Welsh Myths and Legends - Merched y Mor - Daughters of the Sea

Hello, dear readers,

I hope you're keeping safe and well.

Continuing my series on Welsh Mythical Creatures, this week we're returning to the sea, and my hometown, Aberystwyth, overlooking Cardigan Bay (which as you will see from the pictures, is actually three bays). This part of the coast is subject to violent storms, so fierce the sea often sweeps over the low stone wall and across the promenade road, and casts sand and pebbles against the buildings facing the ocean.

See the range of hills in the distance? the nearest one has a stone pillar on the top which you might just be able to see, this hill is called Pen Dinas. I used to live on the hill directly behind it, and had a lovely view of the bay (and saw lots of seagulls - 'clue') which brings me to this week's story:

Daughters of the Sea

This is  quite a sad tale. Once an old man had three beautiful daughters.  Dylan Eil Ton the sea god, who lived beneath the waters of Cardigan Bay, envied the old man his daughters and decided to have the girls for himself. He called up a great storm, and sent a huge wave to steal the young women.

Their father was heartbroken over their loss. Regretting his evil deed, Dylan, not wanting to give them up entirely, turned the girls into seagulls, belonging to the sea as well as the land.

Legend says that whenever the old man walked on the beach and called their names, three white gulls would fly to him from the sea.

Oh, an exciting bit of news - I'm being inerviewed on the British radio show CHAT AND SPIN https://chatandspinradio.com/ this evening  at 6.35 p.m. (1.35 pm Eastern time for my friends in the U.S.). The radio show plays great music and is a wonderful supporter of authors and the arts in general.

I'll let you know how it goes next week!

FREE AUDIOBOOKS

If you'd like to listen to a book rather than read it,there are some really great books available in audio.

(You can get my own Destiny Trilogy for FREE.)  

GET YOUR FREE CODES NOW:

Starquest: https://freeaudiobookcodes.com/?q=starquest
Children of the Mist: https://freeaudiobookcodes.com/?q=children+of+the+mist
Beloved Enemy:https://freeaudiobookcodes.com/https://freeaudiobookcodes.com/?q=Beloved+Enemy



For insider news and subscriber-only info, subscribe to my occasional Newsletter. I promise not to spam and your in-box will only see an email from me every 3 or 4 months or so - unless of course I have something really Newsworthy to share! I also promise that I never have and never will share your information or email address with anyone or any organisation.  http://madmimi.com/signups/196357/join

Mythical creatures of Wales - the Twrch Trwyth

 Hello my lovelies

I hope you're keeping well and safe. This week we're back on dry land for our mythical creature - and a return to the Arthurian legends.

The Twrch Trwyth iwas a massive, enchanted boar. A young squire, Culhwch was given a series of tasks in order to impress the evil giant,
Ysbaddaden Bencawr, who was the father of Olwen, with whom Culhwch was in love.

The hardest task was to take a magical comb, razor and scissors,entangled in the long hair around the boar's head. If Culhwch completed this task successfully, Ysbaddaden said he would use these items to shave his beard before the wedding!

Culhwch then enlisted the help of King Arthur. They pursued the creature to Ireland, but the boar took his family of monstrous young pigs across the sea, where it landed in Porthclais, Pembrokeshire, and created havoc, destroying large areas of the adjoining counties of Ceredigion (my home county) and Carmarthenshire, and killing many people, including some of Arthur's men. Eventually, they did manage to fulfil the quest,  and kill the young pigs, although even Arthur was unable to kill the gigantic boar itself, and it swam across the sea back to Ireland.

FREE AUDIOBOOKS

If you'd like to listen to a book rather than read it,there are some really great books available in audio.

(You can get my own Destiny Trilogy for FREE.)  

GET YOUR FREE CODES NOW:

Starquest: https://freeaudiobookcodes.com/?q=starquest
Children of the Mist: https://freeaudiobookcodes.com/?q=children+of+the+mist
Beloved Enemy:https://freeaudiobookcodes.com/https://freeaudiobookcodes.com/?q=Beloved+Enemy

For insider news and subscriber-only info, subscribe to my occasional Newsletter. I promise not to spam and your in-box will only see an email from me every 3 or 4 months or so - unless of course I have something really Newsworthy to share! I also promise that I never have and never will share your information or email address with anyone or any organisation.  http://madmimi.com/signups/196357/join

Welsh myths and legends - Llamhigyn Y Dwr, or the Water Leaper.

Continuing my series of weird and wonderful Welsh mythical creatures, we return to the water this week, and a creature known as Llamhigyn Y Dwr, or the Water Leaper. It is an evil creature, described as a monstrous, carnivorous toad with a long tail and  bat's wings instead of legs, having no hind legs. The tail has a sting on the end.

 It jumps across the water using its wings, hence its name.

It is especially prevalent around two Welsh lakes - Llyn Gwynan and Llyn Glas,where it preys on unwary sheep or dogs, takes the bait and fish off fishermen's hooks and can even pull the fishermen themselves into the lake,, The water leapers are fast, powerful swimmers, capable of pulling an angler out of a boat. So, if you ever go fishing in a Welsh lake, please be very, very careful!

FREE AUDIOBOOKS

If you'd like to listen to a book rather than read it, there are some really great books available in audio.
(You can get my own Destiny Trilogy for FREE.)

GET YOUR FREE CODES NOW:

Starquest: https://freeaudiobookcodes.com/?q=starquest
Children of the Mist: https://freeaudiobookcodes.com/?q=children+of+the+mist

Beloved Enemy:https://freeaudiobookcodes.com/https://freeaudiobookcodes.com/?q=Beloved+Enemy

Also try this one by the very talented Helen Johannes:

https://www.freeaudiobookcodes.com/book/4911f918-9db3-4733-867a-53e015ec3192

(If you have a free audio book you'd like me to mention, just leave a comment with an email addy so I can contact you)

For insider news and subscriber-only info, subscribe to my occasional Newsletter. I promise not to spam and your in-box will only see an email from me every 3 or 4 months or so - unless of course I have something really Newsworthy to share! I also promise that I never have and never will share your information or email address with anyone or any organisation.  http://madmimi.com/signups/196357/join

Welsh myths and legends - the gwyllion

Hi folks
Continuing my series on Welsh myths and legends, we've concentrated on mythical animals over the last few weeks - so this week I thought we'd have a kind of fairy.

No nice, pretty little fairies though, nor even the rather mischievous Tylwyth Teg, featured a few weeks ago.

No, these fairies are the gwyllion, female fairies, said to be frightfully ugly and scary, who haunt lonely mountain tracks and roads in the Welsh Mountains. They are really more like bad witches. They would lead the unwary traveller astray so that they were hopelessly lost, even if they had travelled the same road before.  One gwyll was reputed to be the ghost of a witch, and to shriek and cry in the Llanhyddel Mountain which she haunted.  A lost traveller upon encountering her, assumed she was a mortal woman and followed her, calling to her to help him find his way, but she led him further and further out of his way, eventually enticing him to a marsh. As she emitted an evil laugh, he realised the cackling sound was not human and drew his knife, whereupon she disappeared, because Welsh ghosts and fairies have an inherent fear of knives.

So should you ever come across an ugly old woman in the Welsh Mountians, be sure to flash a knife, and she will quickly disappear, but should she arrive in your home, treat her kindly, and you will come to no harm.

FREE AUDIOBOOKS
  If you're at a loose end in these strange and rather scary times, there are many great books out there to be read, so why no try a new author.
If you'd like to listen to a book rather than read it, again there are some really great books available in audio.

(You can get my own Destiny Trilogy for FREE.)

GET YOUR FREE CODES NOW:

Starquest: https://freeaudiobookcodes.com/?q=starquest
Children of the Mist: https://freeaudiobookcodes.com/?q=children+of+the+mist

Beloved Enemy:https://freeaudiobookcodes.com/https://freeaudiobookcodes.com/?q=Beloved+Enemy

Also try this one by the very talented Helen Johannes:

https://www.freeaudiobookcodes.com/book/4911f918-9db3-4733-867a-53e015ec3192

For insider news and subscriber-only info, subscribe to my occasional Newsletter. I promise not to spam and your in-box will only see an email from me every 3 or 4 months or so - unless of course I have something really Newsworthy to share! I also promise that I never have and never will share your information or email address with anyone or any organisation.  http://madmimi.com/signups/196357/join

Myths and legends of Wales - Adar Llwch Gwin

Apologies for there being no post in this series last week - no real excuse except time caught me up and passed me! Anyway the mythcal animals are back this week with the Adar Llwch Gwin (but more about that in a minute. First I want to say I hope all my friends in the U.S. had a very happy Independance Day and also that you are all keeping safe during this horrid pandemic.

Back to the Adar Llwch Gwin and once again, this story is connected to the Arthurian legends.
The name means Bird of dust and wine (Adar - bird, Llwch - dust, and gwin - wine.)  This creature was a ferocious, giant bird, similar to a griffin. They were said to understand the human language and obey every command given to them by their keeper.

The story goes that the Adar Llwch Gwin was given to a warrior named Drudwas ap Tryffin, by his wife, who was also a fairy. Drudwas's father was the King of Denmark and his sister, so the story goes, was a mistress of King Arthur.

Drudwas was about to do battle with Arthur, and commanded the Adar Llwch Gwin to kill the first man to enter the battlefield. As he prepared for the battle, confident that Arthur would be first on the field, his sister delayed the King, and when Drudwas strode out onto the battlefield, the bird turned upon him and tore him to pieces. When it realised what it had done, the Adar Llwch Gwin let out a shrill and mournful wail.

Later, in medieval Welsh poetry, the phrase Adar Llwch Gwin came to describe all kinds of raptors including hawks and falcons, and was the name was also given to men who proved their bravery.

If you haven't yet read (or listened to) The Destiny Trilogy, and would like to see a 'taster', I'm thrilled to have had the covers animated, and a new trailer made for the series, by the talented Morgan Wright, with music by GeeGee Music

Productions.

 

FREE AUDIOBOOKS

 If you're at a loose end in these strange and rather scary times, there are many great books out there to be read, so why no try a new author.
If you'd like to listen to a book rather than read it, again there are some really great books available in audio.
(You can get my own Destiny Trilogy for FREE.)


GET YOUR FREE CODES NOW:
Starquest: https://freeaudiobookcodes.com/?q=starquest
Children of the Mist: https://freeaudiobookcodes.com/?q=children+of+the+mist

Beloved Enemy:https://freeaudiobookcodes.com/https://freeaudiobookcodes.com/?q=Beloved+Enemy

Also try this one by the very talented Helen Johannes:

https://www.freeaudiobookcodes.com/book/4911f918-9db3-4733-867a-53e015ec3192

For insider news and subscriber-only info, subscribe to my occasional Newsletter. I promise not to spam and your in-box will only see an email from me every 3 or 4 months or so - unless of course I have something really Newsworthy to share! I also promise that I never have and never will share your information or email address with anyone or any organisation.  http://madmimi.com/signups/196357/join

Welsh Myths and Legends - the Welsh dragon

Hello again, and if I have any male readers - I hope you had a truly loving and happy Father's Day.

In my series on Welsh myths and legends, the last few weeks have been devoted to mythical legends. It would be very remiss of me not to mention the famous Welsh dragon - Y Graig Goch - which appears on the Welsh flag. (LOL not many countries have a dragon on their flag, do they!)

You might be surprised that it relates to the Arthurian legends.

King Vortigern came to the mountains of Eryri, in Gwynedd. On the summit of one of these, which was then called Dinas Ffaraon, he decided to build a fortress.

Then the king sent for artificers, carpenters, and stonemasons, and collected all the materials for building. In the night, however,they all disappeared. Materials were procured from all parts a second time, but a second time they disappeared in the night. A third time everything was brought together for building, but by morning again not a trace of them remained.

Vortigern called his wise men together and they told him he must find a child born without a father, put him to death, and sprinkle with his blood the ground on which the citadel was to be built.

The king thought the advice of his wise men was good and sent messengers throughout Britain in search of a child born without a father.When they eventually found one, they took him to Vortigern the king.

The boy asked why he had been brought before the king and when they told him he was to be sacrificed to enable Vortigern to build a fortress, he told the king his wise men were wrong and that there was a pool beneath the ground where they were trying to build. In the pool were two vases and in the vases a tent.  in the tent were two sleeping dragons, one white and one red.

The dragons fought each other, and the eventually the red one won the battle and drove the white one away.

The boy told the king and his wise men that the pool was the emblem of this world, and the tent that of Vortigern's kingdom. The red dragon was the king's, but the white serpent was the dragon of the Saxons,  At length, however, his people would rise and drive the Saxon race beyond the sea. But he must seek another place to build his citadel.

The boy's life was spared. He became famous as the great magician Myrddin Emrys , or Myrddin ab Morfryn (Merlin, as he is called in English), and the mountain on which he proved his mighty power was called  Dinas Emrys instead of Dinas Ffaraon.  Thereafter the red dragon became the symbol of Wales and portrayed on the Welsh flag.

FREE AUDIOBOOKS
 If you're at a loose end in these strange and rather scary times, there are many great books out there to be read, so why no try a new author.
If you'd like to listen to a book rather than read it, again there are some really great books available in audio.
(You can get my own Destiny Trilogy for FREE.)


GET YOUR FREE CODES NOW:
Starquest: https://freeaudiobookcodes.com/?q=starquest
Children of the Mist: https://freeaudiobookcodes.com/?q=children+of+the+mist
Beloved Enemy:https://freeaudiobookcodes.com/https://freeaudiobookcodes.com/?q=Beloved+Enemy

 



For insider news and subscriber-only info, subscribe to my occasional Newsletter. I promise not to spam and your in-box will only see an email from me every 3 or 4 months or so - unless of course I have something really Newsworthy to share! I also promise that I never have and never will share your information or email address with anyone or any organisation.  http://madmimi.com/signups/196357/join