Ysgithyrwyn

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Ysgithyrwyn Penbaedd [ ɘsgi'θɘruin 'penbaið ] ("Whitetusk the supreme boar"), Welsh Ysgithrwyn Pen Beidd , Yskithyrwynn Pennbeidd ; Central Welsh yskithyrwyn penn beird , is the name of a mythical boar in Welsh mythology in the legendary circle of King Arthur .

Pig and boar among the Celts

Celtic boar standard

Pigs were the most important domestic animals of the Celts , according to some island Celtic legends they should come from the Otherworld (see Pwyll ). They were particularly popular as grave goods for survival in the Other World, to be found as standard symbols , helmet decorations on warriors (for example on the cauldron of Gundestrup ) and as decorations on torques ("neck rings"). In the Welsh saga of the Mabinogion, pigs, especially boars, are often the trigger for wars and forays into raids. The most famous boars of Wales are the Ysgithyrwyn and the Twrch Trwyth with his sons.

Kulhwch ac Olwen

In the story Mal y kavas Kulhwch Olwen ("How Kulhwch Olwen has won"), the giant Ysbaddaden gives the suitor of his daughter Olwen , Arthur's nephew Kulhwch , several almost insoluble tasks. This also includes the acquisition of very specific boar tusks.

“One more thing: I have to wash my head and shave my beard. I need the tusks of the head of the boars, Ysgithyrwyn 'Weißhauer', to shear myself with. However, I will not profit from it if it is not torn from his head while he lives. "

The only one who can do this job is Odgar, the son of Aedd, the King of Ireland and must bring them to Cadw of Scotland .

Arthur himself took part in the hunt and led the dog Cavall himself. Cadw of Scotland climbed Llamrei, Arthur's mare. He was the first to put [the boar] , seized an ax, and pursued it bravely and bravely until it split its head in two. Then Cadw took the tusks.

John Layard, a relative of Lady Charlotte Guest , suspects this episode to be a reference to the legendary unicorn , which was believed to exist until the 17th century.

literature

  • 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 .
  • Helmut Birkhan: Celtic stories from the Emperor Arthur (= stories of the Middle Ages. Vol. 2). Part 2. 2nd edition. Lit-Verlag, Vienna 2004, ISBN 3-8258-7563-6 .
  • Ingeborg Clarus : Celtic Myths. Man and his otherworld. Walter, Düsseldorf et al. 1991, ISBN 3-530-70014-2 , pp. 289 ff. (2nd edition. Patmos, Düsseldorf 2003, ISBN 3-491-69109-5 ).
  • Peter Korrel: To Arthurian triangle. A study of the origin, development and characterization of Arthur, Guinevere and Modred. Brill, Leiden 1984, ISBN 90-04-07272-1 , p. 59 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. 1997, p. 739 ff.
  2. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celtic stories from the emperor Arthur. Part 2. 2004, p. 60.
  3. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celtic stories from the emperor Arthur. Part 2, 2004, p. 80. Odgar is no longer mentioned in this description of the hunt, and the tusks are torn out of the dead animal.
  4. ↑ John Layard: A Celtic Quest. Sexuality and soul in individuation. A depth-psychology study of the Mabinogion legend of Culhwch and Olwen. Revised and edited by Anne S. Bosch. Spring Publications, Dallas TX 1975, ISBN 0-88214-110-4 , pp. 76, 166, ( online in Google book search).