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The Mabinogion · 98 of 192 · tr. Lady Charlotte Guest

Tale KILHWCH AND OLWENo

And these are Nynniaw and Peibaw whom God turned into oxen on account of their sins.” “It will be easy for me to compass this.” “Though thou get this, there is yet that which thou wilt not get. Seest thou yonder red tilled ground?” “I see it.” “When first I met the mother of this maiden, nine bushels of flax were sown therein, and none has yet sprung up, neither white nor black; and I have the measure by me still. I require to have the flax to sow in the new land yonder, that when it grows up it may make a white wimple for my daughter’s head, on the day of thy wedding.” “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. Honey that is nine times sweeter than the honey of the virgin swarm, without scum and bees, do I require to make bragget for the feast.” “It will be easy for me to compass this, although thou mayest think that it will not be easy.” “The vessel of Llwyr the son of Llwyryon, which is of the utmost value. There is no other vessel in the world that can hold this drink. Of his free will thou wilt not get it, and thou canst not 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. The basket of Gwyddneu Garanhir, if the whole world should come together, thrice nine men at a time, the meat that each of them desired would be found within it. I require to eat therefrom on the night that my daughter becomes thy bride. He will give it to no one of his own free will, and thou canst not 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. The horn of Gwlgawd Gododin to serve us with liquor that night. He will not give it of 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. The harp of Teirtu to play to us that night. When a man desires that it should play, it does so of itself, and when he desires that it should cease, it ceases. And this he will not give of 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. The cauldron of Diwrnach Wyddel, the steward of Odgar the son of Aedd, king of Ireland, to boil the meat for thy marriage feast.” “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.
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.

Multiple enchanted objects (harp, basket, horn, cauldron) are described as possessing inherent agency or spirit, acting on their own accord.

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Anthropomorphismtheology

Attributing human characteristics, emotions, or form to the divine; embodied divine imagery.

The divine is attributed human-like moral agency by punishing individuals 'on account of their sins'.

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Living Godtheology

The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality.

God is depicted as an active agent who intervenes in the world to punish sins and alter forms.

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Shapeshifting Transformationtheology

Form-mutability as a constitutional property of divine and preternatural beings — gods, heroes, spirits, and their human practitioners possessing inherent capacity to alter form across human, animal, plant, or elemental states. Loki and Odin's transformations in Norse, Math's pigs and Blodeuwedd's owl-shape and Pwyll's exchange with Arawn in the Mabinogion, the Greek Proteus, the Indian dasavatara, Vainamoinen's bird-flight in the Kalevala, Ovid's metamorphoses, the shamanic and witch's capacity for ritual form-change. Distinct from anthropomorphism (divine taking specific human form, single embodiment) in that anthropomorphism establishes a stable form whereas this concept establishes form's plurality and instability.

The passage explicitly references humans (Nynniaw and Peibaw) who were transformed into oxen by divine will.

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