| Annwn | |
|---|---|
| Welsh mythology location | |
| In-universe information | |
| Type | Otherworld |
| Characters | Arawn,Gwyn ap Nudd,Hafgan |
Annwn ([ˈanʊn]), orAnnwfn ([ˈanʊvn]), is theOtherworld inWelsh mythology. Ruled byArawn[1][2] (or, inArthurian literature, byGwyn ap Nudd[3]), it is a world of delights and eternal youth where disease is absent and food is ever-abundant.[4][5]
Middle Welsh sources suggest that the term was recognised as meaning "very deep" in medieval times.[6] The appearance of a formantumnos on an ancientGaulishcurse tablet, which meansan ('other') +tumnos ('world'), however, suggests that the original term may have been *ande-dubnos, a commonGallo-Brittonic word that literally meant "underworld".[7]
In both Welsh andIrish mythologies, the Otherworld was believed to be located either on an island or underneath the earth. In theFirst Branch of theMabinogi, it is implied that Annwn is a land withinDyfed, while the context of theArthurian poemPreiddeu Annwfn suggests an island location. Two other otherworldly feasts that occur in theSecond Branch of theMabinogi are located inHarlech in northwest Wales and onYnys Gwales in southwestPembrokeshire.
It was also named:
Annwn plays a reasonably prominent role in theFour Branches of the Mabinogi, a set of four interlinked mythological tales dating from the early medieval period. In the First Branch of theMabinogi, entitledPwyll, Prince of Dyfed, the eponymous prince offends Arawn, ruler of Annwn, bybaiting his hunting hounds on a stag thatArawn's dogs had brought down. In recompense he exchanges places with Arawn for a year and defeats Arawn's enemyHafgan, 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 titlePenn Annwn, "Head (or Ruler) of Annwn." In theFourth 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 andGwynedd.
The similarly mythological epic poemCad Goddeu describes a battle between Gwynedd and the forces of Annwn, led again by Arawn. It is revealed thatAmaethon, nephew toMath, king of Gwynedd, stole abitch, alapwing and aroebuck 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".[11]Gwydion, the Venedotianhero andmagician, successfully defeats Arawn's army, first by enchanting the trees to rise up and fight and then by guessing the name of the enemy heroBran, thus winning the battle.
Preiddeu Annwfn, an early medieval poem found in theBook of Taliesin, describes a voyage led byKing Arthur to the numerous otherworldy kingdoms within Annwn, either to rescue the prisoner Gweir or to retrieve thecauldron of the Head of Annwn. The narrator of the poem is possibly intended to beTaliesin himself. One line can be interpreted as implying that he received his gift of poetry or speech from a magiccauldron, as Taliesin does in other texts, and Taliesin's name is connected to a similar story in another work.[12] The speaker relates how he journeyed withArthur 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 theWelsh Triads,[13] 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 toGwyn ap Nudd, a hunter andpsychopomp, who may have been the Welsh personification of winter.[14] The ChristianVita Collen tells of SaintCollen vanquishing Gwyn and his otherworldly court fromGlastonbury Tor with the use ofholy water. InCulhwch and Olwen, an early Welsh Arthurian tale, it is said that God gave Gwyn ap Nudd control over thedemons lest "this world be destroyed." Tradition revolves around Gwyn leading hisspectral hunts, theCŵn 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.[15]
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J. R. R. Tolkien used the wordannún in hisMiddle-earthmythology as a term in the Elvish languageSindarin (phonologically inspired byWelsh) meaning "west" or "sunset" (cognate with theQuenyaAndúnë), often referring figuratively to the "True West", i.e. the blessed land of Aman beyond the Sea, the Lonely IslandTol Eressëa, or (in the later mannish usage) to the drowned island ofNúmenor. This is an example of Tolkien's method of world-building by "explaining the true meaning" of various real-world words by assigning them an alternative "Elvish" etymology. The Sindarin word for 'king',aran is also similar toArawn, the king ofAnnwn.
The Anglo-Welsh author, poet, critic and playwright, David Jones Annwn (born 1953) adopted the name Annwn in 1975 in the same spirit that his great-uncle, the Welsh bardHenry Lloyd (ap Hefin) [cy], had adopted the name Ap Hefin ("Son of the Summer Solstice").[citation needed]
Annwn is the name of aGerman medieval and pagan folk duo fromNorth Rhine-Westphalia.[16] The name was also previously used by an unrelated Celtic Rock trio inBerkeley, California, from 1991 until the death of lead singer Leigh Ann Hussey on 16 May 2006.[17]
Annwn is one of the deep realms of Faerie inOctober Daye, a 2012 urban fantasy series written bySeanan McGuire.[18]
British authorNiel Bushnell's novelsSorrowline andTimesmith feature an island called Annwn in the realm of Otherworld.[19]
Children's authorLloyd Alexander used the name "Annuvin", an Anglicized spelling of the variantAnnwfyn, in hisChronicles of Prydain series. Annuvin is the domain of Arawn, who in these novels plays the role of a villainousdark lord.
On the British rock band The Mechanisms' 2014 albumHigh Noon Over Camelot, aspace Western retelling of the Arthurian mythos, "Annwn" is the name given to the lower levels of the space station Fort Galfridian.[20]
One of the areas in the platform-adventure video gameLa-Mulana 2 is named Annwfn.[21]
Annwn: The Otherworld is a surreal stealth/strategy game drawing on Welsh mythic motifs.[22]
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