One Of My Favorite Things In Mythology Is How A Name Is Created Or Has A Tie To The Character In Question.

One of my favorite things in mythology is how a name is created or has a tie to the character in question. So I want to look at the meaning behind some of my favorite characters in literature. Today we'll be looking at the beautifully evil bird himself, Griffith.

So let's start with where the name comes from, and for that we need to look to Wales. The name Griffith is less a name and more a title or last name. It means prince or high lord, and is still in use today. 

Now in to the fun part the mythology.Now we can safely say Griffith has more then a touch of the Morning Star influence to his character. The question is what Morning Star archetype would he fit? Lucifer of course springs to mind; the fallen archangel king that started a war with God. I will argue that none of the angels in Beraerk are fallen angels as they do surve their God faithfully. So then what archetypes could Griffith pull from? Well look no further then the homeland of his name. Lleu Llaw Gyffes, which is where we get the name Griffith from. 

Lleu Llaw Gyffes was a Welsh god. He is the son of Arianrhod the goddess of fate and the moon. He has a few stories associated with him but for this I think we should look into the story of his birth and his death and resurrection.

Lleu had a very unnatural birth even by god standards. His mother gave birth to his twin brother first. Who became the God of nigh and the ocean. He was born suddenly and miraculously from Arianrhod after she was asked to cross a boundary to prove she was pure. Lleu was not born till his uncle noticed the placenta left on the ground was still moving. In it was the underdeveloped Lleu. His uncle used magic to turn the placenta into an egg and left it in a trunk to hatch. From this egg Lleu emerged as a young boy with pale hair like the moon. He grew much faster then the normal child and was extremely intelligent and magically gifted. Some called him the king of eagles and hawks. Arianrhod hated him deeply, finding him to be an abomination. And cursed him many times. All of which he overcame in time.

Now one the curse placed on him to never marry any woman that was born. So being the very clever and magically gifted man he was, he made a woman from the petals of the meadow sweet, the apple, and the broom. This created Blodeuwedd the goddess of flowers, blooms, and spring. Blodeuwedd did not love Lleu for long, eventually she fell in love with his best friend who happened to be his best and most noble knight. The two entered an affair and plotted to kill Lleu Llaw Gyffes. See he could only be killed in a very specific way. He must be on the threshold of a home and outside, he had to be standing between a pool of water and a mount, and it had to be at dawn or dusk. She using this very method the unfaithful wife and the knight stabbed Lleu with a spear while he entered his home, but he did not die, instead he transformed into a massive hawk and flew away. And for seven years he sat at the top of the world tree and morned the loss of his love and his best friend. Until his mother took pity on him and returned him to human form and he took revenge on his former loved ones. First by shooting his former best friend through a stone creating a gapping hole in a standing stone, and cursing his wife into the form of an owl. Who to this day surves Arianrhod as a messenger and handmaid. Her children, the owls, hate all raptors and will atempt to kill them. 

Now you may or may not see the elements that could have influenced Griffith. The noble knight most loyal to him falling in love with his wife and second in command. But think of the storyline. Griffith has Casca his closest supporter and second in command, basically his sudo wife. They both meet Guts the wandering warrior, who quickly becomes Griffith's best friend and favorite knight. Guts and Casca fall in love and 'stab' Griffith in the back. Where he's born from and egg already grown, to becomes the Hawk of Darkness and takes revenge on them. The only thing I hope is that Guts dose not die impaled and Casca is not doomed to fight him for all eternity. 

Lastly I'll leave a picture of how Lleu Llaw Gyffes is often depicted. Kinda Femto like humm?

The picture is not mine and I do not claim any characters in this post.