Faery Fauna I: Supernatural Swine

Twrch Trwyth– sculpture by Tony Woodward at Ammanford

The connection between faeries and certain animals in Britain is a complex and (as ever) sometimes rather confusing one. The fae can keep their own domestic and domesticated creatures- they have horses for riding, cows for milk and meat and dogs for hunting and guarding their homes, all of which feature in folk tales. Secondly, though, some faery beings can take on animal form or, more notably, may only appear as those creatures. I’ve written several times in previous posts about what I’ve termed these ‘faery beasts,’ the likes of the black dogs, water horses and water bulls.  In this and succeeding posts, I want to explore the slightly different vision of faery being: my focus will be upon those faeries who have two natures- animal as well as anthropoid- and the manner in which they are integrated into the wider enchanted environment of the isles of Britain. I will focus on a number of major animals, consider how their forms are often assumed by faery beings and examine how these creatures have long featured in the deeper mythology of Britain. 

Herds

The boar, or wild pig, appears very often in British folklore and there are regular associations with faeries: hence, the Highland hag called the cailleach bheur keeps flocks of pigs as well as deer and cattle.  Her storm-bringing assistants ride on both swine and wolves. A cailleach in Ross and Cromarty called Mala Liath is the protectress of herds of swine and, together with the wild boar of Glen Glass, is said to prey upon humans.

According to a Scots poem found in the Bannatyne manuscript, ‘The Gyre Carling,’ the faery female called the Gyre Carlin in Fife is said to be accompanied by her sow, which she will ride, in addition to which she can take on pig form if she wishes.  The gyre seems to be a southern variant of the cailleach bheur and, like so many of those northern hags, is thought to have lived on human flesh. 

The swine as supernatural companion is also found English ballad of the ‘Jovial Hunter.’ This tells of Sir Ryalas of Upper Wick in Worcestershire who went to the aid of a lady trapped in a tree after her husband and retinue had all, apparently, been killed by a wild boar.  The knight bravely fought the beast for four hours and eventually managed to kill it, but the ‘lady’ was not grateful to her saviour: she proved to be a wild woman of the woods who attacked him, complaining “you have killed my spotted pig!”

Shapeshifting

Regularly, too, faeries can take on the form of boars and pigs: the Manx glastin or glashtyn has one form as a horse but is also seen as a pig; Highland fuathan can also assume multiple shapes- including a pig and a dog; likewise, barguests- which often manifest as huge chained dogs, but also as donkeys, calves and pigs- and the Manx bugganes, which might appear as pigs, cows, dogs or cats.  The Scottish folklorist John Gregorson Campbell discovered a tradition in the Ross of Mull that a faery being might take the form of a small bird, called the torc sona (or ‘happy boar’) which could bring luck to farmers, such as a never-ending supply of seed.

Shapeshifting into pig form by a supernatural may also be encountered on the Isle of Man.  In 1910, the Reverend Canon Kewley, of Arbory parish on the island, recounted the experience of a staunch Methodist he knew.  This man had once seen the road full of little black pigs which all vanished as soon as he demanded of them, “In the name of God, what are ye?”  He was quite sure that he had seen a group of the ‘little folk.’  There also the faery pig of the Isle of Man, a creature called arkan sonney in Manx- ‘the lucky piggy.’  This is a white pig with red ears and eyes (a very typical colouring for supernatural beasts) which is capable of changing its size- but not its shape.  They are reputed to be very attractive and lucky creatures (akin to the Manx torc sona just mentioned).

Arkan Sonney by Luniers on DeviantArt

Boars

Monstrous supernatural boars that wreak destruction are a common feature of British myth.  The most famous of these, probably, is the Twrch Trwyth (Trwyth the Boar) in the Welsh story of Culhwch and Olwen in the collection of early medieval stories called the Mabinogion. Such was its reputation that the medieval Welsh poet Lewis Glyn Cothi (1420-90) made a comparison between a human warrior and the boar: “He would destroy towns with wrath, wounds and violence; he would tear down towers like Twrch Trwyth.”

The Twrch Trwyth has a comb, scissors and razor, hidden amongst the poisonous bristles between its ears, items which Culhwch needs so that he can cut the hair of the giant, Ysbaddaden, in the hope that he will then give consent for his daughter to marry the hero.  Trwyth is hunted across the whole of South Wales and into Cornwall by King Arthur and a large party of skilled pursuers.  A second boar, Ysgithrwyn Pen Beidd (Chief Boar), has then to be hunted to obtain a tusk with which to shave the giant.

Arthur hunts the Twrch– sculpture at Cwmamman

Several other magical boars and swine appear in the Mabinogion.  In the tale of Manawyddan son of Llyr, Pryderi and Manawyddan pursue a marvellous white boar into a castle never previously seen standing at that spot. When, successively, Pryderi and then his mother Rhiannon enter the castle, they are frozen on the spot by spells cast by the magician Llwyd ap Cil Coed.  The boar seen was either Llwyd in disguise- or was an apparition conjured by him.  Certainly, in the ancient Welsh stories we encounter examples of shapeshifting into pig-form: Twrch Trwyth is, according to King Arthur, a sinful king transformed into a swine by god in punishment; the poet Taliesin sang of his origins, describing how he was able to shape-shift, taking on multiple forms, including that of a stag (see a later posting) and of a swine: “I have fled as a bristly boar, seen in a ravine.” 

Generally, swine are portrayed positively, as highly valuable and desirable- so much so that in the story of Math, son of Mathonwy, the wizard Gwydion uses magical deception to steal swine from Pryderi.  However, at the start of the story of Culhwch and Olwen the boy’s mother is able to overcome a difficult labour by going to a place where swine were being herded; fear of the pigs hastened her son’s delivery. It’s not wholly clear whether there is a magical aspect to this.

Scottish tradition also has a tale of a monstrous and ferocious boar that lived in a cave on Ben Laighal in Sutherland.  It was killed by Diarmuid, but like Twrch Trwyth, it had poisonous bristles, one of which pierced his bare foot and killed him; the same tale is told of Diarmuid and the Mala Liath and Glen Glass boar mentioned earlier. The killing of monstrous boars that have ravaged neighbourhoods is also found in folktales from throughout England, for instance from Boarstall, Chetwode, Bishop Auckland and Brancepeth.

The wild boar has a reputation as a fierce and dangerous creature, but the stories recounted here go well beyond this. Not only can these swine become unnaturally huge, they may be found as the companions of malign faery females, wreaking devastation together with them. Then again, there can be a fortunate and benign aspect to some of these beings. At the very least, as we shall see in posts on other animals to follow, the faeries are regarded as being integrated into the British landscape and ecology not only through grazing swine but by becoming them.