Welsh folklore, Wirt Sikes
Gwrach y Rhibyn
The Gwrach y Rhibyn is described with tangled hair, long dark teeth, withered arms and leathery wings. At night she can strike her wings against a window and call a person’s name in a drawn-out dying tone. Her warning may also occur in mountain mist, at crossroads or beside water. Sikes treats her as visible and distinct from the unseen groaning Cyhyraeth, despite confusion between their names.
Also known as Welsh banshee
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In the sources
Principal account
TraditionalThe Gwrach y Rhibyn is described with tangled hair, long dark teeth, withered arms and leathery wings. At night she can strike her wings against a window and call a person’s name in a drawn-out dying tone.
Further detail
TraditionalHer warning may also occur in mountain mist, at crossroads or beside water. Sikes treats her as visible and distinct from the unseen groaning Cyhyraeth, despite confusion between their names.
Context & interpretation
The entry follows Sikes’s description and distinction between two death-portent figures. His evaluative language about appearance belongs to the historical account; the warning is presented as folklore, without asserting prediction.
Original passages
Source 1
British Goblins
calling by name on the person who is to dieOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Wirt Sikes, British Goblins (1880), active reader leaf 231
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-P0231
- Original scan leaf
- 232
- Recorded leaf number
- 232
- Current Reader position
- 230
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Source 2
British Goblins
rendered quite distinct by its special attributesOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Wirt Sikes, British Goblins (1880), active reader leaf 234
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-P0234
- Original scan leaf
- 235
- Recorded leaf number
- 235
- Current Reader position
- 233
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed