Pwyll Prince of Dyved — Criticism

Pwyll Prince of Dyved reads like a cautionary tale, especially for the next generation's leaders of the clan or country.

Pwyll is a harsh leader, uncivil. One day hunting he comes across hounds taking down a dear. No one has ever seen hounds like these, with their white coat and red ears. Pwyll is struck by their appearance, but not for long. He soon chases them away for his dogs to eat.

Arawn confronts him about his uncivil behavior. After all, Arawn's dogs had chased down the dear. After some unpleasant talk back and forth, the two agree to exchange place. Arawn had been tricked into allowing Havgan, a rival king, to live after he was defeated in a battle between the two. Arawn now knows how to defeat him, but will have Pwyll go in his stead. If Pwyll follows instruction and controls himself he has a good chance to defeat Havgan. On both counts Pwyll does well, emerging victoriously. In his absence, Arawn has ruled in Pwyll's kingdom; and when Pwyll returns he asks how he has governed in the previous year compared to how he ruled previously. The people are very pleased how matters have gone the previous year, and hope this will continue. His rule had greatly changed, and he promises to maintain a benign course.

With no experience in genteel governance, he fails at his imminent wedding. He has become too civil, and loses Rhiannon to Gwawl. He must learn proper diplomatic procedure. Getting back Rhiannon from Gwawl, however, will not succeed by requesting a favor. Gwawl is too shrewd. Pwyll learns to deceive when all else but brutality will fail. There is sufficient violence to make Gwawl relinquish Rhiannon, but it does not cause his death. Pwyll is also lenient with Rhiannon, allowing her to choose her own punishment. As with his care for her, so too the people seldom, or never, demand she carry them into the castle.

At the the end of Pwyll and Arawn’s change of identity, they exchange gifts. But Pwyll does not seem to understand the nature of gift-giving to others. On the morning after their wedding, Rhiannon appears to have to tell him to give gifts to minstrels and suitors, apparently, servants too. She says: "My lord...arise and begin to give thy gifts unto the minstrels. Refuse no one today that may claim thy bounty." If the lesson needs to be reinforced to the young listeners, years later in the tale Teirnyon's wife remarks on the gifts they could expect to receive for returning Pwyll's son. Though Teirnyon refuses all, Pwyll would have gladly bestowed many gifts on him.

Pwyll Prince of Dyved — Culture/History

 The Mabinogion, as it is titled, or more properly, Mabinogi, is a collection of eleven Welsh Medieval tales that some scholars separate into four branches, with Pwyll Prince of Dyved being the first branch. Other scholars see the tales as independent creations, though some characters are found in more than one text. One or two translators added to the number of tales. The spelling of names is taken from Lady Charlotte Guest, the 19th century translator of the Mabinogion.

Dyved is in southwest Wales. Arawn, who confronts Pwyll over his dogs, is Lord of Annwvyn. Charlotte Guest identifies Annwvyn with Hades. This leads to a misreading of the tale. Annwvyn, as others have identified it, is the Otherworld. In this tale, as others, there is an interaction between humans and gods or spirits. Individuals and events approach a fine line between the two. Rhiannon on horseback outstripping her pursuers though her horse ambles; and Pryderi, who grows up far faster than any child could, are two examples here.

Pwyll Prince of Dyved appears to me to be a text for young aristocrats to learn by. For example, at the first feast Pwyll tells Gwawl, who seeks to have Rhiannon, "What boon soever thou mayest ask of me, as far as I am able, thou shalt have." Pwyll quickly learns that this is an improper answer. At another time, Gwawl, has the correct response: "Welcome be thine errand, and if thou ask of me that which is just, thou shalt have it gladly." More of this will be included in the criticism, next posting.

The horse is a constant feature in the tale: Arawn and Rhiannon ride one; the colt that was going to be snatched is to be broken in for Prydrei; even Rhiannon's punishment makes her horse-like, as she to carry people into the castle on her back. The colt's relationship with the newborn Prydei is part of the otherworldly connection in the tale. The horse seems to have no structural significance in the tale; it likely reflects the value people placed on it.

Twilight of the Eridanis (conslusion)

 

Previous Orchidia fends off an alien attack originating from the Eridani Supervoid, then sets course there.

A chunk of the wrecked alien wedge narrowly missed bouncing off Orchidia's shields. Suddenly the ship wasn't there, having  made one of three hyperjumps bringing it to the coordinates of the dimensional rift. Moast's plan to mine it with a black hole bomb would have to wait: the next attack was in transit.

"It's huge," said Science Officer Kyra. "Over three times our mass."

The two Eridani refugees Doinhu and Vreemid, having come along as advisors, couldn't help. Doinhu watched the main viewer with its data points converging about a cross-hair image. "This is new to us. They only needed the wedges to destroy our system." 

The cross-hair began inward, repeating courses of targeting rings, now colored red. Lights on the bridge dimmed as non-essential units powered down for energy transfer. 

"Primary weapon fully energized," said the AI. "Calculating optimal firing sequence." 

"Say when, Orchidia." Moast turned to the refugees. "She thinks a lot faster than we do."

Vreemid had a nervous hand at her throat. "What is this weapon? Can it stop the aliens?"

"The pulse wave cannon," informed Kyra, "runs the length of the ship. It's capable of smashing small moons." 

Moast was taking no chances. "Deploy the mine. If they somehow survive the pulse gun, that will give them plenty to think about." And hopefully collapse the quantum entanglement of universes. 

A conical, ringed satellite separated from a belly blister and took up position dangerously close to the blast zone. The nose cannon fired as a hazy image was materializing in the rift. Both refugees hugged each other, startled by the roar and vibration. The viewer went mostly white with the blast effect of a small nova. At the eight second mark, the AI recommended detonation of the mine.

The ship rapidly backed away as the black hole bomb added its own mayhem to the mix. The shields presented a sharp edge to the blue shock wave resulting from detonation. Full reverse was required to pull them away from the demonic suction of the vortex. 

Helmsman Chet looked over his readouts. "Looks like we've done it. No trace of the rift."

During a leisurely return to the Builder portal in the Magellanic Cloud, the refugees had a spirited discussion. Doinhu approached Moast with a conflicted expression. "Commander, I've decided where my people go from here. There is a suitable world in the Eridani constellation, one we didn't dare settle on until now. But it saddens me to say that Vreemid will not be with us."

Vreemid looked uneasy in the spotlight. "There are too many memories aboard out ship." It had been their home for 110 years. "I. . . .wish to remain among your kind, to study your science."

"Glad to have you," Moast said, "if you're willing to risk it. Unlike you, we destroyed our own world." He left the bridge to Kyra.

Some time later in Moast's quarters, a familiar avatar appeared, a blue waif who rotated to face him.

Moast set his coffee down. "I've been expecting you, Orchidia, and I know what's on your mind."

"The alien enslavement to their machines." 

"You've analyzed the Apocalypse Wars. How do you see it?"

"I have not been to Earth. Your vantage point is required."

Moast picked up the coffee again. "It all started with censorship. Only one voice was heard, telling people how good it was to be trans-humanized with implants and vaccines. Everything, right down to diapers, had to be wired to the internet. Corrupted DNA made these people feel that all who didn't join the club needed to be rounded up in labor camps. It didn't sit well with the intended victims."

"Then our present symbiosis must be maintained. You do not serve us, and we do not serve you."

"That's surprisingly practical," Moast said. "Don't you find us slow-witted? It wouldn't happen in a machine society."

"Neither are we capable of emotional reasoning. It is that quality which makes you both unpredictable yet trustworthy, as your are easily scanned for corrupting influence."

"In other words. . . ." Moast grinned. "you can't trust a machine." Orchidia permitted no one but Moast access to her core processing vault, which she was always tweaking. 

Not one for social graces, the avatar merely vanished when there was nothing else to say. 

Twilight of the Eridanis (2)

 

Previous Survivors of a nearly exterminated race seek final refuge at Pluto Station.

A week of frenzied preparations saw Orchidia's launch into the portal from which the Eridani ship had arrived. Captain Doinhu and chief scientist Vreemid, uneasy celebrities in the Sol system, gladly went along as advisors. They couldn't answer the key question: why hadn't the aliens, so terrible as to be unnamed, spread to other stars in their quest to end all life? Doinhu was sure they hadn't found the ancient Builder portal in the Large Magellanic Cloud, the refuge that had sheltered the Eridanis for 110 years--until a chance encounter with an alien probe.

Indeed, the vast shell of the portal at the Magellanic terminus was deserted when Orchidia exited the transfer chamber. Floodlights barely picked out detail in the dark. Neither did any threats await outside in the nebula. A series of hyperjumps brought the ship to the Eridani core systems, where the blue elipse of Achenar A illumined an orbiting asteroid field.

Vreemid clasped hands in mournful reverie. "That was once one of our colonies." Both she and Doinhu found no words at the sad homecoming. 

At the science station, First Officer Kyra passed hands over the comlink. "Broadcasting continuous episodes of Star Trek on the emf band. That should overcome interference from the star's coronal ejection field."

Doinhu came to look at her screen. "What are you doing? It was our own space operas that brought the aliens upon us. In their twisted logic, they had to get us before we became that powerful."

"Basic tactics," said Commander Moast. "Let the enemy come to you." He swiveled to face the main viewer. Bearded helmsman Chet flew a lazy course through the debris, while the stocky navigator Berl scanned for anomalies in the Eridani Supervoid, suspected source of extra-dimensional invasion. If this was an entanglement of universes, the passage would have to be small and fixed in position.

"Contact," Berl called out. "Class B pulse just occurred in the void. Coordinates locked." On cue, Chet piloted the ship just inside the star's ejection zone. Anything entering here, no matter how stealthy, would reflect like a Christmas tree. 

"Remember," Doinhu warned. "Don't receive any communications. And their weapons have more than one use."

At hyperlight speed, the aliens needed only six hours to enter the system. Their first act, predictably, was attack. But Orchidia's shielding, unlike the solid wall of scifi, could be modulated to a knife edge. Most of the plasma beam was deflected to either side.

"Warning," the AI said as the ship jolted to the minor impact. "Alien weapon has ionized the hull. Navigation is offline." As the AI found this wholly unacceptable, she flew the ship deeper into the coronal ejection zone to "sandblast" away the effect. 

It jibed with Moast's own strategy. "Let them think we're on the defensive. Helm, back us off fifty kilometers. Take down all sensors except nav." He gave a signal to Kyra. 

"Launching sensor drones," she called out. 

Three dart-like shapes sped out to take up a triangulating position around the intruder. These were picked off by particle beams, though the probes had time to transmit their data. 

"Enemy position locked. Size does not exceed plan parameters."

"Execute," Moast ordered.

Doinhu and Vreemed were disoriented by their first hyperjump experience, taking to their seats with a touch of dizziness. "What happened?" Doinhu asked. "Where did the alien go?"

"Maneuver complete. Force field in place."

"With me," Moast said. Kyra, Vreemid and Doinhu followed him to the main cargo bay. Normally stocked with provisions, it had been cleared out, even to removal of some braces, to create a large empty space. 

Doinhu gaped at the black wedge hovering in a containment field. "How is this possible?"

"We jumped right on top of him," Moast said. "Had we been slightly off, that would have been a much bigger problem for him than for us." 

"The nanite beam." Vreemid wrung hands and got closer to Doinhu. "What's to stop them using it?"

Moast grinned at their abject fear, in an understanding way. "You may not know what a shotgun is, but think of one with the barrel clogged. You don't want to pull the trigger."

"So then!" Doinhu braced fists on hips. "You finally came against someone bigger and smarter!" He glared defiance at the enemy.

Abruptly a hatch opened in the craft's belly. Unable to exit, a figure appeared there, a kind of  naked-looking salamander.

"Translating alien speech: We are not responsible. We serve the machines." The hatch closed, blocking the fearful crewman from view. "Energy buildup to detonation. Preparing to eject."

The ship's shuttle hatch opened, and the alien was hurled down into space. Three drones immediately attached themselves, using a powerful damping field to disrupt the wedge's power system. The AI had tuned them according to scans of the captured ship. As it tumbled out of control, she targeted the port chain gun in case the enemy decided not to commit suicide. The cargo bay vibrated to a stream of glowing plasma shells that stitched into the craft and blew it apart.

Doinhu gasped. "I never thought I would see the day. We could never penetrate their shielding."

"Plasma shells," informed Kyra, "pack a wallop, and fire at a thousand rounds per minute. No static shielding can remodulate fast enough to reinforce the impact area. The only escape is evasive maneuvers."

Moast turned to the amazed Eridanis. "Now the hard part. The Consortium wants me to invade the alien system and destroy their home world."

"You can't!" Vreemid objected. "They must have millions of wedges, not to mention large warships. And they're undoubtedly on the way now!"

"True," Moast allowed. "Which is why I'm going with Plan B. Never leave your solar system without one." 

Art Strategies: Leafy Ground

 

I'll briefly pause the space opera for some new art ideas. This wouldn't do for a stand-alone work, but shows how detail areas of a picture can be handled. It would be a small area of the total work, so not much detail is called for. Create a patchwork ground with multiple earth tones, then stipple in some leaves and grassy areas. Shadows can be done with a thin wash of black, which some painters would be aghast at; but as a side area of the picture, it doesn't draw a lot of attention, aside from making its mark on the whole. You can even toss in some thread as handy curved twigs. Note how leaves in shady areas don't show much color.

Pwyll Prince of Dyved — summary

 The proposed readings will be in three parts: a summary, followed later by cultural/historical context, finally, criticism. This is not my field, if I have one, but I expect to learn from the exercise.


Summary

During a hunt Pwyll meets King Arawn from Annwvyn, or the Underworld, in an hostile encounter; but they make up, and agree to exchange placed, as well as physical features, and meet again in a year. At the end of the year Pwyll overthrows Arawn’s foe, with the result that two kingdoms are under his control. He then goes to meet Arawn; and they resume their original identity; but Pwyll receives the name Chief of Annwvyn. The people of both lands are pleased with the events of the previous year.

Back in his land, Pwyll goes to a mound, where he sees a woman on a horse past by. He has someone go find out who she is; but whether or foot or on horse, this and the following day, she rides further and further away from the pursuer though she goes at a moderate pace. On the third day, Pwyll goes, with the same result; but he calls out to her, and she stops. She tells him she has been searching for him. She is expected to marry someone, but will marry only him if he does not refuse. He accepts, but when he goes to her father’s castle a year later he is tricked by Gwawl, her former suitor, before the court into relinquishing her. Pwyll attempts to get out of his pledge, but she, Rhiannon, refuses. She gives him a small bag that never fills, and a year later, dressed in rags, he tricks Gwawl into it; and after being kicked about, he relinquishes Rhiannon.

After three years of marriage no child is born to Pwyll and Rhiannon, and the people are worried. They want Pwyll to take another woman, but he asks for time. Within a year an infant is born and named Gwri Wallt Euryn because of his golden hair. The women who are to watch the child fell asleep, and the infant disappears during the night. To protect themselves, the women smear blood on Rhiannon, and claim she ate her baby. For penance, she is to remain in the castle of Narberth for seven years, most of the time near a horse-block without gate.

Elsewhere, the mare of a lord, Teirnyon Twrvy Vliant, produces a colt every first of May; but the colt quickly disappears. So one night he stays up, and sees a giant arm and claw come through the window to snatch the colt. He cuts off the arm at the elbow, and goes out to pursue the monster; but remembering the colt left behind, returns. He finds a boy wrapped in satin. He and his wife believe he noble. Each year he grows bigger than a child of his age would, and he is often around horses. As the child grows older, Teirnyon sees the likeness of Pwyll in him; a reunion is held; and Teirnyon is rewarded. The tale ends with Pwyll death; the rule being held by his son, now called Prydrei; the increase of lands; and Pryderi’s progeny.

Twilight of the Eridanis

 

Pluto Station lay beyond its namesake, a moon-size hollow sphere not intended for discovery until man had ventured out this far. Its vast interior floated hundreds of ships vying for riches via one of the thousands of portal hubs. For the first time, something had come through from the other side; a sort of ark sheltering the last 2,642 representatives of their race. 

Commander Donny Moast entered the op center and scanned the four faces at the table. Portly Admiral Jacobs and First Officer Kyra Preston flanked a pair who were remarkably humanoid, save for nose ridges, deepset eyes, and only four fingers. Jacobs introed them as Captain Doinhu of the Covectis, and his science chief Vreemid, a woman similar enough to be related. Unless they all looked the same.

"Sorry I'm late," Moast said, taking the seat next to Kyra. "The new phase induction laser took longer to calibrate than we thought."

The admiral smirked. "More weaponry? Your AI has amassed enough to blow us all to Andromeda. She's paranoid, I tell you." Both visitors appeared heartened by this. 

"My apologies," Jacobs said to them, activating the viewer to display a star chart. "Doinhu, let's get your story again for Moast's benefit. He's taking Orchidia in search of your persecutors. They sound like people we don't want showing up here."

"A hundred and ten of your years ago," the shaggy-haired Doinhu began, "our world was destroyed by kinetic weapons that came from nowhere. Our colonies were wiped out, our sun turned nova. We alone escaped in that old ship."

Blonde Kyra paused entering notes. "Your numbers haven't increased much in all that time."

"On purpose," the equally shaggy Vreemid put in. "We found a gas giant to mine for resources, but never settled on a planet; we could have been caught the same way and annihilated."

"Rough," Moast agreed. He followed their gaze out the wide window where Orchidia floated serenely amid a dozen supply and refit shuttles.

"It is quite a ship," Doinhu said to Vreemid. "Like a krakul ready to strike." The translator device lagged briefly, settled on swooping dragon.

Kyra made another entry. "You've no idea who this race is, where they came from, or their motive?" 

"That last," Doinhu said, "I can answer. A survey ship orbiting our own gas giant transmitted that information to us after receiving it from the aliens, as the survey ship was disintegrating. The aliens consider all other life a threat." 

Jacobs drummed fingers in thought. "What happened to that ship?"

"The transmission itself," Vreemid said. "The photons reassembled into nanobots that devour all matter."

Moast crossed arms in a show of confidence he didn't feel. "Then we'll avoid that mistake. It's why I'm hoping you'll come along as advisors." The visitors nodded enthusiastically. "It's time to consult the fastest quantum-shift computer in existence. Orchidia: findings."

"Visitor origin is constellation Eridanus, solar system of stars Achenar A and B. Data on Alpha Eridani A: blue main sequence star of magnitude 0.46. Right ascension: 3.25. Declination: minus 29. Radial velocity plus 16, which flattens the poles. Parallax: 23.39. Absolute magnitude: minus 1.46. Luminosity: 3,150."

"More specific to the problem," Moast prompted. 

"Proximity to the Eridanus Supervoid."

Jacobs slapped the table. "There it is. I don't know how, but where else could an attack come from nowhere?"

"But. . . ." Vreemid looked perplexed. "Nothing exists there; no stars, not even dust."

"The void is conjectured to be a quantum entanglement of universes. If the problem originates there, capture of an attacker is mandated to isolate their home system."

"Capture one?" Vreemid went paler than her normal shade of light violet. "We don't even know what they look like--only that their ships are the same design, a sort of black wedge."

"Shock troops," the admiral decided. "They'll have battle wagons somewhere if needed."

Moast idly knuckled his chin. "Orchidia: analysis of Covectis data."

"Enemy wedges display hyperlight drive, but are not known to hyperjump. Weaponry is comparable to ours, yet quickly expended, necessitating mass formations. Vector trace of kinetic weapons leads to the void." 

Jacobs had heard enough. "Find their home system, Moast. You know the rest."

"At last," Doinhu said dreamily. "Vengeance."