Cavall

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King Arthur's dog

title: "Cavall" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["legendary-dogs", "welsh-mythology", "arthurian-characters", "dogs-in-literature"] description: "King Arthur's dog" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cavall" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary King Arthur's dog ::

Cavall (Middle RBH & WBR; modernized: Cafall; ; **, var. Caball (ms.K)) was King Arthur's dog, used in the hunt for the great boar, Twrch Trwyth ().

Cavall was Arthur's "favourite dog", and during a stag hunt, he was customarily the last dog to be let loose to chase after the game (Gereint Son of Erbin).

''Historia Brittonum''

Linked to the Welsh literature regarding Arthur's dog Cafall is the mention Arthur's dog Cabal's pawprint, preserved in rock, in the Latin tract of Historia Brittonum (9th century). The print was preserved in rock while the dog was pursuing the boar Troynt. The lore is preserved in the Wonders of Britain (De Mirabilibus Britanniae or Mirabilia in shorthand) appended to the Historia Brittonum. The wondrous nature of this cairn of stones was that even if someone removed that foot-printed stone to another spot, it would be back at its original heap the next day.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/Cavall_footprint_stone_Guest_Mabinogion(1849)_vol2_p360.png" caption="Sketch of a footprint stone from Carn Cavall, Lady Guest's ''Mabinogion'' (1849)"] ::

Lady Charlotte Guest was aware of the local lore that placed the monument at a mountain situated in the "district of Builth", the name by which that area was still being remembered from what was the ancient Buellt cantref of medieval Wales. Nowadays, this mountain is known as Carn Gafallt, but this identification is uncertain according to Geoffrey Ashe. The "Buelt" name is also preserved in present-day Builth Wells (in historic county of Brecknockshire) now part of county Powys.

Culhwch ac Olwen

Unlike the simple primitive lore, the late Welsh romance Culhwch and Olwen weaves a much more intricate tale, naming many dogs besides Cavall in the hunting party, and the quarry is no longer just the boar Twrch Trwyth itself, its seven offspring (with names), and yet another boar named Yskithyrwyn besides.

Ysgithyrwyn Chief-Boar

Yskithyrwyn Penbaedd (or Ysgithyrwyn Chief Boar) was yet another boar to be hunted by Arthur's band; its tusk, which needed to be extracted while still alive, being another of the "impossible tasks" (anoeth; pl. anoethiau) prescribed by Ysbaddaden Chief-Giant. This tusk was the tool necessary for shaving the giant to groom him up, him being the father of the bride Olwen.

In Culhwch and Olwen, Arthur's dog Cavall is specifically credited with the slaying of Yskithyrwin (or at least with cornering the beast to its doom). Caw of Prydain who rides Arthur's mare Llamrei cleaves Yskithyrwyn's head with a hatchet.

Afterwards, "Bedwyr leading Cavall, Arthur's own dog", joins the other hunters and dogs to pursue the great boar Twrch Trwyth and its piglets. But the specific role played by Cavall is not told.

List of dogs

The other hounds, which either belonged to Arthur's retinue or were recruited elsewhere, include:

The two (wolf?) pups of Gast Rhymhi (two whelps of the bitch Rhymhi),
- The pups/cubs are possibly named Gwyddrud and Gwyddneu Astrus, though they are introduced as members of Arthur's court.
Aned and Aethelm.
Glas, Glessic, and Gleisad belonging to the three sons of Cleddyf Kyfwlch, named Bwlch, Kyfwlch, and Sefwlch.
Drudwyn, the pup of Greid the son of Eri.
two dogs of Glythmyr Ledewic (Glythfyr Ledewig).

Cavall the horse

Glas, Glesig, and Gleisad are referred to as dogs, and Call, Cuall, and Cafall as horses, and so on down the line, in the list of belongings of sons of Cleddyf, or, at least they are nowadays in modern translations. However, in the first English translation by Lady Guest, Glas, etc. were construed as sword names and Call, Cuall, Cavall as dogs, respectively.

Etymology

Ifor Williams has made a study of occurrences of Cafall in old Welsh poetry.

A number of scholars have commented upon the similarity of the dog's name to the Latin word caballus for "horse". In an article from 1936, R. J. Thomas said that "the name Cabal is from Latin caballus 'horse', which he considers a quite natural metaphor since the dog was strong and swift, and he compares the horse of Conall Cernach which had a dog's head". Furthermore, the form cabal existed in Old Welsh.

Bromwich further remarks, "Since carn means both 'hoof' and 'cairn' it seems more probable that Cabal/Cafall originally designated Arthur horse.. rather than his hound".

Explanatory notes

References

;Citations

;Bibliography

: Geraint ab Erbin Welsh, p. 4; English, p. 67. Kilhwch ac Olwen Welsh, p. 195; English, p. 249.
(Revised edition 1993; Indexed 1989; first published Everyman Library 1949)

References

{{harvp. Jones. Jones trr.. 1993, 107, 110, 199
{{harvp. Mommsen. 1898, [https://archive.org/details/chronicaminorasa13momm/page/217/mode/2up p. 217] textual variants note to line 23. The codices used for this portion of the work are CDGHKLQ.
[[Geoffrey Ashe. Ashe, Geoffrey]]. "Nennius", in: Lacy, Norris J., et al., edd., ''The Arthurian Encyclopedia'', New York: Peter Bedrick Books, 1986, pp. 404–406: "The appendix of ''Mirabilia'' ("Marvels") may be a little later than the rest of the book, but not much" (p. 406).
{{harvp. Fletcher. 1906
"Wonders of Britain, Ch. 73".
Cf. {{harvp. Guest ed., tr.. 1849. Guest tr.. 1877. Stevenson. 1838, §73
{{harvp. Guest ed., tr.. 1849. Rhayader Gwy]][i.e., on the [[River Wye]]], and within sight of that town", then on p. 360, quotes the correspondence from her informant that: "Carn Cavall..generally pronounced Corn Cavall, is a lofty and rugged mountain, in the upper part of the district anciently called Buellt, now written Builth, in Breconshire".
{{harvp. Roberts. 1991. Corn Gaffalt]], a hill.. in north Brecknockshire, between Rhaeadr [i.e., [[Rhayader]], Radnorshire] and [[Builth Wells]]".
The Latin text's editor also annotates on the place name "Buelt" as "Brecknock-Radnor", {{harvp. Fletcher. 1906
{{harvp. Guest ed., tr.. 1849
{{harvp. Guest ed., tr.. 1849
{{harvp. Bromwich. Evans. 1992, ''Culhwch'', pp. 100, 146n: "{{lang. cy. Gwydrut a Gwyden Astrus" make this identification. The family of wolves reverts to human form by grace of God, but it is rather a mystery how Culhwch's bridal quest was helped by this.
{{harvp. Guest ed., tr.. 1849, pp. 290, 316 / "anet ac aethlem", pp. 227, 246
{{harvp. Jones. Jones trr.. 1993
{{harvp. Bromwich. Evans. 1992
{{harvp. Guest ed., tr.. 1849, Welsh, pp. 211, 227; translation pp. 267, 291: "three grinding gashers, Glas, Glessic, and Clersag. Their three dogs, Call, Cuall, and Cavall. Their three horses, Hwyrdydwg, and Drwgdydwg, and Llwyrdydwg"
{{harvp. Guest ed., tr.. 1849
{{harvp. Guest ed., tr.. 1849
Such as Gwyn & Thomas Jones', 1949 and Jeffrey Gantz's, 1976.
{{harvp. Bromwich. Evans. 1992
Ford, Patrick K.. (1982). "On the Significance of some Arthurian Names in Welsh". Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies.
(2014). "Medieval Arthurian Epic and Romance: Eight New Translations". McFarland.
(2003). "The Mabinogion". Penguin UK.
Higham, Nicholas J.. (2018). "King Arthur: The Making of the Legend". Yale University Press.
Ashe, Geoffrey. (2013). "The New Arthurian Encyclopedia: New edition". Routledge.
Tunnell, Michael O.. (2003). "The Prydain Companion: A Reference Guide to Lloyd Alexander's Prydain Chronicles". Henry Holt and Company.
Stephens, Meic. (1998). "The New Companion to the Literature of Wales". University of Wales Press.

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