Henwen: a Cymric goddesss (Old White)

Synonyms:
Cym: Old White

Henwen's tale is told in triad 26 of Trioedd Ynys Prydein 'The three powerful swineherds of the Island of Britain' which gives her tale in more than a little detail. The poem comes in two forms; the elder Peniarth 16 and the Llyfr Gwyn Rhydderch versions. The story given here is a composite, with Peniarth 16 gaining precedence.

One of the swine of Dallwyr Dallben of Glyn Dallwyr in Cornwall, who was tended by Coll mab Collfrewy, was pregnant. Henwen was her name and it was prophesied that the Island of Britain would be the worse for her womb-burden. At Penrhyn Awstin in Cornwall she entered the sea and at Aber Tarogi in Gwent-is-Coed she made landfall. And all the while Coll mab Collfrewy had his hand on her bristles wherever she went; whether by land or by sea. And in the wheat field in Gwent she issued a grain of wheat and a bee; and henceforth that place was best for wheat and bees. From there she went to Llonion in Penfro and there she brought forth a grain of barley and a bee; which is why the barley of Llonion is proverbial. At the hill of Cyferthwch in Eryri she birthed a wolf-cub and a young eagle. Coll mab Collfrewy gave the eagle to Brennach the Irishman and the wolf he gave to Menwaedd of Arllechwedd; these being the wolf of Menwaedd and the eagle of Brennach. From there she went to the Black Stone in Llanfair in Arfon where she birthed a kitten. Coll threw the kitten into the Menai but she was recovered and fostered by the sons of Palug and henceforward she was called Palug's Cat and it was one of the three great oppressions of Môn.

Palug's Cat is eventually slain by Cei as described in the poem Pa Gwr yw y Porthawr.

Henwen literally means 'Old White' and in the Cymric sources white animals (more especially those with red ears) represent otherworldly beasts. Such animals (cf the swine of Pryderi) and all earthly beasts are supposedly descended from such animals; which may explain Henwen's strange generative powers. As in the hunt for the Twrch Trwyth in the tale of Culhwch ac Olwen, in the Llyfr Gwyn version of the story Arthur also hunts Henwen.

As has been pointed-out previously by Rachel Bromwich in the Trioedd Ynys Prydein the only instances of names similar to Henwen are the masculine form Henwyn. It is possible that Henwen represents an example of a human enchanted into animal form (as happened to the Twrch Trwyth and his seven attendants). The tale of Math mab Matholwch also gives an example of men turned into female animals as punishment (cf Gilfaethwy fab Dôn and Gwydion fab Dôn [the first transformation being into sow and a boar, respectively]). Thus it could be that Henwen was once a hero called Henwyn, the tale of whose transformation is lost to us; which is why Henwen is included in the list of gods and heroes rather than the listing of magical animals. Indeed, other triads (27 and 28) paint Coll as a great mage and it may well have been Coll himself who turned Henwyn the man into Henwen the sow.

Henwen's name survives in the name of the valley, Cwm Henwen located just outside Trecastell, Sir Gaerfyrddin (Carmarthenshire). Though any obvious link to the events described in triad 26 has been lost.

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