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488 Olwen, and the father said that nothing was easier if he would only go to the court of his cousin Arthur, and follow his instructions: these were, that he should ask Arthur to cut his hair, and, when it was done, that he should demand Olwen as his kyvarws or boon; for the ceremony of hair-cutting by the king meant his making him one of his men, and his acquiring the right to demand a boon of his lord. Kulhwch complied, and went to the court of Arthur, who took his golden scissors and cut Kulhwch's hair, whereby he discovered that he was of his kin; so he made him tell him who he was. Kulhwch, as instructed by his father, asked as his boon that he should have Olwen to wife. Arthur had no objection; but neither he nor his knights had ever heard of Olwen, and, though they were by no means unused to travel, they had not the remotest idea where Yspyᵭaden's abode might be. When a considerable time had been vainly spent in the search, and Kulhwch was beginning to grumble that he was still without his boon, he was challenged to go himself on the search with a small party of Arthur's knights, selected with special reference to their skill in such undertakings. He accordingly went with them, and it was not long ere they arrived near a great stronghold, on the way to which they came across an endless flock of sheep, watched by a shepherd sitting on the top of a mound. He was a remarkable person clad in skins, and he kept at his side a shaggy mastiff bigger than a stallion nine winters old; nor was it his habit to lose even a lambkin from the flock, or to allow anybody to pass that way unharmed; nay, the plain was covered with tree-stumps and clumps, the green of which had been scorched away to the very soil by the breath of