Mabon

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Mabon fab Modron [ 'mabon vaːb' modron ], also Mabon ap Modron , the son of the goddess Modron , therefore called "the divine child", is a figure from Welsh mythology . In the continental Arthurian novels it is called Mabonagrain or Mabuz .

mythology

Gwrhyr and Eidoel talk to the eagle

In the legend of Kulhwch ac Olwen it is reported that the giant Ysbaddaden , Olwen's father , sets forty tasks for Kulhwch , the court suitor , before he is allowed to marry his daughter.

One more thing: there is no handler in the world who can control this puppy, except Mabon, the Modron's son, who was stolen from his mother three nights after his birth. Where or what he is, dead or alive, is not known.

In the next task, Ysabaddaden reveals the way to find Mabon: First, his cousin, Eidoel, who is held captive, must be freed, who has to help with the search. This succeeds, and together with Kei , Gwrhyr Gwalstawd Ieithoedd the linguist who can communicate with all animals, and Bedwyr fab Bedrawg , Eidoel sets out on behalf of King Arthur . They interview the oldest animals in the world, namely the blackbird from Kilgrwi, the deer from Rhedynvre, the owl from Cwm Cawlwyd, the eagle from Gwernabwy and finally the salmon from Llyn Llyw. This takes Kei and Gwrhyr on his back and swims with the tide up the Severn to Caer Loyw ( Gloucester ). There Mabon is imprisoned and Arthur manages to conquer the castle with an army and to free Mabon, especially with the help of Keis. During the fight with the boar Twrch Trwyth - also a demand of Ysbaddaden - it is Mabon who, with the help of the dog Drudwyn from the Cŵn Annwn (dogs of the otherworld ), snatches the razor from the boar between his ears.

Mabon's captivity in Caer Loyw is sometimes equated with an initiation and apprenticeship with the "fighting women" (witches) of Gloucester, and this place with a variant of the Other World .

Mabon fab Modron is named in the Trioedd Ynys Prydein ("The Triads of the Isle of Britain") together with Llŷr Lledieith and Gweir fab Geirioedd "One of the three sublime prisoners of the Isle of Britain" ( tri goruchel garcharawr Ynis Bridein ).

In the story Pa ŵr yw'r porthor? (“Who is the porter?”) Mabon is one of Arthur's followers, who introduces him to the porter Glewlwyd as the “servant” of Uther Pendragons .

[...] Mabon the son of Modron the servant of Uther Pendragon [...]

The name Mabon is often derived from the Gallic god Maponos and Modron from the goddess Matrona .

In the novels of Matter of Britain Mabon is highly likely as Mabonagrain (in Erec of Chretien de Troyes ) or Mabuz (in Lanzelet of Ulrich von Zatzikhoven mentioned), the figures stand in a changed context.

See also

literature

Individual evidence

  1. Helmut Birkhan: Celtic stories from the emperor Arthur. Part 2, p. 62.
  2. a place in Gwent ( Monmouthshire )
  3. ^ Allegedly in Carmarthenshire
  4. Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. P. 729.
  5. Helmut Birkhan: Celtic stories from the emperor Arthur. Part 2, pp. 70 f and 88 (for the entire paragraph).
  6. Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. P. 668.
  7. a b Bernhard Maier: Lexicon of Celtic Religion and Culture , p. 217 f.
  8. Helmut Birkhan: Celtic stories from the emperor Arthur. Part 2, p. 104.