Rydym ni’n gorffen trafod y chwedl ‘Culhwch ac Olwen’ yn y bennod hon, gan ddechrau gyda’r chwech arwr y mae Arthur yn eu dewis i helpu Culhwch gael hyd i ferch Ysbaddaden Pencawr. (Ac felly, ynghyd â’r darpar briodfab ei hun, dyma fersiwn Cymraeg canoloesol o’r ‘Saith Samauri’ neu’r ‘Magnificent Seven’!)

Mae Olwen yn ymddangos o’r diwedd – a chawn ddisgrifiad trawiadol a chofiadwy ohoni – ac wedyn mae’n rhaid i’r saith wynebu’r Pencawr ei hun. Ac mae’n rhaid iddynt gyflawni llwyth o wahanol dasgiau – pob un yn naturiaeth ynddi’i hun – cyn y câi Culhwch briodi Olwen, ac byddai’n rhaid troi at Arthur a’i arwyr am gymorth eto er mwyn eu cyflawni. Ceir yma anturiaethau lu, felly, ond ceir hefyd hiwmor grotésg a myfyrdodau dwys am y berthynas rhwng pobl a byd natur.

Winning Olwen

We finishing discussing the tale ‘Culhwch and Olwen’ in this episode, starting with the six heroes whom Arthur choses to help Culhwch find the daughter of Ysbaddaden Chief of Giants. (And thus, along with the would-be bridegroom himself, here’s a medieval Welsh version of the ‘Seven Samauri’ or ‘The Magnificent Seven’!) Olwen appears finally – and we get a striking and memorable description of her – and then the seven must face the Chief of Giants himself. And they have to fulfil a great number of various tasks – each one an adventure in itself – before Culhwch can marry Olwen, and he’ll have to turn to Arthur and his heroes for more help in order to accomplish it all. So numerous adventures are to be had here, but also grotesque humour and deep meditations on the relationship between people and the world of nature.

Cyflwynwyd gan: Yr Athro Jerry Hunter a'r Athro Richard Wyn Jones

Cynhyrchwyd gan: Richard Martin

Cerddoriaeth: Might Have Done gan The Molenes

Dilynwch ni ar Trydar: http://www.twitter.com/YrHenIaith

Tanysgrifwch yn eich hoff ap podlediadau neu ar YouTube i derbyn y pennod nesaf ar cyhoeddiad.

Darllen pellach: / Further Reading:

Rachel Bromwich a D. Simon Evans (goln.), Culhwch ac Olwen (Caerdydd: Gwasg Prifysgol Cymru, 2012).

Dafydd Ifans a Rhiannon Ifans, Y Mabinogion[:] Diweddariad (Llandysul: Gwasg Gomer, 1980)