Welsh folklore, Wirt Sikes
Gwyn ap Nudd
Sikes names Gwyn ap Nudd as sovereign, guardian and protector of the fairies, extending his rule to goblins more generally. The figure connects the fair folk to a named king rather than an anonymous company. In the legend of St Collen, Gwyn also rules Annwn and receives the saint in a magnificent castle. Collen rejects the feast and casts holy water, after which the court vanishes and leaves only green hillocks.
Also known as Gwyn ap Nudd, fairy king
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In the sources
Principal account
TraditionalSikes names Gwyn ap Nudd as sovereign, guardian and protector of the fairies, extending his rule to goblins more generally. The figure connects the fair folk to a named king rather than an anonymous company.
Further detail
TraditionalIn the legend of St Collen, Gwyn also rules Annwn and receives the saint in a magnificent castle. Collen rejects the feast and casts holy water, after which the court vanishes and leaves only green hillocks.
Context & interpretation
The entry follows Sikes’s description of Gwyn and his quotation of the St Collen legend. The Christian judgement within that story is attributed to the tale, rather than imposed as a definition of all traditions about Gwyn.
Original passages
Source 1
British Goblins
their especial guardian and protectorOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Wirt Sikes, British Goblins (1880), active reader leaf 21
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-P0021
- Original scan leaf
- 22
- Recorded leaf number
- 22
- Current Reader position
- 20
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Source 2
British Goblins
neither castle nor troops, nor men, nor maidensOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Wirt Sikes, British Goblins (1880), active reader leaf 23
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-P0023
- Original scan leaf
- 24
- Recorded leaf number
- 24
- Current Reader position
- 22
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
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