I am a mystery
with one end in Thisworld
and one end in the Otherworld.

My tails lead down the long dark tunnels
from light to darkness
and for the lucky ones
back out to the light of day again.

What is my origin?
Was I born at midnight?
From what union?

From what spell?

Oh what has the cauldron
got to sing of my birth to those
who see me as the guardian
of the Gates of Hell?

This image of Dormach, the favourite hound of Gwyn ap Nudd, is based on an sketch of him drawn by a monk in The Black Book of Carmarthen in ‘The Conversation of Gwyn ap Nudd and Gwyddno Garanhir’. Here he is described as ‘sleek and fair’ and as having a red nose. This description is similar to the Hounds of Annwn in the First Branch of The Mabinogion who are ‘gleaming shining white’ with ‘red ears’.

It is unknown why Dormach is depicted with serpent’s tails. It is likely due to his Annuvian nature. Nudd/Nodens, the father of Gwyn, is associated with a battle between red and white dragons and there is a mural of sea serpents in his temple.

In my novel-in-progress, In the Deep, I reimagine how Dormach came to be ‘the Hound with the Serpent Tails’. This story and other exclusive excerpts are available to my patrons on Patreon HERE.