776, 8 2 5 , 9 0 1 e t c . ; dywedud
x v i, x v i, d e u t h 34, 247, 4 0 4, 876, 1 1 3; p r e s . s i n g . 1. dywedaf 1 6 8 ,

945, 1103, d o e t h 14 1 , 2 4 6 , 4 4 5 , 4 5 4 , 519, 799. 905. 1 0 8 9 , 2 . dywedy 3 6 ,

605, 805, 927, 1018, 1 1 12, 1142, 133. 375. p i - I- dywedwn 1 0 8 7 .
1 1 6 0 , p i. I. d o e t h a m 8 6 0 , 8 8 3 , 3. i m p e r s . dywedir 5 6 2 , 7 8 9 ; i m p e r f .

dyu uan t 809, d e u t h a n t 559, 823, s i n g . I . dywedwn 8 7 4 , i m p e r s .

910, 12 1 1, d o e t h a n t 531, 9 4 9, p e rf. dywedit 2 6 5 ; p r e t . s i n g . 3.

 GLO SSA RY 195
d y w a w t39, 500, 565, 778, 782, en gy l can h orth w y nm. attendant
788, 802, 814, 826, 832, 835, 839, angel 230m
841, 850, 863, 883, 886, 912, 957, eh aw c nm. salmon 892.
985, 1038, 1045, 1075, 1184, 1206, e i d i poss. pron. (stressed) sing. 3.

1234, dywawd 49, 265, 374, 379, fern, hers 495.

381, pi. 3. dywedassant 947, e i n g o n nfm. anvil 851, also e i n o n .

121911.; subj. pres. sing. 2. e i l nm. son i84n, 197, 217, 225, 395,

dywettych 382; imper. sing. 2. 992, 1155, adj. second 529, 537, 877.
dywet 167, 861. e i l l a w vn. shave 638, 639, 651, 1232;
pret. impers. e i l l w y t 1 2 3 4 m , 1 2 3 4 .
d y prep, to 12. Cf. GMW 201 (R y) e i n o n nmf. anvil 5 2 8 , also e i n g o n .

12: XX. e i n y m poss. pron. (stressed) pi. 1.

d y u r t h prep, from, because 10-11. ours 9 4 8 .

Cf. GMW 200-1: XX. e i r a s nmf. stake 462, 463.
e i r y a c h vn. spare, save 87 (R a r b e t ) .

*e pers. pron. infix, obj. sing. 3. e i r o e t adv. ever 53, 213, 236, 238,

masc. 130, 162, 171, 172, 236, 259, 241, 309, 401, 404, 420, 42m., 456,
$08, 567, 579, 643, 789, 857, 874, 729, 767, e i r y o e t 961; e i r m o e t
899, 905, 9Ó2n., 1047, fern. 383, 127m, 374, 907m, e i r m o y t 448, Cf.
485, 496, 562, 566, 1237. GMW 222.
* e poss. pron. infix, sing. 3. masc. + e i r y c h u vn. charge, impute 5 0 2 : xviii.

nn. 79, 279, 284, 440, 456, $72, e i s s e u nm. need 2 7 6 , y n e i s s e u

640, 643m, 648m, 702, 702 etc.; lacking 9 5 1 : xv.

fern. 101, 375, 482, 492, 497, 532 e i s s o e s adv. however, nevertheless
etc. 982, e i s s w y s 415m: xx.
* e poss. pron. infix, sing. 3. masc. + e i s s y w e t nm. need, lack 380.
vn. 56, 154, 353, 523, 523, 523 etc. e i s t e d vn. sit 499, 953; imper. sing. 2.

fern. 282, 368, 376, 461, 487, 537 e i s t e d 148.

etc. e i t h a f nm. end, limit 4 1 7 .

* e poss. pron. infix, pi. 3. + vn. e i t h y r prep, apart from, except 1 5 9 ,

1216. 951, 1122.

e d e r y n nm. bird 851, 1031, 1079. e ith y r h y n n y adv. save then, at other
e d l i n g nm. aetheling, heir-apparent times 85.
149m: xi, xvii. e l l w n g vn. free, release 917, swing

e d r y c h vn. look at, see 549, 814, 1051.

954, 1025; pres. sing. 3. edrych e l l y g y w r nm. unlcasher 725m

130; also ydrych. e l l y n nmf. razor 1090m, 1185m

e d u c h e r adv. till evening 759, 1068. e m e n d i g e i t adj. cursed 525, 527, 540,

e t i l vb. pres. sing. 3. reaches, goes .Hi, 5 5 3 , 5 5 6 -

Cf. GPC 1169. c n e i t nmf. life, soul 456m, 484, 755,
ef pers. pron. simple indep. sing. 3. 1091, 1238; e n e i t d r o s e n e i t life for
masc. I, 41, 141, 231, 26$, 271 etc.; life adv. 1146-7, 1 171.
ac ef yn vyw while he is alive e n n i l l e c nf. battle-axe (see n. on
702, Cf. GMW 231. g l e i f ) 63
e f pers. pron. simple affix, aux. 3. e n w nm. name 1148.
masc. 16, 449, 581, 587, 622, 625 e r b y n prep, by, against 573.
etc. e r c h i vn. ask, seek, request 21, 437,
e f a pre-verb, affirm, prt. 6 . 439, 454, 457, 477, 505, 515, 56211.,
egw eti nmf. portion, dowry, paid by 1037, 1038, 1044, 1062m; pres. sing,
the bride’s father to her husband i . a r c h a f 18, 1082, 3. e i r c h 562,
5 3 2 n. 565, 566; pret. sing. 3. e r c h i s 503;
e n g h i vn. to be delivered 8n.: xvii. subj. pres. sing. 2. e r c h y c h 59m, 3.
e g l y n nm. englyn 977m a r c h o 506.
196 GLO SSA RY

e r e d ic vn. plough 572, 590. . 784, 853, 892, u y m 20, 432, 436,
e r e ill pron. pi. subst. others 131. 608, 638, 638, 651, 757, 891, 893,
e r g r y n nm. trembling, dread 1061. u y n 39, 150, 503, 518, 518, 549,
e r g y d y a w vn. proffer: subj. pres. 908.
sing. 3. e r g y t t y o 96. u y t h adv. for ever 266, 370, 1002;
e r h y l nf. hunt 1015, 110$: xvii. with neg. ever 248, 270, 276, 314,
e r t r e i nm. breaking of waves, first 465, 652 etc, from b y t h .
ebb after high water 447n. (R
t o n n e n ) : xvii. fio n nm. foxglove, rose, 496: xvi,
e r w nf. acre 238. xvii.
e s g y l l n.pl. of a s g e l l wing 878. f l a m g o c b adj. fiame-red 488.
e s g y n n u vn. mount: pret. sing. 3. ffo vn. flee 1053.
e s g y n n w y s 1016: xxi. f o e nf. forge 541, 556: xviii.

e s t o f i vn. weave, plan, plot: pret. f o r d nf. way, road 241, 305, 1084.

sing. 3. e s t o n e s 297n. f r a w d u n y a w vn. wheedle 153: xviii.

e s t w n g vn. bend down, settle: pres. f r w y n nfm. bridle-bit 61.

sing. 3. e s t w g 652. f u s t nf. flail 320.

e s t y n n n vn. stretch, dress 651. f y n h a w n nf. spring 493.

e t i u e d nm. offspring 4, e t t i u e t 40. f y n h o n u s adj. welling 493.

e t m i c nm. honour, praise 138, 147. f y r c h n.pl. of f o r c h fork 5i7n., 547.

e t w a adv. again, yet 49, 478, 606,

e t t w a 380, 535, 606. gad u vn. leave, let, allow 133, ioor,
e u poss. pron. prefix, pi. 3. their + n. pres. sing. 2. g e d y 833, 3. g a t 449,
108, 109, 283, 330, 331, 331 etc., a c 468n., 703, impers. g e d i r 767;
e u 1217, y e u 543, 558, 811; + vn. imperf. sing. 3. g a d e i 276; subj.
414, 1099, 1192, 1218, a c e u 597, pres, impers. g a t t e r 92, 112 (R
940, 946, 1216, 1216. Cf. B xiv, e l l y n g i r ) ; 554 imper. sing. 2. g a t

24-9. 784, pi. I . g a d w n 968.

e u r nm. gold 78, 917; adj. 61, 62, 67, g a u a e l g i nm. mastiff 418, 512.

164, 441- g a u y l g y g w n g adj. with well-knit

e u rcrw y d y r adj. gold-chased 68. fork 61.

eu rd w rn adj. gold-hilted 67. g a l p e n n nm. headache 555: xviii.

e u r t y r c h o g y o n npl. gold-torqued g a l w vn. call 15, 20, 393, 399, 402,

ones 3 5 7 n. 404, 408; pres, impers. g e l w i r 278;

e w y t h y r nm. uncle 259; pi. imperf. impers. g e l w i t 498, 810 .
e w y t h r e d 252, 1165, y w y t h r e d g a l l u vn. be able 300, 1224, g a l l e l

290n.: xix. 782 (R g w y b o t ) , 789 (R g w d o s t ) ;

pres. sing. 1. g a l l a f 502, 2. g*uy
ual conj. as 500, 942, 1192, 1196, 58on., 586, 591, 615, 621, 625, 629,
121 1 , how 1085; y u a l conj. how 659, 749, 840, pi. 2. g e l l w c h 1081,
825. impers. g e l l i r 648, 664, 701, 735;
u a l k y n t adv. still, despite that 927. imperf. sing. 3. g a l l e i 386n., 409;
u a l h y n n adv. like this 796. pret. sing. 3. g a l l w y s 237, 1189:
u e l l y adv. thus. so. 465, 939. 946, xxi; subj. sing. 3. g a l l o 948, pi. 1.
1005, 1245. g a llo m 1094, impers. g a l l e r 667.
u i pers. pron. simple indep. obj. sing. g a n prep, with, by 263, 447, 504, 530,

I. 893; dep. affix, aux. sing. 1. 113, 628, 902 etc. sing. I. g e n n y f 606,
484, 502, 7 5 4 . 776. 845°., g e n h y f 381, 501, 557, 576,
u y poss. pron. prefix, sing. 1. 54, 116, 582, 588 etc., 2. g e n n y t 4 4 , 97 ( R
134, 153. 159, 160. 162, 169, 484, g e n t h i ) . 837, 842, 917, 948, g e n h y t

516, 548. 548. 554. 562, 565, 568, 508, 580, 621, 732, 7 7 5 « 791, 7 9 2 . 3 -
620, 733. 838. 878, 936, u y g 135, masc. g a n t h a w 388, 420, 440, 456,
159, 160. 161. 161, 166, 547, 668. 767, 785, 1041. 1229, g a n t a w 830,
 G LO SSA RY 197

927, 1008, 1027, 1067, 1150 etc.; g o h ilio n n.pl. residue, remnant 472m
fern, g e n t h i 454, 45511., 456, 935, g o l c h i vn. wash 481, 638.

989, 1040, g e n t i 3, pi. i. g e n h y m g o l e u nm. light 130.

1 1 5, 382, 1220, 2. g e n h w c h 427, 3. g o l u t nmf. wealth 918.

g a n t h u n t 31, 781, 808, g a n t h u 32: g o l w c nmf. eye 493, 494, 494, look,

xvi, xxi, g a n t u n t 824, 976, 1055, glimpse 1039: xviii.

1173, 1232; g a n a n w a e r e t adv. up g o l w y t h o n n.pl. chops 92, 131.

the slope 526. g o r a n h e d nm. ample supply 132 (R

g a r t h nmf. thicket 570. p a r a w t ) : xviii.

g a r w s o n nm. dreadful noise 944. g o r d e t h o l adj. picked, select 1059.

g a s t nf. bitch 939. g o r d i b l a nm. mighty plague 313:

g a w r nfm. shout, clamour 1141. xviii.

g a y a f nm. winter 4i9n. g o r d t o r c h nm. collar, torque 70, 488.

g e u e i l nf. forge 304. g o r e s g y n vn. conquer, subdue 1241.

g e i r nm. word 1045. g o r e u superl. of d a good 405, 406,

g e l nfm. leech 540. 776, 810.

g e l u i n nmf. beak 853. g o r e u r e i t adj. golden 131.

g e l l w n g vn. drop, let loose, send, g o r u o t vn. overcome, be answerable

unleash, 998, ioó7n., 1140, 1210; (with a r ) 992m; fut. sing. 3.

pres. sing. 1. g e l l y n g h a f 375; g o r u y d 756; consuet, past. sing. 3.

imperf. sing. 3. g e l l y n g e i 325; g o r u y d e i 465m; subj. pres. sing. 3.

pret. impers. g e l l w n g w y t 729: xx; g o r f f o 1003. Cf. G M W 146-7.

imper. sing. 2. g e l l w n g 1221. g o r h e n d a t nm. great-grandfather

g e n u n e u n.pl. of g e m gem, jewel 534n.

490. go rh en u am nf. great-grandmother
g e n i vn. be bom 354. 534 n-
g e s s e u i n adv. first 113: xvii. g o r lle w in nm. west 659, 1010.
g i r a t adj. grievous, bitter 943. go rsetu a nf. mound 417.
g l a n h a u vn. clean 793. g o r u c defective vb. pret. sing. 3 did
g l a w nm. rain 133, 157, 389. 8, 9, 15, 20, 21, 24, 27, 28, 43, 47,
g l e i f nmf. spear, sword 63m 52, 52n., 60, 102, 141, 165, 166,
g l o nm. charcoal, cinders 571. 3 9 3 , 440, 441, 4 4 3 , 4 4 3 , 4 4 4 , 460,
g l w t h nm. couch 349. 468, 499, 510, 521, 523, 536, 538,
g l y n n nm. glen, wooded valley 875. 551, 778, 787, 791, 793, 794, 813,
g l y n u vn. stick, keep close, remain 820, 829, 832, 848, 897, 901, 923,
faithful/loyal to: pres. sing. 3 g l y n 924, 929, 932, 933, 938, 941, 944,
807. 971, 972, 9 7 6 , 9 7 8 , 9 9 5 , 9 9 7 , 1020,
g o b e i t h nmf. hope 845, 917. 1029, 1031, 1033, 1044, 1047, 1064,
g o c h e l vn. avoid, flee from: pret. 1065, 1078, 1080, 1098, 1100, 1105,
sing. 3. g o c h e l a w d 961: xxi. 1109, 1133, 1139, 1168, 1180, 1208,
g o d r w y t h nmf. marsh trefoil (GPC 1212, 1215, 1217, 1225, 1228, 1241;
1424)?, see n. to 492. pi. 3. gorugant 32, 412, 458, 467,
g o f nm. smith 527, 851. 521, 529, 531, 543, 549, 759, 811,
g o u e n e i c nmf. hope 473. 830, 847, 859, 871, 901, 958, 1043,
g o u y n vn. ask 165, 848, 884, 903, 1095, 1222; impers. gorucpwyt 10,
933, 1080, 1133; pres. sing. 1. 46, 519, 769, 790, gorucpwyd 12,
g o u y n n a f 36, pi. 2. g o v y n n w c h 487 (R gwnaethpwyt) 10, 12, 519:
855, 868, 879, 890; pret. sing. 1. XÍÍÍ, XXV.
g o u y n n e i s 782, 2. g o u y n n e i s t 781, gorwen fern, of gorwynn bright,
3. g o u y n n w y s 1074: xxi. shining, gleaming 334, 737-
g o g l y t vn. snatch 460. gorwyd nm. horse 60, 74, 81, 14m.:
g o g o f nf. cave 937, 1209, 1211, 1218, xvii.
1221, 1226. g o r y m d e i t h vn. walk, stroll 34m
198 GLO SSA RY

g o r y s c a la w c adj. overflowing 93: gw asan ay th u r nm. servant 2 7 2 m

xvi, xvii. gw ascaru vn. disperse 8 1 1 , 9 4 1 , 1 2 4 3 .
g o r y w defective vb. pret. sing. 3. did g w a s c u vn. squeeze, press 4 6 3 , 9 7 3 ;

I40n. subj. imperf sing. 2 . g w a s c u t 4 6 4 .

g o s s o t vn. place 462, 820. g w a s t a t adj. level 3 0 2 .

g o w a n adj. piercing, stabbing, g v a y w nmf. spear i6on., 2 2 8 , 3 3 5 ,

pointed, 335, 738: xvii. 3 9 8 ^7 3 8 , 7 9 9 -

g r a y a n n.coll. gravel 493. g w c h i n. coll, drones 611: xviii.

g r i d u a n nm. groaning, moaning, 911, g v d e n nf. withe 464.

g r i d u a 943. g w e d y prep, after 3, 1005, 1009,

gru d nfm. cheek 4 9 6 ; slope, tilth 6 0 2 . 1023, 1043, 1046, 1053, 1061, IIO I,
g rw m s e it nm. dark blade 7 9 2 . C f B 1 1 15, w e d y 1218, ( g ) w e d y h y n n y
XXXV (1 9 8 8 ), 5 5 -6 1 : xvii. after that, thereafter 866, 949, 968,
gw a d n e u npl. soles o f foot 3 0 4 . 974, 1007, 1036, 1195.
gw a e inteij. woe! 3 9 . g w e t i nf. prayer 4.

gw a e t nm. blood 6 4 , 1 6 7 , 6 5 2 , 6 5 5 , g w e d u vn. suit: imperf. sing. 3.

800, 1206, 1228. g w e d e i 30.

g w a e la w t nm. lower end, bottom, g w e u y l nf. lip 325.

depths, 106, 322, g w a e l a w d 102, g w e g i l nmf. nape of the neck 553.

g w a e l a w t t y lower half of a house g w e i n nf. sheath, scabbard 281, 816,

I4 3 n.: xviii. 818, 820, 1195, 1195.

g w a e t h comp, of d r w c bad 96, 143, g w e i t h nm. work 586, 8i4n, 815,

400, 526, 554, 567, 1191, 1222. 852.

g w a l nfm. lair 1032, 1079. g w e i t h e u adv. sometimes 75, 76.

g w a l a nf. enough, plenty, fill 312, g w e l e t vn. see 27, 1039, 1217, 1220;

314, 968. pres. sing. 1. g w e l a f 570, 603, 2.

g w a l c h nmf. falcon 4 9 4 . g w e l y 570, 602, 965; pi. 2.

g w a l l a w vn. serve, deal out, pour g w e l w c h 763, 875, 3. g w e l a n t 761,

6 2 4 : xvi. impers. g w e l i r 270; imperf. sing. 3.

g w a llo c a u vn. neglect 2 4 m : xvii. g w e l e i 26m., 401, 410, 496, pi. 3.

g w a llt nm. hair 5 8 m , 1 6 2 , 5 3 0 , 6 6 8 , g w e l y n t 410, 4i3n., 41611., impers.

1213, 1214, 1239 (R g w a ll) 530. g w e l i t 1085; pret. sing. 1. g w e l e i s

g w a n nmf. stab, wound, stroke, 3 3 5 , 448, 3. g w e l a s 478, 500, pi. 3.

7 3 8 ; vn. pierce, stab, 5 2 4 , 5 3 8 . g w e l s a n t 1043m, impers. g w e l a s i t

g w a n u vn. stab, pierce, 5 5 2 ; prct. 760; subj. pres. sing. 1. g w e l w y f

sing. 3. g w a n t 259, 557. 518, 3. g w e l h o 45m., pi. I .
g w a re nm. play 1198. g w e l h o m 479, impers. g w e l e r 480.

g w a r e t vn. move, recover, heal 387, g w e l l comp, of d a good 321, also

585m, 948, 949. 145, but here = greeting from

g w a r t h a f superl. of ( g w ) a r as n. h e n p y c h g w e l l in line 142 above;

upper end 1 0 1 , g w a r t h a f d y the p w y g w e l l g e n h y t which do you

upper end of the house 1 4 3 - 4 . prefer 791, o e d w e l l g e n h y f I

g w a r t h a f l e u n.pl. stirrups 79m xi. would prefer 795.
g w a r t h a u vn. asperse: pres. sing. 2. g w e l l e u nm. shears 667n., 669,

g w e rth e y 381. I0 9 0 n., 1187.

gw a rth e c ncoll. cattle 1 1 0 0 . g w e l l i u nm. shears 1 6 4 ( R g w e l l e u ) .

g w a s nm. youth, lad 4 6 9 , 4 7 1 , 8 0 5 , g w e n nf. smile 3 1 4 .

1 2 1 8 , servant 3 1 8 , 3 2 3 , 3 3 0 , 1 0 4 8 , g w e n fern, of g w y n fair, bright,

1049, 1122, 1181; pi. g w e is s o n 516, comely, 3 3 4 .

547, g w e i s (with num.) 1 1 2 m . g w e n ( h ) w y n i c adj. poisoned 522m,

g w a s a n a e t h nm. service 4 6 7 . 527, 550, 558.

g w a s a n a e t h u vn. serve: imper. sing. g w e n i t h nmf. wheat 834.

3. g w a s a n a e t h e t 131. g w e n n a w l nf. swallow 75.

 GLO SSA RY 199
g w e n w y n nm. poison 103$. gw ra ch nf. crone, witch 35, 36, 38,

g w e n y n n. coll, bees 611. 40, 1209, 1211, 1212, 1220, 1226;

g w e r e s k y n n. overcome, conquer, pi. g w r e ic h o n 741.

overrun 33; pret. sing 2. g w rd a nm. nobleman, lord 4 8 , 7 9 7 ;

g w e r e s k y n n e i s t 124, 3. pi. g w y rd a 136, 998, 1005.
g w e r y s k y n n w y s 245: xxi. g w r d a a e t h nf. nobility 137.

g w e r s nf. a (good) while 783 m g w r e i c nf. woman, wife 1, 2, 17,

g w e r t h nm. value 77, 78. 19, 29, 30 etc.; pi. g w r a g e d 17,

g w e r t h u a w r adj. valuable, precious 338 , 741 -
78, 489. vn. seek a wife 27, 47, 49.
g w r e ic c a

g w e s t nmf. stay, (for the night) 3m, g w r e ic d anf. lady 34, 43.
529m, feast 306, 307, 309: xvii. gw res nm. warmth, heat 267, 656,
g w e s t e i nm. guest 767. 657.
g w i c h a w vn. squeal 512. g w rh y t nm. fathom 348n. ( R
g w i n nm. wine 93. c u p p y t ); xii; valour H70n.
g w i r adj. true, just, right, 170, 567, g w r t e i t h vn. dress, trim 668, 813.

788; n. truth 147m, i62n., 172, g w r t h e b vn. reply 1083.

I72n.: xi. g w r t h r y c h y a d t e y r n a s nm. heir to

g w i s c a w vn. dress, put on 442. the kingdom I49n.: xi.

g w i w adj. meet 48, 530. g w r t h t i r nm. highlands, uplands

g w l a t nf. land, country 3, 91, 401, 409, 6$3n, 1027, g w r t h d i r i89n.: xvii.
795. 1093. 1124, 1244, g w l a d 4, 401. g w r t h t r w m adj. very heavy,

g w l e d nf. feast 611. oppressive 109.

g w l i t h n.coll. dew 66. g w r t h w a n nm. counter-thrust 398m:

g w l i t h i n nm. dewdrop 65. xvii.

g w l y c h u vn. wet: pres. sing. 3 g w r y c h n.coll. bristles 1 0 3 3 , 1 0 8 4 ,

g w l y c h 157. 1085.
g w n e u t h u r vn. make, do 467, 575, g w ry s nm. attack: m y n e t y g g w r y s
817, 835, 856, 970, 971, 999, 1088, w rth a w set upon him 895-6n.
g w n e u t h y r 704; pres. sing. 1. g w y b o t vn. know 8i2n.; pres. sing.

g w n a f 102, 154, 154, 174, 380, 857, I . g w n ( n ) 167, 471, 899, 2.

1172, 3. g w n a 628, 629, 969m, pi. g w d o s t 848, 861, 873, 884, 903,

I . g w n a w n 1086, 1094, 3. g w n a n t pi. I . g w d a m 861, impers. g w y s

555; imperf. sing. 3. g w n a e i 23; 434, 686, 693, 93 m.; imperf. sing.
pret. sing. 1. g w n e u t h u m 8 9 5 . 3 - I . g w y d w n 30, 3. g w y d a t 346,

g w n a e t h 264, 806, 945, 1031, 1069, 403 g w y d y a t 1122, 1134, 1135;

1077, 1079, 1083, 1086, 1097, 1153, pret. sing. 3. g w y b u 970, impers.
1156, 1176, pi. 3. g w n a e t h a n t 33, g w y b u w y t 1201; subj. pres. sing.

808, 825, 955, g w n a e t h o n t 429 ( R I. g w y p w y f 904, 3. g w y p ( p ) o

g o r u g a n t ) , impers. g w n a e t h p w y t 764, 899; imperf. sing. 1.

801, 852, 1001, 1 1 18, 1144: xxv; g w y p w n 874, 3. g w y p e i 241,
plup. sing. 3. g w n a e t h o e d 1087; 1223.
subj. pres. 2. g w n e l h y c h $66, g w y c h adj. fine, well $90.

g w n e l y c h ioon., $oin., 3. g w n e l g w y c h y r adj. fierce, gallant 1018,

428, pi. 2. g w n e l h o c h 1172, g w y c h y r d a in full fury 1034.
g w n e l o c h 485; imperf. sing. 3. g w y d b e d i n nm. fly, gnat 262,
g w n e l e i 421, impers. g w n e l h i t g w y d b e d y n 352.
134, g w n e l i t 574; imper. sing. 2. g w y d l w d y n nm. wild beast 710.
g w n a 41, 793, pi. 2. g w n e w c h 439, g w y l l t adj. wild 996; comp,
1 172. g u y l l t a c h 709; superl. g u y l l t a f

g w r nm. man 64, 354, 445n., 449, 710.

504, 512 etc; pi. gwyr 94, 189, 204, g w y n nm. light, shade, (white)

433 . 438 , 764 etc. colour 314.

200 G LO SSA RY

g w y n h w y l (incl. gw y n t) nm. urge, hayachen adv. almost 1 2 1 8 .

desire 240. h áŷarn nm. iron 5 2 7 , 5 4 1 , 5 5 8 ; pi.
g w y n n adj. fair, white 136, 49$, 608; h ey rn 585.
pi. g w y n n y o n 497n.; comp, h eb vb. said 57, 452, 517, 535,
g w y n n a c h 491, 492 (R t e g a c h ) : 827, 935, 1234, 1235 h e b y r 931,
xii, 495; n. white 605. 932 h e b y 96m., 962, 967, 968,
g w y n s e i t nm. white-blade 792. Cf. B 1091. Cf. GMW 154.
XXXV (1988), 55-61. h e b prep, without 5, 35, 352, 378,

g w y n t nm. wind 65, 133, 157, 555, 386, 405 etc. past. sing. 3. masc.
800, 954, 956. h e b d a w 421, 698, 721; impers.

g w y s s y a w vn. summon 923, 1167. adv. h e i b a w past, by 1100.

g y d ( a ) prep, along with 33, g y t a ( c ) h e b a w c nmf. hawk 493.

682, 805, 844, 984, io n , 1159, h e b c o r vn. spare, do without: pres.

1 162, 1180, 1231. impers. h e b c o r i r 715.

g y n t adv. formerly 117, 118, 119, h e d i w adv. today 99, 853, 866.

120, 122, 124, 125; earlier (than), h e u y t adv. either (with neg.) 42,

before 857, 870. 965; also 396, 1155, 1160.

g y n t a f adv. first 100, 826, 851, 863, h e i b a w see under h e b prep,

875, 887. h e i n t nmf. sickness, disease 249.

g y r r u vn. drive 1175, 1216, set 409, h e l y vn. hunt 731, h e l a 69on., 717,

530, send 23, 1036, 1077, 1105, go 735, 939» 1 135m: xix; pres,
938 g y r r u a r name ion.; pres. sing. impers. h e l i r 672, 698, 713, 721,
1. g y r r a f 428; pret. sing. 1. g y r r e i s 724, 727; also h y l y .
3. g y r r w y s 896m: xxi; 1025, h e n adj. old 35.

impers. g y r r w y t 1201. h e r w y d prep, by 1213, 1214, 1239.

g y s ( s ) e u i n adv. first 6 0 4 , 6 9 4 ; also h e s t a w r nmf. hestor (a measure)

g e s s e u in . 605, 95on.
h e u vn. sow 572; pret. impers.

ha interj. ah! 36, 54, 374, 381, 450, h e w y t 604.

464, 501, 766, 788. heul nmf. sun 158, 263.

h a c c r e d equat. of h a g y r ugly 226m h e u s (s )a w rnm. shepherd 417, 429,
Hagen conj. however nn., 18, 85, 430, 440, 458, 8o6n.
505, 856, 868, 880, 899, 960, 1027, h e y e r n y n nm. iron 320.

io33. h i pers. pron. simple indep. sing.

h a gy r adj. ugly, unbecoming, 3. fern. 15, 16, 33, 43, 382, 416
improper 721. etc.
h a l l t adj. salt 311. h i pers, pron. simple dep. affix.

h a n n y see h y n ( n ) y . aux. sing. 3. fern. 934, 939, 1237.

h a n b w y l l a w vn. care, be concerned; h i t h e u pers. pron. conjunct, indep.

imperf. sing. 3. h a n b w y l l e i 745 (R sing. 3. fern. 5, 21, 50, 444, 480,

yn y d e b y c k o ). 704, 1196, 1215.
hanuot vn. to be (from) 167m; pres, h i t h e u pers. pron. conjunct, dep.

sing. I. h a n w y f ( w e l l ) I shall fare affix, aux. sing. 3. fern. 4 5 9 , 4 6 1 ,

the better 640; fut. sing. 3. h a n b y d 463, 487, 1214.

526, 554; imperf. sing. 3. h a n o e d h o ed yl nf. life 5 0 4 .

189, 1123, (well)n.; subj. pres. sing. h o l i vn. claim: pres. sing. 2 . h o l y

2. h e n p y c h g w e l l hail! 142m, 148, 8 3 2 ; chase, pursue: pret. impers.

5 13— 1 4 n . ; imperf. sing. 3. h a n f F e i h o le t 1200.

( w e l l ) 1 0 3 9 Cf. G M W 147. h o ll adj. all the 346, 402, 842, 895.

h a n n e r nm. half 1019, middle 1227, h o l l t i vn. split: pret. sing. 3.

h a n h e r half 793. h o l l d e s 1019.

h a w d adj. easy 56, 576, 577, 582, 583, h o n ( n ) dem. pron. adj. fern, this

588 etc. 108, 143, 147, 152, 3 5 7 , 3 5 8 etc.

 G LO SSA RY 201

honno dem. pron. subst. sing. 3. fem. hynn dem. pron. subst. sing, this 396.
her, she, it 369, 371, 620, 865. hynn dem. pron. adj. pi. these 840.
honno dem. pron. adj. sing. fem. that hynny dem. pron. subst. sing, that 20,
376, 439, 450, 457. 529. 604, 625, 40, 57, 59. 103, 162 etc.
628, 633, 1099, 1242. hynny dem. pron. subst. pi. those
hun nf. sleep 276. (things) 757, 757, 1124 hynny dem.
hunaw vn. cause to sleep: pres. sing. pron. adj. pi. those 236, 598, 701,
3. huna 633. 708, 754, 804 etc.
hwch nfm. pig, swine 11, 1074, 1076. hyn(n)y conj. until 113, 504 (R hyt
hwnn dem. pron. subst. sing. 3. pan), 672.
masc. him, he, this, 472, 474, 878. hyny affirm, prt. 378n., 412m, 759,
hwnn dem. pron. adj. sing. 3. masc. han ny 416. Cf. GMW 245.
this 16, 105, 145, 471, 761, 881,
913. 9 7 7 - i pers. pron. simple dep. affix, aux.
hwnnw dem. pron. subst. sing. masc. sing. I. 16, 45, 102, 127, 13$, 146
him, he, that, it 452, 466, 572, 574, etc.
606, 709 etc. y poss. pron. prefix, sing. 3. masc. +
hwnnw dem. pron. adj. sing. masc. n. 47, 53, 63, 63, 67, 78, etc.; +
that 414, 579, 606, 614, 68$, 759, equat. adj. 226, 229, 244, 668.
1068, 1075, 1152. y poss. pron. prefix, sing. 3. fem. + n.
hwy pers. pron. simple indep. pi. 3. 6, 6, 15, 20, 35, 44, etc.
$98; dep. affix, aux. pi. 3. 467, 1063, y poss. pron. prefix, sing. 3. masc. +
1093. vn. 3, II, 153, 227, 229, 238, etc.
hwyntwy pers. pron. reduplic. indep. y poss. pron. prefix, sing. 3. fem. +
pi. 3. they 949- vn. 31, 846.
hyt nmf. length 385, hyd 238. y poss. pron. prefix, pi. 3. + vn. 1212.
hyt prep, to, as far as 64, 66, 70, 307, *y poss. pron. infix, sing. 3. masc. 406,
307, 32$ etc., hyd 101, till 370, 572.
1002, 1143; conj. as far as 155, 157, *y poss. pron. infix, sing. 3. fem. 442,
157, 158, 158, 158, hyd 425. 534
hyt att prep, to, as far as 847, 1065. *y infix, pron. obj. sing. 3. 152, 284,
hyt na conj. so that . .. not 105, 317, 320.
320, 410, 744, 1138, hyd na 22, y prep, to, for, of 9, 25, 35, 46, 48, 84
428, hyt nas (nas: na + s infix, etc.; + vn. 23, 34, $8, 97, 113, 308
pron. obj. sing/pl. 3) so that . . . etc.; sing. 1. y mi 49, 170, 268, 783,
not . . . it/them 410, 1121, 1223. 833, 1236, ymi 856, imi 36, 48, 266,
hyt pan(n) conj. so that 132, 463 (R 450, 4 7 3 , 4 7 3 , 7 5 4 . 7 9 7 , 816, ym
yny) 518, 548, 552, $71, $7 3 . 607n. 638, 640, 6$i, 652, 887, im 55, 172,
etc., until 9, 19, 51, $5, 479, 539 173, 3 9 9 , 465, 503, 5 3 5 , 833, 834,
etc., hyd pan 382, 412. 835, 846, 894, 2.y ti 445, iti 18, 40,
hyt tra conj. so long as, while 136, 47, 502, 506, 532, 535, itti 835, 837,
249, 553- 841, 843, 1234, yt 585, 777, it 18,
hyt yg prep, to, as far as 923, 975, 30, 36, 50, 56, 58, 59, 96, 446, 505,
1009-10, 1 1 31, 1 1 58, 1160, 1204 hyt $07, itt 884, 949, 1236, 1237; 3. sing,
yng 1024. masc., idaw 21, 59, 130, 132, 314,
hyt ym prep, to, as far as 79, 261-2, 32$ etc., itaw 38, 40, 42, 53, 67,
1098-9, 1104, 1145, hyt yn 831, 165, 26$, 319, 504, $72, fem. idi 6,
859, 891, 933, 1007 etc., h y ty 20, 33, 275, 394, 629, 768, 848, iti 7,
906. 77, 417, 485; pi. i. ynni 1088, in
hyd nm. stag 228. $32, 561, 2. ywch 869, 900, 1089,
hyly vn. hunt 26n.; also hely: xix. iwch 520, 3. udunt 462, 825, 973,
hyn comp, of hen old 861; superl. 1046, 1063, 1 1 16, 1129, 1137, utunt
hynaf 881. 392.
202 G LO SSA RY

y prep, to + poss. pron. infix, sing. H ad vn. slay 31, $11, 812, 974, 983,
3. fem. to her 5ion.; masc. to his 994, 1023, 1051, 1100, 1101, m i ,
1244; + vn. 844, 948. 1 1 15, 1218, cut off 820, 945, 1240;
y prep, in 795n. pres. sing. 1. slay l l a d a f 484
y prep, from, with, by: y e r g y t at a impers., slay l l e d i r 747, (fut.),
blow 821. l l a d a w r 475 (R U e d i r ) ; imperf.
y a m prep, apart from, besides 358. sing. 3. cut l l a d e i 74, strike 352;
y a r prep, from 64, 349, 8oon., 1226, pret. sing. 1. l l e d e i s strike 8 9 2 , 2.
from upon 1215, on 231, 1186; 3. slay l l e d e i s t 1 2 3 , 1 2 3 , 3. slay
sing. masc. y a r n a w from upon lla d a w d 283, 284, 473, 936, 1021,

821, 887, 1203-4. 1073, 1 1 13, 1 1 16 , 1120, 1124, 1126,

y d a n prep, under 385, 517, $98, 791; 1129, 1156, 1161, 1163, 1169;pi.
sing. 3. masc. y d a n a w 62, 81, 564, 3 . slay l l a d a s s a n t 1 1 3 8 ; impers.
648, 788, 1050. slay l l a d w y t 1 1 4 7 , l i a s 1 1 4 6 ,
y u y n y d adv. up 440, 1192, 1196. 1147, 1149, 1 161, 1165; subj. pres,
y g a n prep, from: sing. 2. y g e n h y t sing. 3. strike l l a t h o 50n., ( R
from you 566, with you 779; 3. k y f l a d o ) , pi. 3. slay U a d w y n t 729
masc. y g a n t a w 894, 998, 1032, ( R l l e d y n t ) : xiii, xxi, xxi.

1071, 1185, 1187, 1191, 1200. H a l l pron. subst. other 325.

c h u n reflex, pron. himself 184, 196, l l a m m nmf. leap 299.

198, 787, 1015, 1021-2, 1072, his l l a m m u vn. leap: imperf. sing. 3.

own 401, 471, 1106, e h u n a n 628, l l a m m e i 298.

1123; pi. e h u n e i n 940. l l a n w nm. tide 905n.

y t r c i s adv. by force 990m l l a w nf. hand 63, 63, 134, 151, 213,

y w a e r e t adv. down 325. 390, 7 3 3 n - » etc.

y w r t h prep, from 686, 862, 874, 885, 1 1 a w e n adj. happy 43, 162, 173, 376,

904; compared with 1199; of, about 454-

374-$, 848, 855, 861, 873, 884, 890, lla w e r pron. subst. many 1124,
903, 1134; sing. 3. fem. y w r t h i 1155, 1161, 1169.
934; pi. 3. y w r t h u n t 956. H a w n adj. full, sated 315, 1054,

i a c h adj. well, healthy 980. 1195

i a w n adj. right, proper 6, 842, 844, l l a w r nm. ground, floor 66, 88.

855; superl. i a w n h a f 929, 930, H e nmf. place 100, 241, 280, 831,

i a w n a f 826, 827, 985, 986. 859, 870 etc., cause 913.

i e i t h o e d n.pl. of i c i t h language 346, l l e c h w a y w nm. stone-spear 522m,

402, 842. 537 » 550.

i e u a n c adj. young 805, 851. lle u e in nm. wailing 943.
e l l pron. used with num. in lle u e r y d nmf. speaking, telling (of)
apposition: e ll d e u the tw o o f them 1046.
975, y l l d e u I2i6n., e ll p e d w a r lle fr it h nm. milk 6 6 2 , 6 6 3 .
1223-4, 1224m lle m id it nm. leaper 2 9 9 m
in h e u pers. pron. conjunt. affix, aux. lle n (n ) nf. mantle 7 6 , 1 5 9 m
sing. I. 56 7, 607, 7 1 1, 752 , 753 » lle n w i vn. fill, flood 1 1 8 4 .
758, 817, 895, 1238. lle s t y r nm. vessel, bowl 4 8 1 , 614,

ir adj. fresh 311. 656.

y * r l l a w r adv. to the floor/ground lle t u r it h nm. spell 4 0 9 l l e d r i t h 4 2 8 .

1213, 1215. lle t t y e u npl. of H e t t y lodgings 8 1 1 .
i s prep, below, behind: sing. 3. masc. l l e t t y w y r n. (pi. of H e t t y w r ) those

i s t a w 76. who lodge 8 1 2 .

i s y l a w adv. behind his hand 389. l l i a w s pron. subst. a multitude 1159.

i s s o t adv. down, below 936. l l i d y a w vn. grow angry 1217.

l l i f d w r nm. torrent 280, 281.

lla c h a r adj. bright 304. l l i u e i t adj. whetted 63.

 G LO SSA RY 203
l l i n a t n .c o ll. fla x s e e d 6 0 5 , 9 5 0 ; s in g , m aer nm. overseer 296m, 635, 1037.
llin h e d y n 952. m a e s nm. field, meadow 397, 416,

llit h nm . fo o d ( f o r a n im a ls ) 92. 1084, m a y s 423.

llit h r a w vn. g lit t e r ; i m p e r f . s in g . 3. m a e s t i r nm. plain 412.

llit h r e i 1085. m a g w y r nf. wall 910, 912, 926.

l l i w nm. colour, hue 68. m a l prep, like 73, 74, 88, 228, 273,

l l i u a w vn. blush 52; pres. sing. 2. 526, 540, 557, 1083.

U i u y 54. m a l ( y ) conj. as 28, 145, 415, 441,

l l o e r nf. moon 556. 5 3 6 , 5 4 9 , 5 5 2 , 5 5 7 , 9 4 5 , 1224, so

l l o n g nf. ship 159, 938, 1042, 1054. that 409, 812, 907, m a l n a so
l l o r i n g e l i f e i n t nn. ivory boss 68n. that . . . not 1 10, as i f . . . not
( R . l l u g o r n ) : xii, xviii. 807.
l l o s c i vn. bum 5 7 1 ; imperf. sing. 3. m a l k a w n conj. whether, if 3m, 24:

llo s k e i 423. xviii.

llu nm. host 282, 840, 941, 990; pi. m a l p e i conj. as if 793m, m a l p h e i

llu o e d 279, 1052, 1053, 1096, 1104, 819, y m a l p h e i 814, m a l p e i n a t

1139, 1197, 1243, l l u y d d 30$. as i f . . . . not 308-9.
l l u c h e t nf. lightning 68: xviii. m a m nf. mother 14, 169, 222, 252,

U u d u nm. ashes 572: xviii. 259, 291, 453, 604, 686, 850, 863,
l l u d e t nm. weariness 1203. 874, 885, 904, 1 165.
l l u s g a w vn. drag 1240. m a n adj. small, fine, petty 321,
l l w d w n nm. animal, beast 420: xviii. 493, 840.
l l y g a t nm. eye 130, 352, 353, l l e g a t m a n e c nf. glove 4 4 3 , 4 4 4 , 4 4 5 .

276; pi. U y g e i t 548, 554. m a r c h nm. horse, steed 9 2 , 2 3 2 ,

l l y g r u vn. afflict, damage 18, 432; 689, 718, 1006, 1059, 1177, 1189;
pret. sing. 3. l l y g r w y s 816: xxi. pi. m e i r c h 337, 740, 1096,
l l y n ( n ) nmf. drink, liquid 90, 132, m e i r y c h 753.

153, 574, 614, 656, 664, 772. m a r c h a w c nm. rider, horseman 406;
l l y n a interj. lo there! behold! 96on., pi. m a r c h o g y o n 1173.
962. m a r c h o g a e t h vn. ride 753.
l l y s nmf. court 9, 46, 81, 88, 96, 97, m a r w adj. dead 16, 250, 422, 487,
1 12, 135, 152, 458, 545, 559, 823, 704; n. d e a t h 547; vn. die 22n.
1232; fern. 108. m a r w d l w s nm. the jewel of a
l l y s u a m nf. step-mother 4 7 , $ 5 . dead man 450.
l l y s u w y d nm. lack of appetite, nausea m a s nf. metal 303.
5 4 3 : xviii.* m a w r adj. great, big 269, 412, 416,
420, 570, 804, 875, 1061, 1 1 10.
*m pers. pron. infix, obj. sing. 1. 37. m a w r e d nm. grandeur, majesty 368,

436, 484, 5 2 7 , 540, 5 5 3 , 833. 530.

* m poss. pron. infix, sing. 1. + n. 84, m a w r u r e d ic adj. magnanimous 367.
159, 167, 505, 517, 753 etc. m e d ru vn. hit; imperf. sing. 3.
*m poss. pron. infix, sing. 1. + vn. m e d re i 350.

432, 505, 627, 633. m e d w l nm. mind 3 3 1 .

m a b nm. son, boy 1, 4, 9, 10, 12, 14, m ed yc nm. doctor 3 8 6 .
etc., u a b , 176, 332, 829, 849, 862, m e g ly t vn. snatch, seize 521 (R
873 etc., m 178, 179, 181, 181, 181, y m a u a e l), 1050.
182, 183, 183; pi. m e i b 1 1 10, m e ic h a d nm. swineherd 7n., 9.
m a b y o n 95, m e i b o n 188, 291, m e illo n e n nf. trefoil 4 9 7 .
m e i b i o n 333, m e i b y o n 736. m e in g e f y n nm. small of the back
m a e n nm. stone 760, 887. d e u u a e n 539
u r e u a n two quernstoncs 1193m m e in t nmf. force, strength, amount
m a e n t r e i g y l rolling stone 88. 390, 972, 1043. 1093.
m a e n d y nm. house of stone 913. m el nm. honey 610. 610.
204 GLO SSA RY

m e ly n adj. yellow 470; comp, m w y comp, of m a w r great, big

m e ly n a c h 490. 419, 474, 561, 761, 807, m w y u w y
m e r c h nf. daughter 2, 14, 32, 48, all the more 137.
51, 56 etc.; m . 360, 361; a m e r c h m w y ( h ) a f superl. of m a w r great,
i n h e u and my daughter 711, 752, big 66, 137, 302, 368, 389, 391,
y m e r c h i for my daughter 757; 413 (R t e c k a f o ).

pi. m e r c h e d 339n., m e r c h e t 357, m w y n h a u vn. be of use, be

742. effective: pres. sing. 3. m w y n h a
m e r e d i c adj. foolish, stupid 433m, 655, 704, m w y n h a a 965.
763m m w y n y a n t nm. use 702.

m e re rit nm. pearl(s) 489. m w y s nf. hamper 6i8n.

m e r t h r o ly a e t hnf. martyrdom 560. m y n prep, (in oaths) by I34n., 431,

m e s s u r nm. measure 606, 1056. 957n., 1085, u69n., m y n l l a w
m e s s u r e d i c past, partic. passive, u y g h y u e i l l t by the hand of my

measured 951, y n u e s s u r e d i c o i l friend 134, m . 11. u y n g k y u e i l l t

in full measure. 9 5 7 n-
m e t h u vn. fail: pres (fut.) sing. 3. m y n ( y d ) n. place (where) 7m, 429,

m e t h a w d 108: xxi. 498, 563 (R l i e y d ) : xvii.

m e u poss. pron. sing. 1. mine, m y n e t vn. go 3m, 28, 43, 52, 60,

possession I235n, 1235. 380 etc. pres. sing. 1. a f 776, 858,

m i pers. pron. simple indep. sing. 1. 905; imperf. sing. 3. a e i 442; pret.
30, 83, 103, 104, 1 16, 1 18 etc. sing. I. e u t h u m 446, 890, 3.
m i u i pers. pron. redup. indep. sing. e d y w 89, 772, a e t h 5, 34, 553,

I. 868. 909, 988, 996 etc., pi. 3. a e t h a n t

m il nm. animal, creature 237, 729 ( R 975, 1152, 1156, impers. a e t h p w y t
l w d y n ) , 1102; pi. m i l e i t 857. 1146; subj. pres. sing. 1. e l w y f
m i l g i nm. greyhound 09n. 1 13, 503n., 504, 542, 554, 3- a h o
m i l w y r n.pl. (sing, m i l w r ) warriors ii7on, pi. 2. e l o c h 845; imperf.
148, 174, 829, 922, 925, 981, 1109, sing. 2. e l h u t 426, 3. e l e i 241,
1168, 1175. e l h e i 394, 405, 440, 498 pi. 3.

m i l l t i r nf. mile 348. e l h y n t 308, 309; imper. sing. 2.

m i n ( h ) e u pers. pron. conj. indep. d o s 58, 129, 399, 424, 505, 839, 3.

sing. I . 39, 4 5 » 431. 502, 1235, a e t 798, pi. I . a w n 536, 1093, 2.

m i n n e u 851, 878. e w c h 846.

m i s nm. month 66. m y n e t d w y l a w m y n w g y l vn.

m o c h n.pl. swine, pigs 8, 8, 354, 355, throw arms around neck, embrace,
1073, 113$, 1146, 1148, 1150. greet 46i-2n.
m o d r w y nf. ring 441, 442, 444, 44$, m y n n u vn. wish, desire; pres. sing.

449; pi. m o d r w y e u 482. 1. m y n ( n ) a f 163, 575, 607, 620,

m o e s nf. usage, custom, practice 765. 639, m y n h a f 566, 572, $94, 633,
m o l i vn. praise 154. 2. m y n n y I7n., m y n h y 561;
m o r adv. so 528, 840. imperf. sing. 3. m y n n e i 1, 27, pi.
m o r nm. sea 158, 245, 446, 450, 1143, 3. m y n n y n t 780; pret. sing. 3.
1201, m o r a w l 317. m y n n w y s : 2: xxi, pi. 3.

m o r u w y t nm. sea-food 447. m y n n a s s a n t 821; subj. pres. sing.

m o r g r u g y n nm. ant 349, 952m 2. m y n n y c h 19, 3. m y n h o 619,

m o r w e n n a w l nf. sea-swallow 73. impers. m y n h e r 628; imper. sing.
m o r w y n nm. maiden 52, 266, 340, 2. m y n 546, 560.
366, 367, 375, 479, 489, 501, 604, m y n w g y l nm. neck 70, 462, 488.

743, 1001, 1004. m y n y c h adj. frequent, often 446,

m u t adj. mewed 494: xvii. 5 4 3 »9 3 6 .

m u r nm. wall 906. m y n y d nm. mountain 242, 302, 710,

m w c nm. smoke 955, 958. 943-

 G LO SSA RY 205

*n pers. pron. infix, obj. pi. 1. 383, ni pers. pron. simple indep. pi. 1.
475, 1086. 546, 560, 883, 948, 1089; dep. affix,
* n poss. pron. infix pi. 1. + nn. 536. aux. pi. I. 127, 382, 860, 1086,
n a ( c ) conj. (n)or 272, 375. 579, 687, 1093, 1094-
(n)either 915, n a ( c ) . . . n a ( c ) ni neg. pre-verb. prt. 80, 83, 237: also
(n)either .. . (n)or 236-7, 270, 310, ny.

310, 310-11 etc. whether .. . or n iu e r nmf. host, force, company 99,

269, n a ( c ) . . . n a ( c ) . . . n a ( c ) 1189. 144, 1024, 1041, I043n., 1052; pi.
n a ( c ) neg. prt. + imper. 41, 427, 438, n i u e r o e d 1060.

546, 546, 559, 560; + answer 88, n i n h e u pers. pron. conj. indep. pi. 1.

771. 383; dep. affix, aux. pi. 1. 138

n a ( t ) pre-verb. neg. prt. 19, $0, 55, n i n n e u 967.

382, 479, 483 etc. + nn. 471. n o ( c ) conj. than 65, 143, 239, 321,

n a w i r interj. no indeed! 135. 401, 415 etc., n o c e t 97 (R n o c h y t

n a c h a f inteij. lo! behold! 447, 761. a c ).

n a c nm. nay, refusal 1040, 1046. n o di vn. note, name; pres. sing. 1.
n a m y n prep, (with neg.) except, but n o d a f 163, 173, 570; pret. sing. 3.
90, 317, 395, 432, 615 etc.; conj. but n o d e s 312, 950; plup. sing. 3.

141, 153, 241, 314, 425, 475 etc. n o t t a y s s e i 1020, impers. n o d y d o e d

n a s ( n a neg. + *s infix, pron. obj. 114m.; subj. pres. sing. 1. n o t t w y f

sing.) 89, 772, 1039, 1135. 568, 2. n o t t y c h 163, 171, 569 (R
n a w num. nine 384, 384, 385, 385, m y n n y c h ) , 3. n o t t o 157, 171;

398, 419 etc. imper. sing. 2. n o t 162, 171, n o d

n a w m o d adv. nine times 610, 709. 568.
n a w d nm. protection 438, 1063, 1063. n o d i vn. protect: subj. pres. sing. 3.

n a w u e t ord. ninth, one of the nine n o t h o 766.

2 9 7 n. n o s nf. night 307, 376, 384, 385, 529,

n a w n nm. noon 307. 620 etc.; adv. at night 751.

n e b pron. (with neg) anyone 145, 228, n u adv. now 756. Cf. GMW 221.
271, 394, 410, 428 etc. (with cond. ny neg. pre-verb. prt. 91, 96, 102,
conj.) 1045; adj. any 767, y n e b he 1 12, 127, 135 etc.; also n i ; n y t 394,
(who) 868. Cf. GMW 105-6. 396, 400, 415, 425, 445 etc., n y d 38,
n e f nf. heaven 68, 745. 212, 309, 421, 432, 442 etc., n y s
n e g e s nf. message, quest 240, 331, ( n y + ’ s infix, pron. obj. sing. 3.)
394, 400, 405, 457 etc. 45, 141, 621, 625, 629, 670 etc.,
n e i nm. nephew 406, 455. (obj. pi. 3.) 590, 664.
n e i l l p a r t h nm. one side 1185. ny(t/d) neg. pre-verb. prt. in rel.
n e i t h a w r nf. wedding feast 608. clause subj. 421, 764, nyt 393, nyd
n e i t h a w r w y r n.pl. wedding-guests 95; in rel. clause obj. 578, 584, ?907,
574, 636. nys 729.
n e r t h nm. strength, help 838, 1018. n y ( t / d ) neg. prt. + n. 40, 49, 662,
n e s comp, of a g o s near 415; prep, 834, 834, 1020, 1236; + vn. 828; +
(with vn.) until 663, 694, 713, 720, adj. 108, 833, 833, 1219, 1220; +
727, 735, 828. adv. 87, 87, 835, 1170.
n e u conj. or 91, 383, 433, 434, 437, n y c h d a w t nm. languor 249.

514. 916. n y t a m g e n adv. not otherwise,

n e u a d nf. hall 101, 114, 264, 329, namely 85.
5 i 3 n-, 531, 7 7 3 -
n e u t pre-verb, affirm prt. 878: xxii. o conj. if 408, 483, 484, 507, 854, o t
n e u r pre-verb, affirm, prt ( n e u + r y ) 103, 507, o r 128, 153, 275m, 1081,
I0 2 8 n: xxii. 1222, o s ( o if + y s it is) 268, ( o if
n e w y d adj. new 607, 818. + *s infix, pron. obj.) i f . . . it 505,
n e w y n nm. hunger 308. 561.
206 G LO SSA RY

o prep, from 5, 41, 64, 65, 70, 79 etc., o ia inteij. ah! 4 4 9 , 7 9 7 , 9 1 3 .

+ vn. 892, of 8, 29, 78, 102, 107, o lr e in vn. trace, track: pret. sing. 3.
148 etc., because of 1217, on 71, 71, o l r e w y s 3 5 5 : xxi.
72, 72, 864, 1185, 1185 by 1172; o i l pron. (used adverbially following
sing. i . o h o n o f 9 i 9 , 2. o h o n o t 41, the word it modifies) all 373, 482,
3. masc. o h o n a w 145, 17$, 442, 508, 575. 744. 754. 795n. etc. Cf.
605, 640, 818 etc. fem. oheni 459, GMW 98.
459. 470, 767, 817, ohonei 463, o n y ( t ) conj. if not, unless 640, 652,
854, 867, pi. 2. ohonawch 908, 655, 702, 898, 965, 1027, o n y t but,
1082, 3. ohonu 4n, 414, onadunt except 579, 685, 890.
109, 510, $58, 782, 1003, 1044, o n y s ( o n y + * s ) conj. i f .. . not .. .

1138, o h o n u n t 476, 920, 921, 951, it/her 103, 154, 533. GMW 240-1.
II83, I223: XX, xxi. o * r p a n conj. from the (time) when
o b a r t h prep, on the side of 222. 1103, 1188.
o b e l l adv. from afar 959. o * r t u d r a w y prep, from beyond

o b l i t h prep from among 492-3. 291-2.

o b o p p a r t h adv. on all sides 1068. o r nm. limit, boundary, edge 416.

o u r e i d adv. scarcely, with difficulty o s p nm. guest 765; pi. o s p e i t 151.

246.
o h e d i w a l l a n adv. from this day pa interr. adj. what? 476, 775, 912,
forth no. pa b e t h what thing?, which? 826,

o h y n n y adv. from that 249, o p a d u what side? where? 931, p a l e

h y n n y a l l a n from then on 984, what place? where? 1202, p a u e i n t
1202. b y n n a c indef. rel. however much

o l y w e n y d adv. with joy 460. 506.

o p l e i t prep, on the side of 205. p a l a d y r nm. shaft 800, 801.

o c h w i n s a adv. immediately, soon 451 p a l u e u npl. of p a l f palm 492 (R

(R y c h w in s a f). d w y l a w ) : xii.

o d if vn. throw, hurl 523, 537, 538, p a n ( n ) conj. when 6, 66, 98, 119,

551. 551. o d i 523. 122, 123 etc.

o d u c h prep, above, around: sing. 3. p a n conj. whence? 445n, 762; that

masc. o d y u c h t a w 1184, fem. (after o from) 15m., 189, p a n y w

o d n c h t i 619. that it is 434n.
o d y m a adv. from here 1093. p a r nm. spear 62: xvii.

o d y n a adv. then 975, io n , 1148, p a r c h e l l nm. pigling 1073.

1158, 1197, 1200, from then on p a r e t nm. wall 850.

1035, from there 1128, thereafter p a r t h nm. side 71, 71, 72, 72, 1002,

1130, 1156, 1158. 1185, 1185, direction 125.

o d y n o adv. from there 715, 920, p a r t h a ( c ) prep, towards 944, 955,

1024, 1104, 1150, 1174, 1203. 9 5 8 , 9 5 9 , 1095, 1208.

o * e c h e i s s a w adv to seek her/it 376m, p a w b pron. subst. all, everyone 140,

40$, (R y c h e i s s a w ) . 226, 379, 4 11, 468, 619, 663, 1243.

o ’ e u o d adv. willingly 580, 586, 591, p a w l nm. stake 1241.

621, 625, 629, 648, 659, 664, 670, p e b r e i t adj. peppered 93, 132:

691, o ' e u o d e f 615. xviii.

o * e v y w y t adv. of his life, while he p e c h a w d nm. sin 502, 600.

lives 703. p e d e i r num. f. four 74, 74, 76, 497,

o e t nm. time, age 49, 116. 534-

o e n nm. lamb 420. p e d r y a l nm. four comers 155.

o e r adj. cold 266, 310. p e d w a r num. masc. four 74, 534,

o e s nf. age, life 243. 1 1 13, 1224, 1224.

o u y n nm. fear 1061. p e d w a r g a y a f adj. of four winters

o n g y l nf. comer 352. C f GPC o n g l 2. 60.

 GLO SSA RY 207
p e d w a r t r o e d a w c a d j. f o u r - f o o t e d p o r f o r a d j. p u r p le 7 6.

238. p o rth n m . ga te 81, 85, 99, 100, 103,

p e d estyr nm . w a lk e r 405. 105 e tc . s u p p o r t 8 3 8 .

p e i c o n j . i f 3 0 1 , 3 4 7 , 6 1 9 , 74 51 1 ., 8 7 4 , p o r t h a w r n m . g a t e -k e e p e r 82, 85,

1039, 104311. 51 i n . , 770, 774 . 778. 786, 798.

p c id y a w vn. endure: pres. sing. 3. p ren n n m . tre e 3 8 7, 4 2 2 , p ie c e o f

p e it 27 m. Cf. GMW 165. w o o d , lo g 460.

p a i r nm. cauldron 635, 1037, 1044, p resen n a w l adj. worldly 9i8n.

1047, 1050, 1054, 1056. p ressen nm. world 715: xvi.
p e l l o a m s e r n. a long time 886n. p r i a w t nmf. wife 432, 436.

p e l l a c h comp, of p e l l far 239. p r i d nm. soil, earth 423.

p e l l e n ( n ) i g y o n n.pl. people from afar p r o u e d i c past. prt. pass, tried 1175.

95, 151; sing, p e l l e n h i c 765. p r y t a n t e r t h nm. tierce 98m

p e n ( n ) nm. chief 431, head 83, 87, p r y t d i w l i t h nm. time of no dew,

165, 308, 326, 481 etc., mouth 35, when it had dried 573: xvi, xvii.
62, 157, 171 top 79, 887; adj. chief p r y t n a conj. since . .. not 833.

142, 299n. p r y u e t n.pl. insects 308.

p e n n y t i r nm. headland 585. p u c h a w vn. desire: imperf. sing. 3.

p e n k y n y d nm. chief huntsman 697n.; p u c h e i 1231.

pi. p e n k y n y d y o n 28711. p w l l nm. pit 971, 973.

p e n d o l l adj. big-headed 5 4 0 . p w y interr. pron. who? 165, 167,

p e n d r o nf. giddiness 555. 4 3 5 . 4 3 7 , 4 5 2 , 7 9 8 , which? 791;

p e n g r y c h adj. curly-headed 4 6 9 . interr. adj. what? 44n., 89n., 772
p e n n g u c h nm. cowl 326. ( R p a 44 p y 89, 772): XX.

p e n l l u c h l w y t adj. with light-grey p w y l l nm. sense, reason 7.

head 60. p y interr. pron. what? 832, why? 54.
p e n n h y n e f nm. chief elder 222. Cf. GMW 76-77.
p e n n l l a t nm. the best drink 613n. p y interr. adj. what? 54, 241, 686,
p e n n l l i e i n nm. veil 608. 693, 765, 934-
p e n s a e r nm. chief craftsman 1125. p y . . . b y n h a c indef. rel. however
p e n t a n nm. hearth 469. much 1 11—12.
p e r i vn. cause, bring about; pret. p y m h e t ord. fifth io69n.
sing. 3. p e r i s 1237. p y r conj. that 8 3 , 77m. Cf. G M W
p e t h pron. thing 133, 796, 840, that 77 ( R p y r a c 771): xvii.
(which) 855, some part (of) 898, p y s c nm. sing, fish 924.
1035; adj. some 520; pron. interr.
what? 687, 1074. *r def. art. 9, 16, 25, 29, 46, 65 etc.,
p i e u interr. to whom is/are? who a*r rei = a r e i 843.
owns? 432n., 433, 763; rel. who r a c prep, for 99, because of 308, 390,
owns 434, 45m., 764, 765. Cf. from 946, because + equat. adj.
GMW 80-81. 80, 226n., 229, 244, 668n., 1026,
p i g a w vn. peck: imperf. sing. 1. lest, for fear that + vn. 502, 714,
p ig w n 888. 1192; sing. I. r a g o f from 45, 2.
p la n t n.pl. children 37n, 38, 44. r a g o t for 94, 99, 149, on ahead
p l y g u vn. bend: pret. sing. 3. 756, 3. r a c d a u in front of 69, 139,
p l y g w y s 243: xxi. because of 1061, pi. 2. r a g o c h for
p o b pron. adj. every 21, 23, 48, 53, 438, in front of 858, 3. r a c d u on,
70, 77, 77 etc., p o b t r i n a w y r ahead 513: xxi, r a c d u n t 847; r a c
every thrice nine men, 27 men at a o u y n through fear of 8; r a c d y
time 6i8n., b o b u n b o b d e u one d e u l i n adv. before you 98 (R r a c
by one two by two 94m. d y v r o n n ) , r a c v y n e b in front
p o e t h adj. hot 93, 132. 270.
p o n t nf. bridge 281. r a c k a e r nf. outer wall 831.
208 GLO SSA RY

racco adv. yonder 425m, 957, rack o . t y affirm, pre-verb. prt. 25, 37m, 4m.,
965. 5 3 , 5 5 , 3 7 4 . 3 7 9 , 401, 436, 456, 464,
r a c lo y e it n.pl. of r a d a w f deputy 85. 472, 548, 784, 114m., re 478. Cf.
r a c lla u y n nm. blade 67. G M W 166-8 R a 27, 55, 379, 464,
r a t nm. grace 146. 472, 548: xvi, xxi, xxii.
r a g o t vn. waylay U74n.: xviii-xix. r y b u c h a w vn. desire 552.
r a n ( n ) nf. part 266, 1069. r y d adj. free 928.

r a n n u vn. divide: subj. pres. sing. 1. r y n h e t equal of r y n stiff 668n.

r a n h w y f 150. r y s s w r nm. warrior, champion 251,
r e c d o u y d nm. dispenser of gifts 958, 960, 1 1 13; pi. r y s s w y r 1180.
I7n.: xvii. r y w adj. such a 470.

r e d e c vn. run 459, 1194.

r e n g i b o d vn. please, satisfy the will S ad w rn n. Saturday 481.
of: pres sing. 3. r e i n e 794; imperf. saeth u tta vb. imper. sing. 2. shoot at
sing. 3. r a n g h e i 8i4n.; r a n c b o d 5 4 6 , 560.
y w g e n h y f I am content with it sa n g h a rw y n m . s tirr u p 7 9 m : xi.
8Í5. s a lw e n read s a lw e tt e q u a t. o f s a lw

rei pron. pi. subst. some 131, 662, m e a n I0 2 6 n .

843, 1 1 19; with art. and adj. ones saw l pron. subst. those (who) 1231.
4 7 4 , 5 9 8 , 7 4 4 , 817, 840. sef subst. 30n., 732, 1049, + a 15m,
r e i t nm. need, necessity 40, 53$, 638, 23, 394n., 806, 894, 938, 1139, 1172;
651, 783, 984, 1236. adj 2, 1000, 1085; adv. + y 7m,
re it nm. tine 864. i8n., 1029. Cf. GMW 52-3; also
r e s t r u vn. range 1109. y ss e f.

r e t k y r nm. pig-run 11: xvi, xvii. s e u y d la w c adj. bristling 328.

r e t h r i n.pl. boards 321. s e u y ll vn. stand 301, 831; subj.
r e w i n n y a w vn. ruin, destroy 715. imperf. sing. 3. s a f h e i 301.
r i e n i n.pl. parents 375. s e i n t n.pl. of s a n t saint 1062.

r i t h nm. shape, form 934n, 934, s e i t h num. seven 25, 348m, 353, 355.

94on, 1031, I078n. s e i t h l y d y n m o c h n.pl. seven young

r i t h a w vn. form, transform: pret. pigs io67n., i079-8on. C f l l w d w n

sing. 3. r i t h w y s 599n., 857, 870, 420.
1076m xxi. s e r c h nm. love 5 2 , 4 6 5 , 4 6 $ , 4 9 7 .

r o d i vn. give, place, put 1 2 , 4 4 1 , s i d a n nm. silk 4 8 8 .

4 6 5 , 7 9 4 , 8 1 3 , 8 3 8 , etc., r o t i 4 4 3 ; s o r r i vn. be displeased, grow angry:

pres. sing, r o d a f 8 3 7 , 2 . r o d y 5 3 3 , pret. sing. 3 . s o r r e s 9 8 1 .

3. r y d 590, 6 25, 6 2 9, 6 5 9, 6 64, 670, s u g n a w vn. suck up: imperf. sing. 3.

690, 748, pi. i. ro d w n 4 8 6 , 2. s u g n e i 317.

ro d w c h 485; pret. sing. 3. r o d e s s u r adj. sour 310.

1063, 1085, ( k y u a r t h ) 1112, 1116, s u r a w vn. turn sour: pres. sing. 3.

pi. 3. r o d a s s a n t 1 0 6 4 ; subj.
1129, s u r h a 664.

imperf. sing. 3. r o d e i 1 0 4 5 , 1 0 4 5 , s w llt nm. treasure(s) 1054m

imper. sing. 2 . d y r o 8 1 6 , d o r o sw y d nf. office, job 1049.
532 , 561. s w y d v r nm. officer 273m

ru ch e n nf. jerkin 418. s y c h adj. dry 318.

ru d adj. red 318, 489. s y c h u vn. dry: pres. sing. 3. s y c h

r u d e u r adj. of red gold 70 (R 15 7 -

r u d e m ) , 77, 488. s y l l u vn. see, look at: imper. sing. 2.

r w n g prep, between 1 0 9 0 , r w g 2 6 0 . s y ll 957

r w y adv. too much, excessively 381. sy n h w y r nm. sense, feeling 454.

r w y f nm. course 319. syr n.pl. stars 8 8 8 .

r w y g a w vn. rend, break through s y r t h a w vn. fall: pret. sing. 3.

925. s y r t h w y s 5 4 8 : xxi.
 G LO SSA RY 209
tat nm. father 53, 57, 205, 223, 354, to m nf. mound 1240.
503. 505. 996, 1001. t o n ( n ) nf. wave 491, 690.

taa aw d nm. tongue 157; - t 171. t o r c h nm. collar 678, 679, 681.

t a n g n e u e d nmf. peace 999, 1000. t o r n vn. break: imperf. impers.

t a n g n e u e d u vn. make peace 982. t o r r i t 135.

t a l nm. front, end, top, 332, 469. t o s t adj. painful 528; equat. t o s t e t

t a l u e i n c nf. high seat 500. 915

t a l a vn. repay 154. tostes vb. pret. sing. 3. pained, hurt
t a n nm. fire 271, 304, 392, 946, 958, 527 , 541-
1050. t r a conj. while, so long as 24m.,

t a r a w vn. beat, strike 972, 1213, 1227; 242m, 276m, 314, 852, 925, 965,
imperf. sing. 3. t r a w e i 320; t a r a w I 2 4 3 n-
l l y g a t adv. in the twinkling of an t r a ’ e g e u y n adv. from behind 270n.

eye I097n. Cf. GMW 210.

t a r d a vn. spring out: pret. sing. 3. t r a e a n nm. (the) third part I028n.

t a r d a w d 539: xvii, xxi. t r a e t h nm. strand 318.

t a r r e n n. crag 833. t r a f f e r t h nm. difficulty 1222, I223n.

t e b y g u vn. think, suppose 414, 892; t r a n h o e t h adv. on the morrow 559,

subj. pres. sing. 2. t y b y c k y c h 582. t r a n n o e t h 1070, 1099; also

t e c adj. fair 126; n y t d e c 1219; equat. d ran n o eth .

t e c k e t 229; comp, t e g a c h 494. traw st nm. rafter 328; pi. tro stre u

t e i l nm. manure 572. 321.

t e i r num. fern, three 104, 23$, 334, t r e b e lit adv. clear, brilliant 1018.
335, 3 3 8 , 339n. etc. t e i r o e s g u y r tre f nf. town, township 35, 275.
three generations 371-2. t r e i g l a w vn. turn, wander, travel

t e i t h i a w c adj. rightful 9m.: xvi, xvii. pres. sing. 3. t r e i g y l 882.

t e l y n nf. harp 627. t r e i g y l nm. turn, time 890n.

t e n e a adj. thin, lean 310. t r e i s nm. oppression, force 580m,

t e r a y n nm. place, spot 480. 587, 591, 615, 629, 648, 665, 749.
t e u poss. pron. sing. 2. subst. 116; t r e i s s a w vn. force, compel 622, 625,

adj. 83, 770, 7 9 3 n. 660.

t e a l u nm. force, war-band 123, 1070. t r e u l a w vn. wear away 854.

t e w adj. fat 310. t r i num. masc. three 335, 335, 336,

t e w i vn. be, become silent 629 R 336, 337 etc.
pres. sing. 3. t e u . t r i m e i b a r u g e i n t n.pl.
t e y r n a s nf. kingdom 172, 648, 722. twenty-three sons 472. Cf. GMW
t e y r n d y n y o n nn. pi. kingly men 126. 47-
t e y r n e d pi. of t e y r n lord, prince 142. t r ig a w vn. dwell, stay: pret. sing. 3.
t i pers. pron. simple, indep. sing 2. t r ig w y s 248, xxi; subj. pres. sing.
156, 162, 163, 171, 172, 383, 451, 2. t r i c c y c h 156.
50m., etc. t r i m u t adj. thrice-mewed 494n.

t i pers, pron. simple dep. affix, aux. t r i s t adj. sad 324, 455.

sing. 2. 41, 44, 54, 54, 89, 99, etc. t r i s t i t nm. sadness 42.

t i r nm. land 33, 571, 579, 590, 607, t r o e t nmf. foot 301, 303 (R t r a e t ) ; pi.
10Ó2, 1188. t r a c t 87, 244, 330, 971, 1183, 1188.
t i r i o n i vn. grow fond, tender 166. t r o s s i vn. turn 956.
t i t h e u pers. pron. conj. indep. sing. t r u g e i n num. sixty 647.

e 2- 83, 93, 104, 4 3 5 . 568. t r u m nm. ridge 64.

t i t h e u pers. pron. conj. dep. affix, t r w y t prep. + prt. whereby 27m:
aux. sing. 2. 58, 146, 148, 170, 426, XX. Cf. G M W 244-
580 etc. trw st nm. noise 459.
t l y s s e u n.pl. of t l w s treasure, jewel t r w y prep, through, by means of 4,
822n., 1025, 1027, 1032, 1092, 1190. 351, $23; also d r w y .
210 GLO SSA RY

trych an num. three hundred 78; *| hposs. pron. infix, sing. 2. + nn.
try ch an t 275: xix. 92, 92. 104, 144, 144, 144 etc..
t r y c h a n h e r w n. three hundred acres
298: xix. uch prep, above, before; sing. 3.
t r y c h a n l l o n g n. three hundred ships masc. u c h t a w 75.
317: xix. uch b e n n prep, over, above 1079,
t r y c h a n t r e f n. three cantrefs 306: xix. v c h p e n ( n ) 819, 1031.

t r y d y t ord. third, one of three 313, u c h y b e n n adv. above him 7$.

550, t r y d y d third 877, 1072. u c h y l a w adv. before his hand 389.
t r y d y d y t nm. third day 545. u c h a ü f superi, of u c h e l tall, high 387.
t r y d y g w r nm. one of three men 230n. u c h e t nm. height 889.
t r y w y r n.pl. three men 235m, 743 u c h e r nm. evening 853, 888.

761. GMW. 16, 47. u c h o t adv. above 905.

t u nm. side 292, 686, 694, 864, 931, u n num. one subst. 29, 398, 522,

1109m; p a d u what side? where? 575, 782, 864 etc., adj. 32, 42, 238,
931, p y t u 686, 693-4. 298, 301, 301, 951, 1073; same 397,
t u l a t h e u n.pl. of t u l a t h side beam 415, 598, 822, u n u a m by the
321. same mother; only 806, 1243; pron.
t u t h nm. canter 80. one 70, 274, 512, 865, 908, 932.
t w r c h nm. boar 1194. u n b e n nm. chieftain 147, 156, 374,

t w y l l a w vn. deceive, betray: sing. 379, 381, 400, 766.

pres. I . t w y l l a f 484. u n l l o f y a w c adj. one-handed 396m
t w y m adj. hot, warm 303, 310, 665.
t w y m p a t h nm. bush 422; t w y n p a t h v b inteij. ah! 438.
anthill 946. w ed y prep, after 949; also g w e d y .
t y nm. house 35, 467, 499, 529, 933, w e i t h o n adv. now 18, 888n., 929,

1001, 1042, 1055; pi. t e i 275m 985, 1205, 1235. Cf. GMW 227.
t y b y g u vn. think, suppose: imperf. pi. w e r s v a w r adv. for a long while

3 t y b y g y n t 227, t e b y g y n t 229: 89311.

xix. w h e d l e u n.pl. news, stories 779: xix.

t y k y a w vn. avail: subj. pres. sing. 3. Cf. GMW i i , V

t y c k y o 717. w r t h prep, to 44, 265, 809, 839, 951,

t y f u vn. grow; imperf. sing. 3. t y u e i 1168, at 77, 140, 946, 1141, for
497n.; pret. sing. 3. t y u w y s 248: 240, 331, 967, against 50, of 783,
xxi, 865; subj. imperf. sing. 3. t y f l f e i according to 619, 1045, in order to
22, 24. + vn. 651; sing. 2. v r t h y t 166, 3.
t y g h e t nf. destiny 50n. masc, v r t h a w 16, 47, 54, 57, 115,
t y n g u vn. swear 50; pres. sing. 1. 562, 762, 807, 896, 933, 947, 1219;
t y g h a f $0; pret. sing. 3. t y g w y s 55: fern, v r t h i 501.
xxi. v r t h d a y a r adv. earthwards 87-8.

t y m p nm. appointed time 6n. v r t h h y n n y adv. because of that

t y n n u vn. draw, pluck, drag 1215; 248.

pres, impers. t y n n i r 640, 702, 966; v r t h n e f adv. heavenwards 87.

imperf. sing. 3. t y n n e i 1193, 1196, v r t h p a r t h y d w y r e i n adv. towards

impers. t y n n i t 1192; pret sing. 3. the east 124-5.

t y n n w y s 893: xxi; subj. pres. sing. v y pers. pron. simple indep. pi. 3.

3. t y n h o 643; imperf. impers. 536; w y 668, 912, 1053.

t y n h e t 303: xvi. w y pers. pron. simple dep. affix, aux.

t y n o nm. plain 302. pi. 3 309, 414. 458, 521, 5 2 9 . 5 4 3 .

t y w a r c h e n nf. clod 7 4 . * 759. 811, 920.
v y n e b nm. face 571, honour 154m,

*th pers. pron. infix, obj. sing. 2. 112, 38on.; v y n e b y n v y n e b adv. face
1081. to face 564.
 G LO SSA RY 211

w y n t pers. pron. simple indep. pi. 3. y rei pron. those (who) 432.
355, 535. 805, 955, 1029, 1030, y rw n g prep, between 982, 999,
1097, 1142, 1143, 1157, 1160. 1003, 1025-6, 1166, 1178-9.
v y n t pers. pron. simple dep. affix, y ryn for yr hyn that (which) 25.
aux. pi. 3. 410. y sawl pron. subst. he (who) 129,
w y n t e u pers. pron. conj. indep pi. 3. 496; adj. as many as, all the
827. 422m
v y n t e u pers. pron. conj. dep. affix. y c h e n n.pl. of y c h o x 589m,

aux. pi. 3. 510, 947, 969, 1064. 5 9 6 m, 599-

v y n t v y pers. pron. reduplic, pi. 3. y c h y d i c adv. a little (while) 988.

410. Cf. GMW 49. y d nm. com 92.

v y r ( y ) ° n (n.pl. of w y r ) grandsons y t affirm, pre-verb. prt. 27, 4m.,

334. 737, granddaughters 339n. 381, 389, 541. 5 5 6 , 7 9 5 n.; h y d

w y s t y n nm. stump 867. 386m: xxii.
y t u o t vn. be, become; subj. pres.

y affirm, pre-verb. prt. 34m, 83, 95, sing. 3. y t u o 136.

1 14, 129, 139 etc. y d r y c h vn. look, see 23; also

y prt + infix, pron. obj. 28, 278m, e d r y c h : xix.

480, soon., 528, 655m, 702, 810, y d affirm, pre-verb. prt. 5, 34, 100,

876, 865, 1201, 1224; infix, pron. 136, 158, 158 etc.
obj. 1 51, 451, 527; affirm prt. + H-: y u e t vn. drink 1044.

y h a r c h a f 1082m Cf. GMW 23. y u o r y adv. tomorrow 98.

y rel. pre-verb. prt. 5, 275, 317, 324, y g prep, in 28m, 106, 106, 229,

562, 620, 667, 1084,. 653, 822, 892, 914, 922, 923, 975,
y def. art. 3, 4, 8, 8, 9, 9 etc. ?poss. 1051, 1198, 1204, 1207, into 28;
pron. sing. 3. masc. 57, 6in., 87n., y n g in 1024; y ( y g ( h ) - ) 117, 121,
444m, 488m, 1183m, 1239m, 1240; 125, 126, 226, 229, 261, 322.
after a vowel 1135. y g k a r c h a r adv. in prison 831.

y indef. art. 350, 352, 377. Cf. GMW y g g o r d w y adv. by force 37m: xvii.
24-5. y g g w y l l t pred. wild 996m
y b o r e adv. in the morning 263, 349, y g d e r nm. tightness 542.

573- y g h o n g y l ( y n + c o n g y l indef. nn.

y b y w nm. the living 633. comer) 1107.
y g w e d i adv. ( y g g w e d i ) to prayer y g w y l l d a w c sub-pred. wild 5m
3 n. y g y t a prep, along with, besides 838,
y g w r nm. the man, one, he (who) 1124.
3 7 . 1237. y m prep, in at 25, 35, 78, 105, 106,

y g y t adv. together 626, 598, y g y d 107, 107, 155. 262, 585, 772, 938,
475- 1041, 1055, 1098, 1126; + indef.
y g y t a prep, along with 400. nn. 460; into 52, 1096.
y l l a l l pron. the other 376, 597. y m b r o n n prep, at the point of, close
y l l e i l l pron. sing, subst. the one 596; to 1 1 19.
adj. 325, 793m y m p e l l adv. far (from) 956.
y m a r w nm. the dead 632. y m p e n n prep, at the end of 25, 377,
y m y w n adv. in 92, 112, 129, 141, y m p e n 377, y m p h e n at the end of
447-8, 778, 781, 784-5, 786, 802, 822, into the head of 820.
805, 805-6, 892, 1211; prep, in 530, y m p e n n g w e r s adv. after a while

937; into + def. nn. 809. 268.

y n e b pron. the one he (who, whom) y m a adv. here 836, 850, 851, 860,

451, 561-2, 913. 863, 864 etc.

y n e u a d ( < y n n e u a d ) in the hall of y m a d r a w d nm. word, discourse
90. 1078.
y p e t h pron. that (which) 36. y m a d w s nm. high time 1238.
212 GLO SSA RY

ym au ael vn. lay hold of 1047, 1182, . Xmwyt < ym mwyt adv. into food
1212, y m a u e l 1213; pret. sing. 3. 89m
y m a u a e l a w d 1238-9: xxi. y m y r r u vn. be concerned, involved
y m a r d i s g w y l vn. watch 959. with: pret. sing. 3. y m y r r w y s 9 8 3 :
y m c h o e l u t vn. return, turn back/on xxi.
920n., 1170, 1215; also y m h o e l u t . y m ys < y m m y s adv. in t o (th e )
y m d a r a w vn. fight, engage in fin g e r (o f) 443.
combat (with) 1027. y m y sgy ty a w vn. shake oneself 1 0 3 4 .
y m d e i t h vn. go, travel: pres. sing. 1. yn poss. pron. prefix, pi. 1. 1 3 7 .
y m d a a f $26, 3. y m d a 87, 935; pi. y n pers. pron. infix, pi. 1. 1 3 6 .
i. y m d a w n 515, 2. y m d e w c h 515 y n prep, in 1 1 , 3 5 , 4 8 , 6 1 , 6 3 , 7 $ etc.
(R d o e t h a w c h ) : xvi, xvii, xvii. + indef. nn. 3 8 0 , 9 8 4 ; involved
y m d i a n c vn. get away, escape 894. with 9 6 9 ; into 8 1 3 , 9 7 3 , 9 7 7 , 1 0 5 4 ,
y m d i d a n vn. converse 1082. 1 1 7 6 , 1 1 7 7 , 1 1 8 6 ; + indef. nn. 4 8 0 ;

y m d i r e t vn. trust: pres. sing. 1. sing. 3 . masc. y n d a w 2 2 9 , 2 4 0 ,

y m d i r e d a f 646. 249, 318, 450, 605 etc.; fern, y n d i
y m d w y n vn. bear, carry 1050; 64, 68, 69, 27$, 277, 320 etc.; pi. 3.
imperf. sing. 3. y m d y g e i 279. y n d u n t 658, 658, 664.

y m e n e i n a w vn. bathe oneself 1203. y n pred. prt. + nn. $9, 227, 229,

y m g e i s vn. seek, search for I029n. 265, 302, 326 etc., y n y g y u a r w s

y m g o l l i vn. lose, lose sight of: pret. as a boon 312n.
pi. 3. y m g o l l a s s a n t 113 m. y n pred. prt. + adj. 144, 372, 390,
y m g r i b y a w vn. wrestle 1220. 414, 554, 573 etc.; adv. part. +
y m g y f f r e t vn. reach, stretch; pres. adj. 43, 109, 162, 172, 271, 351 etc.
sing. 3. y m g y f f r e t 158: xix. y n pred. prt. + vn. 7, 26, 73, 81,

y m g y n g h o r i vn. consult 535. 166, 284 etc.

y m h o e l u t vn. return, turn back; y n d r w s prep, at the entrance of,

pres, (fut.) sing. 3. y m h o e l a w d before 127-8, 780.

109, pi. I. y m h o y l w n 479; imper. y n e r b y n prep, against 554-5; y n y
pi. 2. y m h o e l w c h 478: xv, xix. e r b y n to meet him 1167, y n e u

y m l a d nm. fight, battle 119, 918, h e r b y n to meet them 459-60, 461;

919. y n e r b y n a l l t uphill 542.

y m la d vn. fight 370, 925, 926, 991, y n e u k y u e r e i t adv. for their needs

1002, 1052, 1089, 1211; pres. sing. 306-7.

3. y m l a d 1089; pret. sing. 3. y n e u k y l c h adv. around them 955,

y m l a d a w d 1068, 1070, 1072: xxi. y n y g y l c h around him 73.

y m l i t vn. chase, pursue: pres. sing. y n e u g w y d adv. in their presence,

I . y m l i t y a f 1 171. while they looked 1054.

y m o l c h i vn. wash oneself: subj. pres. y n u a r w adv. dead 966.

sing. 3. y m o l c h o 4 8 1 . y n v y w adv./pred. alive 640, 965,

y m o r d i w e s vn. overtake, catch up 1138, 1150, n y t a m i y n u y w not

with 1 1 0 0 ; pret. sing. 3. while I am alive ii7on.
y m o rd iw e d a w d 1034, 1119, 1125, y n g w b y l adv. completely 974.

1153, 1197: xxi. y n g y n t a f adv. first 829, 930, 1092,

y m rith a w vn. transform oneself 1182-3.

1030. y n h y t prep, during, throughout 243.

y m ro d i vn. try hard, do one’s best y n y g y u e i r adv. straight ahead

1145n- 1201.
y m u al < y m m u a l (b u a l) adv. into yn y m ysc adv. in their midst 1161.
drinking horn 90n., 773. yn y ol adv. after him 1240, y n y
y m w e l e t a ( c ) vn. see 1097; plup. h o i after her 498, y n y h o i h i 511.

sing. 3. y m w e l s e i ii43n.; subj. y n l l u y d d adv. on the march 305 (R

pres. sing. 1. y m w e l w y f 563. yn y H u d ).

 G LO SSA RY 213

yn llw r w prep, in the mode, manner y r h yn n = he (who) 393.

y r h w n n

of 915 y r h y n n y h y t h e d i w from that day

yn llw y r adv. entirely 973, 1141, to this 867, 879, 889.

1233. y r m w y n prep, for 356.

yn ol prep, after 1 1 9 4 . y r p a n conj. since (time) 247,

y n r a t adv. for favour, for nothing 1 142-3.

748. y r u n ( a ) pron. the one (who) 1003.

y n t e i r n o s s i c adv. when three nights y r y s prep, since 886n. Cf. GMW

old 686, 849, 862, 873-4, 885, 904. 142-3-

y n w a s t a t adv. always 1049. y s c a r vn. prt. separate 1156; pres,

y n a adv. then 384, 957, 961, 977, 985, (fut.) impers. y s c a r h a w r 883n.;
1017 etc. there 763 (R r a c c o ) . pret. sing. 3. y s c a r w y s 231 ( R
y n o adv. there 95, 96, 127, 426, 427, y s c a r w n ) : xxi, xxi.

858 etc. y s g a w n adj. light 104m., equat.

y n t e u pers. pron. conj. indep. sing. 3. y s c a w n h e t 80; y s k a f n e d 244 ( R

masc. 20, 246, 354, 443, 517, 525 y s g a w n e t ) : xix.

etc. y s k i t h y r n. tusk 646, y s g i t h y r 1020.

y n t e u pers. pron. conj. dep. affix, aux. y s g l y f f y a w vn. snatch 1032.

sing. 3. masc. 46, 284, 524, 538, y s g r y b u l n. coll, animals, stock 936m

551, 552 etc. y s c u b a w r nf. barn 319, 322.

yn y conj. until 880, 1183, 1227m; y s c w y t nf. shield i6in (R t a r y a n ) :

affirm, pre-verb. prt. 911. 959. Cf. xii, 3 3 5 , 7 3 7 -

GMW 244-5. y s c w y d nf. shoulder 908, 909, 924.

y n y s s o e d n.pl. of y n y s island 121. y s k y u a m nf. ear 71, 669n. (R g l u s t ) :

y r def. art. 24, 75, 118, 120, 121, 128 xvi.

etc., + cons. 26n, 598 ( y r r e i y s k y n u a e n nm. mounting-block 140:

h y n n y ) n. xii.
y r affirm, pre-verb. prt. 901. y s l i p a n u vn. furbish 782, 789.

y r prep, for, for the sake of 438, 835, y s l i p a n w r nm. furbisher 775.
982, 983, 1017, 1081, 1087; in y s p y t t y nm. hospice 94m
exchange for 917, 917, 917, 918; in y s ( s ) e f ( y s is + e f it) 8oon., 908m;
spite of: e r h y n n y adv. nevertheless also s e f .
1069; y r d u w for God’s sake 37, y s s u vn. consume, devour 968, 995;
477, 848; + vn. in order to 87, 152; imperf. pi. 3. y s s y n t 3 0 8 , 3 0 9 .
sing. 3. masc. y r d a w 135. y ssyd (y s + yd G M W 63) 42, 47, 48,
y r a w r h o n n adv. at this hour, now 54, 57, i07n.
128. y s t a u e ll nf. chamber 5ion.
( y ) r h w n ( n ) pron. dem. the one y s t ly s nmf. side 50.
(that/who) 7m., 72m, 127. y s t r o d u r nf. saddle 62.
y r h y n n pron. dem. that (which) 390, y s t y r nmf. reason 44, 89, 772,
898, 948. history, significance I074n.: lxvii.
 Indices
N am es of M en and W o m e n , A n im a ls and W eapons

Achen, Gusc mab 200 Brathach mab Gwawrdur Kyruach 188

Aed brenhin Iwerdon, Odgar mab, Bronllauyn Uerllydan (knife) 279
635, 644, 1010, 1038, 1043; Gwittart Brys mab Bryssethach 332
mab 295 Bwlch 333, 736
Aer, Eidoel mab 694, 828
Aethlem (hound) 728, 1202 Caccymuri (gwas Arthur) 318,
Alar, Digon mab 199 Cachamwri 1049, Cacamwri 1181,
Alun Dyuet, mab 18$, 725 1192, 1210, 1214, 1216
Amaethon mab Don 579 Kadam, Nerth mab 200
Amren, Hir Amren 323, 1221 Kadellin Tal Aryant, Gweir mab 289
Amren mab Bedwyr 285 Kado, Berth mab 224
Anet (hound) 728, 1202 Cadwy mab Gereint 182
Angawd mab Kaw 207 Kauall (Arthur’s hound) 1015, 1021,
Anlawd Wledic, Goleudyt merch, 2, 1 108
15. 169, 4 5 3 Kauall (horse) 337, 739
Anoeth Ueidawc 322 Kalcas mab Kaw 212
Anwas Edeinawc 193 Caletuwlch (Arthur’s sword) 159,
An was, Twrch mab 201 Kaletvwlch 1051
Anynnawc mab Menw mab Call (horse) 336, 739
Teirgwaed 217 Canhastyr Canllaw 190, 679; see Cilyd
Ardwyat mab Kaw 210 Canhastyr
Arthur 12, 58, 84, 90, 96, 114, 222, 231, Camedyr mab Gouynyon Hen 250
260, 374, 393, 406, 731, 754, 839, Camwenhan (Arthur’s dagger) 161,
927, 938, 961, 977, 997, 1036, 1057, Camwennan 1226
1074, 1133, 1167, 1205, 1225 et Karw Redynure 859, y Karw 868
passim ; Gwydre mab Arthur 1116 Cas mab Saidi 293
Arwy Hir, Indec merch 365 Casnar Wledic, Llary mab 215
Arwyli eil Gwydawc Gwyr 1155; see Kaw o Brydein 647, 1016, 1018, 1228,
Garwyli eil Gwythawc Gwyr 1232; Kaw 1020; Angawd mab 207;
Atleudor mab Naf 296 Ardwyat mab 210; Calcas mab 212;
Atrwm, Hir Atrwm 306 Celin mab 207; Coch mab 209;
Connyn mab 208; Cynwal mab 210;
Baedan, Maylwys mab 178 Dirmyc mab 206; Ergyryat mab 211;
Banw (boar) 1149 Etmic mab 206; Gildas mab 211;
Bedwyr 175, 393, 394, 523, 802, 803, Gwarthegyt mab 1107, 1114;
805, 845, 9 2 4 , 9 5 3 » 961, 967» 1047. Gwenabwy merch 258; Gwyngat
1108; Amren mab, 285; Eneuawc mab 208; Hueil mab 212; Iustic mab
merch 362 206; Llwybyr mab 209; Mabsant mab
Beli, Reidwn mab 224 208; Meilic mab 209; Ouan mab 207
Bennwic (boar) 1149 Kei (mab Kynyr Keinuarvawc) 134,
Berth mab Kado 224 136, 175, 265, 283, 284, 381, 384, 386,
Berwynn mab Kyrenyr 277 387, 424, 425, 460, 462, 464, 474, 786,
Bitwini Escob 356 804, 813, 909, 924, 925, 957, 962, 968,
Bratwen mab Iaen 203 970, 977, 978, 981-3; Garanwyn mab
Bratwen mab Moren Mynawc 184 284; Kelemon merch 360
2 I6 IN D IC E S

Kel Coet, Llwydeu mab 287, 1055 Kynedyr Wyllt mab Hettwn
Kelli (a Chuel) 298 Clauyryawc 708, Kynedyr Wyllt
Kelemon merch Kei 360 mab Hettwn Tal Aryant 344; see
Celyn mab Kaw 207 Cyledyr Wyllt
Kethtrwm Offeirad 347 Kynuelyn Keudawc, Gwaedan mab
Kibdar, Drych eil 395 342
Kilyd mab Kyledon Wledic 1, see Kynlas mab Kynan 1129-30
Kulhwch mab Cynwal mab Kaw 210
Cilyd Canhastyr 190, 681 Kynwal Canhwch, Gwen Alarch
Kilyd Kyuwlch 736; cf. Kledyf merch 361
Kyuwlch Cynwas Curyuagyl 186, Kynnwas
Kimin Cof, Dalldaf eil, 184 Kwrryuagyl 1101
Kledyf Kyuwlch 334; cf. Kilyd Cynwyl Sant 230
Kyuwlch Kynyr Keinuarvawc 264; see Kei (mab
Kledyf Diuwlch 334, 737, Divwlch Kynyr Keinuarvawc)
mo Kyrenyr, Berwynn mab 277
Clememyl, Vnic, Rathtyen merch 359
Clust mab Clustueinat 347 Daere, Cubert mab 178
Clydno Eidin, Eurneit merch 362 Dalldaf eil Kimin Cof 184
Cnychwr mab Nes 178 Datweir Dallpenn 197
Coch mab Kaw 209 Diaspat 338, 741
Conul Bemach 179 Digon mab Alar 199
Connyn mab Kaw 208 Dillus Uarruawc 960, 963, D.
Cors Cant Ewin 190, 676, 1006 Uaruawc 976, Dillus Uarchawc 700,
Cradawc mab Iaen 204 Dillus uab Eurei 980
Creidylat uerch Lud Law Ereint 367, Dirmyc mab Kaw 206
988 Diwmach Wydel 635, 1037, 1038,
Kuall (horse) 337, 739 1042, 1052
Cuan Cum Kawlwyt (owl) 871, Cuan Doget Urenhin 31
Cwm Kawlwyt 872 Don, Amaethon mab, 579; Gouannon
Cubert mab Daere 178 mab $84
Cuel 298, see Kelli Dorath, Ruawn Pebyr mab 183
Kulhwch (mab Kilyd mab Kyledon Drem mab Dremidyd 261
Wledic) 10, 142, 168, 499, 500, 950, Drutwas mab Tryffin 200
1230, 1234, 1242, 1245, Culhuch Drustwm Hayam 191
441; C. mab Kilid 516, Kulwch mab Drutwyn (keneu Greit mab Eri) 673,
Kilid 373; C. mab Kilyd 563 964, 986, 1014, 110Ó
Kuluanawyt mab Goryon 253 Drwc 340, 742
Custenhin Amhynwyedic 435, Drwc Dydwc 337, 740
Custenhin heusawr 458, Custenhin Drych eil Kibdar 395
529, Custennhin heussawr 806, 810; Du (march Moro Oeruedawc) 718
Goreu mab, 811, 1178, 1230, 1239 Duach (mab Gwawrdur Kyruach) 188
Kyuwlch 333, 736; Eheubryt mab 341 Ducum, Mil Du mab 124
Kyledon Wledic, Kilyd mab 1, Kilid Dunart brenhin y Gogled 254; cf.
mab Kelydon Wledic 168, 453; see Dyfnarth mab Gwrgwst Letlwm
Kulhwch mab Kilyd mab Kyledon Duw 483, 514, 599, 714, 766, 848,
Wledic 854, 857, 870, 940, 947, 1038, 1076,
Cyledyr Wyllt (mab Nwython) 994, 1088, 1122, 1223; Dyw 37, 147, 162,
996, 1012, 1186; cf. Kynedyr Wyllt 172, 431. 438, 4 7 7
Kynan, Kynlas mab 1129-30 Dwnn Diessic Unben 343
Cyndelic Kyuarwyd 177, Cyndylic Dydwc 3 3 7 , 3 3 8 , 74©
Kyuarwyd 399 Dyfnarth (mab Gwrgwst Letlwm)
Cyndrwyn mab Ermit 220 993; cf. Dunart brenhin y Gogled
 IN D IC E S 217

Dygyflwng 322 Eumeit merch Clydno Eidin 361

Dyuel mab Erbin 219 Eus mab Erim 233
Dyuynwal Moel 254 Eurolvyn merch Wdolwyn Gorr 364
Dyw see Duw
Fergus mab Poch 179
Ebrei, Gwrdiual mab 256 Fferis (Peris) brenhin Freinc 277
Echel Uordvyt Twll 196, Echel Fflam mab Nwyfre 218
Uordwyt Twll 1154; Gobrwy mab, Fflergant brenhin Llydaw, Sberin mab
195 216
Edem mab Nud 182 Fflewdwr Flam Wledic 182
Ehangwen (Arthur’s hall) 264
Eheubryt mab Kyuwlch 341 Gallcoit Gouynnyat 187-8, Gallgoic 274
Ehawc Llyn Lliw 902, Ehawc 909 Garanwyn mab Kei 284
Eidoel mab Aer 694, 828, 830, 831, Garam 741, Garym 338
843, Eidoel mab Ner 263 Garselit Wydel 697, 1117; Garselit
Eidon Uawrurydic 221 Vydel 295
Eiladar mab Penn Llarcan 343 Garwyli eil Gwythawc Gwyr 197; see
Eiryawn Pennlloran 1128 Arwyli eil Gwydawc Gwyr
Eissywed 339, Eissywet 742 Gast Rymhi 315, 931
Eli 286, 1159 Gereint mab Erbin 219; Cadwy mab
Eli Atuer, Reidwn mab 1115 Gereint 182
Elidir Gyuarwyd 329 Gildas mab Kaw 211
Eli (a Thrachmyr) 286 Gilla Goeshyd 298
Ely (a Myr) 285; cf. Ely a Thrachmyr Glas (hound) 336, 739
1105-6 Gleis mab Merin 123
Ellylw merch Neol Kyn Croc 371 Glesic (hound) 336, 739
Eneuawc merch Uedwyr 362 Gleissat (hound) 336, 739
Enrydrec merch Tutuathar 362 Glew mab Yscawt 1117
Erbin, Dyuel mab 219; Ermid mab Glewlwyt Gauaeluawr h i , 192, 1121,
219; Gereint mab 219 Glewlwyt 114, Glewlwyd 139
Erduduyl merch Tryffin 364 Gliui 831, 832
Ergyryat mab Kaw 211 Glinneu eil Taran 992
Eri, Greit mab 176, 673, 916, 964, Gluydyn Saer 263; see Gwlydyn Saer
986, 992, 1014-15, 1106 Glythmyr Ledewic 1009, Glythmyr
Erim, Eus mab 233; Henbedestyr mab Letewic 1107-8, Glythuyr Ledewic
234, 236; Henwas Edeinawc mab 1014
233; Scilti Scawntroet mab 234, 239; Glythwyr, Saranhon mab 216
Uchdryt mab 233 Gobrwy mab Echel Uordvyt Twll 195
Ermid mab Erbin 219 Gouannon mab Don 584
Ermit, Cyndrwyn mab 220; Gwyn Gouynyon Hen, Camedyr mab 250
mab 220 Gogigwr 86, 1 120
Erw, Llawr eil 217 Goleudyt merch Anlawd Wledic 2, 14,
Erwm, Hir Erwm 305 169, 453
Eryr Gwem Abwy 882, 883, Eryr 886, Gorascwm mab Nerth 341
901 Goreu mab Custenhin 811, G. mab
Eskeir Gulhwch Gonyn Cawn 191 Custennin 1178, 1230, 1239
Esni, Gwyn mab 181 Gormant mab Ricca 198, 221
Essyllt Uyngul 372 Goryon, Kuluanawyt mab 253
Essyllt Vynwen 372 Greit mab Eri 176, 673, 916, 964, 986,
Etmic mab Kaw 206 992, 1014-15, 1106
Eidyl, Hir Eidyl 323 Greidawl Galldouyt 176, Gwythyr
Eurei, Dillus mab 979; see Dillus mab Greidawl 176, 369, 942, 989,
Uamiawc/Uarchawc 1000, 1210
2 i 8 IN D IC E S

Grudlwyn Gorr 333 . Çwilenhen brenhin Freinc 294,

Grugyn Gwrych Ereint (boar) 1083, Gwilenhin 1130, Guilenhin brenin
1085, 1 1 57; Grugyn 1091, 1140, 1160, Freinc 720
1161; G. Gwallt Ereint 1136-7, Gwittart mab Acd brenhin Iwerdon
1 1 50-1 295
Guidolwyn Gorr 657; cf. Gwdolwyn Gwlgawt Gododin 624
Gorr, Grudlwyn Gorr Gwlwlyd Wineu 589
Guilenhin brenhin Freinc 720, 1130; Gwlydyn Saer 1124-5; see Gluydyn Saer
Gwilenhen brenhin Freinc 294 Gwrbothu Hen 252, Gwrbothu 1164
Gusc mab Achen 200 Gwrdiual mab Ebrei 256
Guyn Mygtwn (march Gwedw) 689; Gwruan Gwallt Auwyn 294
Gwynn Mygdwn 1177; see Mygdwn Gwrgi Seueri 1010
Gwadyn Odeith 300, 303 Gwrgwst Letlwm 993
Gwadyn Ossol 300, 301 Gwrhyr Gwalstawd leithoed 346, 402,
Gwaedan mab Kynuelyn Keudawc 342 424, 841, 909, 1077, 1080; G.
Gwaeth 340, 743 Gualstawt 769; Gwrhyr 470, 848,
Gwaethaf Oil 340, 743 912, 1078
Gwalchmei mab Gwyar 345, 404 Gwrhyr Gwarthecuras 186
Gwalhauet mab Gwyar 345 Gwryon 185, Hu[n]abwy mab 288
Gwarae Gwallt Eurin 315, Gware Gwyar, Gwalchmei mab 345, 404;
Gwallt Euryn 1008 Gwalhauet mab 345
Gwaredur Kyruach, Gwenwledyr Gwydawc Gwyr, Arwyli eil 1155;
merch 363; cf. Gwawrdur Kyruach Garwyli eil Gwythawc Gwyr 197
Gwarthegyt mab Kaw 1107, Gwydawc mab Menester 283
Gwarthegyd 1114 Gwyden Astrus 316
Gwastat, Gweuyl mab 324 Gwydneu Garanhir 618
Gwawrdur Kyruach 189; Brathach mab Gwydre mab Arthur 1116
188, Duach mab 188, Nerthach mab Gwydre mab Lluydeu 258
188; cf Gwaredur Kyruach 363 Gwydrut 316
Gwdolwyn Gorr, Eurolvyn merch 364; Gwydyl, y 1069
cf Guidolwyn Gorr 657 Gwyngat mab Kaw 208
Gwedw 689, 1006, 1177 Gwyngelli 1182
Gweuyl mab Gwastat 324 Gwynhan, Teithi Hen mab 245
Gweir Dathar Wenidawc 288; Tang wen Gwynn Gotyuron 288
merch 360 Gwynn Hyuar 296
Gweir Gwrhyd Enwir 290 Gwynn mab Ermit 220
Gweir Gwyn Paladyr 290 Gwynn mab Esni 181
Gweir mab Kadellin Tal Aryant 289 Gwynn mab Nud 181, 713, 717, 990,
Gwen Alarch merch Kynwal Canhwch 991, 998-9, 1003, 1133, 1209;
361 Gwynn 717, 1219
Gwenabwy merch Kaw 258 Gwynn mab Nwyvre 181, 218
Gwenhwyach 358 Gwyn mab Tringat mab Neuet 1127
Gwenhvyuar 161, Gwenhwyuar 330, Gwynn Mygdwn (march Gwedw)
358 1177, Mygdwn 1006, Guyn
Gwenlliant Tec 366 Mygtwn 689
Gwenwledyr merch Waredur Kyruach Gwys (boar) 1148
363 Gwystyl mab Nwython 256
Gwenwynwyn mab Naf 250, Gwythawc Gwyr 198, Garwyli eil 197
Gwenwynwyn mab Naw mab Gwythyr uab Greidawl 176; G. mab
Seithuet 194 Greidawl 369, 942, 989, 991, 1000,
Gwiawn Llygat Cath 351 1210, Gwythyr 1003, 1219
Gwidon Ordu (merch y Widon Orwen)
652, 1206, y Widon 1228 Halwn, Huarwar mab 312
 IN D IC E S 219

Hen Vyneb 274 Llwch Llawwynnyawc 291; cf. Lloch

Henbedestyr mab Erim 234, Llawwynnyawc 192
Henbedester 236 Llwybyr mab Kaw 209
Hengedymdeith 274 Llwng 322
Hengroen (horse) 232 Llwydawc Gouynnyat (boar) 1137,
Henwas Edeinawc mab Erim 233, 237; 1 1 51, Llwydawc 1140, Llwytawc
cf. Anwas Edeinawc 1 162
Hettwn Clauyryawc 708; Kynedyr Llwyr Dydwc 338, 740
Wyllt mab 708 Llwyryon, Llwyr mab 613
Hettwn Tal Aryant 344 Llygatrud Emys 251, 1164
Hir Amren 323, 1221 Llyr, Manawedan mab 215,
Hir Atrwm 306 Manawydan uab Llyr 1181
Hir Erwm 305
Hir Eidyl 323, 1221 Mabon mab Modron 68$, 690, 828,
Hir Peissawc brenhin Llydaw 1163-4 849, 862, 873, 885, 903, 914, 921-2,
Hu[n]abwy mab Gwryon 288 1176-7, 1184; Mabon 693, 923
Huandaw 86, 1120 Mabon mab Mellt 1007-8, 1013
Huarwar mab Halwm 312 Mabsant mab Kaw 208
Hueil mab Kaw 212, Hueil 259, 260 Madawc mab Teithyon 1126-7
Hwyr Dydwc 337, 740 Mae! mab Roy col 196
Hygwyd 1048, 1210, 1212, 1215 Manawedan mab Llyr 215,
Hyueid Unllenn 220 Manawydan uab Llyr 1181
Maylwys mab Baedan 178
laen, Bratwen mab 203, Cradawc mab Medyr mab Methredyd 349
204, Moren mab 203, Siawn mab Meilic mab Kaw 209
204, Sulyen mab 203, Teregut mab Melyn Gwanhwyn (ox) 593
202 Mellt, Mabon mab 1007-8, 1013
Indec merch Arwy Hir 365 Menestyr, Gwydawc mab 283
Iona urenhin Freinc 202 Menw mab Teirgwaed 199, 408, 426,
Iscawyn mab Panon 1118; Yscawin 102$, 1178; Menw 1029, 1031, 1035;
mab Panon 225 Menw mab Teirgveth 538;
Iscouan Hael 224, 1115 Anynnawc mab 217
Isperyr Ewingath 187 Merin, Gleis mab 123
Iustic mab Kaw 206 Methredyd, Medyr mab 349
Mil Du mab Ducum 123
Llaeskemyn 86, Llaesgemyn 1123 Modron, Mabon mab 685, 690 etc.
Llamrei (Arthur’s mare) 1016, 1225 (see Mabon mab Modron)
Llary mab Casnar Wledic 215 Moren mab laen 203
Llawin, Twrch (boar) 1147 Moren Mynawc 184, Bratwen mab
Llawurodet Uaruawc 223 183
Llawr eil Erw 217 Morgant Hael, 256
Llenlleawc Vydel 293, Llennleawc Moro Oeruedawc 718
Vydel 253, Llenlleawc Wydel 1051 Moruran eil Tegit 22$
Lloch Llawwynnyawc 192; cf. Llwch Moruyd merch Uryen Reget 366
Llawwynnyawc 291 Mygdwn; see Gwynn Mygdwn
Lluber Beuthach 179 (march Gwedw)
Lluchet 339, 742 Mwyalch Gilgwri 847, 850
Llud Llaw Ereint 916; Creidylat merch Myr 28$
367, 988-9
Lluydeu mab Kelcoet 287, mab Kel Naf, Atleudor mab 296;
Coet 1055 Gwenwynwyn mab 250
Lluydeu mab Nwython 257 Naw mab Seithuet, Gwenwynwyn
Lluydeu, Gwydre mab 258 mab 194
220 IN D IC E S

Neb mab Kaw 211 Rianhon 632

Neol Kyn Croc, Ellylw merch 371 Ricca, Gormant mab 198, 221
Ner, Eidoel mab 263; cf. Eidoel mab Rinnon Rin Baruawc 663
Aer Rongomynyat (Arthur’s spear) 160
Nerth mab Kadam 200; Gorascwm Roy col, Mael mab 196
mab 341 Ruawn Pebyr mab Dorath 183
Nerthach mab Gwawrdur Kyruach Ruduyw Rys 1161
188 Run Rudwem 286
Nethawc, Penn mab 993-4 Run mab Nwython 257
Nes, Cnychwr mab 178 Rymhi, Gast 315, 931
Neuet, 339, 742; Gwyn mab Tringat
mab Neuet 1127 Saidi, mab 185, Cas mab 293
Nodawl Uaryf Trwch 223 Sande Pryt Angel 228
Nud, Edem mab 182, Gwynn mab Saranhon mab Glythwyr 216-17
181, 713 etc. (see Gwynn mab Nud) Samson Uinsych 214
Nwython 994, 995; Gwystyl mab 256; Sawyl Penn Uchel 344
Llwydeu mab 257; Run mab 257 Sberin mab Flergant brenhin Llydaw
Nwywre, Flam mab 218; Gwynn mab 216
181, 218 Scilti Scawntroet mab Erim 234, Scilti
Nynhyaw (ox) 599 Yscawntroet 239
Seithuet, Bedyw mab 195,
Och 338, 741 Gwenwynwyn mab Naw mab
Odgar mab Aed brenhin Iwerdon 635, Seithuet 194, Sinnoch mab 193,
644, 1010, 1036, Otgar 1038, 1043, Watu mab 193
Odgar brenhin Iwerdon 1045 Sei mab Selgi 202
Ol mab Olwyd 353 Selyf mab Sinoit 199
Olwen merch Yspadaden Penkawr 51, Seueri, Gwrgi 1010
56, 173, 1245; Olwen 477, 498, 515, Seuwlch 333; Syuwlch 736
1242, Olwenn 438 Siawn mab Iaen 204
Olwyd, Ol mab 353 Sinnoch mab Seithuet 193
Osla Gyllelluawr 278, 1180-1, 1193-4 Sinoit, Selyf mab 199
Ouan mab Kaw 207 Sol 300
Sucnedut, Sucgyn mab 316
Panawr Penbagat 296 Sulyen mab Iaen 203
Panon, Yscawin mab 22$, Iscawyn Syuwlch 736, Seuwlch 333
mab 1 1 18
Peibyaw (ox) 599 Tangwen merch Weir Dathar
Penn Llarcan, Eiladar mab 343 Wenidawc 360
Penn mab Nethawc 993-4 Taran, Glinneu eil 992
Penpingyon 86, Pen Pingon 1121 Tarawc Alit Clwyt 1114
Perif (boar), Twrch mab 201 Tared Wledic, Twrch Trwyth mab
Peris brenhin Freinc 277 670; see Twrch Trwyth
Peul, Teleri merch 365 Tathal Twyll Goleu 177
Poch, Fergus mab 179 Tecuan Glof 255
Prytwenn (Arthur’s ship) 938, Tegit, Moruran eil 225
Pry twen 1041, 1096 Tegyr Talgellawc 255
Pwyll Hanner Dyn 342 Teirgwaed, Menw mab 199, 408 etc.
Teirgveth 538; (see Menw mab
Rathtyen merch Vnic Clememyl 359 Teirgwaed)
Reidwn Arwy 221 Teirtu 627
Reidwn mab Beli 224 Teithi Hen mab Gwynhan 245
Reidwn uab Eli Atuer 1114-15 Teithyon, Madawc mab 1126-7
Reu Rwyddyrys 286 Teleri merch Peul 365
 IN D IC E S 221

Teliessin Penn Beird 214 Uryen Reget, Moruyd merch 366

Teregut mab Iaen 202
Teymon Twr Bliant 255 Watu mab Seithuet 194
Trachmyr 286, 1106, 1159 Wmach Gawr 747, 765, 778, 787, 823;
Tringat, 933; Tringat mab Neuet, Wrnach 788, Vmach Gawr 773, 777;
Gwyn mab 1127 Wmach Kawr 813
Tryffin, Dmtwas mab 200, Erduduyl Wyneb Gwrthucher (Arthur’s shield)
merch 364 160
Tutuathar, Enrydrec merch 362
Twrch Llawin (boar) 1147
Twrch Trwyth mab Tared Wledic Ych Brych (ox) 593
669; Twrch Trwyth 672, 690, 698, Ynyr (deu) 119
713, 7 1 8 , 721, 724, 727 , 731, 735 » Yscawin mab Panon 225; Iscawyn mab
1026, 1067, 1091, 1098, 1103, 1134, Panon 1118
1142, 1166, 1169 Yscawt, Glew mab 1117
Twrch mab Anwas (boar) 201 Yscudyd 329
Twrch mab Perif (boar) 201 Yskithrwyn Pen(n) Beid (boar) 639,
1013, m i , Y. Benn Beid 1023
Vchdryt Ardwyat Kat 186 Yskyrdaf 329
Vchdryt Uaryf Draws 327 Yspadaden Penkawr 51, 56, 173, 514,
Uchdryt mab Erim 233 521, 524, 531, 545, 565, 950, 1231,
Vnic Clememyl, Rathtyen merch 359 1245, Yspydaden Pen Cawr 473
 N am es of P laces

Aber Cledyf 933, 936; Aber Deu Dinsol 106

Gledyf 932; Deu Gledyf 1101 Dyfneint 297, 313, 1167
Aber Gwy 1179 Dyffryn Amanw 1149
Aber Hafren 1168 Dyffryn Llychwr 1136
Aber Tywi 1128 Dyuet 1056, 1098
Affric 121
Alit Clwyt 1 1 14 Egrop 120
Amanw, Dyffryn 1149; Mynyd 1145 Eskeir Oeruel yn Iwerdon 107, 350;
Annwuyn 714 Esgeir Oeruel 1030, 1066
Euyas 1166, 1174
Bannawc, Mynyd 597 Ewin, Llwch 1152

Caer Anoeth 125 Fotor 1 18

Caer Brythwch a Brythach a Nerthach Freinc 202, 277, 294, 720, 1058, 1130
122
Kaer Loyw 906, 923 Gamon, Pentir 253-4
Caer Neuenhyr Naw Nawt 126 Garth Grugyn 1160
Caer Oeth ac Anoeth 12$ Glynn Nyuer 1112; see Nyuer
Kaer Paris 278 Glynn Ystu 1131
Caer Se ac Asse 117 Gogled, Y 107, 997, 1012, 1208
Kaer Tathal 204 Groec 124
Camlan 226, 229, 231; Cat Gamlan Grugyn, Garth 1160
297 Gwem Abwy 882, 883
Cam Gwylathyr 954 Gwlat yr Haf 1059
Kawlwyt, Cwm 872 Gwy, Aber 1179
Celli Wie y Ghemiw 261, 351, 975, Gwylathyr, Cam 954
1024, 1204
Kelli (a Chuel) 297 Hafren 1174, 1176, 1178, 1183, 1187;
Kerdin, Porth 105$ Aber 1168
Keredigyawn 1159
Cemiw 261; Kernyw 106, 223, 297, India Uawr 118
3*3. 975. *024, 1167, 1170, 1190, India Uechan 118
1201, 1204 Iwerdon 107, 295, 299, 350, 636, 644,
Kerwyn, Cwm 1112 697, 1010, io n , 1029, 1037, 1040,
Cilgwri 847 1042, 1046, 1054, 1061, 1062, 1066,
Cledyf, Aber see Aber Cledyf 1069, 1143
Cleis, Porth 1098
Corsica 121 Lotor 1 17
Cum Kawlwyt 871, Cwm Kawlwyt Lliwan, Llyn 1179; see Llyn Lliw
872 Llwch Ewin 1152
Cwm Kerwyn 1112 Llwch Tawy 1156
Cymry 109$ Llychlyn 120
Llydaw 216, 1007, 1058, 1163, 1164
Deu Gledyf 1101, see Aber Cledyf Llyn Llyw 891, Llyn Lliw 902; cf.
Din Tywi 1158 Llynn Lliwan 1179
224 NAM ES OF PLACES

Mor Terwyn 292 Presseleu 1104

Mynyd Amanw 1145 Êumlumon 953
Mynyd Bannawc 597
Mynyw 1099 Redynure 859, 860
Rydynawc Du 332
Nant Gouut, Penn 1207, cf. Pennant
Gouut Sach 1 17
Nerthach, Caer 122 Salach 117
Neuenhyr Naw Nawt, Caer 126 Se, Caer 117
Normandi 1059
Nyuer 1109; Glynn Nyuer 1112
Tathal, Kaer 204
Pelunyawc 1126 Tawy 1166; Llwch Tawy 1156
Penn Blathaon ym Predein 262 Teir Ynys Prydein a’e Their Rac Ynys
Pennant Gouut yg gwrthtir Uffem 282, 368, 1057-8
653, Penn Nant Gouut 1207 Terwyn, Mor 292
Penn Pengwaed 106 Tywi, Aber 1128; Din 1158
Pentir Gamon 253-4
Porth Kerdin yn Dyuet 1055-6 Uffem 189, 653, 1208
Porth Cleis 1098
Prydein 282, 293, 332, 368, 647, 1016, Ynys Prydein, see Prydein
1058, 1180, 1228; Ynys Prydein 830, Ystrat Yw 1162
1058; see Teir Ynys Prydein Ystu, Glynn 1131
 E p it h e t s

(The first appearance of each personal name is alone cited;

where epithets are untranslated the reader is referred to the notes)
Alarch (‘swan’): Gwen 361 Kyuarwyd (‘guide’): Cyndelic 177;
Alit Clwyt: Tarawc 1114 Elidir 329
Amhynwyedic: Custenhin 435 Kyuwlch: Kledyf 334; Kilyd 736
Ardwyat Kat: Vchdryt 186 Cyllelluawr (‘Big-knife’): Osla 278
Astrus: Gwyden 316 Kyn Croc: Neol 371
Atuer: Eli 1115 Kyruach: Gwawrdur 189; Gwaredur 363
Arwy: Reidwn 221
Dallpenn: Datweir 197
Baruawc (‘bearded’): Dillus 960; Dathar Wenidawc: Gweir 288
Llawurodet 223 Diessic Unben: Dwnn 343
Baryf Draws: Vchdryt 327 Diuwlch: Cledyf 334
Baryf Trwch: Nodawl 223-4 Du (‘black’): Mil 123
Beidawc: Anoeth 322 Dydwc: Drwc; Hwyr 337; Llwyr 338
Bemach: Conul 179 Dyuet: Alun 185
Beuthach: Lluber 179
Brenhin (‘king’): Doget Urenhin 31;
Iona urenhin Freinc 202; Flergant Eidin: Clydno 362
brenhin Llydaw 216, Dunart Emys: Llygatrud 251
brenhin y Gogled 254; Peris brenhin Escob (‘bishop’): Bitwini 356
Freinc 277; Guilenhin brenhin Freinc Ewingath (‘cat’s claw’): Isper r 187
720; Aed brenhin Iwerdon 295;
Odgar brenhin Iwerdon 1045-6; Hir Flam (‘flame’): Flewdwr 182
Peissawc brenhin Llydaw 1164
Gauaeluawr (‘mighty grasp’): Glewlwyt
Canhwch: Kynwal 361 11 1
Canllaw: Canhastyr 190 Galldouyd: Greidawl, 176
Cant Ewin: Cors 190 Garanhir (‘long shank’): Gwydneu 618
Cawr (‘giant’): Wmach 747 (see Godeith: Gwadyn 300
Penkawr) Gododin: Gwlgawt 624
Keinuaruawc (‘Fair-bearded’): Kynyr Gouynnyat: Gallcoit 188; Llwydawc
264 1137
Keudawc: Kynuelyn 342 Gossol: Gwadyn 300
Clauyryawc: Hettwn 708 Gotyuron: Gwynn 288
Clememyl: Unic 359 Gwallt Auwyn: Gwruan 294
Clof (‘lame’): Tecuan 255 Gwallt Eurin (‘golden hair’): Gwar(a)e
Coeshyd (‘stag’s leg’): Gilla 298 315; Grugyn Gwallt Ereint (‘silver
Cof: Kimin 185 hair’) 1136-7
Conyn Cawn: Eskeir Culhwch 191 Gwarthecuras: Gwrhyr 186
Corr (‘dwarf’): Grudlwyn 333; Gwineu: Gwlwlyd 589
Guidolwyn 657; Gwdolwyn 364-5 Gwledic: Kyledon 1; Anlawd 2; Casnar
Curyuagyl: Cynwas 186 215; Flewdwr Flam 182; Tared 670
226 E P IT H E T S

Gwrhyd Enwir: Gweir 290 Ordu (‘very black’): Y Widon 652

Gwrych Ereint (‘silver bristle’): Grugyn Orwen (‘very white’): Y Widon 653
1083 Ossul: Gwadyn 300
Gwydel (‘Irishman’): Diwmach 635;
Garselit 697; Llenlleawc 253 Pebyr: Ruawn 183
Gwyllt: Kynedyr 708; Cyledyr 994 Penbagat: Panawr 296
Gwyn (‘white, fair’): Mygdwn (march Penn Beid (‘Chief of Boars’):
Gwedw) 1177 Yskithyrwyn 639
Gwyn Paladyr: Gweir 290 Penn Beird (‘Chief of Bards’):
Gwyr: Gwydawc 1155 Teliessin 214
Penkawr (Chief Giant’): Yspadaden 51
Hael (‘Generous’): Iscouan 224; Morgant Penlloran: Eiryawn 1128
256 Penn Uchel (‘High Head’) Sawyl 344
Hanner Dyr (‘half man’): Pwyll 342 Pryt Angel (‘Angel’s form’): Sande
Hen (‘old’): Gouynyon 250; Gwrbothu 228
252; Teithi 245; Hen Vyneb 274
Hir (‘long, tali’): H. Atrwm 306; H. Reget: Uryen 366
Amren 323; H. Eidyl 323; H. Erwm Rin Baruawc (‘stiff beard’): Rinnon
305; H. Peissawc 1164; Arwy Hir 365 663
Hyuar: Gwynn 296 Ruduyw: Rys 1 161
Rudwem: Run 286
Llaw Ereint (‘silver hand’): Llud 367 Rwyddyrys: Reu 286
Llawwynnyawc: Lloch 192; Llwch 291
Lledewic (‘Breton’): Glythmyr 1009
Saer (‘craftsman’): Gluydyn 263;
Lletlwm: Gwrgwst 993
Gwlydyn 1124-5
Llygat Cath (‘cat’s eye’): Gwiawn 351
Sant (‘Saint’): Cynwyl 230
Scawntroet (‘light foot’): Scilti 235; cf.
Marchawc (‘horseman’): Dillus 700 Yscawntroet 239
Mawrurydic: Eidon 221 Seueri: Gwrgi 1010
Melyn: M. Gwanhwyn (ych) 593
Minsych (‘dry lip’): Samson 214
Moel (‘bare, bald’): Dyuynwal 254 Tal Aryant (‘silver brow’): Kadellin
Mordwyt Twll: Echel 196 289; Hettwn 344
Mygdwn (‘dun mane’): see Gwyn Talgellawc: Tegyr 255
Mygdwn Tec (‘fair’): Gwenlliant 366
Mynawc (‘slender neck’): Moren 184 Twr Bliant: Teymon 255
Myngul (‘fair neck’): Essyllt 372 Twyll Goleu: Tathal 177
Mynwen: Essyllt 372
Unllenn ('one mantle’): Hyueid 220
Oeruedawc: Moro 718
Offeirad (‘preist’): Kethtrwm 347 Yscawntroet (‘light foot’): Scilti 239