Manawydan fab Llŷr
Manawydan fab Llŷr | |
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"Manawydan, son of Llŷr" "The Mabinogi of the Collar and the Hammer" | |
Author(s) | Unknown, generally believed to be a scribe from Dyfed.[1] |
Language | Middle Welsh |
Date | Earliest manuscript dates to 14th century; tale believed to be much older. |
Series | Four Branches of the Mabinogi |
Genre | Welsh mythology |
Subject | Third branch of the Mabinogi. Return of Pryderi and Manawydan to Britain, wasting of Dyfed, imprisonment of Rhiannon and Pryderi, their subsequent release and the restoration of Dyfed. |
Setting | Mainly Dyfed, also England. |
Period covered | Mythological |
Personages | Manawydan, Pryderi, Rhiannon, Cigfa, Caswallon fab Beli, Llwyd ap Cil Coed |
Manawydan fab Llŷr; "Manawydan, the son of Llŷr" is a legendary tale from
Will Parker has suggested that the branch draws heavily on the Expulsion of the Déisi, the tale of the Irish tribe that settled in South-West Wales during the Dark Ages and founded the Kingdom of Dyfed, as well as the Irish saga Cath Maige Mucrama, which shares a number of structural and thematic similarities with Manawydan. He describes the third branch as the "foundation myth of the Cymbro-Gaelic royal house of Dyfed..."[3]
The branch is followed by the tale of
Synopsis
Having honoured the last requests of his brother
Pryderi and Manawydan travel to
Upon returning to the wasteland, they sow three fields of wheat but the first field is destroyed before it can be harvested. The next night the second field is destroyed. Manawydan keeps watch over the third field and when he sees it destroyed by mice he catches one and decides to hang it the next day. A scholar, a priest and a bishop in turn offer him gifts if he will spare the mouse but he refuses. When asked what he wants in return for the mouse's life he demands the release of Pryderi and Rhiannon and the lifting of the enchantment over Dyfed. The bishop agrees because the mouse is in fact his wife. It is revealed that the catalyst of their suffering was the enchanter Llwyd ap Cil Coed, who sought revenge for the humiliation of his friend Gwawl ap Clud at the hands of Pwyll and Rhiannon. The enchantment over Dyfed is lifted.