Arawn
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In Welsh mythology, Arawn was the Lord of the Underworld, which was called Annwn.
Some of the more prominent myths about Arawn include the incident in which Amaethon stole a dog, lapwing and a white roebuck from Arawn, leading to the Cad Goddeu (Battle of the Trees), which Arawn lost to Amaethon and his brother, Gwydion.
In the Mabinogion, Pwyll mistakenly set his hounds upon a stag, only to discover that Arawn had been hunting the same animal. To pay for the misdeed, Arawn asked Pwyll to trade places with him for a year and a day, and defeat Hafgan, Arawn's rival, at the end of this time, something Arawn had attempted to do, but had been unable to. Arawn, meanwhile, took Pwyll's place as lord of Dyfed. Arawn and Pwyll became good friends because, though Pwyll wore Arawn's shape, he slept chastely with Arawn's wife.
In Welsh folklore, Arawn rides with his white, red-eared hounds (the Cŵn Annwn or Hounds of Annwn) through the skies in autumn, winter, and early spring.
The baying of the hounds is identified with the crying of wild geese as they migrate, and the quarry of the hounds are the wandering Otherworld Spirits (possibly fairies), being chased back to Annwn (sometimes to the abode of the Brenin Llwyd or Grey King). Later the relevant mythology was altered to describe the "capturing of human souls and the chasing of "damned souls" to Annwn"; Annwn was inaccurately revised in some variants of Welsh mythology and described as being "Hell."
Etymology
This theonym may be derived from Proto-Celtic *Arjo-man-es meaning "free-thinking masculine [spirit]:" c.f. Old Irish aire 'free' and Proto-Indo-European *men- 'to think' (q.v. [1], [2], [3]). Following accepted sound laws elucidating systematic diachronic phonological sound change in Celtic proto-linguistics (q.v. [4], [5], [6], [7]), the Romano-British form of this Proto-Celtic theonym is likely to have been *Arimanes, becoming *Ariamnes by metathesis and Arawn by subsequent sound change.
The name may also be derived from a compound of two Proto-Indo-European elements *ari- ‘noble, high’ and *paus- ‘wild, unleashed.’ This root *paus- appears in extended form as *Pauson- (Pokorny: entry 1452), apparently the name of a deity, since it is found in expected forms in Sanskrit, and in Greek mythology as Pan, from Pre-Greek *Paon. This permits the reconstruction of a Proto-Celtic deity-name *Ari-φausno-s, conveying the notion of ‘noble, wild spirit,’ or ‘unfettered wildness.’ This would have given a Brittonic form *Arihausnos inherited into the Welsh language as Arawn.
Arawn in fiction
In Lloyd Alexander's Chronicles of Prydain, a series of fantasy novels inspired by Welsh myths, Arawn is the series' unseen central villain. Once the consort of Achren, queen of Annuvin and Prydain, he betrayed her, taking the Iron Crown of Annuvin for himself. He stole nearly all the great treasures of Prydain, locking them in his fortress. It was his cruelty that turned the gwythaints from gentle creatures into the "Eyes of Annuvin". From Annuvin he commands his legions of Cauldron-Born warriors and Huntsmen of Annuvin. Arwan is described as a dark haired man with a dark robe. He has great knowledge of magic and is capable of changing his physical shape. This ability gives him the strengths and weaknesses of whatever he takes the shape of.
Arawn and the Cwn Annwn appear in Diana Wynne Jones's 1975 fantasy novel Dogsbody.
Arawn plays an important role in Mythic Entertainment's Dark Age Of Camelot, in which he is a patron god to the Inconnu race, as well as the Reaver, Heretic and Necromancer classes.fr:Arawn nl:Arawn pl:Arawn sv:Arawn