Myths & Legends of the Celtic RaceRolleston, T. W. (Thomas William)
Religion
Myths & Legends of the Celtic Race
Rolleston, T. W. (Thomas William)
Celts -- Religion; Mythology, Celtic
When Māth came back he found what Gilvaethwy had done, and he took Goewin
to be his queen, but Gwydion and Gilvaethwy went into outlawry, and dwelt
on the borders of the land. At last they came and submitted themselves for
punishment to Māth. “Ye cannot compensate me my shame, setting aside the
death of Pryderi,” he said, “but since ye come hither to be at my will, I
shall begin your punishment forthwith.” So he turned them both into deer,
and bade them come hither again in a twelvemonth.
They came at the appointed time, bringing with them a young fawn. And the
fawn was brought into human shape and baptized, and Gwydion and Gilvaethwy
were changed into two wild swine. At the next year’s end they came back
with a young one who was treated as the fawn before him, and the brothers
were made into wolves. Another year passed; they came back again with a
young wolf as before, and this time their penance was deemed complete, and
their human nature was restored to them, and Māth gave orders to have them
washed and anointed, and nobly clad as was befitting.
*The Children of Arianrod: Dylan*
The question then arose of appointing another virgin foot-holder, and
Gwydion suggests his sister, Arianrod. She attends for the purpose, and
Māth asks her if she is a virgin. “I know not, lord, other than that I
am,” she says. But she failed in a magical test imposed by Māth, and gave
birth to two sons. One of these was named Dylan, “Son of the Wave,”
evidently a Cymric sea-deity. So soon as he was baptized “he plunged into
the sea and swam as well as the best fish that was therein.... Beneath him
no wave ever broke.” A wild sea-poetry hangs about his name in Welsh
legend. On his death, which took place, it is said, at the hand of his
uncle Govannon, all the waves of Britain and Ireland wept for him. The
roar of the incoming tide at the mouth of the river Conway is still called
the “death-groan of Dylan.”
*Llew Llaw Gyffes*
The other infant was seized by Gwydion and brought up under his
protection. Like other solar heroes, he grew very rapidly; when he was
four he was as big as if he were eight, and the comeliest youth that ever
was seen. One day Gwydion took him to visit his mother Arianrod. She hated
the children who had exposed her false pretensions, and upbraided Gwydion
for bringing the boy into her sight. “What is his name?” she asked.
“Verily,” said Gwydion, “he has not yet a name.” “Then I lay this destiny
upon him,” said Arianrod, “that he shall never have a name till one is
given him by me.” On this Gwydion went forth in wrath, and remained in his
castle of Caer Dathyl that night.
Though the fact does not appear in this tale, it must be remembered that
Gwydion is, in the older mythology, the father of Arianrod’s children.
*How Llew Got his Name*
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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