The Quest of the Seven Champions

The Quest of the Seven Champions

The Quest of the Seven Champions follows Prince Kilhugh, who has been foretold that he can marry only Olwen, daughter of Thornogre Thistlehair, Chief of the Giants. Unable to discover where she lives, he asks his kinsman King Arthur for aid. Arthur’s messengers search Britain and foreign lands in vain, so Kilhugh sets out himself with six chosen companions: Kai, Bedivere, Uriel, Gawain, Merlin, and Peregrine the Guide. The seven reach Thornogre’s distant castle after meeting Constantine, the giant’s dispossessed brother. Constantine and his wife warn them that none who seeks Olwen survives. At their house they meet the couple’s hidden young son, whose twenty-three brothers have been slain by Thornogre. Olwen comes there to wash her hair, leaving white trefoils wherever she steps. Kilhugh and Olwen love each other, but she explains that her father knows her wedding day will bring his death. She tells Kilhugh to seek her father’s consent and promise to fulfil every demand, or lose both her and his life. Following Olwen’s trefoils, the Champions enter Thornogre’s castle, kill its guards, and confront the giant. He attacks them with poisoned darts, but Bedivere, Merlin, and Kilhugh send the darts back, wounding his knee, chest, and eye. At last Thornogre agrees to give Olwen only if Kilhugh performs forty Impossible Things. The chief tasks include gathering nine bushels of ancient flax seed, finding the lost Mabon son of Modron, gaining Cruseward’s magical cauldron, obtaining the living Boar-headed Branch-breaker’s tusk, bringing the Charmed Balsam of the Jet-Black Sorceress, and taking the comb and scissors from Burstingboar the Wide-Waster. To secure the latter objects, Kilhugh must first win Garnard the Giant’s sword. Kai gains entry to Garnard’s castle by posing as a sword-burnisher. Bedivere joins him, while the others climb the walls. Kai uses Garnard’s own newly polished sword to behead him, and the Champions carry away the weapon and treasure. Arthur then sends Uriel, Idwel, Kai, and Bedivere to find Mabon. Guided from the ancient Ousel of Deepdell to the Stag of the Fern Brake, the Owl of Darkdingle, the Eagle of the Aldergrove, and finally the Salmon of the Lone Lake, they discover Mabon imprisoned beneath Gloucester Castle by Gwyn son of Nith, King of Faerie. Arthur attacks the castle while Kai and Bedivere enter from the river on the Salmon’s back and rescue Mabon. Prince Gwyther saves an ant-hill from fire, and the grateful ants gather the nine bushels of flax seed, including the final grain brought by a lame emmet. Arthur sails to Ireland for Cruseward’s cauldron. When Cruseward refuses it, Bedivere seizes it, and Arthur’s men carry it away filled with Irish gold. Arthur next seeks the Charmed Balsam. The Jet-Black Sorceress defeats several warriors, but Arthur enters her cavern and kills her, while Kai takes the balsam. Odgar, King of Ireland, is persuaded to help obtain the Branch-breaker’s tusk. Arthur’s hound Cavall brings the beast down; Odgar plucks out its tusk, and Kai kills it. Merlin finds Burstingboar and sees the jewelled comb and scissors between his ears, but his attempt to steal them fails and he is injured by poisonous foam. Arthur’s forces hunt Burstingboar in Ireland, but the beast escapes with its young to Britain, devastating the land. After long pursuit, Arthur and his companions drive it into a river. Mabon seizes the razor from behind one ear, and Kenneder the Wild takes the scissors from behind the other. Burstingboar escapes again into the sea, pursued by the hounds Raceapace and Boundoft. With the demands fulfilled, Kilhugh returns to Thornogre. The giant reluctantly gives Olwen to him and allows himself to be shaved and combed. Constantine’s surviving son then accuses Thornogre of killing his brothers and robbing his father, kills the giant, and cuts off his head. Constantine receives the castle, while Kilhugh marries Olwen and they live happily together.

By E.M. Wilmot-Buxton · First published 1915 · Genre: Arthurian legend, Welsh mythology, Fantasy · 8,446 words

First lines

I. The Seven Champions of Arthur

These stories were told in old days to British boys and girls as they sat round the fireside and heard the wind outside skirling among the wild Welsh hills. But, no doubt, in time they crossed the border, and were told also to English children, such as most of you, who knew and loved the charming tales of Arthur and his knights.

Similar titles

Genres

Tags

Arthurian legend · Welsh mythology · Celtic folklore · medieval romance · fairy-tale retelling · heroic quest · impossible tasks · Prince Kilhugh · Olwen of the White Footprints · King Arthur · Arthur's knights · giants

What this Textopian page supports

The Quest of the Seven Champions is listed on Textopian as a short story by E.M. Wilmot-Buxton, dated 1915 CE.

This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.

Good citation fit

More by E.M. Wilmot-Buxton