Enid (legendary figure)
Enid [ 'enid ], also Enit , is a legendary figure from the Celtic mythology of Wales . She is the main female character of the Middle Cymrian story Gereint fab Erbin ("Gereint, Erbins Sohn"), one of the "three romances" ( Y Tair Rhamant ).
United fab heiress
Enid is the daughter of an impoverished nobleman who gives the knight Gereint accommodation. He pursues the "knight with the sparrowhawk", who Gwenhwyfar , the wife of King Arthur , and who had abused him himself. When he enters the home of his host, he sees his daughter for the first time.
- And on her [mother's] side was a girl who was wearing a shirt and coat that was very old and was already beginning to wear out. And he did not doubt that he would never have seen a virgin more perfect in excess of beauty and form and charm.
Gereint succeeds in defeating his enemy and sending him to the Arthur-Hof for apology, as well as helping Enid's father to get his property back. Enid then becomes his bride and he leads her to Gwenhwyfar, who dresses the girl in princely fashion and organizes a solemn wedding party.
- All the dresses of Gwenhwyfar were available to the maiden, and to anyone who saw the maiden dressed in this way she was beautiful and lovely.
Only when describing the wedding night does the poet first mention the name Enid in this story. When the heiress calls his son to take over his kingdom as heir, Enid travels to Cornwall with Gwalchmei fab Gwyar initially supporting him. Gereint spends the whole time there with his young wife, so that all subjects soon grumble about the lack of rule. He begins to torment Enid more and more violently with his baseless jealousy and finally orders her to go out on an adventure with him as his mute squire. Although he treats her badly, she always breaks the law of silence when she learns of a threat that threatens Gereint.
- “Lord,” she said, “just so that you wouldn't be attacked, I did it.” - “Then keep quiet about it! Your fear does not affect me. "
Gereint fights with many knights, always wins, even has to save Enid from kidnapping once, until he is finally slain by three giants in battle. When he is lying on the stretcher and Count Limwris is violently harassing Enid and slapping him for her resistance, he wakes up from death at her cry and splits the opponent's head. A former enemy who became a friend, Gwiffred petit , the little king , takes him in and, with Enid's help, nurses him to health. When Gereint realizes how much she has suffered from his hardness and still loves him, he reconciles with her.
Matière de Bretagne
In the novel versions of the Matter of Britain Enid contributes Chrétien de Troyes in his poem Erec and Enide the name Enide and Hartmann von Aue in Erec Enite.
See also
literature
- Helmut Birkhan : Celtic stories from the emperor Arthur. Part 1, Lit-Verlag, Vienna 2004, ISBN 3-8258-7562-8 .
- Bernhard Maier : Lexicon of Celtic Religion and Culture (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 466). Kröner, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-520-46601-5 , p. 113.
Web links
- Jonathan Miles-Watson: Welsh Mythology: A Neostructuralist Analysis . Cambria Press, 2009, ISBN 978-1-60497-620-5 , pp. 114 f . (English, limited preview in Google Book Search).