Welsh folklore, Wirt Sikes
Cŵn Annwn
Sikes traces the hounds to the Pwyll story, where Arawn’s pack is shining white with red ears. Their otherworld identity distinguishes them from the prince’s own hunting dogs. Later warning stories place the dogs in the sky, with cries that change in strength as the pack approaches and recedes. One account follows their apparent route with a later funeral procession.
Also known as Cwn Annwn · Cwn y Wybr · Dogs of the Sky
Loading your archive…
In the sources
Principal account
TraditionalSikes traces the hounds to the Pwyll story, where Arawn’s pack is shining white with red ears. Their otherworld identity distinguishes them from the prince’s own hunting dogs.
Further detail
TraditionalLater warning stories place the dogs in the sky, with cries that change in strength as the pack approaches and recedes. One account follows their apparent route with a later funeral procession.
Context & interpretation
This entry keeps the Pwyll narrative and Sikes’s later death-warning accounts distinct. The spelling Cŵn Annwn is used for display; the quoted scan uses Cwn Annwn. The Gwyllgi is treated separately.
Original passages
Source 1
British Goblins
a shining clear white, with red earsOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Wirt Sikes, British Goblins (1880), active reader leaf 249
Exact passage checked against active scan text and its original-leaf mapping; whitespace and scan line breaks normalised.
- Edition
- IMJ-0044-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0044-E001-P0249
- Original scan leaf
- 250
- Recorded leaf number
- 250
- Current Reader position
- 248
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Source 2
British Goblins
Their cry grew fainter as they drew near himOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Wirt Sikes, British Goblins (1880), active reader leaf 250
Exact passage checked against active scan text and its original-leaf mapping; whitespace and scan line breaks normalised.
- Edition
- IMJ-0044-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0044-E001-P0250
- Original scan leaf
- 251
- Recorded leaf number
- 251
- Current Reader position
- 249
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Continue exploring
Annwn
A shadow realm reached through fairy lakes and ruled in different tales by named kings.
Shared source pageArawn
The crowned king of Annwn whose white hounds meet Pwyll in the forest.
Shared source pagePwyll
The prince of Dyfed whose hunt brings him into contact with Annwn’s hounds.
Same subject and traditionBirds of Rhiannon
Three birds whose song holds the surviving companions of Branwen’s story in an enchanted interval.