by Anne Ross
12 DEAE ARTIONI LICINIA SABINILLA, Muri, Switzerland
The Sword Excalibur
This popular name for Arthur’s sword is derived from the name Calibernus used by Geoffrey of Monmouth. The Welsh name is Caledfwlch. In the medieval story of Culhwch and Olwen, it is named as one of Arthur’s most precious possessions; it is used by Llenlleawg Wyddel to kill Diwrnach Wyddel and his men. The weapon is described in the Welsh versions of Historia Regum Britanniae as the finest sword ever made in Ynys Afallach (the Island of Afallon). It is the weapon Arthur brandishes when he fights the great giant on Mont Saint Michel (Mynydd Mihangel).
Culhwch ac Olwen is the earliest of the Welsh prose tales. It may have been committed to writing as early as the eleventh century, after centuries of circulation in the oral tradition of Britain. It is a complex story, but it is the folkloric and mythological elements that concern us here. In outline, Olwen is the giant Ysbadaddern’s daughter and in order to prevent her marriage, her father puts many virtually impossible tasks to Culhwch before he will agree to his marriage with his daughter. It was prophesied that her father would meet his death when she became a bride.
13 Map showing the location of Beaucroissant, Isère, France, the site of the lost altar (inset); the letter C refers to châteaux
Perhaps one of the most interesting features of the story is the character of Arthur. He is described as Penteyrnedd yr Ynys hon, ‘chief of the princes of this island’. This compares well with Fionn’s regal title of Righ Fhéinnidh, ‘the King of the Fian’. Arthur has the same power over people; he can even command the animals. Monsters fall by his hand; prisoners are taken and released at his command. When he goes to Ireland the saints go to him to ask for his protection. Oisín, Fionn’s son, enjoys a gracious relationship with St Patrick and his clerics. The magic, enchanted boar, Twrch Trwyth, whom they must hunt, and his followers, also transformed humans, do not however accede to his demands.
The popular concept of Arthur was that of a protector of the land, a protagonist of monsters and hags, and a benefactor of prisoners. Arthur traditionally fought with many powerful opponents on Welsh hilltops, and here again we may draw close parallels with Fionn of Irish tradition. Arthur adjudicates in the quarrel between Gwyn ap Nudd (Fionn’s closest linguistic counterpart in Welsh mythology), just as Fionn does with the Tuatha Dé Danann. ‘Whatever Arthur’s ultimate origins may be, in early literature he belongs, like Fionn, to the realm of mythology rather than to that of history.’ (Bromwich, Culhwch p.xxix)
Arthur is associated with another magical pig-hunt (vide TYP p.48). It is part of the Triad known as The Three Powerful Swineherds of the Island of Britain. It is of considerable importance in view of the eminent place given to swine and swineherds in the folklore and mythology of the Celts in general and the remarkable association of swineherds with Druids. Both the Welsh text and the translation are given in TYP p.45ff. It is too long and detailed to include in this section but it is sufficient to say that the hunt for the transformed pigs takes place on land and sea and Henwen (‘the Old White One’), who is pregnant, has to keep stopping in order to bring forth. The contents of her womb are most remarkable. In Maes Gwynedd, in Gwent, she gave birth to a grain of wheat and a bee, but her pregnancy was not over. Off she went to Llonion in Pembroke and there gave birth to a wolf-cub and a young eagle. She ran away again and went to Llanfair-yn-Arfon, Caernarvon, where she gave birth to a kitten; the enchanter and magical swineherd Coll, son of Collfrewi, who was looking after the pigs, threw it from the rock into the sea and the sons of Palug found it and reared it in Anglesey (Môn), which did them no good.
That was the origin of Palug’s Cat which was to become One of the Three Great Oppressions of Môn, which were reared on the island. Cath Palug (14) belongs to Celtic mythology and folklore, and is related to a whole series of monster cats which figure in Irish tradition. It seems that the cat has never been popular with the Celts — here I depart from the norm, having 16 gentle and much-loved felines! The alleged unpopularity may be due to its supposed association with the malevolent Otherworld and the fact that it figures as a companion of witches and other baleful beings. The most fascinating item of information about Cath Palug is that she was known in French Arthurian romance as le Capalu (late twelfth-and thirteenth-century). Cath Palug was seemingly killed by Cai in Britain, but French Arthurian tradition has a different version of the tale. There she fights with Arthur, and kills him. One passage says: ‘The French have made a poem about him, that King Arthur was pushed by Capalu into the bog; then the cat killed him in battle. It then passed over to England and was not slow to conquer. It then wore the crown of the land and was the lord of the country.’ (Freymond, pp.332–3). This is a very odd story. The French seemingly took Cath Palug to mean ‘bog cat’. Capalu was, apparently, a man transformed into feline shape.
Cath Palug keeps the character of a water monster in the medieval French sources. In the Welsh Triad she is a strong swimmer. In the Irish tradition the monster cats are called murchat, ‘sea-cats’. The French Estoire de Merlin depicts Arthur fighting a battle with a monster cat near a lake. The place where he fought and overcame the cat has been known since the fourteenth century as Mont du Chat Artus. Fionn likewise battled with a monster cat, Cat Neimhe, in Dublin. Neimhe actually means ‘poisonous’ so this would translate better as ‘Venomous Cat’.
14 Cath Palug
Another French variant of the Cath Palug legend tells how Capalu carried Arthur away to Avalon. It may be that the tradition of Arthur’s death by Capalu is an archaic one and may have existed in Welsh sources at a very early period. Or again it may have survived and been circulated in Breton lore. If Capalu (and Cath Palug) was a man or a deity either transformed into an animal or having powers of becoming an animal, in this case a cat, it would fit in well with Arthur’s fabled exploits against other mythical animals such as Twrch Trwydd and his likewise enchanted companions. In an interesting note by Bromwich (TYP 485) it is stated that the herb ‘silverweed’ is called in Welsh Palf y Gath Palug, ‘Cath Palug’s paw’. The name seems apposite here. We may note that in the Hebrides silverweed, brisgein (wild tansy), was much prized. In a note accompanying a verse about the properties of the plant, the following information is given in Carmichael’s Carmina Gadelica, 419: ‘The root was much used throughout the Highlands and Islands before the potato was introduced. It was cultivated and so grew to a considerable size. As certain places are noted for the cultivation of the potato, so certain places are noted for the cultivation of silverweed.’ It was dug up: compare Welsh palu ‘to dig’. Another monster cat is mentioned specifically in the book of Taliesin: ‘The speckled cat will make havoc with its enemies, from the ford of Taradyr to Porth Wygyr in Môn.’ This could well be a reference to Cath Palug.
Nearly everyone has heard of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, and Arthur’s ultimate rôle as the saviour of his people. This ‘cycle’ of tales — known as the Matter of Britain — has long passed from the literary tradition to the realms of folklore (where it no doubt began, far back in the mists of ancient Celtic mythology). I have not traced more than the outline of the stories of Arthurian characters as they appear from Welsh folklore, especially in place-names. The popularity of these tales has not lessened as the endless appearance of books, articles and lectures, television plays and documentaries of various kinds demonstrates. And to show that the topic is not peculiarly Welsh, or even British — in popularity, if not in origin — there is a current series of books including such titles as Arthur of the Welsh and Arthur of the English. Arthur of the French would be an important addition to this series, and Arthur of the Scots must surely be included as so much Arthurian legend is focused on North Britain and the Border lands. Edinburgh has Arthur’s Seat as an impressive ‘backdrop’ to a fine city, crowned by an Iron Age hillfort, and many other Arthurian place-names with attendant legends. Germany too has its full quota of Arthurian tradition and a book in this series has been devoted
to that country. The English, of course, have their own Arthur with his Round Table, allegedly found at Winchester in Hampshire. Cornwall and Brittany likewise are rich in traces of the legendary Arthur.
The fascination of Arthurian tales is endless, timeless, and the old gods of a pre-Arthurian period haunt the countryside of Europe side by side with these other gigantic figures of Celtic mythology. I can but guide the reader to libraries and bookshops in my own, very brief bibliography and hope that their journeys through the countryside of Wales and Europe may be made more rewarding by a perusal of some of these Arthurian volumes. Meanwhile I have limited my own interest in the subject to the brief comments relating to field monuments and recounted a few of the legends in which Arthurian characters play some distinctive rôle.
Arthur’s impact on the landscape
As a leading folk hero, whose exploits in the dim past where history and mythology blend, King Arthur the Once and Future King, the legendary saviour of his people, whose grave will never be found, has left more than folk-tales as his memorial. The landscape of Wales — and indeed, as befits an international figure, a large part of the British Isles and Europe — is studded with prehistoric monuments bearing his name (2, 15). Usually there is a local legend as to why the monument was so named and frequently the accompanying answer to the question is an exciting and dramatic story. Books upon books are written about King Arthur and his heroic Knights and indeed one wonders whether there is anything else to be said about him. The truth is, his story is ever-expanding and newly-discovered archaeological sites can often suggest some association with him.
Wales boasts many monuments and we may perhaps begin by looking at Arthur’s Stone, or Maen Ceti in its Welsh form, which is situated at Reynoldston in Gower (3 in figure 2). This consists of a Neolithic chambered cairn which takes us back to the fourth or third millennia BC. It is a remarkable monument. Comprising a huge boulder, known as Maen in Welsh, it is balanced precariously on a few small slabs of stone which stand upright. It is in a dramatic position and as it was obviously intended that this monument should be created, it is suggested by archaeologists that the huge boulder might have been transported here from another site. Many people do not realise how mobile the society of the Neolithic and Bronze Ages was, and how innovating. We have simply to look at the most dramatic of all stone circles, that at Stonehenge, to realise the enormous amount of labour, organisation and mathematical knowledge that must have gone into transporting huge stone slabs, perhaps from great distances, to create the universally revered monument. To return to Arthur’s Stone, although it is designated as a Neolithic monument, it does not fit into any categories of such sites and it is questionable whether it is of Neolithic date. The huge capstone, which is a natural boulder of vast proportions, is of local conglomerate rock, and is believed to have weighed some 35 tons when it was intact. Part has fractured, and that now lies in three parts to the west of the monument. The base of the boulder rests on the original ground surface. There are nine uprights remaining in position but the boulder is only supported by four of these. It is not certain whether a tomb exists, but there are two squarish compartments adjacent to each other. There is no certainty as to where the entrance lies. Of interest, perhaps, is that in the westerly direction there is a large Bronze Age circular cairn.
Maen Ceti is the subject of one of the numerous triads of early Britain (vide Bromwich, Trioedd Ynys Prydein). Compare Coetan Arthur (Arthur’s Quoit), St Davids (15).
Arthur is not only associated with field monuments of different periods but with static features in the landscape such as caves, many of which are believed to harbour treasure. There is an important cave called Ogof Arthur, ‘Arthur’s Cave’, which is situated in the southern side of Mynydd y Cnwc (cf. Gaelic cnoc, ‘mound’ or ‘low hill’). This is within the parish of Llangwyfan on the south-west coast of Anglesey. The foot of Mynydd y Cnwc is close to the sea where the tide washes in and the mouth of the cave is completely closed by sea water at high tide. However, the cave, which is very large, has an air-hole in the side of the mountain. It is supposed to measure a mile in length. The man who reported to the Brython for 1859, p.158, mentions a local tradition that the great cave contained rich treasures and that it afforded Arthur shelter for a short time during his wars with the Goidels (Gaels; Gwyddelod). Moreover, he describes a cromlech on the top of the hill around which there was a circle of stones, within which it is reputed and widely believed that an iron chest full of ancient gold lies buried. Various attempts have been made by local people to dig it up but they have always been prevented by evil portents. So here we find that the guardians of the treasure are in fact supernatural forces, as is often the case, and especially in connection with Dinas Emrys.
15 Coetan Arthur, St Davids, Pembrokeshire
(See further list of monuments and landscape features with the accompanying map (see 2).)
Merlin (Myrddin)
Merlin of Wales was an immensely popular figure in Welsh literature and legend. He was regarded in the Middle Ages primarily as a man of magic capable of performing virtually impossible feats and influencing the outcome of events in a way salutary to his own people. In his rôle as prophet he became famous but by no means all his prophecies were fulfilled, unlike those of the Brahan Seer of Scottish Gaelic fame. His many prophecies, no matter how incredible they may have seemed when he made them, have all come true — apart from one, which is likely to do so in the future (vide Ross, Folklore of the Scottish Highlands). Prophecy was closely associated with madness in early Celtic society and those who had the awen (‘inspiration’) on them became to all appearances as one possessed, which in a sense was true. Prophecy was a kind of magic, a ‘divine’ inspiration, when the one possessing the gift would suddenly go into a trance-state, and thereby be enabled to see clearly future events which were often of a distressing or disastrous nature. Societies universally have had their great prophets and we have only to turn to the New Testament and the life of Christ to witness the fact that his prophetic powers were one of the most extraordinary of his many abilities. However, seeing in detail future events was a highly-developed skill amongst the Celts and the subject of much literature and folklore. As was common widely over the Celtic world, as in other places, the person possessing such powers was not by any means always at ease with them, especially when dreadful events involved their own families and neighbours. Many would have given a great deal to be freed of the gift.
We may begin our consideration of Welsh prophecy and its most famed prophet, the renowned Merlin or Myrddin in Welsh, by noting that Ireland likewise had a renowned prophet, Suibhne Geilt. His utterances while in a trance state were strange and, to one unfamiliar with this phenomenon, bordered on madness. Merlin of Wales did indeed become a kind of madman, taking to the great forests of Celidon (Caledonia) and living like an animal — and, according to some, possessing certain animal features such as deer antlers. According to some sources he did not grow antlers but rode upon a deer which was deeply bonded with him. It is useful to note here that much Welsh folklore concerning Arthur and his advisers and retinue is closely linked to Scotland as well as being deeply embedded in the tradition of Wales. Merlin has another name apart from Myrddin Wyllt (‘Wild Merlin’); this is Lailoken, Welsh Llallogen (‘the honoured one’).
He was an important character in medieval Welsh literature and his fame spread widely in Europe. The renowned medieval scholar, Geoffrey of Monmouth, wrote the Life (Vita) of the prophet in poetic form known as the Vita Merlini, in the twelfth century. Like Arthur, many places and archaeological features which were associated with Merlin are also associated with his name and he is one of the best-known of the medieval Welsh heroic characters. There is a traditional story that Merlin was the son of an unmarried woman who had slept but once with his father in order to procreate a pure child. The reason for this was seemingly as follows: the tyrant Vortigern (Welsh Gwrtheyrn) wished to construct a fortress but he could never get further than the found
ations, clearly because some supernatural force was interfering with the building. This is a widespread folk motif. Vortigern consulted a wise man who told him that his stronghold would never be built unless these unstable foundations were first sprinkled with the blood of the pure child who had already been born, according to prophecy. Gwrtheyrn consulted his Druids on this matter and they told him that the fortress must be sprinkled with the blood of a child who had no father. Merlin’s mother was found and said that she had never known a man except on one occasion and that union had resulted in the birth of the ‘wonder child’ Merlin/Myrddin. This satisfied Gwrtheyrn and his Druids, and the boy was taken to the stronghold. When the child realised what his fate was to be he asked for ‘wise men’ or Druids to be brought to him and questioned them about the instability of the foundations of Gwrtheyrn’s building. They were unable to answer. Then the young child told them the answer. He said that under the floor of the foundations lay a pool, and in the pool were two vases. Between the vases there was a pavilion or tent, and in the tent were two serpents or dragons (16). One was white and the other red. They started to fight with each other. At first the white dragon was winning but weakened and was at length overcome by the red dragon. This amazed everyone but greater was their wonder when the little boy went on to interpret the meaning of this vision. He said that the red dragon represented Gwrtheyrn’s followers and the white dragon was the emblem of the Saxons. They were fighting because they both wanted victory and the fact that the white dragon represented the Saxons showed that in time this race would be driven back across the sea to their own country; and the red dragon indicated that the triumphant Vortigern should now build his stronghold in another place. There seems to be quite a lot of confusion in this tale but the fundamental significance of it is clear.