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Amaethon
A Brythonic and Cymric god: The Great Farmer, The Great Husbander
This deity is known from from the Welsh Triad of Preiddeu Annwfn (the Spoils of Annwfn) and the Mabinogi of Culhwch and Olwen. He is the great Cymric (Welsh) farmer deity/god of agriculture |
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Cym: The Great Husbander
The Cymric god of agriculture whose name literally means ‘The Great Husbander’ amaeth being the modern Cymric word for farmer. Amaeth is also derived from the root maeth which means ‘nourishment’ so that amaeth literally means ‘creator of nourishment’. He is part of a triplicity of deities, each the sons of the mother goddess Dôn. His brothers being Gofannon (Great Smith) and Gwydion (Great Wizard or Great Druid [literally Great of Knowledge]).
Amaethon was held to be a master mage like his other brother, Gwydion. Indeed, he is one of the few beings who is allowed into the netherworld realm of Annwfn without invitation, and then to return unharmed.
Amaethon was one of the few beings, mortal or deity, who could enter the otherworldly realm of Annwfn and return unhindered and unchanged. However, on one of his sojourns in bro Annwfn he stole a sacred dog, a lapwing and a roebuck. This was the indirect cause of one of the most epic events in Cymric mythology, the Câd Goddeu, the Battle of the Trees as recorded in Llyfr Taliesin.
He was also encouraged to earn the hand of Olwen, for his fellow gods believed that he was the only entity capable of achieving the monumental feats required to win her hand. He declined, however, leaving the field clear fro Culhwch to woo her.
Amaethon also crops-up again in the tale of Culhwch ac Olwen where one of the tasks appointed to Culhwch is to plough, clear, seed and harvest a hill all in one day.
In Culhwch ac Olwen one of the tasks that Ysbaddaden Pencawr sets Culhwch the task of ploughing, clearing, seeding and harvesting a hill all in one day.
'Note, dost thou see that hill yonder?' Yspadadden enquired of Culhwch. 'I see it,' Culhwch responded.
'I require that it be rooted up and that the stumps be burned on the face of the land for manure. It should be ploughed in the morning and must ripen before the dew has left the land. From the harvested grain will I make food and liquor fit for thy wedding with my daughter. And all this should be accomplished within a day.'
'All this will be easy to accomplish, thou thou may think it is not,' responded Culhwch.
'Though this might be easy for thee, there is that which will not be so easy,' countered Yspydadden. 'For no husbandman can till or prepare this land, so wild is it, save Amaethon mab Dôn, and he will not come with thee of his own will nor can he be compelled to come.'
'All this will be easy to accomplish, thou thou may think it is not,' responded Culhwch once more.
'Though this might be easy for thee, there is that which will not be so easy. For Gofannon mab Dôn will need to come to the hill to eliminate the iron. He will not work for of his own good will except for a lawful king and you will not be able to compel him.'
This task is accomplished, but the action occurs off-stage as the main tale moves to the far more exciting pursuit for the Twrch Trwyth. There may be a lost fragment of the tale relating to how the hill was ploughed and seeded and this may have to do with Amaethon's power over the seasons.
A legend I heard as a child tells of the gods gaining their portion from the Cauldron of Nudd. As his gift Amaethon was gifted the nawnos olau the ‘nine light nights’ at the end of August. These were late summer nights where the moon shone brighter and longer than usual, giving longer working hours for the harvest to be gathered.
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