Welsh Myth and Legend and Magic

My new book is out, Pages From a Welsh Cunning Man's Book. Search for the title at your favourite online seller. ‘... both a worthwhile addition to scholarship and an easy introduction for the newcomer.’ Dr Ronald Hutton.

This now lost figure of Christ from an inscribed stone at Llanglydwen, drawn in 1820, is done with your nonsense and is coming for you

The beautifully carved figure of Sir John de Hastings dating from C1325 at St Mary's church Abergavenny #WoodcarvingWednesday The cross-legged posture was a fashion popular before 1330 and his feet rest on a lion He would have been coated in gesso and painted- the spurs were gilt

'me-rch' runs over onto the next page

I’r man yr aeth ef wedi ymddinodi mewn dillad merch He [king Arthur] went to the place after disguising himself in women's clothing. From the tale of Arthur and Huail in Elis Gruffydd's Chronicle.

Word of the day: egroes geiriadur.ac.uk/gpc/gpc.html?e… 'hips, berries of the dog rose', also known as 'afalau'r bwci', 'mwcog', 'ogfaen' and 'bochgoch'. They seem quite plentiful this year - anybody making jam?

@Jones8Pamela We were there on Thursday.

Abergavenny Castle built by the Norman lord Hamelin de Ballon around 1087 for #MedievalMonday and was the scene of an infamous massacre In 1175 after William de Braose invited the local Welsh lord Seisyll ap Dyfnwal with his relatives and retainers to a Christmas meal

#WyrdWednesday Centuries before Lovecraft ever dreamed his tentacled nightmares, the great bard Taliesin had already given us his own version of cosmic horror. In the poem Cad Goddeu - the Battle of the Trees - a horde of Otherworldly creatures invade. In a scene that surely inspired Tolkien, the wizard Gwydion animates a forest of trees to repel them.

I'm not in a very snowy mood but this definitely sounds worth listening to: "Dame Siân Phillips joins poets from across Wales who respond to Dafydd ap Gwilym's centuries-old poem, 'To the Snow'." bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00…

#MythologyMonday Two tales in the Mabinogion centre on visions that come to the protagonists while they sleep: The Dream of Rhonabwy, and The Dream of Macsen Wledig. Interestingly, both dreams also feature the ancient Welsh board game of Gwyddbwyll, a name that survives in modern Welsh as the word for chess!

Cadair Idris #Gwynedd Cadair Idris is Welsh for ‘the Chair of Idris’. According to Welsh folklore the mountain takes its name from a giant. Idris was a giant, who was said to have used Llyn Cau lake as an enormous armchair. #FolkloreSunday #walking

#WyrdWednesday In the ancient Welsh poem Preiddeu Annwn, or The Spoils of Annwn, King Arthur journeys to the Otherworld in search of magical treasures. He finds there a castle made of black glass and guarded by 6000 silent sentinels, a cauldron that feeds only the brave, warmed by the breath of nine maidens, and a tortured soul imprisoned in front of a pile of riches and forced to sing for all eternity. Of the three boat-loads of knights that Arthur took with him, only seven men would return.

Strange coverage of the 6-7th century medieval cemetery being unearthed near Cardiff Airport — eg no information regarding items found with the bodies that might indicate religious belief. Isn't it possible that this was an early, all-female monastic community? Link follows.

Does anyone know of a critical edition or discussion of Black Book of Carmarthen 4 'Kervit vrten. autyl kyrridven. ogyrven amhad'? I have Jarman's book but there doesn't seem to be much discussion of the poem anywhere.

Happy #InternationalWomensDay! 📍St Cadoc's Church, Llancarfan 📍St Teilo's Church, Llandeilo Tal-y-Bont 📍St Michael and All Saints Church, Colwinston 📍St Mary's Church, Ruabon 📍St Illtud's Church, Llantwit Major 📍St Giles Church, Wrexham

Byddwch yn ofalus pwy chi’n ei gusanu heddiw 😘 ‘Y neb a gussano gwreic gwr arall, talet petwared ran y sarhaet; ac velly o’r gofyssyaw, onyt y gware yr hwn a elwir raffan, neu yg kyfedach’ #santesdwynwen #CyfraithHywel

Thanks for all the interaction on this! When you've built up a really nice set of followers over years, it's very frustrating to feel it's all being ruined by 'external influences'

@vivienboyes bsky.app/profile/mythwe…

@MythWelsh I’ll miss your post but quite understand your reasons Are you on other platforms?

I'm retiring from this platform. I might post if I publish a new book or something. It seems a pity to waste the goodwill and 3500 followers isn't bad but it just doesn't work well any more. A few weeks ago I checked another x account that I hadn't logged in to for a while.

I'm at bsky, same ID, mythwelsh

My feed presented me with a tweet from Trump and said that I was following him, when I hadn't. It was a money raising post, flogging something with his picture on. I replied "What a t**t" and instantly got my account restricted. Too many reasons not to use x.