Culhwch and Olwen
The article's lead section may need to be rewritten. (February 2023) |
Culhwch ac Olwen | |
---|---|
"Culhwch and Olwen" | |
The Mabinogion | |
Manuscript(s) | White Book of Rhydderch Red Book of Hergest |
Verse form | Prose |
Text | Culhwch ac Olwen at Wikisource |
Culhwch and Olwen (Welsh: 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 White Book of Rhydderch, c. 1325. It is the longest of the surviving Welsh prose tales. Lady Charlotte Guest included this tale among those she collected under the title The Mabinogion.
Synopsis
Arthur agrees to lend help in whatever capacity Culhwch asks, save the lending of his sword
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' earliest extant prose texts,[9] but a 2005 reassessment by linguist Simon Rodway dates it to the latter half of the 12th century.[10] The title is a later invention and does not occur in early manuscripts.[11]
The story is on one level a
However, the bridal quest serves merely as a frame story for the rest of the events that form the in-story,[17] 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.[c] The other is a list of "difficult tasks" or "marvels" (pl. Welsh: anoethau, anoetheu),[20][14] 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
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.[
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.[24]
- A shadow play adaptation of Culhwch and Olwen toured schools in Ceredigion 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 in Pembrokeshire in 2005.[citation needed]
- 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 by Shirley Jones focusing on the quest, which is to find the whereabouts of the prisoner, Mabon, son of Modron, in Culhwch and Olwen.[25]
Explanatory notes
- ^ Arthur's other arms being his spear Rhongomyniad, his shield Wynebgwrthucher, and his dagger Carnwennan.
- ^ Which is one of the Thirteen Hallows of Britain.[7]
- ^ More than two hundred fifty names,[18] including two hundred thirty warriors.[19]
References
- ISBN 9780190460471. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
- ^ Guest (1849), pp. 249–257 "Kilhwch and Olwen".
- ^ Ford (1977), pp. 119–121, Ford (2019), pp. 115–117 tr. "Culhwch and Olwen".
- ^ Jones & Jones (1993), pp. 80–83; Jones (2011), unpaginated tr. "Culhwch and Olwen".
- ^ Guest (1849), pp. 257–258; Jones & Jones (1993), p. 84; Ford (2019), p. 119
- ^ Guest (1849), pp. 258–269; Jones & Jones (1993), pp. 84–93; Ford (2019), pp. 119–125
- ^ Guest (1849), pp. 353–355.
- ^ Guest (1849), pp. 280–292; Ford (2019), pp. 130ff
- ^ The Romance of Arthur: An Anthology of Medieval Texts in Translation, ed. James J. Wilhelm. 1994. 25.
- ^ Rodway, Simon, “The date and authorship of Culhwch ac Olwen: a reassessment”, Cambrian Medieval Celtic Studies 49 (Summer, 2005), pp. 21–44
- ISBN 9781843840282. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
- ^ a b Ford (2019) :"At the level of folktale, it belongs to a widely known type, “the giant's daughter.” A number of motifs known to students of the international folktale are clustered here: the jealous stepmother, love for an unknown and unseen maiden, the oldest animals, the helper animals, and the impossible tasks are perhaps the most obvious".
- ^ Owen (1968), p. 29.
- ^ a b Loomis (2015), p. 28.
- ^ Rodway (2019), pp. 72–73.
- ^ Rodway (2019), p. 72: "jealous stepmother"; Loomis (2015), p. 28: ""impossible obstacles, and the hero needs prodigiously endowed helpers".
- ^ Koch (2014), p. 257.
- Chadwick, Nora K. (1967). The Celtic Realms. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. pp. 283–285.
- ISBN 978-0-522-86844-9.
- ^ Knight & Wiesner-Hanks (1983), p. 13.
- ^ Bromwich & Evans (1992), p. lxvii.
- Chadwick, Nora (1959). "Scéla Muicce Meicc Da Thó". In Dillon, Myles (ed.). Irish Sagas. Radio Éireann Thomas Davis Lectures. Irish Stationery Office. p. 89.: "details of Ailbe's route.. recalls the course taken by the boar Twrch Trwyth in.. Kuhlwch (sic.) and Olwen
- ^ Tom Shippey, The Road to Middle Earth, pp. 193–194: "The hunting of the great wolf recalls the chase of the boar Twrch Trwyth in the Welsh Mabinogion, while the motif of 'the hand in the wolf's mouth' is one of the most famous parts of the Prose Edda, told of Fenris Wolf and the god Tyr; Huan recalls several faithful hounds of legend, Garm, Gelert, Cafall."
- ^ "Tir na n-Og awards Past Winners". Welsh Book Council. cllc.org.uk. Archived from the original on 10 March 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
- ^ Jones, Shirley (2016). The Quest. Red Hen Press.
Sources
This article includes a improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (March 2020) ) |
- ISBN 0-7083-1127-X.
- Ford, Patrick K. (1977). Culhwch and Olwen (2 ed.). Berkeley: )
- —— (2019) [1977]. Culhwch and Olwen (2 ed.). Berkeley: )
- Guest, Charlotte (1849). Killhwch and Olwen, or the Twrch Trwyth. Vol. 2. London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans. pp. 249–.
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- )
- Gantz, Jeffrey (1976). Culhwch and Olwen. Penguin. )
- ISBN 0-460-87297-4
- Jones, Gwyn (2011) [1949], "Culhwch and Olwen", The Mabinogion, Read Books, ISBN 978-1446546253
- Jones, Gwyn (2011) [1949], "Culhwch and Olwen", The Mabinogion, Read Books,
- ISBN 1-349-17302-9.
- Koch, John T. (2014), ISBN 978-1-317-65695-1
- Loomis, Richard M. (2015), ISBN 978-1-317-34184-0
- Owen, Douglas David Roy (1968), The Evolution of the Grail Legend, Oxford: University Court of the University of St. Andrews, ISBN 9780050018361
- Rodway, Simon (2019). Lloyd-Morgan, Ceridwen; Poppe, Erich (eds.). Culhwch ac Olwen. )