Lludd Llaw Ereint, "Lludd of the Silver Hand", son of Beli Mawr, is a legendary hero from

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 Celti ...

. As Nudd Llaw Ereint (the earlier form of his name,

cognate In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words in different languages that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymological ancestor in a common parent language. Because language change can have radical ef ...

of the Irish

Nuada Airgetlám In Irish mythology, Nuada or Nuadu (modern spelling: Nuadha), known by the epithet Airgetlám (Airgeadlámh, meaning "silver hand/arm"), was the first king of the Tuatha Dé Danann. He is also called Nechtan, Nuadu Necht and Elcmar, and is t ...

, derived from the pre-Roman Celtic god

Nodens *''Nodens'' or *''Nodons'' ( reconstructed from the dative ''Nodenti'' or ''Nodonti'') is a Celtic healing god worshipped in Ancient Britain. Although no physical depiction of him has survived, votive plaques found in a shrine at Lydney Park ...

) he is the father of Gwyn ap Nudd. He is probably the source of king Lud from

Geoffrey of Monmouth Geoffrey of Monmouth ( la, Galfridus Monemutensis, Galfridus Arturus, cy, Gruffudd ap Arthur, Sieffre o Fynwy; 1095 – 1155) was a British cleric from Monmouth, Wales and one of the major figures in the development of British historiography ...

's ''

History of the Kings of Britain ''Historia regum Britanniae'' (''The History of the Kings of Britain''), originally called ''De gestis Britonum'' (''On the Deeds of the Britons''), is a pseudohistorical account of British history, written around 1136 by Geoffrey of Monmouth. I ...

''. In the ''

Mabinogion 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, creat ...

'' tale of '' Lludd and Llefelys'', which influenced Geoffrey of Monmouth's work, he is the ruler of

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

while his brother

Llefelys Llefelys (Middle Welsh orthography ''Llevelys'', ''Lleuelys'', ''Llefelis'') is a character in Welsh mythology appearing in the medieval Welsh tale '' Cyfranc Lludd a Llefelys''. In the tale, Llefelys is king of Gaul while his brother Lludd is king ...

ruled

Gaul Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during ...

. Lludd calls on Llefelys to rid Britain of three plagues then afflicting the kingdom. Philological connection suggests that there was once a memorial to Lludd at the site of

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglicanism, Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, near

Ludgate Ludgate was the westernmost gate in London Wall. Of Roman origin, it was rebuilt several times and finally demolished in 1760. The name survives in Ludgate Hill, an eastward continuation of Fleet Street, Ludgate Circus and Ludgate Square. Etym ...

, which is named after him.

The plagues of Lludd’s reign

*The first plague was that of the

Coranian The Coraniaid are a race of beings from Welsh mythology. They appear in the Middle Welsh prose tale ''Lludd and Llefelys'', which survives in the ''Mabinogion'' and inserted into several texts of the ''Brut y Brenhinedd'', a Welsh adaptation of Ge ...

s a race of dwarfs 'from Asia' who may represent the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

*The second was that of the

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

and red dragons. One of the dragons represented the

Brython The Britons ( *''Pritanī'', la, Britanni), also known as Celtic Britons or Ancient Britons, were people of Celtic language and culture who inhabited Great Britain from at least the British Iron Age and into the Middle Ages, at which point the ...

s, while the other represented the

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo-Saxons happened wit ...

invaders of Britain. On the eve of

May Day May Day is a European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice. Festivities may also be held the night before, known as May Eve. Tr ...

, the two dragons would begin to fight. The

White Dragon The white dragon ( cy, Y Ddraig Wen) is a symbol associated in Welsh mythology with the Anglo-Saxons. Origin of tradition The earliest usage of the white dragon as a symbol of the Anglo-Saxons is found in the ''Historia Brittonum''. The relevan ...

would strive to overcome the Red Dragon, making the Red cry out a fearful shriek which was heard over every Brythonic hearth. This shriek went through people's hearts, scaring them so much that the men lost their hue and their strength, women lost their children, young men and the maidens lost their senses, and all the animals and trees and the earth and the waters, were left barren. The plague was finally eradicated by catching the dragons and burying both of them in a rock pit at

Dinas Emrys Dinas Emrys () is a rocky and wooded hillock near Beddgelert in Gwynedd, north-west Wales. Rising some above the floor of the Glaslyn river valley, it overlooks the southern end of Llyn Dinas in Snowdonia. Little remains of the Iron Age hillfor ...

Snowdonia Snowdonia or Eryri (), is a mountainous region in northwestern Wales and a national park of in area. It was the first to be designated of the three national parks in Wales, in 1951. Name and extent It was a commonly held belief that the na ...

, north

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, the securest place in Britain at that time. The dragons were caught by digging out a pit under the exact point where the dragons would fall down exhausted after fighting. This place was at

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, which

Lludd Lludd Llaw Ereint, "Lludd of the Silver Hand", son of Beli Mawr, is a legendary hero from Welsh mythology. As Nudd Llaw Ereint (the earlier form of his name, cognate of the Irish Nuada Airgetlám, derived from the pre-Roman Celtic god Nodens) he i ...

found to be the exact centre of the island when he measured the island of

. The pit had a satin covering over it and a cauldron of mead in it at the bottom. First, the dragons fought by the pit in the form of terrific animals. Then they began to fight in the air over the pit in the form of dragons. Then exhausted with the fighting, they fell down on the pit in the form of pigs and sank into the pit drawing the satin covering under them into the cauldron at the bottom of the pit whereupon they drank the mead and fell asleep. The dragons were then wrapped up in the satin covering and placed in the pit to be buried at Dinas Emrys. *The third plague was the plunder committed by a giant who wore strong, heavy armour and carried a hamper. His nocturnal entrance was heralded by soporific illusions and musical sounds which lulled the members of Lludd's Court to sleep. Once the court was asleep, he would put all the food and provisions of meat and drink of Lludd's Court into his commodious hamper and take it away with him. This recurring theft constituted the third plague of Lludd's reign. Lludd was only able to stop the recurring theft by confronting the intruder. He was able to avoid falling asleep to the soporific illusions and musical sounds by frequently dipping his head in a vessel of cold water by his side. Upon confronting the magician, a fierce encounter ensued in which glittering fire flew out from their arms until Lludd overcame the magician. Thereupon, Lludd granted him mercy and made him his loyal vassal.

Etymology

The name Nudd,

with the Irish Nuada and related to the

Romano-British The Romano-British culture arose in Britain under the Roman Empire following the Roman conquest in AD 43 and the creation of the province of Britannia. It arose as a fusion of the imported Roman culture with that of the indigenous Britons, ...

or Nodons worshiped at Lydney Park in

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of ...

, probably derives from a

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foo ...

stem Stem or STEM may refer to: Plant structures * Plant stem, a plant's aboveground axis, made of vascular tissue, off which leaves and flowers hang * Stipe (botany), a stalk to support some other structure * Stipe (mycology), the stem of a mushro ...

*''noudont-'' or ''*noudent-'', which J. R. R. Tolkien suggested was related to a Germanic root meaning "acquire, have the use of", earlier "to catch, entrap (as a hunter)", and together with the "silver hand"

epithet An epithet (, ), also byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) known for accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, di ...

detects "an echo of the ancient fame of the magic hand of Nodens the Catcher"., reprinted ''Tolkien Studies'' 4 (2007) pp. 177–183. Similarly,

Julius Pokorny Julius Pokorny (12 June 1887 – 8 April 1970) was an Austrian-Czech linguist and scholar of the Celtic languages, particularly Irish, and a supporter of Irish nationalism. He held academic posts in Austrian and German universities. Early life ...

derives the name from a

Proto-Indo-European Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. Its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-European languages. No direct record of Proto-Indo ...

root ''*neu-d-'' meaning "acquire, utilise, go fishing". The name Nudd Llaw Ereint probably assimilated and shifted to Llud Llaw Ereint through

alliteration Alliteration is the conspicuous repetition of initial consonant sounds of nearby words in a phrase, often used as a literary device. A familiar example is "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers". Alliteration is used poetically in various ...

, as suggested by

John Rhys John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Seco ...

and later by

Joseph Vendryes Joseph Vendryes or Vendryès (; 13 January 1875, Paris – 30 January 1960) was a French Celtic linguist. After studying with Antoine Meillet, he was chairman of Celtic languages and literature at the École Pratique des Hautes Études. He found ...

. The byname "Llaw Ereint" or "llawereint" is glossed as "of the Silver Hand" or "Silver-handed". Welsh ''eraint'' is listed as meaning "a round body; a ball; a bowl, a cup; a pear", probably related to the adjective ''erain'' "abounding with impulse", but ''ereint'' has been defined as "silver cup", no doubt owing to Welsh ''arian'' "silver".

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * * *

External links

Celtic GodsProto-Celtic—English
{{Celtic mythology (Welsh) Sea and river gods Welsh gods

The plagues of Lludd’s reign

Etymology

See also

References

External links