Gwent Folk Tales

About this book

Gwent Folk Tales gathers twenty-nine stories from across the old county of Gwent, formerly Monmouthshire, linking local landscapes with magic, transformation and inherited memory. The Gwent Levels, rivers, chapels, hills and industrial communities all provide settings for tales shaped by the county’s history and traditions.

Among the stories are Hen Wen, the sacred white sow who came from the sea bearing abundance; the star-browed ox that walked through a dream; the Whitson Henwife and the building of the Severn Tunnel. Christine Anne Watkins combines long-told local narratives with stories passed down through her family, retelling them in the voice of a storyteller and accompanying them with black-and-white illustrations.