Owain's departure from the Countess of the Fountain

Owain son of Urien’s departure from the Countess of the Fountain turns a brief, authorized visit to Arthur’s court into a prolonged separation. The three-month leave becomes three years away, and the ring that once saved Owain becomes the instrument of a public accusation: his absence has made him faithless to the life and marriage he left behind.

From the Fountain to the Countess’s Court

Before the separation, Owain had followed the route Kynon son of Clydno described to the Fountain. He reached its valley, provoked the storm by pouring water from the fountain bowl onto the slab, and fought the black Knight who came in response. Owain wounded him mortally and pursued him to the castle, where the falling portcullis trapped Owain inside. A maiden gave him a ring that concealed him when he hid its stone in his hand, enabling his escape from those who meant to kill him.

The Countess of the Fountain later recognized Owain as the man who had killed her husband. Her people agreed that she should marry an outsider able to defend her earldom, and she married Owain. He then guarded the Fountain with lance and sword, defeating the knights who came there and distributing the value of his victories among his barons and knights. For three years he remained in this role, beloved by his subjects. His departure therefore breaks not only a marriage’s shared life but also a settled public responsibility.

Arthur’s Search and the Parting

After three years without Owain, Arthur lamented that he had lost him and feared that another year would pass without their meeting. Gwalchmai advised against summoning the whole realm: Arthur and his household could determine whether Owain was dead, imprisoned, or alive, and bring him back if possible. Their expedition ended in a fierce encounter between Owain and Gwalchmai, who did not recognize one another until Gwalchmai’s blow displaced Owain’s helmet. Each called the other the victor and refused to accept the other’s arms. Arthur resolved the contest by taking their swords, and Owain embraced him; the assembled host pressed forward to greet him so urgently that people nearly lost their lives in the crush.

The next day Arthur prepared to leave, but Owain protested that this would be an unworthy end to their reunion. He had been preparing a banquet for Arthur, he explained, in expectation that Arthur would seek him. Arthur and his company stayed at the Countess’s castle, where the feast that had taken three years to prepare was consumed over three months. Before leaving, Arthur asked the Countess to let Owain accompany him to the Island of Britain for three months, so that he could present him to the island’s nobles and ladies. She consented, though the separation pained her. The permission was explicit and limited; Owain’s later absence was not.

The Ring and the Breach

Once among his family and friends, Owain stayed three years instead of the agreed three months. The turning point came as he sat at meat in Caerlleon upon Usk. A maiden arrived on a foam-covered bay horse, dressed in yellow satin, and took the ring from his hand. She publicly named him a deceiver, traitor, faithless man, disgraced, and beardless before turning away. The ring’s role had reversed: once a hidden safeguard that allowed Owain to escape death, it now exposed the breach between his past promise and his prolonged absence.

The rebuke brought Owain’s adventure back to mind, and he became sorrowful. After finishing his meal, he went to his lodging and made preparations that night; the next day he did not go to court. Instead, he wandered into distant, uncultivated mountains. The sequence is abrupt: recognition is followed not by a reported attempt to explain himself or return to the Countess, but by withdrawal from the court and from ordinary human company.

Wilderness and Aftermath

Owain remained in the mountains until his clothes were worn out, his body wasted, and his hair grown long. He lived among wild beasts and ate with them until they became familiar with him, but eventually grew too weak to keep their company. Descending into a valley, he reached a park belonging to a widowed Countess. She found him exhausted by the sun and sent a maiden with precious balsam, clothing, and a horse. The maiden poured the balsam over Owain and watched from hiding; when he began to move, he drew the clothes from the saddle, dressed, and mounted with difficulty. His recovery marks the physical consequence of the withdrawal, but the episode as given does not yet narrate his reconciliation with the Countess of the Fountain.

The departure’s central reversal is measured through duration: an invitation to return after three months becomes an absence three years long. Arthur’s reunion banquet briefly restores Owain to fellowship, yet the taken ring makes the neglected relationship impossible to ignore. His retreat into the wilderness turns that failure into a visible collapse of dress, strength, and social life, carrying the separation beyond the court and into the landscape.