Nantỻe valley, and caught him near Bala Deulyn. As the dogs were killing him, he gave a cry which made the hills resound, and from this ỻef or cry the valley received its name of Nant-ỻef, that is to say, Nantỻe.[1] On this I have two or three remarks to make: the bristles of the Aurwrychyn remind one of Cian in his brute form: and the mention of the dying ỻef or cry may be regarded as an addition to explain the place-name Nantỻe, but the correct analysis of that word is into Nant-Lleu, that is to say, the Glen of Lleu. Phonologically, however, both explanations would fit alike, as Nant-ỻef, as well as Nant-ỻeu, would be curtailed to Nant-ỻe when the accent fixed itself on the first syllable. Lastly, the coincidence which makes the beast die in Nantỻe, where also Gwydion discovered his son Lleu in the form of an eagle, makes it probable that the proper name of the beast in gold bristles was originally no other than that of Lleu.
As we have been brought to the Nantỻe valley, let us follow the river which flows from the lakes in the direction contrary to that taken by Gwydion when searching for Lleu (p. 240): this stream is called the Llyvni, and it reaches the sea some distance west of the western mouth of the Menai; and between the latter and the
- ↑ The author is indebted for this to the Brython (published at Tremadoc) for the year 1861, p. 252, and to Mrs. Rhys' memory, for when she was a child she often heard talk of the Aurwrychyn as a grand extinct animal at which no man could gaze on account of his mass of gold bristles. The beast was so wild that nobody could get near him. He used to cross the mountains from Cwmglas (between Llanberis and the Pass) to Nantỻe, where he was at last caught; but she has never heard anything said of his death.
