Annwn ( [ ˈanʊn ] ), or Annwfn ( [ ˈanʊvn ] ), is the Otherworld in Welsh mythology. It is ruled by Arawn, or by Gwyn ap Nudd in stories about King Arthur. This place is described as a land of joy and eternal youth, where illness does not exist and food is always plentiful.

Name and etymology

Middle Welsh sources show that the term was understood to mean "very deep" during the medieval period.

An ancient Gaulish curse tablet includes the word "antumnos," which combines "an" (meaning "other") and "tumnos" (meaning "world"). This suggests the original term might have been ande-dubnos, a common word in the Gallo-Brittonic language that literally meant "underworld." The word ande-dubnos comes from Proto-Celtic "ande-" (meaning "below") combined with "dubnos" (meaning "deep" or "world"). The same root "dubnos" is also found in Old Irish words "domain" (meaning "deep") and "domun" (meaning "world").

Whereabouts of Annwn

In both Welsh and Irish mythologies, the Otherworld was believed to be located either on an island or beneath the earth. In the First Branch of the Mabinogi, it suggests that Annwn is a land in Dyfed, while the Arthurian poem Preiddeu Annwfn indicates an island location. Two feasts in the Otherworld described in the Second Branch of the Mabinogi are found in Harlech, northwest Wales, and on Ynys Gwales, southwest Pembrokeshire.

Appearances in Welsh literature

Annwn is an important place in the Four Branches of the Mabinogi, a collection of four connected stories from the early medieval period. In the First Branch, called Pwyll, Prince of Dyfed, the prince named Pwyll angers Arawn, the ruler of Annwn, by teasing Arawn’s hunting dogs after they had caught a stag. To make things right, Pwyll agrees to swap places with Arawn for a year. During this time, Pwyll defeats Arawn’s enemy, Hafgan, while Arawn rules in Pwyll’s kingdom, Dyfed. Pwyll avoids sleeping with Arawn’s wife, which earns him Arawn’s respect and lasting friendship. When Pwyll returns, he is given the title Penn Annwn, meaning "Head (or Ruler) of Annwn." In the Fourth Branch, Arawn is mentioned but does not appear. It is said that Arawn sent magical pigs to Pwyll’s son and heir, Pryderi, which later causes a war between Dyfed and Gwynedd.

The mythological poem Cad Goddeu describes a battle between Gwynedd and the forces of Annwn, led by Arawn. The story explains that Amaethon, the nephew of Math, king of Gwynedd, stole a dog, a bird, and a deer from the Otherworld, causing a war between the two groups. The people of Annwn are described as strange and terrifying creatures, including a beast with many heads and a creature with a thousand souls trapped in its body. Gwydion, a hero and magician from Venedotia, defeats Arawn’s army by enchanting trees to fight and by guessing the name of Arawn’s enemy, Bran, which wins the battle.

The early medieval poem Preiddeu Annwfn, found in the Book of Taliesin, tells of a journey led by King Arthur to the otherworldly lands of Annwn, either to rescue a prisoner named Gweir or to retrieve the cauldron of the ruler of Annwn. The poem’s narrator may be Taliesin, as one line suggests he received his poetic gift from a magic cauldron, a detail also found in other stories about Taliesin. The poem describes Arthur and three groups of men traveling into Annwn, but only seven return. Annwn is referred to by several names, such as "Mound Fortress," "Four-Peaked Fortress," and "Glass Fortress," though these may describe different places. Inside the Mound Fortress, Gweir, one of the "Three Exalted Prisoners of Britain" from Welsh traditions, is chained. The poem also describes the cauldron of the ruler of Annwn, made of pearls and said to only cook food for brave people. The reason for the deaths of most travelers is not clearly explained. The poem ends with harsh words for "little men" and monks, who are said to lack the knowledge the poet possesses.

Over time, the role of ruler of Annwn was given to Gwyn ap Nudd, a hunter and guide for souls in the afterlife, who may represent winter in Welsh tradition. In the Vita Collen, a Christian text, Saint Collen is said to have driven Gwyn and his otherworldly court from Glastonbury Tor using holy water. In Culhwch and Olwen, an early Welsh Arthurian story, it is stated that God gave Gwyn ap Nudd control over demons to prevent "this world from being destroyed." Gwyn is traditionally linked to leading the Cŵn Annwn ("Hounds of Annwn"), a group of spectral hunting dogs that follow him in his search for mortal souls. Angelika Rüdiger’s PhD thesis, Y Tylwyth Teg: an analysis of a literary motif (Bangor University, 2021), is a detailed study of supernatural beings connected to Annwn, including Gwyn ap Nudd, covering sources from the earliest times to the 19th and 20th centuries.

Annwn in modern culture

J. R. R. Tolkien used the word annún in his Middle-earth mythology as a term in the Elvish language Sindarin, which sounds similar to the Welsh language. The word means "west" or "sunset" and is related to the Elvish word Andúnë in the language Quenya. It often refers to the "True West," a place called Aman, a land beyond the sea, or the island Tol Eressëa. Later, it was also used to describe the sunken island of Númenor. This is an example of Tolkien’s way of building his world by giving real-world words new meanings in his stories. For example, the Sindarin word aran, meaning "king," is similar to Arawn, the name of a king in the land of Annwn.

David Jones Annwn, a British author, poet, and playwright born in 1953, chose the name Annwn in 1975, following the example of his great-uncle, Henry Lloyd (ap Hefin), a Welsh poet who used the name Ap Hefin, meaning "Son of the Summer Solstice."

The name Annwn is also used by a German medieval and pagan folk music group from North Rhine-Westphalia. Earlier, a different band called Annwn, a Celtic rock group from Berkeley, California, used the name from 1991 until the death of their lead singer, Leigh Ann Hussey, in 2006.

In the 2012 urban fantasy series October Daye by Seanan McGuire, Annwn is one of the deep realms of Faerie. British author Niel Bushnell’s books Sorrowline and Timesmith include an island named Annwn in the realm of Otherworld.

In Lloyd Alexander’s Chronicles of Prydain series, the name Annuvin (a version of Annwfyn) is used for the domain of Arawn, a character who acts as a villainous dark lord.

On The Mechanisms’ 2014 album High Noon Over Camelot, which retells Arthurian legends as a space Western, Annwn is the name of the lower levels of a space station called Fort Galfridian.

In the video game La-Mulana 2, one of the areas is named Annwfn.

The game Annwn: The Otherworld is a stealth and strategy game inspired by Welsh myths.