by Myers, Karen
Coronwen (ko-RON-wen)
Daughter of Eurig ap Gruffyd and Tegwen. Wife of Llefelys. Queen of Gaul.
Creiddylad ferch Nudd (krey-THIL-ad verkh NIDH)
Daughter of Lludd Llaw Eraint (Nudd), sister of Gwyn ap Nudd and Edern ap Nudd, one-time wife of Gwythyr ap Greidawl. Ex-Lady of Edgewood (Pencoed) to Gwyn ap Nudd.
Cuhelyn (ki-HEE-lin)
Vassal of Lludd Llaw Eraint.
Cydifor (KEED-ih-vor)
Musician to Rhys Vachan ap Rhys in Edgewood.
Cyledr Wyllt (KIL-eh-der WILT) - Cyledr the Mad.
Son of Nwython. Warrior of Gwythyr ap Greidawl.
Cynan ab Owen Gwynedd (KEH-nan ab OU-ain GWI-nedh)
Son of the Prince of Gwynedd, brother of Madog.
Cynwrig ab Owen Gwynedd (KEHN-hriig ab OU-ain GWI-nedh)
Son of the Prince of Gwynedd, brother of Madog.
Derlwyn (der-LUIN)
Scholar, healer, magician to Lludd Llaw Eraint.
Dilys (DIL-is)
Mother of Thomas Kethin, mistress of Thomas, Lord Fairfax.
Dyfnallt (DEV-nahlt)
Hunt staff trainee sent by Cuhelyn.
Edern ap Nudd (EE-dern ap NIDH)
Son of Lludd Llaw Eraint (Nudd), brother of Gwyn ap Nudd and Creiddylad ferch Nudd, father of Rhys ab Edern, grandfather of Rhys Vachan ap Rhys and Rhian ferch Rhys.
Eiryth (EI-ryth)
Wife of Rhys ab Edern, mother of Rhys Vachan ap Rhys and Rhian ferch Rhys.
Eluned (e-LII-ned)
A master scholar and healer to Rhys Vachan ap Rhys in Edgewood. Mother’s sister to Eiryth, mother of Rhys Vachan ap Rhys.
Eurig ap Gruffydd (EI-rig ap GRIFF-ith)
Father of Coronwen. Husband of Tegwen, great-uncle of Brynach. Vassal of Gwyn ap Nudd.
Geraint (GEE-raint)
Steward of Bryntirion under Gwyn ap Nudd.
Glesni (GLES-ni)
One of Lludd’s noble vassals. Friend of Gwyn ap Nudd.
Glynis (GLEH-nis)
Candidate for apprenticeship to Angharad.
Gorwel (GOR-wel)
Commander of Lludd Llaw Eraint’s blockading forces in Bryntirion.
Gruffydd (GRII-fidh)
Son of Angharad.
Guto (GI-toh) - diminutive of Gruffydd.
A cadet at Greenway Court.
Gwion (GWII-on)
Hunt staff trainee sent by Glesni.
Gwyn ap Nudd (GWIN ap NIDH) - Gwyn Annan.
Son of Lludd Llaw Eraint (Nudd), brother of Edern ap Nudd and Creiddlyad ferch Nudd. Father of Georgia Rice Annan. Prince of Annwn.
Gwythyr ap Greidawl (GWI-thir ap GREI-dul)
Ex-husband of Creiddylad ferch Nudd. Gwyn ap Nudd’s opponent each Nos Galan Mae.
Hadyn (HAY-din)
Weapons-master to Gwyn ap Nudd.
Heledd (HEE-ledh)
Scholar, healer, magician.
Idris ap Hywel - Idris Powell (IH-dris ap HIH-wel)
Marshal to Gwyn ap Nudd. 2nd in command.
Idwal (ID-wal)
Temporary huntsman for Glesni, Gwion’s replacement.
Ifor ap Griffri - Ifor Moel (IH-ver ap GRIFF-ree), (IH-ver MOYLE) - Ifor the Bald.
Steward and administrator to Gwyn ap Nudd under Idris Powell.
Iolo ap Huw (YO-lo ap HUE) - diminutive of Iorwerth.
Huntsman to Gwyn ap Nudd.
Iona (YO-na)
Breeder of ponies and small horses.
Llefelys (lhe-VEE-lis)
Son of Beli Mawr. Brother of Lludd/Nudd. Uncle of Gwyn ap Nudd, Edern ap Nudd, and Creiddylad ferch Nudd. Husband of Coronwen ferch Eurig. King of Gaul.
Lludd Llaw Eraint (LHIDH LHAU er-AYNT) - Nudd/Lludd of the Silver Hand.
Son of Beli Mawr. Brother of Llefelys. Father of Gwyn ap Nudd, Edern ap Nudd, and Creiddylad ferch Nudd. King of Britain.
Llyr (LHIIR)
Son of Angharad.
Madog ab Owen Gwynedd (MAA-dog ab OU-ain GWI-nedh)
Son of the Prince of Gwynedd. Discovered a way to the new world around 1100.
Maelgwn (MYLE-goon)
Young way-finder, friend of Granite Cloud. Adopted son of George Talbot Traherne.
Morien (MOR-yen)
Scholar, healer, magician to Llefelys.
Morwen (MOR-wen)
Servant in Llefelys’s household.
Mostyn (MOS-tin)
A tailor in Greenhollow.
Nudd
See Lludd Llaw Eraint.
Nwython (NWIH-thon)
A warrior of Gwythyr ap Greidawl, killed by Gwyn ap Nudd. Father of Cyledr Wyllt.
Pwyll Pen Annwn (PWILL pen ANN-un) - Pwyll head of Annwn.
An ally of Gwythyr ap Greidawl and friend of Arawn. Lord of Dyfed.
Rhian ferch Rhys (HRII-an verkh RHEESE)
Foster-daughter of Gwyn ap Nudd, daughter of Rhys ab Edern and Eiryth, granddaughter of Edern ap Nudd, sister of Rhys Vachan ap Rhys. Junior huntsman to Gwyn ap Nudd.
Rhirid ab Owen Gwynedd (HRII-riid ab OU-ain GWI-nedh)
Son of the Prince of Gwynedd, brother of Madog.
Rhodri ap Morgant (HROD-hrii ap MOR-gant)
Distant cousin to Gwyn ap Nudd, cousin to Rhian ferch Rhys and Rhys Vachan ap Rhys. Diplomat and way-finder to Gwyn ap Nudd. Musician.
Rhys ab Edern (HREESE ab EE-dern)
Son of Edern ap Nudd, husband of Eiryth, father of Rhian ferch Rhys and Rhys Vachan ap Rhys.
Rhys Vachan ap Rhys (HREESE VAKH-an ap HREESE) - Rhys the younger, Rhys Junior.
Foster-son of Gwyn ap Nudd, son of Rhys ab Edern and Eiryth, grandson of Edern ap Nudd, brother of Rhian ferch Rhys. Earl of Edgewood under Gwyn ap Nudd.
Scilti (SHIL-tee) - The thin one.
From Irish Cailte, Caolite.
Senua (se-NOO-ah)
A goddess of springs and wisdom.
Siriol (SIR-i-ol)
Daughter of Angharad.
Taranis (ta-RAN-iss)
A god of thunder and strength.
Tegwen (TEG-wen)
Mother of Coronwen. Wife of Eurig ap Gruffydd.
Thomas Kethin (KETH-in) - Thomas the Swarthy.
Son of Thomas, Lord Fairfax, and Dilys
Trefor Mawr (TREH-vor MA-oor) - Trevor the Great.
A famous way-finder.
Tudur (TII-dir)
Huntsman to Llefelys.
Tudwystl (TID-wistl)
Castellan at Ceri under Edern ap Nudd.
KORRIGANS (KOR-i-gans)
Broch (BROCKH)
Elder, community leader for Gwyn’s korrigans in Edgewood.
Tiernoc (TEEAIR-nok)
Elder, community leader for the old world korrigans in Edgewood.
LUTINS (LOO-tanh)
Armelle (ar-MEL)
Wife of Tanguy.
Benitoe (BEN-ih-toe)
Whipper-in. Adopted nephew of Maëlys.
Huon (HOO-on)
Kennel-man.
Isolda (i-SOL-da)
Daughter of Ives, betrothed to Benitoe. Deceased.
Ives (EVE)
Kennel-master. Father of Isolda.
Luhedoc (LOO-eh-doc)
Husband of Maëlys.
Maëlys (may-EL-iss)
Wife of Luhedoc, runs the Golden Cockerel inn in Edgewood.
Tanguy (TAN-ghee)
Kennel-man. Husband of Armelle.
ELEMENTALS
Ash Tremor
Daughter of Gravel, older sister of Seething Magma.
Cavern Wind
Daughter of Seething Magma, granddaughter of Gravel.
Granite Cloud
Daughter of Seething Magma, granddaughter of Gravel.
Gravel
Mother of Seething Magma, grandmother of Granite Cloud.
Seething Magma - Mag.
Daughter of Gravel, mother of Granite Cloud and Cavern Wind.
HORSES
Afanc (AH-vank) - Water-horse, monster.
Huntsman’s horse inherited by George. Black gelding.
Brenin Du (BREN-
in DII) - Black King.
Pony for Maelgwn. Black gelding.
Llamrei (LHAM-ry) - Legendary horse of Arthur.
Huntsman’s horse inherited by George. Chestnut mare.
Mosby (MOZ-by)
George’s horse. Dapple-gray Percheron-thoroughbred gelding.
HOUNDS - CWN ANNWN
Cwn Annwn (COON AN-nun)
The Hounds of Hell. See Annwn.
Aeronwy (f) (ei-ROO-nui)
Anwen (f) (AHN-wen) - Very fair.
Briallen (f) (bri-AL-len) - Primrose.
Cythraul (m) (KEH-thral) - Devil, Demon.
Outsider.
Dando (m) (DAN-doe)
Elain (f) (eh-LAIN) - Fawn.
Outsider.
Goronwy (m) (go-RON-wee)
Outsider.
Gweilgi (f) (GWEIL-gi) - Wolf-dog.
Outsider.
Holda (f)
Leo (m)
Outsider.
Rhymi (f) (HREM-ee)
Outsider.
DOGS (OTHER)
Cabal (KA-ball)
A terrier owned by Angharad.
Ermengarde (ER-men-GARD)
A terrier owned by Angharad.
Hugo
A blue-tick coonhound owned by George.
Sergeant
A yellow feist owned by George.
EVENTS
Nos Galan Gaeaf (noos GA-lan GEI-a) - The night of the calend of winter.
The first day (night) of winter. October 31, the eve of November 1, the eve of All Saints’ Day (All Hallows), Hallowe’en. (Celtic dates begin in the evening).
Nos Galan Mae (noos GA-lan MAY) - The night of the calend of May.
The first day (night) of summer. April 30, the eve of May 1.
PLACES
Annwn (AN-nun)
Part of the Celtic otherworld, traditionally the underworld. See Cwn Annwn.
Bryntirion (brin-TIR-yon) - Mount Pleasant.
Domain of Gwyn ap Nudd in western Britain. Location of one end of the Travelers’ Way.
Calubriga (CA-lu-BREE-ga)
One of the estates in Gaul belonging to Gwythyr ap Greidawl.
Camulodunum (CA-mu-LOD-u-num)
An ancient settlement in Britain, where Colchester stands in the human world.
Ceri (KEE-ri)
A market town in Edern’s domain.
Daear Llosg (DEI-ar LHOSK) - Burnt Ground.
The meadow on the slope north of Greenway Court where funerals and cremations are held.
Dyffryn Camarch (DEH-frin KA-markh) - Broad valley of the winding Horse River.
The Shenandoah Valley.
Gwastadedd Mawr (gwa-STAA-dedh MA-oor) - The Great Plain.
Salisbury Plain.
Llys y Lon Las (LHIIS eh LOON laas) - Greenway Court (Court of the Green Lane).
The name of Gwyn ap Nudd’s manor, later borrowed (before 1750) by a human visitor, Thomas, 6th Lord Fairfax, as a name for his wilderness estate and hunting lodge at White Post, in the Shenandoah Valley.
Pant-glas (PANT-glaas). Also Pantglas. - Greenhollow.
The name of the village below Greenway Court.
Pen-y-Coed (PEN-ih-KOID). Also Pencoed. - Edgewood.
The name of Creiddylad’s estate, granted by Gwyn ap Nudd. Now in the charge of Rhys Vachan ap Rhys.
Plas-Marl (PLAAS-MARL) - The mansion of the marl.
Edern’s dwelling built around the Family Way.
Tagell (TAA-gelh) - The snare.
New name for Madog’s keep on top of Y Farteg.
Taironnen (tair-O-nen) - The three elms.
The name of Eurig’s estate.
Tan-y-bryn (tan-eh-BRIN) - The place below the hill.
The village at the foot of Y Farteg in Dyffryn Camarch.
Y Farteg (eh VAR-teg) - The beautiful hill.
Massanutten Mountain in Dyffryn Camarch, the center of Madog’s old domain.
Ynys Môn (INN-iss MON)
The island of Anglesey in northwest Wales.
Yr Wyddfa (EHR WIDH-va) - The Tumulus.
Mount Snowdon in northwest Wales.
IF YOU LIKE THIS BOOK…
MORE GOODIES
You can find out more information about this book here: PerkunasPress.com/wp/link-king-of-the-may/.
Continue reading for an excerpt of the first chapter of Bound into the Blood, the next book in The Hounds of Annwn series, and find out more about it here: PerkunasPress.com/wp/link-bound-into-the-blood/.
Sign up for my newsletter to stay informed of new and upcoming releases and to get occasional bonuses, like free short stories: PerkunasPress.com/wp/signup.
CONTACTING THE AUTHOR
You can contact Karen Myers at HollowLands.com. You can also follow her on Facebook, at Facebook.com/PerkunasPress.
ALSO BY KAREN MYERS
The Hounds of Annwn
To Carry the Horn
The Ways of Winter
King of the May
Bound into the Blood
Story Collections
Tales of Annwn
Short Stories
The Call
Under the Bough
Night Hunt
Cariad
The Empty Hills
EXCERPT FROM BOUND INTO THE BLOOD
Available Now from Perkunas Press
It was time to move again, he decided. Soon. He searched his face in the mirror. Ten years in one place was enough. The first jokes about how young he still looked had started, and his unchanging appearance would only raise more questions if he lingered much longer.
He grimaced. It was getting harder each time to set up a new identity, to stay off the grid. Maybe he should move to another country altogether, one with bigger problems than surveilling its citizens. He could last a long time in some country in Africa, he thought, if he could figure out a way to get there without a passport. And there were interesting beasts there to turn his hand to.
Or maybe he should just stop and put an end to it, the last of his line of the special breed, the pure blood. He’d done what he had to do, twenty-odd years ago, and he remembered it still each morning when he woke. Nothing much had seemed real to him after that, after he fled and left it all, worlds behind. His death wouldn’t seem real either, he suspected, when it came, just the long-delayed natural conclusion. Well, at least he’d be done with it, then. He was tired of the fight. It would be a welcome relief, a silence and a forgetting.
“See here, huntsman,” Eurig said, “Do you have any idea just how much havoc those puppies are causing?”
George hid his smile as best he could. Pacifying puppy walkers was a touchy job for any huntsman, and it was a human foxhunting custom he’d newly introduced to the Cwn Annwn, the Hounds of Annwn, the pack that hunted deer most of the season. Once each year they hunted man in the fae otherworld, for the great hunt on Nos Galan Gaeaf, All Hallows’ Eve.
Eurig’s long mustaches did a excellent job of reinforcing his indignation as he launched into his tale of chaos and destruction. “I said I’d take two of them for the summer, but I had no idea how much mischief they could get into. Tegwen has vowed to grill the next one that chases her cows and runs them dry.”
His eyes twinkled as his rhetoric warmed up, and George made himself comfortable in his armchair in the den of the huntsman’s house and stretched out his long legs to listen. His two dogs, a blue-tick coonhound and a yellow feist, and Angharad’s terriers snoozed in their favorite spots in the room, not in the least disturbed.
“Surwen and Leo, now, I don’t know which is worse. I’m grateful to you, I am, that you didn’t let me take both the outsider whelps in the interests of civilizing them, for that Leo is a dedicated terror all by himself. He spends his waking hours studying how to escape whatever he’s housed in and how to bedevil any other animal he meets. For awhile the roosters had him intimidated, but now they don’t dare venture out lest he ambush them.”
George said, with a straight face, “I hope you chastise the pups when that happe
ns. The whole point of the exercise is to get them used to people, houses, and farm animals so that they’re better behaved when they rejoin the pack in a few weeks.”
“Chastise them?” he sputtered. “Chastise them? I have to catch them first.” He paused in front of George’s chair and waved his hands in the air.
George grinned outright.
“And that Surwen…” Eurig said. “She looks so innocent when she’s asleep.” He looked George in the face and his mustaches waggled ferociously. “It’s a lie. She’s worse than the other one. She learns from him. He only terrorizes the animals, but she’s got these sharp teeth and a sleeping nest full of once-useful objects.”
George cocked an eyebrow inquisitively, and Eurig tapped the fingers on his left hand in a count.
“My shoes. Only one of a pair, mind. A new-made cheese. A long-dead squirrel. A stolen apron.” He ran out of fingers. “And this morning, a piece of embroidery Tegwen was working on.”
George winced. “Ouch. Come sit down.” He waved his hand at the chair next to him, and Eurig stopped his pacing to drop into it with an exasperated explosion of breath.
“Do you want me to take them back, seriously?” George asked. “It’s only been six weeks, but I can do that. But, you know, Iona’s got Gweilgi, the outsider bitch puppy, as one of her pair, and she seems to be able to keep them out of trouble with her horses.” He hoped Eurig didn’t compare notes with Iona, or he’d be caught. Iona had sent him blistering messages about her two whelps. “And then Benitoe’s aunt, Maëlys, has taken three of them in the Golden Cockerel, in Edgewood. I hear that life around an inn has been very educational for them.” And for her customers, if Benitoe’s humorous reports were accurate.
He continued, “And don’t forget the puppy show in the fall. There are eleven other whelps being walked right now by people like you, for a few more weeks. Don’t you want to have a chance at the trophy for the best behaved, healthiest, most obedient…”
Eurig glowered at him. “Tegwen sent me—she’s had enough.” He lowered his voice. “But I don’t want to be the first one to give in, and I told her so. Any advice?”
George said, “Other than keeping them healthy and exercised, there’s only a handful of things they have to learn from the puppy walkers—their names, how to behave around domestic animals, and the notion that there are limits and consequences. Realistically, they’re hunting hounds, and that’s going to rule their nature pretty soon. Once they start trailing scent on their own and wandering off, I’ll have to take them back and introduce them into pack life. July’s just beginning, and they’re fourteen weeks old. In another six weeks or so, it’ll be over.”