Page:The Mythology of All Races Vol 3 (Celtic and Slavic).djvu/146

94 effected between the monarchs. As In Irish myth, this is the theme of a mortal helping a deity in the Other-World. Yet Pwyll was once himself a god, as his title Pen Annwfn denotes, and was later euhemerized into a king, or confused with an actual monarch called Pwyll, while Annwfn here becomes a mere kingdom on earth.

One day Pwyll sat on a mound which had the property of causing him who was seated on it to receive a blow or see a prodigy. A beautiful woman rode toward him and his men, who pursued, but could not take her. This happened again on the morrow, but on the third day, when Pwyll himself pursued, she stood still at his bidding. She was Rhiannon, daughter of Heveidd Hên, and wished to marry him instead of Gwawl, whom she detested; and in a year he must come to her father's court for her. When Pwyll arrived, a stranger, who In reality was Gwawl, appeared demanding a boon of him, and on his promising It, asked for Rhiannon. She solved the difficulty by agreeing to be Gwawl's wife In a year, but bade Pwyll appear then as a beggar, carrying a certain magic bag, which, in the sequel, could not be filled with food. Gwawl was enraged, but was told by the beggar that unless a man of lands and riches stamped down the contents, it never could be filled. Gwawl did so and was immediately imprisoned In the bag, which was kicked about the hall by Pwyll's followers until, to escape death, he renounced his claim to Rhiannon.

The magic mound Is here the equivalent of the síd and such hills are favourite places for the appearance of immortals or fairies In Celtic story. Rhiannon, who suddenly appeared on the hill, was a goddess, like Fand or Connla's lover, and the theme is that of the Fairy Bride.

The story now tells how Rhiannon, whose child disappeared at birth, was accused of slaying it and was forced to sit at the horse-block of the palace, to tell her story to each new comer, and to offer to carry him Inside. Meanwhile Teyrnon, Lord of Gwent-Is-coed, had a mare whose foals disappeared on May-