Reading Notes: Mabinogi Madness

For my second reading this week I chose the Mabinogi or the Mabinogion. I chose it because the description sounded interesting and the stories didn't seem to be any that I knew. I didn't realize that all of the first part of the unit was about the same character, but I am glad that it was. I haven't read many stories this year that are that continuous so I found it refreshing. I chose the picture above because this is what I imagined the horse that Arawn was ridding when he entered the clearing. Because this is such a long story, I would likely only write a story based on a portion of it. Because of this I chose to take notes over "Pwyll Goes Hunting" and "In the Stead of Arawn." Here are the notes I took while I was reading:

Pwyll, Prince of Dyved, Lord of the Seven Cantrevs of Dyved
Pwyll wanted to go hunting and chose to do so in Glyn Cuch
He got to Glyn Cuch let his dogs go and started after them
He hears other dogs barking that aren’t his dogs and they are coming from the opposite direction
When they get to the edge of a clearing Pwyll can see the other dog chasing down a stag
The dogs are white with red ears and red eyes
He drove off the other dogs to let his dogs at the stag
While he is doing this he sees a horseman coming
The horse is light grey and the rider is in grey woolen hunting gear
The rider is annoyed at Pwyll and refuses to great him
Pwyll asks why the man will not great him
The rider says because of Pwyll’s ignorance and lack of courtesy
Pwyll doesn’t understand how he has been discourteous
The rider points out that driving away the dogs that brought down the stag to let his own dogs have it is discourteous, and therefore the rider will do Pwyll dishonor
Pwyll wants to know how he can fix this, how he can make amends and become the rider’s friend
This is when Pwyll finds out the the rider is Arawn King of Annwyn
Arawn tells Pwyll that to gain his friendship he should trade places with him in his court and a year later when Arawn is set to fight another king, Arawn should strike him down but not deliver a final blow
Pwyll agrees, and Arawn makes Pwyll look just like him, and himself look just like Pwyll
They go to each other’s kingdoms and rule for a year
When it is time for Pwyll to go fight Arawn’s enemy, he does as he was told: he strikes him down but doesn’t kill him
After the men following the fallen man pledge allegiance to Pwyll
Then Pwyll’s nobles say he should be the lord of all and so he conquered the country
He then when to meet Arawn at the appointed time and place and both were restored to their proper forms

Bibliography

The Mabinogion by Lady Charlotte Guest

Photo Credit

The Horse by Katrina_S via Pixabay

Comments

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