Earlier today I updated my post about East of the Sun, West of the Moon. If you want to see the awesome pictures I found for it, you can check it out here!
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Our story today is of a man named Manawydan. It is a strange tale, full of magic and loneliness. To my mind, it is one of the weirder stories of Celtic mythology - and that's saying a lot, as you'll see in the next couple of weeks! The unique events within this story are quite entertaining, despite being somewhat depressing, so I felt I should tell you the tale.
When we meet Manawydan in this story he has survived a great and terrible battle, and has buried his friend and leader. Now an outcast from his homeland, Manawydan has nowhere to go. He says as much to a young friend of his named Pryderi.
Pryderi has a solution for his pal. The young man is lord of a land named Dyfed, and has a beautiful widowed mother to boot. He offers to let Manawydan journey home with him. If the lands - and his mother - are to Manawydan's liking, Pryderi will give his mother to him in marriage and make Manawydan lord of Dyfed.
Good friend, right?!
Manawydan eagerly - and thankfully - agrees to this arrangement. He travels with Pryderi to the land of Dyfed, which he finds quite pleasing. He feels the same way about Riannon, Pryderi's mother.
She and Manawydan talk late into the night, and he falls in love with the mature, intelligent woman.
Pryderi is pleased when Manawydan tells him of his feelings. The matter of marriage is broached to Riannon, who is quite pleased by the idea. She and Manawydan are married, and the duo live quite happily with Pryderi and his wife Cigfa.
Ideally, the story would end here with "And they all lived happily ever after."
Of course, if you read my post about fairy tales, you'll see that few stories ever end that way. (After all, that wouldn't be as entertaining!) Such is the case here.
Some time passes happily, and one night the four friends decide to throw a celebratory feast. (All of my Celtic posts so far have had feasts - I'm guessing they were pretty common in ancient Britain, at least for the wealthy.) In the midst of the feast, the two couples slip away for some fresh air. They go and sit on a special enchanted mound and are lost in thought for some time.
Suddenly, a crash of thunder splits the air! A heavy mist swiftly surrounds the group, cutting them off from one another. The mist soon fades away, but the sight that greets the party is one of horror...for all that they see is ruined and barren.
Shocked, the four stumble back to their home. They find it empty - all of their friends seem to have vanished. Despite searching all over the land of Dyfed, they do not find any living souls. Only wild beasts and animals remain.
Luckily Manawydan and Pryderi are skilled hunters, and so the group lives off of wild game for several years. Eventually Manawydan tires of this existence. At his suggestion, the group decides to leave Dyfed and journey to distant lands. These lands, unlike their own, are still populated by humans, so the four friends find a small town and decide to learn a craft.
At first Manawydan tries making saddles. Unfortunately, his work is so fine that he becomes the only person anyone is willing to buy saddles from. Enraged, the other craftsmen plot to kill him. When word of this reaches the group, they quickly flee.
In the next city, Manawydan decides to start making shields - but the same thing happens! The same is true of cobbling (you've heard the phrase, "I'd kill for those shoes?), and at last the group give up and decide to return to their life in Dyfed.
Manawydan, Riannon, Pryderi, and Cigfa survive for several more years by hunting in Dyfed. Then, one day, something different happens. Pryderi and Manawydan awaken tot he sound of their hunting hounds baying. Hoping to catch some game, they follow them into a forest, where they find themselves pursuing a large, silver boar. It leads them on a merry chase before disappearing into a magnificent fortress, the hounds close behind it.
Manawydan and Pryderi stop to stare at the fortress. By this time, they have been hunting the lands of Dyfed for years. They know every inch of it - and yet, the two friends have never seen this fort before.
Sensing something magical afoot, Manawydan begs Pryderi to leave. His friend, however, is concerned about the hounds. Pryderi refuses to be deterred, and so enters the fortress alone.
Within, all is eerily silent. There is no trace of either the hounds or the boar. In his search for them, Pryderi comes across a magnificent courtyard. In its center lies a flowing marble fountain. Next to this sits a block of marble, upon which rests a large golden bowl. Four chains are attached to this bowl, and they rise up, up into the sky...where they disappear into thin air.
I told you this was a strange tale, didn't I? Just wait!
The sight of the bowl makes Pryderi curious - it is obviously magical, but he can't figure out what it does. The man kneels before the bowl and stretches out one hand to touch it -
- which promptly becomes stuck to the bowl.
(Guess he failed that "Knowledge: Magical Item" check!)
Pryderi soon finds that his feet are stuck to the ground. When he attempts to call Manawydan for help, he discovers that he cannot make any noise. Left with no other choice, he waits in silence.
Outside, Manawydan paces with worry. When Pryderi fails to emerge from the keep by the beginning of sunset, Manawydan returns home alone.
Big mistake.
When she sees him approaching alone, Riannon immediately wants to know where her son is. Manawydan tells her what happened, and she is furious that he left Pryderi behind. Riannon brands him a bad friend (a great insult) and immediately sets off to find Pryderi.
Mommy to the rescue!
It isn't long before Riannon finds the keep, and within it her son. Unfortunately, Pryderi is unable to speak to warn her. He can only watch in horror as his mother grabs the bowl, intending to wrest it from his grasp...and becomes just as stuck as Pryderi.
When the sun finishes setting, there comes a clap of thunder and a thick mist reminiscent of the night the group's woes began. When the mist disperses, the fortress is gone...and so are Pryderi and Riannon.
Depressed and not wanting to stay in the land that took their loved ones, Manawydan and Cigfa soon depart from Dyfed once again. Unfortunately, they are once more driven from their trade by jealous (and murderous) rivals. Seeing no other choice, the duo sadly return to Dyfed - but this time, Manawydan brings with him seeds of grain so that they can start a farm.
Time passes, and Manawydan's crops grow well; as it turns out, he is as good of a farmer as he is a shoe/saddle/shield-maker. When the harvest time comes, Manawydan goes out to reap what he has sown - only to find that all of the crops in the first field he planted are gone!
The next day Manawydan goes to his second field, only to find it likewise bare. Manawydan is furious, but he realizes that the thieves are likely to raid his third field that night. He decides to lie in wait for them and catch them in the act.
Ready for the story to get really weird?
Sure enough, that night the culprits come. To Manawydan's surprise - they're a bunch of mice! He watches, shocked, as they gather up his crop and begin to run off with it. His shock turns to rage, and Manawydan begins to chase the mice. They manage to evade him...all save one, who moves too slowly and is snatched up by the angry Manawydan, who stashes it in his glove.
He returns to Cigfa and tells her what occurred, ending his tale by swearing to hang the mouse he caught - a common punishment for thieves, perhaps, but not for rodent thieves. Cigfa is horrified by his declaration and begs Manawydan not to hang the mouse - it wouldn't be proper for one of his rank! - but Manawydan angrily refuses to listen to her.
The next day he sets out with his tiny captive and begins to construct a miniscule gallows. As he does so, two men walk by. Each echoes Cigfa's statement that it would not befit a lord to hang a mouse, and each offers to buy the mouse's freedom to preserve Manawydan's dignity. He refuses to listen to either man, sending them on their way.
Then a third man comes by - a bishop, accompanied by a large group of people.
Now, before today Dyfed has seemed cursed, for no people (save Manawydan's group) lived in it. Today a large number of people have passed through Dyfed, each requesting that the mouse be freed. Because of this, Manawydan becomes suspicious.
The bishop also offers to pay Manawydan to release the mouse.
Convinced that the bishop is not what he seems, Manawydan agrees to release the blasted rodent - but only if the curse is lifted from Dyfed, and Pryderi and Riannon are returned to him.
The bishop - actually a druid - agrees. As it turns out, the curse was his revenge on Pryderi fro osme action of his parent's against the druid's. The mice that destroyed Manawydan's crops were the druid's warriors. The mouse Manawydan managed to catch is his pregnant wife (no wonder she couldn't run very fast!). In exchange for her, the druid agrees to forget his feud, and he releases Pryderi and Riannon. The curse is lifted, and Dyfed is returned to its former beauty.
The two couples are reunited...and this time, they do live happily ever after.
Weird, right?
I hope you guys enjoyed the story! I've never read anything quite like it. The scene with the mice always makes me happy, because I grew up reading the Redwall series and always think of that.
Did you guys like Manawydan's story? Hate it? Let me know below, or email me!
I'll be back next week with a look at the life of Fionn, one of the greatest Celtic heroes who ever was. Until then, take care!
(And watch out for strange bowls and mice!)
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