The Mabinogion · 97 of 192 · tr. Lady Charlotte Guest
Tale KILHWCH AND OLWENn
And Kilhwch caught it and threw it vigorously, and wounded him through the eyeball, so that the dart came out at the back of his head.
“A cursed ungentle son-in-law, truly!
As long as I remain alive, my eyesight will be the worse.
Whenever I go against the wind, my eyes will water; and peradventure my head will burn, and I shall have a giddiness every new moon.
Cursed be the fire in which it was forged.
Like the bite of a mad dog is the stroke of this poisoned iron.” And they went to meat.
And the next day they came again to the palace, and they said, “Shoot not at us any more, unless thou desirest such hurt, and harm, and torture as thou now hast, and even more.” “Give me thy daughter, and if thou wilt not give her, thou shalt receive thy death because of her.” “Where is he that seeks my daughter?
Come hither where I may see thee.” And they placed him a chair face to face with him.
Said Yspaddaden Penkawr, “Is it thou that seekest my daughter?” “It is I,” answered Kilhwch.
“I must have thy pledge that thou wilt not do towards me otherwise than is just, and when I have gotten that which I shall name, my daughter thou shalt have.” “I promise thee that willingly,” said Kilhwch, “name what thou wilt.” “I will do so,” said he.
“Seest thou yonder vast hill?” “I see it.” “I require that it be rooted up, and that the grubbings be burned for manure on the face of the land, and that it be ploughed and sown in one day, and in one day that the grain ripen.
And of that wheat I intend to make food and liquor fit for the wedding of thee and my daughter.
And all this I require done in one day.” “It will be easy for me to compass this, although thou mayest think that it will not be easy.” “Though this be easy for thee, there is yet that which will not be so.
No husbandman can till or prepare this land, so wild is it, except Amaethon the son of Don, and he will not come with thee by his own free will, and thou wilt not be able to compel him.” “It will be easy for me to compass this, although thou mayest think that it will not be easy.” “Though thou get this, there is yet that which thou wilt not get.
Govannon the son of Don to come to the headland to rid the iron, he will do no work of his own good will except for a lawful king, and thou wilt not be able to compel him.” “It will be easy for me to compass this.” “Though thou get this, there is yet that which thou wilt not get; the two dun oxen of Gwlwlyd, both yoked together, to plough the wild land yonder stoutly.
He will not give them of his own free will, and thou wilt not be able to compel him.” “It will be easy for me to compass this.” “Though thou get this, there is yet that which thou wilt not get; the yellow and the brindled bull yoked together do I require.” “It will be easy for me to compass this.” “Though thou get this, there is yet that which thou wilt not get; the two horned oxen, one of which is beyond, and the other this side of the peaked mountain, yoked together in the same plough.
Themes
◆Animismcosmology
The doctrine and worldview that natural phenomena, places, and objects possess inherent spirit, soul, or personality — and that the cosmos is populated by countless local, plural, embodied divine agents: kami in mountain and tree, sidhe in cairn and well, landwights in field and stone, nymphs in spring and grove, haltija in forest and lake, lares and penates in household and threshold, Iamblichean daemons in element and place. Distinct from monotheism (single transcendent God), pantheism (one underlying substance), and emanation_hierarchy (cascading single source); animism's signature is the plurality, locality, and embodied-in-landscape character of the divine.
The narrative relies on specific divine agents (Amaethon, Govannon) who are intrinsically tied to landscape functions and locations (ploughing the wild land, headland iron), reflecting an embodied-in-landscape character of the divine.
The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality.
The supernatural beings (Amaethon, Govannon) are depicted as active, personal agents with free will who can be negotiated with or compelled, rather than abstract principles.
The doctrine and practice that spoken or sung word carries causal-magical force — that uttering names, formulas, songs, or incantations alters reality directly rather than merely communicating about it. Vainamoinen's runo-songs that move mountains and command iron, Norse galdr, Vedic mantra, Shinto kotodama, the magician's barbarous names in the Greek Magical Papyri, Iamblichean arcane signatures and inexplicable symbols, biblical creation-by-word. Distinct from sacred_names (the ontological power of names themselves) and prayer (address to the divine); word_power_incantation is the magical-causal efficacy of the spoken word as such.
Yspaddaden's curse ('Cursed be the fire...') functions as a spoken formula that directly alters reality by inflicting physical harm and misfortune.