Page:The Mythology of All Races Vol 3 (Celtic and Slavic).djvu/305

Rh these messages to threats and thus caused the battle. Arthur's court appears again In The Lady of the Fountain, a Welsh tale which is the equivalent of Chrétien's Yvain (twelfth century), but here again the conception of it is far more knightly and romantic than in Kulhwch. The supernatural in this story, whether Celtic or not, is found, e. g., in the one-eyed black giant with one foot and an iron club, who guards a forest in which wild animals feed. He tells Kynon to throw a bowlful of water on a slab by a fountain, when a storm will burst, followed by the music of birds, and a black-armoured knight will appear and fight with Kynon. In these two tales the following personages known to Welsh literature and the Romances appear—Mordred, Caradawc, Llyr, Nudd, Mabon, Peredur, Llacheu, Kei, Gwalchmei, Owein, March son of Meirchion (Mark, King of Cornwall), and Gwchyvar.

In the early Welsh poems there are many references to Arthur and his circle, as when, in the Black Book of Caermarthen (twelfth century), one poem, telling of Arthur's expedition to the north, mentions Kei, whose sword was unerring in his hand, Bedwyr the Accomplished, Mabon, Manawyddan, "deep was his counsel," and Llacheu, Arthur's son. Kei pierced nine witches, probably the nine witches of Gloucester mentioned in Peredur, while Arthur fought with a witch and clove the Paluc Cat. A Triad declares that this creature was born of a pig hunted by Arthur, because it was prophesied that the isle would suffer from its litter; and although Coll, its guardian, threw the cat into the Menai Strait, Paluc's children found it and nourished it until it became one of the three plagues of Mon (Anglesey). This demon cat, which should be compared with those fought by Cuchulainn, recurs in Merlin, but is then located on the continent. In this poem Arthur is also said to have distributed gifts.$13$ Llacheu figures in another poem, which tells of his death, as "marvellous in song," and he is mentioned there with Bran, Gwyn, and Creidylad.$14$ The Stanzas of the Graves refer to the graves of