Welsh folklore, Wirt Sikes
Oxen of Hu Gadarn
In the local accounts summarised by Sikes, the Ychain Bariog of Hu Gadarn pull a terrible lake creature from the water. The monster is sometimes called a crocodile and sometimes a dragon. The effort kills one ox; the other splits a mountain with its bellowing. The episode makes release from a concealed threat costly even to the enormous strength capable of effecting it.
Also known as Ychain Bariog
Loading your archive…
In the sources
Principal account
TraditionalIn the local accounts summarised by Sikes, the Ychain Bariog of Hu Gadarn pull a terrible lake creature from the water. The monster is sometimes called a crocodile and sometimes a dragon.
Further detail
TraditionalThe effort kills one ox; the other splits a mountain with its bellowing. The episode makes release from a concealed threat costly even to the enormous strength capable of effecting it.
Context & interpretation
The entry follows only the local lake-monster episode as summarised by Sikes. His names crocodile and dragon are retained as variants in the account; broader interpretations of Hu Gadarn require additional source evidence.
Original passages
Source 1
British Goblins
Prominent Oxen of Hu GadarnOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Wirt Sikes, British Goblins (1880), active reader leaf 407
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-P0407
- Original scan leaf
- 408
- Recorded leaf number
- 408
- Current Reader position
- 406
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Source 2
British Goblins
one of them died and the other rent the mountain in twainOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Wirt Sikes, British Goblins (1880), active reader leaf 407
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-P0407
- Original scan leaf
- 408
- Recorded leaf number
- 408
- Current Reader position
- 406
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Continue exploring
Craig-y-Ddinas
A fairy stronghold and, in another legend, the hidden resting place of Arthur’s warriors.
Shared source pageSleeping Warriors
Hidden companies of heroes waiting beside treasure for the time of their return.
Same subject and traditionBirds of Rhiannon
Three birds whose song holds the surviving companions of Branwen’s story in an enchanted interval.
Same subject and traditionCastell Coch’s Eagle Guardians
Two great eagles guarding an iron chest beneath the castle in a treasure legend.