Welsh folklore, Wirt Sikes
Elidurus
Elidurus escapes a harsh teacher and, after hiding by a river, follows two small guides along a dark underground route. They bring him to a beautiful but dim country and its king, whose son becomes his companion. He later takes a golden ball at his mother’s request. The small people recover it, and despite a year of searching he cannot find the passage back to their world.
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In the sources
Principal account
TraditionalElidurus escapes a harsh teacher and, after hiding by a river, follows two small guides along a dark underground route. They bring him to a beautiful but dim country and its king, whose son becomes his companion.
Further detail
TraditionalHe later takes a golden ball at his mother’s request. The small people recover it, and despite a year of searching he cannot find the passage back to their world.
Context & interpretation
The entry follows Sikes’s quotation of the Elidurus tale from Giraldus Cambrensis. It is a transmitted medieval narrative in a later collection; the fairy country and its reported language are not verified geographical or linguistic discoveries.
Original passages
Source 1
British Goblins
a country full of delights and sportsOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Wirt Sikes, British Goblins (1880), active reader leaf 81
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-P0081
- Original scan leaf
- 82
- Recorded leaf number
- 82
- Current Reader position
- 80
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Source 2
British Goblins
he never again could find the trackOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Wirt Sikes, British Goblins (1880), active reader leaf 82
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-P0082
- Original scan leaf
- 83
- Recorded leaf number
- 83
- Current Reader position
- 81
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Continue exploring
Shui Rhys
A farmer’s daughter whose encounters with the fair folk lead to permanent disappearance.
Same subject and traditionPwyll
The prince of Dyfed whose hunt brings him into contact with Annwn’s hounds.
Same subject and traditionShon ap Shenkin
A listener who returns from a bird’s song to discover that generations have passed.
Same subject and traditionSleeping Warriors
Hidden companies of heroes waiting beside treasure for the time of their return.