me." This being promised, the bishop said, "Now wilt thou release my
wife?" "No, by my faith," said Manawydan, "not till I see Pryderi and
Rhiannon free before my eyes." "Here they are coming," said the bishop;
and when they had been embraced by Manawydan, he let go the mouse; the
bishop touched it with a wand, and it became the most beautiful young
woman that ever was seen. "Now look round upon the country," said the
bishop, "and see the dwellings and the crops returned," and the
enchantment was removed.

"The Land of Illusion and the Realm of Glamour" is the name given by the
old romancers to the south-west part of Wales, and to all the islands off
the coast. Indeed, it was believed, ever since the days of the Greek
writer, Plutarch, that some peculiar magic belonged to these islands; and
every great storm that happened among them was supposed to be caused by
the death of one of the wondrous enchanters who dwelt in that region. When
it was over, the islanders said, "Some one of the mighty has passed away."



VII

MERLIN THE ENCHANTER


In one of the old books called Welsh Triads, in which all things are
classed by threes, there is a description of three men called "The Three
Generous Heroes of the Isle of Britain." One of these--named Nud or
Nodens, and later called Merlin--was first brought from the sea, it is
stated, with a herd of cattle consisting of 21,000 milch cows, which are
supposed to mean those waves of the sea that the poets often describe as