The Mabinogion (Oxford World's Classics)
Page 42
17For further details see www.S4c.co.uk/otherworld/.
1 Cai and Bedwyr: two of Arthur’s closest companions. For Cai, see note to p. 68. There are several references to Bedwyr in the medieval Welsh sources, including the poem ‘What Man is the Gatekeeper?’ in the Black Book of Carmarthen (see Sims-Williams, AOW). In the triads he is one of the Three Diademed Battle-leaders of the Island of Britain (TYP 21), and is also mentioned in relation to Drystan son of Tallwch, one of the Three Powerful Swinherds of the Island of Britain. For further details, see TYP, pp. 286–7.
2 Maelwys son of Baeddan … Corfil Berfach: on the Irish origin of these names, see Patrick Sims-Williams, ‘The Significance of the Irish Personal Names in Culhwch and Olwen’, Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies, 29 (1982), 607–10.
3 Gwyn … and Edern son of Nudd: see note to p. 148
4 Fflewddwr Flame: according to TYP 9 he is one of the Three Chieftains of Arthur’s Court. His title gwledig (‘lord’ or ‘ruler’) is usually associated with Dorath, the patronymic of the next character in the list, and suggests miscopying since in the triads, and again in ‘Rhonabwy’s Dream’, Fflewddwr has no title.
5 Twrch son of Perif and Twrch son of Anwas: these are two boars (twrch). The former becomes one of Arthur’s counsellors in ‘Rhonabwy’s Dream’ (p. 225).
6 Contempt son of Caw … Samson Dry-Lip: Caw is listed in Ysbaddaden’s list (p. 197) and plays a role in securing Olwen for Culhwch. Of the nineteen sons listed here, some are clearly farcical. Caw’s son Gildas is the sixth-century Welsh and Breton saint, whose memory is preserved in two saints lives. Samson (Dry-Lip) is named as another of Caw’s sons in the genealogies, again a saint and the founder of the cathedral of Dol in Brittany.
7 Fflergant, king of Brittany: Alan IV, or Alan Fyrgan, duke of Brittany (d. 1119). He appears in the triads as one whose war-band was disloyal to him (TYP 30) and allowed him to go into the battle of Camlan alone, where he was killed.
8 Geraint son of Erbin: the hero of the tale that bears his name, see note to p. 141.
9 Morfran son of Tegid: ‘Great Raven’ son of Tegid, whose story is told in the sixteenth-century Hanes Taliesin (‘The Tale of Taliesin’), ed. Patrick K. Ford, Ystoria Taliesin (Dublin, 1992). Both Ford and Lady Charlotte Guest included this tale in their respective translations of the Mabinogion, on the basis that it originated from the medieval period.
10 Three Who Escaped from Camlan: this triad may well be an invention on the part of the redactor—no version appears in the surviving collections, although there are other references to Camlan, the supposed site of Arthur’s last battle.
1 Teithi the Old … whose kingdom the sea overran: one of the many references in medieval Welsh to submerged kingdoms, see the note to p. 28.
2 from the headland of Gamon: probably Garman in Co. Wexford, in the south-west of Ireland.
3 Dyfnwal the Bald: he is mentioned in the genealogies of the ‘Men of the North’, and also in some versions of the Welsh laws, where he is given the credit for measuring Britain from the headland of Blathaon on Pictland to the headland of Penwith in Cornwall (LHDd 120).
1 Celli Wig: Celli (‘grove’) and gwig (‘forest’) is the site of Arthur’s court both in this tale and in the triads. Several locations have been suggested, including Killibury hill-fort in the parish of Egloshayle, or Penwith (Pen Pengwaedd). For Arthur’s Cornish connections, see Oliver Padel, ‘Some South-Western Sites with Arthurian Associations’, in AOW 229–48.
2 Pen Blathaon: Pen here means ‘point’ or ‘promontory’. See note to p. 182 on Pen Pengwaedd.
3 Ehangwen: means ‘roomy and fair’.
1 Tyrrhenian Sea: the western Mediterranean between Sicily and Sardinia.
2 the Exalted One of Prydain: the proper name may have been omitted here.
1 Gwarae Golden Hair: equated with Gwri Wallt Euryn (‘Gwri Golden Hair) in the First Branch of the Mabinogi (p. 18).
2 Brys son of Brysethach: for references in the saints lives, and parallels in Irish, see CaO 101. As for Prydain, the two forms Prydain (‘Britain’) and Prydyn (‘Pictland’) are often confused in medieval Welsh texts.
1 Pwyll: a character in the Four Branches of the Mabinogi, whose name means ‘wisdom’, ‘caution’. His lack of sense and its repercussions in the First Branch may explain the epithet here (see p. 12).
2 Cynedyr the Wild: he is later described as a son of Hetwn Glafyriog (the Leprous), p. 199.
3Sawyl High Head: one of the Three Arrogant Men of the Island of Britain (TYP 23).
4 Gwalchmai son of Gwyar: see note to p. 66.
5 Gwrhyr Interpreter of Languages: Welsh gwalstawd is derived from Old English wealhstod, meaning ‘interpreter’. For a discussion of the latimarii or interpreters in twelfth-century Wales, and their possible role in transmitting narrative between the Welsh and Anglo-Norman courts, see C. Bullock-Davies, Professional Interpreters and the Matter of Britain (Cardiff, 1966).
6 Bedwini the Bishop: the Chief of Bishops in Celli Wig in Cornwall, according to the triads (TYP 1). He also appears in ‘Rhonabwy’s Dream’ (pp. 217 and 225) as one of Arthur’s counsellors.
1 Gwenhwyfar … Gwenhwyfach: they are associated in the triads—the Three Sinister Hard Slaps of the Island of Britain (TYP 53)—where it is claimed that the battle of Camlan occurred as a result of Gwenhwyfach slapping her sister. For Gwenhwyfar, see note to p. 68.
2 Clydno Eidin: Clydno (meaning ‘distinguished fame’) was one of the leaders of the ‘Old North’.
3 Eurolwyn: literally means ‘golden wheel’.
4 Indeg: one of Arthur’s Three Concubines (TYP 57).
5 Morfudd: a twin to Owain son of Urien Rheged, while her lover was Cynon son of Clydno (TYP 70 and 71). Urien Rheged is the father of Owain, hero of ‘The Lady of the Well’ (see note to p. 66).
6 until the Day of Judgement: the incident is described on p. 207.
7 Neol Hang-Cock: Welsh cŷn (‘chisel’ or ‘wedge’) is also used in the obscene sense, as here, to mean ‘penis’.