The Mabinogion · 178 of 192 · tr. Lady Charlotte Guest

Tale THE STORY OF LLUDD AND LLEVELYSc

And last of all, after wearying themselves with fierce and furious fighting, they will fall in the form of two pigs upon the covering, and they will sink in, and the covering with them, and they will draw it down to the very bottom of the cauldron.

And they will drink up the whole of the mead; and after that they will sleep.

Thereupon do thou immediately fold the covering around them, and bury them in a kistvaen, in the strongest place thou hast in thy dominions, and hide them in the earth.

And as long as they shall bide in that strong place no plague shall come to the Island of Britain from elsewhere.

“The cause of the third plague,” said he, “is a mighty man of magic, who take thy meat and thy drink and thy store.

And he through illusions and charms causes every one to sleep.

Therefore it is needful for thee in thy own person to watch thy food and thy provisions.

And lest he should overcome thee with sleep, be there a cauldron of cold water by thy side, and when thou art oppressed with sleep, plunge into the cauldron.” Then Lludd returned back unto his land.

And immediately he summoned to him the whole of his own race and of the Coranians.

And as Llevelys had taught him, he bruised the insects in water, the which he cast over them all together, and forthwith it destroyed the whole tribe of the Coranians, without hurt to any of the Britons.

And some time after this, Lludd caused the Island to be measured in its length and in its breadth.

And in Oxford he found the central point, and in that place he caused the earth to be dug, and in that pit a cauldron to be set, full of the best mead that could be made, and a covering of satin over the face of it.

And he himself watched that night.

And while he was there, he beheld the dragons fighting.

And when they were weary they fell, and came down upon the top of the satin, and drew it with them to the bottom of the cauldron.

And when they had drunk the mead they slept.

And in their sleep, Lludd folded the covering around them, and in the securest place he had in Snowdon, he hid them in a kistvaen.

Now after that this spot was called Dinas Emreis, but before that, Dinas Ffaraon.

And thus the fierce outcry ceased in his dominions.

And when this was ended, King Lludd caused an exceeding great banquet to be prepared.

And when it was ready, he placed a vessel of cold water by his side, and he in his own proper person watched it.

And as he abode thus clad with arms, about the third watch of the night, lo, he heard many surpassing fascinations and various songs.

And drowsiness urged him to sleep.

Upon this, lest he should be hindered from his purpose and be overcome by sleep, he went often into the water.

And at last, behold, a man of vast size, clad in strong, heavy armour, came in, bearing a hamper.

And, as he was wont, he put all the food and provisions of meat and drink into the hamper, and proceeded to go with it forth.

And nothing was ever more wonderful to Lludd, than that the hamper should hold so much.

And thereupon King Lludd went after him and spoke unto him thus.

“Stop, stop,” said he, “though thou hast done many insults and much spoil erewhile, thou shalt not do so any more, unless thy skill in arms and thy prowess be greater than mine.” Then he instantly put down the hamper on the floor, and awaited him.

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 features preternatural beings like dragons and a magic man inhabiting the landscape and affecting the land's well-being through localized spiritual agency.

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◆Cosmic Sympathycosmology

The Stoic and Plotinian doctrine that all parts of the cosmos are bound by hidden affinities, so that a movement in one part resonates through the whole; the metaphysical basis for astrology, magic, and divination.

The fighting of the dragons underground causes a scream heard throughout the entire island, implying a resonance between subterranean and surface realms.

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◆Hidden Sayingssoteriology

Esoteric teachings reserved for those ready to receive them; outer meaning conceals an inner liberating truth.

Llevelys provides Lludd with secret knowledge and instructions to solve the plagues that are not common knowledge.

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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 describes dragons falling in the form of two pigs as part of their capture, illustrating inherent form-mutability.

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◆Theurgypraxis

Iamblichean ritual practice that engages the gods directly through consecrated material symbols and actions, on the premise that divine power descends into properly prepared matter — distinct from philosophical contemplation alone.

Lludd performs specific ritual actions using material symbols (cauldron, mead, satin, kistvaen) to engage and trap spiritual entities like the dragons.

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◆Word Power Incantationpraxis

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.

The thief uses 'various songs' and 'fascinations' to induce sleep and steal provisions, demonstrating the causal magical force of spoken or sung words.

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