The Mammoth Book of King Arthur

by Mike Ashley

  The four branches of the Mabinogi proper do not feature Arthur, although some of the characters reappear in the later tales. Here, I intend to discuss only two stories, Culhwch and Olwen and The Dream of Rhonabwy, which are of historical import. The other three, The Lady of the Fountain, Peredur, Son of Evrawc and Gereint, Son of Erbin, although they all feature Arthur, are related to the later romances told by Chrétien de Troyes and are discussed later.

  2. Culhwch and Olwen

  Culhwch and Olwen is the oldest of the texts used by Guest in her Mabinogion. Scholars believe it was written down in its final form around the year 1100, but the linguistic evidence suggests it reached a final oral form perhaps a century earlier. It thus predates Geoffrey’s History, and is little more than a century later than Nennius. Yet, as we shall see, it bears no relationship to either.

  The basic story can be summarised briefly, and illustrates how Arthur was perceived by the tenth and eleventh centuries. Culhwch, a cousin of Arthur, is born in a pigsty when his heavily pregnant mother Goleuddyd is frightened by the pigs. She gives birth but flees, and the baby is rescued by the swineherd and taken to the court of his father, Cilydd. After the death of Culhwch’s mother, his father’s new wife desires that her own daughter from a previous marriage should marry Culhwch. He refuses because he is still young, so his stepmother curses him and says that he will marry no one but Olwen, the daughter of the giant Ysbaddaden. Despite never meeting Olwen, Culhwch falls in love with her, and seeks the help of Arthur and his court to find her. The quest lasts a year and when at last Olwen is found, she agrees to marry Culhwch only if he carries out her father’s wishes. She knows her father will refuse because when she marries, Ysbaddaden will die. Ysbaddaden sets Culhwch forty impossible tasks. These are achieved mostly by heroes from Arthur’s court. Ysbaddaden dies, and Culhwch and Olwen are married.

  It’s a wonderful heroic tale full of adventure and larger-than-life characters. The supernatural elements no doubt grew in the telling, and more and more heroes were doubtless added, but there is no reason to suspect that the location of the story changed much because part of the story’s strength lies in the knowledge of the locality. Let us therefore work through the people and places in the story, and see how much can be related to the historical elements we have already covered.

  (a) Amlawdd Wledig

  We learn at the outset that Culhwch is Arthur’s first cousin. Culhwch’s mother Goleuddydd was the daughter of Amlawdd Wledig, as was Arthur’s mother Ygraine, and Rhieinwylydd, the mother of St. Illtud. Amlawdd has been accused of being a genealogical convenience in order to provide family links between individuals (see Table 8.1). If that were the case, however, someone would have had to invent him first, and why should later kings want descent from a fictional nobody? Amlawdd’s name may have been corrupted, but it must have meant something at the time.

  Table 8.1 Arthur’s maternal family

  Peter Bartrum remarks that the name is unique in Welsh and seems to have a Nordic root, Amlói, or Amleth, the same as Shakespeare’s Hamlet. There is a whole body of research, going back at least as far as 1880, which proposes that Hamlet/Amlethus was a variant of Anlaf, itself an Anglicisation of Olaf and that all these characters are represented in legend by Havelok the Dane. In this Anglo-Danish story, which became popular at the same time as the Welsh Arthurian legends, Havelok is a dispossessed Danish king (from the Danish settlements in England), who is serving as a scullion under the name of Cuaran in the court of King Godric of Lincoln/Lindsey.

  Cuaran was the nickname given to Olaf Sihtricson, who became king of Jorvik (York) in 941, and ruled Danish Mercia (including Lindsey) until expelled by King Edmund of Wessex in 942. Olaf had been the son of an earlier Danish king of York, Sihtric, but, being a child when his father died, was smuggled out of England to relative safety in Ireland by his uncle Gothfrith (Godric).

  There are some remarkable connections here. In the multilingual world of tenth century Britain, Olaf >Anlaf >Amlethus>Amlawdd would have been regarded as a hero, especially by the non-Saxons, and in later years, when his precise floruit had become confused, there would have been those who wanted to claim descent from him. In all likelihood, therefore, the name Amlawdd did not exist in the fifth century.

  That does not mean that all of Amlawdd’s “legendary” descendants also belong to the ninth century. Clearly St. Illtud does not. It simply means that Amlawdd might have been a ninth century hero transposed back in time as a convenient ancestor to various British (or non-Saxon) heroes. But it may also mean that some of his legendary descendants are from the ninth century. This is especially interesting because Olaf/Amlethus was the ancestor of the Norse kings of the Isle of Man. His great-great grandson was Godred Crovan (“White Hands”), who conquered Man in 1079 and established a dynasty that lasted for two hundred years. In later years Godred was remembered as King Gorry, and it’s possible that his name passed into Arthurian legend as the name for the kingdom of Gorre, associated with Urien of Rheged.

  There may, however, be another interpretation of the name Amlawdd. It is possible that it became confused with the name Emyr Llydaw. Emyr is not a personal name but a title, meaning “leader” (amris); thus Emyr Llydaw is “ruler of Llydaw.” Llydaw was the Welsh name for Armorica (called Letavia in Latin), but it was also local to Wales. There is, for instance, a Llyn Llydaw, a lake in Snowdonia near a possible site for Camlann, close to Ambrosius’s fort at Dinas Emrys. There is also a territory in southeast Wales, around Ystrad Yw between Brycheiniog and Ergyng, called Llydaw.

  Llydaw may be derived from Luyddog, (“host” or “army”). This probably goes back to the time of Magnus Maximus, who withdrew many of the Roman forces from Britain to support his campaign in Gaul for the Imperial crown. The Welsh tale, The Dream of Macsen Wledig, also included in the Mabinogion, tells how Maximus married the daughter of Eudaf Hen, Elen Luyddog, or “Elen of the host”. The name subsequently took on religious significance, but I suspect it originally referred to the army that was taken away from Britain. Magnus doubtless entreated Eudaf for his support, which was sealed by marriage to Elen. Maximus granted these soldiers territory in Armorica, and the name Llydaw followed. Whoever was commander of these troops may have been known as the Emyr Llydaw. In fact, the early king of Armorica, Budic, is called the son of Emyr Llydaw.

  Does this help us identify Emyr Llydaw and Amlawdd? Amlawdd could either be a contraction of Em[yr] Llyd[aw], or a synonym. Ymladdwr is the Welsh for “fighter”, or, more specifically, soldier. Amlawdd Wledig could, therefore, be the same title, “leader of soldiers”, not unlike a dux Britanniarum. Amlawdd or Emyr Llydaw would therefore not be one individual but several. It would explain why Amlawdd seems to be the father of so many children.

  The original Amlawdd may have returned to Wales at some stage, perhaps in the service of Owain Finddu or Vortigern. If he settled in northern Ergyng, the territory may have been called Llydaw after him. Later in Culhwch and Olwen we learn that the Men of Llydaw assembled at Ystrad Yw, near Crickhowell, in Gwent, to help Arthur. These men could have been a special force that had once been commanded by Amlawdd, Arthur’s grandfather, and were now at Arthur’s command.

  Amlawdd is usually regarded as the father of a host of daughters, who, through marriages, became mothers of various early British notables. However, Culhwch and Olwen refers to two of Arthur’s mother’s brothers, who must therefore be sons of Amlawdd. These are Llygadrudd Emys and Gwrfoddw Hen, both of whom are killed during the boar hunt at Ystrad Yw, towards the end of the story. There is no separate record of Llygadrudd Emys (the name means “the red-eyed stallion”), but Gwrfoddw Hen is known. He was the last recorded king of Ergyng, and lived around the year 650. This certainly fits in with our speculation on Amlawdd.

  (b) Arthur’s warriors

  When Culhwch arrives at Arthur’s court, he is refused admittance and challenged by Arthur’s head porter, Glewlwyd. The altercation of porter and visitor is evidently a set piece in Celtic folk
history as it is also the basis for the poem Pa Gur (Who is the gatekeeper?), recounting the exploits of Arthur and his men, which we will return to later in this chapter.

  Although Glewlwyd seems to have become forgotten in most Arthurian literature, he was clearly well known in Welsh tradition. He appears in several of the Mabinogion tales, where he is described as Glewlwyd Mighty Grasp, known for his size and strength. He is also remembered in the Welsh Triads as one of the “Three Unopposable Knights.”

  Culhwch is eventually admitted, and when he requests the aid of Arthur to find Olwen he recites the names of over 200 warriors and courtiers, and of twenty-one maidens. The list is an excuse to name the famous heroes of old and cannot be trusted as a true record of Arthur’s men. It includes, for instance, heroes capable of super-human feats, such as Clust, son of Clustfeinad (“Ear, son of Hearer”), who could hear an ant stir from over fifty miles away even if it were buried seven fathoms deep, or Gwaddyn Oddeith (“Sole-blaze”), whose shoe soles could burn a swathe through any forest.

  There are several names one would expect, such as Bedwyr, Cei and Gwalchmai, better known in the later tales as Sir Kay, Sir Bedivere and Sir Gawain. These are the most ancient names of Arthur’s warriors, and we shall return to their stories. Other names reappear amongst Arthur’s knights, converted into Norman French by Chrétien de Troyes. Arthur’s bishop, Bedwini, for instance, becomes Sir Baudwin, Caradog becomes Sir Carados, Cynwyl becomes Sir Griflet, and Madog becomes Sir Mador. There are plenty of other examples, several of whom are included in the “Who’s Who” (see Chapter 23).

  Certain key names are missing. There’s no Lancelot, although there is the warrior Llwch Llawwynniog (“Llwch of the Striking Hand”), who is believed by some to be the original Lancelot (see Chapter 17). There is no Merlin, although there is an enchanter called Menw, possibly Merlin’s fictional prototype (see Chapter 15).

  There are some unexpected names in the list, including Gildas, along with all of his brothers. We know that Gildas was a contemporary of Arthur, as he was born in the year of Badon, but one would not expect him to be close to Arthur. The list also includes Taliesin, “Chief of Bards”. Taliesin is associated with Arthur’s court in other writings, including the Triads, but his appearance causes a problem with dates. Taliesin is more closely associated with the courts of Urien of Rheged, who ruled in the 570s, and of his son Owein, to whom Taliesin composed a eulogy. According to legend, Taliesin was summoned as a child to the court of King Maelgwyn. Maelgwyn died in 549, placing Taliesin’s birth perhaps around 530–535. Since he apparently died at a great age, he may have lived as late as 610. This allows for him to have been present at the court of Arthur of Dyfed, who ruled in the 590s.

  Returning to the list of warriors in Culhwch and Olwen, there are several interesting asides about a few otherwise little-known names. We learn, for instance, of Gwyn Hyfar, a name which, on the surface, sounds compellingly like Gwenhwyfar (Guinevere), but which apparently means Gwyn “the Irascible” or “the Modest”. According to Gwyn and Thomas Jones’ translation, Gwyn was “one of the nine who plotted the battle of Camlann.” Lady Charlotte Guest translated this phrase as “the ninth man that rallied the battle of Camlann.” Both opposing interpretations agree that Gwyn Hyfar was an overseer of Cornwall and Devon.

  Among the list of warriors are various sons of Iaen, collectively described as “men of Caer Dathyl, kindred to Arthur on his father’s side.” Caer Dathyl is in north Wales, in the Lleyn Peninsula, and is mentioned in the Mabinogion as the stronghold of the ensorcelled Lord of Gwynedd, Math. Amongst the old documents known as the Hanesyn Hen, there is a list of the children of Iaen, including a daughter, Eleirch, who is described as the “mother of Cydfan ab Arthur”. She is not described as Arthur’s wife. We cannot be certain this is meant to be the same Arthur, but the spelling and connection are cause enough for thought.

  (c) Lost Lands

  One other name raises an interesting association with lost lands. There is a reference to Gwenwynwyn, called Arthur’s “first fighter” or “champion”, whose name appears in the Welsh Triads as one of the “Three Seafarers of Ynys Prydein.” Though completely forgotten today, this hero has an interesting family history. Gwenwynwyn’s grandfather was Seithennin, keeper of the sea-walls and flood-gates of Gwaelod, part of the territory (Maes Gwyddno) of Gwyddno Garanhir, one night Seithennin was drunk and failed to keep watch, and the lands flooded.

  There are many legends of lost lands around Britain’s coast, such as Lyonesse, the land believed to be buried between Lands End and the Scilly Isles off the southwest tip of Cornwall. But various Welsh sources mention other similar inundations. One such is in Cardigan Bay, which may well be Maes Gwyddno. There are several princes called Gwyddno causing confusion over the identity of Garanhir (“Long-Shanks”). There is a Gwyddno, Prince of Merionydd, who lived in the early seventh century, contemporary with Arthur of Gwent and Arthlwys of Ceredigion, but his link with the legend is a late assignment. Others suggest Gwyddno ap Cawrdaf, one of the Men of the North, who was thus a contemporary of Arthur of Dyfed.

  Gwyddno’s name is remembered in Porth Wyddno, listed in a Triad as one of the “Three Chief Ports” of Britain. This has been identified with Borth, north of Aberystwyth, on the borders of Dyfed and Ceredigion, which would connect Maes Gwyddno with lands believed lost in Cardigan Bay. However others suggest that it was a harbour on the River Conwy in North Wales or on the coast of Rheged which was buried when the waters of Morecambe Bay rose during the sixth century, perhaps as a consequence of the comet catastrophe of the 540s.

  Gwenwynwyn must, therefore, have lived around 610–630, a century too late for Arthur of Badon, but not too late for Arthur of Dyfed. This great sailor would have earned his reputation because of the perils of the sea during the sixth century, not just the rising sea levels, but the constant battles with the Irish who remained a threat to the western coast of Wales, the very shores of Dyfed which the Irish had colonized in late Roman times when it was known as Demetia. Gwenwynwyn became the master of Arthur’s fleet in Dyfed, a role that could easily see him classified as Arthur’s champion.

  The list includes one other member of Arthur’s court, providing further evidence for the former existence of these flooded lands. This is Teithi the Old, “whose dominions the sea overran.” One of the Welsh Triads places this kingdom, originally called Ynys Teithy, and later Kaerrihoc, in the west between Menevia and Ireland. Menevia is the old name for the town of St. David’s on the western coast of Dyfed, suggesting that Ynys Teithy was an island or peninsula further out into the Irish Sea that was destroyed by flooding. It is difficult to provide a date for Teithi. It seems that Ynys Teithy was still referred to during the tenure of Oudoceus, archbishop of Llandaff, who held the prelacy from about 580 to 615 and was thus a contemporary of Arthur of Dyfed. Presumably the inundation of Ynys Teithi happened during this period. The Irish also remember him as Tethra, king of the Fomorians (fo meaning “under”, and mor meaning “sea”).

  We can imagine a folk memory of these refugees from deluged lands living at the court of Arthur, and this may be how such tales as Tristan of Lyonesse began.

  (d) Camelot, Celliwic and the god Artaius

  Arthur’s fabled castle Camelot does not appear in these Welsh tales – indeed, we have yet to encounter it at all. The list of notables at Arthur’s court includes Glwyddyn the Craftsman, who is credited with building Arthur’s Hall, called Ehangwen (meaning “expansive white”), and implying a beautiful white building seemingly too large to take in at once. This may not have been its real name, but rather how the hall was viewed. Later poems state that the hall shone with gold, so the image is of a bright shining palace, very similar to how Camelot is envisaged.

  Arthur’s Hall is placed in Celliwic, or Gelliwig, in Cernyw. The first of the Welsh Triads, “Three Tribal Thrones of Britain”, lists Arthur’s thrones as being at Mynyw, Celliwig and Pen Rhionydd. Because of Charlotte Guest’s translation of Cernyw as C
ornwall, people have been searching for Celliwic in the southwest, although no place by that name survives there. Various sites have been suggested, including Callington on the border of Devon and Cornwall, Castle Killibury, an ancient hill fort near Wadebridge, Callywith near Bodmin, and Willapark at Bossiney near Tintagel. Most of these are based solely on connections to ancient hillforts. Killibury is the most favoured, although none of these places has been adequately researched, and none has a logical Arthurian connection.

  That there once was a Kelliwic in Cornwall is not disputed. There is a record of a Thomas de Kellewik in 1302, who lived at Gulval, north of Penzance. Celli wig means “the grove in the wood”, and thus is a phrase that could have occurred in several places.

  However, whilst there is no Celliwic in Cornwall, there are two in Wales. We have already established that Cernyw should not be translated as Kernow or Cornwall, but as Cernyw in South Wales, in Gwent, being the territory between Chepstow and Cardiff. In Journey to Avalon, Chris Barber and David Pykitt put forward the case that Gelliwig is the ancient hill fort now called Llanmelin, near Caerwent. The old name for Llanmelin was Llan y Gelli (“church of the grove”), but over time as the grove was forgotten and superseded by a mill, it became Llanmelin (“the church of the mill”). Barber and Pykett suggest that during that transition it would for a while have been known as Caer Melin, a name that Chrétien de Troyes corrupted into Caer-Malot, or Camelot. It is an intriguing argument, all the more so because nearby are the Bedwin Sands, named after Bedwini, bishop of Celliwic.

  Barber and Pykett also suggest that Caerwent was Arthur’s capital, not nearby Caerleon, and that Geoffrey of Monmouth mistook the two. Caerwent, the Roman town of Venta Silurum, was the former capital of the Silures, and thus more likely as the court for a post-Roman king of Gwent. The final link in the chain is that the Welsh Triads name Caradog Vreichfras as the chief elder of Celliwig, and Caradog was ruler of Ergyng in the sixth century.