The Mythology of the British Islands: An Introduction to Celtic Myth, Legend, Poetry, and RomanceSquire, Charles
General
The Mythology of the British Islands: An Introduction to Celtic Myth, Legend, Poetry, and Romance
Squire, Charles
Celts -- Folklore; Mythology, Celtic
Then followed the enumeration of the thirteen treasures to be paid to
him as dowry. Such a list of wedding presents was surely never known! No
pot could hold such honey as he demanded but the magic vessel of Llwyr,
the son of Llwyryon. There would not be enough food for all the
wedding-guests, unless he had the basket of Gwyddneu Garanhir, from
which all the men in the world could be fed, thrice nine at a time. No
cauldron could cook the meat, except that of Diwrnach the Gael. The
mystic drinking-horn of Gwlgawd Gododin must be there, to give them
drink. The harp of Teirtu, which, like the Dagda’s, played of itself,
must make music for them. The giant father-in-law’s hair could only be
shorn with one instrument—the tusk of White-tooth, King of the Boars,
and not even by that unless it was plucked alive out of its owner’s
mouth. Also, before the hair could be cut, it must be spread out, and
this could not be done until it had been first softened with the blood
of the perfectly black sorceress, daughter of the perfectly white
sorceress, from the Source of the Stream of Sorrow, on the borders of
hell. Nor could the sorceress’s blood be kept warm enough unless it was
placed in the bottles of Gwyddolwyn Gorr, which preserved the heat of
any liquor put into them, though it was carried from the east of the
world to the west. Another set of bottles he must also have to keep milk
for his guests in—those bottles of Rhinnon Rhin Barnawd in which no
drink ever turned sour. For himself, he required the sword of Gwrnach
the Giant, which that personage would never allow out of his own
keeping, because it was destined that he himself should fall by it. Last
of all, he must be given the comb, the razor, and the scissors which lay
between the ears of Twrch Trwyth, a king changed into the most terrible
of wild boars.
It is the chase of this boar which gives the story of “Kulhwch and
Olwen” its alternative title—“The Twrch Trwyth”. The task was one worthy
of gods and demi-gods. Its contemplation might well have appalled
Kulhwch, who, however, was not so easily frightened. To every fresh
demand, every new obstacle put in his way, he gave the same answer:
“It will be easy for me to compass this, although thou mayest think that
it will not be easy”.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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