Hi guys, I was wondering if anyone knows of any spirits/deities associated with the Taff, the river that runs through Cardiff? I have become quite close to the river recently, building up a relationship with it, and I'd like to know it better.
Cheers!
x

Ah, how'd I miss this one! Lol, t'is a beautiful river.

Hmmm. I reckon what you probably need is the local Welsh names surrounding it and further up towards the source - do a bit of antiquarian etymological pondering. Can find some amazing things out about the mythos of the Welsh landscape from that.

There's a little bit here on British Goblins.

There's also an interesting thread about the name:

"Later the name evolved into Caer Dydd. The fort was built next to the river Taff, and there are some who think the name of the river and the name of the Roman have been confused and ended up being blended together to get the ff ending in english. "

"Caerdyf, a form which dates to the early 6th century at least, contains two place-name elements. The first is Welsh caer, 'fort, stronghold, enclosure' which is often seen in Welsh place names. This is followed by Taf, a river-name in its genitive form Tyf, mutated to Dyf - 'fort (of the river) Taf'."

Marie Trevelyan is usually the first pace I go for anything on Welsh folklore. Look under chapter one on seas, rivers and lakes - there's some info but it won't be extensive unless you can work out the name originally given as Taff/Taf appears to be quite a bit later.

Best wishes, if you find anything please report back!

I respect rivers as great undines. Having said that, they do not all come across as female to me. The ones I have met who present themselves (to me, maybe not to others) as male are the Tay, Avon, the Lugg (in North Herefordshire) and the Taff. I don't know why.

For most of my adult life I have chosen to live near rivers. The one I live close to now is the Wye, though I work close to the Severn (the Lady Hafern). When i cross over a river I pay my respects; these, to me, are mighty nature spirits. I have seen the Wye run red in flood many times, when she gobbles up the meadows around the town. These are spirits who have many moods, all of which are to be admired and paid heed to.

Apparently Mary Shelley got her idea for "Frankenstein" whilst sitting on the banks of the Tay in Perthshire...

(Which is about as far into the realms of intellectualism as I am prepared to go. Tis now The Holidays. )

PS: Though I might be persuaded to look up Jstor later on. I like chocolates. And drams.

I'm allergic to Cardiff.

I don't have much choice; I work there. Though only until March, and not in the city centre.