Myths and Legends of the Celtic Race - Knowledge Rush

328 Myths and Legends of the Celtic Race[380]magic and charms of Gwydion, Pryderi was slain. And at MaenTyriawc, above Melenryd, was he buried, and there is his grave.”The Penance of Gwydion and GilvaethwyWhen Māth came back he found what Gilvaethwy had done,and he took Goewin to be his queen, but Gwydion and Gilvaethwywent into outlawry, and dwelt on the borders of the land. At lastthey came and submitted themselves for punishment to Māth.“Ye cannot compensate me my shame, setting aside the death ofPryderi,” he said, “but since ye come hither to be at my will, Ishall begin your punishment forthwith.” So he turned them bothinto deer, and bade them come hither again in a twelvemonth.They came at the appointed time, bringing with them a youngfawn. And the fawn was brought into human shape and baptized,and Gwydion and Gilvaethwy were changed into two wild swine.At the next year's end they came back with a young one whowas treated as the fawn before him, and the brothers were madeinto wolves. Another year passed; they came back again with ayoung wolf as before, and this time their penance was deemedcomplete, and their human nature was restored to them, and Māthgave orders to have them washed and anointed, and nobly cladas was befitting.The Children of Arianrod: DylanThe question then arose of appointing another virgin footholder,and Gwydion suggests his sister, Arianrod. She attendsfor the purpose, and Māth asks her if she is a virgin. “I knownot, lord, other than that I am,” she says. But she failed in amagical test imposed by Māth, and gave birth to two sons. One ofthese was named Dylan, “Son of the Wave,” evidently a Cymricsea-deity. So soon as he was baptized “he plunged into the seaand swam as well as the best fish that was therein.... Beneath himno wave ever broke.” A wild sea-poetry hangs about his name inWelsh legend. On his death, which took place, it is said, at thehand of his uncle Govannon, all the waves of Britain and Irelandwept for him. The roar of the incoming tide at the mouth of the