| Page 29 | |
of the Wave. The other child, concealed by Gwydion and who seems to be his own child, is named Lleu Llaw Gyffes.
[W] King of Annwn. Pwyll of Dyfed is hunting in Glyn Cuch when he sees a strange pack of hounds bringing down a stag. He drives them off and sets his own hounds onto the stag. A strange hunter appears and rebukes him for his discourtesy. He is Arawn, king of Annwn—the Otherworld. To redeem his friendship, Pwyll has to agree to swap forms with him for a year and then slay Arawn’s enemy, Hafgan. He can only strike Hafgan once, for a second blow would restore his strength. Additionally, he must not make love to Arawn’s queen during the year he shares her bed in the guise of Arawn. Pywll accomplishes his tasks and returns to Dyfed, hailed not only as lord of Dyfed but “head” of Annwn.
[W] Sometimes given as Narbeth. Chief court of Pwyll, lord of Dyfed, where Pwyll holds a great feast and gorsedd on his return from Annwn. The gorsedd mound at Arbeth is the centre of the mysterious adventures of both Pwyll and Pryderi. Whoever sat there would see wonders or, alternatively, suffer wounds and blows. It was here that Pwyll first saw his future bride, Rhiannon; here that Pryderi sat when an enchantment fell on Dyfed; and here that Manawydan was about to execute a thieving mouse, which turned out to be the wife of the magician Llwyd, who had enchanted the land. Llwyd, in return for his wife’s freedom, was forced to disenchant the land.
[I] He slew Cumal, father of Fionn Mac Cumhail, chief of the Fianna. In other versions of the tale the killer is named as Goll Mac Morna, who became the new leader of the Fianna. There are two versions featuring Arca Dubh. One is that Cumal could only be slain by his own sword while lying with his wife, and this was done by Arca Dubh, who was his servant. The other is that Arca Dubh was hiding in the grass by a river and threw his spear at Cumal while he was swimming.
[I] A son of Usna and one of Naoise’s brothers who followed him into Alba and was killed at the Red Branch Hostel. See Naoise.
[W] On the Llanberis side of Snowdonia. There is a belief that whosoever spent a night under the haunted stone emerged in the morning either an inspired bard or insane.
[I] The name means “High Power.” He is lord of Lethra and father of two famous female warriors—Scáthach and Aoife.
| |