Aberystwyth storyteller Milly Jackdaw shares more about her new show.

In a video recorded in the town’s Bluebell Woods (see above), Milly shares part of ‘Mochyn Myrddin’/‘Merlin’s Pig’, which comes to Aberystwyth and Rhayader next month.

In 2023, Aberystwyth storyteller Milly Jackdaw visited sites in Wales and Scotland to explore the landscape and its connection to Myrddin, otherwise known as Merlin.

This was part of her research to create ‘Mochyn Myrddin’/‘Merlin’s Pig’, in which Milly follows a trail that led her from London to Wales and beyond.

Tales of 6th century Myrddin in the forest of Celyddon, and the revealing of the location of his wild sanctuary by writer Nikolai Tolstoy in his book ‘The Quest for Merlin’, activated a yearning in Milly to visit that place, and to enrich her storytelling with the imagery, energy and insights received there. Further explorations have led to discoveries around the relationship of the story locations to ancient ceremonial sites in Wales and to the Earth energies that converge in those places.

In ‘Mochyn Myrddin’/‘Merlin’s Pig’, Myrddin seeks the sanctuary of an apple tree, a remedy for disturbing futuristic visions triggered by the Battle of Arderydd. He befriends a wolf and a pig and the stories they tell each other unearth deep memories of an ancient sow goddess, a gallant quest involving the pursuit of the giant boar Twrch Trwyth, Myrddins own early life, and mysterious conception. Our journey takes us to the final chapter of Myrddin’s life on Bardsey Island.

Milly returns to Aberystwyth and Rhayader with a new version of this show, fusing traditional storytelling, physical theatre, music, and elements of Welsh language. She weaves personal experience with myths and folktales to reveal their relevance in our current times, and restore a sense of meaning, wonder and hope.

‘Mochyn Myrddin’ / ‘Merlin’s Pig’ is at Aberystwyth Arts Centre on 8 November and The Lost Arc in Rhayader on 16 November.