Welsh Mythology Welsh mythology (Welsh: ''Mytholeg Cymru'') consists of both folk traditions developed in Wales, and traditions developed by the Celtic Britons elsewhere before the end of the first millennium. As in most of the predominantly oral societies Celti ...

, Hyddwn (from the Welsh ''hydd'', "Stag") appears in the fourth of the

Four Branches of the Mabinogi The ''Four Branches of the Mabinogi'' or ''Pedair Cainc Y Mabinogi'' are the earliest prose stories in the literature of Britain. Originally written in Wales in Middle Welsh, but widely available in translations, the ''Mabinogi'' is generally agre ...

and is one of the three sons of

Gwydion Gwydion fab Dôn () is a magician, hero and trickster of Welsh mythology, appearing most prominently in the Fourth Branch of the ''Mabinogi'', which focuses largely on his relationship with his young nephew, Lleu Llaw Gyffes. He also appears ...

and

Gilfaethwy In Welsh mythology, Gilfaethwy () was a son of the goddess Dôn and brother of Gwydion and Arianrhod in the Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi. His uncle Math fab Mathonwy, king of Gwynedd, must keep his feet in the lap of a young virgin at all time ...

. As punishment for the rape of

Goewin Goewin () is a figure in Welsh mythology, where she has a small but crucial role in the ''Math fab Mathonwy'', one of the Four Branches of the Mabinogi.Jones, Gwyn and Jones, Thomas. ''The Mabinogion.'' Everyman's Library, 1949; revised in 1989. ...

, Math banished his nephews, turning them into a breeding pair of deer for a year, then pigs, and finally wolves. They had three children over the three years: Hyddwn,

Hychddwn Hychddwn Hir ("Dark-Red Pig, the Tall" from the Welsh ''hwch'', "Swine" and ''hir'', "Long") appears in the fourth of the Four Branches of the Mabinogi and is one of the sons of Gwydion and Gilfaethwy, brothers who were transformed into pigs as p ...

, and

Bleiddwn Bleiddwn (from the Welsh ''blaidd'', "Wolf") appears in the fourth of the Four Branches of the Mabinogi and is one of the three sons of Gwydion and Gilfaethwy. As punishment for the rape of Goewin, Math banished his nephews, turning them into a ...

. Hyddwn is the offspring of the

deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the re ...

pairing. Math took him and transformed him into a human being, baptising him Hyddwn ("Stag-man").

References

* Ifans,Dafydd & Rhiannon, ''Y Mabinogion'' (Gomer 1980) {{Celtic mythology (Welsh) Welsh mythology