Page:The Mythology of All Races Vol 3 (Celtic and Slavic).djvu/313

Rh detach itself from the shaft, draw blood from the wind, and resume its place on the shaft. This was Bedwyr. Kei then killed Gwrnach with his own sword and carried it off, since the boar could be killed by it alone.42 Kei and Bedwyr discovered and aided in releasing Mabon, and obtained the leash made from the beard of DIUus Varvawc while he was living, which alone could hold the Little Dog of Greit; but Arthur sang a teasing verse about this and irritated Kei so much that peace between them was restored with difficulty. At the hunt of the boar Bedwyr held Arthur's dog Cavall in leash.43

In Kulhwvch, as in the Black Book of Caermarthen, Kei is not only a mighty warrior, fighting against a hundred, but also a great drinker, and his valour as well as his nobility and wisdom is sung in later poetry. In a curious dialogue between Arthur and Guinevere after her abduction she told him that Kei could vanquish a hundred, including Arthur, while she described Arthur as small compared with Kei the tall. Possibly Kei rather than Melwas was here Guinevere's ravisher.44 In Geoffrey, Kei is Arthur's sewer and received a province from him, while Bedwyr is butler and Duke of Normandy, and both assist Arthur in his adventures and are mentioned together.45 Kei is also sewer in the Welsh romances which show traces of Continental influence—Peredur, Olwen and Lunet—where, as in the Anglo-French romances, his boastful, quarrelsome nature appears. He is always ready to fight, yet always overthrown; and he is to the Arthur saga what Conan and Bricriu are to those of Fionn and Cúchulainn. Reference is made in Kulhwch to his death at the hands of Gwddawc, a deed revenged by Arthur, but in the Welsh Saint Graal Kei slew Arthur's son, Llacheu, and made war on Arthur.

Of Bedwyr Kulhwch says that he never hesitated to take part in any mission on which Kei was sent; none equalled him in running save Drych; though he had but one hand, three combatants did not make blood flow more quickly than he; and his lance, which produced one wound in entering, caused III — 14