Hu Gadarn

Hu Gadarn ("Hu the Mighty") is supposedly [See for instance A. C. Rejhon, 'Hu Gadarn: Folklore and Fabrication' in "Celtic Folkore and Christianity", ed. Patrick K. Ford (Santa Barbara, 1983), pp. 201-12.] a figure from Welsh mythology. He is said to have brought the Welsh to Britain from the Summer Country ("Gwlad Yr Haf"), also called Deffrobani (a medieval name for Ceylon, and sometimes called Atlantia (in modern neo-druidism), taught them to plough, and invented song to strengthen memory and record. His oxen pulled the "afanc", a water-dwelling monster, from a lake, preventing floods.

He derives from a series of Triads purportedly collected by the 18th century antiquarian and literary forger Iolo Morganwg. [Iolo Morganwg, "Triads of Britain" , , , , , , ; see also W. Jenkyn Thomas (ed) (1907), "The Welsh Fairy Book": [http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/wfb/wfb77.htm "Hu Gadarn"] ] Robert Graves, following Iolo, identified Hu Gadarn as a Welsh horned god; [Robert Graves, "The White Goddess"] others have identified him with the Celtic god Esus: [ [http://www.maryjones.us/jce/hugadarn.html Hu Gadarn] at [http://www.maryjones.us/jce/jce_index.html Jones' Celtic Encyclopedia] ] as such he is popular with neo-pagans.

He is also popular among British Israelites, some of whom identify him as the Biblical Joshua, [For example, [http://www.cryaloud.com/joshua_hu_gadarn_druids.htm this website] ] while others identify him with Jesus under the name Hu-Hesus, an idea originating with Iolo's "Barddas". [" [http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/bim1/bim1096.htm Barddas] " at [http://www.sacred-texts.com/ Sacred Texts] ]

However Iolo's Triads are considered a forgery, [ [http://www.iolomorganwg.wales.ac.uk/bywyd-ffugiwr.php Iolo Morganwg: The Forger] and A. C. Rejhon, "op. cit."] and there is no real evidence of a prior Welsh tradition featuring this character. The poem known as "Echrys Ynys" in the Book of Taliesin contains the word "hu", [ [http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/t45.html The "Elegy of Aeddon Mor", a 19th century translation of "Echrys Ynys" which takes "hu" as a personal name] ] but the meaning and context is obscure. In the "Campau Siarlymaen", a Welsh adaptation of the medieval French romance "Pèlerinage de Charlemagne" found in several manuscripts, including the Red Book of Hergest and White Book of Rhydderch, Hu Gadarn is the Welsh rendering of the French "Hugun le Fort", the emperor of Constantinople. [ [http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/charlemagne2.html "The Pilgrimage of Charlemagne"] . "Selections from the Hengwrt Mss. Preserved in the Peniarth Library". Williams, Robert, ed. & trans. London: Thomas Richards, 1892] Another mention, but simply as a metaphor, is in "Y Llafurwr", a poem by Iolo Goch, [Dafydd Johnston (ed.), "Gwaith Iolo Goch" (University of Wales Press, 1988), poem XXVIII.] though it refers to the Hu Gadarn of the romance. [ Dafydd Johnston, "op. cit.", p. 340] Otherwise, medieval Welsh literature is silent on the subject of Hu Gadarn.

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