Note 23 — Chapter IX · Place-name Stories

Arthur’s next move was to send one of his men, Gwrhyr, interpreter of tongues23, to parley with the boars. Gwrhyr, in the form of a bird, alighted above where Twrch Trwyth and his swine lay, and addressed them as follows: ‘For the sake of Him who fashioned you in this shape, if you can speak, I ask one of you to come to converse with Arthur.’ Answer was made by one of the boars, called Grugyn Gwrych Ereint, that is, Grugyn Silver-bristle; for like feathers of silver, we are told, were his bristles wherever he went, and whether in woods or on plains, one saw the gleam of his bristles. The following, then, was Grugyn’s answer: ‘By Him who fashioned us in this shape, we shall not do so, and we shall not converse with Arthur. Enough evil has God done to us when He fashioned us in this shape, without your coming to fight with us.’ Gwrhyr replied: ‘I tell you that Arthur will fight for the comb, the razor, and the shears that are between the ears of Twrch Trwyth.’ ‘Until his life has first been taken,’ said Grugyn, ‘those trinkets shall not be taken, and to-morrow morning we set out hence for Arthur’s own country, and all the harm we can, shall we do there.’