The Story of Llew & Blodeuedd:
(according to Kiddoh)

Although the circumstances surrounding Llew�s birth were supernatural Aranrhod, his mother, despised Llew. His birth proved that she was not a maiden, thus causing her much disgrace. She put a curse on Llew saying that he would not have a name until she gave him one. Gwydion raised Llew and taught him everything he needed to know. Llew got his name when Gwydion tricked Aranrhod into naming Llew. Gwydion disguised himself and Llew as shoemakers. Gwydion told Aranrhod that Llew had not been named, and she named him. This enraged Aranrhod, and she placed another curse on Llew. This time, Llew was not to have his own set of armor and a weapon until she gave it to him.

Gwydion stepped in again, he brought Llew to Aranrhod dressed as bards and they entertained her. Later that night, Gwydion put a spell over the land making it seem as if there was a large army approaching. Aranrhod begged Gwydion to defend her. He agreed on one circumstance, Ararhod had to give Llew a set of armor and a weapon because he didn�t have any. She did so and Gwydion broke his spell over the land. This aggravated Aranrhod further and she put her final curse on Llew. She said that Llew would never marry a woman of any species living on earth at that time. So, Gwydion brought Llew to complain to Math(the king). Math decided that he would make a wife for Llew out of flowers (broom, meadow sweet, and oak). They named the woman Blodeuedd, and she was then married to Llew.

One day Llew went to see Math and while he was away Blodeuedd saw a cute hunter, Gronw. She offered to keep him overnight and he accepted. She fell in love with him immediately and Gronw stayed with her for 3 days before he left. They began to figure out how to get rid of Llew so they could be together, Blodeuedd would bug Llew acting concerned & find out how to kill Llew. Llew gave in and told her that he could only be killed with a spear that was made over one year and work on the spear could only be done on sabbats. He continued to say that he could only be killed if he was in a place that wasn�t inside, nor outside, near a riverbank, with one foot on a goat and the other on a tub. Blodeuedd sent word to Gronw, and one year later Blodeuedd started bugging Llew about it again. Llew got tired of her whining and decided to prove that he wouldn�t be killed. He had it all set up and as he stood with one foot on the side of a tub and the other foot on the goat Gronw stabbed him with the spear. Llew let out one scream, turned into an eagle and flew off.

When Gwydion heard about what happened he started looking for Llew. One day he followed a pig to the base of a tree. He quickly noticed that pieces of flesh were falling from a branch. He looked up and saw an eagle, Llew. He coaxed Llew down from the tree by saying a poem. After each verse of the poem Llew came down one branch. It took him three verses to get Llew out of the tree. Once Llew was out of the tree Gwydion Turned Llew into a human, and healed him.

After Llew was healthy he went home. Llew killed Gronw the same way that Gronw tried to kill him, with one exception Gronw begged Llew to put a boulder between them. Llew threw the spear so hard that he made a hole in the boulder and impaled Gronw. When Blodeuedd heard of what had happened she ran away. Math went in search of Blodeuedd and when he found her he transformed her into an owl.


Blodeuedd's side of the story Llew's side of the story Back to the oracle


Source
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