Chapter 29

CHAPTER XXIX.
KILWICH AND OLWEN. KILYDD, the son of Prince Kelyddon, desired a wife as a helpmate,
and the wife that he chose was Goleudid, the daughter of Prince
Anlawd. And after their union the people put up prayers that they
might have an heir. And they had a son through the prayers of the
people; and called his name Kilwich.
After this the boy's mother, Goleudid, the daughter of Prince
Anlawd, fell sick. Then she called her husband to her, and said to
him, "Of this sickness I shall die, and thou wilt take another wife.
Now wives are the gift of the Lord, but it would be wrong for thee
to harm thy son. Therefore I charge thee that thou take not a wife
until thou see a briar with two blossoms upon my grave." And this he
promised her. Then she besought him to dress her grave every year,
that no weeds might grow thereon. So the queen died. Now the king sent
an attendant. every morning to see if anything were growing upon the
grave. And at the end of the seventh year they neglected that which
they had promised to the queen.
One day the king went to hunt; and he rode to the place of burial,
to see the grave, and to know if it were time that he should take a
wife; and the king saw the briar. And when he saw it, the king took
counsel where he should find a wife. Said one of his counsellors, "I
know a wife that will suit thee well; and she is the wife of King
Doged." And they resolved to go to seek her; and they slew the king,
and brought away his wife. And they conquered the king's lands. And he
married the widow of King Doged, the sister of Yspadaden Penkawr.
And one day his stepmother said to Kilwich, "It were well for thee
to have a wife." "I am not yet of an age to wed," answered the
youth. Then said she unto him, "I declare to thee that it is thy
destiny not to be suited with a wife until thou obtain Olwen, the
daughter of Yspadaden Penkawr." And the youth blushed, and the love of
the maiden diffused itself through all his frame, although he had
never seen her. And his father inquired of him, "What has come over
thee, my son, and what aileth thee?" "My stepmother has declared to me
that I shall never have a wife until I obtain Olwen, the daughter of
Yspadaden Penkawr." "That will be easy for thee," answered his father.
"Arthur is thy cousin. Go, therefore, unto Arthur, to cut thy hair,
and ask this of him as a boon."
And the youth pricked forth upon a steed with head dappled gray,
four winters old, firm of limb, with shell-formed hoofs, having a
bridle of linked gold on his head, and upon him a saddle of costly
gold. And in the youth's hand were two spears of silver, sharp, well
tempered, headed with steel, three ells in length, of an edge to wound
the wind, and cause blood to flow, and swifter