This is an alphabetically-ordered gallery of some of the people, and a few animals, who appear in Welsh legends and stories. Some are historical, though the stories associated with them may be less so; some from the Mabinogion are gods in all but name.
All stories have been retold in my own words - feel free to tell them in yours.
A
B
C
Ch
D
Dd
E
F
Ff
G
Ng
H
I
J
L
LL
M
N
O
P
Ph
R
Rh
S
T
Th
U
(V)
W
Y
Note: this is the order of the Welsh alphabet (plus J & V)
A monster which is supposed to have lived in a pool in the River Conwy and terrorised the local inhabitants, until they decided to get rid of it.
Afanc means beaver in modern Welsh, but the ancient creature was a more dangerous animal.
She appears in Math Son of Mathonwy in the Mabinogion, where she gives birth to Dylan Eil Ton and Lleu Llaw Gyffes
His 12 battles are described in the Historia Brittonum (see Nennius), where he is already a larger than life figure said to have killed 900 men himself in one charge. By the time of Geoffrey of Monmouth, he has become an Emperor, not only of Britain but over most of Europe.
He appears in five of the Mabinogion stories; in the oldest of these, Culhwch and Olwen he is very much a Welsh king with a court of talented warriors, but not the court of chivalry which the later Round Table was.
Branwen, daughter of Llyr, was the sister of Bran in the Mabinogion; her story is told in the Second Branch, which is called after her Branwen ferch Lyr.
Much of the story takes place in Ireland, and parallels with Irish stories are striking.
King of Brycheiniog, the Brecon area of Mid-Wales, in the 6th century, of Irish descent. According to legend he had 24 children all of whom were saints, although the names (and numbers) vary between lists.
See under Llyr.
Saint Collen was associated with Llangollen in North Wales, site of the annual International Eisteddfod.
A Latin Life includes the story of St Collen's encounter with Gwynn ap Nudd, where his contest with a demon king identified as Gwynn ap Nudd is one of the most explicit clashes recorded between Christianity and the old gods.
Saint David; see under Dewi Sant.
Patron saint of Wales, his day is celebrated on 1st March.
A shadowy Celtic goddess, cognate with Danu in Irish; little is known about her. Her name has been linked with a number of continental river names including the Danube; it is probably related to an Iranian word for water. There is also an Indian
The Children of Don were the Welsh equivalent of the Irish Tuatha de Danaan, the family of the goddess Danu, who included most of the Irish gods; their Welsh equivalents, certainly a divine family in origin, appear as superhuman characters in the Welsh stories and Triads.
Some of her children appear in the story Math Son of Mathonwy from the Mabinogion, where she appears to be the sister of Math; those named are Gwydion, Gilfaethwy, Arianrhod, Gofannon and from other sources Amaethon. Their territory appears to be confined to Gwynedd, in north-west Wales, although Gwydion travels through Wales to the court of Pryderi.
See the Genealogy of the Children of Don for a diagram showing the family relationships.
Dylan, Son of the Wave, was born as a golden-haired boy of about 5 when his mother failed a virginity test of stepping iover an enchanted staff; the story is included in Math Son of Mathonwy in the Mabinogion. He hopped into the sea and it is assumed that his father was a sea-god of some form.
He is said to have been killed by his uncle Gofannon, but the story behind this is lost.
Popular belief ascribed to some men supernatural abilities to lift curses or practise cures; such a man was called a dyn hysbys, a knowing man.
Elen (or Helen) of the Hosts, daughter of Eudaf (Octavius) and wife of Macsen Wledig. She was sometimes confused with Helen the mother of the emperor Constantine.
The story of their marriage is given in The Dream of Macsen Wledig in the Mabinogion.
According to The Dream, her husband gave her four cities and she built a series of roads between them, and the track of a Roman road in Wales is often known as Sarn Elen, Elen's Causeway. It has been suggested that this is a corruption of Sarn Lleng, the legion's causeway.
In the famous Welsh story, Gelert was the faithful hound whom his master Prince Llywelyn killed by mistake, at the place now called Beddgelert (ie the grave of Gelert). See the story of the Death of Gelert.
A monk born at Monmouth in South Wales, of Norman if not Breton descent, though there is no evidence he spoke either Welsh or Breton; he lived and studied in Oxford.
He wrote the phenomenally successful Historia Regum Britanniae, the History of the Kings of Britain, telling the legendary history of Britain from the arrival of the Trojan Brutus, through the reigns of the succededing kings (including King Lear, Vortigern and Cymbeline (Cunobelinus)) up to Cadwallon; but the largest part of the work, and the best known, is that dealing with Arthur.
A later work was the Vita Merlini, the Life of Merlin.
Also known as Gerald of Wales or Gerallt Cymro, he was born in Manorbier Castle in West Wales into one of the most important Marcher families in Wales.
In 1188, he accompanied Archbishop Baldwin of Canterbury on a tour of Wales to encourage the nobility to enlist for a planned crusade (the Third Crusade, eventually led by Richard the Lionheart)
A runner famed for his feats of long-distance running; he was called after the farm Nyth Bran (crow's nest) where he lived.
In one story his mother sent him out to get some tea, and he ran down to Pontypridd and back (?miles round trip) before the kettle hd boiled.
In another when his mother sent him out to catch a rabbit, he brouht home a hare which he had caught; cf the story of Peredur catching a hind instead of a goat.
The Welsh form of Gawain; the name may be interpreted as 'hawk of May'. He is one of Arthur's chief knights in the story of Culhwch and Olwen.
According to Geoffrey of Monmouth, his strength grew during the morning and waned during the afternoon, so he may have been a sun god in origin.
Lord of Cantre'r Gwaelod which was drowned under Cardigan Bay by the sea.
Also known as Vortigern; the name means "High King" and may have been a title. He is supposed to have been a tyrant who invited the Saxons to Britain. He built a stronghold at Dinas Emrys, but was driven out by Emrys/Ambrosius, and died at Nant Gwrtheyrn.
One of the Children of Don, he is the central character in the story Math Son of Mathonwy from the Mabinogion, where he uses his powers of enchantment to further his own plans.
Math is also an enchanter but whereas the uncle is a mature ruler whose use of power is measured (he punishes Gwydion while still teaching him a lesson, but only for a set period), Gwydion does not hesitate to manipulate people for his own ends. He brings about a war in order to give his brother Gilfaethwy an opportunity to satisfy his lust, a war in which Pryderi is killed.
When his sister Arianrhod is magically delivered of two children, Gwydion brings up the youngest in secret, and then has to overcome three curses from the mother who blames him for her shame - and knowing Gwydion we wonder how much he did arrange. The relationship of a man to his sister's son was important in many cultures, and Gwydion sets up his nephew, now named as Lleu Llaw Gyffes, with a wife and land.
He also appears in the early Welsh poem Cad Godeu, the Battle of the Trees, under the name Gwion; he leads the fight against an Otherworld army led by Peblig the Strong.
"Now Gwydion was the best storyteller in the world ..."
A mythological figure descended from the old Celtic gods, included in Culhwch and Olwen as one of Arthur's men, who later became the Otherworld king and a fairy figure. See Stories about Gwynn ap Nudd.
He was king of Gwent
Ifor Bach, the Little, was the Welsh lord of Senghennydd, an upland area to the north of Cardiff, in the 12th century, at a time when the lowlands were under Norman control. He suffered from land disputes with William ?, lord of Cardiff. One night his men raided Cardiff Castle and kidnapped the earl and his wife and son, holding them as hostages until the Normans renounced their claims.
His seat was at the original Castell Coch, on whose ruins the Marquess of Bute later built his fantasy castle. According to legend, there is a cave beneath the castle which still holds his treasure, guarded by eagles. Last century, a group of local men tried to retrieve this treasure but once in the tunnel they were attacked so fiercely by the eagles that they had to desist.
Clwb Ifor Bach is the name of the well-known Welsh-language club in Cardiff, within a stone's throw of Cardiff Castle.
He was in charge of the first recorded school in Wales, a monastery at Llanilltud Fawr or Llantwit Major.
He was a hero-figure supposed to have been active on the border of Hereford and Monmouthshire. A number of stories are told about him.
See under Llyr.
Son of Arianrhod and nephew of Gwydion in Math Son of Mathonwy from the Mabinogion. He is dropped as a foetus when his mother fails a virginity test, and brought up by Gwydion.
His name Lleu identifies him with the Gaulish god Lugus (of Lugdunum, or Lyons) and the Irish Lugh.
Llyr is the Welsh equivalent of the Irish sea-god Lir, but note that there is no connection with the Irish story The Children of Lir.
He was the eponymous ancestor of the Children of Llyr, who are prominent in the Second and Third Branches of the Mabinogion. As well as Bran, Branwen and Manawyddan, there are two half-brothers, Nisien and Efnisien; Efnisien plays a major role in the story of Branwen, but Nisien is ignored after being contrasted with Efnisien at the start - curious that he was not taken to Ireland by Bran, who was ready enough to make peace later?
See the Genealogy of the Children of Llyr for a diagram showing the family relationships.
In Culhwch and Olwen, he is said to have been taken from his mother's side when nine days old, and not seen or heard of since.
The earlier form of his name 'Maponus' was found on an altar from ?, and the placename Lochmaben in Dumfriesshire, Scotland, includes his name. The ending '-onus/ona' implies that he was divine, his name meaning 'the divine son of the divine mother' (*Matrona > Modron).
His story is very loosely derived from Magnus Maximus, a Spaniard who was proclaimed emperor by the Roman army in Britain in 383AD, and led an army across to Gaul to back his claim. He defeated the emperor ? at ?, but was himself killed when his army was defeated at Aquileia. He entered British folkore and a number of Welsh dynasties later claimed descent from him. 'Gwledig' means something like '(ruler) of the Gwlad' or country, not the modern meaning of 'rural'.
But in the Mabinogion story, The Dream of Macsen Wledig, he is already emperor when he comes to Britain after seeing Elen in a dream,; he marries her, but then has to reconquer the Roman Empire from a usurper.
He has become a symbol of modern Welsh nationalism, more so than Arthur who has been anglicised, and Dafydd Iwan's song Yma o Hyd has perhaps become the anthem for the Welsh language.
| Er gwaethaf pawb a phopeth, r'yn ni yma o hyd | Despite everyone and everything, we are here still |
| Dafydd Iwan |
According to the legend, Madog was one of the many sons of Owain Gwynedd; he left Wales because of the constant quarelling between his brothers and crossed the Atlantic to North America.
Rumours of a Welsh-speaking tribe of Indians called the Mandaan abounded.
See Madog for a fuller discussion of the putative history.
Gildas addressed him as Maglocune and called him "Dragon of the Island of Britain", and regarded him as the msot powerful British ruler. His death is recorded in the Annales Cambriae
Melangell was an Irish princess who came to Wales in the 7thThere is a charming story to explain why hares are called Melangell's little lambs.
Also known as Merlin, following Geoffrey of Monmouth. The Welsh town Caerfyrddin (Carmarthen) was interpreted as Caer Myrddin, the Fort or City of M. and assigned as his birthplace; a tree called Merlin's Oak is still there.
The earliest mention of him is in the Annales Cambriae for the year 573 for the battle of Arfderydd, where it is said "Merlin went mad." This was in the Old North.
The attributed author of a Latin work known as Historia Brittonum, the History of the Britons, which is a compendium of stories and genealogies mainly about conflicts between the British and Saxons during the Dark Ages.
See Historia Brittonum for a Latin text.
Owain Glyndwr was born in ?, and was descended from the line of the princes of Gwynedd. Until he was 40? he seems to have led a quiet life, serving with the English army in Scotland.
Many stories attached themselves to him, including an encounter with the Abbot of Valle Crucis.
Owain Llaw Goch, of the Red Hand, was
A version of the Sleeping King story became attached to him, and he is said to be sleeping ?, waiting to return to free the Welsh from the English.
Dr William Price
Born 18?, he had to leave Britain after becoming involved in the Chartist Riots (when an armed band marched on Newport, but were repulsed by soldiers).
He named his son 'Jesus Christ', and when the boy died at the age of ?, he cremated the body on top of ? Hill and this caused a near-riot since cremation was unheard of at the time. Although charged, he was acquitted
Pryderi, son of Pwyll, was King of Dyfed in the Mabinogion; his name means 'care' because of the worry his birth brought to jis mother. His birth and disappearance are described in the First Branch, Pwyll Prince of Dyfed, he is one of the seven survivors from Ireland in the Second Branch, plays an important part in the Third Branch and meets his death at the hands of Gwydion in the Fourth Branch.
Pwyll was King of Dyfed in the First Branch of the Mabinogion; his name means 'thought'. He gets the name 'Pen Annwn', Head of Annwn, the Otherworld, because of his friendship with Arawn the King of Annwn, and the year he himself spent as king there. His son was Pryderi.
In the story Pwyll Prince of Dyfed from the Mabinogion, she seeks out Pwyll to marry him, and later becomes the mother of Pryderi. When we first see her, she is riding on the back of a magical horse, and horse equipment is associated with her on other occasions. Her name is derived from *Rigantona - see A Note on Divine Names below.
Later on, after Pwyll's death, she marries Manawyddan, and her impatience contrasts with his patience on a number of occasions, particularly after Pryderi disappears.
To her belong the Birds of Rhiannon who sang for those returned from Ireland, so that seven years seemed but as a day to them.
Rhiannon is still a Welsh girls' name, and is the trademark of a jewelry maker working in West Wales, many of whose designs have been inspired by figures from the Mabinogion.
He was the son of Gwyddno Garanhir, lord of Cantre'r Gwaelod, with reponsibility for opening and closing the dykes of the sea wall. His neglect led to the drowning of this country.
The historical Taliesin was a 6th century bard, probably born in Powys (eastern Wales) though most of the poems accepted as genuine are addressed to rulers in North Britain. These are included in the Book of Taliesin, although other poems there are later works.
The legendary Taliesin was a prophet. The story of the Birth of Taliesin is only found in late sources but was obviously known much earlier from other allusions.
A famous outlaw
The wild boar which caused such devestation in the story of Culhwch and Olwen.
The historical Urien was king of Rheged (a kingdom on both sides of the Solway Firth), who fought against the Angles of Bernicia, and was killed by treachery.
The legendary Urien was a knight of King Arthur's.
See Gwrtheyrn
The endings -onus & -ona are frequently found in Gaulish and Romano-British names of gods and goddesses, qualifying some significant concept, and appears to have been an indication of divinity. So Maponus (see Mabon) would be the Divine Son, and Epona a horse goddess. In the form -on, it has survived in a number of Welsh names, figures who appear to have originated as divinities, such as Rhiannon, derived from a reconstructed *Rigantona, Divine Queen.
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