Bird Gods in Ancient Europe 



In Wales, too, we have the cuckoo traits in 

 the family of King Arthur, who in Mallory's 

 tales was by no means the chaste monarch 

 Tennyson makes him. King Arthur's parent- 

 age was unknown. One day a handsome queen 

 arrives from the Orkneys ; she is the wife of 

 King Lot. King Arthur succumbs to her 

 charms. Two children are born to them, 

 Gwalchmei, who becomes Gawayne or Gauvain 

 in the later tales, and Modred, who destroys 

 Arthur and his knights. Merlin foretells to 

 Arthur that this shall be his fate and the reason 

 given is the startling one — that the wife of 

 King Lot is no other than Arthur's sister! The 

 cuckoo crime has occurred, because cuckoos 

 cannot recognize their own brothers and sisters. 



Whatever " Modred " may mean, we can 

 now explain the name of Gwalchmei. Accord- 

 ing to Professor J. Rhys, Gwalchmei means the 

 " Hawk of May " ; but he seems not to under- 

 stand why Gawayne should be so termed. 

 Yet for a cuckoo god such a term is thoroughly 



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