Hedge of Mist

The Hedge of Mist is the towering boundary around Earl Owain’s enchanted games, a barrier that turns entry into a perilous, apparently one-way passage. Its disappearance after Geraint defeats the knight who maintains the enchantment makes it more than a landmark: it is the visible threshold of the games and the means by which their spell is imposed on the surrounding country.

Setting and Function

The hedge stands below the road that divides near Earl Owain’s domain. A traveler warns Geraint that those who take the lower road pass into the mist and do not return; the town’s owner requires people of gentle birth to lodge at his court rather than elsewhere. The warning establishes the hedge as both a physical obstruction and a boundary around a territory governed by the Earl’s enchanted custom.

When Geraint and his companions reach the hedge, it rises as high as they can see. Its stakes carry the heads of men, with only two stakes left without one. The display gives visible form to the danger described by the traveler: the hedge marks the entrance to the games, but also testifies to the cost of those who have come before.

Crossing the Barrier

Geraint chooses the lower road after hearing that no one who enters the mist has returned. At the Earl’s court, he recognizes that the games may be the reason for his unease and initially cannot eat. Earl Owain offers to exempt him—and others of his rank—from taking part, but Geraint instead asks to be shown the way to the games. His decision turns a warning into a deliberate challenge.

The hedge admits no company alongside the chieftain: Geraint must enter alone. He rides fearlessly into the mist and emerges in a large orchard, where a red-satin tent stands in an open space. A huge hunting-horn hangs from a branch before the tent. Inside, Geraint sits in an empty chair that belongs to the knight who soon arrives and takes offense at the intrusion. Their fight unfolds as part of the games’ challenge; after three sets of lances are broken, Geraint unhorses his opponent with a thrust that splits his shield and pierces his armor.

The Enchantment Ends

Defeated, the knight yields to Geraint’s demand that the games, the hedge, and the magic and enchantment cease. He explains that the mist will disappear when the horn is sounded, but only if the knight who sounds it is the one who has vanquished him. Geraint takes the Horn that Dispels the Mist and blows it; at the first blast, the mist vanishes.

The barrier’s removal releases more than Geraint from the enclosed challenge. The assembled hosts come together and are reconciled, and the Earl invites Geraint and his companion to stay for the night. They part the next morning. Geraint returns to his dominions, where he reigns prosperously, while his and Enid’s warlike fame and honor endure. The Hedge of Mist thus marks the point at which a perilous, isolating enchantment is broken and ordinary passage and reconciliation become possible again.