Editing Gwyn ap Nudd

{{short description|Welsh mythological figure}}
{{Infobox deity
| type = Welsh
| name = Gwyn ap Nudd
| deity_of = A Lord of [[Annwn]], Leader of the [[Wild Hunt]], King of the [[Faeries]] and [[astrologer]]<ref name="IoMGGapN">{{cite book |last=d'Este |first=Sorita |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Isles_of_the_Many_Gods/4GhrBAAACAAJ?hl=cy |title=The Isles of the Many Gods: An A-Z of the Pagan Gods & Goddesses of Ancient Britain worshipped during the First Millennium through to the Middle Ages |last2=Rankine |first2=David |date=2007 |publisher=Avalonia |pages=153-155 |language=English}}</ref>
| cult_center = Wales
| abode = [[Annwn]]<ref name="IoMGGapN" />
| battles = [[Cad Goddeu]]<ref name="IoMGGapN" />
| animals = [[Cŵn Annwn]], the [[bull]]<ref name="IoMGGapN" />
| consort = [[Creiddylad]], by force
| parents = [[Night]] (Nudd)
| siblings = [[Edern ap Nudd]]<ref name="IoMGGapN" />
| offspring = <!-- or | children = -->
| predecessor = [[Arawn]]
| gender = Male
| festivals = Connections with [[Calan Mai]] when Gwyn battles [[Gwythyr ap Greidawl]] for the hand of [[Creiddylad]]<ref name="IoMGGapN" />
}}
[[File:Glastonbury Tor.jpg|thumb|250px|Gwyn ap Nudd is intimately associated with [[Glastonbury Tor]].]]
'''Gwyn ap Nudd''' ({{IPA|cy|ˈɡwɨn ap ˈnɨːð}}, sometimes found with the antiquated spelling '''Gwynn ap Nudd''') is a Welsh mythological figure, the king of the ''[[Tylwyth Teg]]'' or "[[fairy|fair folk]]" and ruler of the Welsh [[Otherworld]], [[Annwn]], and whose name means “Gwyn, son of Nudd”. Described later on as a great warrior with a "blackened face", Gwyn is intimately associated with the otherworld in [[medieval Welsh literature]], and is associated with the international tradition of the [[Wild Hunt]].

==Family==
Gwyn is the son of [[Lludd|Nudd]] and would thus be grandson to [[Beli Mawr]] and nephew of [[Arianrhod]], [[Llefelys]], [[Penarddun]], [[Afallach]], [[Gofannon]], [[Nynniaw]], [[Peibaw]], and [[Caswallawn]]. Based on their shared patronymic (''ap Nudd''), his siblings include [[Edern ap Nudd|Edern]], a warrior who appears in a number of Arthurian texts, and Owain ap Nudd, who is mentioned briefly in [[Geraint and Enid]]. In ''[[Culhwch and Olwen]]'', Gwyn is the lover of [[Creiddylad]], the daughter of Lludd, who may therefore be Gwyn's own sister, though that connection was not made by the medieval author(s) of ''Culhwch and Olwen''.

==Legends==
===The abduction of Creiddylad===
Gwyn plays a prominent role in the early [[Arthurian]] tale ''Culhwch and Olwen'' in which he abducts his sister Creiddylad from her betrothed, [[Gwythyr ap Greidawl]]. In retaliation, Gwythyr raised a great host against Gwyn, leading to a vicious battle between the two. Gwyn was victorious and, following the conflict, captured a number of Gwythyr's noblemen including Nwython and his son [[Cyledr Wyllt|Cyledr]]. Gwyn would later murder Nwython, and force Cyledr to eat his father's heart. As a result of his torture at Gwyn's hands, Cyledr went mad,<ref>Davies, Sioned, The Mabinogion. 2007, p. 207</ref> earning the epithet ''Wyllt''.

After the intervention of [[King Arthur|Arthur]], Gwyn and Gwythr agreed to fight for Creiddylad every [[May Day]] until Judgement Day. The warrior who was victorious on this final day would at last take the maiden. According to ''Culhwch and Olwen'', Gwyn was "placed over the brood of devils in [[Annwn]], lest they should destroy the present race".<ref name="Culhwch ac Olwen">[http://www.ancienttexts.org/library/celtic/ctexts/culhwch.html Culhwch ac Olwen], translated by Lady Charlotte Guest and sub-edited by Mary Jones.</ref>

===As part of Arthur's retinue===
{{Main|Culhwch and Olwen}}

Before he can win [[Olwen|Olwen's]] hand, [[Culhwch|Culhwch ap Cilydd]] must complete a number of seemingly impossible tasks given to him by Olwen's father, the giant [[Ysbaddaden]]. One of these tasks is to retrieve the comb and scissors from the head of the vicious boar, [[Twrch Trwyth]]. As it is impossible to hunt the boar without Gwyn's aid, he is called upon to join [[King Arthur|Arthur]] and his retinue against Twrch Trwyth. During the hunt, he is mounted on Du y Moroedd, the only horse that can carry him. Both Gwyn and Gwythyr set out with Arthur to retrieve the blood of [[Orddu, Orwen and Orgoch|Orddu]], witch of the uplands of hell.<ref name="Culhwch ac Olwen"/>

===Other exploits===
Gwyn appears prominently in the medieval poem ''The Dialogue of Gwyn ap Nudd and Gwyddno Garanhir'', found in the [[Black Book of Carmarthen]]. In this narrative—Gwyn, returning from battle, chances upon [[Gwyddno Garanhir]], king of [[Cantre'r Gwaelod]], and grants him his protection. Gwyn then relates his exploits on the battlefield and his role as a [[psychopomp]], a mysterious figure who gathers the souls of fallen British warriors, such as [[Bran the Blessed]], Meurig ap Carreian, [[Gwenddoleu ap Ceidio|Gwendoleu ap Ceidaw]] and [[King Arthur's family#Welsh literature|Llacheu ab Arthur]]. His skill in combat is extolled in this poem; he is described as "the hope of armies" and "hero of hosts" and, when asked from which region he comes, he simply replies: "I come from battle and conflict."<ref name="maryjones.us">[http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/bbc33.html Dialogue of Gwyn ap Nudd and Gwyddno Garanhir]</ref> The poem ends with Gwyn's proclamation:

{{quote|<poem>I have been where the soldiers of Britain were slain.
From the east to the north
I am the escort of the grave.

I have been where the soldiers of Britain were slain.
From the east to the south
I am alive, they in death!<ref name="maryjones.us"/></poem>}}

His role as a psychopomp is paralleled in his later tradition as leader of the Wild Hunt, in which he leads a pack of supernatural hounds known as the ''[[Cŵn Annwn]]'' to harvest human souls. In Welsh folklore, to hear the baying of Gwyn's hounds was a portent of imminent death in the family. In ''The Dialogue'', Gwyn is also accompanied by a hound, namely as Dormarth of the ruddy nose.

Gwyn apparently witnessed a "conflict" before Caer Vandwy, an otherworldly fortress mentioned in [[Preiddeu Annwfn]].<ref name="maryjones.us"/>

===Later traditions===
[[File:Dafydd ap Gwilym at Cardiff City Hall.jpg|thumb|right|Sculpture of Dafydd ap Gwilym by W Wheatley Wagstaff at [[City Hall, Cardiff]].]]

Over time, Gwyn's role would diminish and, in later folklore, he was regarded as the king of the ''[[Tylwyth Teg]]'', the fairies of Welsh lore. He appears as a simpler figure in ''Buchedd Collen'' (''The Life of [[Saint Collen]]''), in which he and his retinue are vanquished from [[Glastonbury Tor]] with the use of [[holy water]]. According to the ''[[Speculum Christiani]]'', a fourteenth century manuscript against divination, Welsh soothsayers would invoke Gwyn's name before entering woodlands, proclaiming: "to the king of Spirits, and to his queen—
Gwyn ap Nudd, 
you who are yonder in the forest, 
for love of your mate, 
permit us to enter your dwelling."<ref>Medieval folklore: an encyclopedia of myths, legends, tales, beliefs, and customs ed. Carl Lindahl, John McNamara, John Lindow. Oxford University Press, 2002. p. 190</ref>

The celebrated fourteenth-century [[bard]] [[Dafydd ap Gwilym]] refers to Gwyn in a number of texts, suggesting that the character was widely known in Wales during the medieval period. In ''Y Dylluan'', he describes the eponymous [[owl]] as the "fowl of Gwyn ap Nudd".  ''Y Pwll Mawn'', in which the bard tells an unfortunate autobiographical account in which he and his horse were almost drowned in a lake, described as the "fish lake of Gwyn ap Nudd" and "the palace of the elves and their children."

Gwyn is often associated with the Wild Hunt, in a role akin to [[Woden]] or [[Herne the Hunter]]. Some traditions name Gwyn's chief huntsman as Iolo ap Huw, who, every [[Calan Gaeaf|Halloween]], "may be found cheering [[Cŵn Annwn]] over [[Cader Idris]]".<ref>Rhys, John. ''Celtic folklore: Welsh and Manx.'' p. 180-181</ref> In the [[Black Book of Carmarthen]] Gwyn states that his finest hound is [[Dormarch]].<ref>Evans, John Gwenogvryn (1906). The Black Book of Carmarthen. Pwllheli. p. XI</ref>

According to a 14th century Latin manuscript against witchcraft, Welsh "[[Cunning folk in Britain|dynion hysbys]]" (soothsayers) would repeat the following:<ref>{{cite book |editor-last1=Lindahl |editor-first1=Carl |editor-last2=Mcnamara |editor-first2=John |editor-last3=Lindow |editor-first3=John |title=Medieval Folklore: A Guide to Myths, Legends, Tales, Beliefs, and Customs |date=2002 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=120 |language=en}}</ref>

{{Verse translation|{{lang|la|Ad regem Eumenidium,
et reginam eius:
Gwynn ap Nwdd
qui es ultra in silvis
pro amore concubine
tue permitte nos venire domum.}}|To the King of the Faeries,
and to his Queen:
Gwyn ap Nudd
thou who art far in the forest
for the love of your consort
permit us to enter thy dwelling.}}

The Latin term ''Eumenidium'' is used, which can be translated as ''"the Benevolent Ones"''<ref>{{cite book |last=Rüdiger |first=Angelika H |date=2012 |title=Gramarye: The Journal of the Sussex Centre for Folklore, Fairy Tales and Fantasy: Issue 2 |location= |publisher=University of Chichester |isbn= |chapter=Gwyn ap Nudd: Transfigurations of a character on the way from medieval literature to neo-pagan beliefs |page=38}}</ref> and act as an euphemism to mean ''y tylwyth teg'' or ''faeries'', and the king of the faeries is Gwyn ap Nudd; with logic, it could be argued that Gwyn ap Nudd is "Eumenidium."

==Etymology==
''Gwyn'' means "fair, bright, white", cognate with the [[Irish language|Irish]] ''fionn'', both deriving from a reconstructed [[Common Celtic]] stem ''*windos'' 'the white one'.<ref name="Proto-Celtic">Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies, [[University of Wales]]. "[http://www.wales.ac.uk/documents/external/cawcs/pcl-moe.pdf Proto-Celtic—English lexicon] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060114133008/http://www.wales.ac.uk/documents/external/cawcs/pcl-moe.pdf |date=2006-01-14 }}." (See also [http://www.wales.ac.uk/newpages/EXTERNAL/E4504.asp this page] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070310203645/http://www.wales.ac.uk/newpages/EXTERNAL/E4504.asp |date=2007-03-10 }} for background and disclaimers.)</ref><ref name="Sims-Williams">{{cite book |first=Patrick |last=Sims-Williams |chapter=Some Celtic Otherworld Terms |title=Celtic Language, Celtic Culture: a Festschrift for Eric P. Hamp |date=1990 |publisher=Ford & Bailie Publishers |page=58}}</ref> As such, he has some connection to the [[Irish mythology|Irish]] hero [[Fionn mac Cumhail]],<ref name="Sims-Williams"/><ref>{{Cite book |last=Williams |first=Mark |title=Ireland's Immortals: A History of the Gods of Irish Myth |pages=194-247 [198] |location=Princeton |publisher=Princeton University Press |date=2017 |doi=10.1515/9781400883325-009 |quote= Linguistically cognate with Irish Finn is Welsh ''Gwynn'', a figure who appears in Welsh tradition as a supernatural hunter ...}}</ref> whose maternal great-grandfather was [[Nuada]]. The name of Gwyn's father, Nudd, appears like Nuada to be cognate with the [[Celtic mythology|Brythonic]] [[deity]] [[Nodens]].<ref>[[J. R. R. Tolkien]]. 1932. "Reports of the Research Committee of the Society of Antiquaries of London" ([[Nodens|quoted here]]).</ref>

''Gwyn'' is in everyday use as a common noun and adjective: it also remains a popular personal name. Especially in Old and Middle Welsh, "gwyn" also has the connotations of "pure, sacred, holy".

== Bibliography ==
* d'Este, Sorita; Rankine, David (2007). ''The Isles of the Many Gods: An A-Z of the Pagan Gods & Goddesses of Ancient Britain worshipped during the First Millennium through to the Middle Ages''. Avalonia.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070928202937/http://www.traditionalwitchcraft.org.uk/vindos.html Vindos] : etymology and history of Vindos as related to Gwynn ap Nudd and Fionn mac Cumhaill.

{{Celtic mythology (Welsh)}}
{{Fairies}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gwyn Ap Nudd}}
[[Category:Welsh mythology]]
[[Category:Fairy royalty]]
[[Category:Psychopomps]]
[[Category:Wild Hunt]]
[[Category:Mythological kings]]