Loki listened, and held his question about why two kings? It could wait, and he was already pondering reasons why. Why Hafgan would need to be defeated in one blow. Was that a condition only for Pwyll? Was the other honor-bound (or otherwise) to accept the challenge?
"Hafgan held off on actually starting the fight, and the two met one year later. Pwyll was disguised as Arawn and the two fought properly this time. Pwyll still remembered the warning about Hafgan needing to be felled in one stroke. Arawn had explained that in the past when he had fought Hafgan and almost killed him, Hafgan had begged for one more hit. But this was a very clever trick by Hafgan! By taking anything more than one strike, he would recover as if he'd used magic and be able to fight again at full strength the next day."
It really was a smart strategy, and Eilonwy had asked how that had worked, but had never gotten any kind of explanation that worked for her.
"Ah." Loki said, in understanding. He could think of a number of reasons how that might be done. "I suspect I'd have to know more about the stories and delve deep, to determine just how Hafgan may have done that. But it is not impossible." A soft chuckle. "Not that I meant to interrupt, please continue."
"Honestly, I think it's some kind of spell, but no one has ever answered." Eilonwy answered before assuring him with, "No, that's fine! To continue; the fight began and Pwyll made very short work of brutally injuring Hafgan. As Hafgan lay on the ground wounded, he begged Pwyll to finish the job and strike him again. But since Pwyll had been told about Hafgan's trick, he refused and told Hafgan that even though it might be something he would regret in the future, Pwyll would leave him alive.
Hafgan was stuck-- he couldn't use his trick to heal, but his lords had just seen him be nearly defeated and in their mind, begging to be defeated instead of fighting and showing his courage. Hafgan told his lords that his death had been met, even if it wasn't physical and he would stop being their king. That's how Annwn went from two kings to one, with King Arawn being the only one recognized moving forward."
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whose_son_am_i) wrote2027-08-15 09:41 pm
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It really was a smart strategy, and Eilonwy had asked how that had worked, but had never gotten any kind of explanation that worked for her.
no subject
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Hafgan was stuck-- he couldn't use his trick to heal, but his lords had just seen him be nearly defeated and in their mind, begging to be defeated instead of fighting and showing his courage. Hafgan told his lords that his death had been met, even if it wasn't physical and he would stop being their king. That's how Annwn went from two kings to one, with King Arawn being the only one recognized moving forward."