Arawn- Celtic GodDeity"King of Annwn"

Ruler of Annwn

Arawn ruled Annwn, the Welsh Otherworld, a realm of plenty and eternal youth. His most distinctive attribute was his pack of supernatural hounds, the Cŵn Annwn, white as snow with ears red as blood. In later folk tradition, their baying could be heard on stormy autumn nights as Arawn led them across the sky. The closer they sounded, the further away they actually were; the more distant their cry, the nearer the danger. Arawn himself appeared in grey, a grey cloak and a dapple-grey horse, a figure of the threshold between worlds.

The Exchange with Pwyll

Arawn's central narrative comes from the First Branch of the Mabinogi. Pwyll, prince of Dyfed, was hunting when he came upon a stag brought down by a pack of strange white, red-eared hounds. Not recognising them as Otherworldly, Pwyll drove them off and set his own dogs on the stag. When the grey-cloaked huntsman appeared, Pwyll realised his discourtesy against a king. Arawn proposed a means to make amends: the two would exchange forms for a year. Pwyll would rule Annwn in Arawn's shape, while Arawn governed Dyfed in Pwyll's. During this year, Pwyll was to slay Hafgan, a rival Otherworld king making war on Annwn, with a single blow, for a second strike would restore Hafgan to full strength.

Pwyll entered Annwn and found a court of surpassing beauty. Despite sharing the queen's bed every night for a year, he never touched her, turning his face to the wall each night out of respect for his bargain. He ruled the Otherworld justly, and none of Arawn's people suspected the exchange. At the appointed time, Pwyll met Hafgan at a ford. He struck a blow that sent Hafgan crashing to the ground, mortally wounded. Hafgan begged for a second blow to end his suffering, but Pwyll remembered the warning and refused. Hafgan's followers submitted, and Annwn was united under one king.

The Friendship of Two Kings

When the two kings resumed their proper forms, each found the other had ruled well. Arawn had governed Dyfed with wisdom, and Pwyll had united Annwn. When Arawn returned to his queen and learned that the entire year had been chaste, he marvelled at Pwyll's honour. The two swore eternal friendship, and Pwyll received the epithet Pen Annwn, Head of Annwn. Arawn later sent gifts of magical pigs from Annwn to Dyfed, supernatural animals whose fame drew the trickster Gwydion southward and set in motion the events of the Fourth Branch.