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Nevvid Nav Neivion
Oeth-Anoeth
Pigs
Prydain
Nevvid Nav Neivion. In Medwyn's valley in the Eagle Mountains rests the skeleton of a giant ship. Taran recalls Dallben's teaching him the story of Nevvid Nav Neivion, who carried with him two of every creature in a ship to keep them safe from a flooding of the earth. When the ship came to rest, the animals spread across the land. Their young remembered the deed and the resting place of the ship. Taran suspects that Medwyn is Neivion, but Medwyn avoids answering the question; perhaps whoever he once was, he considers himself Medwyn now.
Lady Charlotte Guest's notes to The Mabinogion mention the voyage of Nevydd Nav Neivion as one of the "three great exploits of the Island of Britain" [8, p. 183]. Nevydd carried in his ship a male and female of all creatures to save them from the floods that burst over the land. Alexander carries such a story into Prydain as part of its ancient past.
Oeth-Anoeth. A fortress controlled by Achren. This castle holds tortures and despair for any who are imprisoned there. After capturing Gwydion, Achren takes him there and plans hideous tortures and pains for him. However, he endured it all and held on to hope; because of this, the walls of his prison melted.
Caer Oeth and Anoeth was briefly mentioned in The Mabinogion by Glewlwyd, Arthur's gatekeeper. Arthur apparently conquered this place, and Glewlwyd witnessed it. Charlotte Guest's notes state that Arthur was imprisoned in this castle for three nights [8], suggesting its capacity as a dungeon fit for holding a king (or a prince such as Gwydion).
Pigs. Hen Wen is the only pig mentioned in The Book of Three. She acts quite normal and is affectionate toward Taran, Dallben, and Coll. However, when necessary, she can exercise power as an oracular pig, meaning she can foretell the future (using instruments called letter sticks).
Pigs and boars surface often in The Mabinogion. Arawn king of Annwvyn gave Pryderi a herd of swine and said he could neither give them away nor sell them until they had produced twice their number; Gwydyon swindled Pryderi out of the pigs, causing a war between them. Gwydyon also chased a sow that ran away from her master daily ("no one can hold her, nor do we know where she goes," the swineherd says [7, p. 114], suggestive of Hen Wen's flight from Caer Dallben). He found that the sow ran away to feed on maggots and rotten flesh shaken to the ground by an eagle who was actually his nephew Lleu. Culhwch's name means "pig run" because a swineherd raised him with his pigs. One of the tasks Chief Giant Ysbaddaden gave Culhwch was to get the shaving implements from between the ears of Twrch Trwyth, a giant boar with many belligerent offspring.
Prydain. The land where Lloyd Alexander's tales of Taran take place. Wales served as a model of Prydain, but their layouts are not to be taken as exactly the same. Prydain is ruled by a High King, who reigns over smaller kings with their own kingdoms, called cantrevs.
Prydain was one of the ancient names of the island of Britain. It was conquered by a man named Prydain son of Aedd the Great and became known as Ynys Prydain, the Isle of Brut; the name Prydain is similar to Britain [8].
