Creiddylad

Creiddylad (also known as Creirddylad, Creurdilad, Creudylad or Kreiddylat), daughter of King Lludd, is a minor character in the early medieval Welsh Arthurian tale Culhwch ac Olwen.

Role in Welsh tradition

Creiddylad, daughter of Lludd Silver Hand, is a lady living at the court of King Arthur. Considered to be the most beautiful girl in the British Isles, she is loved by two of Arthur's warriors: Gwythyr and Gwyn. Her rival suitors are thrust into conflict when Gwythyr abducts her from her father's house, to which Gwyn retaliates by kidnapping her from Gwythyr. Due to Arthur's intervention in the ensuing feud, the lady Creiddylad is returned to her father and an arrangement (a dihenydd, or "fate") is made that forces the adversaries to engage in single combat for the object of their love every May Day—while she is destined to remain with her father, unmarried—until a final battle on Judgement Day, which will determine who keeps her forever.

Creiddylad has been compared to the Greek springtime goddess Persephone, who is similarly abducted by an admirer (the underworld god Hades), rescued by an intervening character (Zeus), and reunited with her family (her mother Demeter), then cursed to repeat the experience every year. Here, the warrior duo's ritual battle for possession of Creiddylad may be understood as a version of the "Holly King" myth, possibly personifying the dynamic power struggle between summer and winter.