Welsh folklore, Wirt Sikes
Sleeping Warriors
Sikes records warriors asleep in a circle with swords and shields, guarding heaps of gold and silver. One version names Owen Lawgoch and his men in a cave on Mynydd Mawr. Another names Arthur and his company beneath Craig-y-Ddinas, awaiting a war that will wake them. Their expected return joins the guarded treasure to a hope of restored rule.
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In the sources
Principal account
TraditionalSikes records warriors asleep in a circle with swords and shields, guarding heaps of gold and silver. One version names Owen Lawgoch and his men in a cave on Mynydd Mawr.
Further detail
TraditionalAnother names Arthur and his company beneath Craig-y-Ddinas, awaiting a war that will wake them. Their expected return joins the guarded treasure to a hope of restored rule.
Context & interpretation
This entry compares the sleeping-company forms in Sikes’s collection. Owen Lawgoch and Arthur belong to different versions; their caves and awakening conditions are not merged into one historical army or one confirmed site.
Original passages
Source 1
British Goblins
with their swords and shields by their sidesOpen 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
Owen Lawgoch and his menOpen 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 pageOxen of Hu Gadarn
Mighty oxen whose struggle draws a monstrous lake creature from its hiding place.
Same subject and traditionElidurus
A runaway child welcomed into an underground fairy country until he steals a golden ball.
Same subject and traditionPwyll
The prince of Dyfed whose hunt brings him into contact with Annwn’s hounds.