Editing Annwn (section)

==Appearances in Welsh literature==
Annwn plays a reasonably prominent role in the [[Four Branches of the Mabinogi]], a set of four interlinked mythological tales dating from the early medieval period. In the First Branch of the ''[[Mabinogion|Mabinogi]]'', entitled ''[[Pwyll]], Prince of Dyfed'', the eponymous prince offends Arawn, ruler of Annwn, by [[Baiting (blood sport)|baiting]] his hunting hounds on a stag that [[Cwn Annwn|Arawn's dogs]] had brought down. In recompense he exchanges places with Arawn for a year and defeats Arawn's enemy [[Hafgan]], while Arawn rules in his stead in Dyfed. During this year, Pwyll abstains from sleeping with Arawn's wife, earning himself gratitude and eternal friendship from Arawn. On his return, Pwyll becomes known by the title ''Penn Annwn'', "Head (or Ruler) of Annwn." In the [[Math fab Mathonwy (Branch)|Fourth Branch]], Arawn is mentioned but does not appear; it is revealed that he sent a gift of otherworldly pigs to Pwyll's son and successor, [[Pryderi]], which ultimately leads to war between Dyfed and [[Kingdom of Gwynedd|Gwynedd]].

[[File:E. Wallcousins - The Cauldron of Inspiration.jpg|thumb|Image by [[Ernest Wallcousins]], 1912. "In Caer Pedryvan, four its revolutions; In the first word from the cauldron when spoken, From the breath of nine maidens it was gently warmed".
]]

The similarly mythological epic poem ''[[Cad Goddeu]]'' describes a battle between Gwynedd and the forces of Annwn, led again by Arawn. It is revealed that [[Amaethon]], nephew to [[Math fab Mathonwy|Math]], king of Gwynedd, stole a [[dog|bitch]], a [[lapwing]] and a [[Roe deer|roebuck]] from the Otherworld, leading to a war between the two peoples. The denizens of Annwn are depicted as bizarre and hellish creatures; these include a "wide-mawed" beast with a hundred heads and bearing a host beneath the root of its tongue and another under its neck, a hundred-clawed black-groined toad, and a "mottled ridged serpent, with a thousand souls, by their sins, tortured in the holds of its flesh".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.celtnet.org.uk/texts/llyfr_taliesin/cad_goddeu_eng.html |title=Battle of the Trees (Cad Goddeu) |access-date=20 March 2011 |url-status = usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110302085244/http://www.celtnet.org.uk/texts/llyfr_taliesin/cad_goddeu_eng.html |archive-date=2 March 2011  }} Cad Goddeu</ref> [[Gwydion]], the Venedotian [[hero]] and [[Magic (illusion)|magician]] successfully defeats Arawn's army, first by enchanting the trees to rise up and fight and then by guessing the name of the enemy hero [[Brân the Blessed|Bran]], thus winning the battle.

''[[Preiddeu Annwfn]]'', an early medieval poem found in the [[Book of Taliesin]], describes a voyage led by [[King Arthur]] to the numerous otherworldy kingdoms within Annwn, either to rescue the prisoner Gweir or to retrieve the [[cauldron]] of the Head of Annwn. The narrator of the poem is possibly intended to be [[Taliesin]] himself. One line can be interpreted as implying that he received his gift of poetry or speech from a magic [[cauldron]], as Taliesin does in other texts, and Taliesin's name is connected to a similar story in another work.<ref name=Higley13>Higley, note to [http://www.lib.rochester.edu/CAMELOT/annwn.htm ''Preiddeu Annwn'', Stanza II, line 13.]</ref> The speaker relates how he journeyed with [[King Arthur|Arthur]] and three boatloads of men into Annwfn, but only seven returned. Annwfn is apparently referred to by several names, including "Mound Fortress," "Four-Peaked Fortress," and "Glass Fortress", though it is possible the poet intended these to be distinct places. Within the Mound Fort's walls Gweir, one of the "Three Exalted Prisoners of Britain" known from the [[Welsh Triads]],<ref>Triad 52. [[Rachel Bromwich]] associates the Gwair of this triad with the Gweir of ''Preiddeu'', see ''Trioedd Ynys Prydein'' pp. 146–147 and 373–374.</ref> is imprisoned in chains. The narrator then describes the cauldron of the Chief of Annwn: it is finished with pearl and will not boil a coward's food. Whatever tragedy ultimately killed all but seven of them is not clearly explained. The poem continues with an excoriation of "little men" and monks, who lack various forms of knowledge possessed by the poet.

Over time, the role of king of Annwn was transferred to [[Gwyn ap Nudd]], a hunter and [[psychopomp]], who may have been the Welsh personification of winter.<ref>''The White Goddess: A Historical Grammar of Poetic Myth''. [[Robert Graves]]. Octagon Books. 1978. {{ISBN|0-374-93239-5}}, {{ISBN|978-0-374-93239-8}}</ref> The Christian ''Vita Collen'' tells of Saint [[Collen]] vanquishing Gwyn and his otherworldly court from [[Glastonbury Tor]] with the use of [[holy water]].  In ''[[Culhwch and Olwen]]'', an early Welsh Arthurian tale, it is said that God gave Gwyn ap Nudd control over the [[demon]]s lest "this world be destroyed." Tradition revolves around Gwyn leading his [[Wild Hunt|spectral hunts]], the [[Cŵn Annwn]] ("Hounds of Annwn"), on his hunt for mortal souls. Angelika Rüdiger's Doctoral Thesis, 'Y Tylwyth Teg: an analysis of a literary motif' (Bangor University, 2021) is a detailed study of supernatural characters connected with Annwn (including Gwyn ap Nudd), covering a period from the earliest sources to the 19th and 20th centuries.<ref>{{cite thesis |id={{ProQuest|2665129964}} |last1=Rudiger |first1=Angelika |year=2022 |title=Y Tylwyth Teg. an Analysis of a Literary Motif }}</ref>