Welsh Mythology

Cyhyraeth

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Tradition: Welsh Mythology
Alternative Names: Cyhyraeth
Category: Ghost

The Myth

The Cyhyraeth is a ghostly spirit in Welsh mythology that has no visible body. Instead of appearing as a figure, it announces approaching death through a mournful, disembodied voice. Its cries are described as doleful and unpleasant, resembling the groans and sighs of someone suffering from a terrible illness.

The Cyhyraeth is said to sound three times before a person dies. Each cry grows weaker and fainter than the one before it, serving as a threefold warning that death is approaching. Its voice is associated particularly with the region around the River Tywi in eastern Dyfed and the coast of Glamorganshire. Along the Glamorganshire coast, the spirit may be heard before a shipwreck, accompanied by a mysterious corpse-light.

The Cyhyraeth also gives warning when Welsh people are about to die far from their homeland. Even across distant places, its sorrowful cries announce their approaching end. Like the Irish Banshee and the Scottish Cailleach, it is a supernatural harbinger of death, its invisible presence bringing the sound of grief before tragedy strikes.

Sources

“Cyhyraeth.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed October 15, 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyhyraeth

Llamhigyn y Dŵr

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Tradition: Welsh Mythology
Alternative Names: Water Leaper
Category: Frog

The Myth

The Llamhigyn y Dŵr is a monstrous water spirit that inhabits lakes and other bodies of water in Wales, particularly around Llyn Gwynan and Llyn Glas. It resembles an enormous, grotesque toad, but instead of ordinary legs it has wings, and a long tail extends behind its body. It is a powerful swimmer and a dangerous predator that lurks beneath the water, waiting for unsuspecting prey to approach the shore.

The creature preys on sheep, dogs, and other animals that venture too close to the water’s edge. Shepherds know to keep their flocks away from the lakes, for the Water Leaper may suddenly spring from the water, seize an animal, and drag it beneath the surface. Its presence also torments fishermen, stealing their catches and taking bait directly from their hooks. Sometimes it seizes the entire fishing line, rod, and angler, pulling its victim into the lake with tremendous strength.

The Llamhigyn y Dŵr is known for its extraordinary speed and its terrifying shriek. One fisherman reportedly hooked the creature, only for it to emit an ear-splitting scream and nearly pull him from his boat. He escaped only because a companion was there to help him. Welsh fishermen regard the Water Leaper as a troublesome and dangerous inhabitant of their lakes, blaming it for lost fish, broken fishing lines, and unexplained disappearances near the water.

Sources

“Llamhigyn Y Dwr.” A Book of Creatures. July 1, 2015. https://abookofcreatures.com/2015/07/01/llamhigyn-y-dwr/

Canwyll Corph

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Tradition: Welsh Mythology
Alternative Names: Corpse Candle, Candle of the Dead
Category: Flame

The Myth

The Canwyll Corph, meaning “Corpse Candle,” is a supernatural light from Welsh folklore and one of the most feared omens of death. It appears as a ghastly blue flame burning like a candle, sometimes floating through the darkness without anyone carrying it. In other accounts, it takes the form of an ordinary tallow candle held by a ghost. When the ghost can be seen clearly, it is believed to resemble a living person whose death is approaching, revealing a spectral double of someone destined to die soon.

The Corpse Candle may also appear as a light emerging directly from a person’s mouth or nostrils. Its size is believed to reveal the age of the person whose death it foretells: a large flame signifies an adult, a smaller one a child, and a still tinier light an infant. When two candles appear together, one large and one small, they are said to predict the deaths of a mother and her child. The colour of the flame is also significant: a white light foretells the death of a woman, while a red flame signals the death of a man.

The Canwyll Corph is invariably regarded as a warning that death is near. Its appearance may be that of a solitary, wandering flame or a ghostly figure carrying a candle, but its message remains the same: someone living is believed to be approaching the end of their life. In Welsh tradition, the candle becomes a spectral sign of fate, illuminating the boundary between the living and the dead.

Sources

Sikes, Wirt. British Goblins: Welsh Folk-Lore, Fairy Mythology, Legends and Traditions. London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington, 1880.

Morgan le Fay

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Tradition: Welsh Mythology, French Mythology
Alternative Names: Morgen, Morgana, Morgaine, Morgante, Morgane, Morgayne, Morguein, Fée Morgane
Category: Fairy

The Myth

Morgan le Fay is a powerful and mysterious enchantress of Arthurian legend, traditionally portrayed as an extraordinarily magical woman whose nature can be both benevolent and destructive. She may appear as a fairy, sorceress, witch, goddess, or human woman, and her relationship with King Arthur varies between traditions. In her earliest appearances she is closely associated with the supernatural world and with Avalon, the magical Isle of Apples. She is particularly renowned as a healer, possessing the power to cure even wounds that seem fatal. She is also sometimes described as a fairy queen or goddess, and her supernatural nature remains present even in traditions where she is portrayed as human.

In later Arthurian traditions, Morgan becomes Arthur’s half-sister, the daughter of Igraine and Gorlois, while Arthur is the son of Igraine and Uther Pendragon. She marries King Urien and has a son, Yvain, but becomes a powerful and unpredictable enemy of Arthur and the knights of the Round Table. She learns magic from Merlin and becomes especially hostile toward Queen Guinevere. Morgan takes numerous lovers in different traditions, including Accolon and sometimes Merlin, while also possessing an unrequited love for Lancelot. She repeatedly plots against Arthur and his kingdom, sometimes attempting to bring about his downfall, and in some versions becomes one of his greatest enemies. Yet her relationship with Arthur remains strangely ambivalent, since she can oppose him while also retaining a connection to his protection and healing.

After Arthur is mortally wounded at the Battle of Camlann, Morgan’s oldest supernatural role returns. She is associated with Avalon and takes Arthur away to the magical island so that his wounds can be healed. In some traditions she is accompanied by other magical sisters, while later stories portray her as the immortal queen of Avalon. Thus, despite becoming increasingly villainous in medieval romances, Morgan ultimately remains tied to the Otherworld and to Arthur’s final journey. She is a figure of extraordinary duality: capable of healing and destruction, protection and betrayal, desire and vengeance, while standing between the human world and the magical realm of Avalon.

Sources

“Morgan le Fay.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed October 5, 2026.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgan_le_Fay

Bendith y Mamau

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Tradition: Welsh Mythology
Alternative Names: Blessing of the Mothers
Category: Fairy

The Myth

The Bendith y Mamau, meaning “Blessing of the Mothers,” were the fairies of Glamorgan. They were known as supernatural beings who rode horses, visited human houses, and stole children, leaving ugly changelings in their place. People left bowls of milk outside their homes for them, hoping to keep their favor. The fairies were especially feared for taking beautiful human children and replacing them with stunted, wizened creatures that would never grow properly. Their presence belonged to the hidden fairy world that existed alongside ordinary human communities.

One story tells of a mother whose three-year-old child had been taken by the Bendith y Mamau. In his place she found a strange little wizened boy who was clearly not her own child. A cunning man told her how to discover the truth. She removed the top of a raw egg, stirred its contents, and the changeling immediately spoke with the uncanny wisdom of an ancient being. He remarked that he had lived for an impossibly long time, revealing that he was not truly a human child. The mother then followed the next part of the instructions, going to a crossroads at midnight during the full moon. There she saw the Bendith y Mamau passing by in a great fairy procession and realized that her real son was among them.

Finally, the mother was told to roast a black hen over a wood fire without plucking it. She followed the instruction and continued heating the bird until every feather had fallen away. When she looked at the changeling, the creature suddenly disappeared. The mother heard the voice of her own son outside and rushed to the door, finding that her real child had been returned to her. The strange ritual had broken the fairies’ hold over him and driven their substitute away.

Sources

“Бендит и мамай (Bendit i Mamai).” New Bestiary (Bestiary.us). Accessed October 5, 2026.
https://www.bestiary.us/bendit-i-mamai/en

Tylwyth Teg

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Tradition: Welsh Mythology
Alternative Names: Bendith y Mamau, Gwyllion, Ellyllon
Category: Fairy

The Myth

The Tylwyth Teg, meaning the Fair Family, were the fairy folk of Wales. They were beautiful supernatural beings, often described as fair-haired and dwelling in an Otherworld hidden beneath the earth or beneath lakes and streams. They danced together in secluded places and left behind fairy rings where they had held their celebrations. They could appear in great fairy processions riding horses through the countryside, while households sometimes left bowls of milk outside for them. The Tylwyth Teg could be generous toward those they favored, granting them wealth and good fortune, but their gifts could disappear if the recipient revealed their existence to others.

The fairies could also form relationships with humans. Fairy maidens sometimes became wives to mortal men, but their marriages were governed by strict supernatural taboos. One important prohibition concerned iron: if the fairy woman was touched by iron, she would disappear from the human world and return permanently to her own realm. The Tylwyth Teg could also be dangerous toward human families, particularly because they were said to covet beautiful, golden-haired children. They might steal a human child and leave a changeling, known as a crimbil, in its place. In one tale, a mother whose three-year-old son had been taken sought the advice of a cunning man. Following his instructions, she performed a series of strange acts, including stirring the contents of a raw egg and roasting an entire black hen over a wood fire without plucking it. The changeling revealed his supernatural nature while watching her, and after the final ritual the false child disappeared and her real son was returned.

The Tylwyth Teg were also understood as a broad fairy population containing several kinds of supernatural beings. The Ellyllon were elf-like fairies living in groves and valleys, while the Coblynau inhabited mines, the Bwbachod served as household fairies, the Gwragedd Annwn lived around lakes and streams, and the Gwyllion were mountain fairies with a more hag-like nature. The Ellyllon were said to eat toadstools and fairy butter, wear foxglove flowers as gloves, and live under the rule of Queen Mab. Across these forms, the Tylwyth Teg represented a hidden supernatural people living alongside humanity, capable of bringing prosperity and wonder but also of stealing children, enforcing their own laws, and drawing mortals into the dangerous world of the fairies.

Sources

“Tylwyth Teg.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed October 5, 2026.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tylwyth_Teg

Gwragedd Annwn

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Tradition: Welsh Mythology
Alternative Names: Dames of the Lower Region, Dames of Elfin Land, Wives of the Lower World, Gwraig Annwn
Category: Fairy

The Myth

The Gwragedd Annwn are beautiful female fairies who live beneath lakes and rivers in Wales. They belong to the Tylwyth Teg, the Welsh fairy folk, and are most strongly associated with isolated and mountainous lakes such as Llyn Barfog, the “Bearded Lake,” and Crumlyn Lake. They wear green and normally remain in the lower world, but they are sometimes said to cross into the human world. Unlike mermaids and other aquatic beings, they have no fish-like or other animal features and are entirely human in appearance. They are particularly associated with lakes and rivers rather than the open sea.

One tradition explains that the Gwragedd Annwn were created when St. Patrick travelled from Ireland to Wales to meet St. David. Welsh people who saw the two saints meeting began insulting Patrick because he had left Cambria. Understanding their insults, Patrick punished them by transforming the offending people into fish. The women among them were transformed instead into lake fairies, becoming the Gwragedd Annwn. They were subsequently said to live beneath the waters, sometimes emerging into the upper world, where they could be seen by ordinary people.

The Gwragedd Annwn were also believed to keep herds of extraordinary white cattle known as Gwartheg y Llyn, the kine of the lake. One farmer managed to capture one of these cows, which produced exceptionally good milk, butter, and cheese and made him wealthy. Some traditions say its milk could heal injuries, increase intelligence, and make people cheerful. The farmer eventually bred more cattle from it and decided to slaughter the original cow. When the butcher struck its head, however, the blow passed through it without causing harm. A woman dressed in green then appeared and called the cow and almost all of its descendants back to the lake. Only one animal remained behind, and it had become completely black. This was said to be the origin of the Welsh black cattle.

Sources

“Gwragedd Annwn.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed October 5, 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gwragedd_Annwn

Penloi

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Tradition: Welsh Mythology
Alternative Names: Little Penloi, Penoi
Category: Fairy

The Myth

Penloi was a beautiful fairy maiden, remarkably handsome but short and slight in stature. Shon Rolant of Hafod y Dre was returning home from the market at Llanrwst when he encountered and captured her near Pentrevoelas. He brought her home, where her extraordinary beauty caused everyone to admire her. Shon quickly fell deeply in love with her and repeatedly asked her to marry him, but Penloi initially refused. Eventually she agreed, but only on the condition that he discover her name.

About a month later, Shon was again returning from the market when he heard voices near the place where he had first captured the fairy. Someone was calling repeatedly, asking where “little Penloi” had gone. Realising that this must be the name of the fairy he had brought home, Shon returned to his house and addressed her as Penloi. She accepted him as her husband, although she expressed her displeasure at marrying what fairies considered a “dead man” — a human being. She also gave him a strict warning: she must never be touched by iron, or she would immediately disappear.

Shon was careful to obey the warning, but eventually the condition was broken by accident. One day he was on horseback speaking with Penloi, who was standing near the horse’s head. The animal suddenly threw up its head, causing the iron curb of its bridle to strike Penloi. At that instant she vanished completely, leaving Shon without his fairy wife.

Sources

Owen, Elias. Welsh Folk-Lore: A Collection of the Folk-Tales and Legends of North Wales. London: Elliot Stock, 1896.

Fairy Maiden of Pentrevoelas

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Tradition: Welsh Mythology
Alternative Names: Fairy Maiden, Fairy Wife
Category: Fairy

The Myth

The Fairy Maiden of Pentrevoelas was a beautiful supernatural woman who appeared one misty morning to the son of Hafodgarreg while he was tending his father’s sheep on the hills. He found her sitting beside a peat-stack, weeping in great distress. The young shepherd approached her kindly and comforted her, and his sympathy soon turned into love. She returned his affection, but their conversation was interrupted when an old man appeared and called the maiden his daughter. She obeyed him and left with him, while the shepherd remained behind, hoping she would return. He came back to the same place day after day, but she did not appear. Eventually, however, the maiden herself returned from her enchanted land, having planned the visit because she loved the shepherd as deeply as he loved her.

Her father soon discovered the lovers together and confronted them. The shepherd boldly asked for permission to marry his daughter, and the old man asked the maiden whether she truly wished to marry a man of the human world. She said that she did. Her father therefore allowed the marriage, with one condition: she could remain with her husband only so long as he never struck her with iron. He also gave her a marriage portion consisting of a bag filled with bright money. The couple married and lived happily together for many years, having children and building a loving family. The promise seemed secure until one day they went onto the hills to catch two wild ponies that they intended to take to the festival of the saint of Capel Garmon.

The ponies repeatedly escaped, and the husband became increasingly frustrated as he chased them. At last, when they slipped away once more, he angrily threw his bridle after them. The iron bit struck his wife. The moment it touched her, both husband and wife understood that their marriage contract had been broken. Almost immediately, her aged father appeared with a host of fairies and took his daughter back to the enchanted land. She was not even given the chance to say farewell to her children. The money from her dowry and the children themselves remained with the shepherd, but his fairy wife was gone, leaving only these reminders of the woman he had loved and the family they had shared.

Sources

Owen, Elias. Welsh Folk-Lore: A Collection of the Folk-Tales and Legends of North Wales. London: Elliot Stock, 1896.

Dragon of the Floods

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Tradition: Welsh mythology
Alternative Names: Dragon-like Monster of the Lake
Category: Dragon

The Myth

The creature was a monstrous, dragon-like being that lived hidden beneath a lake in Britain. From its watery lair it caused disastrous floods, sending the waters across the land and bringing destruction to the people who lived there.

When Hu gained dominion over Britain, he did not conquer the island through war or bloodshed. Instead, he established his rule through justice and peace and taught his people agriculture, organized them into federated tribes, and laid the foundations of literature and history through the tradition of bardism.

But the land remained threatened by the floods caused by the monster in the lake. Hu went to the water and dragged the dragon-like creature from its hiding place. Once the monster had been removed, the floodwaters finally subsided and the danger was brought to an end.

With the waters gone, Hu became the first to draw a furrow through the soil of Britain with a plough. For this reason he was remembered as one of the Three National Pillars of the Isle of Britain, the great figures who established and shaped the country.

Sources

Squire, Charles. The Mythology of Ancient Britain and Ireland. London: A. Constable, 1906.