Celtic Tomes
This chapter covers Temples, Altars, Images, Symbols, and the Cult of Weapons of the Ancient Celts.
info_outline Festivals CT053Celtic Tomes
The Celtic year was not at first regulated by the solstices and equinoxes, but by some method connected with agriculture or with the seasons.
info_outline Tabu CT052Celtic Tomes
The Irish geis, pl. geasa, which may be rendered by Tabu, had two senses. It meant something which must not be done for fear of disastrous consequences, and also an obligation to do something commanded by another.
info_outline Sacrifice and Prayer CT051Celtic Tomes
The Celts offered human victims on the principle of a life for a life, or to propitiate the gods, or in order to divine the future from the entrails of the victim. We shall examine the Celtic custom of human sacrifice from these points of view first.
info_outline Cosmogony CT050Celtic Tomes
The Celts may have possessed the Heaven and Earth myth, but all trace of it has perished. There are, however, remnants of myths showing how the sky is supported by trees, a mountain, or by pillars.
info_outline Animal Worship CT049Celtic Tomes
Animal worship pure and simple had declined among the Celts of historic times, and animals were now regarded mainly as symbols or attributes of divinities.
info_outline Tree and Plant Worship CT048Celtic Tomes
The Celts had their own cult of trees, but they adopted local cults. This chapter also details how the Celts made their sacred places in dark groves, the trees being hung with offerings or with the heads of victims.
info_outline River and Well Worship CT047Celtic Tomes
Among the Celts the testimony of contemporary witnesses, inscriptions, votive offerings, and survivals, shows the importance of the cult of waters and of water divinities. This chapter also details the many fairies and folklore creatures associated with water.
info_outline Primitive Nature Worship CT046Celtic Tomes
McCulloch talks about animism, where everything was a person and the greater objects of nature were worshiped for themselves alone.
info_outline The Cult of the Dead CT045Celtic Tomes
The custom of burying grave-goods with the dead and other grave customs is the subject of this chapter. McCulloch also talks about the role of fairies and the festival of Samhain.
info_outlineClassification of Welsh Fairies
British Goblins: Welsh Folk Lore, Fairy Mythology, Legends and Traditions (1881)
Book 1 Chapter 2
by
Wirt Sikes
Examining the different types of Welsh Fairies, from the Pwca (and Shakespeare's Puck) to the Ellylldan, Coblynau, Knockers and household fairies. Sikes also looks at Dwarfs, bogies and hobgoblins as well as telling us a humourous story of the Preacher and the Bwbach.
Rowli Pugh and the Ellyl
Running Order:
- Section 1 0:42
- General Designation 1:53
- Habits of the Tylwyth Teg 3:43
- Section 2 5:38
- Ellyllon, or Elves 5:42
- Shakespeare's Use of Welsh Folk-Lore 7:41
- Ellyllon, or Elves 5:42
- Section 3 8:28
- Rowli Pugh and the Ellyll 9:24
- Household Story Roots 12:22
- Rowli Pugh and the Ellyll 9:24
- Section 4 13:42
- The Ellylldan 13:44
- Section 5 17:19
- The Pooka 17:20
- Puck Valley, Breconshire 18:11
- Where Shakespeare got his Puck 21:07
- The Pooka 17:20
- Section 6 21:43
- Pwca'r Trwyn 21:44
- Usual Form of the Pooka Story 21:57
- Pwca'r Trwyn 21:44
- Section 7 22:44
- Coblynau or Mine Fairies 22:46
- The Knockers 23:01
- Coblynau or Mine Fairies 22:46
- Section 8 24:14
- Miner's Superstitions 24:18
- Basilisks and Fire Fiends 27:50
- Section 9 28:54
-
- A Fairy Coalmine 29:20
- The Dwarfs of Cae Caled 30:29
- Section 10 32:18
- Counterparts of the Coblynau 32:18
- Section 11 34:36
- The Bwbach, or Household Fairy 34:40
- Legend of the Bwbach and the Preacher 35:33
- Section 12 37:20
- Bogies and Hobgoblins 37:23
- Carrying Mortals through the Air 37:47
- Counterparts and Originals 38:04
Charcoal drawn figure of the Pwca
Names Used in this Section
All proper names, and words in Welsh or other languages, are recorded here in the show-notes and we've done our best to get the pronounciations right for you.
Keightley
The Elves
The Dwarfs or Trolls
The Nisses
The Necks, Mermen & Mermaids
The Ellyllon (Elves)
The Coblynau (Mine fairies)
The Bwbachod (House fairies)
The Gwragedd Annwn (Lake Fairies)
The Gwyllion (Mountain Fairies)
Y Tylwyth Teg (yn y Coed), Tylwth Teg y Mwn
Bendith y Mamau
Eumenides
Sir Walter Scott
Dayak
Laplander
Ammam
El - 'spirit'
Elf - 'element'
Elihim (Hebrew)
Davydd ab Gwilym
Yr doedd ym mhob gobant
Ellyllon mingeimion gant
Ymenyn tylwyth teg
bwyd ellyllon
menyg ellyllon
Gwyn ap Nudd
Shakespeare
Mercutio
Mab
Cymric
mabgar
mabgath
mabiaith
mabinogi
Mabiogion
Peterston-super-Ely
Cardiff
Glamorganshire
Rowli Pugh
Ellyll
Catti Jones
Bwbach
Mr. Baring-Gould
Grimm's Witchelma(umlaut)nner
Hausma(um.)nner
Milton's L'Allegro
Ellylldan
Will-o'-wisp
Scandinavian Lyktgubhe
Breton Sand Yan y Tad (Saint John the Father)
Dan (fire)
ignis fatuus
Jack-muh-lantern
Iolo the Bard
Pwca, or Pooka, Puck
The Pwca
Cambrian fairies
Richard Price, son of Sir John Price
Brecon
Cym Pwca, Puck Valley
Clydach in Breconshire
Frere and Powell
Trwyn Farm, near Abergwyddon (Abercarne)
Pwca'r Trwyn
Campbell
Mrs. Fletcher
Mrs. Siddons
The Oswestry Advertiser
Cefn
Penrhyn
Priestley
Knockers
Newport, Monmouthshire
William Evans of Hafodafel
Beacon Mountain
Egbert Williams
Denbighshire
Cae Caled
Parish of Bodfari
Lanelwyd House
Barbara Jones
Wichtlein (little Wights)
Haus-schmiedlein (little House-smiths)
Heldenbuch
Catskill Mountains
Hendrik Hudson
Cardiganshire
Cwrw da
Bogie
Hobgoblin
Gobelin
'Le gobelin vous mangera, le gobelin vous emportera.'
hob, hopp, coblyn, goblin
Slavonic 'bog'
Baga of the Cuneiform Inscriptions
Professor Fiske
Aryan Bhaga, Sanskrit of the Vedas
Phrygian Zeus "Bagaios"
Xerxxes
Southey
Coblynau
British Goblins can be found on Sacred Texts.
You can find out more about Wirt Sikes on Wikipedia.
Try the Celtic Myth Podshow for the Tales and Stories of the Ancient Celts at http://celticmythpodshow.com or on Apple Podcasts.
Our theme music is "Gander at the Pratie Hole" by Sláinte. You can find their music on the Free Music Archive.