Twrch Trwyth

Twrch Trwyth is a king transformed into a boar for his sins, a supernatural quarry whose pursuit tests the reach of Arthur’s power without ending in his capture or death. His comb, razor, and scissors are the objects required to arrange Yspaddaden Penkawr’s hair, but obtaining them means confronting a being who devastates whole regions, resists successive hunting parties, and can only be driven from place to place at great cost.

Identity and transformation

Twrch Trwyth’s defining history is disclosed during the hunt: he was once a king, and God transformed him into a swine for his sins. The explanation gives the pursuit a moral dimension, but it does not make the boar an ordinary animal or an easy target. He is powerful enough to withstand Arthur’s forces, and his young pigs accompany him in the campaign. His speech, delivered through Grugyn Gwrych Ereint, makes clear that the transformed company regards its condition as a punishment already suffered; it refuses to cooperate with Arthur.

His animal form also determines the shape of the task. Yspaddaden Penkawr says that no comb or scissors in the world can arrange his hair except the objects held between Twrch Trwyth’s ears. These are not offered freely, and Yspaddaden warns that they cannot be taken by compulsion. The requirement turns a grooming implement into the objective of an armed hunt: the task can be completed only by approaching the boar closely enough to seize the objects he carries.

The hunt’s indispensable allies

Twrch Trwyth is introduced not as a quarry that any skilled pack can bring down, but as the center of a chain of difficult requirements. The hunt calls for specialized dogs, handlers, horses, and Arthur and his companions. Mabon son of Modron is said to be the only huntsman able to hunt with the necessary dog; he was taken from his mother when three nights old, and no one knows where he is or whether he lives. His whereabouts become a separate search. Gwrhyr Gwalstawt Ieithoedd and Eidoel join that search, and the Ousel of Cilgwri, though unable to say where Mabon is, directs Arthur’s embassy toward older animals. The missing huntsman is thus one of the human obstacles that must be overcome before the larger hunt can proceed.

Other conditions extend the network of dependencies. Garselit the Gwyddelian is named as chief huntsman of Ireland and indispensable to the chase. Gwyn ap Nudd, placed over the brood of devils in Annwn, is also required, though the account says he cannot be spared from his charge. Arthur himself and his companions are specified as necessary participants. The list makes the hunt collective rather than a feat of individual strength: its success depends on assembling a remarkable company, and even that company cannot guarantee that Twrch Trwyth will be killed.

Earlier pursuit and the campaign in Ireland

After the killing of Yskithyrwyn Benbaedd, Arthur’s host goes to Gelli Wic. Menw is sent to confirm that the precious objects are still between Twrch Trwyth’s ears, since there would be no reason to confront him otherwise. The boar is in Ireland, where he has already laid waste to a third of the country. Menw takes the form of a bird and tries to snatch an object from the boar’s lair, but gets only a bristle. Twrch Trwyth rises and shakes himself, and some of his venom falls upon Menw, who is never well afterward. This failed reconnaissance establishes both the danger of approaching the quarry and the persistence of the objects as the hunt’s goal.

Arthur then gathers warriors from the three Islands of Britain and the neighboring islands, as well as from France, Armorica, Normandy, and the Summer Country. The saints of Ireland ask for his protection when he lands; he grants it, receives their blessing, and is supplied with provisions by the people. At Esgeir Oervel, where Twrch Trwyth is with his seven young pigs, the dogs are loosed against him. The Irish fight him until evening, but he lays waste to a fifth of Ireland that day. The following day Arthur’s household fights him without gaining an advantage. Arthur then faces the boar himself for nine nights and nine days, yet does not kill even one of the young pigs.

Gwrhyr attempts to speak with the boar by taking a bird’s form and landing above his lair. Grugyn Gwrych Ereint answers for the group; his bristles are like silver wire and leave a glittering trace wherever he goes. Gwrhyr explains that Arthur seeks the comb, razor, and scissors. Grugyn refuses, insisting that Arthur will never have the objects unless he first takes Twrch Trwyth’s life, and announces that the boar and his company will go to Arthur’s country to cause as much harm as they can. The exchange makes the stakes explicit: the hunt is not merely a retrieval mission, because the quarry intends to carry the conflict into Arthur’s lands.

Flight through Wales and the cost of the chase

Twrch Trwyth and his young pigs cross the sea toward Wales, with Arthur’s company pursuing them in Prydwen. The boar lands at Porth Cleis in Dyved, while Arthur reaches Mynyw. By the time Arthur catches up, Twrch Trwyth and his company have passed on after killing people and cattle at Aber Gleddyf and killing the cattle of Kynnwas Kwrr y Vagyl. The pursuit follows them toward Preseleu, where Arthur deploys hunters and dogs in several groups around the Nyver; the three sons of Cleddyf Divwlch, already renowned for their part in killing Yskithyrwyn Benbaedd, join the advance toward Cwm Kerwyn.

At Cwm Kerwyn, Twrch Trwyth makes a stand and kills Arthur’s champions. Four are named first: Gwarthegyd the son of Kaw, Tarawc of Allt Clwyd, Rheidwn the son of Eli Atver, and Iscovan Hael. He stands again in the same place and kills four more, among them Gwydre, Arthur’s son, and Garselit the Gwyddelian; the account also says that Twrch Trwyth is wounded. Before dawn the next morning he kills Huandaw, Gogigwr, and Penpingon, attendants of Glewlwyd Gavaelvawr, as well as many other men and Gwlydyn Saer, Arthur’s chief architect. The hunt’s cost is therefore measured not only in the country damaged along the route, but in the loss of named members of Arthur’s company.

The objects recovered; Twrch Trwyth escapes

The final struggle over the objects takes place in the River Severn. Mabon son of Modron rides up on one side and takes the razor; Kyledyr Wyllt comes on the other side and takes the scissors. Twrch Trwyth regains the shore before they can obtain the comb, and from then on no dog, person, or horse can overtake him until he reaches Cornwall. The attempt also costs lives: Kacmwri is dragged into the deep by two millstones, and Osla Kyllellvawr’s water-filled sheath pulls him under as the men try to draw him out.

Arthur and his host pursue Twrch Trwyth into Cornwall. The narrative says that the trouble involved in obtaining the comb surpasses the earlier difficulties, but that, after further obstacles, the comb is finally secured. Arthur’s company then drives the boar straight into the deep sea. His destination after that is unknown, and the account says that he is never heard of again; Aned and Aethlem disappear with him. Arthur goes to Gelli Wic to rest after the exertion. The outcome is a qualified victory: the required objects are recovered and the task can be completed, but Twrch Trwyth is not slain, and the losses and destruction incurred during the hunt remain part of its result.

Narrative role

Twrch Trwyth binds a seemingly small requirement—the tools needed to arrange Yspaddaden Penkawr’s hair—to an expanding series of alliances, searches, and armed encounters. The repeated obstacles make the hunt cumulative: each required hunter, animal, or resource reveals another dependency, while the boar’s movement repeatedly enlarges the scale of the danger. The story also distinguishes possession of the prize from victory over its bearer. Arthur’s company succeeds in taking the comb, razor, and scissors, but the former king escapes the final pursuit, leaving the hunt resolved as a task and unresolved as a confrontation.