The Thirteen Treasures of the Island of Britain (Welsh: Tri Thlws ar Ddeg Ynys Prydain) are a series of items in late-medieval Welsh tradition. Lists of the items appear in texts dating to the 15th and 16th centuries.Jones, Mary. "Tri Thlws ar Ddeg Ynys Prydain". From maryjones.us. Retrieved June 16, 2009. The number of treasures is always given as thirteen, but some later versions list different items, replacing or combining entries to maintain the number.
Manuscripts
Eurys I. Rowlands (1959) published a critical edition of text using 11 texts and 18 variants. Peter C. Bartrum in 1959 who had been working concurrently published an edition using 7 base texts and 13 variants, which catered for the needs of an English readership, but compiled an omnibus version collating 32 manuscripts divided into ten groups, plus 4 published texts.
Manuscript A in the hand of Gwilym Tew dates to c. 1460 but is a plain list of the treasures without the explanatory comments as given in later manuscripts. Other mss. date from the 16th to the 19th century. MS. L or Cardiff MS. 17, dating to c. 1600 was the base text used by Rachel Bromwich in her edition, which belonged to Group vii, listing 12 items (according to Bartrum) or 13 items (for Bromwich who counts the crock & dish as double). Bromwich also appends surplus 14th and 15th items from other mss.
Printed texts Edward Jones, Bardic Museum. London, 1808. pp. 47–49. Composite. Charlotte Guest, Mabinogion. London, 1849. II, pp. 353–354; "from an old MS. the collection of Mr Justice Bosanquet"; very close to Ks Y Brython 2 (1859), p. 41, nearly identical to Guest's Y Brython 3 (1860), p. 372, close to W
List The various treasures (tlws) include vessels or utensils for food and drink (hamper, cauldron, crock and dish, horn and knife), objects relating to weaponry (sword, whetstone) and to transport (halter, chariot), clothing (coat, mantle) and still other items (stone and ring, chessboard). Most of the items are placed in the Hen Ogledd or "Old North", the Brittonic-speaking parts of what is now southern Scotland and Northern England; some early manuscripts refer to the whole list specifically as treasures "that were in the North".
The number of treasures is always given as thirteen, but some later versions list different items, replacing or combining entries to maintain the number. Later versions also supplement the plainlist with explanatory comments about each treasure. The version edited by Bromwich (1961) lists the following thirteen treasures, based on Cardiff 17 (late 16th century):
Dyrnwin ("White-Hilt"), the Sword of Rhydderch Hael ("the Generous") (): "if a well-born man drew it himself, it burst into flame from its hilt to its tip. And everyone who used to ask for it would receive; but because of this peculiarity everyone used to reject it. And therefore he was called Rhydderch the Generous". The Hamper of Gwyddno Garanhir ("Long-Shank") (): "food for one man would be put in it, and when it was opened, food for a hundred men would be found in it". The Horn of Brân Galed ("the Niggard") from the North (): "whatever drink might be wished for was found in it". The Chariot of Morgan Mwynfawr ("the Wealthy") (): "if a man went in it, he might wish to be wherever he would, and he would be there quickly". The Halter of Clydno Eiddyn (): which was fixed to a staple at the foot of his bed: whatever horse he might wish for, he would find in the halter. The Knife of Llawfrodedd Farchog ("the Horseman") (): "which would serve for twenty-four men to eat at table". The Cauldron of Dyrnwch the Giant (): "if meat for a coward were put in it to boil, it would never boil; but if meat for a brave man were put in it, it would boil quickly (and thus the brave could be distinguished from the cowardly)". The Whetstone of Tudwal Tudglyd (): "if a brave man sharpened his sword on the whetstone, then the sword would certainly kill any man from whom it drew blood. If a cowardly man used the whetstone, though, his sword would refuse to draw blood at all". The Coat of Padarn Beisrudd ("Red-Coat") (): "if a well-born man put it on, it would be the right size for him; if a churl, it would not go upon him". and 11. The Crock and the Dish of Rhygenydd the Cleric (): "whatever food might be wished for in them, it would be found". The Chessboard of Gwenddoleu ap Ceidio (): "if the pieces were set, they would play by themselves. The board was of gold, and the men of silver". The Mantle of Arthur in Cornwall (): "whoever was under it could not be seen, and he could see everyone". The Mantle of Tegau Gold-Breast (Tegau Eurfron, wife of Caradoc/ Caradog Freichfras) (): "Her mantle would not serve for any woman who had violated her marriage or her virginity". It would reach to the ground when worn by a faithful woman but would only hang down to the lap of an unfaithful wife. The Stone Ring of Eluned the Fortunate () The surpluses, numbers 14 and 15 (Tegaus's and Eluned's items) are parenthesized by Bromwich, and are actually lacking in her base manuscript (Cardiff 17, or L, in Group xvii); but 14 and 15 do occur in the oldest ms. (A), except not in the original hand, but by "later addition". Number 14 (Tegau's mantle) actually occurs in a majority of manuscripts, while number 15 (Eluned's ring) are only present in 7 mss.
Where the surplus items are added other treasures are dropped and the Crock and the Dish of Rhygenydd the Cleric are counted as one item, as Bromwich explains it.
The surplus items come from literary sources (Arthurian romance) rather than traditional material, e.g., the ring's original owner Eluned is the Welsh counterpart of Lunete from Yvain, the Knight of the Lion. (cf. and , respectively).
There is yet another surplus item, the Coulter of Tringer son of Nuddnot (): "Where it was borrowed for use in a plough, it would plough until it was asked to stop". The item is also given as the Coulter of Rhun the Giant () depending on the manuscript.
Description
Some of the magical objects listed can be shown to have earlier origins in Welsh narrative tradition. Items 2 (hamper), 7 (cauldron) and 13 (Mantle of Arthur), for instance, are also described in the Middle Welsh tale Culhwch ac Olwen (tentatively dated to c. 1100), in which Ysbaddaden the Giant gives King Arthur's cousin Culhwch a list of impossible tasks (anoetheu) which he has to complete in order to win the hand of Olwen, the giant's daughter.
Myrddin Wyllt Later lore claims that Myrddin Wyllt (≈Merlin of the Arthurian romances) took possession of the Thirteen Treasures and evacuated them to his House of Glass.
Dyrnwyn The Dyrnwyn ("White-Hilt"), the Sword of Rhydderch Hael the Generous, one of the Three Generous Men of Britain mentioned in the Welsh Triads., Triad 2. When drawn by a worthy or well-born man, the entire blade would blaze with fire. Rhydderch was never reluctant to hand the weapon to anyone, hence his nickname Hael meaning "the Generous", but the recipients, as soon as they had learned of its peculiar properties, always rejected the sword. Rhyedderch was one who Myrddin Wyllt feared most in the aftermath of the Battle of Arfderydd according to allusions in the poems contained in the Black Book of Carmarthen. He is the equivalent of Rodricus rex Cumborum (with the epithet ) who appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Vita Merlini.
Hamper of Gwyddno Garanhir It is told that Gwyddno Garanhir ("Long-shank") possessed a hamper (mwys) which would multiply food: if one was to put food for one man in the basket and open it again, the food was found to be increased a hundredfold. This is identified by Bromwich as the oldest item among the Thirteen to be attested, being one of the anoethau of Culhwch ac Olwen.
Horn of Brân Galed The Horn of Brân Galed ("the Stingy" or "the Niggard") from the North is said to have possessed the magical property of ensuring that "whatever drink might be wished for was found in it".Tri Thlws ar Ddeg, ed. and tr. Bromwich (1978): 241. Marginal notes to the text in Peniarth MS 147 (c. 1566) elaborate on this brief entry by saying that Myrddin had approached the kings and lords of Britain to request their treasures. They consented on the condition that he obtained the horn of Brân Galed, supposing that the task would be impossible to fulfill (whether owing to Brân's reputation for being close-fisted or for some other reason). However, Myrddin somehow succeeded in obtaining the drinking horn and so received the other treasures as well. He took his hoard to the "Glass House" (Tŷ Gwydr), where it would remain forever. Tracing the prehistory of the horn to the Greek mythological past, the same notes tell that Hercules had removed the horn from the head of the centaur he had slain, whose wife then killed the hero in bloody revenge.Bromwich, Trioedd Ynys Prydein (1978): 245.
The discrepancy between Brân's nickname ("the Stingy") and the special property of the enchanted horn appears to be explained by the Welsh poet Guto'r Glyn, who lived in the mid-15th century and was therefore contemporary with the earliest attestations of the Tri Thlws ar Ddeg. He relates that Brân Galed was a northern nobleman, whom Taliesin transformed into a man superior to the Tri Hael, i.e. the three most generous men in Britain according to one of the Welsh Triads.Mary Jones, "The Horn of Bran", citing Guto'r Glyn, Gwaith Guto'r Glyn, ed. Ifor Williams and Llywelyn Williams. Cardiff, 1939. p. 218, lines 61-4. Later bards to allude to the treasure include Tudur Aled and Iorwerth Fynglwyd.Carey, Ireland and the Grail, p. 74 note 33.
The identity of Brân Galed (not to be confused with Brân the Blessed) is uncertain. His northern background, which is usually described in general terms, is specified in one place elsewhere. A 16th-century note written by the scribe Gruffudd Hiraethog (died 1564) identifies Brân as the son of one Emellyr, which appears to refer to the Brân son of Ymellyrn who is depicted in the Llywarch Hen cycle of poems as an opponent of the kings of Rheged.Carey, Ireland and the Grail, p. 69. The latter has also been equated with the Brân fighting at Cynwyd (northern Wales) in the poem Gwarchan Tudfwlch, possibly against Owain of Rheged.Carey, Ireland and the Grail, pp. 69-70.
Chariot of Morgan Mwynfawr The chariot belonging to Morgan Mwynfawr ("the Wealthy") is described as a magical vehicle which would quickly reach whatever destination one might wish to go to.
Halter of Clydno Eiddyn
Belonged to Clydno Eiddyn (Cebystr Clydno Eiddin). It was fixed to a staple at the foot of his bed. Whatever horse he might wish for, he would find in the halter. The Halter of Clydno Eiddyn was also called The Handy Halter, for it summons fine horses.
Knife of Llawfrodedd the Horseman Llawfrodedd Farchog (from marchog "the Horseman"), or Barfawc "the Bearded" in other manuscripts, is said to have owned a knife which would serve for a company of 24 men at the dinner table.
Cauldron of Dyrnwch the Giant The cauldron (pair) of Dyrnwch the Giant is said to discriminate between cowards and brave men: whereas it would not boil meat for a coward, it would boil quickly if that meat belonged to a brave man.Tri Thlws ar Ddeg, ed. and tr. Bromwich (1978): pp. 240 and 242.
The earlier poem Preiddeu Annwfn (The Spoils of Annwfn), refers to an adventure by Arthur and his men to obtain a cauldron with similar attribute (it does not boil meat for cowards, according to the Book of Taliesin.