Who is the real winner Culhwch or Ysbaddaden

How It Should Have Happened – Just Skip the Hunt and Kill Ysbaddaden

In order for me to get the permission of Ysbaddaden to marry his daughter I need to get a bunch of resources for him Culhwch explains.

Arthur sighs and explains, “You know I love you, but I do not have time to get all those resources for you. I have greater responsibilities than journeying all over to get things for Ysbaddaden.”

Culhwch, frustrated, leaves Arthur and goes back to talk to his father. “What are we to do? I am not going to wed my stepsister!”

His father shrugs, leaving Culhwch even more frustrated. Culhwch storms off and returns to Arthur to attempt to persuade Arthur to help.

“Arthur please,” Culhwch begs, “my stepmother wants me to wed her daughter!”

Arthur laughs. Culhwch, angrily clears his throat and puffs out his chest and states, “I will not settle for anything less than Olwen.”

“Give me some time to think,” Arthur says.

“Why don’t you send your troops over to kill Ysbaddaden? That would take far less time than me searching for all the resources Ysbaddaden has requested. Also, you will be viewed as a feared leader because you can have his land and power,” Culhwch bargains.

Arthur, Culhwch, Merlin and the troop set out on a quest to kill Ysbaddaden and take his daughter. Once they reach the gatekeepers, Arthur says from his horseback, “You will go retrieve Ysbaddaden at once. Tell him that I am here to talk with him and I will not wait.”

 “You will give us Olwen now or we will take her by force” Arthur demands.

 “Fine,” he says, “we will return tomorrow and negotiate again.”

However, when it nightfall came, King Arthur and his men charged the castle, killing several people before ultimately murdering Ysbaddaden. The battle was over when the sun just started to rise. Merlin wandered his new home while Culhwch wandered to find Olwen to consecrate their marriage at once. 

Page 34- “It’s easy for you to do that, son” said his father to him. Arthur is your first cousin

Draw Your Weapon: Impossible Tasks as a Sign of Worth

Arthur becoming king in the Disney's The Sword in the Stone (1963)

Culhwch and Olwen follows the grand tradition of epic literature in which the hero, in order to achieve their goal, must perform a number of arbitrary (or seemingly so) tasks.

One of these tasks is to retrieve a set of grooming tools from their place on the head of 

Twrch Trwyth, an enormous boar. It occurs to me that one element we have yet to see in our examination of King Arthur is the famous "pull the sword out of the stone to become king" incident. Is this concept of the seemingly impossible task used to prove personal worth related?

Arthur or Aladdin?

While I was reading Culhwch and Olwen, I connected this writing to an old Disney film whose elements line up with the story.  The set-up of this reading and many parts of the Disney film Aladdin seem to be similar.  Culhwch and Olwen is the story of Culhwch, cousin of Arthur, seeking to marry Olwen, daughter of Ysbaddaden Chief Giant.  This can be compared to Aladdin as princes from cities come and show off to Princess Jasmine and her father, the Sultan, in an attempt to win her over.  When Aladdin tries to court the princess along with the genie, they use a variety of different riches and valuables in an attempt to impress her and her father.  This is similar to Culhwch and Olwen because Ysbaddaden will not allow Culhwch to marry his daughter unless he completes perilous feats and brings him treasures that he desires. 

In my opinion, Arthur plays a very similar role to the genie from Aladdin in this reading.  An example of this is when Arthur said, “Though you do not dwell here, chieftain, you shall have the gift your mouth and tongue may name, as far as the wind dries…” (Loomis, 36).  I think this is similar to Aladdin being granted three wishes by the genie.  Arthur is also the main reason for success in the journey for some of the treasures desired by the giant.  The endings are also very similar because Culhwch marries Olwen just like Aladdin “marries” Jasmine, but Ysbaddaden is killed by Cuhwch and Arthur.  Aladdin had a much more family friendly ending where the wife’s father is not killed.

Culhwch's Quests or Hercules Labor List

When reading through the long list of demands given to Culhwch by the Ysbaddaden Chief Giant it made me think about the twelve labors that Hera gave to Hercules. Although Hercules's list is much shorter in comparison to the forty-one demands that Ysbaddaden gave to Culhwch it is easy to make the comparison here. In both cases, the heroes were supposed to be unable to complete any of the tasks, but they both found a way to succeed. The difference being that Culhwch had major help given to him by Arthur to finish all of the tasks. 

This made me wonder if subtly they are trying to compare Arthur to Hercules, especially since the Greeks were prior to this time period. If Culhwch had been on his own, I don’t believe he would have been able to complete the tasks. Even Ysbaddaden attributes Culhwch’s success to Arthur, “Instead thank Arthur, the man who made it happen for you” (Loomis, 57). This again shows how without Arthur and his men, Culhwch would have been left cursed and unable to ever wed someone. By making it clear to everyone that he needed Arthur’s help it shows the strength and power that Arthur has. The comparison that I was able to draw even makes it seem like he is immortal and should be celebrated. I believe that this is a conclusion many people around this time period would have drawn as well, especially since the Greeks were said to have been memorable many folks could have seen the similarities.