Tradition / Region: Welsh Mythology
Alternate Names: Cafall, Cabal, Caball
Category: Dog
The Myth
Cavall was the favorite hunting dog of King Arthur.
He was famed among Arthur’s hounds for his strength and loyalty, and during hunts he held a special place. When Arthur pursued game, the other dogs were often released first, while Cavall was kept back. Only when the moment was right would he be unleashed, and then he would race after the quarry with unmatched speed.
Cavall is most closely remembered for the hunt of the monstrous boar Twrch Trwyth. During this pursuit, the hound chased the beast across the land, and in the course of the hunt he leapt upon a stone and left the mark of his paw impressed in it.
Arthur ordered that a mound of stones be raised around that rock to honor the moment. The place became known as Carn Cavall, the Cairn of Cavall.
It was said that the stone bearing the pawprint possessed a strange power. Travelers who visited the cairn sometimes took the stone away, carrying it off for a day or a night. Yet when they returned, the stone would always be found back upon the mound where it belonged, as though the land itself refused to let the mark of Arthur’s dog be removed.
Thus Cavall was remembered not only as a hunter beside a king, but as a hound whose deed left a permanent sign in the earth, a mark that endured long after the hunt itself had passed into legend.
Gallery
Sources
Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.). Cavall. In Wikipedia, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cavall
Interpretive Lenses
Religious Readings
- Christian Ascetic Deep Dive
Philosophical Readings
- Nietzschean Deep Dive
Psychological Readings
- Jungian Deep Dive
Esoteric Deep Dive
- Hermetic Deep Dive
Political / Social Readings
- Marxist Deep Dive