Mallt-y-Nos
Mallt-y-Nos (Matilda of the Night), also known as the Night Mallt,[1] is a crone in Welsh mythology who rides with Arawn and the hounds (Cŵn Annwn) of the Wild Hunt, chasing sorrowful, lost souls to Annwn. The Mallt-y-Nos drives the hounds onward with shrieks and wails, which some say are evil and malicious in nature.[2]
Others say that she was once a beautiful but impious Norman noblewoman who loved hunting so much that she said, "If there is no hunting in heaven, I would rather not go!" She is said to have regretted making this wish, and now cries out in misery rather than joy as she hunts forever in the night sky.[2]
In popular culture
Mallt-y-Nos features in Tom Siddell's Gunnerkrigg Court as one of the many spirit guides that assist the dead with their transition.
References
- ^ Brooke, Stopford Augustus (1892). The history of early English literature: being the history of English poetry from its beginnings to the accession of King Ælfred. Macmillan and Co. p. 84. Retrieved October 10, 2010.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ a b Trevelyan, Marie (1973). Folk-lore and folk-stories of Wales. Kessinger Publishing. p. 49. Retrieved October 10, 2010.
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External links
- Williams, Taliesin (1837). The doom of Colyn Dolphyn: a poem, with notes illustrative of various traditions of Glamorganshire. Longman, Rees, Orme and co. pp. 71–73. Retrieved October 10, 2010.
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