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
Nor have we far to go in search of correspondences, for they are nearly
all preserved in Malory’s romance. The mystic vessel was kept by King
Pelles, who is Pwyll, in a castle called “Carbonek”, a name which
resolves itself, in the hands of the philologist, into _Caer bannawg_,
the “square” or “four-cornered castle”—in other words, the _Caer
Pedryvan_ of Taliesin’s poem.[508] Of the character of the place as a
“Castle of Riches” and a “Castle of Revelry”, where “bright wine was the
drink of the host”, we have more than a hint in the account, twice
given,[509] of how, upon the appearance of the Grail—borne, it should be
noticed, by a maiden or angel—the hall was filled with good odours, and
every knight found on the table all the kinds of meat and drink he could
imagine as most desirable. It could not be seen by sinners,[510] a
Christian refinement of the savage idea of a pot that would not cook a
coward’s food; but the sight of it alone would cure of wounds and
sickness those who approached it faithfully and humbly,[511] and in its
presence neither old age nor sickness could oppress them.[512] And,
though in Malory we find no reference either to the spot having been
surrounded by water, or to the castle as a “revolving” one, we have only
to turn from the Morte Darthur to the romance entitled the _Seint Greal_
to discover both. Gwalchmei, going to the castle of King Peleur
(Pryderi), finds it encircled by a great water, while Peredur,
approaching the same place, sees it turning with greater speed than the
swiftest wind. Moreover, archers on the walls shoot so vigorously that
no armour can resist their shafts, which explains how it happened that,
of those that went with Arthur, “except seven, none returned from Caer
Sidi”.[513]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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