Pwyll, Lord of Dyfed - Rhiannon's Misfortune
Part Three of the First Branch of the Mabinogi
Pwyll and Rhiannon ruled Dyved prosperously the first and second year. The third year, however, the men of Dyved began to fret at seeing this man whom they loved as their lord and foster-brother still childless. They summoned Pwyll to a meeting in Presseleu and spoke thus, "Lord, we realize you are not as old as some men in the land, but we fear that your wife will never bear you a child. Take another woman so that you may have an heir. You will not last forever, and though you may wish matters to remain as they are, we will not permit it." "Well, even now we have not been together long, and much may yet happen," answered Pwyll. "Give me another year. At the end of that time we will meet again and I will accept your advice."
They set a date and before the end of that year Rhiannon bore Pwyll a son in Arberth. On the ever of his birth women were brought to the chamber to care for the mother and child, but these women and Rhiannon fell asleep. Six women had been brought and they did watch part of the night but fell asleep before midnight and slept until dawn. Upon waking they searched around where they had left the boy, but there was nigh a trace of him. "Alas! The boy is lost!" said one woman. "Yes," said another, "and they would consider it getting off lightly if we were only burned or executed." "Is there any hope for us?" "There is - I have a good plan." "What is it?" they all asked. "There is a deerhound here with pups. We can kill some of the pups, smear Rhiannon's hands and face with the blood, throw the bones before her and insist that she destroyed her own child - it will be her word against the six of us."
They agreed and settled on this plan. Towards daybreak Rhiannon woke and asked, "Women, where is my child?" "Lady, do not ask us for the lad. We are nothing but blows and bruises from struggling with you, and we are certain that we have never seen such a fight in any woman, so that all our struggling was in vain." "Poor souls," said Rhiannon, "by the Lord God who knows all things, do not accuse me falsely. God who knows all things knows your words are false. If you are afraid, by my confession to God, I will protect you." "God knows that we will not bring harm on ourselves for anyone's sake." "Poor souls, you will come to no harm telling the truth." But whether her words were kind or pleading, Rhiannon got only the one answer from the women.
Pwyll Head of Annwvyn rose, with his company and his retinue, and the incident could not be kept from them. The story went around the land and all the nobles heard it. They assembled and sent to Pwyll to ask him to separate from his wife because of the terrible outrage she had committed. Pwyll replied, "You have no reason to ask me to put away my wife, except for her being childless, and since I know that she has borne a child I will not part from her. If she has done wrong, let her be punished." Rhiannon summoned teachers and wise men, and as she preferred being punished to arguing with the women, she accepted her punishment. She had to remain for seven years at the court of Arberth, where she was to sit every day by the mounting-block near the gate and tell her story to those who might not already know it. She was also to offer to carry guests and strangers to the court on her back, though it was seldom that anyone let himself be transported thusly. Rhiannon spent part of a year in this manner.
At that time the lord of Gwent Ys Coed was Teirnon Twrvliant the best man in the world. Teirnon had a mare in his house, and there was not a more handsome horse in the whole of the land. Every May Eve she foaled, but no one ever knew anything of the colt, so that Teirnon, in talking one night with his wife, said, "Wife, we are fools to lose the foal of our mare every year without getting even one of them." "What can you do about it?" "It is May Eve this night," said he, "God's revenge on me if I do not find out what fate the foals have met with." So he had the mare brought inside while he armed himself and took up watch.
As night fell the mare foaled. The colt was large and without flaw and already standing. Teirnon rose to note the sturdiness of the colt, and as he did so he heard a great noise. A great claw came through the window and seized the colt by the mane. Teirnon drew his sword and hacked the arm off at the elbow so that the colt and part of the arm were inside with him. Hearing a loud crash and a scream, he opened the door and tore out after the noise, but the night was dark and he could see nothing. He was about to rush off to follow when he remembered that he had left the door open. When he returned, he found a small child in swaddling clothes and wrapped in a silk mantle lying beside the door.
Teirnon picked up the lad and noticed that he was strong for his age. He then closed the door and made for his wife's chamber. "Lady, are you asleep?" "No, lord, I was, but I awoke as you came in." "Here is a boy for you, if you want him, for that is the one thing you have never had." "Lord, what story is this?" she asked, and he told her what had happened. "Lord, what kind of cloth is this the boy is wrapped in?" "A brocade mantle." "Then he is the son of noble folk. Lord, if you approve, this could be a joy and a comfort to me. I will take some women into my confidence, and we will let out that I have been pregnant." "I will gladly agree to that," Teirnon said.
The boy was baptized in the manner usual for that time and was given the name Gwri Golden Hair, because what hair was on his head was as yellow as gold. He was brought up at the court, and before he was a year old he could walk and was sturdier than a well-grown lad of three. At the end of the second year he was as strong as a six-year-old, and by the time he was four he was already bargaining with the stableboys to let him water the horses. "Lord," said Teirnon's wife, "where is the colt you rescued the night you found the boy?" she asked. "I gave it into the care of the stableboys and ordered it to be looked after." "Would it not be a good idea to have it broken in and given to the boy? After all, you found the lad on the same night the colt was born." "I will not argue against that - I will let you give it to him." "God reward you, lord, I will do that." So the horse was given to the boy, and Teirnon's wife went to the stableboys and grooms and commanded them to look after the colt and break it in for when the boy would go riding and there would be a story about him.
Meanwhile, they heard the new of Rhiannon and of her plight. Teirnon listened to the tales about her punishment and made constant inquiries. He heard numerous laments from those who came from Arberth over Rhiannon's misfortune and disgrace. He though about all this and looked closely at the lad. It was clear to him that his appearance was that of his father's. He had never seen father and son who resembled each other so much as Pwyll Head of Annwvyn and this lad. Pwyll's appearance was well known to Teirnon, who had once been his man. Teirnon looked now and was seized with anxiety, for he realized how wrong it was to keep a boy whom he knew to be another's son. He went to his wife and told her it was not right for them to keep the lad and allow so noble a lady as Rhiannon to be punished when the boy was actually Pwyll's son. His wife agreed to send Gwri back to Pwyll, "for we will gain in three ways, lord: thanks and gratitude for releasing Rhiannon from her punishment, Pwyll's thanks for rearing the boy and returning him, and finally, if the boy grows into a good man, he will be our foster-son and will always do the best he can for us."
They decided to give the boy back and the next day Teirnon and three companions equipped themselves and set out, with the boy as a fourth on the horse Teirnon's wife had given him. They made for Arberth and it wasn't long before they arrived. When they reached the court they saw Rhiannon sitting by the mounting-block, and as they drew near she said, "Chieftain, come no nearer. I will carry each one of you to the court, since that is my punishment for killing my son and destroying him with my own hands." "Lady," answered Teirnon, "I do not suppose any of us will allow you to carry him." Then the boy said, "let him be carried who will, but I will not." "God knows, friend, none of us will." said Teirnon.
When they entered the court there was great rejoicing at their arrival. A feast was about to begin. Pwyll himself had just returned from a circuit of Dyved, so they all went in to wash, and Pwyll was glad to see Teirnon. They sat down thus: Teirnon between Pwyll and Rhiannon, and his two companions above Pwyll with the boy between them. After the first course they began to talk and carouse, and Teirnon told the tale of the mare and how he found the boy that same night. He spoke of how of how the lad had been in the care of himself and his wife and how they had brought him up, and he said to Rhiannon, "Lady, look upon your son, for whoever lied about you did wrong. When I heard of your grief I was sorrowful and griefstricken myself. I do not suppose that anyone in this company will deny that the lad is Pwyll's son." "No, we have no doubt that he is," they all said. "Between me and God," said Rhiannon, "what a relief from my anxiety if all this is true!" "Lady, you have named your son well," said the Chieftain of Dyved, "for Pryderi son of Pwyll Head of Annwvyn is the name which suits him best." Rhiannon answered, "Ask if his own name does not suit him better." "What was his name?" asked the Chieftain of Dyved. "We called him Gwri Golden Hair." "Then Pryderi should be his name," said the Chieftain of Dyved. Then Pwyll said, "It is right to name the boy after what his mother said when she received good news of him." So they named him Pryderi.
Pwyll said, "Teirnon, God reward you for bring up the boy all this time. If he grows into a good man he too ought to reward you." "Lord, my wife reared the boy and no one in the world could grieve more over losing him than she does. He ought to remember, for my sake and hers, what we have done for him." "Between me and God," said Pwyll, "I will maintain both you and your land, so long as I am alive and able to maintain myself, and if he lives, it would be more fitting that he support you. If you and these nobles agree, since you have reared him until now, we will send him to be fostered by the Chieftain of Dyved henceforth, and you shall all be companions and foster-fathers to him." Everyone agreed that this was a good idea, so the boy was given to the Chieftain of Dyved and the nobles all allied themselves with him. Teirnon and his companions then set forth for their own land, amid gladness and rejoicing. Teirnon did not leave without being offered the finest jewels and the best horses and dogs, but he would accept nothing.
They remained in their own realms after that and Pryderi son of Pwyll was brought up carefully, as was proper, until he was the most perfect lad and the handsomest and most accomplished at every feat in the kingdom. Thus they passed the years until Pwyll's life came to an end and he died. Pryderi ruled the seven cantrevs of Dyved prosperously, beloved by his country and by all round him. Moreover, he conquered the three cantrevs of Ystrad Tywi and the four cantrevs of Keredigyawn, and these are now called the seven cantrevs of Seissyllwch. He campaigned until it was time for him to take a wife, and he took Kigva daughter of Gwynn the Splendid son of Gloyw Wide Hair son of the ruler Casnar, one of the nobles of this island.
With that this Branch of the Mabinogi ends.