Cigfa
Wife of King Pryderi of Dyfed in Welsh mythology.
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Cigfa ferch Gwyn Glohoyw, also known in Middle Welsh as Kigua, is a minor character in Welsh mythology and the wife of King Pryderi of Dyfed. She appears briefly in the First Branch of the Mabinogi and has a larger role in the third. Scholar Proinsias Mac Cana viewed her as a slight but effective sketch of a contemporary bourgeois snob, while William John Gruffydd suggested she was added to the story later.
Quick Facts
- Name
- Cigfa ferch Gwyn Glohoyw
- Middle welsh name
- Kigua
- Father
- Gwyn Glohoyw
- Grandfather
- Gloyw Walltlydan
- Great-grandfather
- Casnar Wledig
- Spouse
- King Pryderi of Dyfed
Facts from the source article.
Role in Welsh tradition
A similar lineage appears in Bonedd y Saint, where a saint named Mechyll fab Echwys is the grandson of Gwyn Glohoyw and great-grandson of Gloyw Walltlydan, though Cigfa herself is not mentioned in that genealogy. Following their marriage, Pryderi fought under Bendigeidfran in Ireland and was one of only seven survivors, returning with Manawydan, whom he married to his mother Rhiannon. The four lived happily until they ascended the mound at Gorsedd Arberth, after which the kingdom became a barren wasteland and all inhabitants vanished except for Pryderi's family.
While hunting, Pryderi followed a white boar and did not return; Rhiannon went looking and found him motionless inside a mysterious building touching a golden bowl. She became enchanted when she touched the object. Manawydan and Cigfa stayed together, with Manawydan promising to protect her. They freed their spouses by capturing a mouse that was actually the wife of Llwyd ap Cil Coed, Rhiannon's enemy, and forcing the magician to lift the curses on their land.
More in Mythological Queens
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Cigfa (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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