Angharad Golden-Hand

Angharad Golden-Hand (/æŋˈhærəd/;[1] Welsh pronunciation: [aˈŋ̊arad]) (otherwise Angharat, or Angharad Law Eurawc)[2] is the heroine of the Welsh Romance Peredur son of Efrawg, and associated with the Mabinogion.

In the Welsh tale of Peredur, Angharad Golden-Hand is a lady of King Arthur's court. The tale relates how the eponymous hero having fallen in love with Angharad, vows not to speak to any Christian man until she declares her love in return. This earns Peredur the title "The Mute Knight". Eventually, Angharad witnesses Peredur defeat a strong knight in a joust. Though she does not know his identity, she is impressed, and declares she loves the Mute Knight for his prowess in the field. Her declaration allows Peredur to speak once more, and he reveals his true identity.[3]

In Thomas Hughes's play The Misfortunes of Arthur, Angharad is depicted as Queen Guinevere's sister. Angharad dissuades Guinevere from suicide, which the Queen is contemplating after learning Arthur is returning to Britain to fight the treacherous Mordred.[4]

A character named Angharad Goldenhand appears in Alan Garner's novels The Weirdstone of Brisingamen and The Moon of Gomrath, but Garner's Angharad is an aspect of the triple moon goddess, rather than the mortal woman of "Peredur".[5] Garner claimed to have used the name in the belief that it derived from a lost Welsh tradition or story.[6]

Angharad Golden-Hand is thought to be the subject of a lady's cameo image featured on the corner elevation of the former Clarence Hotel in Pontypridd, Wales. The building is now a nightclub and bingo hall.[7]

References
  1. Wells, John C. (2008). Longman Pronunciation Dictionary (3rd ed.). Longman. ISBN 978-1-4058-8118-0.
  2. The Poet's Ogam: A Living Magical Tradition. Lulu.com. 30 October 2010. ISBN 9781446660331.
  3. The Arthurian Name Dictionary. Taylor & Francis. 1999. ISBN 9780815328650.
  4. The Arthurian Name Dictionary. Taylor & Francis. 1999. ISBN 9780815328650.
  5. Thompson, Raymond Henry, The Return from Avalon: A Study of the Arthurian Legend in Modern Fiction (1985), p. 163
  6. "In The Mabinogion, in the story "Culhwch and Olwen," Culhwch comes to Arthur's court and claims a boon. He claims it in the name of . . . and then follow about four and a half pages of people's names. That is a marvellous source for me because I don't like invented names. On the other hand, if one takes a pre- existing name, one has to take on all that is associated with that name. If you take the name Gawain, you have to take Gawain. In what is known as the boon list of "Culhwch and Olwen," however, there are authentic names to which, no doubt, there were once traditions and stories attached, but which have since been lost. Therefore, I have the genuineness, but no burden. Angharad Goldenhand is out of the boon list also. It's very short on women's names, but that is one of them."
  7. Pontypridd Through Time. Amberley Publishing Limited. 15 May 2011. ISBN 9781445630335.
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