Page:Celtic Stories by Edward Thomas.djvu/96



was the son of Kilyth, son of Prince Kelython. For a long time before he was born his mother was wandering to and fro alone in solitudes and wildernesses, and a mountain was his birthplace. Soon afterwards his mother fell sick, and in a little while she died. When the boy was big his father married another woman, a widowed queen.

'It were well for thee, Kilhugh, to have a wife,' said his stepmother one day, 'and I have a daughter who is coveted by all the warriors and princes of the world.'

'But I am not of an age yet to marry,' answered Kilhugh.

Then the woman flared into anger, and when she had spent her words she said to the lad in a quiet voice:

'Thou shalt not have a wife until thou obtain Olwen, the daughter of the giant, Uspathadden Penkower.'

At the sound of the name of Olwen, though uttered in hatred, Kilhugh blushed for love. Men and women in his father's castle saw a change in his face, and heard it in his voice. 'What has come over thee, my son?' asked his father, and Kilhugh told him. 'It will be easy for thee to win Olwen,' he said, 'for King Arthur is thy cousin. Go, therefore, and seek the boon of him; but first ask him to honour thee by cutting thy hair.'