This mantle, called Gwenn, also appears in The Dream of Rhonabwy. Peredur encounters an enchanted gwyddbwyll board in his tale, and magic chessboards of this nature appear in Chrétien’s Perceval, the Vulgate Lancelot, and Vostaert’s Roman van Walewein. Gwyddbwyll is a Welsh game analogous to chess.

The Gwyddbwyll Board of Gwenddolau son of Ceidio.This dish has also been suggested as an origin for the Grail, which has a similar ability in the First Continuation of Chrétien’s Perceval. It would produce whatever food its owner desired. Padarn’s hagiography contains an Arthruian episode. This ability is shared by the many magic chastity mantles in Arthurian legend, and it echoes in the name of the Knight of the Ill-Fitting Coat. It would fit a nobly-born man, but would not fit a churl.

This cauldron and others of its kind (appearing in The Spoils of Annwn and Branwen) have been seen as an origin for the Grail, to which Robert de Boron gives the ability to divide the pure from the perfidious.Ī brave man who sharpened his sword on the stone would be able to slay his enemy with one blow, but a coward would get no use from it. The cauldron was thus used to separate heroes from knaves.In Culhwch and Olwen, Arthur sacks Ireland and returns to Britain with the cauldron, full of Ireland’s treasure. Meat intended for a brave man would boil in the cauldron, but meat to be fed to a coward would not. The knife had the marvellous property to serve twenty-four men at once with meat. It would produce any horse that its owner desired to ride.Ī Druidic sacrificial knife owned by Llawfrodedd the Horseman. It could instantly transport its rider to his desired location, owned by Morgan Mwynfawr. Loomis saw this horn as one of the origins of the Grail, and thought that cor benoit (“blessed horn”) was the origin of Corbenic (Carbonek), the Grail castle in the Vulgate Queste del Saint Graal.Ī magical form of transport, described as either a chair or a car. The (Drinking) Horn of King Bran (Galad) the BlessedĪ man drinking from it would find that it contained any drink that he desired.This food-producing ability is shared with other treasures. It could multiply one man’s meal into enough food for a hundred men. The Hamper of Gwyddno (Garanhir) Long-Shank.Rhydderch appears as Merlin’s master in Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Vita Merlini. Merlin was supposed to have procured these from their owners and taken them to his abode of glass.Ī sword belonging to Rhydderch the Generous (Hael). The list reflects elements of original Celtic tales as well as the influence of medieval romances imported into Wales from the continent. Some of them suggest themes in Arthurian literature, though only one names Arthur directly. Thirteen magical artifacts mentioned in Welsh manuscripts. Thirteen Treasures of the Isle of Britain, Tri Thlws ar Ddeg Ynys Brydain/Prydain

Thirteen treasures