ART. XV.-The Mabinogion.

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By LADY CHARLOTTE GUEST. Part IV.

THIS Translation with Notes, from the Llyfr Coch o Hergest and other ancient Welsh Manuscripts, proceeds with the spirit that distinguished the previous parts; and continues to furnish increasing and fresh proofs of Lady Guest's munificent liberality, and literary treasures. We have before us the tale of "Kilhwch and Olwen," for which "no parallel or counterpart has been discovered in any other language.' It is therefore considered to be strictly and purely British, being also, it is supposed, one of the most antique that is to be found in the collection. It is said that some of its allusions are unintelligible even to the best Welsh antiquaries; though others of them have still a currency in the Principality.

The story concerns a kinsman of King Arthur, who adventures marvellously in quest of Olwen, the daughter of Yspaddaden Penkawr, in order to make her his wife. But to discover her is not half the battle; for she, whose "bosom was more snowy than the breast of the white swan," has to be won by a train of adventures and exploits beyond Herculean contemplation or capacity. By the assistance of the knights of Arthur, and sometimes of the King himself, the lady is at last made the wife of Kilhwch. We quote a few passages, more to show the spirit and complexion of the story than to indicate or fill up its current. The gorgeous barbaric fancy of a British period, perhaps as remote as the seventh century, may be seen in the state and bearing of Kilhwch when he unhesitatingly undertakes and sallies forth to obtain the assistance of his kinsman King Arthur:

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And the youth pricked forth upon a steed with head dappled grey, of four winters old, firm of limb, with shell-formed hoofs, having a bridle of linked gold on his head, and upon him a saddle of costly gold. And in the youth's hand were two spears of silver, sharp, well-tempered, headed with steel, three ells in length, of an edge to wound the wind, and cause blood to flow, and swifter than the fall of the dew-drop from the blade of reed grass upon the earth, when the dew of June is at the heaviest. A gold-hilted sword was upon his thigh, the blade of which was of gold, bearing a cross of inlaid gold of the hue of the lightning of heaven his war-horn was of ivory. Before him were two brindled whitebreasted greyhounds, having strong collars of rubies about their necks, reaching from the shoulder to the ear. And the one that was on the left side bounded across to the right side, and the one on the right to the left, and like two sea swallows sported around him. And his courser cast up four sods with his four hoofs, like four swallows in the air, about his head, now above, now below. About him was a four-cornered cloth of purple, and an apple of gold was at each corner, and every one of the apples was of the value of an hundred kine. And there was precious gold of the value of three hundred kine upon his shoes, and upon his stirrups, from his knee

to the tip of his toe. And the blade of grass bent not beneath him, so light was his courser's tread as he journeyed towards the gate of Arthur's Palace."

Kilhwch reaches the gates of Arthur's castle :

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"Spoke the youth, Is there a porter?' There is; and if thou holdest not thy peace small will be thy welcome.' 'Open the portal.' 'I will not open it.' 'Wherefore not?" The knife is in the meat, and the drink is in the horn, and there is revelry in Arthur's hall, and none may enter therein but the son of a king of a privileged country, or a craftsman bringing his craft. But there will be refreshment for thy dogs and for thy horses; and for thee there will be collops cooked and peppered, and luscious wine and mirthful songs, and food for fifty men shall be brought unto thee in the guest chamber, where the stranger and the sons of other countries eat, who come not unto the precincts of the Palace of Arthur. Thou wilt fare no worse there than thou wouldest with Arthur in the court. A lady shall smooth thy couch, and shall lull thee with songs; and early to-morrow morning, when the gate is open for the multitude that came hither to-day, for thee shall it be opened first, and thou mayest sit in the place that thou shalt choose in Arthur's Hall, from the upper end to the lower.' Said the youth, That will I not do. If thou openest the gate, it is well. If thou dost not open it, I will bring disgrace upon thy lord, and evil report upon thee. And I will set up three shouts at this very gate, than which none were ever more deadly, from the top of Pengwaed in Cornwall to the bottom of Dinsol, in the North, and to Esgair Oervel, in Ireland.'"

The porter, alarmed and amazed, forthwith hies to Arthur's presence to acquaint him what a fine and peremptory youth is at the gate:

"Then said Arthur,' If walking thou didst enter in here, return thou running. And every one that beholds the light, and every one that opens and shuts the eye, let him show him respect, and serve him, some with goldmounted drinking horns, others with collops cooked and peppered, until food and drink can be prepared for him. It is unbecoming to keep such a man as thou sayest he is in the wind and the rain.' Said Kai, By the hand of my friend, if thou wouldest follow my counsel, thou wouldest not break through the laws of the Court because of him.' 'Not so, blessed Kai, it is an honour to us to be resorted to, and the greater our courtesy, the greater will be our renown, and our fame, and our glory.' And Glewlwyd came to the gate, and opened the gate before him; and although all dismounted upon the horseblock at the gate, yet did he not dismount, but he rode in upon his charger. Then said Kilhwch, Greeting be unto thee, Sovereign Ruler of this Island; and be this greeting no less unto the lowest than unto the highest, and be it equally unto thy guests, and thy warriors, and thy chieftans-let all partake of it as completely as thyself. And complete be thy favour, and thy fame, and thy glory, throughout all this Island.' Greeting unto thee also,' said Arthur, sit thou between two of VOL. II. (1842.) No. II.

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my warriors, and thou shalt have minstrels before thee, and thou shalt enjoy the privileges of a king born to a throne, as long as thou remainest here. And when I dispense my presents to the visitors and strangers in this court, they shall be in thy hand at my commencing.' Said the youth, "I came not here to consume meat and drink; but if I obtain the boon that I seek, I will requite it thee, and extol thee; and if I have it not, I will bear forth thy dispraise to the four quarters of the world, as far as thy renown has extended.' Then said Arthur, Since thou wilt not remain here, chieftan, thou shalt receive the boon whatsoever thy tongue may name, as far as the wind dries and the rain moistens, and the sun revolves, and the sea encircles, and the earth extends; save only my ship, and my mantle, and Caledvwlch, my sword, and Rhongomyant, my lance, and Wynebgwrthucher, my shield, and Carwenhau, my dagger, and Gwenhwyvar, my wife. By the truth of heaven thou shalt have it cheerfully, name what thou wilt.' 'I would that thou bless my hair.' That shall be granted thee.' And Arthur took a golden comb and scissors, whereof the loops were of silver, and he combed his hair.”

Blessing the hair," is said to have been the sign and method of undertaking the office of a species of protectorship and championship in the eighth century.

The extraordinary difficulties to be overcome, ere the youth can obtain Olwen, are wilder and more magical than would have found acceptance among the legends even of the Middle Ages. But they have a value in them for the present time; for they indicate the features of a state of manners and of a mass of superstition with some degree of distinctness. Take a specimen of the marvels, told,

too, as if in the spirit of an honest faith:

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'They went forward until they came to the Ousel of Cilgwri. And Gwrhyr adjured her for the sake of Heaven, saying, 'Tell me if thou knowest aught of Mabon the son of Modron, who was taken when three nights old from between his mother and the wall?' And the Ousel answered, 'When I first came here, there was a smith's anvil in this place, and I was then a young bird; and from that time no work has been done upon it, save the pecking of my beak every evening, and now there is not so much as the size of a nut remaining thereof; yet the vengeance of Heaven be upon me, if during all that time I have ever heard of the man for whom you inquire. Nevertheless I will do that which is right, and that which it is fitting that I should do for an embassy from Arthur. There is a race of animals who were formed before me, and I will be your guide to them.' So they proceeded to the place where was the Stag of Redynvre. Stag of Redynvre, behold we are come to thee, an embassy from Arthur, for we have not heard of any animal older than thou. Say, knowest thou aught of Mabon the son of Modron, who was taken from his mother when three nights old?' The Stag said, When first I came hither, there was a plain all around me, without any trees, save one oak sapling, which grew up to be an oak with a hundred branches. And that oak has since perished, so that nothing now remains of it but the

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withered stump; and from that day to this I have been here, yet have I never heard of the man for whom you inquire. Nevertheless, being an embassy from Arthur, I will be your guide to the place where there is an animal which was formed before I was.' So they proceeded to the place where was the Owl of Cwm Cawlwyd. Owl of Cwm Cawlwyd, here is an embassy from Arthur; knowest thou aught of Mabon the son of Modron, who was taken after three nights from his mother?' 'If I knew I would tell you. When first I came hither, the wide valley you see was a wooded glen. And a race of men came and rooted it up. And there grew there a second wood; and this wood is the third. My wings, are they not withered stumps? Yet all this time, even until to-day, I have never heard of the man for whom you inquire. Nevertheless, I will be the guide of Arthur's embassy until you come to the place where is the oldest animal in this world, and the one that has travelled most, the Eagle of Gwern Abwy.' Gwrhyr said, ' Eagle of Gwern Abwy, we have come to thee an embassy from Arthur, to ask thee if thou knowest aught of Mabon the son of Modron, who was taken from his mother when he was three nights old?' The Eagle said, 'I have been here for a great space of time, and when I first came hither there was a rock here, from the top of which I pecked at the stars, every evening; and now it is not so much as a span high. From that day to this I have been here, and I have never heard of the man for whom you inquire, except once when I went in search of food as far as Llyn Llyw. And when I came there, I stuck my talons into a salmon, thinking he would serve me as food for a long time. But he drew me into the deep, and I was scarcely able to escape from him. After that I went with my whole kindred to attack him, and to try to destroy him, but he sent messengers, and made peace with me; and came and besought me to take fifty fish spears out of his back. Unless he know something of him whom you seek, I cannot tell who may. However, I will guide you to the place where he is.'

NOTICES.

ART. XVI.-Biographia Britannica Literaria. By TH. WRIGHT. M.A. THE "Biography of Literary Characters of Great Britain and Ireland, arranged in chronological order," is one of the works which the Royal Society of Literature have set about superintending and patronizing. The present volume is confined to the Anglo-Saxon Period, and gives, first, a general view of its literature and learning; and, secondly, a series of lives from the sixth century down to the Conquest, including criticisms with specimens occasionally of their productions. The work is of as popular a character as the subjects will admit of, being an elegant and scholarly enough performance, without however anything particularly new, ingenious, or recondite. By the bye, the Royal Society of Literature, although founded so far back as when George the Fourth patronized grand schemes, has done little more than present gold medals to a few of the favourites of aristocracy

towards the encouragement and reward of literary persons. We believe also that in the course of eighteen years there had only been published, under the auspices of the Society, one work prior to the Biographia Britannica Literaria; although among the professed and generous objects of the institution, "the publication of inedited remains of ancient literature, and of such works as may be of great intrinsic value, but not of that popular character which readily commands the attention of publishers," was particularly mentioned. We leave it to our readers to judge between the promise and the performance. We quote two passages belonging to the literary rather than biographical section of the volume. The first gives an idea of the natural philosophy of the period, and its childlike condition of science. The particular work referred to is, Bede's Treatise "De Naturâ Rerum:"

"The tract De Naturâ Rerum, which was one of Bede's earliest works, and the Anglo-Saxon abridged translation made in the tenth century, were the text-books of science in England until the twelfth century. The system of Bede was the same which had prevailed in Europe during several centuries. He considered the earth to be the centre of the universe; and he believed that the firmament was spherical, and bounded by or enclosed in fire; beyond this was the higher heaven, peopled by angelic beings, who were supposed to be able to take ethereal bodies, assimilate themselves to men, eat, drink, and perform the other functions of human nature, and at will lay aside their assumed form and return to their own dwelling-place. He taught that the waters above the firmament were placed there for the purpose of moderating the heat of the fire and the igneous stars; that the stars, with the exception of the wandering stars or planets, are fixed in the firmament and move round with it, and that sparks struck from them and carried away by the wind are what we call falling stars; that there are seven planets, whose orbits are included in the firmament, and which revolve in the contrary direction to the motion of the sun; that comets are stars produced suddenly, with crests of flame, and that they forebode political revolutions, pestilence, war, or great tempests and droughts; that the different colours of the planets are caused by variation of distance and by the different strata of air in which they revolve. Many of Bede's notions with regard to the planet which we inhabit were equally unscientific: he considered the earth to be a globe; but he did not believe in the existence of the antipodes; he says that the earth internally resembles a sponge, and that earthquakes are produced by the sudden and forcible escape of wind confined in the cavernous parts; that the sea is not increased by the rivers which run into it, either because it is constantly evaporating into the clouds, or because the water descends continually into the earth by secret passages; that the sea to the north of Thule is a mass of everlasting ice; that thunder is produced by the sudden bursting forth of wind confined and compressed in the clouds, like the bursting of a bladder; and that lightning is produced by the collision of the clouds in the same manner as fire by the striking together of flints. He believed that the world was in his time in its sixth age, old, decrepit, and worn out, and that its end was near approaching."