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Welsh Legends and Myths: 80 Myths and Legends from across Wales
A best selling mythology collection of eighty Welsh Legends and Myths gathered from across Wales. This compendium of Welsh tales is filled with traditional myths, Welsh fables, fairy tales and real stories that continue the tradition of Celtic story telling. The legends of the Lady of the Lake and King Arthur's legend are centuries old, others like the legend of Gelert are more recent inventions. In this monster myths and legends book you will discover...Why a prince is sleeping in the caves deep beneath Carreg Cennen Castle high in the Black Mountains, waiting for a clarion call to arms. The sad story of Prince Llewelyn's faithful hound Gelert and why a town is named after the dutiful dog. Twm Sion Cati's adventures as he fooled the people of Llandovery and why some call him the Welsh 'Robin Hood.' The legend of King Arthur's death on Mount Snowdon and the true fate of his sword Excalibur. Why Dwynwen, the patron saint of lovers, lives on a beautiful island off the coast of Anglesey. Why a lonely shepherd was turned to stone and stands watch on the mountain for the rest of time. According to legend, only returning to his human form once a year.Wales with its rugged mountains, beautiful waterfalls, mysterious lakes and magical castles is a land of mystery, folklore and legend. These are just some of the Welsh legends and myths you will find in these pages but there's more...Dafydd Gam, the cross eyed archer who saved a king's life. His legend is remembered in Shakespeare's Henry V. The truth behind his tale is here. Learn the legend of Owain and the Gwiber, an evil giant snake-like beast with wings, its body covered in putrid slime. Why the Men of Harlech are immortalised in a legendary song. The Lost Land of Wales, a story of desire, drunkenness and disaster. How the Welshman Prince Madoc and his followers discovered America. The mythical tale of the Tylwyth Teg (The Fairies) of Pentrefoelas, one of the oldest Welsh fairy tales, a Welsh fable of love and desertion. Why no bird ever flies over Llyn Idwal. How King Tewdrig returned to save his kingdom. And why St. Seiriol the Fair had a chalk white face.From before the time of the Mabinogion and the 12th Century Black Book of Carmarthen welsh folk have passed dark winter nights in front of roaring fires and entertained each other with mythical stories. Like other Celtic folklore many of the myths and legends are based on factual events. Others have mythical roots but all are entertaining.Scroll up, download this eBook of myths and legends today and delight in eighty enjoyable stories from Wales.
284 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 25, 2012
52 people are currently reading
104 people want to read
About the author
Graham Watkins
20 books13 followersHi. I'm Graham Watkins and I have spent the last few years researching welsh legends and myths. It has been a wonderful project and great fun as I explored rugged mountains, mysterious castles, enchanting waterfalls and golden beaches to discover the tales that have been handed down from generation to generation. Wales is a land of mystery and being a Celtic race the Welsh are fantastic story tellers.
Earlier in my life, I was a ships engineer and travelled across the world. When I got married I had a choice; return to sea or stay home with my new bride. I stayed and went into sales. In 1989 I started my own company and it prospered.
I sold the business in 2003 and, with my wife, ran away to a rambling farmhouse high in the Brecon Beacons in Wales. I learnt a lot selling the business and decided to write a book called 'Exit Strategy' explaining how I did it. That's how I started writing. Today, I am a writer, hobby farmer and explorer. It's all been great fun and the story isn't over yet. My latest book 'Birth of a Salesman' has just been published and there are more to follow. Watch out for 'Blood and Dragons - The History of Carmarthenshire and the Gower.'
My current project 'The Iron Masters', is a historical novel, my first, chronicling the life of Nye Vaughn, a farm boy who becomes the most powerful arms manufacturer in the world. His cannons enabled Nelson to win the Battle of Trafalgar and cleared the field of French infantry at Waterloo.
Earlier in my life, I was a ships engineer and travelled across the world. When I got married I had a choice; return to sea or stay home with my new bride. I stayed and went into sales. In 1989 I started my own company and it prospered.
I sold the business in 2003 and, with my wife, ran away to a rambling farmhouse high in the Brecon Beacons in Wales. I learnt a lot selling the business and decided to write a book called 'Exit Strategy' explaining how I did it. That's how I started writing. Today, I am a writer, hobby farmer and explorer. It's all been great fun and the story isn't over yet. My latest book 'Birth of a Salesman' has just been published and there are more to follow. Watch out for 'Blood and Dragons - The History of Carmarthenshire and the Gower.'
My current project 'The Iron Masters', is a historical novel, my first, chronicling the life of Nye Vaughn, a farm boy who becomes the most powerful arms manufacturer in the world. His cannons enabled Nelson to win the Battle of Trafalgar and cleared the field of French infantry at Waterloo.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
September 28, 2023
a mixed collection of short stories, myths, legends, folklore and history.
the book is structured into 5 parts according to the area of Wales the stories pertain to (SW, N, Central, SE, NE), and each tale has its own chapter.
not the most inspiring/lyrical collection or telling, but interesting in its breadth and the variety of stories and histories.
some of the stories date from the early written records of earlier oral tradition... others more recent like the Rebecca Riots.
quite alot of older tales in which women and poor/working class people get a really bad deal, and/or innocents are wrongly convicted and executed.
more recent histories from the 19th and 20th centuries link more contemporary locations with older local legends.
some touch on early Welsh Law (including it's difference to English law)....and later bring us up to date with the Welsh Assembly and the return of Welsh law making to the Welsh people 🙂
there's a few short pieces/lines in Welsh with English translation 🙂
and the occasional dragon, and/or other mythical/fantastical beast 😁
🐉🐲
accessed as an RNIB talking book, read by Kim Marks.
the book is structured into 5 parts according to the area of Wales the stories pertain to (SW, N, Central, SE, NE), and each tale has its own chapter.
not the most inspiring/lyrical collection or telling, but interesting in its breadth and the variety of stories and histories.
some of the stories date from the early written records of earlier oral tradition... others more recent like the Rebecca Riots.
quite alot of older tales in which women and poor/working class people get a really bad deal, and/or innocents are wrongly convicted and executed.
more recent histories from the 19th and 20th centuries link more contemporary locations with older local legends.
some touch on early Welsh Law (including it's difference to English law)....and later bring us up to date with the Welsh Assembly and the return of Welsh law making to the Welsh people 🙂
there's a few short pieces/lines in Welsh with English translation 🙂
and the occasional dragon, and/or other mythical/fantastical beast 😁
🐉🐲
accessed as an RNIB talking book, read by Kim Marks.
August 11, 2017
Written in clear accessible language, Graham Watkins’ Welsh Legends and Myths is an extensive and well-researched compendium of Welsh lore, legends, traditional myths and histories. Individual selections are brief (each only several pages long). There are 80 short traditional tales. Some are centuries old and others are more recent (i.e. the eighteen hundreds). These stories are imbued with the supernatural and set in an ancient and fascinating world (Wales) when magic was part of the everyday experience.
Here you will find ghost stories, dragons, devil dogs, fairies, tales of saints, the mythical origins of natural wonders, and of course, there are knights (this is, after all, the land of King Arthur).
My one wish for this book would be a tighter and more meaningful curation, perhaps around themes or time-lines, but that’s a minor criticism. If you love fairy tales and myths, and/or have a special love for Wales, this is a great collection.
Here you will find ghost stories, dragons, devil dogs, fairies, tales of saints, the mythical origins of natural wonders, and of course, there are knights (this is, after all, the land of King Arthur).
My one wish for this book would be a tighter and more meaningful curation, perhaps around themes or time-lines, but that’s a minor criticism. If you love fairy tales and myths, and/or have a special love for Wales, this is a great collection.
October 31, 2021
Really informative
I have been dipping in and out of this book for a longtime now and have finally finished. I have learnt so much from this book. The research that must have gone into it must have been huge. I enjoyed learning about the myths of Cymru: some of which I had some knowledge of and others that were totally new to me. It’s not five stars because I felt some of the stories were told in quite a matter of fact fashion. I would have liked more drama in the story telling.
I have been dipping in and out of this book for a longtime now and have finally finished. I have learnt so much from this book. The research that must have gone into it must have been huge. I enjoyed learning about the myths of Cymru: some of which I had some knowledge of and others that were totally new to me. It’s not five stars because I felt some of the stories were told in quite a matter of fact fashion. I would have liked more drama in the story telling.
July 10, 2015
This is a lovely book, full of fascinating stories, well told. The reasons I didn't give it 5* are because I would have preferred the stories in each section to be in chronological order, and I caught a historical error, which undermined my confidence in the standard of the stories. But I found at least one story which has inspired me to consider researching and adding it to my series 'Stories of Medieval Gower.' Thank you very much! Recommended.
November 4, 2018
Made up of several dozen short, essay-length chapters, this is a somewhat odd combination of disparate myths and short, light histories. So, one chapter will feature mermaids, the next a historical figure and more or less his/er actual historical role, then right back to a magical cave or Arthurian origin story. Ghosts in one chapter are followed up by, say, pirates in another and short, old wives tales lead to snippets of epic myths. It makes for a jumbled mix of accounts that feel thrown together without much rhyme or reason. If there was an organizing principle behind the presentation, I wasn't able to discern it. Putting them into periods or themes (knights and nobles, spirits and ghosts, etc.) would have made it much smoother to read.
The writing is clear and approachable, which can sometimes be a problem for mythic accounts, so it's a very easy read. Things like the names characters and locations in Welsh (Celtic?) are given their English translations where appropriate and meaningful. Like a lot of compilations of folk tales and legends (the Grimm Bros., for example) many of the stories lack the kind of fulsome storytelling that we are familiar with these days, so the endings read as abrupt or otherwise unfinished. That said, those familiar with such stories before companies like Disney get their hands on them will recognize the form and anecdotal quality.
Despite the scattergun approach to organization, I can see how this book could be useful as a reference or for inspiration, and if used as something like a writers' resource for stories or myths then it could be a valuable reference. The lack of organization makes it a bit difficult to use for that purpose, but it would still be a good place to go in order to find some sort of inspiration.
The writing is clear and approachable, which can sometimes be a problem for mythic accounts, so it's a very easy read. Things like the names characters and locations in Welsh (Celtic?) are given their English translations where appropriate and meaningful. Like a lot of compilations of folk tales and legends (the Grimm Bros., for example) many of the stories lack the kind of fulsome storytelling that we are familiar with these days, so the endings read as abrupt or otherwise unfinished. That said, those familiar with such stories before companies like Disney get their hands on them will recognize the form and anecdotal quality.
Despite the scattergun approach to organization, I can see how this book could be useful as a reference or for inspiration, and if used as something like a writers' resource for stories or myths then it could be a valuable reference. The lack of organization makes it a bit difficult to use for that purpose, but it would still be a good place to go in order to find some sort of inspiration.
November 15, 2025
An interesting collection of stories, some more factual/historical than strictly mythological, but interesting all the same. The organisation of the 80 short stories was by region, and while I understand the rationale, it did make for quite a disjointed reading experience - a thematic organisation would have made more sense (and made it easier to find the story you want).
The writing is clear but not especially fluid. The book also needs a thorough proofread - the punctuation is all over the place, there are misused words (e.g. plaintiff instead of plaintive), words used twice in a sentence and characters abruptly changing names (e.g. Edmond becoming Edward) - which can be distracting, if not outright confusing.
The writing is clear but not especially fluid. The book also needs a thorough proofread - the punctuation is all over the place, there are misused words (e.g. plaintiff instead of plaintive), words used twice in a sentence and characters abruptly changing names (e.g. Edmond becoming Edward) - which can be distracting, if not outright confusing.
September 18, 2019
A solid 3.5 stars on this, but I have to round down (GR can we get half stars?) as I would have liked a bit more meat on a number of these stories. I liked how many of these were stories built out of the medieval period around real characters, events and locations.
Naturally with a collection of 80 stories some are better than others, some really shine while others end quite abruptly without the impact. I don't normally like ghost stories but several of these worked well here.
Naturally with a collection of 80 stories some are better than others, some really shine while others end quite abruptly without the impact. I don't normally like ghost stories but several of these worked well here.
October 20, 2020
This is great for a beginner, but this has more legends than myths, but I feel like there might be better ones out there.
Some of the retelling sure weren’t very imaginative, but it explains the stories well enough. My biggest issue with this book is that someone skipped the proofreading stage, because this is riddled with grammatical errors and inconsistent names.
Some of the retelling sure weren’t very imaginative, but it explains the stories well enough. My biggest issue with this book is that someone skipped the proofreading stage, because this is riddled with grammatical errors and inconsistent names.
January 10, 2022
I really enjoyed this book. Some of the stories I vaguely remembered reading when I was growing up.
This book has stories from around Wales, from South to North and all places in between. They're not long, but good stories, myths and legends don't always need length to convey their intent. This is a must read book for those who like national myths and legends.
This book has stories from around Wales, from South to North and all places in between. They're not long, but good stories, myths and legends don't always need length to convey their intent. This is a must read book for those who like national myths and legends.
January 3, 2021
A great book with 80 of the best myths and legends from all over Wales. Short stories, usually 3 or 4 pages long. Stories about Kings and Queens, Knights and Princesses, battles and strange creatures, love and betrayal.
June 13, 2021
Interesting book. despite the forgotten times suggested by the title, some of the legends are quite recent.
Everything is presented in a factual way with no literary flavor. It's closer to the language used in a patent application than to a novel.
Everything is presented in a factual way with no literary flavor. It's closer to the language used in a patent application than to a novel.
September 23, 2020
Interesting read about wales
Great to help with welsh history
Great to help with welsh history
November 2, 2016
I had mixed feelings about Welsh Legends and Myths. It's an easy book to read, since the average length of each legend is a few pages, and even if you only have a few minutes you can get through a couple. I did find it a little jarring how the subjects jumped around--the stories are loosely organized by Welsh region, but you might find yourself reading about the twentieth century in one story and the thirteenth in the next.
There is much of interest here. I've read a fair amount about Celtic culture, in Wales and elsewhere, but found stories here that were new to me. I enjoyed learning about the outlaw Twm Shon Cati,for instance, and the drovers who brought cattle from Wales to market in London--basically, Welsh cowboys.
However, this also brings up one of my issues with the book. 'Legends and Myths' is really a misnomer. At the least, the stories are heavily weighted toward the Legend end of the spectrum, and many are tales straight out of history, though the author often adds some dramatization. When I saw 'Myths' in the title I hoped there would be material from the Mabinogion, say, or tales of the Tylwyth Teg (the 'Fair Family', Welsh fairies). I was disappointed to find that the Tylwyth Teg appeared in just one story, and though there are a number of medieval and pre-medieval tales, neither Manawyddan nor Rhiannon are to be found here.
The few stories that could arguably be called myths are exclusively Christian. Pagans are invariably depicted as evil and murderous. This is probably not a big deal for the average reader, but since
I'm Heathen, it put me off quite a bit. I did note with some interest, though, that many of the exploits of priests or bishops don't seem very different from the deeds of a Druid or a wizard. They issue curses that seem to operate like magic spells, and in fact one priest calls lightning and storm to guard a treasure from marauding Vikings, only to find that the same 'spell' also keeps the treasure's rightful owners from ever regaining it.
Unfortunately, the book could have used more attention to editing, especially in regards to punctuation--sometimes the mistakes wind up changing the meaning of a sentence, which can be funny, but distracts from the narrative. Overall, though Welsh Legends and Myths presents much that is entertaining and informative, I felt that it fell short of its promise.
There is much of interest here. I've read a fair amount about Celtic culture, in Wales and elsewhere, but found stories here that were new to me. I enjoyed learning about the outlaw Twm Shon Cati,for instance, and the drovers who brought cattle from Wales to market in London--basically, Welsh cowboys.
However, this also brings up one of my issues with the book. 'Legends and Myths' is really a misnomer. At the least, the stories are heavily weighted toward the Legend end of the spectrum, and many are tales straight out of history, though the author often adds some dramatization. When I saw 'Myths' in the title I hoped there would be material from the Mabinogion, say, or tales of the Tylwyth Teg (the 'Fair Family', Welsh fairies). I was disappointed to find that the Tylwyth Teg appeared in just one story, and though there are a number of medieval and pre-medieval tales, neither Manawyddan nor Rhiannon are to be found here.
The few stories that could arguably be called myths are exclusively Christian. Pagans are invariably depicted as evil and murderous. This is probably not a big deal for the average reader, but since
I'm Heathen, it put me off quite a bit. I did note with some interest, though, that many of the exploits of priests or bishops don't seem very different from the deeds of a Druid or a wizard. They issue curses that seem to operate like magic spells, and in fact one priest calls lightning and storm to guard a treasure from marauding Vikings, only to find that the same 'spell' also keeps the treasure's rightful owners from ever regaining it.
Unfortunately, the book could have used more attention to editing, especially in regards to punctuation--sometimes the mistakes wind up changing the meaning of a sentence, which can be funny, but distracts from the narrative. Overall, though Welsh Legends and Myths presents much that is entertaining and informative, I felt that it fell short of its promise.
October 28, 2016
I love myths and legends from all cultures, so I was eager to read tales from Wales. I was certain I would find a few about Arthur, and I was right. The book speaks much of the country's violent past, with wars, pirates, and the treatment of the lower classes by the nobility. But it also has a theme of love and marriage, although most have an unhappy ending. Many of the stories are a combination of legend and history, with some supernatural added to the mix.
The book is written in an easy to understand way. The stories are short and snappy. There is one repeated story, but each is told from a different perspective, so it didn't bother me. This is a great little treasure for anyone wanting to learn more about Wales.
The version I read had 80 myths, so this one may be an older copy.
The book is written in an easy to understand way. The stories are short and snappy. There is one repeated story, but each is told from a different perspective, so it didn't bother me. This is a great little treasure for anyone wanting to learn more about Wales.
The version I read had 80 myths, so this one may be an older copy.
January 24, 2015
Welsh Legends and Myths: 80 Myths and Legends from across Wales is very well written, researched and documented. A great book to use as a resource for research, but could have used a little more embellishments with the fairytale aspect that a romance author might implore. Overall a very entertaining read with a documentarian flourish. Graham Watkins is a trusted guide to take you through the centuries! I will definitely be reading more of Grahams books in the future!
September 5, 2025
Okay... so yes, I didn't know any of the stories in this before I read it... but a lot of them were boring, so... Might wanna give it a miss unless you really, really wanna know about Welsh Myths and Legends. Sorry Wales.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews