Welsh mythology Welsh mythology (Welsh language, 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 ...

, Gilfaethwy () was a son of the goddess Dôn and brother of Gwydion and

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.Tri ...

in the Fourth Branch of the

Mabinogi The ''Mabinogion'' () are the earliest Welsh prose stories, and belong to the Matter of Britain. The stories were compiled in Middle Welsh in the 12th–13th centuries from earlier oral traditions. There are two main source manuscripts, create ...

. His uncle Math fab Mathonwy, king of

Gwynedd Gwynedd (; ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county and preserved county (latter with differing boundaries; includes the Isle of Anglesey) in the North West Wales, north-west of Wales. It shares borders with Powys, Conwy County B ...

, must keep his feet in the lap of a young virgin at all times unless he is going to war. Gilfaethwy

lust Lust is a psychological force producing intense desire for something, or circumstance while already having a significant amount of the desired object. Lust can take any form such as the lust for sexuality (see libido), money, or power. It ca ...

s after Math's current foot holder, Goewin, so to get her alone he and Gwydion steal pigs from Pryderi, king of

Dyfed Dyfed () is a preserved county in southwestern Wales. It is a mostly rural area with a coastline on the Irish Sea and the Bristol Channel. Between 1974 and 1996, Dyfed was also the name of the area's county council and the name remains in use ...

, sparking a conflict between the neighboring kingdoms. While his uncle is off fighting, Gilfaethwy sneaks back to Gwynedd and

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ...

s Goewin. Math is furious when he discovers this, and punishes his nephews by transforming them into a series of paired animals using his great skill in magic, thus impressing vividly upon them the brutish (and brutal) nature of their transgressions. For a year Gilfaethwy becomes a hind deer and Gwydion a stag; they mate and produce an offspring which is delivered to Math. Next Math makes Gilfaethwy a

boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is ...

and Gwydion a sow; when they return a year later with a son he makes them

wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly u ...

. After the third year he relieves them of their punishment and makes them human again. Gilfaethwy is a minor character in Welsh legend, and may have been used in the Fourth Branch simply to advance the story of his more illustrious brother Gwydion.

In Arthurian romance

Like many another character in the Mabinogion, Gilfaethwy has given rise to a character or characters in

Arthurian romance The Matter of Britain is the body of medieval literature and legendary material associated with Great Britain and Brittany and the legendary kings and heroes associated with it, particularly King Arthur. It was one of the three great Wester ...

- in this instance Sir Griflet, who first appears as ''Girflet ( or Giflet ) fils Do'' in the romance ''

Erec et Enide , original_title_lang = fro , translator = , written = c. 1170 , country = , language = Old French , subject = Arthurian legend , genre = Chivalric romance , form ...

'' by the twelfth century Champénois master

Chrétien de Troyes Chrétien de Troyes (Modern ; fro, Crestien de Troies ; 1160–1191) was a French poet and trouvère known for his writing on Arthurian subjects, and for first writing of Lancelot, Percival and the Holy Grail. Chrétien's works, including ...

Loomis, Roger Sherman, ''Arthurian Tradition And Chrétien de Troyes'' pub. Columbia University Press, New York 1948, page 162. and appears later as the

eponym An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

ous hero of the romance '' Jaufre'', the only surviving romance written in the Occitan language. Loomis wrote that Dôn, goddess mother of Gilfaethwy, had been misconstrued to be a male character by at least as early as the time of composition of Chretien's ''Erec et Enide'' :

The Arthurian ''Do'' or ''Don'', father of ''Giflet'' and ''Lore'', has undergone a strange metamorphosis, from an ancient Brythonic goddess into the
castellan A castellan is the title used in Medieval Europe for an appointed official, a governor of a castle and its surrounding territory referred to as the castellany. The title of ''governor'' is retained in the English prison system, as a remnant o ...
of
Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers Eden, Caldew and Petteril. It is the administrative centre of the City ...
and the chief
forester A forester is a person who practises forestry, the science, art, and profession of managing forests. Foresters engage in a broad range of activities including ecological restoration and management of protected areas. Foresters manage forests ...
of '' Uterpandragon''.

The ''Lore'' in the above-quoted passage concerning ''Don'' is an abbreviated form of ''Florée'', the Flower Bride, an Arthurian cognate of the Irish Blathnat and Welsh

Blodeuwedd Blodeuwedd (), (Welsh "Flower-Faced", a composite name from ''blodau'' "flowers" + ''gwedd'' "face"), is the wife of Lleu Llaw Gyffes in Welsh mythology. She was made from the flowers of broom, meadowsweet and oak by the magicians Math and Gwydio ...

.Loomis, Roger Sherman, ''Celtic Myth and Arthurian Romance'' first pub. Columbia University Press 1926 and reprinted by Constable and Company Limited 1993

References

{{Celtic mythology (Welsh) Welsh gods Welsh mythology Mythological rapists Mythological deer Mythological pigs Wolves in folklore, religion and mythology Mabinogion