#welsh monsters

[artsyld]

Happy Valentine's Day!! Have a little piece of my Big Bad, Aloysius Dragone, and his Queen, Eirian. They may be awful people, but they can at least take comfort in each other...You can read all about them at @vowcomic, which is my webcomic, The Vale of Wales :)

[vowcomic]

The Vale of Wales, Chapter 14, Page 26; Here's my last VOW page for 2023!! See you all in the New Year!! It's only fitting I wrap things up with my Big Bag and my Big Heroine. I can't wait for y'all to see what I have planned for them in 2024!

[bestiarium]

Wiston castle (Castell Gwys) is an old estate in Haverfordwest, Wales. As with many old fortresses in the region, there is a local folktale associated with it:

As the story goes, ownership of the castle was at one time disputed between several claimants. The situation was further complicated by the presence of a horrible monster: a basilisk had made its lair on the bank of a nearby river. Though the creature was only about 2 feet (60 cm) long, it was exceptionally deadly, being able to kill people merely by looking at them. Any would-be heroes who tried to sneak up on the basilisk from behind were swiftly disposed of as well, as the monster had a separate set of eyes on the back of its head. It was a black and yellow reptile, and those who managed to avoid its 360° death vision would succumb to its deadly noxious breath. But it had a weakness: if the basilisk was seen by a living human, without being able to see that human, it would drop dead on the spot.

And so the locals agreed that if anyone managed to look at the monster without being seen by it, deserved to inherit the Wiston estate. Several adventurers attempted to do so, emboldened by the promise of wealth and titles, but all of their quests ended in deadly failure.

As is often the case with legends about quests and monsters, the hero of the story – curiously, I could not find his name – succeeded through wit and trickery rather than force. He rolled a wooden barrel up a nearby hill and climbed aside. The barrel rolled down the hill past the basilisk’s lair and he cautiously looked through the bunghole (the tiny round gap in the side of a barrel) as he rolled by. He yelled at the monster and mocked it, but the creature could not see him. ‘Ha, bold basilisk!’ he shouted, ‘I can see you, though you can’t see me!’

And so the basilisk fell to the ground. Having fulfilled the requirements of the quest, the hero became the rightful owner of the Wiston castle.

Basilisks are a rather well-known type of monster, usually being portrayed as a dragon-like creature or a monstrous rooster in modern times. I will not detail the entire history of basilisks here, but one account by the ancient Roman author Plinius Maior describes the basilisk as a frighteningly noxious snake: these monsters are supposedly so dangerous that the very grass on which they move will burn away from their presence. Its vile breath destroys shrubs and its gaze is lethal (this last trait is commonly attributed to basilisks throughout time, like in the Welsh story we just went over). Plinius claimed that these serpents are about twelve fingers long and can be distinguished by the crown-like white spot on the forehead.

Finally, according to Plinius, there is an older belief that the venom of a basilisk is so horrifyingly potent that if a rider on horseback kills one of these monsters with a spear, the venom would somehow flow up the shaft of the spear and kill both the rider and his horse.

Additionally, it is said that these beasts hatch from the egg of a rooster. Such an egg doesn’t have a normal eggshell, but instead is covered in thick skin. It is round and has a muddy colour, unlike a normal egg, and is supposedly laid when a rooster reaches a certain (old) age, and then can only be laid in summer. Even then, the egg has to be sat upon by a rooster, and it is supposedly very difficult to keep the rooster away from its egg.

Edward Topsell, in his 1658 ‘history of four-footed beasts and serpents’ proposes a possible origin for this story: a rooster living in unsanitary conditions might vomit a compact cluster of undigested food, which might appear as a weird egg to a superstitious farmer. It is possible that such clusters sometimes included a parasitic worm, which appears to ‘hatch’ from the ‘egg’ when the worm starts to move. It is not impossible that such a story was exaggerated through many retellings, until the worm became a snake.  

Sources: Roberts, T., 1984, Myths and Legends of Wales, Abercastle Publications. Naturalis Historia, by Plinius Maior, book VIII, chapter 33. Which you can read here. Edward Topsell, 1658, “The History of Four-footed Beasts and Serpents”, which you can read here. (image source 1: Wenceslaus Hollar, 17th century, plate depicting a basilisk with its natural enemy, the weasel.) (image source 2: Edward Topsell, 1658, “The History of Four-footed Beasts and Serpents”)

[charliescreatures]

The Wrexham Wolf. This creature is from Welsh mythology, coming from tales of a beast attacking stagecoaches passing near Wrexham in the 1700s. Though some connect it to wolf attacks across all of North Wales- unclear if it was an unusually violent wolf or perhaps even a werewolf or gwyllgi!

[thatdamhobbit]

Felt appropriate

No but seriously who hurt these people because I will find them and I will kill them.

[elysianymph]

thinking about remus being a dadda's boy when he was little but as he grew up he realized how lyall was drifting away bc of the guilt he felt whenever he looked at remus so remus became a mamma's boy in his teenage years

[varalgus]

Mari Lwyd 🌿🔔

[cashmere-caveman]

Christian Wiman, Darkness Starts | S1E6, Bad Moon Rising | S2E8, All God‘s Children | Ian Strange, Suburban Intervention | S1E6, Bad Moon Rising | S1E3, Ghost Town | Christina Marie Brown, Ghost I

[thestalkerbunny]

A Nadolig Llawen to us all-from the internet's favorite holiday icon-The Mari Llwyd

[whitegoldtower]

My illustration of Folcwine and the Beast - done in the grainy, pixelated, retro, dark fantasy style!

((This is my original character from my WIP novel ‘The Beast of Bannan Beofrith’ so please please PLEASE do not reupload, edit or use)

You’ll probably like my novel if you like…

👻 gothic folk horror

👻 celtic folklore

👻 medieval settings

👻 the witcher

👻 baldur’s gate iii

👻 skyrim

👻 Elves, man. Elves.

👻 MONSTERFUCKING.

👻 walking nukes and ignoring red flags

👻 LGBT romance

👻 D&D

👻 vampires, wraiths and werebeasts, oh my!

[artsyld]

Every season, I like to create seasonal pieces featuring my characters, and when I think of Summer, I think of swimming pools! So have my @vowcomic's prissy Queen Eirian, her sister wives Ina and Filomena, and her handmaid Saffir. Since their husband Aloysius is an afanc like Eirian, they have many pools in his castle. You can take the lake monsters out of the lakes, but you can't take the lakes out of the lake monsters. I hope y'all are having a happy, safe summer!

[vowcomic]

[bestiarium]

The Twrch Twryth [Welsh mythology; Arthurian legend]

Culhwch is a folk hero from Welsh mythology. As the story goes, he was a hero of royal blood, being the son of a prince. Culhwch at one point fell in love with a beautiful girl named Olwen, despite having never met her in person.

Yet their love seemed impossible, for Olwen was the daughter Yspaddaden Penkawr, a monstrous giant. The giant offered his daughter’s hand in marriage to the hero who could overcome his trials, but nobody had ever succeeded. Culhwch however, was the cousin of Arthur, and asked for his help to gain the giant’s favour and marry his daughter. If they could overcome these tasks, the giant would die.

And so, Arthur and his knights set out to accomplish the seemingly impossible trials of Yspaddaden Penkawr: for the first task, he had to plough a hill, sow grain and ripen it, all in single day. Though biologically impossible, the heroic Arthur and his men employed magical aid and managed to have the ripened grain all ready before nightfall.

For the second trial, Arthur was tasked with finding Mabon, who had been missing since she was an infant and could now be anywhere in the world. He eventually succeeded by enlisting the aid of the oldest animals of the land: the stags, the eagles, the owls, the salmon and the blackbirds. Together they tracked down Mabon and moved on to the other trials.

But then Arthur and Culhwch received their hardest challenge yet: long ago, a sinful king was punished for his wicked ways and transformed into a monstrous boar called the Twrch Trwyth (pronounced something like ‘Toork Trooweet’). A comb, scissors and razor were lodged in the fur of the creature’s forehead, even as it rampaged across the land. If Culhwch were to marry Olwen, he had to collect these items.

And so heroic Arthur travelled to Ireland to find the beast. Wishing for a peaceful solution, he asked the boar to give him the items without a fight, but the Twrch Trwyth was so enraged at his punishment that he refused to talk. So angered was he at Arthur’s request, even, that he decided to teach the Welsh people a lesson: the beast gathered his seven young swine and embarked on a journey to Wales (supposedly, he arrived at Porth Clais).

Not one to sit idly by, Arthur gathered his men and his hunting dogs and formed a tracking party to follow the monstrous boars. What he found was an empty wasteland, for the murderous Twrch Trwyth and its children had slain all people and all animals in their path. Arthur eventually managed to corner the monsters in Nanhyfer (Nevern) but the cursed boar proved a ferocious foe and killed four of Arthur’s champions before escaping. Later, Arthur cornered the monster again and fought it, but he again lost four of his champions. This time, however, the Twrch Trwyth was wounded before escaping. The next day, the beast engaged Arthur’s forces a third time, and for the third time it killed four of his champions before making its escape.

Arthur refused to give up, however, and continued chasing the monster. At Llandissilio, they clashed again, with the outcome being the same as the previous fights, as the monster escaped after slaying four members of Arthur’s party. The boar’s rampage continued as it was being chased across Wales, often fighting his pursuers whenever they caught up, and always escaping after killing some of Arthur’s soldiers.

At long last, Arthur cornered his foe, who was alone as all seven of his children had been slain. The Twrch lost the razor and the pair of scissors in the ensuing battle but, like every other time, managed to escape, this time to Cornwall.

One final time, Arthur pursued his relentless opponent, as he still needed the comb. Though he succeeded in collecting the final treasure, the monstrous boar escaped by diving in the ocean. It swam away, and has never been seen since.

Though Arthur lost many of his soldiers, and the beast had slain many innocents, he had finally collected the three requested items. And so Arthur and Culhwch returned to Yspaddaden Penkawr victoriously. They decapitated the giant and Culhwch finally married Olwen.

Source: Roberts, T., 1984, Myths and Legends of Wales, Abercastle Publications. (image source 1: welshoverlandsafari) (image source 2: legendsofwales.com)

[charliescreatures]

An aquatic beast for Librum Prodigiosum ! The Afanc, from Welsh mythology! This lake monster is vicious, killing anyone who swims in its lake- there are many stories of failed attempts to subdue the beast, often ending in tragedy!

[cmrosens]

Bisexual Panic! In the Greenwood

I got some interest on Bluesky for doing a series of videos on Welsh folklore, fables and folktales, so I thought as it’s Bi Visibility Month I’d start with an 18thC fable that Iolo Morgannwg recorded in his infamous manuscripts called Einion and the Lady of the Wood. I’ll do a video on who Iolo Morgannwg was another time, but you can Google him if you’re curious.  Iolo claimed this tale was…

[briefbestiary]

A fishermen's pest and beast in the waters. The water leaper is a large and vicious amphibian that isn't afraid to drag fishermen and livestock alike into a freshwater grave for its meal.