Annwvyn’s swine

Annwvyn’s swine are a gift from Arawn to Pryderi whose unusual origin and protected status make them the prize in Gwydion’s calculated deception. Gwydion obtains them by disguising himself and his companions as bards, then offers Pryderi a magical but temporary exchange; the theft turns a request for animals into an armed pursuit and a major breach between their courts.

Origin and Status

In Gwydion’s account to Math son of Mathonwy, the animals are small, their flesh is said to be better than oxen, and their name changes: they are called pigs, or swine. He identifies them as having come from Annwvyn, sent by Arawn to Pryderi. Their exotic origin distinguishes them from ordinary livestock and gives Gwydion a pretext for his mission.

Pryderi does not simply refuse to part with them. He explains that he has made a covenant with his land: the swine must remain with him until they have produced twice their number there. This obligation makes an outright gift or sale difficult, but leaves room for Gwydion to propose an exchange that he claims will release Pryderi from his promise.

Gwydion’s Deception

The taking begins as part of Gwydion’s effort to draw Math away from the matter of Gilvaethwy and Goewin. Gwydion invents news of unfamiliar animals in the south and offers to travel with eleven companions, posing as bards, to seek them. The swine are therefore both the stated object of the mission and the bait in a larger scheme.

At Pryderi’s court in Rhuddlan Teivi, the visitors are welcomed. Gwydion entertains the court with a tale and wins Pryderi’s confidence before revealing his request. When Pryderi cites the covenant, Gwydion asks him neither to give nor sell the animals that night, promising to show him an exchange the next day. The sequence matters: hospitality and storytelling secure the audience that a direct demand might not have received.

Gwydion then uses his arts to produce the appearance of twelve chargers, twelve black greyhounds with white breasts, collars and leashes that seem to be gold, and horses equipped with elaborate golden tack. He also presents twelve gilded shields, which the narrative identifies as made from fungus. Pryderi and his advisers accept the apparent bargain, surrendering the swine for the horses, dogs, and shields. Once the party has left, Gwydion warns his companions that the illusion will last only until the same hour the following day. The exchange is thus not a lasting settlement but a deception with a strict time limit.

Flight and Pursuit

Gwydion’s party hurries north with the animals, making successive overnight stops as it crosses the country. The account associates their passage with several place-names, including Mochdrev, Mochnant, and Creuwyryon, whose naming is tied to the journey and the pigs. At Creuwyryon they make a sty for the animals before continuing to Math’s court at Caer Dathyl.

The flight does not remain secret. Gwydion learns that Pryderi is gathering one-and-twenty cantrevs to pursue them. By the time the fugitives reach Math, the country is rising against them; they hear the trumpets and the assembled host, arm themselves, and set out toward Penardd in Arvon. The evidence establishes an armed pursuit and the flight’s immediate consequences, without describing the later outcome of the conflict over the swine.

Distinct Pig and Boar Motifs

The swine should be distinguished from other animals that take pig or boar form elsewhere in the narrative. In the episode of Pryderi and Manawyddan, a wild white boar leads hunters toward a newly appeared castle; the account does not identify it as one of Annwvyn’s swine. In the story of Lludd and Llevelys, two battling dragons eventually fall as pigs onto a cauldron’s covering. These separate episodes give animal transformation and unfamiliar beasts a recurring place in the wider tales, but they do not establish a connection to Pryderi’s herd.

Annwvyn’s swine instead anchor a chain of cause and consequence: a gift from Arawn is bound to Pryderi by a promise of increase; Gwydion exploits that condition with false appearances; and the theft provokes a pursuit that reaches Math’s court. Their importance lies not only in their rarity, but in how their protected status exposes the cost of Gwydion’s ingenuity.