Welsh mythology is a comparative unknown when compared to bigger names in Celtic mythology, to the point where I kinda forgot to mention it in my earlier videos on the subject. Sorry, Wales, baby, it won't happen again. When Celtic mythology is on the table, Scotland and Ireland are generally thought to be the big contributors, with Breton and Cornish mythology providing some of the wackier mythical creatures, like the Ankou and Korrigan, as well as the fairy tale classics like Giants and Mermaids. Welsh mythology didn't have as much overlap with the other Celtic contributors, but it did have a mythology of its own, much of it being famously codified in The four part Mabinogi, so today we're going to be talking about the first part of the Mabinogi, [*pwish] [**duh-VEd]
specifically the exploits of Pwyll* Prince of Dyfed**. And before you ask, no, I can't pronounce these names any better than I can pronounce Irish names. Sorry. So Pwyll is out hunting one day, when he winds up getting separated from his hunting party and finds himself lost. Not one to stop the party just because he's lost and alone on the misty moorland, Pwyll instead focuses on some strange dogs he notices harrying a deer, and sends his own dogs to drive them away so he can catch it instead, [*a-RA-un] [**Ann-win]
but as it turns out, these dogs belong to Arawn*, King of Annwn**, the Welsh mythological other-world, which, as it turns out, is where they are right now. Don't ask how Pwyll managed to get so lost that he ended up in fairy-land, I'm sure he couldn't tell you. So Arawn is mildly pissed about the dog thing, but says Pwyll can make it up to him if he helps him out with a little problem he has. See, Arawn is technically king of only half of Annwn. [*have-gone]
The other half belongs to this dude named Hafgan*, and they don't really get along. The last time they fought, Arawn took down Hafgan, but Hafgan tricked him into whacking him a second time, which let Hafgan magically heal all his injuries. They're scheduled to fight in one year's time, so Arawn wants Pwyll to take his place in the battle and defeat Hafgan in a single strike. Pwyll is totally cool with this, as he apparently is with most things, so Arawn disguises them as each other and sends Pwyll off to rule his kingdom for a year. Pwyll heads to the court, acclimates quickly and has the time of his life partying it out and ruling the kingdom. The food is great, the environment is fun, and, best of all, Arawn's wife is a beautiful and interesting lady, who's loads of fun to talk to. Long story short, Pwyll has a blast spending his year ruling the kingdom until fight time rolls around, when he heads off to the battlefield to duel Hafgan one on one. They have a pretty nifty duel, and Pwyll gets in a solid hit, at which point Hafgan goes all "Oh, I am slain! Won't you finish me off?" and Pwyll is like "Nah" and heads off to conquer the other half of Annwn. Then Pwyll meets back up with Arawn, who strips the illusion off and sends him back home. Pwyll is stoked to find that his kindgom has flourished in his abscence under Arawn's rule, and he explains to the court what exactly happened and what he's been really up to for the past year. Arawn, meanwhile, returns home, relaxes then goes to bed with his wife, who's surprised at him, and explains her confusion by telling him that he hasn't even looked at her in bed for a year. Arawn is stunned by Pwyll's total bro move of not sleeping with his wife when he had the chance, and it's a happy ending for everybody. [pause now] So that's how Pwyll made friends with the king of the other-world. His next major achievement is getting married. You'd think this wouldn't be nearly as complex or time-consuming, but you'd be wrong. See, Pwyll hears about this hill, where if you sit on it, you either get grievously injured, or you see a miracle. Pwyll ain't afraid of no grievous bodily harm, so he plops his butt down on the hill and immediately sees a beautiful woman riding a white horse. Pwyll's enterprising subjects immediately take off after her, but apparently her horse works by horror movie logic, because even though she's just at a casual trot, none of Pwyll's men can catch up with her. Pwyll saddles up to chase her down himself, but finds himself in the same boat as his subjects, and runs his horse to exhaustion before he thinks to ask the lady if she'd maybe mind slowing down a little. [*ri-A-non]
So the lady in question introduces herself as Rhiannon*, and she says she's come to find Pwyll because she'd like to marry him. See, she's been betrothed to this guy she's not a big fan of, but she'd much rather marry Pwyll, who, apparently dazzled by Rhiannon's... nice dress and incredible horse riding skills, decides he wants to marry her too. Well, that was easy. Well, not quite. Rhiannon and Pwyll are arranged to be married a year later, but when the day arrives, their fancy party is crashed by a stranger, who introduces himself as a petitioner and asks Pwyll for a boon (favor). Pwyll says "Sure, anything!", and as Rhiannon face-palms in the background, the stranger demands that Pwyll give him Rhiannon, as well as the party fixings and the feast. [*gWA-ol] [**c-LEE-d]
So, yeah. Turns out the petitioner is Gwawl* son of Clud**, aka Rhiannon's former fiancé. Unfortunately, Pwyll is honor-bound to honor his request and give her up, but Rhiannon's prepared for this occasion, and surreptitiously gives Pwyll a plan to let him fix this mess. So, one year later, Rhiannon and Gwawl are all set to be married, when Pwyll appears in disguise as a humble peasant, with nothing but an empty bag and a request. Gwawl, learning from history, says "Sure, anything! Within reason.", and Pwyll simply requests that he be allowed to fill his sack with food. This suspiciously reasonable request is honored, and Pwyll begins dumping food into the bag, but something's funny about this bag; no matter how much food he dumps into it, it doesn't get any fuller. In desperation to save his party, Gwawl asks what it would take to fill the bag, and Pwyll innocently replies that he's sorry he forgot to mention it earlier, but the bag will only be full if a nobleman steps into it and tells it to knock it off. So, as Rhiannon stifles a giggle in the background, Gwawl steps into the bag, and Pwyll immediately shoves him into it, takes over the party, and reclaims his fiancé. Pwyll makes Gwawl promise to leave him and Rhiannon alone, and then the happy couple are properly married without incident. Now, the next incident comes a few years later, when after having gone childless for long enough that people are starting to talk, Rhiannon gets pregnant and has a son. This is great news, but that night, the maids guarding the baby fall asleep, and when they wake up, the baby is gone. Panicked at the thought of having to admit that they lost the royal baby, the maids conclude that the only sane solution is to frame Rhiannon for infanticide and claim she ate the baby. Rhiannon is rightly livid at the accusation, but unfortunately, the baby is gone, which is a pretty bad sign for her "I didn't eat the damn baby" claim. There's an uproar and Pwyll is once again urged to divorce her and marry a less controversial queen, to which Pwyll responds with "The only reason you A-holes could give for me to divorce my wife was that she hadn't had a kid. She's had a kid, so she's still my wife." and that's the end of that. But despite being the queen and all, Rhiannon is ordered to do seven years of penance for eating the baby, which entails her to sitting by the city gates and telling anyone new in town the story of how she totally ate her baby, and then she also has to offer to carry them wherever they're going. But if you were wondering where the baby actually went, we cut to a convenient childless couple (there are so many in stories like these) that, due to a series of complicated shenanigans involving a horse-killing monster, wind up with a mysterious baby on their doorstep. [*tea-r-non]
The couple in question is composed of the horse lord Teyrnon* and his wife, and they react to the mysterious doorstep baby the same way all fictional childless couples do, and immediately take him in and raise them as their own. The child grows supernaturally fast, and also gets along really well with their horses. But one day Teyrnon hears about Rhiannon and her penance for apparently eating her baby. Then he takes a good, hard look at his kid, notes a certain family resemblance, and bundles him off to the castle to introduce him to his real parents. So, having solved the mystery of the missing baby after an indeterminate number of years, [he was named Gwri by Teyrnon]
the kid finally gets a name so I can stop calling him "the kid" all the time. [*pre-dare-y]
Rhiannon names him Pryderi*, which means worry, or concern, or maybe "I'm going to strangle those handmaidens for telling everyone I ate you". It's a language of many beautiful complexities. And those are the life and times of the unpronounceable Pwyll, Prince of Dyfed, because eventually he dies in part one of the Mabinogi and wraps up. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go ice my jaw because I'm pretty sure I sprained something trying to get all these names right, which I didn't. Rhiannon rings like a bell through the night, and wouldn't you love to love her? Takes to the sky like a bird in flight and who will be her lover? All your life you've never seen a woman taken by the wind Would you stay if she promised you heaven?
Will you ever win? She is like a cat in the dark and then she is the darkness She rules her life like a fine skylark when
The sky is starless All your life you've never seen
A woman taken by the sky Would you stay if she promised you heaven?
Would you even try? Would you even try? [subtitles by Dor Barlev verified by itsjustgavi]
Arthur would be classed has Welsh. He wanted to expel the Saxons who were English from this island which was at that time was mostly Britons who were Welsh.
Dyfed
Their other videos on British (and Irish) mythology;
Cú Chulainn, Irish kid with Scottish death stick
Fionn Mac Cumhaill, Irish guy with fish knowledge and furry
King Arthur, some English ninny
King Arthur's knights, English ninny's friends