Angharad Golden-Hand (; ) (otherwise Angharat, or Angharad Law Eurawc) is the heroine of the Welsh Romance '' Peredur son of Efrawg'', and associated with 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 ...

''. In the Welsh tale of

Peredur Peredur (, Old Welsh ''Peretur'') is the name of a number of men from the boundaries of history and legend in sub-Roman Britain. The Peredur who is most familiar to a modern audience is the character who made his entrance as a knight in the A ...

, Angharad Golden-Hand is a lady of King Arthur's court. The tale relates how the eponymous hero having fallen in love with Angharad, vows not to speak to any Christian man until she declares her love in return. This earns Peredur the title "The Mute Knight". Eventually, Angharad witnesses Peredur defeat a strong knight in a joust. Though she does not know his identity, she is impressed, and declares she loves the Mute Knight for his prowess in the field. Her declaration allows Peredur to speak once more, and he reveals his true identity. In

Thomas Hughes Thomas Hughes (20 October 182222 March 1896) was an English lawyer, judge, politician and author. He is most famous for his novel '' Tom Brown's School Days'' (1857), a semi-autobiographical work set at Rugby School, which Hughes had attended ...

' play '' The Misfortunes of Arthur'', Angharad is depicted as Queen

Guinevere Guinevere ( ; cy, Gwenhwyfar ; br, Gwenivar, kw, Gwynnever), also often written in Modern English as Guenevere or Guenever, was, according to Arthurian legend, an early-medieval queen of Great Britain and the wife of King Arthur. First me ...

's sister. Angharad dissuades Guinevere from suicide, which the Queen is contemplating after learning Arthur is returning to Britain to fight the treacherous

Mordred Mordred or Modred (; Welsh: ''Medraut'' or ''Medrawt'') is a figure who is variously portrayed in the legend of King Arthur. The earliest known mention of a possibly historical Medraut is in the Welsh chronicle ''Annales Cambriae'', wherein h ...

. A character named ''Angharad Goldenhand'' appears in Alan Garner's novels ''The Weirdstone of Brisingamen'' and ''The Moon of Gomrath'', but Garner's Angharad is an aspect of the triple moon goddess, rather than the mortal woman of "Peredur". Garner claimed to have used the name in the belief that it derived from a lost Welsh tradition or story. Angharad Golden-Hand is thought to be the subject of a lady's cameo image featured on the corner elevation of the former Clarence Hotel in

Pontypridd () ( colloquially: Ponty) is a town and a community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Geography comprises the electoral wards of , Hawthorn, Pontypridd Town, 'Rhondda', Rhydyfelin Central/Ilan ( Rhydfelen), Trallwng ( Trallwn) and Treforest () ...

, Wales. The building is now a nightclub and bingo hall.

References

{{authority control Medieval Welsh literature Welsh-language literature Arthurian literature in Welsh Mabinogion