Pagan Portals--Gwyn ap Nudd by Danu Forest

Author:Danu Forest [Forest, Danu]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-78535-630-8
Publisher: John Hunt Publishing
Published: 2017-10-26T16:00:00+00:00

…to the king of Spirits, and to his queen – Gwyn ap Nudd, you who are yonder in the forest, for love of your mate, permit us to enter your dwelling.10

Again, here Gwyn’s love for her, and her implied generous nature give us hints as to her personality or identity, and her relationship with him.

If looking at the Gwyn-Gwythyr-Creiddylad triangle from a feminist perspective she may seem powerless and unrepresented – certainly, we never hear her voice or will. That said we must remember that this tale was written down in the mid-thirteenth century, and although it is likely based on far older oral sources, the language and structure of the tale is based in that context. As such the courtly maiden is silent while male protagonists battle for her hand and we can only infer her preferences in the matter. Certainly, if we consider it on the level of human relations we know that while she may be betrothed to Gwythyr this indicates nothing of her feelings or lack of them for him, and the same can be said for Gwyn. It may be that as he is elsewhere termed her lover there may have been earlier lost versions of the tale where their relationship was more explicit, either sharing mutual affection or as kidnapper and victim. Equally Gwythyr may have been her favourite, or neither. It may even be somewhere in between – as a pagan mystery tale it may reflect the emotional and sexual complexities of a wild and soulful female protagonist – or the eternally shifting affections of nature herself – she may love them both each in their season. What we do know is that the fragments remaining and later folk tradition make Gwythyr very much the third wheel in this triangular relationship, and that for the most part we can view Creiddylad, in the context of the tales at least, as being either Gwyn’s queen – he after all wins the battle against Gwythyr despite its annual rematch, or that she dwells mainly in the third place – the realm of her father Lludd.

There is, however, another less analytical way to explore the nature of Creiddylad if we view her with the eyes of the soul and inner knowing. If we consider her father to be the Lludd/Nudd/Nuada/Nodens who has his roots in the tradition of divinatory dreaming, and the in-between ethereal realm of clouds and mist and lunar corresponding silver hands, we see she must have her origins in some place infused with spirit. Just as Gwyn’s name means white or blessed/holy, it may be that Creiddylad’s name whose meaning is now forgotten may once have had related connotations – certainly they seem to share the same source.

The idea that Gwyn and Creiddylad may be brother and sister never arises in the tales or oral lore and this is significant, as other familial relationships are clearly related and even rape and incest is touched upon in other tales in the Mabinogion, so we know those writing down the stories weren’t averse to including these details.

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