Rhudda Gawr: a Cymric Giant (The Red Giant)

Synonyms: Rhita Gawr, Rhitta
Cym: The Red Giant

Rhudda Gawr is a figure known from a just-so story explaining the naming of Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon). The tale of Rhudda Gawr, is given as an adjunct to the tale of the transformation of Nyniaw and Peibiaw into oxen as related in the notes to Taliesin Williams' poem Colyn Dolphyn>. Taliesin Williams, of course, is the son of Iolo Marogannwg and as such the tale could be considered suspect (indeed, Iolo himself names Nyniaw and Peibiaw as the two oxen used by Hu Gadarn in pulling the addanc from the lake). In this instance though the tale of Nyniaw and Peibiaw seems to be a genuine folk tale and a fuller account is given by Gwyn Jones in his book Welsh Legends and Folk Tales. The main protagonist of the tale is a figure known as Rhita Gawr (Rhita the Giant) who was rendered into English as Rhitta by Charlotte Guest. In modern Cymric Rhita looks like a very strange name and may represent a name that survived the orthograpic changes where terminal the terminal 't' in Middle Cymric became a 'd'. Also, in Northern Cymric the 'i' would probably have become the 'u' vowel sound which is found almost nowhere else. This would give Rhuda, but this looks and sounds even odder and in all likelihood the 'd' occurrring before a terminal vowel would have softened to a 'dd', giving Rhudda, a name which I will use here.

he full tale can be seen here: The Legend of Rhudda, Gawr but to summarize: The tales starts with an argument between Nyniaw and Peibiaw as to who owns the best animals and the best lands of the two of them. Their boasting escalates until Nyniaw claims the expanse of heaven as his own fields. But Peibiaw seen the stars and galaxies as his own sheep gazing free upon Nyniaw's fields. They come to blows until there is all-out war between them.

Tales of these two kings' folly eventually reaches Rhudda, ruler of North Wales, and he berates the folly of the two kings, saying: 'surely they know that the grazing rights of the firmament are mine!'. Readying hos own army he marches on the two foolish kings and easily subdues the remnants of their armies. Then he marked his disapproval of their presumption by removing their beards all in one piece and from these he fashioned a cap for himself. This done he wondered out that night to number his sheep up in the firmament. The matter might have ended there had not the remainint 26 kings of Britain not taken offence at this and assembling their armies marched on Rhudda. He defeated their armies easily and had the twenty-six kings play homage to him and he removed all their beards and had them stitched together as a cape for his shoulders and when this was done he went out that night to count his kine in the firmament.

Again, matters might have ended there had not the rulers of the neighbouring countries heard of the disgrace inflicted on the disbearded kings of Britain. They feared that unless they stopped him Rhudda would not leave a single beard untouched across the entirery of their realms. 'Besides,' the most level-headed of them would add 'he is infringing upon our grazing rights in the firmament.' Thus they assembled their armies and marched on Rhudda but once more the giant and his forces defeated them easily. Thus he claimed another field and removed the beards and had them stitched into a mantle that extended from his shoulders to his heels. Then he drove the men out of his earthly fields and wrapping his new cloak about him to keep warm he walked his fields that moonlit night to oersee his golden shepherdess.

Once more, matters would have ended here had not Rhudda heard tales of a new young king to the south whose name was Arthur. Having attained the beards of all the other kings Rhudda could not rest until he had gained Arthur's beard as well. 'After all,' he convinced himself, 'if he keeps his beard he may well become as arrogant as Nyniaw or as daft as Peibiaw. It is the least I can do to preserve him from such a fate. Thus he assembled his forces and marched to where Arthur resided. Envoys were sent, who demanded Arthur's beard but Arthur refused and Rhudda marched towards him. The two great armies faced one another and messeners were sent betweeen them. Arthur walked calmly towards Rhudda and with a confident voice he said: 'you can see that my beard is still young in its growth and from the wear in your mantle I see that it will not suffice as a patch. Still, I know of one beard that will serve your purposes.' This beard, of course, was Rhudda's own. Rhudda would have none of this and the armies advanced but the advance of Arthur's forces was too awe-inspiring and Rhudda's men were forced to fall back in retreat. Humbled, Rhudda was forced to shear his own beard and sew it into his mantle of beards. Thus did Rhudda the Giant return to his own realm much humbled in stature but much wiser in knowlege. And to the end of his days he wore the mantle of bears, now become the badge of his servitude to Arthur and at the lowermost hem of this was his own beard, which had once been thick an yellow-white and this is why, when the snow falls thickly on a winter's night it is said that it falls 'mor drwchus a barf Rhudda' (as thick as Rhitta's beard). And if any asks of the origin of this saying simply relate to them this tale.

There is a variant to the tale where Arthur's forces march up to Rhudda's realm and there defeat his armies, slaying the giant (a folk-tale that falls into the 'Arthur the giant slayer' type). Arthur commands that a cairn be build over his body which forms Gwyddfa Rhudda (Rhita's Cairn). Over the intervening centuries, however, the name of Rhudda was forgotten and Gwyddfa Rhudda became known simply as Yr Wyddfa (The Cairn) which is the original Cymric name for Snowdon.

The giant's name is undoubtedly derived from the reconstructed proto-Celtic root *roudo-/*rowdo- (red), which yields the Middle Cymric rhudd. Thus Rhudda Gawr's name can be interpreted literally as: 'The Giant Who is Red' or, more figuratively, 'The Red Giant'.

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