Llew Llaw Gyffes ruled the Cantrev of Dinodig given to him by Math, son of Mathonwy. He was a wise ruler, for he had been tutored by Gwydion, son of Don, who was learned and politically astute.

After a time, Llew decided that it had been too long since he had seen his male relations, so he bid farewell to his wife Blodewedd, and set out for Caer Dathyl.

In her husband's absence, Blodeuwedd and her ladies strolled about the grounds. While they were outside, a stag ran past, pursued by hounds.

Blodeuwedd watched, entranced. She was still very young, though her body was a woman's, and had never before watched such a hunt. A horn sounded, and Blodeuwedd's curiosity was roused. "Tell me who leads this hunt," she ordered one of her attendants.

"It is the lord of Penllyn, Gronw Pebyr," the messenger informed her. "He sends his greetings."

Blodeuwedd nodded, and withdrew again into the castle, while outside the horn continued to sound. Shortly before nightfall, Gronw Pebyr appeared at the gate. "The stag proved a difficult victim," he told the youth who met him. "I shall not be able to return home before night falls."

"Invite him to stay the night," Blodeuwedd ordered the youth, when he came to her with the message. "I will not have my lord hear that I have been a poor hostess."

Blodeuwedd herself went to greet her guest. "I bid you welcome, sir." She was surprised to find herself so fascinated by this man, a complete stranger. But perhaps that was not so odd: for all her short life, Blodeuwedd's relationships had been dictated to her by others. She met those people who her husband and her creators considered appropriate. She was not at all accustomed to strangers.

"I thank you for your generosity," Gronw said, quite taken by the beauty of this woman.

"If it would not inconvenience you, perhaps we could speak for a time," Blodeuwedd said. "You can tell me of your hunt, and Penllyn."

"Certainly, my lady," Gronw replied. To his surprise, Blodeuwedd showed more than a polite interest in his tales. And, just as surprising, Gronw found himself enjoying the conversation. He found Blodeuwedd's innocent, enthusiastic curiosity quite charming.

"Truly, you are a wonder of nature," he told her.

"Not simply of nature. I am not like other women," Blodeuwedd said. "I was made by magic for my husband."

As she said the words, Blodeuwedd realized that she did not wish to be bound to Llew Llaw Gyffes, that she would choose this other man, this stranger before her who spoke to her as if she were his equal.

Some sign of these feelings passed across Blodeuwedd's face, and Gronw rejoiced. "I know that you are the wife of another man, and I will leave if you wish me to. But I would remain with you forever, if given the choice."

"And so I would choose," Blodeuwedd declared, embracing him.

The next morning, she begged Gronw not to leave, and he could not deny her wish. That night, they discussed their future.

"My husband is mighty," Blodeuwedd said. "But while he lives, I do not know how we may remain together."

"Any man may be killed, regardless of his parentage and prowess," Gronw told her. "Ask him how he may be slain. He may know, and will certainly tell his loving, concerned wife."

Blodeuwedd smiled. "I was a wife, now a lover, soon an actress."

"And after that, a wife once more."

The next day, Blodeuwedd again convinced Gronw to stay with her. "Though each day makes it more likely that your husband will return," he agreed.

"Tomorrow, I will not prevent your leaving," Blodeuwedd promised, and indeed she bade him farewell at the gate where she had first spoken to him.

That night, Llew Llaw Gyffes returned, and spent the day feasting. He noticed that Blodeuwedd seemed unusually silent, and when they were alone, he inquired what was wrong.

"It is silly," she said, and he coaxed her further. "Your absence, my lord, has made me melancholy. What if you had not returned? What if you had been waylaid and slain?"

Llew laughed. "I cannot die so easily as that."

"Any man can be killed," Blodeuwedd insisted. "These are not foolish fears."

"Yes, I may be killed," he said, touched by her concern. "But it would be very difficult."

"How difficult? How safe are you?"

"Very well, then," Llew said. "I shall tell you how I may be killed, and you may judge how safe I am. A wound may kill me, but the spear which wounds me must be formed over the course of a year, worked on during the sacrifice each sevenday. I cannot be slain within a house, or without; I cannot be slain on a horse, or on foot."

"This is a riddle," Blodeuwedd said. "I beg you, do not tease me about so weighty a matter."

"If a bath were made for me by the riverside, with a thatched roof over the cauldron, and if I stood with one foot upon the back of a buck goat, and another upon the cauldron, then I could be killed."

Blodeuwedd laughed, as if relieved. "Then I think you spoke truly: you are indeed quite safe."

The next day, Blodeuwedd sent word to Gronw, and he immediately began fashioning a spear with which to slay his rival. At the end of a year, he informed Blodeuwedd that it was finished.

Blodeuwedd went to her husband, and again mentioned his mortality. "I fear you were mocking my innocence," she said. "Is it possible to arrange such a scene as you described? And how could you, or any man, balance upon a cauldron and a buck?"

"I will show you, if it will amuse you," Llew offered indulgently. And so they brought the cauldron to the river Cynvael, and set a roof above it.

Gronw Pebyr, warned in advance by Blodeuwedd, lay in wait on Bryn Kyvergyr. He watched as Llew Llaw Gyffes, wet from the bath, balanced himself upon the cauldron and the buck Blodeuwedd led to him. Gronw rose up and flung the spear, which struck Llew in the side. He transformed into an eagle, and with a shriek flew away.

Blodeuwedd and Gronw returned to the castle, and after that Gronw ruled Dinodig as well as Penllyn.

When the tidings of Llew Llaw Gyffes's fate came to Math, he grieved.

"I cannot accept this," Gwydion said. "I shall not rest until I have more news." And so Gwydion set out, and came finally to Maenawr Penardd in Arvon. He stayed the night in the house of a vassal. While there, he overheard a conversation between the man of the house and the swineherd, who spoke about a wandering sow.

"Where does this sow go?" Gwydion asked.

"I do not know," the swineherd said. "Every day, she goes forth and disappears."

"Tomorrow, do not release her until I am there at the sty," Gwydion asked. "For I am curious about her destination."

And so the next morning, Gwydion followed the sow. Beside the brook now called the Nant y Llew, the sow stopped and began eating putrid flesh which fell upon the ground. Gwydion looked up, and in a tree saw an eagle. As he watched, the eagle shook itself, and flesh fell from its body. Certain that the eagle was Llew, Gwydion sang to the bird:

Oak that grows between the two banks;

Darkened is the sky and hill!

Shall I not tell him by his wounds,

That this is Llew?

The eagle looked toward him, and came down several branches. Gwydion sang again:

Oak that grows in upland ground,

Is it not wetted by the rain? Has it not been drenched

By nine score tempests?

It bears in its branches Llew Llaw Gyffes!

The eagle again came down, until it rested in the lowest branches, and a third time Gwydion sang:

Oak that grows beneath the steep;

Statley and majestic is its aspect!

Shall I not speak of it

That Llew will come to my lap?

The eagle came down and settled on Gwydion's knee. He touched the eagle with his magic wand, and Llew returned to his own form, weak and thin. Gwydion took him to Caer Dathyl, and summoned the finest physicians in Gwynedd to care for him.

And when Llew was restored, he said to Math son of Mathonwy: "It is time that I seek retribution for the injury done to me." Math agreed, and Llew had the support of all of Gwynedd.

Gwydion went first to Mur-y-Castell. Word of his advance came to Blodeuwedd, and she fled to the mountains with her maidens. And in the river Cynvael, all but Blodeuwedd panicked and were drowned. Gwydion overtook the maiden he had created for Llew.

"Shameful creature!" he declared. "To so betray your creators and your husband. For the wrong you have done, you shall never again show yourself in the light of the sun." And with that, he transformed her into an owl, cursed with the enmity of all other birds.

Gronw Pebyr, despairing of besting his enemies, withdrew to Penllyn. He sent messengers to Llew Llaw Gyffes, offering land and riches to atone for his actions.

"Tell your master his offer is refused," Llew Llaw Gyffes said. "Only this will quell my anger: that he stand upon the spot where he wounded me, and allows me to strike a blow against him."

Gronw knew that he could not save himself, and that he could no longer protect Blodeuwedd. He saw no choice but to agree to the terms offered, and so Llew Llaw Gyffes slew him on the bank of the river Cynvael.

And with the death of Gronw Pebyr, Llew Llaw Gyffes took his place ruling his own lands, and in the fullness of time ruled over all of Gwynedd.

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