Aled Thompson

Diolch!!

Mogwai totally played into this design XD

Sounds reasonable to me, they're just misjudged!

Wonderful! I love the beaver features in this design!

Thank you so much! Diolch!

Definitely had it coming, and a good reason to never shave 😂

Culhwch returns victoriously and marries Olwen while one of Arthur's men trims Ysbaddaden's beard and then cuts off his head

The only problem is his beard is so tough that only the razor behind the ears of the giant boar is strong enough to cut it. Not deterred Culhwch asks his cousin King Arthur and his friends to help him complete these tasks. They chase the boar across Britain until it's driven into the sea and drowns

That's a good one! The hero Culhwch falls in love with Olwen, daughter of the fearsome giant Ysbaddaden who is fated to die when Owlen marries. Not wanting to die he gives Culhwch a set of impossible tasks to prepare for the wedding including to trim his long tangled beard

I'm in a hurry so I had to rush to post these but let me know if you want me to elaborate on any of these stories 😅

In many Welsh legends magical women are said to live in lakes. In one legend a woman marries a mortal man and brings him great fortune but after she is chastised three times she returns to the lake and is never seen again

A humanoid goblin creature with big pointy ears

Bwbach - A small, helpful household spirit that will help out with chores in exchange for cream and will cause mischief for unwanted guests

A monstrous boar with huge tusks and a comb and razor behind the ears

Twrch Trwyth - The hero Culhwch is tasked with retrieving the comb and razor from behind the ears of this monstrous boar so he can shave the giant Ysbaddaden Bencawr and marry his daughter

A black dog with a ghostly tail

Gwyllgi - Spectral hounds that stalks travellers on lonely roads at night

A frog like creature with bat wings and a long tail

Llamhigyn y Dŵr (Water leaper) - A creature that inhabits Welsh waters and known to prey on livestock and fisherman

Rubble beneath the sea with sound waves emitting from a bell

A medieval town about to be consumed by a giant wave

Cantre'r Gwaelod - A Story of a Welsh Kingdom lost beneath the waves when a guard got too drunk and forgot to close the storm gates. It's said you can still hear the town's bells ringing beneath the waves

The mari lwyd tossing some red wine in the air at night

Side profile of the Mari Lwyd

Mari Lwyd - A Welsh folk tradition where a horse skull is dressed in a sheet and decorated before being paraded around from door to door to challenge the inhabitants to a game of Pwnco (a spoken battle of rhymes)

A man with a hunting dog with red eyes and ears over his shoulder and a stag behind him surrounded by twisting branches

Pwyll Pendefig Dyfed - A hero from the Mabinogi who made a deal with Arawn King of Annwn, the Welsh Otherworld, to rule his dominion for one year before facing Hafgan, another king of Annwn, in battle

A woman laying face up in a pool surrounded by lily pads and flowers

A woman with flowers in her hair screaming with an owl behind her and a misty moon night in the background

A barn owl

Blodeuwedd was a magically conjured out of flowers in a spring to become the wife of Llew Llaw Gyffes who was cursed to never marry a mortal woman, but when she fell in love with another man she was turned into an owl as punishment

A horse floating above a stormy sea with its mane and tail turning into mist

A horse diving among some seaweed

A horse with a demonic smile running along some waves at night

Ceffyl Dwr (water horse) - A shapeshifting creature that likes to take the form of a horse to lure travellers on its back before diving underwater to drown them. In some versions it takes to the sky and turns into a mist while the traveller falls to their doom

A crocodile-looking creature floating half submerged in water surrounded by seaweed with a forest background

The Afanc was a legendary creature that would thrash about in its pool sending floods along Conwy river

A red dragon perched on a rock in an underground cave based on the story of the red dragon sleeping under Dinas Emrys - Upon being woken it fought and beat a white dragon also buried there.

Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Sant hapus / Happy St David's Day!

I thought I'd take this day to share some Welsh art and the stories that inspired them!
Thread 🧵

Thank you!

A red winged black bird perched on a cattail

Red-Winged Blackbird

Thank you! 😄

Digital colour bird illustration Commission available on Ko-fi.com

I have some slots open on my ko-fi store - ko-fi.com/c/6911096a6c

A happy puffin stood on a rock

A Puffin

I’m raising rent relief funds for Minneapolis immigrant families affected by ICE.

Donations are down, but ICE is very much still here and there’s still so much need. Can you help?

V: @Ian-Coldwater
CA: $iancoldwater
PP: @coldwater

We keep us housed 💛

Please share and help if you can! Thank you!

Tree by the river, Nant Peris

A hen harrier, bird of prey with grey blue feathers and wings tipped with black, perched on a stump

Hen Harrier