Owein fab Urien

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Owein fab Urien [ 'owein vaːb' irjen ], also Owain mab Urien or Owain up Urien , is the name of a historical / legendary king in Welsh mythology .

History and mythology

Owein fab Urien was the son of King Urien of Rheged . One of the oldest traditional elegies in the Cymrian language was written for him and is attributed to the poet Taliesin . It describes Owen's victory over his opponent Fflamddwyn.

Pan laddodd Owain Fflamddwyn Nid oedd fwy nogyd cysgaid
Cysgid Lloegr llydan nifer A lleufer yn eu llygaid
A rhai ni ffoynt haeach A oeddynt hyach na rhaid
Owain a'u cosbes yn ddrud Mal cnud yn dylud defaid

In English translation:

When Owain slew Fflamddwyn it was no more to him than to sleep
The wide host of Lloegr [England] sleeps with the light in their eyes
And those that did not flee were braver than was needed
Owain punished them harshly like a pack of wolves chasing sheep

After the death of his father he took over the royal dignity of Rheged, but was killed in a battle after a short reign. This also ended the independence of Rheged.

Owein is also a character from the legendary circle about King Arthur , he is in the Middle Cymrian stories Breuddwyd Rhonabwy ("Rhonabwy's dream"), Peredur fab Efrawg ("Peredur, Efrawg's son") and especially in Iarlles y Ffynnawn ("The mistress of the spring “) Named as an essential figure.

The Emperor Arthur was in Caerleon on the Usk. One day he was sitting in his room with Owein, son of Uryen, and Kynon , son of Clydno, and Kei , son of Cynyr, and Gwenhwyfar and their maidens who were sewing at the window.

The Welsh legendary figure Owain mab Urien occurs in Chrétien de Troyes in his old French verse romance Yvain than Yvain; this work was translated into Middle High German by Hartmann von Aue under the title Iwein .

See also

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ in the South Welsh county of Monmouthshire
  2. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celtic stories from the emperor Arthur. Part 1, p. 65.