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Culhwch ( kil-HOOKH with the final consonant of Scottish "loch"), in Welsh mythology
Welsh mythology

Welsh mythology, the remnants of the mythology of the pre-Christian Britons , has come down to us in much altered form in Medieval Welsh literature such as the Red Book of Hergest, the White Book of Rhydderch, the Book of Aneirin and the Book of Taliesin....
, is the son of Cilydd son of Celyddon and Goleuddydd
Goleuddydd

Goleuddydd , in the Middle Welsh prose tale Culhwch ac Olwen, is the daughter of Amlawdd Wledig, and is desired by Cilydd, who marries her. She becomes pregnant with his child, but becomes mad and turns to wandering the countryside....
, a cousin of Arthur
King Arthur

King Arthur is a legendary Britons leader who, according to medieval histories and Romance , led the defence of Britain against the Saxon invaders in the early 6th century....
 and the protagonist
Protagonist

A protagonist is the main Character of a drama or Narrative. The word "protagonist" derives from the Greek language p??ta????st?? , "one who plays the first part, chief actor." In the theatre of Ancient Greece, three actors played all of the main dramatic roles in a tragedy; the leading role was played by the protagonist, while the othe...
 of the story Culhwch and Olwen
Culhwch and Olwen

Culhwch and Olwen is a Welsh literature tale about a hero connected with King Arthur and his warriors that survives in only two manuscripts: a complete version in the Red Book of Hergest, ca....
 (the earliest of the medieval Welsh tales usually, but erroneously, referred to collectively as the Mabinogion
Mabinogion

The Mabinogion is a collection of eleven prose stories from medieval Welsh manuscripts. They draw on pre-Christian Celtic mythology, international folktale motifs, and on early medieval historical traditions....
). In this tale the etymology
Etymology

Etymology is the study of the roots and history of words; and how their form and meaning have changed over time.In languages with a long detailed history, etymology makes use of philology, the study of how words change from culture to culture over time....
 of Culhwch is explained as "sow run" (cul "narrow, a narrow thing"; hwch "sow, pig"), but this is likely to be folk etymology.






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Culhwch ( kil-HOOKH with the final consonant of Scottish "loch"), in Welsh mythology
Welsh mythology

Welsh mythology, the remnants of the mythology of the pre-Christian Britons , has come down to us in much altered form in Medieval Welsh literature such as the Red Book of Hergest, the White Book of Rhydderch, the Book of Aneirin and the Book of Taliesin....
, is the son of Cilydd son of Celyddon and Goleuddydd
Goleuddydd

Goleuddydd , in the Middle Welsh prose tale Culhwch ac Olwen, is the daughter of Amlawdd Wledig, and is desired by Cilydd, who marries her. She becomes pregnant with his child, but becomes mad and turns to wandering the countryside....
, a cousin of Arthur
King Arthur

King Arthur is a legendary Britons leader who, according to medieval histories and Romance , led the defence of Britain against the Saxon invaders in the early 6th century....
 and the protagonist
Protagonist

A protagonist is the main Character of a drama or Narrative. The word "protagonist" derives from the Greek language p??ta????st?? , "one who plays the first part, chief actor." In the theatre of Ancient Greece, three actors played all of the main dramatic roles in a tragedy; the leading role was played by the protagonist, while the othe...
 of the story Culhwch and Olwen
Culhwch and Olwen

Culhwch and Olwen is a Welsh literature tale about a hero connected with King Arthur and his warriors that survives in only two manuscripts: a complete version in the Red Book of Hergest, ca....
 (the earliest of the medieval Welsh tales usually, but erroneously, referred to collectively as the Mabinogion
Mabinogion

The Mabinogion is a collection of eleven prose stories from medieval Welsh manuscripts. They draw on pre-Christian Celtic mythology, international folktale motifs, and on early medieval historical traditions....
). In this tale the etymology
Etymology

Etymology is the study of the roots and history of words; and how their form and meaning have changed over time.In languages with a long detailed history, etymology makes use of philology, the study of how words change from culture to culture over time....
 of Culhwch is explained as "sow run" (cul "narrow, a narrow thing"; hwch "sow, pig"), but this is likely to be folk etymology. According to the narrative, Culhwch is born to his maddened mother Goleuddydd after she is frightened by a herd of swine. The swineherd finds Culhwch in the pigs' run, and takes him back to his father Cilydd. Culhwch is described as being "of gentle lineage".

Culhwch's stepmother wants him to marry her daughter but he refuses. Angry, she curses him so that he can marry no one but the beautiful Olwen
Olwen

In Welsh mythology, Olwen is the daughter of the giant Ysbaddaden. She is the heroine of the story Culhwch and Olwen in the Mabinogion.Her father is fated to die if she ever marries, so when Culhwch comes to court her, he is given a series of immensely difficult tasks he must complete before he can win her hand....
. Olwen's father, Ysbaddaden
Ysbaddaden

In Welsh mythology romance Culhwch and Olwen, Ysbaddaden the giant is the father of the beautiful Olwen. He is cursed to die when his daughter marries, so when Culhwch comes to court her, he is naturally perturbed....
, is a vicious giant who will die if his daughter marries, so he requires Culhwch to complete a number of impossible tasks, the most prominent of which (within the tale as it survives) being Culhwch's gaining of his cousin Arthur's
King Arthur

King Arthur is a legendary Britons leader who, according to medieval histories and Romance , led the defence of Britain against the Saxon invaders in the early 6th century....
 military assistance, and the hunting of the wild boar, Twrch Trwyth
Twrch Trwyth

Twrch Trwyth is the name of a particularly potent wild boar Culhwch is instructed to hunt in the Middle Welsh prose tale Culhwch and Olwen. Twrch is named as the son of Prince Tared, cursed into the form of a wild creature; he has poisonous bristles, and carries a pair of scissors, a comb and a razor on his head, between his ears....
. With Arthur's help, Culhwch completes the majority of the tasks, kills Ysbaddaden, and marries Olwen.

External links

  • , translated by Lady Charlotte Guest
    Lady Charlotte Guest

    Lady Charlotte Elizabeth Guest, , later Lady Charlotte Schreiber, was an England businesswoman and translator. An important figure in the study of Welsh literature and the Welsh language, she is best known for her pioneering English language translation of the major medieval work, the Mabinogion....
    .