The Mabinogion (Oxford World's Classics) (39 page)

And the next day, early in the morning, some of the men caught up with Twrch Trwyth and his pigs. And Twrch Trwyth killed Huandaw, and Gogigwr, and Penpingion, the three servants of Glewlwyd Gafaelfawr, so that God knows he had no servant left to him in the world except Llaesgymyn himself, a man who was no use to anyone. He also killed many men of the country, and Gwlyddyn Saer, Arthur’s chief craftsman. And then Arthur caught up with him in Peuliniog,
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and then Twrch Trwyth killed Madog son of Teithion, and Gwyn son of Tringad son of Neued, and Eiriawn Penlloran. And from there he went to Aber Tywi: there he stood at bay, and he killed Cynlas son of Cynan, and Gwilenhin, king of France. From there he went to Glyn Ystun,
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and then the men and hounds lost him.

Arthur summoned Gwyn son of Nudd to him, and asked him if he knew anything about Twrch Trwyth. He said that he did not. Then all the huntsmen went to hunt the pigs, as far as Dyffryn Llychwr. And Grugyn Gwallt Eraint and Llwydog Gofyniad rushed at them, and they killed the huntsmen so that not one of them escaped alive apart from one man. Arthur brought his men to where Grugyn and Llwydog were, and then let loose on them all the hounds that had been named. And because of the shouting and the barking that resulted, Twrch Trwyth came and defended his pigs. He had not set eyes on them from the time they had come across the Irish Sea until now. Then Twrch Trwyth was attacked by men and dogs, and he took flight as far as Mynydd Amanw, and then a piglet from among his pigs was killed. They engaged him in mortal combat, and then Twrch Llawin was killed. And then another of his pigs was killed—Gwys was his name. And from there he went to Dyffryn Amanw, and there Banw and Benwig were killed.
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Not one of his pigs lived to go with him from there except Grugyn Gwallt Eraint and Llwydog Gofyniad.

From there they went to Llwch Ewin, where Arthur caught up with Twrch Trwyth. Then he stood at bay. And then he killed Echel Forddwyd Twll, and Arwyli son of Gwyddog Gwyr, and many men and hounds besides. From there they went to Llwch Tawy. Grugyn Gwrych Eraint then separated from them, and made for Din Tywi. And from there he went to Ceredigion, followed by Eli and Trachmyr and a crowd besides. And he went as far as Garth Grugyn, and it was there Grugyn was killed in their midst, but not before he killed Rhyddfyw Rhys and many others. And then Llwydog went to Ystrad Yw,
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and it was there the men of Brittany encountered him, and then he killed Hir Peisog
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the king of Brittany, and Llygadrudd Emys and Gwrfoddw, Arthur’s uncles, his mother’s brothers. And then Llwydog himself was killed.

Twrch Trwyth then passed between Tawy and Ewias. Arthur summoned Cornwall and Devon to meet him at Aber Hafren,
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and Arthur said to the men of this Island, ‘Twrch Trwyth has killed many of my men. By the might of men, he will not go to Cornwall while I am alive. I shall pursue him no more but will engage him in mortal combat. You do what you will.’

This is what happened on his advice: they sent an army of horsemen, and the hounds of the Island with them, as far as Ewias,
and they returned from there to the Hafren, and ambushed him with every experienced soldier in this Island, and drove him by sheer force into the Hafren. And Mabon son of Modron went with him on Gwyn Myngddwn, Gweddw’s steed, into the Hafren, and Gorau son of Custennin and Menw son of Teirgwaedd, between Llyn Lliwan and Aber Gwy.
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And Arthur fell upon Twrch Trwyth, together with the warriors of Prydain. Osla Gyllellfawr approached, and Manawydan son of Llŷr, and Cacamwri, Arthur’s servant, and Gwyngelli, and closed in on him. And they grabbed him first by his feet, and soused him in the Hafren until it flooded over him. Mabon son of Modron spurred his horse on the one side and grabbed the razor from him, and on the other side Cyledyr Wyllt rushed into the Hafren on another horse and snatched the shears from him. Before they could remove the comb he found his feet, and firm ground, and from the moment he found dry land neither hound nor man nor steed could keep up with him until he reached Cornwall. Whatever trouble was had getting those treasures from him, worse was had trying to save the two men from drowning. As Cacamwri was pulled up, two millstones pulled him back into the depths. As he was running after the boar, Osla Gyllellfawr’s knife fell from its sheath and he lost it, and after that his sheath was full of water; as he was pulled up, it pulled him back into the depths.

From there Arthur went with his men until he caught up with Twrch Trwyth in Cornwall. Whatever trouble he had caused them before was mere play compared to what they then suffered in seeking the comb. But after one difficulty and another, the comb was taken from him. And then he was chased out of Cornwall and driven straight into the sea. From then on it was not known where he and Aned and Aethlem went. From there Arthur went to Celli Wig in Cornwall, to bathe himself and throw off his weariness.

Arthur said, ‘Are there any of the wonders we have still not obtained?’

One of the men said, ‘Yes, the blood of the Very Black Witch, daughter of the Very White Witch from Pennant Gofid in the uplands of hell.’

Arthur set out for the North, and came to where the hag’s cave was. And Gwyn son of Nudd and Gwythyr son of Greidol
advised that Cacamwri and Hygwydd his brother should be sent to fight the hag. As they came into the cave the hag attacked them, and grabbed Hygwydd by his hair and threw him to the ground beneath her. Cacamwri grabbed her by the hair and pulled her off Hygwydd to the ground, and she turned on Cacamwri and thrashed both of them and disarmed them, and sent them out shrieking and shouting. Arthur became angry at seeing his two servants almost killed, and tried to rush at the cave. And then Gwyn and Gwythyr said to him, ‘It is not proper and we do not like to see you wrestling with a hag. Let Hir Amren and Hir Eiddil go into the cave.’ And they went. But if the first two had difficulties, the fate of these two was far worse, so that God knows how any of the four could have left the place, had it not been for the way they were all put on Llamrei, Arthur’s mare. And then Arthur rushed to the entrance of the cave, and from the entrance he aimed at the hag with Carnwennan, his knife, and struck her in the middle so she was like two vats. And Caw of Prydyn took the witch’s blood and kept it with him.

And then Culhwch set out with Gorau son of Custennin, and those who wished harm to Ysbaddaden Bencawr, and took the wonders with them to his court. And Caw of Prydyn came to shave off Ysbaddaden’s beard, flesh and skin to the bone, and both ears completely.

And Culhwch said, ‘Have you been shaved, man?’

‘I have,’ he replied.

‘And is your daughter now mine?’

‘Yours,’ he replied. ‘And you need not thank me for that, but thank Arthur, the man who arranged it for you. If I’d had my way you never would have got her. And it is high time to take away my life.’

And then Gorau son of Custennin grabbed him by the hair and dragged him to the mound and cut off his head and stuck it on the bailey post. And he took possession of his fort and his territory.

And that night Culhwch slept with Olwen. And she was his only wife as long as he lived. And Arthur’s men dispersed, each one to his country. And that is how Culhwch won Olwen daughter of Ysbaddaden Bencawr.

M
ADOG
son of Maredudd ruled Powys from one end to the other, that is, from Porffordd to Gwafan in the uplands of Arwystli.
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At that time he had a brother whose rank was not equal to his. His name was Iorwerth son of Maredudd.
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And Iorwerth became greatly concerned and saddened to see the honour and power possessed by his brother, and he with nothing. So he sought out his companions and foster-brothers, and consulted with them as to what he should do about it. They decided that some of them should go and ask Madog for maintenance. Madog offered him the position of the head of the retinue,
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and equal standing with himself, and horses and armour and honour. But Iorwerth refused that, and went raiding in England, and he committed murder, and burned houses and took prisoners. Madog took counsel, together with the men of Powys. They decided to place a hundred men in every three commots in Powys to look for Iorwerth. And they regarded Rhychdir Powys, from Aber Ceiriog in Halictwn as far as Rhyd Wilfre on Efyrnwy,
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as equal to the three best commots in Powys. And anyone who did not succeed with a retinue in this arable land would not succeed anywhere in Powys. And those men split up as far as Didlystwn,
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a small town in this arable land.

There was a man on that quest whose name was Rhonabwy. He and Cynwrig Frychgoch, a man from Mawddwy, and Cadwgan Fras, a man from Moelfre in Cynllaith, came to the house of Heilyn Goch son of Cadwgan son of Iddon
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for lodging. And when they approached the house, they could see a very black old building with a straight gable end, and plenty of smoke coming from it. When they came inside they could see an uneven floor, full of holes; where there was a bump in the floor, scarcely could a man stand up, so slippery was the floor with the dung of cattle and their piss. Where there was a hole, a man would go over his ankle, what with the mixture of water and cattle-piss. And there were branches of holly in abundance on the floor, with their tips eaten by the cattle. When they came to the
upper end of the hall they could see bare, dusty, dais boards, and a hag feeding a fire on one dais.
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And when she became cold, she would throw a lapful of chaff on the fire so that it was not easy for anyone in the world to put up with that smoke entering his nostrils. On the other dais they could see a yellow ox-skin;
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good luck would befall whichever one of them got to lie on that skin.

When they had sat down they asked the hag where the people of the house were, but she would only speak gruffly to them. Suddenly the people arrive, a red-haired, balding, wizened man, with a bundle of sticks on his back, and a little skinny, grey-haired woman, with a bundle under her arm too. And they gave the men a cold welcome. The woman lit a fire for them with the sticks and went to cook, and brought them their food—barley bread and cheese, and watered-down milk. Suddenly there was a surge of wind and rain, so that it was not easy for anyone to go out and relieve himself. And because their journey had been so troublesome, they grew weary and went to sleep. When they examined their sleeping-place there was on it only dusty, flea-infested straw-ends, mixed with bits of twig, the cattle having devoured all the straw that was above their heads and below their feet. A greyish-red blanket, rough and threadbare and full of holes, was spread on it, and over the blanket a coarse, tattered sheet with big holes, and a half-empty pillow with a filthy cover on top of the sheet. And they went to sleep. Rhonabwy’s two companions fell into a deep sleep, after the fleas and discomfort had tormented them. But Rhonabwy, since he could neither sleep nor rest, thought he would suffer less if he went to sleep on the yellow ox-skin on the dais. And there he slept.

As soon as sleep entered his eyes he was granted a vision, that he and his companions were travelling across Maes Argyngroeg, and his inclination and intent, so he thought, was towards Rhyd-y-groes on the Hafren.
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As he was travelling he heard a commotion, and he had never heard a commotion like it. He looked behind him, and saw a young man with curly yellow hair and his beard newly trimmed, on a yellow horse, and from the top of its forelegs and its kneecaps downwards green. And the rider was wearing a tunic of yellow brocaded silk, embroidered with green thread, a gold-hilted sword on his thigh, with a sheath of new Cordovan leather, and a thong of deerskin with a clasp of gold. And over that a mantle of yellow brocaded silk, embroidered with green silk, and the fringes of the
mantle were green. What was green of the garment of the rider and horse was as green as the leaves of the pine-trees, and what was yellow was as yellow as the flowers of the broom.
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Because the rider looked so fierce, Rhonabwy and his companions became frightened and began to retreat. But he pursued them. As the horse breathed out, the men moved a distance away from him; but as he breathed in, they came closer to him, right to the horse’s chest. When he caught up with them, they asked him for mercy.

‘You shall have it, gladly, and don’t be afraid.’

‘Lord, since you have shown us mercy, will you tell us who you are?’ said Rhonabwy.

‘I will not conceal my identity from you: Iddog son of Mynio. But usually I am not known by my name, but by my nickname.’

‘Will you tell us your nickname?’

‘I will. I am called Iddog Cordd Prydain.’
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‘Lord,’ said Rhonabwy, ‘why are you called that?’

‘I will tell you why. I was one of the messengers between Arthur and his nephew Medrawd at the battle of Camlan. And at that time I was a high-spirited young man, and because I was so eager for battle, I stirred up trouble between them. This is what I did: whenever the emperor Arthur would send me to remind Medrawd that he was his foster-father and uncle, and to ask for peace lest the sons of the kings of the Island of Britain and their men be killed, and when Arthur would speak to me the fairest words that he could, I would repeat those words to Medrawd in the most offensive way possible. Because of that I was called Iddog Cordd Prydain. And that is how the battle of Camlan was contrived. But three nights before the end of the battle of Camlan I left them, and came to Y Llech Las in Prydain
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to do penance. And I was there for seven years doing penance, and I was shown mercy.’