by Mike Ashley
The case for Llanmelin as Arthur’s court sounds convincing on philological grounds. As yet, however, there is no archeological evidence to support it. An excavation in the 1930s showed it to have originated as a hill fort in the third century BC, with a progressive series of occupations and growth, particularly around 50BC. But it seems to have been abandoned around 75AD, and there is no evidence of post-Roman occupation. This is perhaps not surprising as from 75AD onwards the people would have come under Roman control and settled within Caerwent. The name Gelliwig survived amongst the Silures, and doubtless the location became a revered place, and thus a more suitable name in the tales for Arthur’s court.
The other Gelliwig is in North Wales, on the Lleyn Peninsula. The name still survives as Gelliwig, with no corruption or revision. Its case is made by Steve Blake and Scott Lloyd in The Keys to Avalon. The name Gelliwig is still found in Gelliwig Farm, near Botwnnog, Pwllheli. There has long been a manor house on the site and it has never been excavated, so it is not known whether a Dark Age hall once stood there. The location seems remote for Arthur’s main castle. We have already seen the Lleyn Peninsula associated with Vortigern, and his stronghold at Nant Gwrtheyrn was some ten miles northeast. We have also seen that Arthur had kindred at Caer Dathyl, which Guest connected to the village of Llanrwst, though it has also been linked to Caer Engan, near Penygroes, both of which are on the outskirts of Snowdonia.
Caer Dathyl was the stronghold of Math, son of Mathonwy, lord of Gwynedd, who is the eponymous protagonist in the fourth branch of the Mabinogion. This is a dark story of death, rape and rebirth. Central to it is Math’s nephew Gwydion, whose brother Gilfaethwy lusts after Math’s maidservant, Goewin. Gwydion contrives for Gilfaethwy to see Gowein, but the meeting ends in rape and Math punishes the brothers by turning them into different animals each year, in which guise they have to father young. In later mythology, the role of Gwydion was replaced by that of Artaius, a god of the air, who was worshiped in Gaul. Gwydion was a shape-changer and can be seen as a form of proto-Merlin. Artaius was originally a pastoral deity but, at the time of the great barbarian and Celtic post-Roman migrations, it seems that Artaius superseded Gwydion, coming to Britain possibly via Brittany. Between them Gwydion-Artaius became the god of rebirth, a Celtic sun-god who was worshipped at the time of the winter solstice.
Some have argued that the character of Arthur may have been a manifestation of Artaius. However, it is more likely that the original Arthur later became associated with Artaius, rather than the other way round. The association with Artaius doubtless also brought forth the shape-changing Gwydion aspect in the form of Merlin and his prototype Menw. There may have been a cult that worshipped Artaius on the Lleyn Peninsula, encouraging the association with King Arthur.
The Artaius connection may also have a link with the origin of Arthur’s name. Firstly, and most mundanely, he may have been named after the god Artaius at birth. Secondly, his name may not have been Arthur, but he may have been dubbed that after his death by his followers because of the Artaius connection. Thirdly, he may not have been Arthur by birth but assumed the name during his lifetime in order to make the connection to the idea of re-birth, effectively being born again and giving new life to the British nation. This option gives significance to the idea of the once and future king, who had not died but would return. It also suggests a possible identity change. Perhaps Cadell or Riocatus, or even Ambrosius, could have taken on that epithet as symbolic of the change in fortune after Badon.
Since the name Gelliwig/Celliwic appears so prominently in Culhwch and Olwen it is a little surprising that Geoffrey did not use it in his History, preferring instead Caerleon. Surprising, because Geoffrey was aware of other items associated with Arthur, which he lifted directly from the story. When Culhwch first arrives at Arthur’s Hall and before he invokes the roll call of names for his boon, Arthur refers to:
Caledvwlch, my sword; and Rhongomyant, my lance; and Wynebgwrthucher, my shield; and Carnwenhau, my dagger; and Gwenhwyvar, my wife.
We have become used to the name of Arthur’s sword being Excalibur, but in his History Geoffrey calls it Caliburn. The Welsh caledvwlch means “hard cut”, and was almost certainly derived from the Irish sword Caledbolg, which belonged to Fergus mac Roich and which means “hard lightning”. Caliburn itself is believed to be derived from the Latin chalbys for “steel.” Geoffrey also calls Arthur’s lance “Ron”, describing it as “fit for slaughter;” the Welsh Rhongomyant means “slaying spear”. Geoffrey did not pay too close attention, however, because he calls Arthur’s shield Pridwen, whereas originally it was Wynebgwrthucher, meaning “face of evening”. Pridwenn, or Prytwenn, as revealed later in Culhwch and Olwen, was the name of Arthur’s ship, meaning “white form” or “fair shape”.
(e) The Cauldron of Dwrnach
One of the impossible tasks set by Ysbaddaden involves the theft of the cauldron of Dwrnach. Like all cauldrons in Celtic folklore, it has special properties. In this case, the cauldron will not boil the food of cowards. A similar quest for a cauldron arises in the poem The Spoils of Annwvyn, and has many similarities to the episode in Culhwch and Olwen, suggesting that both came from the same source. These stories represent an early prototype for the story of the Quest for the Grail (see Chapter 16).
(f) The Hunt of the Giant Boar
Another of the forty tasks that Ysbaddaden set Culhwch was the hunt for the wild boar, Twrch Trwyth (twrch meaning “hog”, and trwyth, or triath, “chief”). I suspect there was a deliberate pun here, as Trwyth can also mean “urine”, so that the boar was known colloquially as “pig’s piss”.
Legend makes Trwyth the son of a king, Taredd Wledig, but because of his wickedness he had been turned into a boar, along with seven of his men, who are referred to as his piglets. The imagery is clearly allegorical for a prince who had become a violent and vile outlaw. Unfortunately, the name Taredd is not known outside the legend, and we cannot identify either him or his son.
Trwyth begins by terrorising Ireland, then crosses the sea to Dyfed and lays waste South Wales. Arthur and his heroes pursue the boar and drive him into the Severn estuary and eventually out into the open sea, but no more is heard of him. Thanks to Lady Charlotte Guest’s original translation, the hunt seems to have taken place in Cornwall, but as discussed previously, Cernyw was along the southern shores of Gwent, west of Chepstow. That location makes far more sense than Cornwall, and provides a consistent route for the pursuit of Trwyth (see map below).
The pursuit falls into two distinct halves, the first confined to the territory of Dyfed, whilst the second takes place wholly in Gwent. Trwyth lands near St David’s at Porth Clais, and is pursued around the coast to present-day Milford Haven, before heading inland and up into the Preseli Mountains where, at Cwm Cerwyn, he slaughters many of Arthur’s men, including Arthur’s son Gwydre.
9. Arthur’s Hunt for Twrch Trwyth
The pursuit of Trwyth then zig-zags out of the Preseli Mountains through Cardigan, and then the boar is lost to the east. Trwyth reappears in the Loughour Valley near Ammanford, where the hunt continues through the Black Mountains and Brecon Beacons, into the Vale of Ergyng and along the valleys of the Monnow and Wye, until the boar is driven into the Severn near Chepstow. Trwyth resurfaces along the Cernyw coast near Caerwent, but is soon driven out into the Severn estuary.
These two halves seem to represent two campaigns, perhaps even against different enemies and fought by two different Arthurs, the first by Arthur of Dyfed, the second by Arthur of Gwent. The first part of the hunt is very specific in its naming of sites and suggests a series of battles well known at the time. The second sequence is more vague, and, though it may have represented a separate campaign, by the time it was added to the whole story, its precise location was no longer so well known.
It begs the question as to who the real villain was behind Trwyth. The battles in Dyfed may relate to Irish raiders who were defeated but at a high cost, including the death of Arthur of Dy
fed’s son. The Gwent battles probably relate to another enemy. The implication is that it was a prince who was once of noble Welsh blood but turned renegade. This once again raises the name of Cerdic, who was British, yet founded the West Saxon dynasty. In Journey to Avalon, Barber and Pykitt suggest that the pursuit of the boar Trwyth was a battle against the Gewisse, and that Cerdic was their leader.
If Barber and Pykitt are correct, then whoever expelled Cerdic cannot have been Arthur of Gwent, who lived a full century after Cerdic. If we accept that Cerdic rose to power in the 530s, then his contemporary in Gwent was Nynnio, whilst Ergyng was ruled by Nynnio’s brother Peibio. Both rulers are referred to in Culhwch and Olwen as the Ychen Bannawc, the “Horned Oxen”, because God transformed them into oxen for their wickedness. Evidently they are not the heroes most likely to have expelled Cerdic. Those would have been Riocatus or Cadell, who ruled the lands just to the north.
There is, in fact, a third boar hunt in the story. Culhwch is set the task of obtaining the tusks of the Chief Boar, Ysgithyrwyn. Ysgithyr means “tusk”, so the name is really only an exaggeration for the Mighty Tusked Boar. Although at the start Arthur goes to the “west of Ireland” to seek the huntsman, Gwrgi Seferi, we are next told that Arthur “went into the North” to find Cyledyr the Wild, recorded as the son of Nwython (or Neithon, a Pictish name). The hunt for Ysgithyrwyn is conducted mainly by Caw, the father of Gildas, identified in the tale as being from Pictland. The records show a Caw ruling in the north at the time of Arthur of Badon, though he is usually associated with Strathclyde or Galloway. Galloway takes its name from the Gaels, or Irish, and thus Arthur’s venture to the “west of Ireland” may not have been to Ireland at all, but to the islands off the west coast of Scotland which were then occupied primarily by Irish. Thus this hunt probably took place in Galloway, and may once have been an adventure relating to Caw and nothing to do with Arthur at all. In The Figure of Arthur, Richard Barber suggests that this boar hunt may have once been attributed to Arthur of Dál Riata, even though he lived a century later.
The likelihood is that by the time Culhwch and Olwen came to be written down, it had become a compendium, a grand epic tale of the adventures of all past heroes about whom the bards knew, linked together by the might and authority of Arthur. One example is the quest to obtain the blood of the Black Witch Orddu, at Pennant Gofud (the Valley of Grief) in the Uplands of Uffern (“Hell”). The brothers Cacamwri and Hygwydd at first try to seize Orddu, but are cast to the ground. Two more, Amren and Eiddyl, venture into her cave, but they suffer even worse. Now Arthur takes control, casting his knife into the cave and cutting Orddu in two. But it is Caw who takes the witch’s blood, and thus probably Caw who was the original hero. In fact, during the course of this adventure Arthur is advised by his warriors that it is “unseemly” for them to see him fighting with the hag, as if this was an excuse for having Arthur present but not directly involved. Arthur has clearly been incorporated into this tale at a later stage and, in all likelihood, has been written into many of the other ones.
Culhwch and Olwen has raised a number of issues. The story seems to be set mid-way through Arthur’s reign, in the 510s, and some of the characters do fit into that time scale. However, others, such as Taliesin, belong to the late sixth century, and their lives fit more comfortably with either Arthur of Dyfed or Arthur of Gwent. Arthur of Dyfed seems connected to legends about flooded lands, but Arthur of Gwent is more suited to one of the likely locations for King Arthur’s fortress, Gelliwig or Caerwent. It has also opened up the possibility that Arthur’s name may be related to Artaius, the Gaulish pastoral god. Finally, it may be that Arthur’s name became a catch-all for the exploits of other heroes who preceded him, in particular Caw of Pictland and Cadell of Powys.
3. The Dream of Rhonabwy
The Dream of Rhonabwy is exactly what it says it is – an account of a dream. As such it has a strange, disconnected quality that can have little bearing on true history, and yet it raises some intriguing points. It probably wasn’t composed until the late thirteenth century, its author looking back to what he clearly regards as a Golden Age that is threatening to fall apart.
The story starts with Madog, son of Mareddud, who “held Powys from end to end”. This places the story at the start of Madog’s reign, in 1132, for by the 1140s Powys was under threat from the expansionist regime of Owain Gwynedd. This makes the story contemporary with Geoffrey of Monmouth, and Geoffrey could well have known Madog, who was on friendly terms with the court of Henry I. It means that even if the story drew upon earlier tradition, it was composed some six centuries after Arthur and thus has no direct historical value. Yet because it describes the battle of Badon, it cannot be wholly ignored.
At the outset, Madog’s brother Iorweth is jealous of his brother’s power and goes on a rampage through Powys. Madog sends bands of warriors to track him down, one of whom is Rhonabwy. He and his companions spend the night in a dirty hovel, and Rhonabwy has a dream of the Arthurian age. The rest of the story describes that dream, a succession of unconnected visions of Arthur’s warriors questing or in battle, while Arthur and Owain play a game similar to chess.
Rhonabwy finds himself and his companions travelling across the Plain of Argyngroeg, known today as Cyngrog, or Gungrog, just north of modern-day Welshpool, along the floodplain of the River Severn. One of the tributaries of the Severn here is called the River Camlad.
They are met by a knight who announces himself as Iddog ap Mynio, known as “Cordd Prydain”, or “the Embroiler of Britain”. While serving as messenger for Arthur the Emperor, he earned the name stiriring up strife between Arthur and his nephew Medrawd, thus causing the battle of Camlann. Although Arthur’s messages to Medrawd were sincere, Iddog distorted them. He repented of his deeds and did seven years’ penance. While they talk, Rhonabwy and Iddog are joined by Rhufon Befr (the “radiant”). He is also listed amongst Arthur’s warriors in Culhwch and Olwen, and in one of the Welsh Triads as one of the “Three Fair Princes”.
Continuing his dream-journey, Rhonabwy and his companions reach the ford of Rhyd y Groes and find a large encampment. There they see Arthur sitting with Gwarthegyd, son of Caw, and Bishop Bedwini. Various armies are arriving. Addaon ap Taliesin rides through the ford and splashes Arthur, causing Elffin ap Gwyddno to strike Addaon’s horse with his sheathed sword. Both Elffin and Addaon appear in the genealogies, a generation apart. Their lives would have overlapped in the early 600s, and neither would be contemporary with Badon.
Then a tall and stately individual, identified as Caradog Vreichfras (“Stout-arm”), Arthur’s chief counsellor and cousin, remarks that it is surprising that so great a host should be assembled in such a confined space, and that they should be here when they had promised to fight Osla Gyllellvawr (“Big Knife”) at Badon that day. Arthur agrees that they must move on. They cross the ford, heading towards Cefyn Digoll, whilst Rhonabwy is told that the other troops he sees are the men of Norway under the command of March, son of Meirchion, and the men of Denmark under the command of Edeyrn, son of Nudd. Soon after crossing the ford, they arrive below Caer Faddon, the site for the Battle of Badon.
This site cannot be far from Rhyd-y-Groes, perhaps an hour or two’s march. Rhyd-y-groes is still marked on the Ordnance Survey map, though it is now the name of a farm. There was a ford here, over the Camlad, near Forden, where the river joins the Severn. Between Forden and Garthmyl was a fort called The Gaer, probably the old Roman fort of Levobrinta. A Roman road runs almost north-south along the Severn at this point, leading to Viriconium/Wroxeter. Arthur and his men almost certainly turned north along this road as it passes directly by Caer Digoll, now the Beacon Ring hill fort, as the story describes.
The army cannot have travelled much beyond Caer Digoll. Many years ago, Egerton Phillimore deduced that Caer Faddon was the name for the Black Bank spur of Long Mountain, just over two kilometres southeast of Buttington, near Welshpool. There are several hill forts and ancient settlements in this are
a, all possible candidates. Steve Blake and Scott Lloyd have suggested the likely sounding Breidden Hill, northwest of Middletown.
This territory is in Powys, not usually associated with Arthur, but which we have repeatedly encountered in relation to Cadell. Clearly the author of The Dream of Rhonabwy is remembering a famous battle in that area with which he has associated the name Badon, or Caer Faddon. But whether this is Arthur’s Badon is another matter. The area has been the site of several battles; perhaps the most notable was that between the combined forces of Cadwallon of Gwynedd and Penda of Mercia, against Edwin of Northumbria, at Cefyn Digoll around the year 630. Cadwallon fought a further dozen battles across the north, leading to the defeat and death of Edwin. His victories were the last glory days of the British, and could easily have been remembered five hundred years later as an Arthurian conquest. In 893, a combined force of Welsh and Saxons under Alfred the Great defeated the Danes at Buttington. Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, in 1039, defeated Leofric of Mercia at Rhyd-y-Groes. This last battle would be within three generations of the composition of The Dream of Rhonabwy, and would still be remembered. The author may have chosen that site in order to compare it with an Arthurian golden age, in a location known to have seen many decisive battles.
The Welsh Annals refer to a second battle of Badon in 665. The exact date can be confirmed by a reference to the Saxon celebration of Easter, which arose following the Synod of Whitby, called by Oswy, king of Northumbria in 664. As ever, the entry provides little information, not even who the combatants were. It refers to the death of Morgan, but does not say who he was or whether he died in the battle. He could be Morgan ap Athrwys, the ruler of Gwent and successor to Athrwys ap Meurig. Morgan was known as a warrior king, as much for his fighting within his borders as with the Saxons, although 665 is early for his death.