The Mabinogion (Oxford World's Classics) (55 page)

Mabon son of Modron
a prisoner who must be freed as one of Ysbaddaden’s tasks 198, 202–5, 212, 225, 270 n.

Madog son of Maredudd
ruler of Powys 214, 275–6 n.

Madog son of Twrgadarn
Madog son of ‘Strong Tower’, Arthur’s forester in the Forest of Dean 140

Manawydan son of Llŷr
brother of Bendigeidfran and Branwen, half-brother of Efnysien; he is the second husband of Rhiannon daughter of Hyfaidd Hen 22, 23, 25, 31, 32, 33, 35–46, 185, 212, 232–3 n.

March son of Meirchawn
Arthur’s cousin 219, 225, 278 n.

Math son of Mathonwy
lord of Gwynedd, uncle to Gwydion and Gilfaethwy 47–8, 50–4, 58–9, 61, 63, 239–40 n.

Matholwch
king of Ireland, husband of Branwen 23–30, 34

Maxen Wledig
(G)wledig
means ‘lord’; Maxen (Magnus Maximus) is emperor of Rome, who marries Elen after falling in love with her through a dream 103–10, 249 n.

Medrawd
Arthur’s nephew, his adversary at the battle of Camlan 216

Menw son of Teirgwaedd
Menw son of Three Cries, one of Arthr’s men 184, 185, 190, 194, 208, 212, 225

Morddwyd Tyllion
or Bendigeidfran; the meaning is ‘pierced’ or ‘large thigh’ 32

Morgan Tud
Arthur’s chief physician 152, 171–2, 258 n.

Nysien
son of Euroswydd, brother to Efnysien, and half–brother to Bendigeidfran, Branwen, and Manawydan 22, 31

Odiar the Frank
Odiar ‘the Frenchman’ or ‘the Norman’, court steward to Arthur 139, 155

Olwen
daughter of Ysbaddaden Bencawr, who eventually marries Culhwch 180, 184, 189, 191, 192–3, 213, 260 n.

Ondiaw
son of the duke of Burgundy; he accompanies Geraint to Cornwall 155, 157

Osla Gyllellfawr
Osla Big Knife, one of Arthur’s men, but his adversary in ‘Rhonabwy’s Dream’ 186, 212, 218, 225–6

Owain son of Nudd
brother to Edern and Gwyn; he acts as guarantor for Edern son of Nudd 152

Owain son of Urien
one of Arthur’s men, hero of ‘The Lady of the Well’ 65–6, 69–70, 74, 86, 94, 116, 121–38, 220–4, 245 n., 255 n.

Penarddun
daughter of Beli son of Mynogan, mother of Nysien and Efnysien 22

Pendaran Dyfed
a character in the First Branch who fosters the boy
Pryderi; in the Second Branch he is left behind to defend Britain while Bendigeidfran wages war on Ireland 20–1, 28, 33, 234 n.

Penpingion
a gatekeeper at Arthur’s court 139, 181, 210.

Peredur son of Efrog
one of Arthur’s men, hero of the tale ‘Peredur son of Efrog’; he is sometimes given the epithet
Paladr Hir
(‘Long Spear’) 65–102, 155, 225, 245 n.

Pryderi
the son of Pwyll and Rhiannon; he disappears on the night of his birth and is discovered by Teyrnon Twrf Liant and his wife, who name him
Gwri Wallt Euryn
(Gwri Golden Hair); Pryderi eventually marries Cigfa; his name means ‘anxiety’ or ‘care’ 20–1, 32, 35–40, 41, 45–6, 47, 48–51, 232 n., 241 n.

Pwyll
prince of Dyfed, husband of Rhiannon, and father of Pryderi; after his stay in Annwfn (the Otherworld) he becomes known as
Pwyll Pen Annwfn
(Pwyll Head of the Otherworld); his name means ‘wisdom’ or ‘caution’ 3–17, 19–21, 45, 47, 48, 188

Rhiannon
daughter of Hyfaidd Hen, wife of Pwyll, and mother of Pryderi; after Pwyll’s death she is given in marriage to Manawydan 11–17, 19–21, 32, 34, 35–6, 40, 41, 45–6, 196, 230 n.

Rhiogonedd
son of the king of Ireland; he accompanies Geraint to Cornwall 155

Rhonabwy
one of the men sent by Madog son of Maredudd in search of his brother Iorwerth 214–20, 224–6

Rhuawn Bebyr son of Deorthach Wledig
Rhuawn the Radiant 184, 217, 225

Rhyferys
Arthur’s chief huntsman 140

Taliesin
one of the seven who escape from Ireland in the Second Branch; he was court poet to Urien Rheged and his son Owain in the sixth century 32, 185, 218, 225

Teyrnon Twrf Liant
lord over Gwent Is Coed; he and his wife adopt Gwri Wallt Euryn (i.e. Pryderi) as their own son 17–21, 186, 231 n.

Unig Glew Ysgwydd
Unig Strong-Shoulder, one of Bendigeidfran’s messengers, who is left behind to defend Britain while Bendigeidfran wages war on Ireland 25, 28

Wlch Minasgwrn
one of Bendigeidfran’s men who is left behind to defend Britain while Bendigeidfran wages war on Ireland 28

Wrnach Gawr
Wrnach the Giant, whose sword must be obtained as one of Ysbaddaden’s tasks 200, 201–2

Y Brenin Bychan
(‘The Little King’) known as
Gwiffred Petit
by the French and the English 167–8, 175–8

Ynog
one of the seven who escape from Ireland in the Second Branch 32

Ynywl
father to Enid, wife of Geraint 148–9, 154, 156, 257 n.

Ysbaddaden Bencawr
Ysbaddaden Chief Giant, father of Olwen 180, 184, 190, 191, 192, 193–200, 206, 208, 213, 260 n.

This is not meant to be an exhaustive list. For place-names associated with the Court List in ‘How Culhwch Won Olwen’, and also the Hunt of Twrch Trwyth, see pp.
184
–
9
and
209
–
12.

Common place-name elements include
caer
(‘fort’),
din
(‘fort’),
rhyd
(‘ford’),
aber
(‘estuary’ or ‘confluence’).

Medieval Wales was divided into large territorial divisions known as
gwledydd
or
gwladoedd
(sing.
gwlad
): these were Gwynedd, Powys, and Deheubarth. The
gwlad
was divided into several
cantrefi
, and each
cantref
consisted of two or more
cymydau
(‘commots’). The situation was, of course, fluid, and boundaries would often change. For detailed maps, see William Rees,
An Historical Atlas of Wales
(Cardiff, 1972; 1st edn. 1951).

Aber Alaw
the estuary of the river Alaw, which flows into the sea to the east of Holyhead in Anglesey 33

Aber Ceiriog
the river Ceiriog flows into the Dee at Aber Ceiriog, not far from Chirk 214

Aber Daugleddyf
the confluence of the two Cleddau rivers, near Milford Haven in south-west Wales 205

Aber Henfelen
the Bristol Channel 32, 34

Aber Menai
the western end of the Menai Straits, near Caernarfon 55

Aber Saint
the estuary of the river Saint (sometimes known as Seiont), which flows into the Menai Straits at Caernarfon 107, 250–1 n.

Aberffraw
one of the chief courts of Gwynedd in north Wales, located near the mouth of the river Ffraw on Anglesey 23

Annwfn
the Otherworld, meaning ‘the in-world’ 4, 6, 7, 8, 48, 199, 228–9 n.

Arberth
probably Arberth in Pembrokeshire (English: Narberth) 3, 8, 15, 16, 17, 19, 36, 39, 41, 43, 230 n.

Ardudwy
a commot in North Wales stretching from the Ffestiniog valley to the Mawddach estuary 22, 59, 61, 63, 64

Arfon
a commot of Gwynedd, consisting of the mainland opposite Anglesey 28, 47, 50, 62, 107, 108

Arwystli
a cantref in south Montgomeryshire 50, 214

Caer Aranrhod
a rock-formation visible at low tide, less than a mile from Dinas Dinlleu on the Caernarfonshire coast 55, 57

Caer Dathyl
clearly a fort somewhere on the coast between Dinas Dinlleu and Caernarfon 47, 50, 52, 55, 59, 63, 184

Caer Ludd
the fort of Lludd, i.e. London 111

Caer Saint
on the outskirts of today’s Caernarfon, the site of the Roman fort Segontium 28, 250–1 n.

Caerdydd
Cardiff in south-east Wales 151

Caerfyrddin
Carmarthen in south-west Wales 108, 251 n.

Caerllion ar Wysg
Caerleon on Usk, in Gwent, south-east Wales 82, 86, 94, 108, 116, 131, 139, 143, 154

Caerloyw
Gloucester 78, 102, 204, 205, 272 n.

Cefn Digoll
Long Mountain, south of Welshpool in Montgomeryshire 219

Celli Wig
perhaps Penwith, in Cornwall, the site of Arthur’s court in ‘How Culhwch Won Olwen’;
Celli
means ‘grove’ and
Wig
means ‘forest’ 186, 188, 206, 208, 212, 265 n.

Ceredigion
Cardiganshire in the south-west of Wales, adjacent to Cardigan Bay 21, 47, 48, 50, 211

Ceri
a commot in Montgomeryshire 50

Creuwrion
Cororion, situated between Bangor and Bethesda 50

Deheubarth
the area adjacent to Cardigan Bay on the west coast of Wales, to the north of Pembroke 48

Didlystwn
Dudleston, to the south-east of Aber Ceiriog, not far from Chirk 214

Dinas Dinlleu
now Dinas Dinlle, a hill-fort on the coast, a mile west of Llandwrog in Gwynedd, and about 5 miles south-west of Caernarfon 57, 243 n.

Dinas Emrys
a hill-fort in Nant Gwynant, near Beddgelert in Arfon 114, 253 n.

Dinoding
a cantref in Gwynedd, made up of the commots of Ardudwy and Eifionydd 59

Dinsol
probably Denzell, in the parish of Padstow in Cornwall 181

Dol Pebin
probably somewhere in the Nantlle Valley in Gwynedd 47

Dyfed
the south-west of Wales, consisting of today’s county of Pembrokeshire and part of Carmarthenshire (for the seven cantrefs of Dyfed, see note to
p. 3
) 3, 7, 8, 13, 15, 16, 20, 21, 28, 33, 35, 36, 39, 41, 45, 46, 47, 184, 199, 209, 210, 225

Edeirnion
a commot in the cantref of Penllyn in the north-east of Wales 28

Elenid
in southern Powys, the mountainous land known as Pumlumon (Plynlimon) today 50

Eryri
Snowdonia in North Wales 106, 114

Esgair Oerfel
the ‘Ridge of Coldness’ seems to have been a place on the east coast of Ireland 181, 188, 208, 209

Glyn Cuch
the Cuch valley runs along the border of Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire 3, 6

Gorsedd Arberth
the Mound at Arberth, a focus for supernatural incidents 8, 36, 43

Gwales
the Island of Grassholm off the coast of Pembrokeshire 32, 33 236 n.

Gwent Is Coed
the low-lying land along the Bristol Channel in the south-east of Wales 17, 231 n.

Gwynedd
a large area of north-west Wales, including the island of Anglesey 47, 48, 50, 51, 52, 61, 63, 64, 225

Gwynfryn
the White Mound in London, where Bendigeidfran’s head is buried 32, 34

Hafren
the river Severn 211, 212, 215, 217, 219

Halictwn
Halton, not far from Chirk in north-east Wales 214

Harlech
meaning ‘high rock’, a town in Ardudwy in north-west Wales 22, 23, 32, 33, 34, 232 n.

Island of Britain
74, 107–10, 111–13, 115, 117, 118, 121, 130–1, 154, 202, 216, 217, 224, 250 n.

London
22, 32, 33, 34, 35, 111, 252 n.

Lwndrys
London 111

Maes Argyngroeg
near Welshpool, Montgomeryshire, retained in the name Gungrog today 215