The story of “Kulhwch and Olwen” was composed to tell them. Many, no doubt, disputed as to what they were. Everyone had heard of the Thirteen Treasures of Britain. That there should be discrepancies need cause no surprise, for it is not unlikely that there were several different versions of their legend. The number tallies, for there are thirteen of them. It is these same legendary treasures that reappear, no doubt, in the story of “Kulhwch and Olwen”. According to tradition, they consisted of a sword, a basket, a drinking-horn, a chariot, a halter, a knife, a cauldron, a whetstone, a garment, a pan, a platter, a chess board, and a mantle, all possessed of.
They belonged to gods and heroes, and were current in our island till the end of the divine age, when Merlin, fading out of the world, took them with him into his airy tomb, never to be seen by mortal eyes again. “The “Thirteen Treasures of Britain” were famous in early legend.
In some sources, Merlin seeks them, in others, Arthur or his men are sent on quests to retrieve them. The original thirteen treasures are tied to the Arthurian legend. In the Deathly Hallows, the treasures are an invisibility cloak, a stone that brings the spirit of someone back from the death (for a time), and a powerful wand.
When JK Rowling talks about the deathly hallows in the Harry Potter books, she is giving a nod to the Thirteen Treasures, which she didn’t make up, in that their roots lie in the mythology of Britain dating back to the Celts. I wrote that poem (on behalf of Taliesin) for my Last Pendragon Saga, but it has deep roots in Celtic mythology.
–Taliesin, The Thirteen Treasures, The Black Book of Gwynedd Our enemies flee our unseen and mighty champion. The cauldron of the Giant to test the brave,Ī crock and a dish, each to fill one’s every wish,Ī cup that bestows immortality on those worthy of it, Dyrnwyn, the flaming sword, lost for centuries beneath the earth.Ī hamper that feeds a hundred, a knife to serve twenty-four,Ī halter to tame any horse he might wish.
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