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''Culhwch and Olwen'' () is a Welsh tale that survives in only two manuscripts about a hero connected with
Arthur Arthur is a masculine given name of uncertain etymology. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. A common spelling variant used in many Slavic, Romance, and Germanic languages is Artur. In Spanish and Ital ...
and his warriors: a complete version in the
Red Book of Hergest Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secon ...
, , and a fragmented version in the
White Book of Rhydderch The White Book of Rhydderch (Welsh: ''Llyfr Gwyn Rhydderch'', National Library of Wales, Peniarth MS 4-5) is one of the most notable and celebrated surviving manuscripts in Welsh language, Welsh. Mostly written in southwest Wales in the middle of ...
, . It is the longest of the surviving Welsh prose tales.
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 li ...
included this tale among those she collected under the title ''The
Mabinogion The ''Mabinogion'' () is a collection of the earliest Welsh prose stories, compiled in Middle Welsh in the 12th–13th centuries from earlier oral traditions. There are two main source manuscripts, created –1410, as well as a few earlier frag ...
''.


Synopsis

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 mediev ...
's father, King Cilydd son of Celyddon, loses his wife
Goleuddydd Goleuddydd ("light of day" from the Welsh ''golau'', "light", and ''dydd'', "day"), in the Middle Welsh prose tale ''Culhwch ac Olwen Culhwch (, with the final consonant sounding like Scottish "loch"), in Welsh mythology, is the son of Cilydd, ...
after a difficult childbirth. When he remarries, the young Culhwch rejects his stepmother's attempt to pair him with his new stepsister. Offended, the new queen puts a curse on him so that he can marry no one besides the beautiful Olwen, daughter of the
giant In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: ''wiktionary:gigas, gigas'', cognate wiktionary:giga-, giga-) are beings of humanoid appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''gia ...
Ysbaddaden Pencawr. Though he has never seen her, Culhwch becomes infatuated with her, but his father warns him that he will never find her without the aid of his famous cousin
Arthur Arthur is a masculine given name of uncertain etymology. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. A common spelling variant used in many Slavic, Romance, and Germanic languages is Artur. In Spanish and Ital ...
. The young man immediately sets off to seek his kinsman. He finds him at his court in
Celliwig Celliwig, Kelliwic or Gelliwic is perhaps the earliest named location for the court of King Arthur. It may be translated as 'forest grove'. Literary references It is mentioned in the Welsh tale '' Culhwch and Olwen'' whose manuscript dates from th ...
in
Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...
. Arthur agrees to lend help in whatever capacity Culhwch asks, save the lending of his sword Caledfwlch and other named armaments, or his wife. He sends not only six of his finest warriors ( Cai,
Bedwyr Bedivere ( or ; ; ; , also Bedevere and other spellings) is one of the earliest characters to be featured in the legend of King Arthur, originally described in several Welsh texts as the one-handed great warrior named Bedwyr Bedrydant. Arthurian ...
, Gwalchmei, Gwrhyr Gwalstawd Ieithoedd, Menw son of Tairgwaedd, Cynddylig Gyfarwydd), but a huge list of personages of various skills (including Gwynn ap Nudd) recruited to join Culhwch in his search for Olwen. The group meets some relatives of Culhwch's that know Olwen and agree to arrange a meeting. Olwen is receptive to Culhwch's attraction, but she cannot marry him unless her father Ysbaddaden "Chief Giant" agrees, and he, unable to survive past his daughter's wedding, will not consent until Culhwch completes a series of about forty impossible-sounding tasks, including the obtaining of the basket/hamper of Gwyddneu Garanhir, the hunt of Ysgithyrwyn chief boar. The completion of only a few of these tasks is recorded and the giant is killed, leaving Olwen free to marry her lover.


Scholarship

The prevailing view among scholars was that the present version of the text was composed by the 11th century, making it perhaps the earliest Arthurian tale and one of
Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
' earliest extant prose texts,The Romance of Arthur: An Anthology of Medieval Texts in Translation, ed. James J. Wilhelm. 1994. 25. but a 2005 reassessment by linguist Simon Rodway dates it to the latter half of the 12th century. The title is a later invention and does not occur in early manuscripts. The story is on one level a folktale, belonging to the bridal quest "the giant's daughter" tale type (more formally categorized as Six Go through the Whole World type, AT 513A). The accompanying motifs (the strange birth, the jealous stepmother, the hero falling in love with a stranger after hearing only her name, helpful animals, impossible tasks) reinforce this typing. However, the bridal quest serves merely as a
frame story A frame story (also known as a frame tale, frame narrative, sandwich narrative, or intercalation) is a literary technique that serves as a companion piece to a story within a story, where an introductory or main narrative sets the stage either fo ...
for the rest of the events that form the in-story, where the title characters go largely unmentioned. The in-story is taken up by two long lists and the adventures of King Arthur and his men. One list is a roster of names, some two hundred of the greatest men, women, dogs, horses and swords in Arthur's kingdom recruited to aid Arthur's kinsman Culhwch in his bridal quest. The other is a list of "difficult tasks" or "marvels" (''pl.'' ), set upon Culhwch as requirements for his marriage to be approved by the bride's father Ysbaddaden. Included in this list are names taken from Irish legend, hagiography, and sometimes actual history. The fight against the terrible boar Twrch Trwyth certainly has antecedents in Celtic tradition, namely Arthur's boar-hunt with his hound Cafall, whose footprint is discussed in the ''Mirabilia'' appended to the ''
Historia Brittonum ''The History of the Britons'' () is a purported history of early Britain written around 828 that survives in numerous recensions from after the 11th century. The ''Historia Brittonum'' is commonly attributed to Nennius, as some recensions ha ...
''. The description of Culhwch riding on his horse is frequently mentioned for its vividness, and features of the Welsh landscape are narrated in ways that are reminiscent of Irish onomastic narratives. As for the passage where Culhwch is received by his uncle, King Arthur, at Celliwig, this is one of the earliest instances in literature or oral tradition of Arthur's court being assigned a specific location and a valuable source of comparison with the court of
Camelot Camelot is a legendary castle and Royal court, court associated with King Arthur. Absent in the early Arthurian material, Camelot first appeared in 12th-century French romances and, since the Lancelot-Grail cycle, eventually came to be described ...
or
Caerleon Caerleon ( ; ) is a town and Community (Wales), community in Newport, Wales. Situated on the River Usk, it lies northeast of Newport city centre, and southeast of Cwmbran. Caerleon is of archaeological importance, being the site of a notable ...
as depicted in later Welsh, English, and continental Arthurian legends.


Cultural influence

Culhwch's horse-ride passage is reused in the 16th-century prose "parody" ''Araith Wgon'', as well as in 17th-century poetic adaptations of that work. The Tolkien scholar
Tom Shippey Thomas Alan Shippey (born 9 September 1943) is a British medievalist, a retired scholar of Middle and Old English literature as well as of modern fantasy and science fiction. He is considered one of the world's leading academic experts on the ...
has pointed out the similarities between '' The Tale of Beren and Lúthien'', one of the main cycles of
J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...
's ''
legendarium Tolkien's legendarium is the body of J. R. R. Tolkien's mythopoeic writing, unpublished in his lifetime, that forms the background to his ''The Lord of the Rings'', and which his son Christopher summarized in his compilation of ''The Silmari ...
'', and ''Culhwch and Olwen''.


Adaptations

* British painter/poet David Jones (1895–1974) wrote a poem called "The Hunt" based on the tale of ''Culwhch ac Olwen''. A fragment of a larger work, "The Hunt" takes place during the pursuit of the boar Twrch Trwyth by Arthur and the various war-bands of Celtic Britain and France. * In 1988, Gwyn Thomas released a retelling of the story, ''Culhwch ac Olwen'', which was illustrated by Margaret Jones. ''Culhwch ac Olwen'' won the annual Tir na n-Og Award for Welsh language nonfiction in 1989. * A
shadow play Shadow play, also known as shadow puppetry, is an ancient form of storytelling and entertainment which uses flat articulated cut-out figures (shadow puppets) which are held between a source of light and a translucent screen or scrim (material), ...
adaptation of ''Culhwch and Olwen'' toured schools in
Ceredigion Ceredigion (), historically Cardiganshire (, ), is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the West Wales, west of Wales. It borders Gwynedd across the River Dyfi, Dyfi estuary to the north, Powys to the east, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire t ...
during 2003. The show was created by Jim Williams and was supported by Theatr Felinfach. * The tale of ''Culhwch and Olwen'' was adapted by Derek Webb in Welsh and English as a dramatic recreation for the reopening of
Narberth Castle Narberth Castle () is a ruined Norman architecture, Norman fortress in the town of Narberth, Pembrokeshire, Narberth, Pembrokeshire, West Wales. It forms part of the Landsker Line. A chronicle in the Cotton library mentions that, in 1116, Gruff ...
in Pembrokeshire in 2005. * ''The Ballad of Sir Dinadan'' (2003), the fifth book of Gerald Morris's ''The Squire's Tales'' series, features an adaptation of Culhwch's quest. * ''The Quest'' (2016) is an
artist's book Artists' books (or book arts or book objects) are works of art that engage with and transform the form of a book. Some are mass-produced with multiple editions, some are published in small editions, while others are produced as one-of-a-kind o ...
by
Shirley Jones Shirley Mae Jones (born March 31, 1934) is an American actress and singer. In her six decades in show business, she has starred as wholesome characters in a number of musical films, such as ''Oklahoma! (film), Oklahoma!'' (1955), ''Carousel (fi ...
focusing on the quest, which is to find the whereabouts of the prisoner, Mabon, son of Modron, in ''Culhwch and Olwen''.


See also

* Rhuawn Bebyr


Explanatory notes


References


Sources

* * :* * * * * :* * * * * *


External links

* *  Contains extensive footnotes referring to the Welsh text. The original site no longer exists; this is the last Wayback Machine snapshot. * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Culhwch And Olwen 11th-century books 12th-century books Arthurian literature in Welsh Mabinogion Pigs in literature Taliesin Folklore featuring impossible tasks Medieval Welsh literature Welsh mythology Welsh-language literature