March Malaen

The March Malaen is cited in Celtic folklore as an evil horse associated with the Devil and witchcraft, whose mythical or historical origins remain obscure. In the 18th century, its tradition was said to be widespread among the Welsh, through a popular expression and the Gallic goddess Andarta.

From 1807, with the publication of Iolo Morganwg's Welsh Triads, March Malaen became a creature of Welsh mythology, and one of the three scourges of the "Isle of Brittany". This reference is repeated in Joseph Loth's 1889 translation of the Mabinogion, according to which the March Malaen came to the kingdom from across the sea on May 1st. It is associated with the tale of Lludd a Llefelys, where, in more recent translations, the first plague fought by King Lludd Llaw Eraint is the arrival of the Corannyeit people.

Nineteenth-century authors, in the midst of the Celtic era, comment on the horse in various ways, suggesting that it could be the Questing Beast of Arthurian legend, that May 1st was feared by the ancient Welsh as the day of the March Malaen's appearance, or that it was the memory of a fomented king. March Malaen is absent from most recent publications.