negative part of the formula: the situation in which he could be slain was invented either by his wife Blodeuwedd or by Gronw Pebyr. [The reason why Llew says the positive part of the formula as well may be confusion with the Separate Soul Cycle, where the giant himself says how he can be slain.]
The fabrication of the magical spear may reflect some traces of an old belief in the childhood of mankind that every new and better weapon was a magical one; metal weapons were of course regarded with great awe, and their fabrication was naturally considered as a magical performance; a trace of this creed is found in the belief that blacksmiths are cunning people who can perform magical things,[1] so we find in St. Patrick's prayer, vv. 48, 54:
Tocuiriur etrum . . . inna huli nert so
.......fri brichtu ban ocus gobann ocus druad.
"I summon all these powers between me [and these] . . . against the spells of women, blacksmiths and druids."
In modern Japan the fabrication of a sword is a religious performance.
The other main difference from the Aided Conroí is the fact that Llew was not yet killed: he was only transformed into an eagle (R.B. 766, VV.B. 197 ab: Ac ar gwenwyn wayw y vwrw ay vedru yn y ystlys yny neita y paladyr o honaw a thrigyaw y penn yndaw. Ac yna bwrw ehetvan o honaw ynteu yn rith eryr a dodi garymleis anhygar. Ac ny chahat y welet hynny allau). There are two possibilities: either Gronw has made some mistake or Llew was really killed. Now Mabinogion does not mention any mistake, and so we should expect that Llew was really killed; if we find that he was transformed, this agrees with primitive ideas
- ↑ E.g. Vulcan's maidens; a smith makes a living stag, etc. (Vide M‘Dougall, Folk-Tales, 16 ff.).
