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In Welsh mythology, Arawn () was the king of the otherworld realm of Annwn who appears prominently in the first branch of the Mabinogi, and alluded to in the fourth. In later tradition, the role of the king of Annwn was largely attributed to the Welsh psychopomp, Gwyn ap Nudd - meaning "white" (i.e. 'winter') a possible kenning for his true name. However, Arawn's memory is retained in a traditional saying found in an old Cardigan folktale:
The name Arawn is derived from that of the biblical prophet Aaron.
Arawn's association with the hunt, hornes and the Otherworld has prompted some scholars to associate Arawn with the continental Gaulish god Cernunnos.
A friendship between the two realms is retained long after Pwyll's death; in the fourth branch, Pryderi, Pwyll's son and lord of Dyfed has received a gift of pigs from Arawn. These pigs are eventually stolen by a Venedotian magician and trickster, Gwydion. Gwydion poses as a bard, and asks to be rewarded for his poems and music with the pigs Pryderi owned. According to Pryderi, he is still in a pact with Arawn and cannot give the pigs to anyone. Gwydion then tricks Pryderi into trading him the pigs (as that is allowed in the deal with Arawn), which eventually leads to Pryderi's invasion of Gwynedd. In the ensuing war, Gwydion kills Pryderi in single combat.
While Arawn is noticeably missing from the Second through Fourth branches of the Mabinogi, some scholars claim this is due to the missing portions of the original text and that Arawn and the events of the First Branch of the Mabinogi directly lead to the birth of Pwyll's son Pryderi.Ford, P. (2008). The Mabinogi and Other Medieval Welsh Tales (p. 205). Oakland: University of California Press. The reasoning behind the birth of Pryderi having been a result of Pwyll and Arawn's meeting being missing from the original text is because while a quarter of the Mabinogi is spent talking about the mystical Otherworld of Annwn, but it is not mentioned in the other branches of the Mabinogi. Other scholars disagree with this idea, as many of these newer translations create more problems within the story and do not ground themselves in the Llyfr Gwyn, from which the Mabinogi was translated.
Some writers, notably Robert Graves, have written of an incident in which Amaethon steals a dog, lapwing and a white Roe Deer from Arawn, leading to the Cad Goddeu (Battle of the Trees), which Arawn lost to Amaethon and his brother, Gwydion. The standard text of 'Cad Goddeu' in the Book of Taliesin makes no mention of this, but the Welsh Triads records the Battle of Goddeu as one of the "Three Futile Battles of the Island of Britain...it was brought about by the cause of the bitch, together with the roebuck and the plover",Rachel Bromwich, The Welsh Triads, 2nd Edition. while Lady Charlotte Guest notes in her Mabinogion an account in the Myvyrian ArchaeologyGuest The Mabinogion, from Peniarth manuscript 98b, 81-2 quoted at http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/cadgoddeu.html that the battle "was on account of a white roebuck and a whelp; and they came from Hell, and Amathaon ab Don brought them. And therefore Amathaon ab Don, and Arawn, King of Annwn (Hell), fought. And there was a man in that battle, unless his name were known he could not be overcome; and there was on the other side a woman called Achren, and unless her name were known her party could not be overcome. And Gwydion ab Don guessed the name of the man".
Rankie and d'Este (2007) note that Arawn could be the father of Modron, as the tale of the Ford of Barking recounts Modron's father as "the King of Annwn."
The character of Arawn Death-Lord in the series The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander is based on King Arawn from the Mabinogi. However, many of the characters traits are altered within these books, as Arawn is depicted as an evil ruler. The stories still retain the idea that he is king of the Otherworld, and that he is in a struggle to take over the land from another king. In this story Arawn is defeated by his foes instead of taking over his kingdom like in the Mabinogi.
In Brut y Brenhennidd, a Welsh translation of Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia regum Britanniae, Arawn vab Kynvarch is listed as the King of "Ysgotlont" (Scotland), up the role filled by Anguselus in Geoffrey's version, being first made king by Uther Pendragon and then showing up when King Arthur holds his court at Caerleon, and otherwise acting as an ally of Arthur's, sending troops on his campaigns against the Roman Empire.
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