Cymidei Cymeinfoll (possibly meaning ''pregnant in battle'' or ''big belly of battle'' in
Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...
), is an Irish giantess mentioned in the Second Branch of the
Mabinogi. Cymidei gave birth to one fully formed and armed warrior every six weeks.
She was the wife of
Llasar Llaes Gyfnewid, smaller and subservient to her. Together, they lived under a lake in
Ireland and were the keepers of the Cauldron of Regeneration, into which they would throw dead warriors, who would then come back to life mute.
Matholwch, king of Ireland in the tale, took the family in, but tired of them and ordered them thrown into an iron building which was then heated from the outside. Everyone died but Cymidei and Llasar, who escaped to
Wales with the cauldron, which they gave to
Bendigeidfran as a peace offering.
They are both mentioned as being guests at the wedding of
Branwen, sister of Bendigeidfran, and Matholwch.
[http://www.lugodoc.demon.co.uk/MYTH/MYTH06.HTM The Mabinogion (scroll down to Book II).]
Notes
External links
Celtnet page on Cymidei.
{{Welsh mythology
Welsh mythology
Welsh goddesses
Welsh giants
Irish giants