Three organs round a fire sing before it,
And about its points are ocean's streams
And the abundant well above it--
Sweeter than white wine the drink in it.


Peredur, the knight, rode through the wild woods of the Enchanted Island
until he arrived on clear ground outside the forest. Then he beheld a
castle on level ground in the middle of a meadow; and round the castle
flowed a stream, and inside the castle there were large and spacious halls
with great windows. Drawing nearer the castle, he saw it to be turning
more rapidly than any wind blows. On the ramparts he saw archers shooting
so vigorously that no armor would protect against them; there were also
men blowing horns so loud that the earth appeared to tremble; and at the
gates were lions, in iron chains, roaring so violently that one might
fancy that the castle and the woods were ready to be uprooted. Neither the
lions nor the warriors resisted Peredur, but he found a woman sitting by
the gate, who offered to carry him on her back to the hall. This was the
queen Rhiannon, who, having been accused of having caused the death of her
child, was sentenced to remain seven years sitting by the gate, to tell
her story to every one, and to offer to carry all strangers on her back
into the castle.

But so soon as Peredur had entered it, the castle vanished away, and he
found himself standing on the bare ground. The queen Rhiannon was left
beside him, and she remained on the island with her son Pryderi and his
wife. Queen Rhiannon married for her second husband a person named
Manawydan. One day they ascended a mound called Arberth which was well
known for its wonders, and as they sat there they heard a clap of thunder,
followed by mist so thick that they could not see one another. When it