Llwyd son of Kilcoed

Llwyd son of Kilcoed is the source of the enchantment that empties and desolates the seven cantrefs of Dyved. His magic is an act of revenge for Gwawl, but its effects fall on Pryderi and Rhiannon and on the land itself; the spell ends only after Manawyddan secures their release and protection.

Identity and Background

Llwyd son of Kilcoed identifies himself as the person who cast the charm over the seven cantrefs of Dyved. He explains that his motive was his friendship with Gwawl and his desire to avenge him for the Game of Badger in the Bag, which Pwyll had played against Gwawl at the Court of Heveydd Hen. Llwyd says that this earlier affront became the reason for taking revenge on Pryderi, even though Pryderi was not the person who had played the game.

Enchantment and Retaliation

When Manawyddan came to live in Dyved, Llwyd’s household asked him to transform them into mice so that they could destroy Manawyddan’s crops. Llwyd says that his household went first, and that the mice ruined two of Manawyddan’s crofts on the first and second nights. On the third night, Llwyd transformed his pregnant wife and the ladies of his court as well. His wife’s pregnancy mattered to the outcome: Llwyd explains that without it Manawyddan would not have been able to overtake and capture her.

The wider enchantment had already reduced Dyved to a charmed, unpeopled land, while Pryderi and Rhiannon suffered separate forms of bondage. Pryderi was made to bear the knockers from the gates of Llwyd’s palace around his neck; Rhiannon had to wear the collars of the asses that had carried hay. Llwyd’s revenge thus joined the devastation of the territory to the punishment of its rulers.

Bargain and Restoration

Llwyd came to Manawyddan while presenting himself as a bishop with a retinue and asked him to release the captured mouse, who was Llwyd’s wife. Manawyddan refused successive offers: first seven pounds, then twenty-four pounds, and then the horses and baggage in the bishop’s train. Instead, he demanded that Rhiannon and Pryderi be freed and that the enchantment be removed from the seven cantrefs of Dyved. He also required that the land never again be enchanted and that no vengeance be taken on Pryderi, Rhiannon, or himself. Llwyd agreed to these conditions and showed Manawyddan that Pryderi and Rhiannon were free; only then did Manawyddan release the mouse.

Llwyd struck his wife with a magic wand, restoring her from mouse form to a young woman described as exceptionally beautiful. The land, too, returned to its former condition: when Manawyddan looked across it, he saw it tilled and populated, with herds and dwellings. Llwyd’s final role is therefore both that of the avenger who created the crisis and the enchanter whose negotiated submission makes its reversal possible.