In the earliest prose stories in Britain in the

Mabinogi 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 ; "birds of

Rhiannon Rhiannon is a major figure in the Mabinogi, the medieval Welsh story collection. She appears mainly in the First Branch of the Mabinogi, and again in the Third Branch. She is a strong-minded Otherworld woman, who chooses Pwyll, prince of ...

", are specifically three magical birds, whose song can "wake the dead and lull the living to sleep". They also have a non-rational effect on space as they can be remote but seem very near. They are connected with

the Queen of

Dyfed Dyfed () is a preserved county in southwestern Wales. It is a mostly rural area with a coastline on the Irish Sea and the Bristol Channel. Between 1974 and 1996, Dyfed was also the name of the area's county council and the name remains in use ...

who is thought to be a British

euhemerized Euhemerism () is an approach to the interpretation of mythology in which mythological accounts are presumed to have originated from real historical events or personages. Euhemerism supposes that historical accounts become myths as they are exagge ...

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million ...

goddess, so part of

Welsh mythology Welsh mythology (Welsh language, Welsh: ''Mytholeg Cymru'') consists of both folk traditions developed in Wales, and traditions developed by the Celtic Britons elsewhere before the end of the first millennium. As in most of the predominantly oral ...

. The Adar Rhiannon were demanded by the

giant In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: '' gigas'', cognate giga-) are beings of human-like appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''giant'' is first attested in 1297 fr ...

Ysbaddaden Bencawr ; "Ysbaddaden, Chief of Giants," is the primary antagonist of the Welsh romance '' Culhwch ac Olwen''.Helmut Birkhan: Kelten. Versuch einer Gesamtdarstellung ihrer Kultur. Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien 1997, , S. ...

as a marriage task for

Culhwch Culhwch (, with the final consonant sounding like Scottish "loch"), in Welsh mythology, is the son of Cilydd son of Celyddon and Goleuddydd, a cousin of Arthur and the protagonist of the story '' Culhwch and Olwen'' (the earliest of the medie ...

to complete. The giant wanted the Birds to soothe him as he faced his last night of life, prophesied as the consequence of his daughter's wedding.

The two British sources

In the early native British Arthurian tale from Wales, ''

Culhwch and 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 W ...

'', Culhwch ac Olwen, the hero Culhwch ap Cilydd seeks the beautiful

Olwen In Welsh mythology, Olwen (or Olwyn) is the daughter of the giant Ysbaddaden and cousin of Goreu. She is the heroine of the story ''Culhwch and Olwen'' in the Mabinogion. Her father is fated to die if she ever marries, so when Culhwch (sometimes ...

, daughter of the

chief,

as his bride. A prophecy has foretold that Ysbadadden will die on his daughter's wedding night. The giant therefore sets Culhwch and his companions a number of impossible tasks to complete before he will bestow his daughter. One of the tasks is to bring him the birds of Rhiannon, to entertain Ysbaddaden on the night before his death. The birds are retrieved, although the tale does not explain how. An earlier and fuller version of the tale may have elaborated on this.Davies, Sioned. ''The Mabinogion''. Oxford University Press, 2005. The Adar Rhiannon are also mentioned in the second

branch A branch, sometimes called a ramus in botany, is a woody structural member connected to the central trunk of a tree (or sometimes a shrub). Large branches are known as boughs and small branches are known as twigs. The term '' twig'' usually ...

of the Mabinogi, the tale of ''

Branwen ferch Llŷr ; "Branwen, daughter of Llŷr" is a legendary tale from medieval Welsh literature and the second of the four branches of the Mabinogi. It concerns the children of Llŷr; Bendigeidfran (literally "Brân the Blessed"), high king of Britain, and ...

''. Following a cataclysmic and genocidal war against the Irish, the fatally wounded British king Bendigeidfran orders his seven surviving men to

decapitate Decapitation or beheading is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and most other animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood, while all other organs are deprived of the ...

him. They are then to take his head to the White Tower of

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

to bury it as a national protection. Before setting off, the

Seven Survivors 7 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 7 or seven may also refer to: * AD 7, the seventh year of the AD era * 7 BC, the seventh year before the AD era * The month of July Music Artists * Seven (Swiss singer) (born 1978), a Swiss recording artist * ...

feast at

Harlech Harlech () is a seaside resort and community in Gwynedd, north Wales and formerly in the historic county of Merionethshire. It lies on Tremadog Bay in the Snowdonia National Park. Before 1966, it belonged to the Meirionydd District of the 1 ...

for seven enchanted years, regaled by the three Birds of Rhiannon. Although Rhiannon's name is not given it is quite clear the three Birds in this passage are the same as the Birds described in Culhwch ac Olwen.

References

{{reflist Legendary birds Welsh mythology Welsh legendary creatures Welsh legendary characters