World of Water - Welsh Water Creatures

Gwragedd Annwn - Lake Maidens

For my World Of Water project, I am interested in looking at welsh folklore and water related creatures. I have always loved reading about Greek, Roman and Egyptian mythology but, I haven't researched Welsh mythology in detail before. In Welsh folklore the Gwragedd Annwn (singular gwraig annwn) are beautiful female fairies who live beneath the lakes and rivers and are counted among the Tylwyth Teg or Welsh fairy folk. They are also known as Lake Maidens. They sometimes become the wives of human men. One such tale recorded by John Rhys in Celtic Folklore, considered by him to be the most complete and representative of its type, recounts how in the twelfth century there lived a widow at Blaensawdde near Llanddeusant, Carmarthenshire.