While Arthur and his knights were discussing which of the Impossible
Tasks should next be undertaken, it so happened that a certain
prince, named Gwyther, who was also one of Arthur's knights, was
walking over a mountain in his own country, the Land of the Dawn.
And as he walked, deep in thought, he heard a sad little cry. Up and
down he looked, but nothing could he see that could explain such
mournful cry. But presently it came again from under his very feet,
and there he saw an ant-hill. Inside the ant-hill the little
creatures were wailing piteously, for the heath on the mountain-side
was afire, and in a short time their kingdom would be all in a blaze.
Then Prince Gwyther drew his sword, and cut off the ant-hill at a
blow, and threw it into a place of safety.
"Our grateful thanks are thine," cried the ants. "Now tell us what
we can do for thee in return, Prince Gwyther of the Land of the Dawn."
The Prince pondered a moment, and then replied: "All the world knows
that Kilhugh, one of the Companions of Arthur, seeking the hand of
the fair Olwen, is required by her father to bring him the nine
bushels of flax seed sown in his field to make the wedding veil for
his bride. If one grain is missing the marriage will be forbidden;
and, though we are Arthur's knights, not one of us can find these
tiny seeds. Now, can ye do this task for me?"
"That will we joyfully," cried the ants, and they made their way in
haste to the field of Thornogre Thistlehair, Chief of the Giants.
[Illustration: PRINCE GWYTHER AND THE BUSHEL MEASURE]
When evening began to fall they returned to the Land of the Dawn,
where Prince Gwyther had set up a bushel measure. Up its sides they
climbed, each with a seed in its mouth; and nine times they filled
the measure, until only one seed was wanting. "'Tis well," they
cried; "the lame emmet has not yet come home." And before nightfall
the lame emmet toiled up to the bushel measure, and dropped in the
last seed.
So the nine bushels of flax seed were taken to the castle of Arthur,
and given to Prince Kilhugh.
Then said King Arthur: "Let us now go to Ireland to seek for the
Cauldron of Cruseward the Steward of Odgar, the Irish King."
Now, this cauldron, as you will remember, was of such a kind that
when food for a coward was cooked in it the food remained as it was
at first, but if for a brave man it was ready for eating directly it
was placed in the pot. So it was very precious; and when Arthur's
request for it was received by Odgar, Cruseward replied in wrath:
"Not a glimpse of my cauldron shall he obtain, even if it would give
him all the blessings in the world; much less will I give it him
altogether."
Then Arthur called together his men of war, and sailed over the
stormy seas to Ireland. When the people saw him in battle array,
they were afraid, and counselled Odgar to receive him peaceably. So
Odgar sent friendly messages, and invited him to a banquet in his
palace.
Now when the banquet was over, Odgar was about to give presents to
his guests, but Arthur would take nothing. He wanted naught, he
said, but the Cauldron of Cruseward. When Cruseward heard this, he
thundered out: "Nay, King Arthur, I will never give it to thee. If
thou couldst have it for the asking it would have been given at the
bidding of King Odgar, not at thine."
When Bedivere heard this rude reply he was very angry, and, rushing
upon him, seized the cauldron, and set it on the shoulders of
Arthur's Cauldron-Bearer. Then swords were drawn, and the men of
Arthur's host fell upon Cruseward and his followers, and slew them.
Thus they carried off the cauldron, and bore it, full of Irish gold,
back to the Island of the Mighty.
After this adventure they set forth to obtain the Charmed Balsam that
was guarded by the Jet-Black Sorceress, daughter of the Snow-White
Sorceress, at the Brook of Sorrow, on the edge of the Twilight Land.
And when they approached the dismal cavern where she dwelt, King
Arthur was joined by Gwyn of the Twilight Land, and Gwyther from the
Land of the Dawn, who, knowing the Sorceress and her power, advised
that two of his attendants should first be sent into the cave.
Directly the first appeared the Sorceress seized him by the hair, and
threw him down, and trampled on him. The second dragged her away
from him, but could do nothing against her, for she kicked them and
beat them and thrust them forth again.
Then Arthur would have gone in himself; but Prince Gywn and Prince
Gwyther prevented him, saying it would not be a fitting adventure for
so great a king, and persuaded him to send in the two Tall Brothers.
But these two were so ill treated by the Sorceress that they came out
more dead than alive, and had to be lifted on to their horses. Then,
when he saw his followers so ill used, nothing could keep Arthur
back. He rushed into the cave, and with one stroke of his dagger,
killed the wicked Sorceress, while Kai carried off the Charmed Balsam.
They next set out to hunt the Boar-headed Branch-breaker; but soon
they heard that no man could pluck out the tusk from the living head
of this terrible animal but Odgar, King of Ireland.
With some difficulty they persuaded him to accompany them; but at
length the huntsmen gathered together, with him at their head, and a
great hunt for the boar began. The swiftest dogs could not bring the
animal to bay, until at length Arthur's own hound, Cavall, brought
him to the ground, and Odgar rushed up to pull out the tusk; but he
would have been killed, had not Kai been there to strike the
Branch-breaker down directly Odgar had plucked it out.
There yet remained to seek out the jewelled scissors and comb that
were between the ears of Burstingboar, the Wide-Waster.
Now, this Burstingboar had laid waste a great part of Ireland, so
that all men went in terror of him; and, that the heroes might not be
misled about the curious things said to lie between his ears, Merlin
was sent to Ireland to seek him out and see if it were as the giant
had said.
So Merlin tracked Burstingboar to his den on Cold Blast Ridge, and,
having changed himself into a bird, flew down into a thicket close
by. From thence he could see the creature lying on the ground, with
his seven young boars at his side, and between his ears twinkled the
jewels of the scissors and the comb. Then Merlin thought it was a
sad thing that the heroes should lose their lives for such things,
and determined to try to carry them off himself. So he flew upon the
head of Burstingboar, and tried to snatch up the razor; but all he
really got was a great bristle. Then Burstingboar rose up in a great
rage, foaming at the mouth. He could see no one; but a fleck of the
poisonous foam fell upon Merlin, and hurt him so that he never quite
recovered.
When he heard this news, Arthur gathered together such a number of
brave knights and squires that the Irish feared he was about to
attack their land, but when he told them he had come to deliver them
from the dreaded Burstingboar, their joy knew no bounds. And so it
was arranged that those Irish who had joined his host should first
attack the boar; then, if he still lived, he should be attacked by
Arthur's own knights; and if by that time he were not slain, Arthur
should himself hunt him on the third day.
But the first day and the second saw the boar triumphant; and when
Arthur took his turn he fought for nine days and nights without even
wounding the creature or one of his cubs. At the end of that time
all the knights besought Arthur to tell them the secret about the
boar, which all this time he had kept.
Then Arthur told them that the creature had once been a king, but for
his sins and his great pride had been changed into a boar. And he
sent Uriel to confer with him concerning the jewelled comb and
scissors. But when Uriel spoke gently to him, bidding him deliver
these up at the request of Arthur, the boar grew very fierce, and
said: "Not only shall Arthur never even see these jewels, but I with
my young ones will go forthwith and harry the land of Arthur, doing
all the hurt to it that we can."
When they heard this news all the host arose at dawn to prevent them
leaving Ireland; but when they looked towards the sea, there was the
boar with his young ones swimming far away to the coast of Britain.
And before the King could cross the Irish Sea, the boars had landed
at Milford Haven, and destroyed every living thing in the
neighbourhood.
Then terror fell on all the land, and eagerly men looked for Arthur
to come to their aid, who, when he arrived, set out at once with a
crowd of mighty huntsmen to kill the beasts. But it was exceeding
hard to find the boar, though his tracks were well marked by the ruin
of flocks and men; and when they did come up with him, he slew with
his mighty tusks a full half-dozen of Arthur's followers, and dashed
off to a mountain-top, where they lost all sign of him: neither man
nor dog could tell whither he had disappeared.
At last they heard that the boars were ravaging a valley some miles
away. Thither they followed, and after a hard struggle they killed
the young boars one by one. But after a long pursuit Burstingboar
vanished again, so completely this time that the host returned to
Cornwall, thinking he must have left the land.
Scarcely had Arthur entered his palace when a breathless messenger
rushed into the hall.
"Arise!" he cried. "The boar is ruining thy domain, trampling down
towers and towns, uprooting trees, and killing men and cattle on all
sides, and he is now coming over the mountains to do the same in
Cornwall."
Then Arthur made this speech to his followers:
"Men of the Island of the Mighty, Burstingboar, the Wide-Waster, has
slain many of our bravest men, but he shall never enter Cornwall
while I live. You may do as you please; but for me, I will no longer
hunt him, but shall meet him face to face."
Forthwith he posted men at various spots to prevent the creature from
landing, and then rode up to the river's brink. As he arrived,
suddenly, with a great rush, Burstingboar sprang out of the forest,
and tried to cross on his way to Cornwall. But Arthur and his
companions drove their horses into the water, and followed him, and
somehow or other seized him by his fore feet as he scrambled up the
bank, and flung him back into the river; and as he fell, Mabon, the
son of Modron, caught the razor from behind one of his ears, and
Kenneder the Wild snatched the scissors from behind the other.
Yet, even while they did this, Burstingboar upreared himself from the
water, dashed up the river-bank, and disappeared. Then all the host
followed, but they only came up to him when he had got well into
Cornwall. Then a desperate fight began. By harassing him all day
they managed to keep him from ravaging the land, and when he tried to
get into Devon they were too many for him. Over the moors, down the
coombs, up the hills, they chased him, till at length, being
desperate, he turned, and made for the sea. In he plunged, but,
though the pursuing horses stayed their feet at the water's edge,
those two good hounds, Raceapace and Boundoft, who had followed him
so long, could not hold themselves back, but plunged in after him
into the waves. For long the heroes watched his course, with those
two fierce dogs close behind him; but from that day to this nothing
more has ever been heard of either Burstingboar or the two hounds.
Now, all the Impossible Tasks had been fulfilled, and joyfully did
Prince Kilhugh ride to the giant's castle to claim his bride. But
Thornogre Thistlehair looked on in gloomy silence as the marvels were
spread out before him; he allowed himself to be shaven and combed;
but though he could not refuse to give the Prince his daughter's
hand, he openly said that he did it with no good will. Then the
herdsman's son stood forth, and cried: "O giant, three and twenty of
my brothers thou hast foully slain, and defrauded my father of his
heritage. For these things thou shalt surely die by my hand to-day."
So he dragged him by his hair to the castle battlements, and, being
very strong, he slew him there, and cut off his head. And the castle
was given to the herdsman; but Kilhugh married fair Olwen, and they
were happy ever after as long as they both lived.
_From the "Mabinogion," A Welsh Romance. Thirteenth century_ A.D.