Find your tribe in a Sea of Creativity
Welsh - Blog Posts
Nix: i'm a communist now Harry
Welsh: does that mean you're going to redistribute your wealth (to me)
Nix: i literally keep forgetting i'm rich
See, I personally find this quest to find pagan/pre-Christian elements in Welsh/Irish literature quite unnerving - I don't know about anyone else.
There's something to be said about genuinely discovering pre-Christian elements in a narrative or story and that being where evidence and study has led you. But I see some people on this fruitless quest to find pagan elements in very Christian texts and sometimes it feels like if no pagan elements can be found, people start making stuff up out of whole cloth - and that can be very dangerous for already not-well known texts in minoritised languages!
There's already so much misinformation out there about Irish/Welsh texts and literature in general - so it hurts to see people carelessly adding to the misinformation either out of ignorance or lack of respect for the source material.
I promise you the source material being Christian doesn't ruin it - you can in fact, enjoy these myths without making them into something they're not!
Chi-rho page from the Book of St Chad, which dates from circa AD 730. It contains some of the earliest evidence of the Welsh language in written form
I see a lot of American cryptids and mythical creatures on here, so I thought I'd share some of my favourite creatures from here in Wales! 🏴
Afanc
A crocodile and beaver type creature. It lives in welsh lakes, and sometimes Conwy river. It's a demonic creature that eats anyone who swims in its home.
Ceffyl Dwr
Similar to the Scottish kelpie. It inhabits mountain pools and waterfalls. North wales lore says it's quite evil and foreboding, whereas south wales lore says it's quite a friendly creature. I'm north Walian so this is our version: It entices people to ride it and then evaporates mid air, so the rider falls to his death.
Llamhygin Y Dwr
The Water Leaper. It's a bat/frog/lizard hybrid. It lives in lakes and ponds, snapping fisherman's lines and eats livestock and fishermen.
Y Ddraig
The famous welsh dragon, featured on our flag. Legend says that Vortigen wanted to build a castle right where 2 dragons were said to be sleeping. When they started digging, they found 2 dragons fighting, one white and one red. The red dragon won.
Gwillgi
Similar to the English black shuck, gwillgi is a fearsome black dog who haunts rural welsh roads at night.
Coblynau
Gnome like fairy creatures, they live in Welsh mines. They help the miners find the rich veins of ore and other treasures by knocking.
Cyhyraeth
Similar to the Irish Bean Sidhe, y cyhyraeth is a disembodied moaning voice that foretells death.
Cath Palug
Palugs cat was an enormous cat that lived on Anglesey. It killed 180 warriors who were sent to kill it.
Adar Llwch Gwin
Griffin type creatures that were gifted to Drudwas ap Tryffin by his faerie wife. They understand human language and obey commands.
Cadair Idris
Translates to "Chair of Idris". Idris was a huge giant and this mountain was his chair. Legend has it that if you sleep on this mountain, you'll either wake a madman or never wake at all. I've actually been here, it's not far from my house.
Hope you enjoyed these few creatures from Wales!!🏴