Lludd and Llevelys’s brotherhood

Lludd and Llevelys’s brotherhood is the governing alliance in the story of Britain’s three plagues. Lludd is the elder brother and king of the Island of Britain; Llevelys, the youngest of the brothers, becomes king of France. Their relationship moves in both directions: Lludd first equips and supports Llevelys’s bid for a foreign crown, and later seeks his counsel when the kingdom Lludd rules is beset by afflictions whose causes and remedies are unknown. The story makes kinship consequential not only as affection, but as a channel through which political help and specialized knowledge pass between kingdoms.

Brothers and separate kingdoms

The brothers are sons of Beli the Great. After their father’s death, the kingdom of the Island of Britain passes to Lludd, the eldest. His rule is presented as prosperous: he rebuilds London’s walls, adds many towers, and encourages the citizens to construct houses of exceptional quality. He favors the city and spends much of the year there. This opening establishes Lludd as an energetic ruler before the crisis tests his ability to protect the island.

Llevelys’s path takes him to France. When its king dies without an heir other than a daughter, Llevelys approaches Lludd for counsel and aid in seeking her hand. His stated concern is not merely his own advancement, but the honor and dignity of his kindred. Lludd responds favorably, prepares ships, and sends armed knights with his brother. The nobles and princes of France agree to the match, and the daughter is given to Llevelys together with the kingdom’s crown. Llevelys thereafter rules France wisely and happily for the rest of his life. His accession is thus represented as a family enterprise: his brother’s support helps make the journey possible, while the French nobles’ agreement completes it.

Affection expressed through counsel

The story makes clear that Lludd’s support grows from a particular closeness. Among his brothers, he loves Llevelys best because he considers him wise and discreet. That description becomes more than a statement of preference when three plagues afflict the Island of Britain: the Coranians can overhear speech carried by the wind; a terrible cry on May Eve weakens people and leaves the natural world barren; and food stored in royal courts disappears after the first night. Lludd does not know how to end the disasters. At the nobles’ common counsel, he turns to the brother whose judgment he trusts.

Their reunion dramatizes the bond before their consultation begins. Llevelys does not know why Lludd’s fleet is approaching, and comes to meet it with a fleet of his own. Seeing this, Lludd leaves the other ships at sea and approaches in one vessel; Llevelys likewise comes in a single ship. When the brothers meet, they put their arms around each other’s necks and welcome one another with brotherly love. The scene gives their relationship an intimate, physical expression, then shifts from greeting to the urgent business that has brought Lludd across the water.

Shared problem-solving across distance

The brothers cannot safely discuss the crisis in an ordinary way. The Coranians are said to know any discourse that the wind carries, even if it is spoken quietly. To frustrate their ability to overhear, Llevelys has a long brass horn made for their conversation. But a demon interferes, so that each brother hears only harsh, hostile words from the other. Llevelys recognizes that their failed communication has an outside cause, washes the horn with wine, and drives the demon out. Only then can the brothers consult without obstruction. The episode briefly makes their closeness vulnerable to apparent hostility, but the obstacle is not a rupture between them: Llevelys identifies and removes the interference so they can work together.

Llevelys answers each plague with a distinct remedy. For the Coranians, he gives Lludd insects to breed as a safeguard in case the affliction returns, and others to crush in water. Lludd is to assemble Britons and Coranians as though for a peace conference, then cast the prepared water over both groups. The mixture will destroy the Coranians without harming the Britons. The remedy depends on Lludd carrying out a carefully specified plan, including its disguise as an attempt at reconciliation.

For the May Eve cry, Llevelys explains that two dragons are fighting: one belongs to the island, while the other is foreign. He instructs Lludd to find the island’s exact center, dig a pit, and place in it a cauldron of the best mead, covered with satin. After the exhausted dragons fall into the cauldron in the form of pigs and drink the mead, Lludd must wrap them in the covering and bury them in a secure place. Llevelys also explains the vanished provisions as the work of a powerful magician who uses enchantment to put people to sleep. Lludd must keep watch over the food and have cold water ready to resist the drowsiness. Across all three answers, Llevelys supplies knowledge and procedure; Lludd remains the ruler who must put that counsel into action.

Counsel carried into action

Lludd follows his brother’s instructions. He gathers the two peoples and uses the prepared water against the Coranians, who are destroyed without harm to the Britons. He then has the island measured, locates its center at Oxford, and watches as the fighting dragons fall into the mead-filled cauldron. Once they sleep, he wraps them in the covering and buries them in a secure place in Snowdon. The site is thereafter called Dinas Emreis, and the cry ceases.

For the final plague, Lludd keeps watch beside the provisions with cold water near him. When a large, armored man appears carrying a hamper into which the food and drink vanish, Lludd confronts and overcomes him. The defeated magician offers restitution for what he has taken and promises to become Lludd’s faithful vassal; Lludd accepts. The account then credits Lludd with freeing the Island of Britain from all three plagues and says he rules prosperously and peacefully thereafter. Llevelys is not present for these acts of resolution, but his counsel makes them possible. Their brotherhood therefore links two complementary forms of agency: Llevelys diagnoses distant threats and prescribes remedies, while Lludd converts that knowledge into the restoration of his kingdom.