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Blodeuwedd

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Blodeuwedd (approximate pronunciation: Blo-day-weth) is a figure of Welsh mythology, the wife of Lleu Llaw Gyffes. Lleu was cursed to never have a human wife, so the magicians Math and Gwydion conjured a maiden from the flowers of broom, oak, and meadowsweet, and named her Blodeuwedd, or 'flower-face'. Lleu falls head over heels in love with her, they get married, happily ever after, right?

Wrong. 

Lleu goes away on business, and while he's gone, Blodeuwedd falls in love with Gronw Pebr, the Lord of Penllyn. Love triangles, plaguing stories since forever. 

Naturally, this can only be solved in one way: MURDER.

Lleu is really, REALLY hard to kill. He can't be killed in the day or at night, clothed or naked, indoors or outdoors, riding or walking, or by any weapon lawfully made. So together they concoct the slightly absurd plan of killing him at dusk, wrapped in a net, with one foot on a cauldron and one on a goat, by a spear forged for a year during the hours when everybody is at Mass. 

Surprise, surprise, it fails, and Lleu turns into an eagle and flies off. Gwydion comes along and finds him and turns him back into a human, and he and Math nurse him back to health, before reclaiming his lands from Gronw and Blodeuwedd. 

Blodeuwedd's punishment? Gwydion turns her into...an owl. Apparently they're hated by all other birds. 

Later, Lleu kills Gronw with a spear. 

The End. 

Wasn't that a lovely story? I might go digging through some more Welsh mythology for potential subjects. 

As you can tell, I used a bit of artistic licence, adding in some daffodils (very much associated with Wales), and made her lips from the Welsh Poppy. I had great difficulty working out what to do with her eyes, and last night, after much deliberation, I found the answer. I gave her owl eyes, as a little nod to the end of her story.

Thanks to mar-katheechodragonhoustonsharpnathies-stockpixelstains and DanLuVisiArt for sharing their awesome brush packs.
Image size
3818x5821px 8.77 MB
© 2017 - 2024 Holmes-JA
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Eravilia's avatar
La bildo estas interesa kaj tre bela!)