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Llwyd ap Cil Coed is a character in the Third Branch of theMabinogi, known also as the story ofManawydan ap Llŷr.
Llwyd is a friend ofGwawl ap Clud, who had been insulted byPwyll in the First Branch. Llwyd decides to avenge this insult upon Pwyll's son,Pryderi by making barren and empty the kingdom ofDyfed. Later, by means of an enchanted bowl in a mysterious fortress, he imprisons Pryderi andRhiannon—Pwyll's widow and Pryderi's mother. Llwyd seems to make Rhiannon bear the yokes of his horses, while Pryderi has to carry the gate hammers during their captivity.
OnlyManawydan, Rhiannon's new husband, and Pryderi's wifeCigfa remain in Dyfed. They try to plant grain, but their crop is destroyed by mice. Manawydan chases the pests away, but catches one that is fat and slower than the others and sets out to hang it for theft. A cleric, a priest, and a bishop come by one at a time and beg Manawydan to spare the mouse, but he refuses until the bishop agrees to remove the enchantment from Dyfed. He finally reveals himself as Llwyd in disguise and admits that the mice were really his attendants magically transformed. The mouse is his pregnant wife, Gwenaby, but Manawydan refuses to free her until Llwyd also releases Rhiannon and Pryderi and pledges to take no further revenge. Llwyd agrees to these terms and turns his wife back into a beautiful woman.
A character namedLlwydeu ap Cilcoed appears in the earlyArthurian taleCulhwch and Olwen in which he is named as one of the many knights ofArthur's court. After stealing acauldron from Diwrnach the Irishman, Arthur and his men land at Llywdeu's house in Porth Cerddin inDyfed.
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