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Page 286
of topaz, and the lamb of silver so delicately worked that one could almost swear the fleece was real.
Henry's eyes showed his appreciation of the beauty of the pieces. He handled the broach and buckle almost reverently. "I do not agree as to the little worth," he said. "These are precious things. The skill that made them does not come often to a man's hands. Two fine gifts, indeed."
"That is only one of the gifts," Rhiannon said. "The other needs some time to deliver. It is a song."
"There is time now," Henry replied instantly, with lively expectation. "Let us have the singer in at once."
"The singer is in, my lord." Rhiannon smiled at him. "I need only my harp and, if you will give me leave to sit, a stool, for I must hold the harp in my lap."
She sang a song of Culhwch and Olwen, whose tale reached back into the mists of time when men drank the sea, ran on the tips of grass without bending it, and held their breaths for nine days and nine nights. It told of the geas Culhwch's stepmother set upon him to marry Olwen, daughter of Ysbaddaden, Chief Giant, and of the feats of magic and mystery Culhwch and his companions performed to win her. There was grief and laughter in it and great heroism, but Rhiannon had chosen it because Culhwch, who was obviously Welsh, was accepted by King Arthur as his first cousin.
Rhiannon had considered her repertory very carefully, and decided that Culhwch and Olwen was best. The song started with a rather aggressive passage between Arthur and Culhwch and ended in complete amity. Rhiannon thought this song best conveyed the ideas she wanted Henry to absorb.
Whether her performance would eventually produce the desired effect, Rhiannon was not sure. The initial success was overwhelming. Henry was so moved that he rose from his chair to come down and kiss her, but that appreciation was completely emotional and technical. He had not really thought about the story

 
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