Yspaddaden , in the Welsh Celtic Mythology, is the chief of the giants, who appears in the medieval tale, Kulhwch and Olwen . A curse wants that it loses the life when his/her daughter, the very beautiful Olwen (“white trace”), marries. Inevitably, an applicant presents himself: Kulhwch. The reception is violent, the giant receives the applicant and people of his continuation, in their launching poisoned stones and lances. These three lances are returned to him, the first wounds the knee to him, the second transpierces the chest to him and the third penetrates the eye to arise by the nape of the neck. Finally, it imposes on Kulhwch a series of tests extremely difficult to realize, at the end which it will have Olwen.

Tests of Kulhwch

After having promised to the chief of the giants that it will not make him any evil, Kulhwch must:

• Essarter, to plow, to fertilize, to sow a ground and that the corn can be harvested the following day.
• To convince Amaethon to come to plow the ground, because it is the only one with being able to do it.
• To convince Gofannon to come to clean iron.
• Obtenir from Gwlwlyd Wineu that it lends its two oxen to him to plow the ground.
• To make push flax in sterile field to make the veil of the marriage.
• To find a honey rare to make the hydromel of the bridal meal.
• To bring back the tank of Llwyr to make hydromel.
• To bring back the dish of Gwyddneu Garabhir so that the whole world can there be satisfied.
• To bring back the horn Gwlgawt Gododdin to serve drink.
• To ask Teirtu its magic toothing-stone, that which all alone music.
• To catch the birds of Rhiannon.
• To go to seek the cauldron of Diwrnach the Irishman, to cook food of the wedding banquet.
• To tear off the defense of alive the Yskithrwynn wild boar, so that Yspaddaden can shave the beard; defense must be kept by Caw de Prydein which, in theory, never leaves its kingdom.
• To bring back blood of the Gorwen witch to soften the hairs of the beard; blood must be imperatively preserved in magic bowls, pertaining to Gwiddolwyn Gorwen.
• To bring back the bowls of Rhinnon, which preserve fresh milk.
• To bring back the scissors and the comb which are between the ears of the wild boar Twrch Trwyth, to cap the hair of Yspaddaden. To drive out this fantastic wild boar, one needs the Drudwyn dog, leaves it Horns, the collar of Canhastyr, the chain of Kilydd Canhastyr. The dog can be carried out only by Mabon, which one never knows where it is.
• To join together eminent hunters of which king Arthur.

The death of Yspaddaden

Kulhwch makes a success of all these exploits with the assistance of the King Arthur and its knights. When it is allocated with his companions to the court of the king of the giants, Caw de Prydein cuts out the beard, the skin, the flesh and the ears to him. The tests having been surmounted, Yspaddaden must grant the hand of his/her daughter and prepares to die. Goreu cuts the head to him which one plants on a lance. Kulhwch and Olwen spend their first night units.

Complements

Sources

• Four Branches of Mabinogi , tale Kulhwch and Olwen , translated, presented and annotated by Pierre-Yves Lambert, Gallimard, coll “the paddle of the people”, Paris, 1993.

Random links:

First district of the Paddle | Remi Kauffer | Pienza | Alessandria Calcio | Abbey of Flavigny