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ferine(All of the following from www.pantheon.org):
Cwn Annwn
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In Brythonic mythology, the hounds of Annwn. A pack of snow-white, red-eared spectral hounds which sometimes took part in the kidnappings and raids the inhabitants of the underworld sometimes make on this world (the Wild Hunt). They are associated in Wales with the sounds of migrating wild geese, and are said to be leading the souls of the damned to hell. The phantom chase is usually heard or seen in midwinter and is accompanied by a howling wind. Another name is Cwn Mamau ("hounds of the mothers").
In England, they are often called the Gabriel Hounds or Ratchets, and sometimes the Yell Hounds. They are accompanied by the hunter Gwyn, or Bran, or Arthur, but sometimes by Gabriel or Herne the Hunter.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source(s):
Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology, and Legend.
Annwn
by Brian Edward Rise
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
An underground Netherworld region found in Welsh legend. Surviving from pre-Christian Celtic mythology, it's immortal inhabitants are the fair folk, demons or thinly disguised deities depending on the viewpoint. Neither Heaven nor Hell in the Christian sense, humans can enter spiritually or corporeally.
Annwn, or Annwfn, is ruled by Gwyn ap Nudd or Gwyn, son of Nodons, a briton god whose temple was at Lydney in the forest of Dean. He often appears among mortals to meddle in their affairs. Found at Arthur's court in Culhwch and Owen, where God is said to have given him dominion over the demons, "lest this world be destroyed." Folklore transforms him into the leader of the Wild Hunt, riding through the clouds raising human shades, along with the red-eared hounds of Annwn and occasionally by the undead Arthur himself.
There are various entry points into Annwn, namely Lundy Island and Glastonbury Tor. There is a legend of an itenerant Welsh saint named Collen entering Gwyn's palace within the Tor in order to banish him by sprinkling holy water around.
Contained within the alleged Book of Taleisin is "The Spoils of Annwn," an obscure, inauthentic Welsh poem dating from perhaps the tenth century. It is the tale of a raid on the part of Arthur and his knights through the underworld, questing for a magical, talismanic cauldron in the custody of nine maidens. Only seven survive this perilous expedition. Due to the pagan substance of the poem, it has been claimed to be a foreshadowing of later Grail Quests.The number nine relates to real groups of nine priestesses in pre-Christian, Celtic society. Geoffrey of Monmouth tells of a sisterhood of nine led by Morgan le Fay in his poetic Vita Merlini. The coven was located on the Isle of Apples, or Avalon, another otherworld sometimes identified with Annwn.
Herne
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Herne the Hunter, mentioned in the Merry Wives of Windsor has only a vague legend in England. His area was around the old oak in Windsor Forest. Herne obviously belongs to the large community of spectral hunters. In Germany, such as hunter was known in the Black Forest, and there was one in the French Fontainebleau (identified with St. Hubert).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source(s):
Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology, and Legend.
Cernunnos
by Dr Anthony E. Smith
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The Horned One" is a Celtic god of fertility, life, animals, wealth, and the underworld. He was worshipped all over Gaul, and his cult spread into Britain as well. Cernunnos is depicted with the antlers of a stag, sometimes carries a purse filled with coin. The Horned God is born at the winter solstice, marries the goddess at Beltane, and dies at the summer solstice. He alternates with the goddess of the moon in ruling over life and death, continuing the cycle of death, rebirth and reincarnation.
Paleolithic cave paintings found in France that depict a stag standing upright or a man dressed in stag costume seem to indicate that Cernunnos' origins date to those times. Romans sometimes portrayed him with three cranes flying above his head. Known to the Druids as Hu Gadarn. God of the underworld and astral planes. The consort of the great goddess. He was often depicted holding a bag of money, or accompanied by a ram-headed serpent and a stag. Most notably is the famous Gundestrup cauldron discovered in Denmark.
Wild Hunt
by Luke Goaman-Dodson
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Wild Hunt is a supernatural force that sweeps across the land at night. The actual object of the Hunt varies from place to place. In some areas it searches for anything that might be unforunate enough to be in its path. Others say it hunts evildoers.
The leader of the Hunt also varies. In Celtic Britain it is usually led by Cernunnos, the horned god. In Wales it is led by Gwyn ap Nudd, and sometimes Bran. After the Anglo-Saxons had settled in England, Cernunnos became Herne the Hunter.
The Wild Hunt also appears in Teutonic myth, its leader being Woden or Odin.
Cwn Annwn
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In Brythonic mythology, the hounds of Annwn. A pack of snow-white, red-eared spectral hounds which sometimes took part in the kidnappings and raids the inhabitants of the underworld sometimes make on this world (the Wild Hunt). They are associated in Wales with the sounds of migrating wild geese, and are said to be leading the souls of the damned to hell. The phantom chase is usually heard or seen in midwinter and is accompanied by a howling wind. Another name is Cwn Mamau ("hounds of the mothers").
In England, they are often called the Gabriel Hounds or Ratchets, and sometimes the Yell Hounds. They are accompanied by the hunter Gwyn, or Bran, or Arthur, but sometimes by Gabriel or Herne the Hunter.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source(s):
Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology, and Legend.
Annwn
by Brian Edward Rise
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
An underground Netherworld region found in Welsh legend. Surviving from pre-Christian Celtic mythology, it's immortal inhabitants are the fair folk, demons or thinly disguised deities depending on the viewpoint. Neither Heaven nor Hell in the Christian sense, humans can enter spiritually or corporeally.
Annwn, or Annwfn, is ruled by Gwyn ap Nudd or Gwyn, son of Nodons, a briton god whose temple was at Lydney in the forest of Dean. He often appears among mortals to meddle in their affairs. Found at Arthur's court in Culhwch and Owen, where God is said to have given him dominion over the demons, "lest this world be destroyed." Folklore transforms him into the leader of the Wild Hunt, riding through the clouds raising human shades, along with the red-eared hounds of Annwn and occasionally by the undead Arthur himself.
There are various entry points into Annwn, namely Lundy Island and Glastonbury Tor. There is a legend of an itenerant Welsh saint named Collen entering Gwyn's palace within the Tor in order to banish him by sprinkling holy water around.
Contained within the alleged Book of Taleisin is "The Spoils of Annwn," an obscure, inauthentic Welsh poem dating from perhaps the tenth century. It is the tale of a raid on the part of Arthur and his knights through the underworld, questing for a magical, talismanic cauldron in the custody of nine maidens. Only seven survive this perilous expedition. Due to the pagan substance of the poem, it has been claimed to be a foreshadowing of later Grail Quests.The number nine relates to real groups of nine priestesses in pre-Christian, Celtic society. Geoffrey of Monmouth tells of a sisterhood of nine led by Morgan le Fay in his poetic Vita Merlini. The coven was located on the Isle of Apples, or Avalon, another otherworld sometimes identified with Annwn.
Herne
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Herne the Hunter, mentioned in the Merry Wives of Windsor has only a vague legend in England. His area was around the old oak in Windsor Forest. Herne obviously belongs to the large community of spectral hunters. In Germany, such as hunter was known in the Black Forest, and there was one in the French Fontainebleau (identified with St. Hubert).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source(s):
Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology, and Legend.
Cernunnos
by Dr Anthony E. Smith
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The Horned One" is a Celtic god of fertility, life, animals, wealth, and the underworld. He was worshipped all over Gaul, and his cult spread into Britain as well. Cernunnos is depicted with the antlers of a stag, sometimes carries a purse filled with coin. The Horned God is born at the winter solstice, marries the goddess at Beltane, and dies at the summer solstice. He alternates with the goddess of the moon in ruling over life and death, continuing the cycle of death, rebirth and reincarnation.
Paleolithic cave paintings found in France that depict a stag standing upright or a man dressed in stag costume seem to indicate that Cernunnos' origins date to those times. Romans sometimes portrayed him with three cranes flying above his head. Known to the Druids as Hu Gadarn. God of the underworld and astral planes. The consort of the great goddess. He was often depicted holding a bag of money, or accompanied by a ram-headed serpent and a stag. Most notably is the famous Gundestrup cauldron discovered in Denmark.
Wild Hunt
by Luke Goaman-Dodson
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Wild Hunt is a supernatural force that sweeps across the land at night. The actual object of the Hunt varies from place to place. In some areas it searches for anything that might be unforunate enough to be in its path. Others say it hunts evildoers.
The leader of the Hunt also varies. In Celtic Britain it is usually led by Cernunnos, the horned god. In Wales it is led by Gwyn ap Nudd, and sometimes Bran. After the Anglo-Saxons had settled in England, Cernunnos became Herne the Hunter.
The Wild Hunt also appears in Teutonic myth, its leader being Woden or Odin.
