Bulfinch’s Mythology · Chapter
Manawyddan explained
After the death of Pwyll, his son Pryderi inherits Dyved and offers his mother Rhiannon in marriage to Manawyddan, who has returned from war to find his lands seized.
What happens
After the death of Pwyll, his son Pryderi inherits Dyved and offers his mother Rhiannon in marriage to Manawyddan, who has returned from war to find his lands seized. The four—Manawyddan, Rhiannon, Pryderi, and Kicva—live in harmony until a magical mist desolates the land, leaving only them. During a hunt, Pryderi enters a mysterious castle and is trapped by a golden bowl. Rhiannon is also caught when she tries to free him. Manawyddan, left alone, attempts farming but his crops are destroyed by mice. He catches one mouse and prepares to hang it, which summons a bishop who reveals himself as Lloyd, the enchanter who cast the spell to avenge Gawl. Lloyd restores Pryderi and Rhiannon, lifts the enchantment, and the land returns to its former prosperity.
Themes in this chapter
Hospitality and Its Violation
The enchantment that desolates Dyved and traps Pryderi and Rhiannon violates the expected hospitality and safety of the land, while Manawyddan's eventual negotiation restores order.
Fate and Free Will
The characters are subject to a magical fate imposed by Lloyd, yet Manawyddan's clever actions (catching the mouse, bargaining) exercise free will to reverse the enchantment.
Characters to notice
- Manawyddan
Returns from war to find his lands seized; marries Rhiannon; endures the enchantment of Dyved; cleverly traps the mouse-enchantress and negotiates the restoration of his companions and land.
- Pryderi
Son of Pwyll and Rhiannon; offers his mother in marriage to Manawyddan; enters the enchanted castle and is trapped by the golden bowl; later freed by Lloyd's magic.
- Rhiannon
Marries Manawyddan after Pryderi's offer; goes to rescue Pryderi from the castle and is also trapped; freed when Lloyd lifts the enchantment.
- Pwyll
Deceased father of Pryderi; mentioned as having played the game of Badger in the Bag on Gawl, which led to the enchantment.
Key passages
“And when they had consumed their feast and all their provisions, they fed upon the prey they killed in hunting, and the honey of the wild swans.”
After their stored food ran out, they survived by hunting game and gathering wild honey.
Describes the shift from feasting to subsistence after the enchantment.
“And when he had taken hold of it, his hands stuck to the bowl, and his feet to the slab on which the bowl was placed; and all his joyousness forsook him, so that he could not utter a word.”
As soon as Pryderi touched the golden bowl, he became magically stuck to it and the marble slab, losing all happiness and speech.
Illustrates the trap that captures Pryderi in the enchanted castle.
“I am Lloyd, the son of Kilwed, and I cast the charm over the seven cantrevs of Dyved. And it was to avenge Gawl, the son of Clud, from the friendship I had towards him, that I cast the charm.”
The enchanter Lloyd reveals he placed the spell on Dyved to avenge his friend Gawl for a past wrong.
Explains the motive behind the enchantment.