The Seven Champions now determined to make their way to the castle,
and force an entrance to the hall of Thornogre Thistlehair, Chief of
the Giants. It was very dark when they set out, but they easily
found their way by the trail of white trefoils which the footprints
of Olwen had left.
The castle was guarded by nine warders at the gate and nine
watch-dogs along the road which led up to it; but a strange silence
had fallen upon both men and beasts, and the Champions slew them all
without a sound being heard.
Then they passed through the great door, and entered the hall of the
castle.
Just opposite the entrance sat Thornogre Thistlehair upon a high,
wide throne. He was terrible to look upon. His eyebrows were so
long and bushy that they fell over his eyes like a curtain, and he
was taller and broader than three other giants put together. Close
by his hand lay three poisoned darts.
After they had greeted him courteously, he asked who they were; and
they replied that they were come from Arthur's Court to ask that
Olwen, his daughter, should marry Kilhugh the Prince. Then the giant
roared for his pages to come and prop up his eyebrows, that he might
see what sort of son-in-law was proposed for him.
So when they had propped up his eyebrows he looked angrily at
Kilhugh, and bade him come the next day for his answer.
But as they went out of the hall, the giant threw one of his poisoned
darts at them. Sir Bedivere caught it just in time and threw it back
so neatly that it caught the giant in the knee. Then they laughed,
and withdrew, leaving him to storm at them, declaring that the great
wound hurt him as much as the sting of a gadfly, and that he might
never be able to walk quite so well again.
At dawn the next day they returned to the castle, and again demanded
the hand of fair Olwen in marriage. But the giant replied: "I can do
naught in this matter till I have consulted her four
great-grandmothers and her four great-grandfathers. Come again for
my answer."
So they turned to leave the hall; but as they went the giant snatched
up the second of his poisoned darts, and flung it after them. Merlin
caught it deftly, however, and threw it back with such force that it
entered his chest, and stuck out through his back. This left him
grumbling that never again would he be able to climb a hill without
losing breath, and fearing lest he now might sometimes suffer from
pains in the chest.
The third time they visited the giant he was on his guard, and
shouted to them not to dare throw any more darts on pain of death.
Then he roared to his pages to lift up his eyebrows, and when they
had done it, he snatched up the third poisoned dart, and flung it at
them without more ado.
But Kilhugh caught it this time, and cast it back at him, so that it
pierced one of his eyes. Then, while he grumbled that now his sight
would not be so good as before, they went out to dine.
These events made the giant treat his visitors on their next arrival
with more civility; besides, he had no more poisoned darts. He once
more inquired why they had come, and when he realised that Kilhugh
was determined to marry Olwen, he made him promise that he would do
all that he required of him in return for his agreement to the
marriage. Kilhugh, mindful of Olwen's warning that he was to agree
to perform whatever her father proposed, gave a ready promise, and
bade him ask away.
Then did Thornogre Thistlehair propound to him forty Impossible
Things, of which these seven are the chief:
Firstly, he must gather nine bushels of flax sown hundreds of years
ago in a field of red earth, of which never a seed had sprouted. Not
one grain of the measure must be missing, and they must be sown again
in a freshly ploughed field to make flax for Olwen's wedding veil.
Secondly, he must find Mabon, the son of Modron, who was stolen from
his mother when three days old, and had not since been heard of.
Thirdly, he must find the Cauldron of Cruseward the Cauldron-Keeper,
in which, if one tries to cook food for a coward, one may wait for
ever for the water to boil, but if for a brave man the meal is ready
directly it is placed therein. In this cauldron must all the food
for the wedding feast be prepared.
Fourthly, since the giant must shave for the wedding, he must obtain
for a razor the tusk of the Boar-headed Branch-breaker, which to be
of any use must be taken from his skull while he yet lived.
Fifthly, since the giant must wash his hair, all matted together as
it was, for the wedding, he must bring to him the Charmed Balsam kept
by the Jet-Black Sorceress, daughter of the Snow-White Sorceress,
from the Source of the Brook of Sorrow, at the edge of the Twilight
Land.
Sixthly, that the giant's hair might be smoothed and combed he must
bring the scissors and the comb that are found between the ears of
Burstingboar, the Wide-Waster, since they alone would perform the
operation without breaking.
Seventhly, he must obtain the sword of Garnard the Giant, since that
alone would kill the Wide-Waster, from whom, unless he were killed,
the comb and scissors could never be obtained.
When he had made an end of speaking, the giant jeered at the Prince,
who, unless he could do all these impossible things, might never wed
his daughter. But Kilhugh answered with a high heart: "I have
knights for my companions, horses and hounds, and Arthur is my
kinsman. I shall do all that thou requirest, thou wicked giant, and
shall win thy daughter, but thou shalt lose thy life."