While reading Welsh mythology, you might encounter a couple of unexpected animals.
Although many species have gone extinct throughout the history of Britain, only a few seem to have made a lasting impact on Welsh mythology.
Today I’m going to talk about 3 species in particular, the bear, the boar, and the wolf,
and the parts they played in the mythologies of Wales.
The Bear plays the smallest part, no doubt owing to the fact that they were probably quite rare in Britain,
and that they most likely went extinct between 425 and 594 AD.
Germanic languages, including old English, appear to have avoided referring to the bear directly
(possibly due to superstition), instead calling it the “brown one”,
this can also be seen in proto-Slavic and modern Russian, where bears are referred to as “honey eaters”.
Welsh doesn’t do this, the word for bear, “arth” just means bear, and can be found (with certainty) in one place:
Dinerth - (bear’s fortress).
The... "historian", Gildas stated that Cynlas Goch, king of Rhos,
drove a chariot belonging to a bear’s den - likely referring to Dinerth,
which today is only preserved in a few road names in Llandrillo-yn-Rhos.
Another possible impact of the bear, is in the name of the legendary King Arthur.
A popular explanation for this name is that it derives from the Latin Artorius,
which may be a latinised form of the Celtic patronym Arto-rīg-ios - son of the bear king.
Dyfynwal Moelmud was, according to Geoffrey of Monmouth, the king of Cornwall in 450 BC.
He was apparently a lawmaker, and an excellent measurer, recording the island of Britain to be 900 miles long and 500 miles wide.
He also wasn’t real.
Regardless, he supposedly founded the city of Bristol as Caer Odor,
named after the river flowing through it, Odor Nant y Baedd - the opening of the stream of the Boar.
The boar appears all across Indo-European mythology, from shape shifting beasts in india to the boar-god Moccus in Gaul.
The animal was hunted frequently for its meat, leading to its eventual extinction in around the 14th-15th century.
Of course, these hunts have not happened for hundreds of years, but the stories of these endeavours are preserved in the Mabinogion,
particularly in the story of “Culhwch and Olwen”.
This story describes the hunt of two boars, Ysgithyrwyn Penbaedd, and Twrch Trwyth.
Culhwch, King Arthur’s cousin, was told his destiny was to marry Olwen, the daughter of the giant Ysbaddaden.
Ysbaddaden was apparently very violent, and had killed all but one of the sons of his neighbour.
The giant gave Culhwch a series of tasks he would need to complete in order to marry his daughter, two of which pertained to the hunting of two boars,
which would need to be killed in order to receive the necessary tools required to shave Ysbaddaden’s beard.
King Arthur first travelled to Ireland in order to hunt Twrch Trwyth, who had apparently destroyed a third of the Island.
Trwyth had 7 offspring, one of which is named "Pig" and another of which doesn’t have a name at all.
Trwyth and his piglets were driven across the Irish Sea to Dyfed after 9 days of fighting,
and eventually all of the piglets were killed.
The treasures that the boar held, the comb, the razor and the shears, were taken from him.
Trwyth ran into the sea and was never seen again.
King Arthur then went out to kill Ysgithyrwyn Penbaedd, the chief boar.
The king of Ireland, Odgar ab Aedd, joined him in the hunt.
Arthur’s huntsmen crushed the skull of Ysgithyrwyn and his dog dealt the killing blow.
Ysbaddaden was then shaved with the tusk of the boar in preparation for the wedding,
however, before this could happen, he was killed by the last living son of his neighbour.
Culhwch and Olwen were married, and she would be “his only wife as long as he lived”.
The boar hunt in this story seems to echo prestige and strength, the huntsmen are all described as masterful, some uniquely so,
and the hunt is headed by the King of Britain and the king of Ireland!
The fight is long and difficult, with many of Arthur’s companions being killed, but in the end the strongest warrior triumphs.
The boar lies dead, it’s treasures are taken, and Culhwch wins his prize.
Just like how the hunters of old would also kill the beast, take its meat, and feed their family.
Whilst Arthur won fame and glory in slaying the most dangerous creature in Ireland, the hunter would win only their survival, and enough food to last their family a long, long time.
It’s been estimated that Wolves in stone-age Britain were quite uncommon,
but these animals appear to have far outlived many of their contemporaries.
Of course, if you were to tell them this, they wouldn't be very proud... because they wouldn't be able to understand you.
Not only do they appear everywhere in Welsh mythology,
but they also feature heavily in Anglo-Saxon writings too.
There are over 200 places in England named after Wolves, while beavers only got 20!
The writings of the wolves portray them just as they are in nature, ambush predators.
They do not seek out the protagonist, only appearing in moments of weakness,
and they will often need to be purposefully sought out by the hero of the story.
Membyr ap Madog, another one of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s fictional kings of Britain,
was said to have been devoured by wolves after being separated from his group whilst hunting.
The story of Gelert, describes how Llywelyn the Great’s dog defended his baby from a wolf that had managed to enter the castle.
Llywelyn, seeing his son missing and his dog covered in blood,
flew into a rage and killed his companion.
Only later, after hearing his baby’s cries and discovering the body of the wolf, did he realise his mistake.
Dogs or hounds appear in the name of two kings of Gwynedd, Cunedda, and Maelgwn.
Probably being metaphors for strong, capable warriors or hunters...
Unless...
And Annwn, the mystical otherworld of spirits and faries,
is said to also be inhabited by ghostly white hounds that hunted the souls of unbaptised men.
St Brynach apparently owned a wolf that acted as a herdsman to his cow.
The relationship between these two animals seems to be preserved through the place names of Cas-fuwch and Castell Blaidd in Dyfed,
and possibly Cowbridge and Llanblethian in Morgannwg.
The most unusual depiction of Wolves in Welsh mythology is their occasional shape-shifting properties.
Gilfaethwy and Gwydion, two brothers who appear in the Mabinogion, were envious of the wife of the lord of Gwynedd:
Math ap Mathonwy.
Once Math learns of this, he transforms the brothers into stags, swine, and finally wolves - each for one year.
The brothers returned after the final year and brought back a wolf cub,
who was then transformed back to a human by Math and baptised as Bleiddwr.
Math made peace with the brothers too, and turned them back to their human form.
The other mention of human-wolf transformations occurs again in the tale of Cuhlwch and Olwen,
a woman named Rhymni and her two sons were transformed into Wolves by god as punishment for some unnamed sin.
King Arthur was sent to hunt Rhymni, and he eventually tracked her down to Aberdaugleddyf.
However, before they could be killed, Dewi Sant (Saint David) transformed them back into people.
Which is a rather unusual superpower to have.
The connection with wolves and sin is interesting, the people in these two stories were transformed because of their sins,
while Math ap Mathonwy seems to have been able to change their form at will,
only God, or Dewi (presumably acting through God) had the power to turn Rhymni back into a woman.
Another Saint, Brynach, is the only person I could find that possessed a tame wolf,
was this supposedly possible due to his connection with God? And was this connection intentional,
to make Brynach look more powerful? Or more holy?
Did a superstition exist amongst the Welsh, that all (or at least a fair amount) of wolves were these men and woman transformed as punishment for sin?
We don’t know, but I think it’s interesting to see what theories we can think of with the limited information we have.
I find it fascinating that these ancient animals are preserved in our writings and our stories.
They had roamed this island for thousands of years, and we have proof that our ancestors saw them face to face.
They entered their culture, their superstitions, their tales of bravery and brutality all against animals who’s bones are their only remnants.
You won’t see a Wolf if you roam the forests of Wales today, or a boar, or a bear,
but you might encounter the great great great great great great great grandchild of someone who did.
Thank you all very much for watching, If this video gets 100 likes
I will make the Top 10 stupidest dead animals in Great Britain that I am glad are extinct.