Culhwch and Olwen
Encyclopedia
Culhwch and Olwen is a Welsh tale about a hero connected with Arthur
and his warriors that survives in only two manuscripts: a complete version in the Red Book of Hergest
, ca. 1400, and a fragmented version in the White Book of Rhydderch
, ca. 1325. It is the longest of the surviving Welsh prose tales. Certain linguistic evidence indicates it took its present form by the 11th century, making it perhaps the earliest Arthurian tale and one of Wales
' earliest extant prose texts. The title is a later invention and does not occur in early manuscripts.
Lady Charlotte Guest included this tale among those she collected under the title The Mabinogion
. Besides the quality of its storytelling it contains several remarkable passages: the description of Culhwch riding on his horse is frequently mentioned for its vividness (a passage reused to similar effect in the 16th century prose "parody" Araith Wgon, as well as in 17th century poetic adaptations of that work), the fight against the terrible boar Twrch Trwyth
certainly has antecedents in Celtic tradition, and the list of King Arthur's
retainers recited by the hero is a rhetorical flourish that preserves snippets of Welsh tradition that otherwise would be lost.
father, King Cilydd son of Celyddon, loses his wife Goleuddydd
after a difficult childbirth. When he remarries, the young Culhwch rejects his stepmother's attempt to pair him with his new stepsister. Offended, the new queen puts a curse on him so that he can marry no one besides the beautiful Olwen
, daughter of the giant
Ysbaddaden Pencawr
. Though he has never seen her, Culhwch becomes infatuated with her, but his father warns him that he will never find her without the aid of his famous cousin Arthur
. The young man immediately sets off to seek his kinsman. He finds him at his court in Celliwig
in Cornwall
; this is one of the earliest instances in literature or oral tradition of Arthur's court being assigned a specific location and a valuable source of comparison with the court as depicted in later Welsh, English and continental Arthurian legends.
Arthur agrees to help, and sends six of his finest warriors (Cai
, Bedwyr
, Gwalchmei
, Gwrhyr Gwalstawd Ieithoedd
, Menw son of Tairgwaedd
and Cynddylig Gyfarwydd) to join Culhwch in his search for Olwen. The group meets some relatives of Culhwch's that know Olwen and agree to arrange a meeting. Olwen is receptive to Culhwch's attraction, but she cannot marry him unless her father agrees, and he, unable to survive past his daughter's wedding, will not consent until Culhwch completes a series of about forty impossible-sounding tasks. Fortunately for Culhwch (and the reader), the completion of only a few of these tasks is recorded and the giant is killed, leaving Olwen free to marry her lover.
The story is on one level a typical folktale, in which a young hero sets out to wed a giant's daughter, and many of the accompanying motifs reinforce this (the strange birth, the jealous stepmother, the hero falling in love with a stranger after hearing only her name, etc.). However, for most of the narrative the title characters go unmentioned, their story serving as a frame for other events. Culhwch and Olwen is as a whole more than simply a folktale.
In fact, the majority of the writing is taken up by two long lists and the adventures of King Arthur and his men. The first of these occurs when Arthur welcomes his young kinsman to his court and offers to give him whatever he wishes. Culhwch, of course, asks that Arthur help him get Olwen, and invokes some two hundred of the greatest men, women, dogs, horses and swords in Arthur's kingdom to underscore his request. Included in the list are names taken from Irish legend, hagiography, and sometimes actual history.
The second list includes the tasks Culhwch must complete before Ysbaddaden will allow him to marry Olwen. Only a fraction are recounted, but several that are of great significance. A version of the longest episode, the hunt for the boar Twrch Trwyth
, is referenced in Historia Brittonum and it may also be related to the boar hunt in the Irish stories of Diarmuid Ua Duibhne
. The rescue of Mabon ap Modron
from his watery prison has numerous parallels in Celtic legend, and the quest for the cauldron of Diwrnach the Irishman may well be related to the tales of Bran the Blessed in the second branch of the Mabinogion
and the poem The Spoils of Annwn
in the Book of Taliesin
, possibly linking it to the Grail Quest
.
and David Day
have pointed out the similarities between "The Tale of Beren and Lúthien
", one of the main storylines of J. R. R. Tolkien
's novel The Silmarillion
, and Culhwch and Olwen.
King Arthur
King Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and...
and his warriors that survives in only two manuscripts: a complete version in the Red Book of Hergest
Red Book of Hergest
The Red Book of Hergest is a large vellum manuscript written shortly after 1382, which ranks as one of the most important medieval manuscripts written in the Welsh language. It preserves a collection of Welsh prose and poetry, notably the tales of the Mabinogion, Gogynfeirdd poetry...
, ca. 1400, and a fragmented version in the White Book of Rhydderch
White Book of Rhydderch
The White Book of Rhydderch is one of the most notable and celebrated manuscripts in Welsh. Written in the middle of the fourteenth century it is the earliest collection of Welsh prose texts, though it also contains some examples of early Welsh poetry...
, ca. 1325. It is the longest of the surviving Welsh prose tales. Certain linguistic evidence indicates it took its present form by the 11th century, making it perhaps the earliest Arthurian tale and one of Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
' earliest extant prose texts. The title is a later invention and does not occur in early manuscripts.
Lady Charlotte Guest included this tale among those she collected under the title The Mabinogion
Mabinogion
The Mabinogion is the title given to a collection of eleven prose stories collated from medieval Welsh manuscripts. The tales draw on pre-Christian Celtic mythology, international folktale motifs, and early medieval historical traditions...
. Besides the quality of its storytelling it contains several remarkable passages: the description of Culhwch riding on his horse is frequently mentioned for its vividness (a passage reused to similar effect in the 16th century prose "parody" Araith Wgon, as well as in 17th century poetic adaptations of that work), the fight against the terrible boar Twrch Trwyth
Twrch Trwyth
Twrch Trwyth is an enchanted wild boar in the Arthurian legend. The hunt for Twrch Trwyth by King Arthur was the subject of a popular stock narrative in medieval Welsh literature...
certainly has antecedents in Celtic tradition, and the list of King Arthur's
King Arthur
King Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and...
retainers recited by the hero is a rhetorical flourish that preserves snippets of Welsh tradition that otherwise would be lost.
Synopsis
Culhwch'sCulhwch
Culhwch , in Welsh mythology, is the son of Cilydd son of Celyddon and Goleuddydd, a cousin of Arthur and the protagonist of the story Culhwch and Olwen...
father, King Cilydd son of Celyddon, loses his wife Goleuddydd
Goleuddydd
Goleuddydd , in the Middle Welsh prose tale Culhwch ac Olwen, is the daughter of Amlawdd Wledig, and is desired by Cilydd, who marries her. She becomes pregnant with his child, but becomes mad and turns to wandering the countryside...
after a difficult childbirth. When he remarries, the young Culhwch rejects his stepmother's attempt to pair him with his new stepsister. Offended, the new queen puts a curse on him so that he can marry no one besides the beautiful Olwen
Olwen
In Welsh mythology, Olwen is the daughter of the giant Ysbaddaden and cousin of Goreu. She is the heroine of the story Culhwch and Olwen in the Mabinogion....
, daughter of the giant
Giant (mythology)
The mythology and legends of many different cultures include monsters of human appearance but prodigious size and strength. "Giant" is the English word commonly used for such beings, derived from one of the most famed examples: the gigantes of Greek mythology.In various Indo-European mythologies,...
Ysbaddaden Pencawr
Ysbaddaden
; "Ysbaddaden, Chief of Giants," is the primary antagonist of the Welsh romance Culhwch ac Olwen. A vicious giant residing in a nigh on unreachabe castle, he is the father of Olwen and uncle of Goreu fab Custennin...
. Though he has never seen her, Culhwch becomes infatuated with her, but his father warns him that he will never find her without the aid of his famous cousin Arthur
King Arthur
King Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and...
. The young man immediately sets off to seek his kinsman. He finds him at his court in Celliwig
Celliwig
Celliwig, Kelliwic or Gelliwic, is perhaps the earliest named location for the court of King Arthur. It may be translated as 'forest grove'.-Literary references:...
in Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
; this is one of the earliest instances in literature or oral tradition of Arthur's court being assigned a specific location and a valuable source of comparison with the court as depicted in later Welsh, English and continental Arthurian legends.
Arthur agrees to help, and sends six of his finest warriors (Cai
Sir Kay
In Arthurian legend, Sir Kay is Sir Ector's son and King Arthur's foster brother and later seneschal, as well as one of the first Knights of the Round Table. In later literature he is known for his acid tongue and bullying, boorish behavior, but in earlier accounts he was one of Arthur's premier...
, Bedwyr
Bedivere
In Arthurian legend, Sir Bedivere is the Knight of the Round Table who returns Excalibur to the Lady of the Lake. He serves as King Arthur's marshal and is frequently associated with Sir Kay...
, Gwalchmei
Gawain
Gawain is King Arthur's nephew and a Knight of the Round Table who appears very early in the Arthurian legend's development. He is one of a select number of Round Table members to be referred to as the greatest knight, most notably in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight...
, Gwrhyr Gwalstawd Ieithoedd
Gwrhyr Gwalstawd Ieithoedd
; "Gwrhyr, Interpreter of Languages" is a hero and shapeshifter of early Welsh literature and mythology and a warrior of King Arthur's court at Celliwig...
, Menw son of Tairgwaedd
Menw
; "Menw, son of Three-Cries" is a hero and shapeshifter of early Welsh literature and mythology and a warrior of King Arthur's court at Celliwig. He appears most prominently in the early Arthurian tale Culhwch and Olwen, in which he is handpicked among Arthur's knights to accompany Culhwch on his...
and Cynddylig Gyfarwydd) to join Culhwch in his search for Olwen. The group meets some relatives of Culhwch's that know Olwen and agree to arrange a meeting. Olwen is receptive to Culhwch's attraction, but she cannot marry him unless her father agrees, and he, unable to survive past his daughter's wedding, will not consent until Culhwch completes a series of about forty impossible-sounding tasks. Fortunately for Culhwch (and the reader), the completion of only a few of these tasks is recorded and the giant is killed, leaving Olwen free to marry her lover.
The story is on one level a typical folktale, in which a young hero sets out to wed a giant's daughter, and many of the accompanying motifs reinforce this (the strange birth, the jealous stepmother, the hero falling in love with a stranger after hearing only her name, etc.). However, for most of the narrative the title characters go unmentioned, their story serving as a frame for other events. Culhwch and Olwen is as a whole more than simply a folktale.
In fact, the majority of the writing is taken up by two long lists and the adventures of King Arthur and his men. The first of these occurs when Arthur welcomes his young kinsman to his court and offers to give him whatever he wishes. Culhwch, of course, asks that Arthur help him get Olwen, and invokes some two hundred of the greatest men, women, dogs, horses and swords in Arthur's kingdom to underscore his request. Included in the list are names taken from Irish legend, hagiography, and sometimes actual history.
The second list includes the tasks Culhwch must complete before Ysbaddaden will allow him to marry Olwen. Only a fraction are recounted, but several that are of great significance. A version of the longest episode, the hunt for the boar Twrch Trwyth
Twrch Trwyth
Twrch Trwyth is an enchanted wild boar in the Arthurian legend. The hunt for Twrch Trwyth by King Arthur was the subject of a popular stock narrative in medieval Welsh literature...
, is referenced in Historia Brittonum and it may also be related to the boar hunt in the Irish stories of Diarmuid Ua Duibhne
Diarmuid Ua Duibhne
Diarmuid Ua Duibhne or Diarmid O'Dyna is a son of Donn and a warrior of the Fianna in the Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology. He is most famous as the lover of Gráinne, the intended wife of Fianna leader Fionn mac Cumhaill in The Pursuit of Diarmuid and Gráinne...
. The rescue of Mabon ap Modron
Mabon ap Modron
Mabon ap Modron is a prominent figure from Welsh literature and mythology, the son of Modron and a member of Arthur's warband. Both he and his mother were likely deities in origin, descending from a divine mother–son pair. His name is related to the Romano-British god Maponos, whose name means...
from his watery prison has numerous parallels in Celtic legend, and the quest for the cauldron of Diwrnach the Irishman may well be related to the tales of Bran the Blessed in the second branch of the Mabinogion
Mabinogion
The Mabinogion is the title given to a collection of eleven prose stories collated from medieval Welsh manuscripts. The tales draw on pre-Christian Celtic mythology, international folktale motifs, and early medieval historical traditions...
and the poem The Spoils of Annwn
Preiddeu Annwfn
Preiddeu Annwfn or Preiddeu Annwn is a cryptic early medieval Welsh poem of sixty lines found in the Book of Taliesin. The text recounts an expedition with King Arthur to Annwfn or Annwn, a Welsh otherworld...
in the Book of Taliesin
Book of Taliesin
The Book of Taliesin is one of the most famous of Middle Welsh manuscripts, dating from the first half of the 14th century though many of the fifty-six poems it preserves are taken to originate in the 10th century. The manuscript, known as Peniarth MS 2 and kept at the National Library of Wales,...
, possibly linking it to the Grail Quest
Holy Grail
The Holy Grail is a sacred object figuring in literature and certain Christian traditions, most often identified with the dish, plate, or cup used by Jesus at the Last Supper and said to possess miraculous powers...
.
Cultural influence
Writers Tom ShippeyTom Shippey
Thomas Alan Shippey is a scholar of medieval literature, including that of Anglo-Saxon England, and of modern fantasy and science fiction, in particular the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, about whom he has written several scholarly studies. He is widely considered one of the leading academic scholars...
and David Day
David Day
David Day may refer to:*David Day , author from British Columbia*David Day , Australian historian*Dave Day of the punk band The Monks...
have pointed out the similarities between "The Tale of Beren and Lúthien
The Tale of Beren and Lúthien
The Tale of Beren and Lúthien is the story of the love and adventures of the mortal Man Beren and the immortal Elf-maiden Lúthien, as told in several works of J. R. R. Tolkien. It takes place during the First Age of Middle-earth, about 6500 years before the events of his most famous book, The Lord...
", one of the main storylines of J. R. R. Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
's novel The Silmarillion
The Silmarillion
The Silmarillion is a collection of J. R. R. Tolkien's mythopoeic works, edited and published posthumously by his son Christopher Tolkien in 1977, with assistance from Guy Gavriel Kay, who later became a noted fantasy writer. The Silmarillion, along with J. R. R...
, and Culhwch and Olwen.
Adaptations
- Y MabinogiY MabinogiY Mabinogi is a 2003 Welsh film. It is mostly animated, although the very beginning and end sequences are live action...
is a film version, produced in 2003. It starts with live-action among Welsh people in the modern world. They then 'fall into' the legend, which is shown through animated characters. Elements are mixed and some parts of the plot left out. - The tale of Culhwch and Olwen was adapted by Derek WebbDerek WebbDerek Walsh Webb is an American singer-songwriter who first entered the music industry as a member of the band Caedmon's Call, and later embarked on a successful solo career....
in Welsh and English as a dramatic recreation for the reopening of Narberth CastleNarberth CastleNarberth castle is a ruined Norman fortress in the town of Narberth, West Wales. It was first mentioned in 1116 and forms part of the Landsker Line.-Origins:...
in Pembrokeshire in 2005. - There was a shadow puppet adaptation of Culhwch and Olwen that toured schools in the ceredigion region during 2003. The show was created by Jim Williams and was supported by Theatr Felinfach.