Pwyll

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Pwyll [ puiɬ ] is a prince in Welsh mythology , later King of Dyfed , Rhiannon's husband and Pryderi's father . In the Mabinogion his experiences are described. Pwyll means to welsh "mind" and corresponds to the same major Irish cíall and the Breton poyll .

Mabinogion

Pwyll, Prince of Dyfed ( Pwyll Pendefig Dyfed ) is the name of the First Branch of the Mabinogi . Pwyll is the ruler of the seven Cantrefi (districts) of Dyfed . His headquarters are in Arberth Castle (also Narberth, Pembrokeshire ), from where he makes his hunting trips.

On one of these hunts he drives the dogs of a ruler of the otherworld away from the prey. The owner of the dogs, Arawn , the King of Annwn (after Birkhan also Annwf [y] m or Annwvyn ) demands, in atonement for this wrongdoing, that Pwyll exchange places with him for a year and a day, and during this time Hafgan , one Defeat rivals Arawns, which he himself had failed before. Hafgan must be killed with the first blow, with the second he gets up unharmed. Pwyll kills Hafgan, Arawn meanwhile brings Dyfed a time of prosperity and peace. Although Pwyll has assumed the appearance of Arawn, he does not sleep with Arawn's wife, because of the observance of this taboo, Arawn becomes friends with him after Pwyll has represented him for a year, and Pwyll receives the title "Pen Annwn" (Prince of Annwn) awarded. At the same time, Arawn gives him a herd of pigs - animals that previously only lived in the Otherworld and were unknown on earth. This herd was later the reason for the death of Pwyll's son Pryderi (told in the third branch of Mabinogi Math fab Mathonwy , "Math, the son of Mathonwys").

"Lord," said Gwydyon , "I have heard that a kind of animal has come to the south as it has never come to this island before." [...] "Small animals, and their meat is better than beef." Who do they belong to? ”“ Pryderi, son of Pwyll. They were sent to him from Annwn by Arawn, King of Annwn. "

Rhiannon had been promised marriage to a rich man named Gwawl , but, against the wishes of her father Hefaidd Hen, she preferred to marry Pwyll. She appears to him one afternoon at the hill Gorsedd near Arberth, which was an entrance to the underworld. The prince fell for the beautiful young woman who galloped past him on her white horse. He sends a servant to catch up with her, but the servant returns without having achieved anything, for the distance between himself and Rhiannon has not narrowed. This happens a second time the next day. The prince returns to the hill on the third day, where Rhiannon appears again. This time Pwyll pursues her himself, but he cannot catch up with her either, so he asks her to wait for him. Rhiannon now explains to him that she has come to marry him, but that he has to wait another year. After this explanation it disappears again.

A year later she leads him to her father Hefaidd Hen's palace, where they are engaged. During the festivities, Gwawl tries to get his right, but Rhiannon and Pwyll can put him off for a year and eventually outsmart him. However, the marriage is not initially blessed with a son, so the nobles demand from Dyfed that Pwyll should cast out Rhiannon. In the third year she gives birth to a healthy son, who disappears shortly after his birth. The servants, who fear being punished for their inattention, smear the sleeping Rhiannon's mouth with puppy blood, claiming that she ate her own child. As a punishment, she has to carry every visitor to the royal seat on her back from the gate to the hall. One day Teyrnon , a follower of Pwyll, is able to prevent his foal from being stolen and at the same time finds a baby in front of his house, whom he names Gwri Goldhaar. He soon realizes the resemblance to Pwyll and brings him the child. Rhiannon is released from her sentence. As a reminder of the difficult times, she calls the boy Pryderi (Cymrian "sorrow, fear").

Pwyll rules Dyfed very successfully and can also conquer the three Cantrefi from Ystrad Tywi (now Carmarthenshire ) and the four from Ceredigion . Pryderi marries Cigfa and after Pwyll's death he becomes King of Dyfed. Rhiannon marries Manawydan , brother of the Welsh King Bran the Blessed , in his second marriage .

Pwyll is also mentioned in the poem Preiddeu Annwfn , which is attributed to Taliesin , together with Pryderi ( Ebostol Pwyll a Phryderi , "The story of Pwyll and Pryderi").

See also

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Bernhard Maier: The legend book of the Welsh Celts. The four branches of the Mabinogi . P. 9 f.
  2. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1997, ISBN 3-7001-2609-3 , p. 843.
  3. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1997, ISBN 3-7001-2609-3 , p. 739.
  4. ↑ Bernhard Maier: The legend book of the Welsh Celts. P. 73.
  5. ^ Ingeborg Clarus: Celtic myths. Man and his otherworld. 2nd Edition. Patmos, Düsseldorf 2003, ISBN 3-491-69109-5 , ( Patmos-Paperback ), p. 254 ff.
  6. ↑ Bernhard Maier: The legend book of the Welsh Celts. P. 34 f.
  7. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celtic stories from the emperor Arthur. Part 2, p. 107.
  8. ↑ Bernhard Maier: The legend book of the Welsh Celts. P. 128, note 33,27.