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Cythrawl
The Cymric Embodiment of Evil
Cythrawl (Cythraul) is a Cymric (Welsh) entity known as the embodiment of evil. He is known from the medieval work of Barddas and survives in Welsh vernacular tradition as the form of pure evil. |
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Cym: Hostile entity, enemy, devil
Whether or not an entry on the Cythrawl should be included here was a matter of debate. Especially as the question of whether such an entity represents a real charcter from Cymric mythological antiquity has been muddied by a work known as the Barddas; which is a rather notorious work on Meidaeval Cymric and Druidic lore. The book — which claims to be the translation of manuscripts originally belonging to Llewellyn Siôn of Morganwg, which then came into the hands of Iolo Morgannwg who compilied the Siôn manuscript with other earlier manuscripts he had copied. If there was an authentic Llewellyn Siôn MS — and some scholars do believe there one did once exist — then it was no earlier than the late sixteenth century, and can hardly be considered full of authentic ancient traditions. What's more, Iolo Morganwg 'improved' the manuscript so that little of any use can be gleaned from Barddas.
However some, at least of the names that Iolo Morganwg/Llewellyn Siôn used do represent ancient figures; whether they derive from ancient manuscripts or extant vernacular traditions. Such a name is Cythrawl, which is the representation or embodiment of a figure of evil. Literally the name means a hostile entity, an enemy or a devil and surviving traditions certainly paint him in this light. Iolo Morganwg's creation mythos of the world as a battle between god and cythrawl can be dismissed, but the ancient belief in Cythrawl as an embodiment of evil cannot be so easily dismissed. Indeed, in modern Cymric usage the related form cythraul is used for an evil person or a devil.
If you would like to try the foods of the time of the ancient Celts, then why not have a look at the ancient recipes section of this site. For the foods of the time when some of these tales were written down, take a look at the Medieval recipes section of the site and, in particular, the recipes from The Forme of Cury.
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