Mallt-y-Nos
Mallt-y-Nos (Matilda of the Night), also known as the Night Mallt,[1] is a crone in Welsh mythology who rides with Arawn and the hounds (Cŵn Annwn) of the Wild Hunt, chasing sorrowful, lost souls to Annwn. The Mallt-y-Nos drives the hounds onward with shrieks and wails, which some say are evil and malicious in nature.[2]
Others say that she was once a beautiful but impious Norman noblewoman who loved hunting so much that she said, "If there is no hunting in heaven, I would rather not go!" She is said to have regretted making this wish, and now cries out in misery rather than joy as she hunts forever in the night sky.[2]
In popular culture
Mallt-y-Nos features in Tom Siddell's Gunnerkrigg Court as one of the many spirit guides that assist the dead with their transition.
Mallt-y-Nos is the code name of a character in the science fiction novel trilogy Lightless by C. A. Higgins. While the character's code name is mentioned many times in the first two books (Lightless and Supernova), it is not explained until the end of the third book, Radiate.
References
- Brooke, Stopford Augustus (1892). The history of early English literature: being the history of English poetry from its beginnings to the accession of King Ælfred. Macmillan and Co. p. 84. Retrieved October 10, 2010.
Mallt-y-Nos.
- Trevelyan, Marie (1973). Folk-lore and folk-stories of Wales. Kessinger Publishing. p. 49. Retrieved October 10, 2010.
External links
- Williams, Taliesin (1837). The doom of Colyn Dolphyn: a poem, with notes illustrative of various traditions of Glamorganshire. Longman, Rees, Orme and co. pp. 71–73. Retrieved October 10, 2010.
Mallt-y-Nos.