Irish Mythology in the Arthurian Legend

4.1.3 Third Branch of the Mabinogi

The third branch of the Mabinogi is called Manawyddan, the Son of LLyr and as the title suggests this branch tells the story of Manawyddan, the brother of Branwen and Bendigeidfran who both died in the previous branch. After Manawyddan together with Pryderi, the son of Pwyll, returns back from Ireland they settle in Dyved, which belongs to Pryderi. Manawyddan is still without a wife so Pryderi offers him the hand of his mother Rhiannon, a widow since the death of Pwyll (described in the fourth branch of the Mabinogi). Pryderi marries Kicva (Cigfa) the daughter of Gwynn Gloyw. They live happily together until one day when they are sitting on the hill of Arberth, the magic place where Pwyll met Rhiannon for the first time. While they are, together with Manawyddan and Rhiannon, sitting on the hill, the whole country is covered with a thick fog. When the fog fades away, the country is turned into an inhospitable place; the people, houses, villages, as well as everything else disappears. Pryderi and the others decide to start hunting and soon they leave for England where they make their living by making saddles. They are very successful but soon, however, they are driven back to Dyved by the other saddlers who want to kill them for they are more successful than them. Back in Dyved they hunt again, and one day while hunting a white wild boar (his white colour symbolizes his otherworld origin) appears and starts to attack their dogs. While chasing him Pryderi comes to an unknown castle inside which he touches a golden goblet after which he can neither move nor speak. Rhiannon comes later in search of him; she touches the goblet as well and remains imprisoned there with Pryderi.

Manawyddan and Kicva then make their living as shoemakers for some time after which they start to grow wheat. They have three fields of wheat, two of which are destroyed during two nights before they could get the crops in. The third night Manawyddan stays up in order to find out the cause of the damage. He finds out that it is done by mice and catches one of them. He wants to kill it by hanging and sets off for Arberth. He is stopped by three men who ask him not to kill the mouse; the last of them is a bishop who offers him twenty-four pounds if he lets the mouse alive. It turns out that he is Llwyd, a friend of Gwawl who was rejected by Rhiannon in the first branch of the Mabinogi, and whose family tried to destroy Pryderi’s country as well as Manawyddan’s crop as revenge. The trapped mouse is his pregnant wife and he therefore wants her to be free. Manawyddan agrees on condition that Llwyd frees Pryderi and Rhiannon and gives Dyved its original appearance. Llwyd readily agrees and the two couples reunite and live happily again (Guest, vol. III 61-79).

There is quite a lot of magic in the story with the hill of Arberth playing an important role here again, similarly to the first branch of the Mabinogi. There are, however, some mythological motifs here as well. One of them is the fertility of land which played an important role in Celtic mythology in general. Fertility was one of the most important concepts for the Celtic people who were hunters and farmers. Their living was dependent not only on the fertility of their women but also on the fertility of their animals and land. Fertility was secured by various rituals such as the ritual carried out on the festival of Beltaine on the first of May when cattle was driven between two burning stacks of wood (Green 79). Fertility was usually connected with the mother-goddess which was for example in Irish mythology symbolized by the bond of marriage between the king and the sovereignty of the land (Green 71). This may be symbolized by Manawyddan’s marriage with Rhiannon who is sometimes classified as one of the fertility goddesses (Clarus 193) or as Miranda Green points out by the growth of the wheat and the cultivation of the arable land which could also serve as a mythological explanation of the beginning of agriculture in Wales (45). There can also be found quite a good description of the life of craftsmen in the story.

4.1.4 Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi

The fourth branch of the Mabinogi tells the story of Math, the son of Mathonwy. Math is the king of Gwynedd and is known for his special habit: he has to sit with his feet in the lap of a virgin, whose name is Goewin. He, however, does not have any other physical relationship with her. The only exception when he is allowed to leave her lap is the state of war. Math’s nephew Gilfaethwy falls in love with Goewin and together with his brother create a plan how to make Math leave Goewin alone. Gwydion, the brother of Gilfaethwy, starts with the help of magic a war between Math and Pryderi. He uses magic in order to steal Pryderi’s pigs that were of great value for him, because in those times in Wales pigs were rarity. In the meantime Gilfaethwy takes advantage of Math’s absence and rapes Goewin. When Pryderi finds out that he was tricked by Gwydion’s magic he declares war on the neighbouring kingdom in which he finally dies.

When the victorious Math returns home he finds out that Goewin cannot be his foot-holder any longer for she was raped of her virginity, so he gets angry and transforms the two brothers into animals. They then have to live for three successive years in the shape of animals. First year they live together as a stag and a hind, then as a wild boar and a wild sow and finally as wolves. They also have to mate with each other and bear offspring every year. When their punishment is fulfilled they are transformed back into human shape. Math, however, has to look for a new foot-holder and is offered Gwydion’s sister Arianrhod. In order to become a new foot-holder she has to pass a test of virginity: she has to step over a magic stick, but when she does so she drops a little baby on the floor and loses something else when she leaves the room. The first child is a boy called Dylan who immediately leaves for the sea. The other object turns out to be another child that remains in the care of Gwydion who declares to be his father.

Later, when Arianrhod meets his son she refuses to give him a name; she is however tricked by Gwydion and the boy is called Lleu Llaw Gyffes (the bright one with the skillful hand) for these are the words that Arianrhod uttered when she saw him working. Later, she refuses to give him his arms but she is tricked by Gwydion again and Lleu gets his arms. Finally, she tells him that he can never marry any woman living on earth. Gwydion uses his magic once again and with the help of Math they make Lleu a wife of flowers called Blodeuwedd. They fall in love with each other and live happily until one day when Blodeuwedd meets Gronw Pebyr who becomes her lover. They make a plan how to kill Lleu and although it is not so easy they almost succeed. Lleu is wounded and in the shape of an eagle flies away. He is later found by Gwydion and transformed back into human shape. Gronw is in turn killed by Lleu and Blodeuwedd is changed into an owl; the outcast among birds (Guest, vol. III 80-107).

The last branch of the Mabinogi is, together with the first branch, the longest of the four parts. The first and the fourth branch, as Andrew Welsh in his essay suggests, can also be taken as mirror stories; the first branch tells a story about initiation, growth and development (especially of Pwyll), while the fourth branch gives us a picture of the darker sides of human life, such as rape, incest and adultery (Welsh 360). The fourth branch offers several motifs that can be discussed here. One of the motifs recurrent in the Welsh mythology and Celtic mythology in general is the motif of transformation, in this case the transformation of Lleu Llaw Gyffes into an eagle, Blodeuwedd into an owl, and above all the transformation of the two brothers Gwydion and Gilfaethwy as a punishment for their crime. Their transformation is also connected with the theme of incest, for in their animal shapes they have to mate with each other and bear offspring every year. Incest can be also found, although only implicitly, in the relationship between Arianrhod and her brother Goewin who never denies that he is the father of Lleu Llaw Gyffes.

Lleu is an interesting character as well. Not only that he is the result of the incestuous relationship between a brother and a sister, but he is also almost a godlike figure. At first he is denied to have a name as well as his weapons and he cannot marry any woman living on earth. He is also difficult to be killed which has to be done in a very special way and only under certain circumstances. Thanks to his godlike characteristics as well as his name connected with the light he is often identified with Lug, the Irish god of the sun (Clarus 199).

Another theme that appears in the story is the fertility and the vital force of the earth, so important for the life of the Celtic people; this is symbolized by the maiden’s lap in which Math has to place his feet in order to be able to live and reign in his country. According to Miranda Green this could be taken as a parallel to the Irish ritual wedding between the king and the Irish land (47).
4.1.5 Other Stories of the Mabinogi

Apart from the stories described above, the Mabinogion contains other stories of Welsh mythology as well. Of the other stories that are not part of the four branches of the Mabonogi but belong to the mythological material as well, the most important, for the purposes of this thesis, are the following: Kulhwch and Olwen, The Dream of Rhonabwy and Peredur. The reason for the selection of these three stories is that all of them contain the earliest mention of King Arthur.

The oldest and at the same time the best known of all three is the story of Kulhwch and Olwen. Kulhwch is the cousin of Arthur. He was born in a run for pigs which is where he got his name from (Kulhwch = the pigs’ run). When his mother died his father remarried and Kulhwch’s stepmother did not like him. She told him that he will marry only the daughter of the giant Ysbaddaden called Olwen (“the white footprint”, for wherever she steps she leaves four white clovers behind her). Kulhwch goes to Arthur’s court to ask his cousin for help and he agrees. They are travelling for a year and when they finally find Ysbaddaden’s castle they are warned that nobody has returned alive from the castle yet. Kulhwch proposes to Olwen but she can only marry with the permission of her father. This is, however, not easy to obtain because Ysbaddaden wants Kulhwch carry out forty tasks among which was to find Mabon, the lost son of Modron, who was kidnapped three days after his birth and no one has heard about him since then, then he has to bring the blood of the black witch which Ysbaddaden needs to be able to shave his beard before the wedding. The last task Ysbaddaden gives him is the most difficult task of all: Kulhwch has to bring the scissors, the razor and the comb that are on the top of the head of Twrch Trwyth, a wild boar that was once a king but for his deeds was transformed into this shape. Finally, with the help of Arthur, Mabon, animals and magic, Kulhwch finds and catches the boar and brings all the things to Ysbaddaden whose beard is shaven together with his ears. Ysbaddaden agrees with the marriage of Kulhwch and Olwen although he knows that, according to the prophecy, he must die on the wedding day. Kulhwch and Olwen get married and live happily ever after (Guest, vol. II 63-115).

This story full of magic is significant for it is the first place where the name of Arthur is mentioned in Welsh literature. Although he is not like the Arthur that appears later in the Arthurian romances, even his men are different, it is, nevertheless, significant as the first literary mention of him.

Among the mythological motifs that appear in the story is for example the first haircut of a boy which Kulhwch asks Arthur for and through which he enters the world of the adult warriors. This ritual was a very important symbol of a boy’s transition from childhood or adolescence into adulthood. The man that cut his hair was something like his godfather who showed him the world of adults as well as gave him advice for his future life and kept an eye on him for some time (Clarus 207).

Another important motif is the swine that appears in the shape of Twrch Trwyth. Here the boar symbolizes on one hand the power and vigour of the king but on the other hand it is a symbol of the old and dark times that have to be overcome so that something new and pure can come to its place (Clarus 212). This is further symbolized by the “ritual wedding of Kulhwch and Olwen, the ‘sun’ and the ‘moon’⁷, the lights of day and night. This wedding should bring forth new life and new wisdom”⁸ (Clarus 217).

The Celtic people probably felt that the old-world order is changing and that their world is gradually replaced by a new, more modern one. They might have subconsciously felt a need to replace the old-fashioned thinking by something fresh which might have been achieved only by defeating and changing the “old, bad thinking”. This is represented here by the fight of Kulhwch with the wild boar or the black witch. Once the old-world thinking and ideas are overcome and retreat to the background, the new age of humankind can come to its place. This is the time when the new age of chivalry together with King Arthur comes and enters the scene.

5. The Arthurian Legend

“The legend of King Arthur is our [British] most pervasive secular myth. Out of few facts, not all of them certain, grew a story elaborated in impressive detail and dimension, and it is apparent that the evolution of that story is not yet finished” (Lacy 271).

Some works of art are said to be immortal and this is certainly true of the Arthurian legend. Many things have already been written about it since the creation of the first story concerning the legendary King Arthur. It is still popular in our times not only among scholars who devoted their lives to the study of this part of medieval literature but it also attracts a wide range of readership, starting with young teenage readers and ending with the “Arthurian” experts. To put it simply, the legend has not lost its attractiveness and still is able to kindle the interest of scholars as well as the lay public. There are numerous literary and film adaptations of the legend together with many computer games fostering the interest in the theme among the youngest members of today’s society. Many aspects of the legend have already been researched yet there can still be found topics and aspects of the whole cycle that have not been looked into yet or touched only briefly. Moreover, there are still many obscurities concerning its origins and especially the origins and historicity of King Arthur, the main protagonist of the stories. The interest in the legendary mythical king, living with his beautiful wife Guinevere in Camelot, fighting together with his knights of the Round Table against their enemies and finally being killed by his illegitimate son Mordred, has never faded and will be probably alive in the third millennium as well.


5.1 The Origins and First Literary Mentions of the Arthurian Legend

The Arthurian legend is one of the best-known and oldest stories of the British Isles. Although it is one of the core texts in British literary history its origins are overcast with mist and mystery. The legend has not only uncertain origin, it has also numerous authors or rather compilers or assemblers each of whom added something else to the legend so that it has evolved for many centuries. Moreover, the historicity of King Arthur, the main hero of the whole cycle, has been questioned by various scholars over the centuries; however, they have not decided yet whether he was a real historical figure or just a legendary fictional character. “Did King Arthur ever really exist? The only honest answer is, [according to Kenneth Jackson] ‘We do not know, but he may well have existed’” (Loomis 1959, 1). Furthermore “[…] the difficulty lies in distinguishing what is, if anything, history from what is legend” (ibid.).

The sources of our present knowledge about King Arthur are numerous, yet not all of them are credible and we cannot be sure to what extent we can trust them, as the facts are often entangled together with fiction. It is not possible to establish the precise date of the origin of the legend for it has evolved for many centuries until these days. Its roots can be traced as late as the pagan Celtic times although the main Arthurian era is usually set in the fifth and sixth centuries AD the time when the historical Arthur allegedly lived.

The first literary mentions of King Arthur can be found in Historia Brittonum, an early historical account of the history of Britons and the work of a ninth-century Welsh historian Nennius, where Arthur is portrayed as a skillful warrior. Nennius gives an account of twelve battles in which Arthur fought against the Saxons. On the other hand, the earlier chroniclers and historians such as Bede or Gildas did not mention Arthur at all. His name appears again in the Annales Cambriae, Welsh chronicles of about the tenth century.

The first full account of the life of the legendary King Arthur is recorded in Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia Regum Brittaniae (Histories of the Kings of Britain) written in the twelfth century. Geoffrey wrote his book in Latin and based it largely on the work by Nennius. It is thought that it could have been written with the patriotic intentions as “a kind of national epos” (Jones 1914, 66), Geoffrey probably felt a need to write a British history with a national hero figuring in it whom the British, oppressed by the Normans, could raise their heads to. Geoffrey introduces Uther Pendragon as Arthur’s father, who conceived, with the help of the magician Merlin, Arthur with Igraine, the wife of Gorlois, the duke of Cornwall. Gorlois and Igraine have also a daughter called Anna, who later becomes the mother of Gawain and Modred. When Arthur is fifteen, he becomes the king himself. He is a brave and just king and fights with his knights in numerous battles against the Saxons, Scots and Picts; his most famous battle is at Bath, which is Geoffrey’s version of the battle at the Mount Badon. Later, he marries Guinevere and conquers many countries and lands such as Ireland, Iceland, Denmark or Norway. When he fights against the Roman leader Lucius he leaves the command of his kingdom to his nephew Mordred who, when given the opportunity, betrays him and takes his wife as well as his throne. This makes Arthur come back and fight his final battle against Mordred at Camlann. Mordred is killed but Arthur is seriously wounded and leaves for Avalon to be healed there. The popular belief says that Arthur is still alive and waiting until the right time comes and he will return to Britain.

It can be said that Geoffrey created the basis of the well-known story of the Arthurian legend. He also contributed to the “enrichment” of the Arthurian legend by introducing the magician Merlin to it. His work became very popular in his times: “The popularity of Geoffrey’s History was immediate and immense; it is indeed difficult to find a parallel to it before the age of printed books” (Jones 1914, 85).

Its popularity gave rise to numerous adaptations and translations, the best-known are probably the works by Wace who translated the Latin text of Geoffrey of Monmouth into French verse calling it Roman de Brut and Layamon’s translation into English called simply Brut. Wace’s work is quite a significant contribution to the Arthurian Legend for it was he who introduced the concept of the Round Table. The significance of the work of both poets does not lie only in the fact that they translated the Arthurian legend into their vernacular languages but their work also marks, as Lewis Jones points out, “the transitional stage between the Arthur of history and traditional legend and the Arthur of pure romance” (89).

The stories about Arthur and his knights quickly spread on both sides of the English Channel and became increasingly popular not only in the country of their origin but became popular in other countries on the continent as well, which was true especially in France.

In the latter part of the twelfth century Chrétien de Troyes, a popular French writer, wrote another version of the Arthurian legend in which he celebrated above all the ideas of chivalry and courtly love, starting thus the tradition of the French Arthurian romances. He gave the legend a new shape because he introduced the character of Lancelot together with the concept of the Holy Grail that both became characteristic parts of the Arthurian cycle. Another change introduced by Chrétien de Troyes is that King Arthur is no longer the main protagonist of the legend, he is present but not directly involved in the action and remains rather in the background of the story. “The King only rarely initiates action and even more rarely participates directly in it. Yet his court remains the ideological and geographical center of the characters’ world” (Lacy 69). The focus thus shifts more on the deeds of Arthur’s knights and the quest for the Holy Grail.

Later, the story of Arthur and other knights, especially Lancelot and the magician Merlin was further elaborated in the so called Vulgate cycle of the Arthurian romances and most importantly in Thomas Malory’s work Le Morte d’Arthur published in the fifteenth century and retelling the entire story of Arthur and his knights of the Round Table. He based his stories on various sources but the main source of inspiration were the French romances. “The ‘whole book’ is the collection which grew up by means of successive additions of romances often unconnected with each other” (Vinaver in Loomis 1959, 544). Malory writes his own version of the Arthurian story focusing not only on Arthur but also and even more on his knights, Perceval, Gawain and Galahad. The centre of Malory’s attention is especially Lancelot, who is given quite a lot of space in the whole book and whose adulterous love for queen Guinevere is one of the main motifs of the whole legend. Malory also introduces the, nowadays already legendary, sword Excalibur that was given to Arthur by the Lady of the Lake and which Bedivere throws back into the lake after Arthur’s final battle, as well as the magical scabbard which makes its owner invincible. Malory’s work was a significant contribution to the development of the Arthurian legend and it can be said that his text is the most widely read among people all over the world nowadays. Although written in the fifteenth century his book is very readable for “his ‘style’ is sufficiently near to the English of to-day” (Jones 1914, 114). Moreover, he [Malory] “tells his story directly and often powerfully, in a vigorous and appealing style and with a strong sense of dramatic cause and effect” (Lacy 131).

The introduction of the printing press to Britain by William Caxton in 1476 contributed to the spread of literacy as well as to the popularity of the Arthurian legends not only in Britain but on the European continent as well. Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur was printed by William Caxton in 1485 and since then it has spread to various parts of the world and has become the basic source for the study of the Arthurian legend. Such a famous work cannot be without its critics who criticize him for “accentuating knighthood and military action while deemphasizing or misunderstanding courtly love” (Lacy 131) and some others say that he “has mishandled much of the material, such as the Tristan story” (ibid.) and that he “has added irrelevant details, and that he has disrupted the intricately interlaced structure of the French” (ibid.). However, in spite of the criticism Malory’s work is generally considered to be “the pinnacle of the Arthurian literature, the masterly culmination of the medieval legend and the greatest single source of inspiration for future writers who would be drawn to King Arthur” (Lacy 131) and will always be a valuable and inherent part of the whole Arthurian field of interest.