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each of the two texts transcribed from it as the two texts differ from one another.
The story of ‘Pwyll’ contains two distinct parts, loosely joined together—that relative to the adventure of Pwyll with Arawn, and that relative to his encounter, marriage, and married life with Rhiannon. The latter may be subdivided into two parts, the meeting with Rhiannon, and the birth, loss, and recovery of Pryderi. It is the birth and childhood of Pryderi that gives the tale its place in the Mabinogi or ‘enfances’.
The person of Pryderi may be regarded as the connecting thread running through all the Four Branches; Pwyll treating of his birth; Branwen of his visit with Bendigaid Frân to Ireland, and his journey with the Venerable Head to London; Manawydan of his wanderings in Dyfed; and Math of the rape of his swine by Gwydion and of his death.
The mythological purport of the story of ‘Pwyil’ is of very great importance; but we are debarred, by the limits we have set ourselves, from entering into any discussion of this extremely complex problem. Apart from this mythological purport, there are many other matters of value and interest. Much light is thrown on the custams of early Wales—the legal exactness, for example, is remarkable—and on the standards of conduct of the time. We see, for instance, an extreme punctiliousness in the matter of personal honour, a rigid adherence to the sanctity of the spoken word, and an exalted view of chastity, especially male chastity. We find in ‘Pwyll’, as we do in all these stories, that