of Dóel Dermait. The latter probably represent, as already suggested, the tripartite day of the ancient Goidels; in Welsh they are three brothers slain every day by the Avanc of the Lake,[1] and brought to life again during the night; while we recognize them in a later form in the imprisoned ladies released by Owein, whose number, twenty-four, can hardly be mistaken as relating to the hours of the day, viewed as always passing away into the world of oblivion and darkness. If one were to press the story of Pwyỻ and Arawn as a parallel throughout, one would have to set the Perverse Black Robber over against Havgan or Summer-white, which forms a difficulty. There is also another difference, namely, that Pwyỻ wins his title of Head of Hades in a friendly way, while Owein gets possession of the Black Knight of the Fountain's dominions by killing him and marrying his widow. The Black Knight was probably no other than Arawn; for we detect a reference to this transaction in the pages of Geoffrey of Monmouth, when he represents Arawn succeeded by Owein in the kingship of Alban or Scotland:[2] it is needless here to dwell on the ancient idea which made of the northern part of this island a sort of Hades and abode of the departed.
The meaning to be attached to Owein's releasing the twenty-four ladies, and Cúchulainn's bringing back to their country the three Sons of Dóel Dermait, together with the liberation and healing of a swarm of other captives at his coming to the dominions of Echaid Glas, has just been suggested. The same kind of liberation
