A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
Teyrnon owns a notably beautiful mare that foals on the first night of May every year, but its offspring always vanish. He decides to watch the next birth while armed. A great tumult precedes a claw reaching through the window and gripping the colt by its mane. His sword cuts the arm at the elbow, leaving the severed portion and living colt inside. Outside he hears wailing and further commotion, but darkness prevents him seeing the attacker.
Returning to the open door, Teyrnon finds an infant wrapped in satin. He and his wife rear the child, whose exceptional growth and likeness to Powel eventually reveal the royal parentage. The surviving colt is trained and given to the boy before the household restores him to his parents. The sequence links the thwarted theft with the child’s recovery, but the attacker’s complete body, personal name and exact role in the infant’s original disappearance are not directly shown. A hand or claw does not by itself justify calling the unseen being a dragon, giant or goblin. The profile preserves the encounter’s uncertainty rather than inventing an anatomy.
Origins & earliest records
The selected 1895 Jacobs adaptation follows Guest’s Mabinogion and compares the severed-hand incident with Morraha in note XXIX. Comparison supplies a motif connection, not proof that both stories have the same attacker. Medieval manuscript dating is not newly established from this later adaptation.
Records & interpretation
The window intrusion, severed arm and unexplained cries attest a narrated unseen adversary. The rescued colt and infant are explicit outcomes, while the creature’s full identity remains unknown. This is literary evidence, not a recovered biological specimen or verified stable theft.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
More Celtic Fairy Tales: Powel, Prince of Dyfed, pp. 40–45; note XXIX
Complete selected Powel episode and source note inspected. Jacobs acknowledges anglicised names and an omitted opening incident; this is not a new manuscript collation.
Family & connections
A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Primary textMore Celtic Fairy Tales, selected 1895 edition: Powel, Prince of Dyfed, pp. 40–45; note XXIXResearch access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
