Gwydion

In Welsh mythology, Gwydion is a magician appearing prominently in the Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi and the ancient poem "Cad Goddeu". He is the brother of Gilfaethwy and Arianrhod, and the nephew of Math fab Mathonwy. In the "Mabinogion" he is called the son of the goddess Dôn, making it likely he is an euhemerized god or demi-god. The name Gwydion may mean 'To Speak Poetry'.

Mythological exploits

In the Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi, Gwydion helps his brother Gilfaethwy rape Goewin, Math's foot-holder. To this end he steals Pryderi of Dyfed's pigs, thus forcing Math away to fight a war (Math only took his feet from his foot-holder's lap to go to battle). Gwydion and Gilfaethwy sneak back to Math's court where Gilfaethwy rapes Goewin. When Math hears of this, he turns his nephews into a series of mated pairs of animals; Gwydion becomes a stag for a year, then a sow and finally a wolf. Gilfaethwy becomes a hind deer, a boar and a she-wolf. Each year they produce an offspring which is sent to Math: Hyddwn, Hychddwn and Bleiddwn; after three years Math releases his nephews from their punishment.

In the search for a new foot-holder, who must be a virgin, Math tests Gwydion's sister Arianrhod. The test reveals that Arianrhod is not a virgin, however, when she immediately gives birth to two children after stepping over Math's wand: Dylan Ail Don and an unformed blob.

Dylan is a sea-creature who immediately moved into the ocean, but on the other child Arianrhod places three "tynged" (see the Irish "geis") upon him: the child will never have a name unless she herself names him, he cannot carry weapons unless she arms him (neither of these things does she intend to do), and he cannot marry any human woman. In effect she denies her child three major aspects of humanity, but Gwydion puts his nephew in a box and raises him. When the boy is old enough Gwydion takes him incognito to see Arianrhod, who declares he is a "bright one with a sure hand" or in some versions "fair-haired skillful hand" when she sees him drop a wren with a single stone. Gwydion reveals the child is her son and that she has unknowingly supplied him with a name; from then on he goes by Lleu Llaw Gyffes, "bright one with a sure hand". Arianrhod is similarly tricked into supplying her son with weapons. The third curse proves harder to overcome, so Gwydion and Math use magic to create a wife for Lleu out of flowers, named Blodeuwedd (flower face). Blodeuwedd proves unfaithful and with her lover, Goronwy, attempts to slay Lleu. Lleu does not die but transforms into a wounded eagle, and Gwydion tracks him with the help of a pig and finds him perched on an oak. He calls Lleu down from the tree by singing an englyn known as englyn Gwydion, returns Lleu back to his human form and with the help of Math heals him. They return to Lleu's estate where Gwydion turns Blodeuwedd into an owl, and Lleu himself kills Goronwy.

Gwydion also appears in the 6th century poem "Cad Goddeu" (The Battle of the Trees), found in the "Book of Taliesin". There he wins a battle against Bendigeidfran by animating an army of trees and guessing Bendigeidfran's name.

Gwydion in modern fiction

Lloyd Alexander's "Chronicles of Prydain", a series of fantasy novels inspired by Welsh myths, features a character named Gwydion, based somewhat on the Gwydion of myth, but markedly different in terms of moral character. In the Chronicles of Prydain, Prince Gwydion is a member of the Sons of Don, Prydain's ruling house, and King Math's war leader. It is never stated if he is the son of High King Math, but he takes the throne when the High King dies. Gwydion meets Taran when the Assistant Pig-Keeper chases after Hen Wen. The two travel together until they are separated at Spiral Castle. In the course of the five-novel series, Gywdion defeats the Horned King by shouting his real name, leads the attempt to gain the Black Cauldron and helps Taran, Fflewddur Fflam, Gurgi and Prince Rhun rescue Princess Eilonwy from Achren. It is Gwydion who leads an assault on Annuvin by the sea shortly after he becomes High King. In the books, Prince Gwydion is an expert tracker, forester and warrior. As a member of the Royal House of Don, he often wears a pendant depicting a simple golden disk meant to represent the sun. (The character is not included in the Disney animated film based on the novels.)

Patricia Kennealy-Morrison's "Keltiad" series - Irish, Welsh and Scottish legends translated to an interstellar, "Star Wars" style context - has a character named Gwydion Prince of Don as its co-protagonist. Like Alexander, Kennealy-Morrison bases her character on the mythological Gwydion, but humanizes him through her own creative process. Lover and First Lord of War to the Queen of Keltia, Aeron Aoibhell, Gwydion ultimately becomes Aeron's husband and King of Keltia, while having numerous adventures based on episodes from the various branches of the Mabinogion (Spiral Castle, the magic fleet, etc.). He is a gifted bard, sorcerer and warrior, close to (and descended from) the magical Sidhefolk of Keltia, and is portrayed as Aeron's true and loving partner and her equal in most things. He takes a major part in the epic battle that ends "The Throne of Scone", the chronological last of the books published.

He also appears in Phillip Mann's alternate history series "A Land Fit for Heroes", Robert Carter's "The Language of Stones" series, has a short appearance in "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman and is the ancestor to the main character in Jenny Nimmo's "Snow Spider Trilogy". In "The Mists of Avalon", Gwydion is the birth name of both King Arthur and Mordred. The name Gwydion also appears in the Sierra game King's Quest III, where a Prince Alexander of Daventry has been kidnapped by an evil wizard named Manannan who renames him Gwydion.

Gwydion is also one of the main protagonists in the books of the Welsh author Jenny Sullivan.

Etymology

The etymology of his name is uncertain. The intervocalic "-d-" in the name implies descent from an Early Welsh "*-t-" according to the established sound changes in the history of the Welsh language: Early Welsh intervocalic "*-t-" routinely developed into Old Welsh -d- (McCone, 1996) . This then rules out suggestions that the name is related to Modern Welsh words like "gwyddion" ‘ploughs, looms’ or "gwydd" ‘trees’ because these words are descended from the Proto-Celtic word "*widu" ‘wood’ with an intervocalic "*-d-".Likewise, suggestions that the name is related to the Modern Welsh word "gwyddonydd" ‘scientist’ is unsustainable for similar reasons because the source of this word is the Proto-Celtic "*weid-o-" ‘knowledge’ which also must be reconstructed with an intervocalic "*-d-" [http://www.wales.ac.uk/documents/external/cawcs/PCl-MoE.pdf] . The intervocalic "*-d-" in these words would not have developed into "-dd-" until post-Early-Welsh periods (McCone, 1996). Rather, if the word is assumed to be native in origin, established knowledge about regular sound change in the history of Welsh would encourage one to relate the name to Proto-Celtic roots with forms such as "*weit-" "*wit-" and "*wīt-".

A root "*wet-" ‘say, recite poetry’ seems reconstructible for Proto-Celtic [http://www.wales.ac.uk/documents/external/cawcs/PCl-MoE.pdf] and this could plausibly have had a lengthened form "*wīt-". A verbal suffix *"-jā-", forming abstract nouns from verbal roots, is also reconstructible for Proto-Celtic [http://www.wales.ac.uk/documents/external/cawcs/PCl-MoE.pdf] , and this is frequently suffixed with "*-n-os" when masculine names are derived from nouns ending in "*-jā-". The name Gwydion can then plausibly be reconstructed as *"wīt-jā-n-os", an extended masculine form of *"wīt-jā"- meaning ‘poetic recital, speech.’

All the same, this is not the only possibility. A root *"wī-ti" ‘food’ with the related *"wīto"- ‘feast’ is also reconstructible for Proto-Celtic [http://www.wales.ac.uk/documents/external/cawcs/PCl-MoE.pdf] and the former may plausibly have had extended forms *"wī-ti-o" and *"wī-ti-o-nos". The name Gwydion can also be held to be derived from a Proto-Celtic *"wī-ti-o-nos" ‘food.’ This word would then be related to Proto-Celtic *"witt"- ‘vein’ (whence Modern Welsh "gwythien" ‘blood vessel’ Old Irish "féith" ‘sinew, vein) and *"wit-n-o"- ‘sinewy, tough’ (whence Modern Welsh "gwydn" ‘tough’). A root *"weit"- ‘thread’ related to *"witt"- ‘vein,’ is also reconstructible for Proto-Celtic [http://www.wales.ac.uk/documents/external/cawcs/PCl-MoE.pdf] .

Related to the Old Irish "féith" ‘sinew’ is Irish "féith" ‘sinuous stream, bog-rill, marsh-rill’ [http://www.ceantar.org/Dicts/MB2/mb18.html#féith] . The name "Gwydion", then, may be derived from a hypothetical Proto-Celtic *"Witi-o-no-s" ‘great rill', a possible extended variant form of *"weiti"- in the sense of ‘sinuous stream.’

Another possibility is that the word is not a native item and is related to the Modern Welsh word "gwŷd" ‘vice,’ a borrowing, like the English word "vice", from the Latin "vitium" ‘offense, defect.’ The etymology of the name Gwydion is therefore uncertain but it is possible to limit the etymology to a small number of plausible possibilities.

References

McCone, Kim (1996). Towards a Relative Chronology of Ancient and Medieval Celtic Sound Change. Maynooth: Department of Old and Middle Irish, St. Patrick's College. ISBN 0-901519-40-5.