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Blodeuwedd (), (
Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...
"Flower-Faced", a composite name from ''blodau'' "flowers" + ''gwedd'' "face"), is the wife of
Lleu Llaw Gyffes Lleu Llaw Gyffes (, sometimes spelled Llew Llaw Gyffes) is a hero of Welsh mythology. He appears most prominently in the Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi, the tale of Math fab Mathonwy, which tells the tale of his birth, his marriage, his death, his r ...
in
Welsh mythology Welsh mythology (Welsh: ''Mytholeg Cymru'') consists of both folk traditions developed in Wales, and traditions developed by the Celtic Britons elsewhere before the end of the first millennium. As in most of the predominantly oral societies Cel ...
. She was made from the flowers of
broom A broom (also known in some forms as a broomstick) is a cleaning tool consisting of usually stiff fibers (often made of materials such as plastic, hair, or corn husks) attached to, and roughly parallel to, a cylindrical handle, the broomstick. I ...
, meadowsweet and
oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...
by the magicians
Math Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
and
Gwydion Gwydion fab Dôn () is a magician, hero and trickster of Welsh mythology, appearing most prominently in the Fourth Branch of the ''Mabinogi'', which focuses largely on his relationship with his young nephew, Lleu Llaw Gyffes. He also appears ...
, and is a central figure in ''Math fab Mathonwy'', the last of the ''
Four Branches of the Mabinogi The ''Four Branches of the Mabinogi'' or ''Pedair Cainc Y Mabinogi'' are the earliest prose stories in the literature of Britain. Originally written in Wales in Middle Welsh, but widely available in translations, the ''Mabinogi'' is generally agre ...
''.


Role in Welsh tradition

The hero Lleu Llaw Gyffes has been placed under a ''
tynged A ''tynged'' ("doom, fate, destiny", ''plural tynghedau'') is the Welsh equivalent of the Irish ''geis'', similar to being under a vow, curse or spell. The most famous example is that placed by Arianrhod on her son Lleu Llaw Gyffes in the fourth of ...
'' ("doom") by his mother,
Arianrhod Arianrhod () is a figure in Welsh mythology who plays her most important role in the Fourth Branch of the ''Mabinogi''. She is the daughter of Dôn and the sister of Gwydion and Gilfaethwy; the Welsh Triads give her father as Beli Mawr.Triad 35. B ...
, that he may never have a human wife. To counteract this curse, the magicians Math and Gwydion: Some time later, while Lleu is away on business, Blodeuwedd has an affair with
Gronw Pebr Gronw Pebr () "Gronw the Radiant" is a warrior, hunter and antagonist in Welsh tradition, appearing primarily in the fourth branch of the ''Mabinogi'' as the lord of Penllyn, the lover of Blodeuwedd and the murderer of Lleu Llaw Gyffes. He is als ...
, the lord of Penllyn, and the two lovers conspire to murder Lleu. Blodeuwedd tricks Lleu into revealing how he may be killed, since he cannot be killed during the day or night, nor indoors or outdoors, neither riding nor walking, not clothed and not naked, nor by any weapon lawfully made. He reveals to her that he can only be killed at dusk, wrapped in a net, with one foot on a bath and one on a black goat, by a riverbank and by a spear forged for a year during the hours when everyone is at Mass. With this information she arranges his death. Struck by the spear thrown by Gronw's hand, Lleu transforms into an
eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...
and flies away. Gwydion tracks him down and finds him perched high on an oak tree. Through the singing of an
englyn (; plural ) is a traditional Welsh and Cornish short poem form. It uses quantitative metres, involving the counting of syllables, and rigid patterns of rhyme and half rhyme. Each line contains a repeating pattern of consonants and accent know ...
(known as
englynion Gwydion Englynion Gwydion is the name sometimes used to refer to a series of three englyn (Welsh plural ''englynion'') composed by Gwydion to call to him the wounded Lleu Llaw Gyffes. It appears in the fourth branch of the Mabinogi, the tale of Math fab M ...
) Gwydion lures Lleu down from the oak tree and switches him back to his human form. Gwydion and Math nurse Lleu back to health before mustering Gwynedd and reclaiming his lands from Gronw and Blodeuwedd. Gwydion overtakes the fleeing Blodeuwedd and turns her into an
owl Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers a ...
(in Welsh ''tylluan'' or ''gwdihŵ''), the creature hated by all other birds, proclaiming: The narrative adds: Meanwhile, Gronw escapes to Penllyn and sends emissaries to Lleu, to beg his forgiveness. Lleu refuses, demanding that Gronw must stand on the bank of the River Cynfael and receive a blow from his spear. Gronw desperately asks if anyone from his warband will take the spear in his place, but his men refuse his plea. Eventually, Gronw agrees to receive the blow on the condition that he may place a large stone between himself and Lleu. Lleu allows Gronw to do so, then throws the spear with such strength that it pierces the stone, killing his rival. A holed stone in
Ardudwy Ardudwy is an area of Gwynedd in north-west Wales, lying between Tremadog Bay and the Rhinogydd. Administratively, under the old Kingdom of Gwynedd, it was first a division of the sub kingdom (cantref) of Dunoding and later a commote in its own ...
is still known as ''
Llech Ronw Llech Ronw, or the Slate of Gronw, is a holed stone located along Afon Bryn Saeth (a tributary of River Dwyryd, Afon Cynfal) in Blaenau Ffestiniog, Blaenau Ffestiniog, Wales. The stone is described as being roughly forty inches by thirty inches with ...
'' (Gronw's Stone).
Robert Graves Captain Robert von Ranke Graves (24 July 1895 – 7 December 1985) was a British poet, historical novelist and critic. His father was Alfred Perceval Graves, a celebrated Irish poet and figure in the Gaelic revival; they were both Celtic ...
and others consider lines 142–153 of ''
Cad Goddeu ''Cad Goddeu'' ( wlm, Kat Godeu, en, The Battle of the Trees) is a medieval Welsh poem preserved in the 14th-century manuscript known as the Book of Taliesin. The poem refers to a traditional story in which the legendary enchanter Gwydion animates ...
'' to be a "Song of Blodeuwedd".


In literature

*
Alan Garner Alan Garner (born 17 October 1934) is an English novelist best known for his children's fantasy novels and his retellings of traditional British folk tales. Much of his work is rooted in the landscape, history and folklore of his native count ...
's novel, ''
The Owl Service ''The Owl Service'' is a low fantasy novel for young adults by Alan Garner, published by Collins in 1967. Set in modern Wales, it is an adaptation of the story of the mythical Welsh woman Blodeuwedd, an "expression of the myth" in the autho ...
'' (1967), makes the story of Blodeuwedd an eternal cycle played out each generation, in a Welsh valley. The only way to break the cycle is for the Blodeuwedd character to realise she is supposed to be flowers, not an owl. *Louise M. Hewett explores the story of Blodeuwedd and Math Son of Mathonwy from a feminist perspective in the second and third books, ''Wind'' (2017) ( ); and ''Flowers'' (2017) ( ), of her novel series, ''Pictish Spirit''. Within the novels, a discussion about the three significant females in the story of Math Son of Mathonwy – Goewin, Arianrhod and Blodeuwedd – has taken place between Róisín and a group of the Pictish Spirit Braves. It culminates with Róisín's "re-vision" of the story in the closing chapter of ''Flowers'', pages 810–814. *Blodeuwedd's creation by Gwydion and Math is delicately described in the poem "The Wife of Llew" by
Francis Ledwidge Francis Edward Ledwidge (19 August 188731 July 1917) was a 20th-century Irish poet. From Slane, County Meath, and sometimes known as the "poet of the blackbirds", he was later also known as a First World War war poet. He befriended the establish ...
. *The Blodeuwedd story is referenced in the novel and film ''
Tylluan Wen ''Tylluan Wen'' is a Welsh language film / television drama produced in Wales in 1997 by Ffilmiau'r Nant and directed by Angharad Jones. It is set in Llan Ffestiniog, Gwynedd, as an adaptation of Angharad Jones' novel ''Y Dylluan Wen'' (''The Wh ...
''. *In
John Cowper Powys John Cowper Powys (; 8 October 187217 June 1963) was an English philosopher, lecturer, novelist, critic and poet born in Shirley, Derbyshire, where his father was vicar of the parish church in 1871–1879. Powys appeared with a volume of verse ...
's novel '' Porius: A Romance of the Dark Ages'' (1951), where the adulterous Blodeuwedd "is released from her prison of beak and feathers" by the magic of King Arthur's magician
Myrddin Myrddin Wyllt (—"Myrddin the Wild", kw, Marzhin Gwyls, br, Merzhin Gueld) is a figure in medieval Welsh legend. In Middle Welsh poetry he is accounted a chief bard, the speaker of several poems in The Black Book of Carmarthen and The Red Bo ...
(Merlin).


In popular culture

*
John Steinbeck John Ernst Steinbeck Jr. (; February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968) was an American writer and the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature winner "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social ...
's ''
Sweet Thursday ''Sweet Thursday'' is a 1954 novel by John Steinbeck. It is a sequel to ''Cannery Row'' and set in the years after the end of World War II. According to Steinbeck, "Sweet Thursday" is the day between Lousy Wednesday and Waiting Friday. Plot sum ...
'' (1954) mentions Blodeuwedd's story briefly. Doc tells Suzy of the story, as he looks at the wild iris in her hand, while they're on their arranged date. *In the Welsh TV series ''
Y Gwyll ''Hinterland'' () in the original Welsh language version is a Welsh noir police procedural series broadcast on S4C in Welsh. The main character, DCI Tom Mathias, is played by Richard Harrington. On 27 November 2013, a second series was ...
'' (''Hinterland''), season 1, episode 4: "The Girl in the Water", murder victim Alice Thomas leaves a journal indicating she that saw herself as Blodeuwedd. When interviewing the professor who had broken off his and Alice's affair the night she was killed, DCI Tom Mathias reads passages of the story and notes the story's multiple interpretations. *In ''The Return: Shadow Souls'', the sixth book of
L. J. Smith John Smith III (born May 13, 1980), commonly known as L. J., which stands for "Little John", is a former American football tight end in the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the second round of the 2003 ...
's ''
The Vampire Diaries ''The Vampire Diaries'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural teen drama television series developed by Kevin Williamson (screenwriter), Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec, based on the The Vampire Diaries (novel series), book series ...
'' series, Lady Blodeuwedd resides in the Dark Dimension and is an aristocrat. *The story of Blodeuwedd is explained in the young adult fantasy novel ''
Inkheart ''Inkheart'' (german: Tintenherz) is a 2003 young adult fantasy novel by Cornelia Funke, and the first book of the ''Inkheart'' series, which was continued with ''Inkspell'' (2005) and ''Inkdeath'' (2007). The novel won the 2004 BookSense Book ...
'' (2003), as an example of a story not ending as expected. *One episode of the Canadian children's television series ''
MythQuest ''MythQuest'' is a Canadian children's television series that originally aired on PBS in 2001. Produced by Mind's Eye Entertainment, it stars Meredith Henderson and Christopher Jacot as Cleo and Alex Bellows, two teens whose father Matt disappears ...
'' involves a lead character taking the place of Blodeuwedd and actually getting away with the murder, before realizing that she has changed not only the outcome of the story, but every aspect of reality that was built on the historical significance of the myth. She then makes the effort to restore the fate of both Blodeuwedd and Gronw.


Notes

{{Celtic mythology (Welsh) Welsh mythology Women in mythology Mythological birds of prey Adultery