Henwen, meaning "Old White", is in Welsh legend a sow (female pig) which according to the Welsh Triads gave birth to Cath Palug, a monstrous cat depicted as combating with either Cai (Sir Kay) or King Arthur of Arthurian Legends. According to the triad "Three Powerful Swinherds of the Isle of Britain", the sow was kept by one Coll, son of Collfrewy, a pigkeeper for Dallwyr Dallben (also spelt Dallweir). The variant Red Book of Hergest (RBH) and White Book of Rhydderch (WBR) texts add that the Dallwyr held a valley named after him, the Glen of Dallwyr in Cornwall. The sow was ready to give birth, but this boded ill for the Isle of Britain, according to prophecy, so she was chased until she plunged into the sea at Penrhyn Awstin in Cornwall. The sow eventually re-emerges on land at Aber Tarogi in Gwent Is-coed (a subdivision of Gwent).
Contents
Offspring
Subsequently at various locales, the sow engenders various creatures as offspring, some bountiful, some baneful.
The wolf and eagle were adopted by eminent men but "they were both the worse for them". The swineherd took the kitten and cast in into the Menai Strait. Then on the isle of Môn (or Mona, i.e. Anglesey), which is across the strait, the sons of Palug reared the cat which became the Cath Palug.
Henwyn
In the "Canu y Meirch" (Song of the Horses, aka "Torrit anuyndawl"), in the Book of Taliesin, is a mention of the horse by the name of Henwyn.
In Popular Culture
In The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander, Hen Wen is depicted as a clairvoyant pig kept by Dallben and Coll and looked after by Taran, the young protagonist of the series.