Title: The Depiction of the Otherworld in the Four

Branches of the Mabinogi.

Author: Carla Jefferson

Abstract

A detailed reading of the Four Branches illustrating the

depiction of the otherworld throughout the Four Branches
of the Mabinogi, with examples classified under various
headings.

Celtic Studies
CYCS7015 Y Mabinogi 1

The Depiction of the Otherworld in the Four Branches of the Mabinogi.

Of the eleven tales comprising the Mabinogion the term Mabinogi applies
to the first four, known as branches, each ending with a variant of the same
colophon.1 Almost all cultures have a concept of the otherworld, and that of the
Celts was no exception.2 The Four Branches is suffused with the magical beliefs
inherent in Celtic folklore, as documented by Gerald of Wales.3 But as Jackson
points out, these elements belong to a more universal story-telling tradition, in
which archetypal motifs and symbols allude to an oral canon of popular tales and
common perceptions.4 This instant access to cultural collective knowledge adds
depth and meaning to the overt narrative.5
The Celtic otherworld is somewhat similar to the Aboriginal Dreamtime. It is
a place in which powerful beings dwell and which could be accessed at certain
liminal points, where otherworldly beings could also cross into the Celtic world.6
It had several names, among them Kaer Siddi, Mag Mell, Tir na nOg, or, as in
Wales, Annwfn.7 It may be coterminous with the real world, or in another plane,
and is accessible through mounds, caves, water, and other portals.8 It was usually

1
Sioned Davies, The Mabinogion (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007), p. x.
2
Bob Curran, Lost Lands, Forgotten Realms: Sunken Continents, Vanished
Cities, and the Kingdoms That History Misplaced (Pompton Plains, NJ: The
Career Press, 2007), p. 23; Sioned Davies, 'Storytelling in Medieval Wales ',
Oral Tradition, (7, 2): (1992), 231-57. p. 236.
3
Geraldus Cambrensis, The History and Topology of Ireland (1185), trans. John
J. O'Meara (London: Penguin Books, 1982); Will Parker, The Four Branches of
the Mabinogi (Dublin: Bardic Press, 2005), p. 142.
4
Kenneth Hurlstone Jackson, The International Popular Tale and Early Welsh
Tradition (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1961), pp. 91-114.
5
Joachim Schwend, 'David Lodge, Out of the Shelter. Rites of Passage into
Paradise?', in The Novel in Anglo-German Context: Cultural Cross-Currents
and Affinities: Papers from the Conference Held at the University of Leeds
from 15 to 17 September 1997, ed. Susanne Stark, (Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2000),
317-32. pp. 317-18 & 20.
6
Patricia Monaghan, The Encyclopaedia of Celtic Mythology and Folklore
(London: Routledge, 1992), p. xiii.
7
Roger Sherman Loomis, 'The Spoils of Annwn: An Early Arthurian Poem',
PMLA, (56, 4): (1941), 887-936. p. 901.
8
Maria Tymoczko, The Irish Ulysses (Berkeley, CA: University of California
Press, 1997), pp. 180-81.

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CYCS7015 Y Mabinogi 2

a land of warmth and light, where sickness was unknown, blossoms and fruit
coexisted, a limitless supply of food and drink was on hand, and everything was
beautiful.9 Music played, sweet wine flowed from fountains, and the inhabitants
were garbed in gold brocaded silk.10
Many of the characters in the Mabinogi have direct links with pan-Celtic
deities. Gruffydd and Hamp have suggested that the name Mabinogi itself derives
from the gods Maponus (Mabon) and Matrona (Modron), captured in the Welsh
tradition as Mabon vab Modron and Modron daughter of Afallwch.11 Epigraphic
evidence suggests that Maponos was recognised throughout the Gallo-Brittonic
and Gallo-Roman world, and the fact that Mabon disappeared three nights after
his birth strengthens the connection with the Mabinogi.12 Rhiannon is cognate
with the Gaulish horse goddess Epona.13 She is first seen on a horse, which,
whilst ambling, cannot be caught by even the fastest steed.14 After her baby
vanishes she is forced to carry people on her back like a horse, and in branch three
she is made to wear an asss collar.15 Her name derives from the Celtic Rigantona,
and scholars have suggested parallels with the traditional Irish Lady of the horse
tales Mesca Ulad and Tochmarc taine, which along with the Mabinogi show

9
Ibid., p. 203.
10
Parker, The Four Branches of the Mabinogi, pp. 163-4.
11
W.J. Gruffydd, Rhiannon: An Inquiry into the Origins of the First and Third
Branches of the Mabinogi (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1953); Eric P.
Hamp, 'Mabinogi', in Transactions of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion,
(London: Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion, 1975), pp. 243-49; 'Mabinogi
and Archaism', Celtica, (23): (1999), 96-110. pp. 107-10.
12
Matthieu Boyd, 'Why the "Mabinogi" Has Branches', Proceedings of the
Harvard Celtic Colloquium, (30): (2010), 22-38. p. 26; Will Parker, 'The
Mabinogion: The First Branch - the Mabinogi of Pwyll', Mabinogion.info
[online] Available at: http://www.mabinogion.info/pwyll.htm <accessed: 12
March 2013>
13
Patrick K. Ford, 'Prolegomena to a Reading of the Mabinogi: Pwyll and
Manawydan ', Studia Celtica, (16/17): (1981-1982), 81-110. pp. 118-9;
Thrse Saint Paul, 'The Magic Mantle, the Drinking Horn and the Chastity
Test a Study of a Tale in Arthurian Celtic Literature', (unpublished PhD
thesis, Edinburgh University, Edinburgh, 1987), pp. 220-21.
14
Davies, The Mabinogion, pp. 10-11.
15
Ibid., p. 17 & 46.

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CYCS7015 Y Mabinogi 3

evidence of the faery-bride scenario, popular in Welsh legend.16 The episode

with the poisoned spear in Bendigeidfrans foot is reminiscent of the Fisher
King.17 Loomis believes that an earlier Celtic form is the Manawydan fab Llr of
Welsh romance, who appears in branches two and three, and Bendigeidfrans
wading across the Irish Sea and creation of a human bridge certainly suggests a
link with the Celtic sea-god.18 Lleu clearly relates to the Irish Lugh and the
Gaulish Lugus, a prominent Gallo-Brittonic deity, who appears in the legend of
Tin B Cailnge.19 Additionally, the episode of Lleu in the oak tree has clear
affiliations with the druidic Oak-Mistletoe-Lightning cult.20 These associations
with deities immediately signify the otherworldly nature of some of the
characters.
Many primitive societies consider liminal places dangerous or magically
charged, and the idea of supernatural hills, may have arisen from Bronze Age
tumuli.21 In the Mabinogi Pwyll ascends the mound of Gorsedd Arberth and, as is
suggested, sees something wonderful his otherworldly future bride.22 The
magical nature of this mound was indicated by the courtiers comments, and a
medieval audience would have understood the implicit challenge to the authority

16
Andrew Breeze, Medieval Welsh Literature (Dublin: Four Courts Press, 1997),
p. 79; Parker, 'The Mabinogion: The First Branch - the Mabinogi of Pwyll'.
17
Davies, The Mabinogion, p. 32; Wm A. Nitze, 'The Fisher King in the Grail
Romances', PMLA, (24, 3): (1909), 365-418. pp. 395-7.
18
R.S. Loomis, The Grail from Celtic Myth to Christian Symbol (Cardiff:
University of Wales Press, 963), p. 57; Nitze, 'The Fisher King in the Grail
Romances', pp. 396-7; Stone Alby, 'Bran, Odin, and the Fisher King: Norse
Tradition and the Grail Legends', Folklore, (100, 1): (1989), 25-38. p. 34.
19
Parker, The Four Branches of the Mabinogi, p. 491; Wll Parker, 'The
Mabinogion: The Fourth Branch - the Mabinogi of Math', Mabinogion.info
[online] Available at: http://www.mabinogion.info/math.htm <accessed: 12
March 2013>
20
Parker, The Four Branches of the Mabinogi, p. 591.
21
Patrick Sims-Williams, Irish Influence on Medieval Welsh Literature (Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 2011), p. 63; Dr. L. Kip Wheeler, 'Literary Terms and
Definitions - the Otherworld', Carson-Newman College [online] Available at:
http://web.cn.edu/Kwheeler/lit_terms_O.html <accessed: 16 February 2013>
22
Davies, The Mabinogion, p. 8.

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of the kingship.23 In branch two Matholwch was hunting on top of a mound when
he spied the huge, monstrous Llasar Llaes Gyfnewid and his larger wife
emerging from the lake with a cauldron on his back.24 These supernatural figures
are part of a tradition of otherworldly entities linked with magical realms
accessible under water, and their appearance, and the possession of a magic
cauldron, emphasises the otherworldly overtones here.25 Back on Gorsedd Arberth
a blanket of mist spirits away all forms of civilisation in Dyfed, and on the same
mound Manawydan later forces the sorcerer Llwyd to release his friends from
their enchanted imprisonment.26 Water is another portal, as can be seen when the
survivors in branch two spend eighty years on the island of Gwales, and the magic
fort in branch three captures Rhiannon and Pryderi above a well.27 The otherworld
can be accessed overland however, and in branch one it is clear that Annfwn is
contiguous with Dyfed as Arawn leads Pryderi there overland.28
The Mabinogi uses standard devices to warn the audience of forthcoming
supernatural events, or to mark the passage from one world to the other.29 In
branch three a blanket of mist heralds the spell that denuded Dyfed of all
civilisation, and another accompanies the disappearance of the fort, Rhiannon and
Pryderi.30 This device appears often in Celtic narratives, for example the Irish
Echtrae Cormaic, in which the hero passes through a mist to reach the palace of

23
Will Parker, 'The Four Branches of the Mabinogi: The Mabinogi of Pwyll',
Mabinogi.net [online] Available at: http://www.mabinogi.net/pwyll.htm
<accessed: 11 March 2013>
24
Davies, The Mabinogion, p. 26.
25
Will Parker, 'The Four Branches of the Mabinogi: The Mabinogi of Branwen',
Mabinogi.net [online] Available at: http://www.mabinogi.net/branwen.htm
<accessed: 11 March 2013>
26
Davies, The Mabinogion, pp. 36-37 & 45-46; Tymoczko, The Irish Ulysses p.
205.
27
Davies, The Mabinogion, p. 33 & 40.; Howard Rollin Patch, 'Some Elements
in Medival Descriptions of the Otherworld', PMLA, (33, 4): (1918), 601-43. p.
630.
28
Davies, The Mabinogion, p. 5; Sims-Williams, Irish Influence on Medieval
Welsh Literature, p. 58.
29
Patrick K. Ford, Mabinogi and Other Medieval Welsh Tales (Berkeley, CA:
University of California Press, 2008), p. 35.
30
Davies, The Mabinogion, p. 37 & 40.

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Manannan, and the otherworld was often conceived as being shrouded in mist.31
Loud noises often accompany the mist: both the mist that cloaked Dyfed and that
in which the fort vanished were accompanied by a tumultuous noise.32 Other
aural portents occur throughout the Mabinogi, for example in branch one Teyrnon
hears a loud noise, and after the noise an enormous claw comes through the
window; in branch three Manawydan hears the loudest noise in the world just
as the mice appear; in branch four as Aranrhod steps over Maths wand she
suddenly gives birth to a son, who gave a loud cry, and as Lleu was transformed
into an eagle he gave a horrible scream.33 Stag hunts are another device used to
signify the supernatural: Pwyll is hunting when he meets Arawn, king of the
Otherworld, and it is during a stag hunt that Blodeuedd and Gronw meet and
begin their passionate affair with its fateful and supernatural consequences.34 Such
symbolic portents serve to prime the expectations of the audience for an
otherworldly encounter.35
Profound beauty is often associated with the otherworld. When Pwyll saw
Arawns court he noticed it had the most beautifully adorned buildings anyone
had ever seen, his war-band had the fairest and best-equipped men that anyone
had ever seen, and the queen was the most beautiful woman that anyone had
ever seen. He found the queen to be the most noble woman and most gracious of
disposition and discourse he had ever seen, and the court had the most food and
drink and golden vessels and royal jewels.36 Of Teyrnons mare it is said that no
stallion or mare was more handsome.37 The Birds of Rhiannons singing makes
all other birdsong sound harsh by comparison, and in branch three Pryderi tells
Manawydan you have never heard a woman converse better than Rhiannon.

31
Patch, 'Some Elements in Medival Descriptions of the Otherworld', p. 627;
Martin Puhvel, 'Snow and Mist in "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight". Portents
of the Otherworld?', Folklore, (89, 2): (1978), 224-28. p. 226.
32
Davies, The Mabinogion, p. 36 & 40.
33
Ibid., The Mabinogion, pp. 18, 42, 54, 59 & 61.
34
Ibid., The Mabinogion, p. 3 & 59.
35
Will Parker, 'The Four Branches of the Mabinogi: The Mabinogi of
Manawydan', Mabinogi.net [online] Available at:
http://www.mabinogi.net/manawydan.htm <accessed: 11 March 2013>
36
Davies, The Mabinogion, p. 5.
37
Ibid., p. 17.

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When she was in her prime no woman was more beautiful. Indeed Manawydan
feels he had never seen a woman who was fairer or more beautiful than her.38 In
branch four Lleu is the most handsome lad that anyone had ever seen and
Blodeuedd is the fairest and most beautiful maiden that anyone had ever seen.39
These superlatives are used either to describe an otherworldly scene or character,
or to indicate that some supernatural event is about to happen.40
The otherworld has unusual temporal and spatial characteristics. It is a place
where nothing decays or dies and where time may run at a different pace to that of
the real world.41 In the Mabinogi this phenomenon first appears in relation to
Rhiannons horse. It cannot be overtaken no matter how fast or slow the pursuit
may be, yet at the same time it appears to be moving slowly. This magic horse
motif has examples in Peetes Motif-Index, and is paralleled in the Irish tale
Togail Bruidne Da Derga.42 The distortion of time is evident in branch two when
the survivors spend eighty years at Gwales in Penfro, yet they do not age and are
not aware of having been there for so long, whilst Bendigeidfrans head remains
un-decomposed and able to converse freely.43 Whilst the head is subject to the
same temporal effect in Harlech, there is also a spatial distortion, as the song of
the distant birds sounds as clear as if the birds were there with them.44 The date
upon which many supernatural events occur is also significant. May Eve was
traditionally the cusp of the Celtic year, and the night time was considered
particularly auspicious, when the portal to the otherworld opens allowing free
movement between the two worlds.45 The only specific date mentioned in the
Mabinogi is May Eve, the time when each year Teyrnons mare births a foal,

38
Ibid., pp. 33 & 35-36.
39
Ibid., p. 58.
40
Paul, 'The Magic Mantle, the Drinking Horn and the Chastity Test a Study of
a Tale in Arthurian Celtic Literature', p. 190.
41
Tymoczko, The Irish Ulysses p. 209.
42
Jessica Hemming, 'Reflections on Rhiannon and the Horse Episodes in
Pwyll', Western Folklore, (57, 1): (1998), 19-40. p. 30.
43
Davies, The Mabinogion, pp. 33-34.
44
Ibid., p. 33.
45
Ford, 'Prolegomena to a Reading of the Mabinogi: Pwyll and Manawydan ',
p. 116; Andrew Welsh, 'Doubling and Incest in the Mabinogi', Speculum, (65,
2): (1990), 344-62. pp. 354-5.

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which subsequently disappears, an abduction for which an otherworldly creature

is responsible. An audience would have understood the significance of this date.46
Magical objects also indicate the supernatural and serve to give coherence to
events that defy the normal laws of the real world.47 Rhiannons magic bag, given
to Pwyll in order to capture Gwawl, can never be filled unless an extremely
powerful nobleman treads down the food with both feet.48 This motif is
well known from stories such as The Three Gifts, whereby a magic bag
imprisons a devil, never to cause trouble again.49 Branch two features a magic
cauldron, which can restore the dead to life, rejuvenating the Irish warriors who
press Bendigeidfrans men hard until Efnysien breaks it.50 Archaeological and
historical evidence shows that cauldrons were a significant part of Celtic ritual
(see the Gundestrup Cauldron) and there is no doubt that the cauldron of rebirth,
as well as paralleling the baptismal fonts of medieval churches, relates to the Holy
Grail of Arthurian myth.51 Bendigeidfrans severed head protecting Britain from
oppression from across the sea is an example of apotropaic magic, and has
parallels in the ritual burial of Vortimer.52 Caswallons magic cloak is mirrored in
many Celtic sagas, and Joyce tells of a number of examples in which a mantle of

46
Davies, The Mabinogion, pp. 17-18.
47
Robert Deschaux, 'Merveilleux Et Fantastique Dans Le Haut Livre Du Graal :
Perlesvaus ', Cahiers de Civilisation Mdivale (26, 26-104): (1983), 335-40. p.
336.
48
Davies, The Mabinogion, p. 13.
49
Josef Baudi, 'Mabinogion', Folklore, (27, 1): (1916), 31-68. p. 45.
50
Davies, The Mabinogion, p. 25 & 32; Alby, 'Bran, Odin, and the Fisher King:
Norse Tradition and the Grail Legends', pp. 27-8.
51
Miranda Green, 'Vessels of Death: Sacred Cauldrons in Archaeology and
Myth', The Antiquaries Journal, (78): (1998), 63-84. pp. 77-78; Parker, 'The
Four Branches of the Mabinogi: The Mabinogi of Branwen'; Sims-Williams,
Irish Influence on Medieval Welsh Literature, p. 234.
52
Davies, The Mabinogion, p. 32 & 34; Donna L. Potts, Contemporary Irish
Poetry and the Pastoral Tradition (Columbia, MO: University of Missouri
Press, 2011), p. 32; Historia Brittonum, in Nennius: British History and the
Welsh Annals. Arthurian Period Sources Vol. 8, ed. and trans, John Morris,
(Chichester: Phillimore & Co. Ltd., 1980), 9-43. p.32

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concealment is an otherworldly object.53 Maths wand is initially presented as a

chastity test: Math asks Arianrhod to step over the wand to prove she is a virgin.54
There is a significant number of medieval tales containing magical objects to test
infidelity, chastity, knightly virtue etcetera, for example the tale of Sir Gawain
and the Green Knight in which the beheading contest is in reality a test for
courtesy, honesty and truthfulness, and many parallels can be drawn in early Irish
or Welsh literature.55 Math then uses his wand to transform Gwydion and
Gilfaethwy into animals and to transform their children into humans.56 Finally,
through his wand is not specifically mentioned, one assumes it is used when he
conjures a wife for Lleu out of flowers.57 Gwydion too uses magic, creating a
tempting illusion for Pryderi in exchange for the pigs, using magic to defeat
Pryderi in combat, conjuring a ship and leather from seaweed, changing his and
Lleus appearance twice, causing the apparition of a fleet and helping Math to
create Blodeuedd, though it is not until after he entices the eagle Lleu down from
the tree that a wand is mentioned as he transforms Lleu back, before changing
Blodeuedd into an owl.58 Lances also feature as magical objects. Though
Bendigeidfran was killed by an ordinary poisoned lance, the weapon is given a
magical dimension in branch four as Lleu explains that only a lance which had
taken a year to make, working on it only when people were at Mass on Sunday
could kill him.59 These magical objects are clear symbols of the otherworld.
Some of the characters in the Mabinogi have otherworldly aspects.
Supernatural growth is a common indication of otherworldliness, and the birth of

53
Davies, The Mabinogion, p. 33; Patrick W. Joyce, A Social History of Ireland
(London: Longmans, 1903), I, pp. 245-47; Paul, 'The Magic Mantle, the
Drinking Horn and the Chastity Test a Study of a Tale in Arthurian Celtic
Literature', p. 195.
54
Davies, The Mabinogion, p. 54.
55
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, trans. W.A. Neilson (Cambridge, Ontario:
In Parenthesis Publications, 1999), p. 7.; Paul, 'The Magic Mantle, the Drinking
Horn and the Chastity Test a Study of a Tale in Arthurian Celtic Literature',
p. 186.
56
Davies, The Mabinogion, pp. 52 - 54.
57
Ibid., p. 58.
58
Ibid., pp. 49, 51, 55-58 & 62-63.
59
Ibid., p. 32 & 60.

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such a child often happens at the same time as an animal. In branch one Pryderi
disappears from his crib and reappears by Teyrnons door just after a foal is
born.60 Immediately Teyrnon notices the boy is strong for his age.61 At one year
old he was sturdier than a well-developed and well-grown three-year-old boy, at
two he was sturdy as a six-year-old, and by four he was bargaining with the
stable boys so he could water the horses.62 Lleu also exhibits this characteristic:
at one he had the sturdiness of a two-year-old, at two he was large enough to go to
court on his own, and at four he was as sturdy as an eight-year old.63 Gwydion
and Gilfaethwys offspring, created by otherworldly means, are described as
sturdy, good-sized, and strong.64 Large size is another common otherworldly
feature, and not only is Llasar Llaes Gyfnewid large (supernatural water monsters
belong to a well-established Celtic tradition), and his wife twice as large, but
Bedigeidfran is too large to fit into a house and large enough to act as a bridge
over the Liffey.65 Unusual strength is also significant: Efnysien is able to crush a
mans head through armour and bone, and to break the magic cauldron, whilst
Rhiannon, is considered strong enough to carry visitors, and the false accusation
that she struggled with her women more strongly than expected was clearly
believable.66 Aranrhod has the ability to use speech in powerful ways, and places
three curses on her son Lleu, whilst her first-born, Dylan, makes for the sea,
where he could swim as well as the best fish.67 Gwydions magical abilities have
been discussed, yet he too uses words powerfully: his storytelling skills gain him
entry to both Pryderis and Aranrhods circles.68 Math also wields magic but
cannot live without his feet in the lap of a virgin, whilst Arawn is the stated king

60
Ibid., pp. 18 & 231-32.
61
Ibid., p. 18.
62
Ibid.
63
Ibid., p. 55.
64
Ibid., p. 53.
65
Ibid., p. 26 & 30; Parker, 'The Four Branches of the Mabinogi: The Mabinogi
of Branwen'.
66
Davies, The Mabinogion, pp. 16, 17 & 31.
67
Ibid., pp. 54-58.
68
Ibid., p. 48 & 57.

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CYCS7015 Y Mabinogi 10

of the otherworld, with the power to make he and Pwyll exchange appearances.69
Though the degree to which some characters have otherworldly aspects varies,
many figures are clearly out of the ordinary.
The motif of supernatural fertility pervades branch four, as first Gwydion and
Gilfaethwy, in their animal forms, are forced to mate and produce three offspring,
then Aranrhod drops a large, sturdy boy as she steps over Maths wand,
followed by a small something, which incubates in Gwydions chest, and finally
Math and Gwydion create Blodeuedd out of flowers.70 These otherworldly births
are prefaced however by an episode in branch two, in which Llasar Llaes
Gyfnewid predicts his wife will conceive in a month and a fortnight, and in a
further month and fortnight will give birth to a fully armed warrior.71 The
cauldron of rebirth is a frequently used fertility symbol, and the supernatural
fertility motif may in fact be a remnant of a fertility cult.72 Pipe-clay statuettes of
a Celtic mother-goddess are found all over the Romano-Celtic Empire, and were
manufactured in Gaul, Brittany and the Rhineland in the first and second
centuries.73
Traditional tales often contain the impossible tasks motif, in which lengthy
and bizarre instructions must be followed exactly to ensure success.74 A well-
known example of this is the tale of Samson and Delilah, in which Samsons
supernatural strength is dependent upon his hair remaining uncut.75 In branch one
Arawn warns Pwyll against striking Hafgan more than once, although he may ask

69
Ibid., p. 4 & 47.
70
Ibid., pp. 52-54, 58 & 242.
71
Ibid., p. 26.
72
J. A. MacCulloch, The Religion of the Ancient Celts (Auckland: The Floating
Press, 2009 [1911]), p. 484.
73
Lesley Adkins and Roy A. Adkins, Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome (New
York, NY: Facts on File Books, 2004 [1994]), p. 287.
74
Sioned Davies, 'Written Text as Performance: The Implications for Middle
Welsh Prose Narratives', in Literacy in Medieval Celtic Societies, ed. Huw
Pryce, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), 133-48. p. 142;
Andrew Welsh, 'The Traditional Narrative Motifs of the Four Branches of the
Mabinogi', Cambridge Medieval Celtic Studies 15): (1988), 51-62. pp. 51-52.
75
The Official King James Bible Online, 'Judges Chapter 16', The Official King
James Bible Online [online] Available at:
http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Judges-Chapter-16/, v.17

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CYCS7015 Y Mabinogi 11

you to give him another, you must not, however much he begs you. Because no
matter how many more blows I gave him, the next day he was fighting with me a
well as before.76 The natural laws of the otherworld are diametrically opposed to
those of the mortal world, and the strange conditions imposed here, along with the
motif of an otherworldly character needing a mortals help, stem from a narrative
tradition that would have been familiar to a medieval audience.77 In branch two
Bendigeidfrans lengthy instructions regarding the seven survivors stay in
Gwales (And so long as you do not open the door towards Aber Henfelen you
can remain there and the head will not decay), and the talismanic burial of his
head (bury it with its face towards France), are further examples of this motif,
since the idyllic conditions in Gwales do indeed end when the door is opened, and
though the concealed head did protect Britain, once revealed it is described as
one of the Three Unfortunate Disclosures.78 In branch four Lleu can only be
killed if a spear that was fabricated only on Sundays, whilst people were at mass,
strikes him whilst standing on a bath under a thatched roof, and on the back of a
billy-goat, beside a river, though when these conditions prevail Lleu actually turns
into an eagle.79 This common narrative element is not only familiar to the
audience, but serves to build suspense as the story unfolds.
Transformation and shape-shifting are common themes throughout Celtic
literature, demonstrating the general fluidity of the otherworld.80 In the Mabinogi
these themes draw on several international narrative elements. Thus the adoption
between Arawn and Pwyll of each others appearance recalls the concept of two
people magically exchanging shapes, and that of a wife mistaking another man for
her husband, an element used to great effect in tales such as The Two Brothers,
Ami et Amile, and of course in the conception of Arthur.81 Though not a true
transformation, the vanishing of Rhiannon and Pryderi in the magic fort recalls
the common theme of fairy houses, which disappear at dawn, as well as the comic

76
Davies, The Mabinogion, p. 4.
77
Parker, 'The Four Branches of the Mabinogi: The Mabinogi of Pwyll'.
78
Davies, The Mabinogion, pp. 33-34.
79
Ibid., The Mabinogion, pp. 48 & 60-61.
80
Tymoczko, The Irish Ulysses pp. 182-83.
81
Davies, The Mabinogion, p. 5 & 229; Parker, 'The Four Branches of the
Mabinogi: The Mabinogi of Pwyll'.

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CYCS7015 Y Mabinogi 12

tale in which people are stuck to a magic basin.82 The transformation of people
into mice is another widely known narrative element, seen here in branch three
when an army of mice, in reality Llwyds court, attacks Manawydans wheat.83
The oral narrative device of tripartite repetition is seen when Gwydion and
Gilfaethwy are transformed into three different types of animal, and recalls a
motif found in numerous tales whereby transformation is used as a punishment,
often involving gender exchange, whereby a man bears children.84 Other
examples of transformation and shape-shifting exist within the Mabinogi, and all
draw on a common collective knowledge gained from other familiar tales.
Many of the animals in the Mabinogi are associated with the otherworld.
Stags, particularly as part of a hunt, are considered otherworldly animals in Celtic
vernacular tradition, and the stag hunt that opens branch one would have indicated
to the audience that something supernatural was about to happen.85 Arawns dogs
also symbolise the otherworld, being a gleaming shining white with red ears.86
These are the Hounds of Annfwn, which in Welsh and Irish sources were
harbingers of death, who appear at night and possess supernatural powers.87 Birds
feature in Celtic literary tradition as enchanted creatures with supernatural
qualities, and are famous for their singing.88 In the Mabinogi, the birds of
Rhiannon, described in Culhwch ac Olwen as having the ability to wake the dead
and lull the living to sleep, appear in branch two at a distance from Harlech, yet
their song was as clear as if the birds [were near], and are a common motif in

82
Davies, The Mabinogion, p. 40; Andrew Welsh, 'Manawydan Fab Llr: Wales,
England, and the "New Man"', in The Mabinogi: A Book of Essays, ed. C. W.
Sullivan, (New York & London: Garland Publishing, 1996), p. 127; Ibid., 'The
Traditional Narrative Motifs of the Four Branches of the Mabinogi', pp. 54-55.
83
Davies, The Mabinogion, p. 42 & 46.
84
Ibid., pp. 52-56; Welsh, 'Doubling and Incest in the Mabinogi', p. 359.
85
Davies, The Mabinogion, p. 3; Potts, Contemporary Irish Poetry and the
Pastoral Tradition, p. 146.
86
Davies, The Mabinogion, p. 3.
87
Baudi, 'Mabinogion', pp. 42-3; Miranda Green, Animals in Celtic Life and
Myth (London: Routledge, 1992), p. 173.
88
Ibid, p. 171; Patch, 'Some Elements in Medival Descriptions of the
Otherworld', p. 626.

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CYCS7015 Y Mabinogi 13

Irish literature.89 As with stag hunts, chasing boars often indicates an impending
supernatural encounter, and the gleaming white boar which appears in branch
three leads Manawydan and Pryderi to the fort which was later to vanish with
Pryderi and Rhiannon.90 Pigs are inextricably linked with the otherworld: the pigs
referred to in branch four are a direct gift from Arawn, king of the otherworld, and
it is a sow which leads Gwydion back to Lleu.91
The colours red, white and gold, or in its lesser form, yellow, are used
throughout the Mabinogi to symbolise the otherworld. At the very beginning the
description of Arawns dogs, And of all the hounds he had seen in the world, he
had never seen dogs of this colour - they were a gleaming shining white, and their
ears were red. And as the whiteness of the dogs shone so did the redness of their
ears is a portent of things to come.92 Red and white are a hallmark of the
otherworld and The Wild Hunt of Gwyn ap Nudd includes similar hounds, though
Bromwich points out that they are also the colours of royalty, and the Welsh laws
show that the lord of Dinefwr and the king of Aberffraw should receive red and
white cattle as compensation.93 The presence of red and white hounds in branch
one, and the appearance of the gleaming-white wild boar in branch three, warns
that something supernatural is in the air, and the rider who subsequently appears
is in fact Arawn, king of Annfwn.94 Gold (or yellow) is frequently an indicator of
the otherworld, and can be found throughout the Mabinogi.95 At Arawns court,
Pwyll is dressed in a golden garment of brocaded silk, and Arawns queen wears
a golden garment of shining brocaded silk, whilst the vessels were also of

89
Davies, The Mabinogion, pp. 32-33, 196 & 236.
90
Ibid., p. 39 & 238.
91
Ibid., p. 48 & 62; Green, Animals in Celtic Life and Myth, p. 171.
92
Davies, The Mabinogion, p. 3.
93
Rachel Bromwich, Trioedd Ynys Prydain (Cardiff: University of Wales Press,
1978), p. 400; Rhiannon M.M. Davies, 'The Moral Structure of Pedeir Keinc Y
Mabinogi ', (unpublished PhD thesis, University of Wales, College of Cardiff,
1993), pp. 160-61; Parker, 'The Four Branches of the Mabinogi: The Mabinogi
of Pwyll'.
94
Davies, The Mabinogion, p. 3 & 39.
95
Parker, 'The Four Branches of the Mabinogi: The Mabinogi of Pwyll'.

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CYCS7015 Y Mabinogi 14

gold.96 The otherworldly Rhiannon is first seen in a shining golden garment of

brocaded silk, and when Teyrnon discovers the boy he notices that all the hair
on his head was yellow as gold.97 In branch two Llasar Llaes Gyfnewid is seen
emerging from the lake with yellow-red hair, and branch three sees Pryderi and
Rhiannon whisked away when they touch a golden bowl.98 Later Gwydion tricks
Pryderi by conjuring golden collars and leashes, bridles and saddles with gold
trimmings, and twelve golden shields.99 The use of references to colours to
symbolise the otherworld was a common device, familiar to medieval Welsh
audiences.
It is interesting to examine what purpose the references to the otherworld
serve in the Mabinogi. The supernatural is a highly effective narrative device,
which would have been used in Medieval Wales as one of the tools of the
cyfarwydd.100 The narrative begins entirely plausibly, drawing the audience into
the tale with routine descriptions of events and surroundings.101 The abrupt
intrusion of the otherworld introduces the unfamiliar and seemingly impossible,
exciting the audience and warning of extraordinary events to come.102 Belief in
the otherworld was an important aspect of Celtic thought and a dominant theme of
the tales of every Celtic country.103 The Celts viewed the otherworld as the source
of all wisdom, a means of exploring the past to explain the present, and the
inclusion of the otherworld in the Mabinogi would have provided access to a

96
Davies, The Mabinogion, p. 5.
97
Ibid., p. 8 & 18.
98
Ibid., p. 26 & 40.
99
Ibid., p. 49.
100
Will Parker, 'The Mabinogion: Introduction', Mabinogion.info [online]
Available at: http://www.mabinogion.info <accessed: 12 March 2013>; Paul,
'The Magic Mantle, the Drinking Horn and the Chastity Test a Study of a
Tale in Arthurian Celtic Literature', p. 1.
101
Michael Linkletter, 'Magical Realism and the "Mabinogi": An Exercise in
Methodology', Proceedings of the Harvard Celtic Colloquium, (20/21): (2000),
51-63. p. 55.
102
Ibid.
103
Tymoczko, The Irish Ulysses p. 180.

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CYCS7015 Y Mabinogi 15

wealth of common knowledge and understanding, giving greater depth and

meaning to the tales than could be gleaned from the narrative alone.104
Davies has described the Mabinogi as unparalleled in the literature of the
Middle Ages.105 In terms of its depiction of the otherworld it certainly draws
upon a wide variety of narrative devices, mythological traditions, and archetypal
motifs and symbols. Many of the characters refer directly to mythico-religious
traditions, either hinting at pan-Celtic deities by name, Manawydan and Lleu for
example, or by emulating events or characteristics: both Pryderi and Mabon were
taken from their mothers just days after their births, and Rhiannon is clearly
cognate with Epona/Rigantona. Traditional locations for portals to the otherworld
are evident (mounds, water, mist), and certain elements herald a supernatural
event (mist, noise, stag hunts). The otherworld is depicted as a place of great
beauty, where everything is the best, the greatest, the most beautiful, and both
time and space have peculiar characteristics not paralleled in the real world.
Magical items abound, such as wands that can transform humans into animals,
magic bags that can never be filled, and cauldrons that bring the dead back to life.
Many of the characters have otherworldly characteristics, both Pryderi and Lleu
grew at abnormal rates, Bendigeidfran is immensely large, and both Gwydion and
Aranrhod can use words to achieve ends that would be beyond normal speech.
Unusual births are another feature: Gwydion and Gilfaethwy are forced to mate
and produce three offspring, Aranrhod gives birth to twins as she takes a virginity
test, Llasar Llaes Gyfnewids wife gives birth to a fully armed warrior, and
Blodeuedd is created from flowers. Another device is the use of strange
conditions, such as the warning that Pwyll must only strike Hafgan once, or that
while in Gwales the survivors must not open a certain door, and the familiar motif
of shape-shifting is employed as Arawn and Pwyll exchange places. Animals and
colours are used to great effect to symbolise the presence of something magical,
and hounds, stags, birds and boar, and the supernatural colours red, white and

104
C. Knox and R. Seth, 'Archetype', in The Greenwood Encyklopedia of
Folktales and Fairy Tales: A - F, ed. Donald Haase, (Westport, CT:
Greenwood Press, 2008), (1), p. 65; Thomas O'Rahilly, Early Irish History and
Mythology (Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1946), p. 318; Alan
Senior, 'Echoes from the Celtic Otherworld', Quest, (92, 1): (2004), 14-18. p. 14.
105
Ibid., 'Echoes from the Celtic Otherworld', p. xxvi.

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CYCS7015 Y Mabinogi 16

gold/yellow can be seen throughout the four branches. The otherworld featured
highly in the medieval Celtic world, indeed magical belief is one of the most
prevalent features of the pre-modern mind, and the presence of magic and fantasy,
the intermingling of mortals with supernatural characters, and the use of common
Celtic elements all combine to emphasise the entertainment aspect of the
otherworld, which has intrigued audiences for generations.106 The otherworldly
elements are not restricted to the Celtic tradition however, and much of the
material in the Mabinogi derives from the vast canon of international folklore: a
synthesis of mythology, popular folk motifs, and various other socio-cultural
elements.107 These common devices, and references to the collective memory of
story-telling traditions, make the otherworld of the Mabinogi a strange yet
familiar place in which, as Ford comments, it is often difficult to distinguish
between the otherworld and the world of ordinary mortals, and yet it is an
exciting, scintillating, and entertaining world which makes full use of the tools of
the cyfarwydds trade.108

106
Parker, The Four Branches of the Mabinogi, p. 3; Paul, 'The Magic Mantle,
the Drinking Horn and the Chastity Test a Study of a Tale in Arthurian
Celtic Literature', p. 1.
107
Parker, The Four Branches of the Mabinogi, pp. 2-3; Paul, 'The Magic Mantle,
the Drinking Horn and the Chastity Test a Study of a Tale in Arthurian
Celtic Literature', p. 1.
108
Patrick K. Ford, The Mabinogi, ed. and trans. Patrick K. Ford (Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1977), p. 35.

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CYCS7015 Y Mabinogi 17

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