Goleuddydd

Goleuddydd is the daughter of Prince Anlawdd, the wife of Kilydd son of Prince Kelyddon, and the mother of Culhwck. Her story gives the boy both an extraordinary birth and a name tied to where he was found; before she dies, she also imposes a condition on her husband’s remarriage, a promise whose eventual lapse shapes the family’s next turn.

Identity and Family

Goleuddydd is presented as a queen of gentle lineage. After she and Kilydd unite, the people pray that they will have an heir, and their son is born following those prayers. Her importance in the tale rests chiefly on these family bonds: she is Culhwck’s mother, and her concern for his place in the household endures even as she faces her own death.

Pregnancy and Culhwck’s Birth

From the beginning of her pregnancy, Goleuddydd becomes wild and wanders without a settled home. When her delivery approaches, her reason returns. She goes to a mountain where a swineherd is tending pigs, and, in fear of the animals, gives birth there. The swineherd carries the boy to the palace, where he is baptized and named Culhwck because he was found in a swine’s burrow. The episode links the child’s noble birth to an unexpected place of origin, making his name a record of the circumstances of his arrival.

Her Final Charge

When she falls ill, Goleuddydd tells Kilydd that she expects to die and that he will take another wife. She does not forbid remarriage outright; instead, she asks him to wait until a briar with two blossoms grows on her grave. She also charges him to have the grave tended every year so that nothing will grow there. Kilydd promises to follow her instructions, which make the grave both a memorial and the marker of when he may marry again.

The Promise and Its Aftermath

For a time, Kilydd sends an attendant each morning to check the grave. At the end of the seventh year, the attendant neglects the duty; when Kilydd later visits, he finds the briar. Its appearance supplies the sign Goleuddydd had named, and Kilydd takes counsel about a new marriage. Her instruction thus continues to govern events after her death, while the failure to maintain the grave allows the promised condition to be fulfilled. Goleuddydd’s brief life in the narrative closes with this lasting maternal act: she seeks to protect her son even as she acknowledges the changes that will follow her death.