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Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio. Hi, my name is Robert Lamb, and this is The Monster Fact, a short-form series from Stuff to Blow Your Mind focusing on mythical creatures, ideas, and monsters in time.
I spent last week in Wales, taking in the majestic beauty of the Welsh countryside as well as its vibrant history. During my travels, I asked my tour guide, O'Shaun, which monster from Welsh traditions really stands out to him. And his answer was the avonk.
The exact nature of the Ivank varies from telling to telling, as does its exact name. But drawing on the book Folklore of Wales by Anne Ross, as well as Carol Rose's Giants, Monsters, and Dragons, I think we can start with a general, consistent tale.
Medieval and later Welsh traditions hold that the avonk was a terrifying water monster that preyed on human beings until such time as it was chained and dragged away by oxen across the Welsh countryside, sometimes through the moors, till it could be imprisoned in the lake of Shin Cwm Ifanan in Snowdonia. In other tellings of the tale, it was merely dragged by oxen onto dry land where it became paleless.
Sometimes this is the work of the knight Peridur, other times Sir Percival, and even King Arthur himself in some tellings. Again, there are many variations, but this seems to be a good skeleton of a tale to work from. Now, what was the exact nature of the beast in question? Well, Ross and Rose mentioned several different alleged forms. A great supernatural crocodile.
A giant beaver, a water demon, a dwarf, a hippocampus or water horse. In at least one telling, according to Ross, it boasts the powers of the Scotch-Irish Kelpie, taking on the fair form of a horse or a youth in order to lure in its prey. Mostly, however, the avanc was said to lurk in the waters and simply attack any human who came too close to the shore.
But it was also said to occasionally thrash around in the water with sufficient force to cause devastating, even primordial, floods. In one telling, a fetching maiden lured the beast from Shin-ur-Avonk, a pool by the Conwy River, and the Avonk fell asleep on her knee, clutching one of her breasts in its claw. And while the creature slept, men crept up with chains and bound the creature.
When the Ivank woke to this imprisoned state, it panicked and it fled back with all its strength towards its watery home, the maiden's breast still gripped in its claw.
And while the monster did indeed make it back to the waters of Shin-Ur-Avank, trailing its chains the whole way, the men succeeded in binding its chains to Aksin, which succeeded in dragging the monster away to its watery prison in Shin-Kum-Iphanon, where it is said to lurk to this day. So if you find yourself in Wales, look out for the Avank, and don't get too close to strange waters.
Tune in for additional episodes of The Monster Fact each week. As always, you can email us at contact at stufftoblowyourmind.com. Stuff to Blow Your Mind is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app. Apple Podcasts are wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
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