The Mabinogion, Guest’s 1877 edition
Blodeuwedd
Math and Gwydion create Blodeuwedd from oak, broom and meadowsweet blossoms so that Llew can marry despite Arianrod’s condition. Her origin gives her a place in an arrangement made by others. After her conspiracy with Gronw, Gwydion transforms her into a bird that cannot show its face by day. Guest’s narrative identifies this form with the owl and preserves her name.
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In the sources
Principal account
LiteraryMath and Gwydion create Blodeuwedd from oak, broom and meadowsweet blossoms so that Llew can marry despite Arianrod’s condition. Her origin gives her a place in an arrangement made by others.
Further detail
LiteraryAfter her conspiracy with Gronw, Gwydion transforms her into a bird that cannot show its face by day. Guest’s narrative identifies this form with the owl and preserves her name.
Context & interpretation
This entry follows the narrative in Charlotte Guest’s 1877 collection, including its particular spellings and arrangement of tales. Characters, enchantments and explanations of place names are presented as features of these stories; the translation alone does not establish their historical reality or a single original religious meaning.
Original passages
Source 1
The Mabinogion
blossoms of the broom, and the blossoms of the meadowsweet, and produced from them a maiden, the fairest and most graceful that man ever saw. And they baptizedOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: The Mabinogion, Guest’s 1877 edition; active reader leaf 451
Exact passage checked against active scan text and original-leaf mapping; scan line breaks normalised.
- Edition
- IMJ-0240-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0240-E001-P0451
- Original scan leaf
- 452
- Recorded leaf number
- 452
- Current Reader position
- 443
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Source 2
The Mabinogion
shalt be always called Blodeuwedd." Now Blodeuwedd is an owl in the language of this present time, and for this reason is the owl hateful unto all birds.Open this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: The Mabinogion, Guest’s 1877 edition; active reader leaf 457
Exact passage checked against active scan text and original-leaf mapping; scan line breaks normalised.
- Edition
- IMJ-0240-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0240-E001-P0457
- Original scan leaf
- 458
- Recorded leaf number
- 458
- Current Reader position
- 449
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed