The Mabinogion Vol. 1 | Page 6

bright.
And when Owain looked at the tree, there was not one leaf upon it. And
immediately the birds came, and settled upon the tree, and sang. And
when their song was most pleasing to Owain, he beheld a Knight
coming towards him through the valley, and he prepared to receive him;
and encountered him violently. Having broken both their lances, they
drew their swords, and fought blade to blade. Then Owain struck the
Knight a blow through his helmet, head piece and visor, and through
the skin, and the flesh, and the bone, until it wounded the very brain.
Then the black Knight felt that he had received a mortal wound, upon
which he turned his horse's head, and fled. And Owain pursued him,
and followed close upon him, although he was not near enough to
strike him with his sword. Thereupon Owain descried a vast and
resplendent Castle. And they came to the Castle gate. And the black
Knight was allowed to enter, and the portcullis was let fall upon Owain;
and it struck his horse behind the saddle, and cut him in two, and
carried away the rowels of the spurs that were upon Owain's heels. And
the portcullis descended to the floor. And the rowels of the spurs and

part of the horse were without, and Owain, with the other part of the
horse remained between the two gates, and the inner gate was closed,
so that Owain could not go thence; and Owain was in a perplexing
situation. And while he was in this state, he could see through an
aperture in the gate, a street facing him, with a row of houses on each
side. And he beheld a maiden, with yellow curling hair, and a frontlet
of gold upon her head; and she was clad in a dress of yellow satin, and
on her feet were shoes of variegated leather. And she approached the
gate, and desired that it should be opened. "Heaven knows, Lady," said
Owain, "it is no more possible for me to open to thee from hence, than
it is for thee to set me free." "Truly," said the damsel, "it is very sad
that thou canst not be released, and every woman ought to succour thee,
for I never saw one more faithful in the service of ladies than thou. As a
friend thou art the most sincere, and as a lover the most devoted.
Therefore," quoth she, "whatever is in my power to do for thy release, I
will do it. Take this ring and put it on thy finger, with the stone inside
thy hand; and close thy hand upon the stone. And as long as thou
concealest it, it will conceal thee. When they have consulted together,
they will come forth to fetch thee, in order to put thee to death; {27}
and they will be much grieved that they cannot find thee. And I will
await thee on the horseblock yonder; and thou wilt be able to see me,
though I cannot see thee; therefore come and place thy hand upon my
shoulder, that I may know that thou art near me. And by the way that I
go hence, do thou accompany me."
Then she went away from Owain, and he did all that the maiden had
told him. And the people of the Castle came to seek Owain, to put him
to death, and when they found nothing but the half of his horse, they
were sorely grieved.
And Owain vanished from among them, and went to the maiden, and
placed his hand upon her shoulder, whereupon she set off, and Owain
followed her, until they came to the door of a large and beautiful
chamber, and the maiden opened it, and they went in, and closed the
door. And Owain looked around the chamber, and behold there was not
even a single nail in it, that was not painted with gorgeous colours; and
there was not a single panel, that had not sundry images {28} in gold

portrayed upon it.
The maiden kindled a fire, and took water in a silver bowl, and put a
towel of white linen on her shoulder, and gave Owain water to wash.
Then she placed before him a silver table, inlaid with gold; upon which
was a cloth of yellow linen; and she brought him food. And of a truth,
Owain never saw any kind of meat that was not there in abundance, but
it was better cooked there, than he ever found it in any other place. Nor
did he ever see so excellent a display of meat and drink as there. And
there was not one vessel from which he was served, that was not of
gold, or of silver. And Owain ate and drank, until