, "Pwyll, Prince of Dyfed," is a legendary tale from

medieval Welsh literature Medieval Welsh literature is the literature written in the Welsh language during the Middle Ages. This includes material starting from the 5th century AD, when Welsh was in the process of becoming distinct from Common Brittonic, and continuing t ...

and the first of the

Four Branches of the Mabinogi The ''Four Branches of the Mabinogi'' or are the earliest prose stories in the literature of Great Britain, Britain. Originally written in Wales in Middle Welsh, but widely available in translations, the is generally agreed to be a single work i ...

. It tells of the friendship between

Pwyll Pwyll Pen Annwn () is a prominent figure in Welsh mythology and literature, the lord of Dyfed, husband of Rhiannon and father of the hero Pryderi. With a name meaning "wisdom", he is the eponymous hero of Pwyll Pendefig Dyfed, the first bra ...

, prince of

Dyfed Dyfed () is a preserved county in southwestern Wales, covering the modern counties Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire. It is mostly rural area with a coastline on the Irish Sea and the Bristol Channel. Between 1974 and 1996, Dyfed w ...

, and

Arawn In Welsh mythology, Arawn () was the king of the otherworld realm of Annwn who appears prominently in the first branch of the Mabinogi, and alluded to in the fourth. In later tradition, the role of the king of Annwn was largely attributed to ...

, lord of

Annwn Annwn, Annwfn, or Annwfyn (; ''Annwvn'', ''Annwyn'', ''Annwyfn'', ''Annwvyn'', or ''Annwfyn'') is the Otherworld in Welsh mythology. Ruled by Arawn (or, in Arthurian literature, by Gwyn ap Nudd), it is a world of delights and eternal youth wh ...

(the Otherworld), of the courting and marriage of Pwyll and

Rhiannon Rhiannon () is a protagonist (main character) of the Four Branches of the Mabinogi, Mabinogi, in its First and Third Branches. She originates only in these prose tales, with just a couple of references in 14thC mediaeval Welsh poetry, and none ...

and of the birth and disappearance of

Pryderi Pryderi fab Pwyll is a prominent figure in Welsh mythology, the son of Pwyll and Rhiannon, and king of Dyfed after his father's death. He is the only character to appear in all Four Branches of the Mabinogi, although the size of his role varies ...

. This branch introduces a number of storylines that reappear in later tales, including the alliance between Dyfed and Annwn, and the enmity between Pwyll and

Gwawl In Welsh mythology, Gwawl (Gwawl fab Clud) was the son of Clud, and tricks Pwyll into promising him Rhiannon. She decides to marry Pwyll instead. Nothing is known of his father Clud. Gwawl, son of Clud, is initially mentioned in the first of the ...

. Along with the other branches, the tale can be found in the medieval ''

Red Book of Hergest Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secon ...

'' and

White Book of Rhydderch The White Book of Rhydderch (Welsh: ''Llyfr Gwyn Rhydderch'', National Library of Wales, Peniarth MS 4-5) is one of the most notable and celebrated surviving manuscripts in Welsh language, Welsh. Mostly written in southwest Wales in the middle of ...

Synopsis

Whilst hunting in Glyn Cuch, Pwyll, prince of

becomes separated from his companions and stumbles across a pack of hounds feeding on a slain stag. Pwyll drives the hounds away and sets his own hounds to feast, earning the anger of

, lord of the

otherworld In historical Indo-European religion, the concept of an otherworld, also known as an otherside, is reconstructed in comparative mythology. Its name is a calque of ''orbis alius'' (Latin for "other world/side"), a term used by Lucan in his desc ...

ly kingdom of

. In recompense, Pwyll agrees to trade places with Arawn for a year and a day, taking on the lord's appearance and takes his place at Arawn's court. At the end of the year, Pwyll engages in

single combat Single combat is a duel between two single combatants which takes place in the context of a battle between two army, armies. Instances of single combat are known from Classical Antiquity and the Middle Ages. The champions were often combatants wh ...

against

Hafgan Hafgan is one of the kings of Annwn, the otherworld in Welsh mythology. He appears in the First Branch of the ''Mabinogi'' as the main rival of Arawn, the other king of Annwn. The dominions of the two kings sit side by side, and Hafgan is constant ...

, Arawn's rival, and mortally wounds him with one blow and earns Arawn overlordship of all of Annwn. After Hafgan's death, Pwyll and Arawn meet once again, revert to their old appearance and return to their respective courts. They become lasting friends because Pwyll slept chastely with Arawn's wife for the duration of the year. As a result of Pwyll's successful ruling of Annwn, he earns the title ; "Pwyll, head of Annwn". Some time later, Pwyll and his noblemen ascend the mound of Gorsedd Arberth and witness the arrival of

, appearing to them as a beautiful woman dressed in gold silk brocade and riding a shining white

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 mi ...

. Pwyll sends his best horsemen after her, but she always remains ahead of them, though her horse never does more than amble. After three days he finally calls out to her asking her to stop. Rhiannon does so immediately and says she will gladly stop and it would have been better for the horse if he had asked sooner. She then tells him she has come seeking him because she would rather marry him than her fiance, Gwawl ap Clud. They set their wedding day a year after their first meeting and on that day Pwyll sets out for the court of Hyfaidd Hen. At their wedding feast a man shows up and asks to make a request of Pwyll who replies the man may have whatever he asks for. The man then reveals himself as Gwawl ap Clud and asks for Rhiannon and the wedding feast, which Pwyll is obliged to give. Rhiannon, unhappy with this turn of events explains that the feast is hers and not Pwyll's to give away and it has already been promised to the guests and hosts. She explains that after another year an equal feast will be prepared for her and Gwawl ap Clud, and he leaves back to his realm. One year later the day of the feast arrives and now it is Pwyll Pen Annwfn who comes to the wedding feast, in disguise and with an enchanted bag given to him by Rhiannon, to ask for a request. Gwawl ap Clud, being more clever than Pwyll replies that if the request is reasonable he shall have it. Pwyll then asks for only enough food to fill his bag and Gwawl ap Clud complies. The bag being enchanted though, could not be filled and eventually Gwawl ap Clud himself enters the bag to honour his promise and Pwyll closes it and the bag is hung and struck repeatedly by Pwyll's men. Under the advice of his noblemen, Pwyll and Rhiannon attempt to supply an heir to the kingdom and eventually a boy is born. However, on the night of his birth, he disappears while in the care of six of Rhiannon's ladies-in-waiting. To avoid the king's wrath, the ladies smear dog's blood onto a sleeping Rhiannon, claiming that she had committed

infanticide Infanticide (or infant homicide) is the intentional killing of infants or offspring. Infanticide was a widespread practice throughout human history that was mainly used to dispose of unwanted children, its main purpose being the prevention of re ...

and

cannibalism Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is also well document ...

through eating and "destroying" her child. Rhiannon is forced to do penance for her crime. The child is discovered outside a stable by an ex-vassal of Pwyll's,

Teyrnon In Welsh tradition, Teyrnon Twryf Lliant is the lord of the Kingdom of Gwent and the foster father of the divine son, Pryderi. He appears most prominently in '' Pwyll Pendefig Dyfed'', the first of the Four Branches of the Mabinogi, but also fea ...

, the lord of Gwent Is Coed. He and his wife claim the boy as their own and name him Gwri Wallt Euryn (English: ''Gwri of the Golden hair''), for "all the hair on his head was as yellow as gold."''The Mabinogion.'' Davies, Sioned. 2005. The child grows to adulthood at a superhuman pace and, as he matures, his likeness to Pwyll grows more obvious and, eventually, Teyrnon realises Gwri's true identity. The boy is eventually reunited with Pwyll and Rhiannon and is renamed , meaning "caution". The tale ends with Pwyll's death and Pryderi's ascension to the throne.

References

Williams, I., & University of Wales. (1994). ''Pedeir keinc y Mabinogi''. Caerdydd: Gwasg Prifysgol Cymru Davies, S. (1993). ''The four branches of the Mabinogi: Pedeir keinc y Mabinogi''. Llandysul, Dyfed, Wales: Gomer Press. In Thomson, R. L. (1986). ''Pwyll Pendeuic Dyuet: The first of the four branches of the Mabinogi''. Dublin:

Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS) () is a statutory independent research institute in Dublin, Ireland. It was established, under the Institute For Advanced Studies Act 1940, by the government of the then Taoiseach, Éamon de Vale ...

. {{Authority control Welsh mythology Mabinogion