Creiddylad (also known as ''Creirddylad'', ''Creurdilad'', ''Creudylad'' or ''Kreiddylat''), daughter of King
Lludd, is a
minor character in the early
medieval Welsh Arthurian
King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a legendary king of Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain.
In the earliest traditions, Arthur appears as a ...
tale ''
Culhwch ac Olwen
''Culhwch and Olwen'' ( cy, Culhwch ac Olwen) is a Welsh tale that survives in only two manuscripts about a hero connected with Arthur and his warriors: a complete version in the Red Book of Hergest, c. 1400, and a fragmented version in the Whit ...
''.
Role in Welsh tradition
Creiddylad, daughter of Lludd Silver Hand, is a lady living at the
court of King Arthur. Considered to be the most beautiful girl in the
British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...
, she is loved by two of Arthur's warriors:
Gwythyr and
Gwyn
Gwyn or Gwynn may refer to:
People
* Gwyn (name), includes a list of people with the given name or surname Gwyn, including variants such as Gwynn and Gwynne
Fictional or mythological characters
* Gwyn ap Nudd, in Welsh mythology
* Gwynn (Sluggy F ...
.
[Christopher Bruce's Arthurian Name Dictionary: Creiddylad](_blank)
/ref> Her rival suitors are thrust into conflict when Gwythyr abducts her from her father's house, to which Gwyn retaliates by kidnapping her from Gwythyr. Due to Arthur's intervention in the ensuing feud, the lady Creiddylad is returned to her father and an arrangement (a ''dihenydd'', or " fate") is made that forces the adversaries to engage in single combat for the object of their love every May Day
May Day is a European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice. Festivities may also be held the night before, known as May Eve. Tr ...
—while she is destined to remain with her father, unmarried—until a final battle on Judgement Day, which will determine who keeps her forever.
Creiddylad has been compared to the Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
springtime goddess Persephone
In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Persephone ( ; gr, Περσεφόνη, Persephónē), also called Kore or Cora ( ; gr, Κόρη, Kórē, the maiden), is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. She became the queen of the underworld after ...
, who is similarly abducted by an admirer (the underworld
The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underwor ...
god Hades), rescued by an intervening character (Zeus), and reunited with her family (her mother Demeter), then cursed to repeat the experience every year. Here, the warrior duo's ritual battle for possession of Creiddylad may be understood as a version of the " Holly King" myth, possibly personifying the dynamic power struggle between summer and winter.
It is also observed that the name of Creiddylad's father (Lludd) and that of Gwyn's father (Nudd) are likely cognate, which suggests that the characters are different incarnations of the pan-Celtic deity Nodons
*''Nodens'' or *''Nodons'' ( reconstructed from the dative ''Nodenti'' or ''Nodonti'') is a Celtic healing god worshipped in Ancient Britain. Although no physical depiction of him has survived, votive plaques found in a shrine at Lydney Park ...
. Hence, Gwyn is often described as Creiddylad's brother.
Additionally, she is sometimes confused with the goddess Creirwy
Creirwy () is a figure in the ''Mabinogion'' and the ''Hanes Taliesin'' (the story of Taliesin's life), daughter of the enchantress Ceridwen and Tegid Foel ("Tacitus the Bald"). The Welsh Triads name her one of the three most beautiful maids of the ...
, who is also referred to as the most beautiful girl in the world.
In literature
Cordelia
Creiddylad is traditionally identified as the prototype of Geoffrey of Monmouth
Geoffrey of Monmouth ( la, Galfridus Monemutensis, Galfridus Arturus, cy, Gruffudd ap Arthur, Sieffre o Fynwy; 1095 – 1155) was a British cleric from Monmouth, Wales and one of the major figures in the development of British historiography ...
's pseudo-historical Queen Cordeilla, who is the source of William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's heroine Cordelia
Cordelia is a feminine given name. It was borne by the tragic heroine of Shakespeare's ''King Lear'' (1606), a character based on the List of legendary kings of Britain, legendary queen Cordelia of Britain, Cordelia. The name is of uncertain origi ...
(the youngest daughter of King Lear
''King Lear'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare.
It is based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his power and land between two of his daughters. He becomes destitute and insane ...
). This identification can be found in the 1833 edition of ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Lady Charlotte Guest
Lady Charlotte Elizabeth Guest (née Bertie; 19 May 1812 – 15 January 1895), later Lady Charlotte Schreiber, was an English aristocrat who is best known as the first publisher in modern print format of the '' Mabinogion'', the earliest prose l ...
, in the notes to her edition of ''The Mabinogion
The ''Mabinogion'' () are the earliest Welsh prose stories, and belong to the Matter of Britain. The stories were compiled in Middle Welsh in the 12th–13th centuries from earlier oral traditions. There are two main source manuscripts, create ...
'', which was first published in 1849, identifies Creiddylad, daughter of Lludd Llaw Ereint, with Cordelia, "daughter of Lludd, or Lear". In 1891, Sir John Rhys repeated this identification in ''Studies in the Arthurian Legend''.
However, Geoffrey's Welsh translators failed to use the name Creiddylad in their Latin-to-Welsh translations of ''Historia Regum Britanniae
''Historia regum Britanniae'' (''The History of the Kings of Britain''), originally called ''De gestis Britonum'' (''On the Deeds of the Britons''), is a pseudohistorical account of British history, written around 1136 by Geoffrey of Monmouth. I ...
'', where he used ''Cordeilla''. Further complicating the association, the legends surrounding Creiddylad and Cordelia are very different. Doubt has been cast on the linking of these two names, beyond "the string of consonants C-R-D-L".
John Cowper Powys
Novelist John Cowper Powys
John Cowper Powys (; 8 October 187217 June 1963) was an English philosopher, lecturer, novelist, critic and poet born in Shirley, Derbyshire, where his father was vicar of the parish church in 1871–1879. Powys appeared with a volume of verse ...
, as an admirer of both Guest's ''Mabinogion'' as well as the work of Sir John Rhys, was aware of the idea that Creiddylad can be identified with Geoffrey of Monmouth's Queen Cordelia. In ''A Glastonbury Romance
''A Glastonbury Romance'' was written by John Cowper Powys (1873–1963) in rural upstate New York and first published by Simon and Schuster in New York City in March 1932. An English edition published by John Lane followed in 1933. It has ...
'', Cordelia Geard's name may indicate a mythological identification with Creiddylad, daughter of Lludd in ''The Mabinogion
The ''Mabinogion'' () are the earliest Welsh prose stories, and belong to the Matter of Britain. The stories were compiled in Middle Welsh in the 12th–13th centuries from earlier oral traditions. There are two main source manuscripts, create ...
''.[''The Mabinogion'', translated by ]Lady Charlotte Guest
Lady Charlotte Elizabeth Guest (née Bertie; 19 May 1812 – 15 January 1895), later Lady Charlotte Schreiber, was an English aristocrat who is best known as the first publisher in modern print format of the '' Mabinogion'', the earliest prose l ...
(1906). J. M. Dent: London, 1927, p. 310. In Powys's novel '' Porius: A Romance of the Dark Ages'', which is set in Wales, Creiddylad, was the eponymous protagonist's giantess great-grandmother, as well as the name he gives to a young giantess whom he mates with.
See also
* Fflur
References
{{Celtic mythology (Welsh)
Arthurian characters
Kidnapped people
Welsh goddesses