Creiddylad | |
|---|---|
| Parent | KingLludd |
Creiddylad (also known asCreirddylad,Creurdilad,Creudylad orKreiddylat), daughter of KingLludd, is aminor character in the earlymedieval WelshArthurian taleCulhwch ac Olwen.
Creiddylad, daughter of Lludd Silver Hand, is a lady living at thecourt of King Arthur. Considered to be the most beautiful girl in theBritish Isles, she is loved by two of Arthur's warriors:Gwythyr andGwyn.[1] Her rival suitors are thrust into conflict when Gwythyrabducts her from her father's house, to which Gwyn retaliates by kidnapping her from Gwythyr.[2] Due to Arthur's intervention in the ensuing feud, the lady Creiddylad is returned to her father and an arrangement (adihenydd, or "fate")[3] is made that forces the adversaries to engage in single combat for the object of their love everyMay Day—while she is destined to remain with her father, unmarried—until a final battle onJudgement Day, which will determine who keeps her forever.
Creiddylad has been compared to theGreek springtime goddessPersephone, who is similarlyabducted by an admirer (theunderworld god Hades), rescued by an intervening character (Zeus), and reunited with her family (her mother Demeter), then cursed to repeat the experience every year. Here, the warrior duo's ritual battle for possession of Creiddylad may be understood as a version of the "Holly King" myth, possibly personifying the dynamic power struggle between summer and winter.[4]
It is also observed that the name of Creiddylad's father (Lludd) and that of Gwyn's father (Nudd) are likelycognate, which suggests that the characters are different incarnations of the pan-Celtic deityNodons. Hence, Gwyn is often described as Creiddylad's brother.
Additionally, she is sometimes confused with the goddessCreirwy, who is also referred to as the most beautiful girl in the world.[5]
Creiddylad is traditionally identified as the prototype ofGeoffrey of Monmouth's pseudo-historicalQueen Cordeilla, who is the source ofWilliam Shakespeare's heroineCordelia (the youngest daughter ofKing Lear). This identification can be found in the 1833 edition ofEncyclopædia Britannica.[6]Lady Charlotte Guest, in the notes to her edition ofThe Mabinogion, which was first published in 1849, identifies Creiddylad, daughter ofLludd Llaw Ereint, with Cordelia, "daughter of Lludd, or Lear".[7][8] In 1891, Sir John Rhys repeated this identification inStudies in the Arthurian Legend.[9]
However, Geoffrey's Welsh translators failed to use the name Creiddylad in their Latin-to-Welsh translations ofHistoria Regum Britanniae, where he usedCordeilla.[10] Further complicating the association, the legends surrounding Creiddylad and Cordelia are very different. Doubt has been cast on the linking of these two names, beyond "the string of consonants C-R-D-L".[11]
NovelistJohn Cowper Powys, as an admirer of both Guest'sMabinogion as well as the work ofSir John Rhys, was aware of the idea that Creiddylad can be identified with Geoffrey of Monmouth's Queen Cordelia.[12][13] InA Glastonbury Romance, Cordelia Geard's name may indicate a mythological identification with Creiddylad, daughter of Lludd inThe Mabinogion.[14] In Powys's novelPorius: A Romance of the Dark Ages, which is set in Wales, Creiddylad, was the eponymous protagonist's giantess great-grandmother, as well as the name he gives to a young giantess whom he mates with.