Screenshots from the story of Pywll Prince of Dryfed. Page 6-7 of the Jones and Jones translation:
Screenshot of page 39 the Philokalia
Towards the beginning of his story, Pywll Prince of Dryfed becomes very good friends with Arawn King of Annwn, the Otherworld, through a year-long time spent fulfilling the other person’s social roles, serving as each other’s imposter. Upon the end of this year-long test Pywll had to complete the violent task, which is sometimes called a gentlemen’s duel, of electing a representative to fight off an opposing representative who has been chosen by the opponent or the challenged. The result of the duel concludes any dishonorable conflicts and satisfies any challenges. The representative chosen by King Arawn’s enemy, King Hafgan, was killed in the duel and Pywell adds the king’s lands to Arwwn. This moment in the story acknowledges not only long standing ideas of what it means to be an honorable man, and the importance of standing up for and defending that honor with your life, but also how the noblemen in the story will comport themselves. Throughout the story the main character chooses indirect and aggressive paths to achieve his own goals in the most honorable way possible. Honorable here signifies behavior that twists situations in such a way that the main character is given power and options of choice. The passage above is the conclusion of one such choice. To regain his own honor and respect in the eyes of Arawn of the Otherworld he must attend and win this tryst. It is not without saying that spending a year apart from your people, family, and duties, especially ones you have handed to another man is a submission of power, however it is part of a relatively equal exchange. In the meeting with King Hafgan Pywll sacrifices the life of an unnamed individual and he gains a great deal, infinitely it seems, from his triumph. Similar situations continue to come up throughout his life, where he must show patience and fortitude, but ultimately gains from the situation and makes the final choice to his own benefit. One key detail of the time that Pywll spent in Arwwn was his relationship with Arawn’s wife, the queen. The Queen was very kind and cordial and trusting of Pywll, and each night when they slept in bed together they did not touch each other or engage in any kind of intimacy beyond speaking. This constant and unwavering respect for the intimacy between husband and wife leads the two kings to be closer allies in the future. St. Gregory, in his writings on passions and virtues, speaks to the sins of the flesh and the importance of being passionless. Corruption comes straight from acts of passion. A modern day reading leads the reader to implicate intimacy, however passion and animal behavior have a wide range of meaning. In the episode between Pywll and the Queen he behaves with choice and self determination in mind. Despite the specifics of the situation, it can be extrapolated through the various early writings, sections 1-12 of St. Gregory of Sinai, that it is incredibly important to comport yourself in this manner to maintain closeness to God and find grace. Although not all of Pywlls actions may hold up consistently in the face of reasonable tendences, he attempts to remain uncorrupted by the state of the flesh throughout his life.
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