1.
Fairy
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A fairy is a type of mythical being or legendary creature in European folklore, a form of spirit, often described as metaphysical, supernatural, or preternatural. According to Thomas Keightley, the word derives from the Latin fata. Other forms are the Italian fata, and the Provençal fada, in old French romance, fee was a woman skilled in magic, and who knew the power and virtue of words, of stones, and of herbs. Faierie became fairy, but with that now almost exclusively referring to one of the legendary people. The word fairy was used to represent an illusion, or enchantment, to the word faie was added the suffix -erie, used to express either a place where something is found or a trade or typical activity engaged in. In later usage it applied to any kind of quality or activity associated with a particular type of person. In the sense land where fairies dwell, the distinctive and archaic spellings Faery, the latinate fay is not to be confused with the unrelated fey, meaning fated to die. Various folkloristic traditions refer to them euphemistically, by such as wee folk, good folk, people of peace, fair folk. Sometimes the term fairy is used to any magical creature, including goblins or gnomes, at other times. Fairies have their origin in the conflation of Celtic traditions in the Middle French medieval romances. Fairie was in origin used adjectivally, meaning enchanted, but was used as a name for enchanted creatures from as early as the Late Middle English period. In English literature of the Elizabethan era, elves became conflated with the fairies of Romance culture, the Victorian and Edwardian eras saw an increase in interest in fairies. The Celtic Revival viewed them as part of Irelands cultural heritage, carole Silvers and others suggest that the fascination of English antiquarians arose from a reaction to greater industrialization, and loss of folkways. Fairies are generally described as human in appearance and having magical powers, even with these small fairies, however, their small size may be magically assumed rather than constant. Some fairies though normally quite small were able to dilate their figures to imitate humans, on Orkney they were described as short in stature, dressed in dark grey, and sometimes seen in armour. Wings, while common in Victorian and later artwork of fairies, are rare in the folklore, even very small fairies flew with magic. Nowadays, fairies are depicted with ordinary insect wings or butterfly wings. In some folklore, fairies have green eyes, some depictions of fairies either have them wearing some sort of footwear and other depictions of fairies are always barefoot
2.
Annwn
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Annwn, Annwfn, or Annwfyn was the Otherworld in Welsh mythology. Ruled by Arawn, it was essentially a world of delights and eternal youth where disease was absent and it became identified with the Christian afterlife in paradise. Middle Welsh sources suggest that the term was recognised as meaning very deep in medieval times, the pronunciation of Modern Welsh Annwn is. In both Welsh and Irish mythologies, the Otherworld was believed to be located either on an island or underneath the earth. In the First Branch of the Mabinogi, it is implied that Annwn is a land within Dyfed, two other otherworldly feasts that occur in the Second Branch of the Mabinogi are located in Harlech in northwest Wales and on the island of Grassholm in southwest Pembrokeshire. Annwn plays a prominent role in the Four Branches of the Mabinogi. In the First Branch of the Mabinogi, entitled Pwyll, Prince of Dyfed, in recompense he exchanges places with Arawn for a year and defeats Arawns enemy Hafgan, while Arawn rules in his stead in Dyfed. During this year, Pwyll abstains from sleeping with Arawns wife, earning himself gratitude, on his return, Pwyll becomes known by the title Penn Annwn, Head of Annwn. The similarly mythological epic poem Cad Goddeu describes a battle between Gwynedd and the forces of Annwn, led again by Arawn. It is revealed that Amaethon, nephew to Math, king of Gwynedd, stole a bitch, a lapwing, the narrator of the poem is possibly intended to be Taliesin himself. The speaker relates how he journeyed with Arthur and three boatloads of men into Annwfn, but only seven returned. Annwfn is apparently referred to by names, including Mound Fortress, Four-Peaked Fortress. Within the Mound Forts walls Gweir, one of the Three Exalted Prisoners of Britain known from the Welsh Triads, is imprisoned in chains, the narrator then describes the cauldron of the Chief of Annwn, it is finished with pearl and will not boil a cowards food. Whatever tragedy ultimately killed all but seven of them is not clearly explained, the poem continues with an excoriation of little men and monks, who lack various forms of knowledge possessed by the poet. Over time, the role of king of Annwn was transferred to Gwyn ap Nudd, a hunter and psychopomp, the Christian Vita Collen tells of Saint Collen vanquishing Gwyn and his otherworldly court from Glastonbury Tor with the use of holy water. In Culhwch and Olwen, an early Welsh Arthurian tale, it is said that God gave Gwyn ap Nudd control over the demons lest this world be destroyed, tradition revolves around Gwyn leading his spectral hunts, the Cŵn Annwn, on his hunt for mortal souls. The Dark, a 2005 film directed by John Fawcett and based on the novel Sheep by Simon Maginn, involves the legend, Annwn is the name of a German medieval and pagan folk duo from North Rhine-Westphalia. The name was previously used by an unrelated Celtic Rock trio in Berkeley, California
3.
Wild Hunt
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The Wild Hunt is a European folk myth involving a ghostly or supernatural group of huntsmen passing in wild pursuit. Seeing the Wild Hunt was thought to presage some catastrophe such as war or plague, people encountering the Hunt might also be abducted to the underworld or the fairy kingdom. In some instances, it was believed that peoples spirits could be pulled away during their sleep to join the cavalcade. Grimm popularised the term Wilde Jagd for the phenomenon, based on the comparative approach based on German folklore, the phenomenon is often referred to as Wilde Jagd or Wildes Heer. In Germany, where it was known as the Wild Army, or Furious Army, its leader was given various identities, including Wodan, Knecht Ruprecht, Berchtold. The Wild Hunt is also known from post-medieval folklore, in England, it was known as Herlaþing, Wodens Hunt, Herods Hunt, Cains Hunt, the Devils Dandy Dogs, Gabriels Hounds, and Ghost Riders. In Wales, a folk myth is known as Cŵn Annwn. In Scandinavia, the Wild Hunt is known as Oskoreia or Asgårdsreia, in France, it was known as Mesnée dHellequin, in Canada it becomes Chasse-galerie. In West Slavic Central Europe it is known as divoký hon or štvaní, Dziki Gon or Dziki Łów, the concept of the Wild Hunt was first documented by the German folklorist Jacob Grimm, who first published it in his 1835 book Deutsche Mythologie. It was in work that he popularised the term Wilde Jagd for the phenomenon. Grimms methodological approach was rooted in the idea – common in nineteenth-century Europe – that modern folklore represented a fossilized survival of the beliefs of the distant past. In developing his idea of the Wild Hunt, he mixed together recent folkloric sources with textual evidence dating to the Medieval and Early Modern periods. This approach came to be criticized within the field of folkloristics during the 20th century, as emphasis was placed on the dynamic. Grimm believed that this figure was sometimes replaced by a female counterpart. In his words, not only Wuotan and other gods, but heathen goddesses too, may head the furious host and he added his opinion that this female figure was Wodens wife. Discussing martial elements of the Wild Hunt, Grimm commented that it marches as an army, hutton nevertheless believed that this approach could be fundamentally challenged. In England, the historical figures St, the huntsmen were black, huge, and hideous, and rode on black horses and on black he-goats, and their hounds were jet black, with eyes like saucers, and horrible. Reliable witnesses were said to have given the number of huntsmen as twenty or thirty, and it is said, in effect, that this went on for nine weeks, ending at Easter
4.
Glastonbury Tor
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Glastonbury Tor is a hill near Glastonbury in the English county of Somerset, topped by the roofless St Michaels Tower, a Grade I listed building. The whole site is managed by the National Trust, and has designated a scheduled monument. The conical hill of clay and Blue Lias rises from the Somerset Levels and it was formed when surrounding softer deposits were eroded, leaving the hard cap of sandstone exposed. The slopes of the hill are terraced, but the method by which they were formed remains unexplained, artefacts from human visitation have been found, dating from the Iron Age to Roman eras. Several buildings were constructed on the summit during the Saxon and early periods, they have been interpreted as an early church. The head of a cross dating from the 10th or 11th century has been recovered. The original wooden church was destroyed by an earthquake in 1275, and its tower remains, although it has been restored and partially rebuilt several times. Archaeological excavations during the 20th century sought to clarify the background of the monument and church, the Tor is mentioned in Celtic mythology, particularly in myths linked to King Arthur, and has a number of other enduring mythological and spiritual associations. The origin of the name Glastonbury is unclear, but when the settlement was first recorded in the late 7th, of the latter name, Glestinga is obscure, and may derive from an Old English word or Celtic personal name. It may derive from a person or kindred group named Glast, the second half of the name, -burg, is Anglo-Saxon in origin and could refer to either a fortified place such as a burh or, more likely, a monastic enclosure. Tor is an English word referring to a rock or a hill. The Celtic name of the Tor was Ynys Wydryn, or sometimes Ynys Gutrin, at this time the plain was flooded, the isle becoming a peninsula at low tide. The Tor is in the middle of the Summerland Meadows, part of the Somerset Levels, the plain is reclaimed fen above which the Tor is clearly visible for miles around. It has been described as an island but actually sits at the end of a peninsula washed on three sides by the River Brue. The Tor is formed from rocks dating from the early Jurassic Period, the uppermost of these, forming the Tor itself, are a succession of rocks assigned to the Bridport Sand Formation. These rocks sit upon strata forming the hill on which the Tor stands, the various layers of the Beacon Limestone Formation. The Bridport Sands have acted as a caprock protecting the lower layers from erosion, the low-lying damp ground can produce a visual effect known as a Fata Morgana when the Tor appears to rise out of the mist. This optical phenomenon occurs because rays of light are bent when they pass through air layers of different temperatures in a steep thermal inversion where an atmospheric duct has formed
5.
Caswallawn
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Cassivellaunus was a historical British tribal chief who led the defence against Julius Caesars second expedition to Britain in 54 BC. He led an alliance of tribes against Roman forces, but eventually surrendered after his location was revealed to Julius Caesar by defeated Britons, Cassivellaunus made an impact on the British consciousness. He appears in British legend as Cassibelanus, one of Geoffrey of Monmouths kings of Britain, and in the Mabinogion, the Brut y Brenhinedd and his name in Common Brittonic, *Cassiuellaunos, comes from Proto-Celtic *kassi- passion, love, hate + *uelna-mon- leader, sovereign. Cassivellaunus appears in Julius Caesars Commentarii de Bello Gallico, having been given command of the combined British forces opposing Caesars second invasion of Britain, the kings son, Mandubracius, fled to Caesar in Gaul. Despite Cassivellaunuss harrying tactics, designed to prevent Caesars army from foraging and plundering for food, the only fordable point was defended and fortified with sharp stakes, but the Romans managed to cross it. Cassivellaunus dismissed most of his army and resorted to guerilla tactics, relying on his knowledge of the territory, on hearing of the defeat and the devastation of his territories, Cassivellaunus surrendered. The terms were mediated by Commius, Caesars Gallic ally, hostages were given and a tribute agreed. Mandubracius was restored to the kingship of the Trinovantes, and Cassivellaunus undertook not to wage war against him, all this achieved, Caesar returned to Gaul where a poor harvest had caused unrest. The Roman legions did not return to Britain for another 97 years, the Greek author Polyaenus relates an anecdote in his Stratagemata that Caesar overcame Cassivellaunuss defence of a river crossing by means of an armoured elephant. This claim may derive from a confusion with the Roman conquest of 43 AD, Cassivellaunus appears in Geoffrey of Monmouths 12th century work Historia Regum Britanniae, usually spelled Cassibelanus or Cassibelaunus. The younger son of the former king Heli, he becomes king of Britain upon the death of his elder brother Lud, in recompense, Androgeus is made Duke of Kent and Trinovantum, and Tenvantius is made Duke of Cornwall. After his conquest of Gaul, Julius Caesar sets his sights on Britain, Cassibelanus refuses, citing the Britons and Romans common Trojan descent, and Caesar invades at the Thames Estuary. During the fighting, Cassibelanuss brother Nennius encounters Caesar and sustains a head wound. The Britons hold firm, and that night Caesar flees back to Gaul, Cassibelanuss celebrations are muted by Nenniuss death from his head wound. He is buried with the sword he took from Caesar, which is named Crocea Mors, two years later, Caesar invades again with a larger force. Cassibelanus, forewarned, had planted stakes beneath the waterline of the Thames which gut Caesars ships, the Romans are once again quickly put to flight. The leaders of the Britons gather in Trinovantum to thank the gods for their victory with many animal sacrifices, during a wrestling bout, Cassibelanuss nephew Hirelglas is killed by Androgeuss nephew Cuelinus. Cassibelanus demands that Androgeus turn his nephew over to him for trial, Cassibelanus threatens war, and Androgeus appeals to Caesar for help
6.
Culhwch and Olwen
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Culhwch and Olwen is a Welsh tale that survives in only two manuscripts about a hero connected with Arthur and his warriors, a complete version in the Red Book of Hergest, ca. 1400, and a version in the White Book of Rhydderch. It is the longest of the surviving Welsh prose tales, certain linguistic evidence indicates it took its present form by the 11th century, making it perhaps the earliest Arthurian tale and one of Wales earliest extant prose texts. The title is an invention and does not occur in early manuscripts. Lady Charlotte Guest included this tale among those she collected under the title The Mabinogion, Culhwchs father, King Cilydd son of Celyddon, loses his wife Goleuddydd after a difficult childbirth. When he remarries, the young Culhwch rejects his stepmothers attempt to pair him with his new stepsister, offended, the new queen puts a curse on him so that he can marry no one besides the beautiful Olwen, daughter of the giant Ysbaddaden Pencawr. Though he has never seen her, Culhwch becomes infatuated with her, the young man immediately sets off to seek his kinsman. Arthur agrees to help, and sends six of his finest warriors to join Culhwch in his search for Olwen, the group meets some relatives of Culhwchs that know Olwen and agree to arrange a meeting. Fortunately for Culhwch, the completion of only a few of these tasks is recorded, the story is on one level a typical folktale, in which a young hero sets out to wed a giants daughter, and many of the accompanying motifs reinforce this. However, for most of the narrative the title characters go unmentioned, Culhwch and Olwen is much more than a simple folktale. In fact, the majority of the writing is taken up by two lists and the adventures of King Arthur and his men. The first of these occurs when Arthur welcomes his young kinsman to his court and offers to give him whatever he wishes. Culhwch, of course, asks that Arthur help him get Olwen, included in the list are names taken from Irish legend, hagiography, and sometimes actual history. The second list includes the tasks Culhwch must complete before Ysbaddaden will allow him to marry Olwen, only a fraction are recounted, but several that are disclosed, are of great significance. A version of the longest episode, the hunt for the boar Twrch Trwyth, is referenced in Historia Brittonum, the British painter/poet David Jones wrote a poem called The Hunt based on the tale of Culwhch ac Olwen. A fragment of a work, The Hunt takes place during the pursuit of the boar Twrch Trwyth by Arthur. In 1988 Gwyn Thomas released a retelling of the story, Culhwch ac Olwen, Culhwch ac Olwen won the annual Tir na n-Og Award for Welsh language nonfiction in 1989. A shadow play adaptation of Culhwch and Olwen toured schools in Ceredigion during 2003, the show was created by Jim Williams and was supported by Theatr Felinfach
7.
King Arthur
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King Arthur is a legendary British leader who, according to medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the late 5th and early 6th centuries AD. The details of Arthurs story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, the sparse historical background of Arthur is gleaned from various sources, including the Annales Cambriae, the Historia Brittonum, and the writings of Gildas. Arthurs name also occurs in early sources such as Y Gododdin. Arthur is a figure in the legends making up the so-called Matter of Britain. The legendary Arthur developed as a figure of international interest largely through the popularity of Geoffrey of Monmouths fanciful, how much of Geoffreys Historia was adapted from such earlier sources, rather than invented by Geoffrey himself, is unknown. Geoffrey depicted Arthur as a king of Britain who defeated the Saxons and established an empire over Britain, Ireland, Iceland, Norway and Gaul. The 12th-century French writer Chrétien de Troyes, who added Lancelot, in these French stories, the narrative focus often shifts from King Arthur himself to other characters, such as various Knights of the Round Table. Arthurian literature thrived during the Middle Ages but waned in the centuries that followed until it experienced a resurgence in the 19th century. In the 21st century, the lives on, not only in literature but also in adaptations for theatre, film, television, comics. The historical basis for the King Arthur legend has long debated by scholars. These culminate in the Battle of Badon, where he is said to have single-handedly killed 960 men, recent studies, however, question the reliability of the Historia Brittonum. The other text that seems to support the case for Arthurs historical existence is the 10th-century Annales Cambriae, the Annales date this battle to 516–518, and also mention the Battle of Camlann, in which Arthur and Medraut were both killed, dated to 537–539. These details have often used to bolster confidence in the Historias account. Problems have been identified, however, with using this source to support the Historia Brittonums account, the latest research shows that the Annales Cambriae was based on a chronicle begun in the late 8th century in Wales. Additionally, the textual history of the Annales Cambriae precludes any certainty that the Arthurian annals were added to it even that early. They were more likely added at point in the 10th century. The Badon entry probably derived from the Historia Brittonum and this lack of convincing early evidence is the reason many recent historians exclude Arthur from their accounts of sub-Roman Britain. These modern admissions of ignorance are a recent trend, earlier generations of historians were less sceptical
8.
May Day
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May Day is a public holiday usually celebrated on May 1. It is an ancient northern hemisphere spring festival and it is also a traditional spring holiday in many cultures. Dances, singing, and cake are usually part of the celebrations that the day includes, in the late 19th century, May Day was chosen as the date for International Workers Day by the Socialists and Communists of the Second International to commemorate the Haymarket affair in Chicago. International Workers Day may also be referred to as May Day and it is also associated with the Gaelic Beltane, most commonly held on April 30. The day was a summer holiday in many pre-Christian European pagan cultures. While February 1 was the first day of spring, May 1 was the first day of summer, hence, as Europe became Christianised, the pagan holidays lost their religious character and May Day changed into a popular secular celebration. A significant celebration of May Day occurs in Germany where it is one of days on which St. Walburga. The secular versions of May Day, observed in Europe and America, may be best known for their traditions of dancing around the maypole and crowning the Queen of May. Fading in popularity since the late 20th century is the giving of May baskets, small baskets of sweets or flowers, usually left anonymously on neighbours doorsteps. May 1 is also one of two feast days of the Catholic patron saint of workers St Joseph the Worker, a carpenter, husband to Mother Mary, and surrogate father of Jesus. Replacing another feast to St. Joseph, this date was chosen by Pope Pius XII in 1955 as a counterpoint to the communist International Workers Day celebrations on May Day. In the late 20th century, many neopagans began reconstructing traditions, traditional English May Day rites and celebrations include crowning a May Queen and celebrations involving a maypole. Historically, Morris dancing has been linked to May Day celebrations, much of this tradition derives from the pagan Anglo-Saxon customs held during Þrimilci-mōnaþ along with many Celtic traditions. May Day has been a day of festivities throughout the centuries. May Day is most associated with towns and villages celebrating springtime fertility and revelry with village fetes, seeding has been completed by this date and it was convenient to give farm labourers a day off. Perhaps the most significant of the traditions is the maypole, around which traditional dancers circle with ribbons, the spring bank holiday on the first Monday in May was created in 1978, May Day itself – May 1 – is not a public holiday in England. Unlike the other Bank Holidays and common law holidays, the first Monday in May is taken off from schools by itself and this is because it has no Christian significance and does not otherwise fit into the usual school holiday pattern. May Day was abolished and its celebration banned by Puritan parliaments during the Interregnum, may 1,1707, was the day the Act of Union came into effect, joining England and Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain
9.
Robert Graves
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Robert von Ranke Graves was an English poet, novelist, critic and classicist. He produced more than 140 works, Irish literature deeply affected Graves White Goddess theories, specifically the genre aisling. He earned his living from writing, particularly historical novels such as I, Claudius, King Jesus, The Golden Fleece. He also was a prominent translator of Classical Latin and Ancient Greek texts, his versions of The Twelve Caesars and The Golden Ass remain popular, for their clarity, Graves was awarded the 1934 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for both I, Claudius and Claudius the God. Graves was born into a family in Wimbledon, then part of Surrey. Gravess mother was from a recently ennobled German family, the eldest daughter of Heinrich von Ranke, a professor of medicine at the University of Munich and she was also a greatniece of the German historian Leopold von Ranke. At school, Graves was enrolled as Robert von Ranke Graves and in Germany his books are published under that name but before and during the First World War, the name caused him difficulties. In August 1916 an officer who disliked him spread the rumour that he was a spy, the problem resurfaced in a minor way in the Second World War, when a suspicious rural policeman blocked his appointment to the Special Constabulary. Gravess eldest half-brother, Philip Perceval Graves, achieved note as a journalist and his brother, Charles Patrick Graves, was a writer. Among the masters his chief influence was George Mallory, who introduced him to contemporary literature, in his final year at Charterhouse, he won a classical exhibition to St Johns College, Oxford but did not take his place there until after the war. At the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, Graves enlisted almost immediately and he published his first volume of poems, Over the Brazier, in 1916. He developed a reputation as a war poet and was one of the first to write realistic poems about experience of frontline conflict. In later years, he omitted his war poems from his collections, at the Battle of the Somme, he was so badly wounded by a shell-fragment through the lung that he was expected to die and was officially reported as having died of wounds. He gradually recovered and, apart from a spell back in France. One of Gravess friends at this time was the poet Siegfried Sassoon, in 1917, Sassoon rebelled against the conduct of the war by making a public antiwar statement. Graves feared Sassoon could face a court martial and intervened with the authorities, persuading them that Sassoon was suffering from shell shock. As a result, Sassoon was sent to Craiglockhart, a hospital in Edinburgh. Graves also suffered shell shock, or neurasthenia as it was then called, but he was never hospitalised for it, I thought of going back to France
10.
Culhwch
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Culhwch, in Welsh mythology, is the son of Cilydd son of Celyddon and Goleuddydd, a cousin of Arthur and the protagonist of the story Culhwch and Olwen. In this tale the etymology of Culhwch is explained as sow run, according to the narrative, Culhwch is born to his maddened mother Goleuddydd after she is frightened by a herd of swine. The swineherd finds Culhwch in the run, and takes him back to his father Cilydd. Culhwch is described as being of gentle lineage, culhwchs father, King Cilydd son of Celyddon, loses his wife Goleuddydd after a difficult childbirth. When he remarries, the young Culhwch rejects his stepmothers attempt to pair him with his new stepsister, offended, the new queen puts a curse on him so that he can marry no one besides the beautiful Olwen, daughter of the giant Ysbaddaden. Though he has never seen her, Culhwch becomes infatuated with her, the young man immediately sets off to seek his kinsman. He finds him at his court in Celliwig in Cornwall and asks for support, Arthur agrees to help, and sends six warriors to join Culhwch in his search for Olwen. They travel onwards until they come across the fairest of the castles of the world and they learn that the castle belongs to Ysbaddaden, that he stripped Custennin of his lands and murdered the shepherds twenty-three children out of cruelty. Custennin set up a meeting between Culhwch and Olwen, and the maiden agrees to lead Culhwch and his companions to Ysbadaddens castle, the warrior Cai pledges to protect the twenty-fourth son, Goreu with his life. The knights attack the castle by stealth, killing the nine porters and the nine watchdogs, and enter the giants hall. Upon their arrival, Ysbaddaden attempts to kill Culhwch with a dart, but is outwitted and wounded, first by Bedwyr, then by the enchanter Menw. Culhwch accepts the child and, with the help of Arthur and his knights. With the anoethau completed, Culhwch, Goreu and others who wished ill to Ysbaddaden Bencawr ride to his court. The giants beard, skin and flesh are shaved off by Caw of Pictland and, accepting his humiliation and defeat, he is dragged away by Goreu, who avenges his murdered brothers by beheading the giant. Ysbaddadens head is placed on the spike of the citadel, Goreu claims his uncles lands as his own, a warrior by the name of Culhwch appears prominently in the Warlord Chronicles trilogy by Bernard Cornwell. Text of Culhwch and Olwen, translated by Lady Charlotte Guest
11.
Ysbaddaden
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Ysbaddaden Bencawr, Ysbaddaden, Chief of Giants, is the primary antagonist of the Welsh romance Culhwch ac Olwen. A vicious giant residing in a nigh unreachable castle, he is the father of Olwen, culhwchs father, King Cilydd son of Celyddon, loses his wife Goleuddydd after a difficult childbirth. When Cilydd remarries, the young Culhwch rejects his stepmothers attempt to pair him with his new stepsister, offended, the new queen puts a curse on him so that he can marry no one besides the beautiful Olwen, daughter of the giant Ysbaddaden. Though he has never seen her, Culhwch becomes infatuated with her, the young man immediately sets off to seek his kinsman. He finds him at his court in Celliwig in Cornwall and asks for support, Arthur agrees to help, and sends six warriors to join Culhwch in his search for Olwen. They travel onwards until they come across the fairest of the castles of the world and they learn that the castle belongs to Ysbaddaden, that he stripped Custennin of his lands and murdered the shepherds twenty-three children out of cruelty. Custennin set up a meeting between Culhwch and Olwen, and the maiden agrees to lead Culhwch and his companions to Ysbadaddens castle, the warrior Cai pledges to protect the twenty-fourth son, Goreu, with his life. The knights attack the castle by stealth, killing the nine porters and the nine watchdogs, and enter the giants hall. Upon their arrival, Ysbaddaden attempts to kill Culhwch with a dart, but is outwitted and wounded, first by Bedwyr, then by the enchanter Menw. Culhwch accepts the challenge and, with the help of Arthur and his knights. With the anoethau completed, Culhwch, Goreu and others who wished ill to Ysbaddaden Bencawr ride to his court. The giants beard, skin and flesh are shaved off by Caw of Pictland and, accepting his humiliation and defeat, he is dragged away by Goreu, who avenges his murdered brothers by beheading the giant. Ysbaddadens head is placed on the spike of the citadel, Goreu claims his uncles lands as his own, and Olwen is free to marry her love
12.
Twrch Trwyth
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Twrch Trwyth is an enchanted wild boar in the Matter of Britain that King Arthur or his men pursued with the aid of Arthurs dog Cavall. The names of the hound and boar are glimpsed in a piece of geographical onomasticon composed in Latin in the 9th century, however, a richly elaborate account of the great hunt appears in the Welsh prose romance Culhwch and Olwen, probably written around 1100. A passing reference to Twrch Trwyth also occurs in the elegy Gwarchan Cynfelyn preserved in the Book of Aneirin, the name in Welsh can be construed to mean the boar Trwyth, and may have its analogue in the boar Triath of Irish mythology. The earliest reference to the boar Trwyth occurs in a tract called De Mirabilibus Britanniae, the Mirabilia is believed to be near-contemporaneous to the 9th century Historia Brittonum and is found appended to it in many extant manuscripts. In French romances such as by Chrétien de Troyes, Ares is the father of a knight called Tor, some scholars consider that Tor son of Ares is the Twrch son of Tared of Culhwch and Olwen and that the authentic name is probably Ares. Culhwch is given the task by Ysbaddaden, the giant whose daughter Olwen Culhwch seeks, of obtaining the comb, later in the story it transpires there is also a razor secreted there. These implements are then to be used to cut and treat Ysbaddadens hair, ultimately Ysbaddaden calls on Culhwch to seek out Arthur, Culhwchs cousin, to help him hunt Twrch. Prior to the hunt, Menw son of Teirgwaedd is sent to verify that the comb and he takes the form of a bird and flies to Twrchs lair, encountering the boar with seven piglets. Although it is Culhwch who is given the task, it is Arthur and his men who take the most prominent role in the chase, Culhwch having successfully enlisted his aid. After causing the death of several of Arthurs troop, the boar surrenders the razor, scissors, and later the comb by force, yet another boar, Ysgithyrwyn or White-Tusk, Chief of Boars, had to be captured for its tusk to complete the grooming of Ysbadadden. As previously noted, the Welsh word twrch means wild boar, hog, mole and its Irish cognate may be Triath, King of the Swine or the Torc Triath mentioned in Lebor Gabála Érenn, also recorded as Old Irish Orc tréith Triaths boar in Sanas Cormaic. Rachel Bromwich regards the form Trwyth as a late corruption, in the early text Historia Brittonum, the boar is called Troynt or Troit, a Latinisation likely from the Welsh Trwyd. Further evidence that Trwyd was the form appears in a reference in a later poem. The Twrch Trwyth was the name of a club in the Amman Valley area of Carmarthenshire. They became the Hells Angels South Wales in 1999, Twrch Trwyth is the name of a Welsh Traditional Dance group based in Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff. Y Twrch Trwyth is also the mascot of Ysgol Dyffryn Aman in Ammanford, Carmarthenshire, henwen, a boar from Cornwall that made a run from the south end to the north tip of Wales, and bore Cath Palug
13.
Peter Nicolai Arbo
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Peter Nicolai Arbo was a Norwegian historical painter, who specialized in painting motifs from Norwegian history and images from Norse mythology. He is most noted for Asgårdsreien, a motif based on the Wild Hunt legend and Valkyrie. Peter Nicolai Arbo grew up at Gulskogen Manor in Gulskogen, a borough in Drammen and he was the son of headmaster Christian Fredrik Arbo and his wife Marie Christiane von Rosen. His brother Carl Oscar Eugen Arbo was a medical doctor. Arbos childhood home, Gulskogen, was built in 1804 as a residence for his older cousin, lumber dealer. Arbo started his art education with a year at the Art School operated by Frederik Ferdinand Helsted in Copenhagen 1851-1852, after this, he studied at the art academy in Düsseldorf. From 1853 to 1855 he studied under of Karl Ferdinand Sohn, professor of Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, at Düsseldorf he was for some time a private student of the history painter C. He had contact with Adolph Tidemand and became a friend of Hans Gude both of whom were professors at the art academy in Düsseldorf. He is associated with the Düsseldorf school of painting, in 1861 Arbo returned to Norway and the following year he went on a study trip together with Gude and Frederik Collett. In 1863 he painted the first version of Horse flock on the high mountains, the version from 1889 is at the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design in Oslo and is considered one of the most important of his works. In 1866 he was appointed a Knight of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav and he held numerous positions, including as a juror in Stockholm in 1866 and Philadelphia in 1876, and was Commissioner of the Viennese art department exhibition in 1873. He was also a member of the National Gallery Company from 1875, drammens Museum is located in the heart of Drammen, on the southern side of the Drammen River. In earlier years this was an area of elegant country houses on the magnificent landed property known as Marienlyst, exhibits of the museum include items from the historical and cultural background of Norway. Drammen museum consists of five departments including Gulskogen Manor, the childhood home Peder Nicolai Arbo, in the many beautiful rooms of Gulskogen Manor, one will find works by this distinguished history-painter. Paintings by Peter Nicolai Arbo Marit I
14.
Black Book of Carmarthen
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The Black Book of Carmarthen is thought to be the earliest surviving manuscript written solely in Welsh. It is currently part of the collection of the National Library of Wales and it is believed that the manuscript is first recorded when it came into the possession of Sir John Price of Brecon, whose work was to search the monasteries dissolved by Henry VIII. It was given to him by the treasurer of St Davids Cathedral, Llyfr Du Caerfyrddin was described by William Forbes Skene as one of the Four Ancient Books of Wales. Written before 1250, the manuscript is a small, incomplete, vellum codex of 54 folios in eight gatherings, the opening folios, written in a large textura on alternating ruled lines, are followed by folios in a much smaller, cramped script. One of the poems, The Elegy of Gereint son of Erbin, refers to the Battle of Llongborth, the location of which can no longer be pinpointed, in 2002, it was announced that the Black Book had been scanned, and made available online. In 2014 it was suggested an interactive display about the book could be created in Carmarthens St Peters Church, in March 2015, University of Cambridge Professor Paul Russell and Ph. D. Jarman, A. O. H. Llyfr Du Caerfyrddin, a diplomatic edition of the original text. An introduction with translations of some of the poems, accompanied by corresponding reproductions of the J Evans diplomatic text, the Black Book of Carmarthen at the National Library of Wales. Gives access to images of Peniarth MS1. The Black Book of Carmarthen at the Celtic Literature Collective, uses Skenes incomplete and inaccurate translation from 1848. Full list of poems with translations at the Celtic Literature Collective, the diplomatic edition of the complete MS
15.
Cantre'r Gwaelod
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It has been described as a Welsh Atlantis and has featured in folklore, literature and song. Cantrer Gwaelod was an area of land which, according to legend, was located in an area west of present-day Wales which is now under the waters of Cardigan Bay. Accounts variously suggest the tract of land extended from Bardsey Island to Cardigan or as far south as Ramsey Island, legends of the land suggest that it may have extended 20 miles west of the present coast. There are several versions of the myth, the earliest known form of the legend is usually said to appear in the Black Book of Carmarthen, in which the land is referred to as Maes Gwyddno. In this version, the land was lost to floods when a well-maiden named Mererid neglected her duties, rachel Bromwich questions this identification, saying that There is no certainty, however, that in twelfth century tradition Maes Gwyddneu did represent the submerged land in Cardigan Bay. She also links Gwyddno Garanhir with the Hen Ogledd, not Wales, the popular version known today is thought to have been formed from the 17th century onwards. Cantrer Gwaelod is described as a low-lying land fortified against the sea by a dyke, Sarn Badrig, Cantrer Gwaelods capital was Caer Wyddno, seat of the ruler Gwyddno Garanhir. Two princes of the realm held charge over the dyke, the church bells of Cantrer Gwaelod are said to ring out in times of danger. Rachel Bromwich discusses a similar tale, that of the submergence of the kingdom of Helig ap Glanawg in the Conwy estuary, as with Cantrer Gwaelod, there are tales of remains being seen of the sunken kingdom. She also notes that the Halliwell Manuscript gives Helig the title Lord of Cantrer Gwaelod, There is no reliable physical evidence of the substantial community that legend promises lies under the sea, although several reports exist of remains being sighted. In 1770, Welsh antiquarian scholar William Owen Pughe reported seeing sunken human habitations about four miles off the Ceredigion coast, the causeways described by Lewis can be seen today at beaches around Cardigan Bay. Known as Sarnau, these ridges stretch several miles into the sea at right angles to the coast, modern geologists surmise that these formations of clay, gravel and rocks are moraines formed by the action of melting glaciers end of the last ice age. In a 2006 episode of the BBC television documentary Coast, presenter Neil Oliver visited Sarn Gynfelyn at Wallog, the programme also featured the remains of the submerged forest at Ynyslas, near Borth which is associated with the lost land of Cantrer Gwaelod. The vista of dead oak, pine, birch, willow, the myth, like so many others, may be a folk memory of gradually rising sea levels at the end of the ice age. The legend of Cantrer Gwaelod is comparable to the myth found in nearly every ancient culture. Several similar legends exist in Celtic mythology which refer to a lost land beneath the waves, both the Breton legend of Ker-Ys and the Arthurian tale of Lyonesse refer to a kingdom submerged somewhere in the Celtic Sea, off the coast of Brittany or Cornwall respectively. The legend has inspired poems and songs throughout the ages. The earliest mention of Cantrer Gwaelod is thought to be in the thirteenth-century Black Book of Carmarthen in a poem called Boddi Maes Gwyddno which relates the tale of Mererid, the story inspired a Victorian era-novel, The Misfortunes of Elphin, by Thomas Love Peacock
16.
Psychopomp
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Psychopomps are creatures, spirits, angels, or deities in many religions whose responsibility is to escort newly deceased souls from Earth to the afterlife. Their role is not to judge the deceased, but simply to provide safe passage, when seen as birds, they are often seen in huge masses, waiting outside the home of the dying. Classical examples of a psychopomp are the ancient Egyptian god Anubis, the Greek ferryman Charon and deities Hermes and Hecate, the Roman god Mercury, the form of Shiva as Tarakeshwara in Hinduism performs a similar role, although leading the soul to moksha rather than an afterlife. In many beliefs, a spirit being taken to the underworld is violently ripped from its body. In the Persian tradition, Daena, the Zoroastrian Self-guide, appears as a young maiden to those who deserve to cross the Chinvat Bridge or a hideous old hag to those who don’t. In Judaism and Islam, Azrael plays the role of the angel of death who carries the soul up to the heavens, in Jungian psychology, the psychopomp is a mediator between the unconscious and conscious realms. It is symbolically personified in dreams as a man or woman. In many cultures, the shaman also fulfills the role of the psychopomp and this may include not only accompanying the soul of the dead, but also to help at birth, to introduce the newborn childs soul to the world. This also accounts for the title of midwife to the dying, or End of Life Doula. In Filipino culture, dead relations function as psychopomps, when the dying call out to specific dead persons, the spirits of the latter are supposedly visible to the former. The spirits, who wait at the foot of the deathbed, fetch the soul soon after death. Geoffrey Dennis, Abraham, Elijah, Lailah, Sandalphon, Encyclopedia of Jewish Myth, Magic, eliade, Mircea, Shamanism,1964, Chapters 6 and 7, Magical Cures, the Shaman as Psychopomp
17.
Gwenddoleu ap Ceidio
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Gwenddoleu ap Ceidio or Gwenddolau was a Brythonic king who ruled in Arfderydd. This is in what is now south-west Scotland and north-west England in the area around Hadrians Wall, carwinley near Longtown north of Carlisle is thought to represent Caer Wenddolau or Gwenddolaus Fort. Little is known of his reign, but it ended when, as described in the Annales Cambriae, the sons of Eliffer, Peredur and Gwrgi and it is possible he was succeeded by one of his brothers. This was one of battles fought between Brythonic kings who led the various fractured successor states that took over the Roman province of Brittania following the Roman withdrawal. Although Gwenddoleu plays no part in Arthurian legend, his court adviser Myrddin formed part of the basis for the later Arthurian legends concerning the wizard Merlin. In Geoffrey of Monmouths Vita Merlini, Myrddin is said to have been driven mad with grief following the death of Gwenddoleu, the memory of both Gwenddoleu and Myrddin was preserved in Welsh literature
18.
Preiddeu Annwfn
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Preiddeu Annwfn or Preiddeu Annwn is a cryptic poem of sixty lines in Middle Welsh, found in the Book of Taliesin. The text recounts an expedition with King Arthur to Annwfn or Annwn, Preiddeu Annwfn is one of the best known of mediaeval British poems. A number of scholars have pointed out analogues in other medieval Welsh literature, the poem is uniquely preserved in the Book of Taliesin, which has been dated to the first quarter of the 14th century. The text of the poem itself has proved difficult to date. Estimates range from the time of the bard Taliesin in the late 6th century to the completion of the manuscript, on the basis of linguistic criteria Norris J. Lacy suggests that the poem took its present form around AD900. She contends, however, that there is no firm evidence that the poem predates the time of the Gogynfeirdd. The poem may be divided into eight stanzas, each for the most part united by a single rhyme, the first stanza begins and the last ends with two lines of praise to the Lord, generally taken to be Christian. Annwfn is apparently referred to by names, including Mound or Fairy Fortress, Four Peaked or Cornered Fortress. Whatever tragedy occurred is not clearly explained, the last two refer to crowds of monks who again rely upon the words and the knowledge of authorities and lack the type of experience the poem claims. Between these beginnings and ends the first six stanzas offer brief allusions to the journey, in the first Gweir is encountered imprisoned in the forts walls, a character whom Rachel Bromwich associates with Gwair, one of Three Exalted Prisoners of Britain known from the Welsh Triads. He is imprisoned in chains, apparently until Judgment Day, singing before the spoils of Annwfn, the second stanza describes the cauldron of the Chief of Annwn, finished with pearl, and how it was taken, presumably being itself the spoils. The third and fourth allude to difficulties with the forces of Annwfn while the fifth and sixth describe a great ox, also richly decorated, that may also form part of Arthurs spoils. Just as, we are told, the cauldron does not boil the food of a coward, so the song it is inspires is honoured in praise, too good for petty men of ordinary mentality. In the Second Branch Bran gives his magic life-restoring cauldron to his new brother-in-law Matholwch of Ireland when he marries Brans sister Branwen, Matholwch mistreats his new wife and Brans men cross the Irish Sea to rescue her. This attack involves the destruction of the cauldron, which Matholwch uses to resuscitate his soldiers, there is a battle between the hosts and in the end only seven of Brans men escape alive, including Taliesin and Pryderi. Arthurs warrior Llenlleawc the Irishman seizes Caladvwch and swings it around, Taliesin is mentioned in Culhwch among Arthurs retinue, as are several Gweirs. Preiddeu Annwfn is usually understood to say that a sword described either as bright or else of Lleawch was raised to the cauldron, some scholars have found the similarity to this Llenlleawc compelling, but the evidence is not conclusive. Higley suggests a story has influenced these various Welsh and Irish accounts
19.
City Hall, Cardiff
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City Hall is a civic building in Cathays Park, Cardiff, Wales, serving as Cardiffs centre of local government since it opened in October 1906. Built of Portland stone, it is an important early example of the Edwardian Baroque style, the complex replaced Cardiffs fourth town hall, built by architect Horace Jones c. The competition to design Cardiffs fifth town hall and adjacent law courts was won in 1897 by the firm of Lanchester, Stewart, construction was carried out by local builders E. Turner and Sons. Turned and Sons used the worlds first all-electrically operated building site, the total building cost was £129,708. As Cardiff received its city charter in 1905 while construction was underway, the distinctive clock tower is 59 m in height has a 3.7 m-diameter gilded dial on each of its four faces. The clock mechanism includes a bell and four quarter bells which are each inscribed with mottoes in English or Welsh. In front of the portico is a rectangular pool with fountains. They were created in July 1969 to mark the investiture of Prince Charles as Prince of Wales, the memorial on the left is dedicated to Polish soldiers, airmen and sailors who gave their lives during the Second World War 1939-1945. The one on the right is dedicated to victims of the war, the first floor landing of City Hall is decorated with statues in Pentelicon marble of famous figures from Welsh history. These were funded by a gift from David Alfred Thomas, 1st Viscount Rhondda, the Marble Hall was unveiled by David Lloyd George, then Secretary of State for War, on October 27,1916. It is used for ceremonies, conferences and events during the year. It is decorated with mouldings picked out in leaf, of mermaids. Three large bronze chandeliers are contemporary to the architects design. This is located above the entrance portico and directly below the main dome of the building. The chamber was designed to host Cardiffs Council meetings, the dome of City Hall is supported by four massive pillars of Italian marble. The chamber is panelled throughout in oak, the cover of the Catatonia single Mulder and Scully has a UFO above the building similar to the movie poster for Independence Day. Grade I listed buildings in Cardiff List of tallest buildings in Cardiff Official website The history of the Marble Hall
20.
Collen
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Saint Collen was a 7th-century monk who gave his name to Llangollen. St Collen is said to have arrived in Llangollen by coracle, St Collen died on 21 May, probably sometime in the early 7th century. He was buried in his chapel, for centuries, it was known as the Old Church and stood immediately to the west of the present medieval church of St Collen in Llangollen. Celtic and Old English Saints 21 May
21.
Holy water
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Holy water is water that has been blessed by a member of the clergy or a religious figure. The use for cleansing prior to a baptism and spiritual cleansing is common in several religions, the use of holy water as a sacramental for protection against evil is common among Anglicans and Roman Catholics. The use of water in the earliest days of Christianity is attested to only in somewhat later documents. The Apostolic constitutions, which go back to about the year 400 and it is plausible that in earliest Christian times water was used for expiatory and purificatory purposes in a way analogous to its employment in Jewish Law. However, Eastern Orthodox do perform the blessing, whether in a baptistry or an outdoor body of water. Sprinkling with holy water is used as a sacramental that recalls baptism, Holy water is kept in the holy water font, which is typically located at the entrance to the church. Smaller vessels, called stoups, are placed at the entrances of the church. In recent years, with the concerns over influenza, new holy water machines that work like a soap dispenser have become popular. In the Middle Ages the power of water was considered so great that in some places fonts had locked covers to prevent the theft of holy water for unauthorized magic practices. The Constitutions of Archbishop Edmund Rich prescribe that Fonts are to be kept under lock and key, similarly the chrism and sacred oil are kept locked up. In Catholicism, holy water, as well as used during the washing of the priests hands at mass, is not allowed to be disposed of in regular plumbing. Roman Catholic churches will usually have a basin that leads directly into the ground for the purpose of proper disposal. A hinged lid is kept over the water basin to distinguish it from a regular sink basin. Items that contained holy water are separated, drained of the holy water, Holy water fonts have been identified as a potential source of bacterial and viral infection. In the late 19th century, bacteriologists found staphylococci, streptococci, coli bacilli, Loefflers bacillus, in a study performed in 1995, thirteen samples were taken when a burn patient acquired a bacterial infection after exposure to holy water. The samples in that study were shown to have a range of bacterial species. During the swine flu epidemic of 2009, Bishop John Steinbock of Fresno, also in response to the swine flu, an automatic, motion-detecting holy water dispenser was invented and installed in an Italian church in 2009. As a reminder of baptism, Catholic Christians dip their fingers in the holy water and this ceremony dates back to the ninth century
22.
Bard
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For example, William Shakespeare, and Rabindranth Tagore, are known as the Bard of Avon and the Bard of Bengal respectively. The word is a Celtic loan word from Scottish Gaelic bàrd, Irish bard, in 16th-century Scotland, it was a derogatory term for an itinerant musician, but it was later romanticised by Sir Walter Scott. The equivalent Cornish bardh was retained in English in the form of the drollteller, in medieval Gaelic and Welsh society, a bard or bardd was a professional poet, employed to compose eulogies for his lord. If the employer failed to pay the amount, the bard would then compose a satire. In other Indo-European societies, the function was fulfilled by skalds, rhapsodes, minstrels and scops. A hereditary caste of professional poets in Proto-Indo-European society has been reconstructed by comparison of the position of poets in medieval Ireland and in ancient India in particular. Bards were those who sang the songs recalling the tribal warriors deeds of bravery as well as the genealogies, the pre-Christian Celtic peoples recorded no written histories, however, Celtic peoples did maintain an intricate oral history committed to memory and transmitted by bards and filid. Bards facilitated the memorisation of such materials by the use of metre, rhyme, in medieval Ireland, bards were one of two distinct groups of poets, the other being the fili. According to the Early Irish law text on status, Uraicecht Becc, bards were a class of poets. However, it has also argued that the distinction between filid and bards was a creation of Christian Ireland, and that the filid were more associated with the church. By the Early Modern Period, these came to be used interchangeably. Irish bards formed a professional caste of highly trained, learned poets. As officials of the court of king or chieftain, they performed a number of official roles and they were chroniclers and satirists whose job it was to praise their employers and damn those who crossed them. It was believed that a well-aimed bardic satire, glam dicenn, the bardic system lasted until the mid-17th century in Ireland and the early 18th century in Scotland. In Ireland, their fortunes had always linked to the Gaelic aristocracy. The early history of the bards can be known indirectly through mythological stories. The first mention of the profession in Ireland is found in the The Book of Invasions, in a story about the Irish colony of Tuatha De Danann. They became the aos sí, comparable to Norse alfr and British fairy, during the tenth year of the reign of the last Belgic monarch, the people of the colony of Tuatha De Danann, as the Irish called it, invaded and settled in Ireland
23.
Dafydd ap Gwilym
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Dafydd ap Gwilym, is regarded as one of the leading Welsh poets and amongst the great poets of Europe in the Middle Ages. Tradition has it that he was born at Brogynin, Penrhyn-coch and his father, Gwilym Gam, and mother, Ardudfyl, were both from noble families. As one of noble birth it seems Dafydd did not belong to the guild of poets in medieval Wales. According to R. Geraint Gruffydd he died in 1350, a victim of the Black Death. Tradition says that he was buried within the precinct of the Cistercian Strata Florida Abbey, for many centuries the rival claims of Talley and Ystrad Fflur have been debated as the burialplace of Wales’ foremost poet. The first recorded observation that Dafydd ap Gwilym was buried in Talley was made in the sixteenth century, Talley is located about 30 miles from Strata Florida. It is believed that one hundred and seventy of his poems have survived. His main themes were love and nature, the influence of wider European ideas of courtly love, as exemplified in the troubadour poetry of Provençal, is seen as a significant influence on Dafydds poetry. He was a poet who was responsible for popularising the metre known as the cywydd. But perhaps his greatest innovation was to himself the main focus of his poetry. By its very nature, most of the work of the traditional Welsh court poets kept their own personalities far from their poetry, Dafydds work is full of his own feelings and experiences. His main theme is love, and many of his poems are addressed to women and he is also recognised as a very fine nature poet. Until recently not included in Dafydds canon for reasons of editorial squeamishness and this would be Dafydds dream-vision poem Y Breuddwyd. Welsh literature List of Welsh language poets Rachel Bromwich, Dafydd ap Gwilym, Rachel Bromwich, Aspects of the Poetry of Dafydd ap Gwilym. Rachel Bromwich, Dafydd ap Gwilym, poems, Welsh Classics series, helen Fulton, Selections from the Dafydd ap Gwilym apocrypha, Welsh Classics series. Helen Fulton, Dafydd ap Gwilym and the European context, richard Morgan Loomis, Dafydd ap Gwilym, The Poems. Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies, Center for Medieval and Early Renaissance Studies, Binghamton, Thomas Parry, Gwaith Dafydd ap Gwilym. Still the standard edition of Dafydds work, edited texts with extensive notes, gwyn Thomas, Dafydd ap Gwilym, his poetry
24.
Owl
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Exceptions include the diurnal northern hawk-owl and the gregarious burrowing owl. Owls hunt mostly small mammals, insects, and other birds and they are found in all regions of the Earth except Antarctica and some remote islands. Owls are divided into two families, the Strigidae family of owls, and the Tytonidae family of barn-owls. Owls possess large, forward-facing eyes and ear-holes, a beak, a flat face, and usually a conspicuous circle of feathers. The feathers making up this disc can be adjusted to focus sounds from varying distances onto the owls asymmetrically placed ear cavities. Most birds of prey have eyes on the sides of their heads, although owls have binocular vision, their large eyes are fixed in their sockets—as are those of most other birds—so they must turn their entire heads to change views. As owls are farsighted, they are unable to see anything within a few centimeters of their eyes. Caught prey can be felt by owls with the use of feathers on the beak. Their far vision, particularly in low light, is exceptionally good, Owls can rotate their heads and necks as much as 270°. Owls have 14 neck vertebrae compared to seven in humans, which makes their necks more flexible, other anastomoses between the carotid and vertebral arteries support this effect. The smallest owl—weighing as little as 31 g and measuring some 13.5 cm —is the elf owl, around the same diminutive length, although slightly heavier, are the lesser known long-whiskered owlet and Tamaulipas pygmy owl. The largest owl by length is the great grey owl, which measures around 70 cm on average, however, the heaviest owls are two similarly sized eagle owls, the Eurasian eagle-owl and Blakistons fish owl. These two species, which are on average about 2.53 cm shorter in length than the great grey, as noted above, their facial discs help owls to funnel the sound of prey to their ears. In many species, these discs are placed asymmetrically, for better directional location, Owl plumage is generally cryptic, although several species have facial and head markings, including face masks, ear tufts, and brightly coloured irises. These markings are more common in species inhabiting open habitats. Sexual dimorphism is a difference between males and females of a species. Reverse sexual dimorphism, when females are larger than males, has been observed across multiple owl species, the degree of size dimorphism varies across multiple populations and species, and is measured through various traits, such as wing span and body mass. Overall, female owls tend to be larger than males
25.
Odin
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In Germanic mythology, Odin is a widely revered god. In the modern period, Odin continued to be acknowledged in the folklore of Germanic Europe. Forms of his name appear frequently throughout the Germanic record, though narratives regarding Odin are mainly found in Old Norse works recorded in Iceland and these texts make up the bulk of modern understanding of Norse mythology. In Old Norse texts, Odin is depicted as one-eyed and long-bearded, frequently wielding a spear named Gungnir, and wearing a cloak, Odin is attested as having many sons, most famously the god Baldr with Frigg, and is known by hundreds of names. Odin has an association with Yule, and mankinds knowledge of both the runes and poetry is also attributed to him. In Old Norse texts, Odin is given primacy over female beings associated with the battlefield—the valkyries—and oversees Valhalla, where he receives half of those who die in battle, the other half are chosen by the goddess Freyja for her afterlife location, Fólkvangr. In later folklore, Odin appears as a leader of the Wild Hunt and he has also been associated with charms and other forms of magic, particularly in Old English and Old Norse texts. Odin has been a frequent subject of study in Germanic studies, in the modern period, Odin has inspired numerous works of poetry, music, and other forms of media. He is venerated in most forms of the new religious movement Heathenry, together with other gods venerated by the ancient Germanic peoples, some branches focus particularly on him. The Old Norse theonym Óðinn and its cognates, including Old English Wōden, Old Saxon Wōden, the masculine noun *wōđanaz developed from the Proto-Germanic adjective *wōđaz, related to Latin vātēs and Old Irish fáith, both meaning seer, prophet. Adjectives stemming from *wōđaz include Gothic woþs possessed, Old Norse óðr, mad, frantic, furious, additionally the Old Norse noun æði rage, fury and Old High German wuotī madness derive from the feminine noun *wōđīn, from *wōđaz. Over 170 names are recorded for the god Odin and these names are variously descriptive of attributes of the god, refer to myths involving him, or refer to religious practices associated with the god. This multitude of names makes Odin the god with the most names known among the Germanic peoples, the weekday name Wednesday derives from Old English wōdnesdæg. Cognate terms are found in other Germanic languages, such as Middle Low German wōdensdach, all of these terms derive from Proto-Germanic *Wodensdag, itself a Germanic interpretation of Latin Dies Mercurii. However, in Old High German, the derived from Odins was replaced by a translation of Church Latin media hebdomas. The earliest records of the Germanic peoples were recorded by the Romans and they regard it as a religious duty to offer to him, on fixed days, human as well as other sacrificial victims. Hercules and Mars they appease by animal offerings of the permitted kind, in this instance, Tacitus refers to the god Odin as Mercury, Thor as Hercules, and Týr as Mars, and the identity of the Isis of the Suebi has been debated. But their rankings in their respective religious spheres may have very different
26.
Herne the Hunter
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In English folklore, Herne the Hunter is a ghost associated with Windsor Forest and Great Park in the English county of Berkshire. He is said to wear antlers upon his head, ride a horse, torment cattle and you have heard of such a spirit, and well you know The superstitious idle-headed eld Receivd, and did deliver to our age, This tale of Herne the Hunter for a truth. Because it is a surname, it is not possible to further identify Shakespeares Herne. Shakespeares reference to rattling chains also fits a very common ghostly motif, however, other elements of the tale are unusual for other ghost stories of Shakespeares era. Ghostly cattle or dogs were common, but there are few examples of a ghostly stag. It was also unusual for ghosts of this period to produce damaging effects. Herne is described bewitching cattle, bloodying their milk, and causing trees to wither, Herne became widely popularized after his appearance in Shakespeares play, and the supposed location of Hernes Oak was, for many years, a matter of local speculation and controversy. Some Ordnance Survey maps show Hernes Oak a little to the north of Frogmore House in the Home Park and this tree was felled in 1796. In 1838, Edward Jesse claimed that a different tree in the avenue was the real Hernes Oak, and this tree was blown down on 31 August 1863, and Queen Victoria had another tree planted on the same site. The Queens tree was removed in 1906 when the avenue was replanted, one of the new oaks planted in 1906 is currently given the title of Hernes Oak. Further details have entered the folklore from later sources and reported sightings. William Harrison Ainsworths 1843 novel Windsor Castle featured Herne and popularised his legend, Ainsworths version of the tale added a number of new details, including having Herne being gored by a stag, only to have the Devil save him on the condition that he wear the stags antlers. Jacob Grimm was the first to suggest, very influentially, that Herne had once thought of as the leader of the Wild Hunt. In the 20th century, further details were added to Hernes legend, including the idea that his ghost appears shortly before national disasters and the deaths of kings. It was also during the 20th century that the first reports of encounters with the ghost, or of people hearing his hounds. Various theories have proposed to account for the origin of the character, none of which has been proved conclusive. Some modern Neopagans such as Wiccans accept Lowe Thompsons equation of Herne with Cernunnos, Herne however is a localised figure, not found outside Berkshire and the regions of the surrounding counties into which Windsor Forest once spread. Clear evidence for the worship of Cernunnos has however been recovered only on the European mainland, Herne could be derived ultimately from the same Indo-European root, *ker-n-, meaning bone or horn from which Cernunnos derives
27.
Calan Gaeaf
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Calan Gaeaf is the name of the first day of winter in Wales, observed on 1 November. The night before is Nos Galan Gaeaf, an Ysbrydnos when spirits are abroad, people avoid churchyards, stiles, and crossroads, since spirits are thought to gather there. Children and women would dance around a fire and, during this process, everyone would write their names on rocks and place them in. When the fire started to die out they would all run home- whereas if they stayed, Yr Hwch Ddu Gwta would devour their souls. One particular rhyme shows how the last child out on Nos Calan Gaeaf was at risk of being eaten by the fearsome beast, Adre, adre, am y cynta, the following morning, all the stones containing villagers names would be checked. If, however, a stone was missing, the person who wrote their name on the stone would die one year. Coelcerth, Families build a fire and place stones with their names on it, for prophetic dreams a boy should cut ten ivy leaves, throw away one and put the rest under his head before he sleeps. They supposedly possessed the power to ‘bewitch’ anybody if they wished Twco Fala/fale, Ducking apples Samhain Halloween Day of the Dead Allantide Davies, John, Jenkins, the Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales
28.
Cadair Idris
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Cadair Idris or Cader Idris is a mountain in Gwynedd, Wales, which lies at the southern end of the Snowdonia National Park near the town of Dolgellau. Idris is usually taken to be the name of a giant or, alternatively, it may refer to Idris ap Gwyddno, Idris ap Gwyddno was in fact referred to as Idris Gawr in some mediaeval genealogies of Meirionydd. The basic meaning of the word cadair is seat, chair, in place names cadair can mean stronghold, fort, fortress or mountain or hill shaped like a chair. The spelling cader represents a variant of the standard form cadair. It appears that Cadair/Cadeir Idris is the used in the earliest Welsh-language sources. In a poem in his own hand in the half of the fifteenth century. Around 1600, John Jones of Gellilyfdy referred to y mynydh neu bhan neu bhoel a elwir Cadeir Idris (the mountain, in his Dictionarum Duplex published in 1632, John Davies of Mallwyd differentiated between the two words cadair and cader, referring to Cader Idris and Cader Ddinmael. That interpretation was followed by some later lexicographers, including Thomas Charles and it is now accepted, however, that cader is a spelling of a spoken form of cadair, and that there is no evidence that cadair and cader are separate words. But as it represents the pronunciation in the dialect, the spelling Cader Idris is often seen in Welsh and English. In June 2016 Snowdonia National Park decided to adopt that spelling on its signage, the local dialect form is also seen in the name of the local secondary school, Ysgol y Gader. The name of the mountain is typically spelt Cadair Idris on current maps, the summit of the mountain is known as Penygader. There are three trails that lead to the top of Cadair Idris. The summit, which is covered in scree, is marked by a trig point, there is also a low-standing stone shelter with a roof. The Pony Path, which begins in the north from either Dolgellau or the Mawddach estuary, is the easiest and its length from the mountains base is 5 kilometres with a 600 metres climb. The Foxs Path, This is the most direct way to the summit as the trail leads straight up the northern face, the 3.8 kilometres ascent involves a climb up a 310 metres cliff-scree face. However, this part of the Foxs Path has been eroded in recent years making the descent dangerous. The Minffordd Path starts on the side of the mountain near the glacial Tal-y-llyn Lake. Hikers using this ascent climb past Llyn Cau and along the rim of Craig Cau to Penygadair and its length is 4.4 kilometres and involves two climbs of over 300 metres
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Dormarch
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Dormarch has a single head, two front legs, and a body that narrows rapidly from the chest and terminates in three fish-like tails. The Dormarchs natural habitat is described in Welsh as being ar wybir, similar Wild Hunt hounds are found in other traditions, such as the Gabriel Hounds, Ratchets, Yell Hounds, Herne the Hunters hounds, etc. The form Dormarth has been interpreted as Deaths door although contradictory evidence exists, cavall Cerebrus Wistmans Wood Notes Sources Dictionary of the Psychopomp Accessed, 2014-12-31
