Welsh Legends: Hu Gadarn the Mighty

Britons with coracles – from Cassell’s History of England, Vol. I – Public Domain

Hu the Mighty

Hu Gadarn was a legendary leader of the Cymry people who left their original homeland to settle on the island of Britain in antiquity.  According to some very ancient traditions the Cymry lived in another land they called the Summer Country of Deffrobani. The location of Deffrobani is uncertain with some accounts saying it was in the area of present day Istanbul, others point to the Middle East, while others claim Sri Lanka.  Nevertheless, the legends say that among the Cymry a wise and great leader appeared who they called Hu Gadarn, or Hu the Mighty.  This work will present some of his achievements and the significance to the Cymry race that he had on their settlement of Britain that are revealed in the legends and traditions.

Hu Gadarn the lawgiver

According to legend, Hu Gadarn was skilled in the arts and the sciences, such as they were, and he invented the plough.  He taught his people how to cultivate the land and how to grow crops.  So they grew their crops and he taught them how to build communities which gave them a home instead of roaming the land and relying on hunting the animals and picking the fruits and the nuts to live on.  They could now live together in their communities but sometimes they fell into arguing and fighting. To help them help each other he gave them laws.  The people followed his laws and there was less arguing and fighting and they began to work and live together as one people.

Although their crops grew and fed the people and their communities were successful other people envied them and attacked and stole from them.  Seeing this Hu Gadarn thought they needed a country of their own.  He talked to them and told them about the land that lie over the Mor Tawch, or the Hazy Sea and how it was under the protection of God. He told them of the animals that roamed wild and free upon those blessed shores.  There were wolves, bears, deer, wild oxen and multitudes of birds that swam on the lakes and rivers. Great eagles swept across majestic mountains, and verdant valleys and there were great fertile grassy plains and forests, but no humans lived there.  He asked them to follow him there and claim the island as their own.

Honey Island

The Cymry agreed and Hu Gadarn led them on a great journey across the land until they came to the shores of the Hazy Sea.  He showed them how to build and use coracles and they crossed the sea and landed on the shores of the island of Britain taking possession of it before any other humans had arrived.  They found it was just as Hu had described being only inhabited by animals such as wolves, bears and wild oxen and many other such beasts living in the forests, fertile valleys and plains.    The Cymry called their new home the Honey Island because of the abundance of honey they found they could harvest.

With Hu to lead them they built new communities governed by the laws he gave them and they built shrines and places of worship to give thanks to the gods for their good fortune.  Hu expanded his legal structure so everyone could get justice and he taught the people how to created songs to help them remember important information which was the system they used until the invention of writing. In this way important knowledge, history and traditions of the people were passed down from generation to generation and the Cymry became famous for their songs and poetry

Hu the Mighty and the Afanc

According to some Welsh traditions he was said to have been the first king of the island of Britain.  During this period there was a series of disastrous floods caused by a water-dwelling monster called the afanc.  These floods caused huge damage to people’s homes and crops. It was with the help of Hu the Mighty that the afanc was eventually transported to a lake on the slopes of Mount Snowdon using oxen to drag it there.  Once there it could do no harm and the flooding of homes and farmlands stopped.

Who was Hu Gadarn?

Hu Gadarn was first mentioned in the 18th century by Iolo Morganwg in Triads that are of questionable authenticity.  There was a “Huw” mentioned in the Book of Taliesin, but is thought not to be connected with Hu Gadarn.  Another character named Huw Gadarn is mentioned in the White Book of Rhydderch, as the emperor of Constantinople in stories that were adapted from a French tale.  He is also mentioned in the  Red Book of Hergest and several other works.  He also figures in Medieval French Romance in connection to Charlemagne and it maybe that these are derived from earlier Celtic stories.

There are some people who believe Hu Gadarn was none other that the great Israelite leader Joshua and the Cymry were from Tribe of Ephraim, one of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, though others dismiss this idea.  There are also claims he brought the Druidic tradition to Britain and Ireland but this is also disputed by many.

Maybe trying to pinpoint actual historical figures to legends misses what is really being said but please make up your own minds to meaning, or facts, but it does seem clear, that Hu Gadarn, fact or fiction, appears to have been a figure of some significance to the traditions of how Britain was settled and the origin of the Cymry.

© 17/01/2016 zteve t evans

References and Attributions

Copyright January 17th 2016 zteve t evans

• BBC Wales – History – Themes – Hu Gadarn
• Hu Gadarn – Mary Jones – Celtic Literature Collective
• Joshua is Hu Gadarn who started the Druids in Britain and …
• Some information on Hu – Covenant of Rhiannon Community
• Hu Gadarn – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
• White Book of Rhydderch
• Book of Taliesin
• Red Book of Hergest

 

 

 

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