Tegau Eurfron: a Cymric Heroine, also known as Tegau Eurvron (Fair of the Golden Breast)

Synonyms: Tegau Eurvron
Cym: Fair, of the Golden Breast

Tegau Eurfron is a Cymric heroine predominantly known from four poems in the Trioedd Ynys Prydein though a figure representing her is also probably represented in early English and French sources. The first of these, triad 66 (Peniarth 47 version) names Tegau Eurfron as one of the 'Three Faithful Wives of the Island of Britain'. The next triad, triad 71 (Peniarth 267 version) names the 'Three Bonds of Enduring Love of the Island of Britain'. The third of these being the bond that Caradog Freichfras son of Llŷr Marini bestowed upon Tegau Eurfron daughter of Nudd Hael king of the North (all of which ocurred at the time of Arthur. The next triad, Triad 88 names Tegau Eurfron as one of the 'Three Splendid Maidens of Arthur's Court'. Finally we have a mention of Tegau in Appendix III of the Trioedd Ynys Prydein which names the 'Thirteen Treasures of The Island of Britain', the fourteenth of which was the 'Mantle of Tegau Eurfron' which 'would not serve for an y woman who had violated her marriage or her virginity'. According to the poem the cloak whould reach to the ground when worn by a faithful woman but would only hang down to the lap of an unfaithful wife.

Given that Tegau was the daughter of Nudd Hael then her parentage, based on the Bonedd y Seint is given by: Tegau Eurfron ferch Nud Hael mab Senyllt mab Kedic mab Dyuyniwal Hen mab Edneuet mab Maxen Wledic and based on both the Harleian Genealogy IV and the Jesus Genealogy XIX is given as Tegau Eurfron merch Nudd Hael mab Senyllt map Dinacat map Tutagual map Eidinet map Anthun map Maxim Guletic. Of course, the roots of these genealogies are patently ridiculous in that Magnus Maximus/Macsen Wledig never had a son in Britain. What the genealogies do is to firmly establish Tegau's father as a man of the 'Old North' just as it helps to establish Arthur's Llys (his Court) as also being in that region. Triad 31 of the Trioedd Ynys Prydein mentions a Dreon mab Nudd who may well represent Tegau's brother. Interestingly no other figure called Tegau is known from the early Cymric sources. The name only starts to become popular again with the work of the bards of the late fourteenth century. Indeed, one of the few early references to Tegeu we have is in the thirteenth century middle-English poem Annote and Johon which contains the following stanze Trewe ase tegeu in tour ase wyrwein in wede which paints both Tegeu and Wyrwein (?Garwen) as paragons of marital virtue. This would certainly fit in with the view of Tegau presented in the Cymric Triads and the likelihood that it is the same Tegeu known from the Cymric sources is confirmed by the mentioning of Caradog four lines later Cud ase cradoc in court carf þe brede.

For further tales that might relate to Tegau we have to turn to Old French sources. Specifically the tales attached to Carados Briebras in the French tradition. The first of these tales comes from the Anglo-Norman poet Robert Biket's Lai du Cor (Lay of the Horn) [MS: Bodleian Library, Oxford, Digby 86 wrirren circa 1150]. In this tale King Mangounz (a name that may represent a Breton and then a Norman corruption of Manawyddan) sends Arthur a drinking horn known as bonoec (which undoubtedly represents the Cymric word bannog [broom] and represents the horn of a yellow ox). Of this horn it is said that no one could drink of it without spilling its contnets if he were a cuckold. Thus, drinking from the horn was one of the many tests of chastity popular in the middle ages. On receiving the cup Arthur challenges the men of his court to drink from it. But none will step forward to take the cup from his hands. Arthur issues his enquiry once again and this time Caradoc's wife exhorts him to be brave and step forwards. Caradoc takes the horn from Arthur's hands and successfully imbibes its contents without spilling a single drop.

The tale above is related to that of the Le Manteau Mal Taillé a short romance dating to the late twelfth century. Here a mantle is used to to test the fidelity of the women of Arthur's court, starting with Gwenhwyfar herself. For all unchaste women the mantle will not cover them, nor will it maintain a single colour. Only for the wife of Carados Briebras can wear the mantle so that it falls to the floor and assumes a single colour about her. Interestingly, these tests (the test of the horn and the test of the mantle) are also named in the English ballad of The Boy and the Mantle to which is added an additial test, variously known as the 'test of the carving kinfe' or the 'test of the boar's head'. There is a link to old Cymric law here, in that one of the punishments for an unchaste woman was to have her crys (her shift) cut short, combining the tests of the kinfe and the mantle. However, Caradog's wife is not named in any of these tales and we can only assume that the woman portrayed as the 'paragon of virtue' is Tegau.

The second tale comes from the Livre de Carados which has survived in the thirteenth-century text which forms the 'First Continuaton' of Chrétien de Troyes' Percival (also known as Conte de Graal. This text, though written in French shows many Celtic properties and may well be based on a Breton version of the original Cymric mythos of Caradog. The relevant portion is the second part of the tale, where the foil of the first half of the tale, Eliavrés the enchanter knight whom Caradog had humiliated and imprisoned.

Unfortunately, the wizard attempts escape and when Caradog attempts to stop him Eliavrés summons a serpent that entwines itself around Caradoc's arm, crippling it and draining his life energy away. Thus was he called Caradog Breifbras (The epithet means 'Short-arm' in French and is an obvious corruption of the original Cymric Breichfras 'Strong-arm'). No one can can remove the serpent until Caradog's friends Sir Cador and his sister Guinier come up with an answer. Caradog is to sit in a tub of vinegar whilst Guinier sits in a tub of milk with her breasts exposed. As the serpent loathed the vinegar it leapt towards Guinier and attached itself to her breast. Cador killed it with a single blow from his sowrd but unfortunately Guinier's nipple was sliced-off in the process [though this is later replaced with a magical gold one]. Thus is Caradog freed from the serpent though his arm is permanently damaged from that day forth. Caradog plans to marry Guinier and King Mangoun of Moraine sends him a drinking horn to expose any infidelity on the part of the wife of he who drinks from it. Caradog takes a draught from the horn and it shows Guinier to be faithful. The tales of Guinier are interesting, especially when compared with Triad 71 which declares Caradog's love for Tegau Eurfron (Eurfron meaning Gold-breast which would be an apposite epithet for Guinier. Indeed, the name of Guinier herself may be derived from the Brythonic Guin which stands for white or fair thus the two women may be one and the same).

None of these tales have been directly preserved in any Cymric text, though the Triads point towards the tale of Caradog's wife/mistress being chaste. The tale of the charming of the serpent from Caradog's arm also explains Tegau's epithet of Eurfrom (golden-breast) and it is quite possible that Guinier represents a Breton redaction of Tegau's name (which literally means 'Fair'). This seems to indicate that the tales surrounding Caradog and his chaste wife came to French tradition from the Cymric, quite possibly via Brittany. The Norman conquest then brought the tales to England. Through the almost random way that the early Cymric texts and tales survived the native legends surrounding Tegau were lost and these tales were only preserved in the French tradition. Close examination of the Cymric texts does reveal one striking allusion. Jesus College Genealogy XXXIII which says of Keneu Menrudd (Ceneu Red-neck) who is the son of Pasgen, son of Urien Rheged of whom it is said a vu neidyr vlvydyn am y vonvgyl (and for a year there was a serpent about his neck), a tale that has also been preserved in the folklore of the Western Highlands. Thus it seems that there was a Celtic folkloric tradition paralleling the French texts making it seem more likely that the tales were originally Brythonic/Cymric. Further Cymirc references to Tegau's mantle come from the sixteenth century or later and it is impossible to say whether these represent the continuation of a native tradition or a re-interpretation of the French Arthurian tales.

Regardless of how the tales evolved it is undeniable that Tegau was considered as a paragon of virtue and that she was the wife of Caradog Feichfras and a member of Arthur's court.

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