Great, however, as he probably was, Lludd, or Nudd occupies less space in Welsh story, as we have it now, than his son. Gwyn ap Nudd has outlived in tradition almost all his supernatural kin. Professor Rhys is tempted to see in him the British equivalent of the Gaelic Finn mac Cumhail.[287] The name of both alike means “white”; both are sons of the heaven-god; both are famed as hunters. Gwyn, however, is more than that; for his game is man. In the early Welsh poems, he is a god of battle and of the dead, and, as such, fills the part of a _psychopompos_, conducting the slain into Hades, and there ruling over them. In later, semi-Christianized story he is described as “Gwyn, son of Nudd, whom God has placed over the brood of devils in Annwn, lest they should destroy the present race[288]”. Later again, as paganism still further degenerated, he came to be considered as king of the _Tylwyth Teg_, the Welsh fairies,[289] and his name as such has hardly yet died out of his last haunt, the romantic vale of Neath. He is the wild huntsman of Wales and the West of England, and it is his pack which is sometimes heard at chase in waste places by night. In his earliest guise, as a god of war and death, he is the subject of a poem in dialogue contained in the Black Book of Caermarthen.[290] Obscure, like most of the ancient Welsh poems,[291] it is yet a spirited production, and may be quoted here as a favourable specimen of the poetry of the early Cymri. In it we shall see mirrored perhaps the clearest figure of the British Pantheon, the “mighty hunter”, not of deer, but of men’s souls, riding his demon horse, and cheering on his demon hound to the fearful chase. He knows when and where all the great warriors fell, for he gathered their souls upon the field of battle, and now rules over them in Hades, or upon some “misty mountain-top”.[292] It describes a mythical prince, named Gwyddneu Garanhir, known to Welsh legend as the ruler of a lost country now covered by the waters of Cardigan Bay, asking protection of the god, who accords it, and then relates the story of his exploits: _Gwyddneu._ A bull of conflict was he, active in dispersing an arrayed army, The ruler of hosts, indisposed to anger, Blameless and pure his conduct in protecting life. _Gwyn._ Against a hero stout was his advance, The ruler of hosts, disposer of wrath, There will be protection for thee since thou askest it. _Gwyddneu._ For thou hast given me protection How warmly wert thou welcomed! The hero of hosts, from what region thou comest? _Gwyn._ I come from battle and conflict With a shield in my hand; Broken is the helmet by the pushing of spears. _Gwyddneu._ I will address thee, exalted man, With his shield in distress. Brave man, what is thy descent? _Gwyn._