Entertainment of the Noble Head

The Entertainment of the Noble Head names the extraordinary period during which Bendigeid Fran’s companions carried his head toward London and enjoyed years of feasting without weariness or an ordinary sense of time. The episode makes the head both the purpose of their journey and a continuing presence among them: at Gwales, the companions experience its company as though Bendigeid Fran himself were there.

The command and the journey

Before his companions set out, Bendigeid Fran ordered that his head be taken to the White Mount in London and buried with its face toward France. He warned them that the journey would be long and described two extended stays along the way: seven years feasting at Harlech, followed by eighty years at Gwales in Penvro. His instructions also set a limit on their stay at Gwales: they were not to open the door facing Cornwall. Once that door was opened, they had to leave for London without further delay.

Seven years at Harlech

The company stopped at Harlech to rest, laid out food and drink, and sat down to a feast. Three birds came and sang to them. Their song seemed superior to every song the companions had heard before; although the birds appeared far away over the sea, they remained as distinct as if close at hand. The meal and singing continued for seven years. The enchanted interval thus begins not with a new destination reached, but with a resting place where music and hospitality hold the travelers in place.

Eighty years at Gwales

At the end of the seventh year, the companions continued to Gwales in Penvro. They found a fair, regal place overlooking the ocean, with a spacious hall. Two doors stood open; the third, facing Cornwall, remained shut. Manawyddan pointed it out as the door they must not open. That night the company feasted and rejoiced, and the spell deepened: they remembered neither the food before them nor anything they had heard of, and they were free of all sorrow. They remained for eighty years, unaware that time had passed, no more weary than on arrival and no less joyful than at the beginning.

The head and the meaning of the feast

Throughout the stay at Gwales, having Bendigeid Fran’s head with them was no more burdensome than having Bendigeid Fran himself present. The account ties the name of the entertainment to the eighty years spent in this state of hospitality. The closed door makes that apparent timelessness conditional: the companions can remain in their enchanted feast only while they respect the prohibition. The passage also places the entertainment in the wider chronology of the tale, noting that the entertaining of Branwen and Matholwch took place during the company’s time in Ireland.