Myths & Legends

"Did king Arthur bring peace to Britain, really?"
"Indeed, he defeated the Saxons at the battle of Badon and there was a time of peace, but it was a peace won by war, and that kind of peace rarely lasts..."
Historians have long debated the site of Arthur's last great battle against his nephew Mordred (Mawdred) and his Saxon allies. Some claimed it was at Camelford in Cornwall, or Camelon in Scotland. Most recently it has been suggested that the battle took place at Cadlan on the Llyn Peninsular of Wales. In old Welsh the word cadgamlan means a slaughter, so any of these sites might be the place of this final catastrophe.
Wherever the battle was fought, it marked the end of this phase of Celtic resistance to the Saxons and both documentary and archaeological evidence shows that after 537 the Saxons occupied the Midlands and the south west of England. The British tribes retreated into their hill forts in Gwent, Powys and Gwynedd or bought an uneasy peace with the Saxons with tribute and treaties.

Gelert

Once there was a prince named Llywellyn. He had a dog called Gelert. He trusted him with his life. Gelert was a brilliant hunting dog and a faithful companion to Llywellyn. One day Llywellyn's wife had a baby boy.
Llywellyn was very fond of hunting so one afternoon he arranged a meet. Llywellyn had to leave his new born child, so insted of a babysitter he chose his faithfull dog, Gelert to look after the baby.
So off Llywellyn went with his dog in charge of his child.
Llywellyn had gone for at least an hour when Gelert and the baby had an unexpected visitor, a wolf from the woods tore into the house and into the room where the baby was lying. Gelert quickly took the baby in its mouth and placed him on the floor with a blanket over him so that he could fight off the wolf.
Llywellyn returned to find the baby missing and Gelert coverd in blood, Llywellyn's thoughts ran wild and assumed that Gelert had killed the baby. With that Llywellyn thrusted his sword into Gelert and killed him. But as Gelert fell with a thud to the ground he heard his son cry. He lifted the blanket to find the baby safe and well with not a scratch on his body.

Llywellyn then realised his mistake as he saw the wolf's dead body by the cot. Llywellyn regretted his actions and arranged for Gelert to have a buriel service and a grave stone with his name and achievments carved upon it.
The grave stone is there to this day as a tourist attraction to Wales in a small village called "Bedd Gelert " which in English translates to Gelert's grave.

The Holy Grail is to be found in Wales.

While England enjoys its legend concerning the planting of Joseph of Arimathea's staff, where it blooms as the Glastonbury Thorn, Wales has preserved an even more wondrous legend connected with the holy man, that of the Grail itself. At Nant Eos (Stream of the Nightingale), not far from Aberystwyth, there stands an old mansion house that was lived in by the Powell family for centuries. In 1876, the Powells put one of their ancient heirlooms on public display. It was a battered, old cup made of wych elm that supposedly came from nearby Strata Florida Abbey at the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The relic is a Holy Grail, supposedly made out of the wood of the true cross and brought to Britain by Joseph. For centuries, pilgrims had been drinking out of this wooden vessel to partake of its healing powers. On display with the cup were a number of paper slips attesting to the cures effected. Last displayed in 1960, the cup was found to have been badly worn with many pieces having been broken off and kept for good luck by those who came to enjoy its healing powers. Having lost its silver rim, placed to protect the cup from damage, the Grail is said to have now lost its miraculous powers. There is an interesting story connected with the Welsh Grail. It has been told that the great composer Wagner stayed at Nant Eos in 1855, and inspired by the presence of the cup and the legend of the knights who undertook many courageous adventures on the quest to find it, began work on his opera Parsival. That the opera was started ten years before Wagner's visit to the Powell family should not detract those who treasure such legends.

Welsh Prince Discovers the New World
In the year 1170, the dashing Prince of Wales named Prince Madoc sailed the seas to a New World. One of the younger children of the King, he was certain not to ascend the throne, so he left his native country and went to make his fortune abroad. Prince Madoc landed on a dazzling beach, the sand white as snow, sparkling in the sun, the sea blue as the sky and clear. Great turtles roamed the shore. Seabirds flew about. A wealth of shells lay on the beach. Madoc had brought with him several brothers and his sister. They moved inland and found good harbour for their ships; they desired to make a colony upon the land. It is said that Prince Madoc sailed back home for provisions twice more then they made their way into the interior of the continent, following the waterways. Eventually Prince Madoc and his party settled with the Mandan Indians. Many believe that Madoc was the first European to land on the American shores. It is said there are ruins of a Welsh-type fort near Mentone, AL; John Sevier claimed to have found it in 1782. When Elizabeth I, Queen of England, heard of Madoc's adventures; she was inspired to send expeditions to America. Pioneer heroes John Sevier and Daniel Boone spoke of meeting blue-eyed Welsh-speaking Indians; those stories were told to Thomas Jefferson who was inspired to send Lewis and Clark west on their explorations. And one of the Mandan legends of origin says they came from Madoc.

The Lady of the Lake

A heady brew of love, magic and broken promises - the tale of the lady of Llyn-y-Fan Fach is one of the best-known folk tales in Wales.

This is the story of a simple farmer who fell for a beautiful creature living in a lake. He successfully wooed her and she agreed to marry him. But she warned that if he were to strike her three times she would return to her watery home forever. The lovesick farmer readily agreed. The two were married and the bride brought with her a dowry of magical cattle. All went well until the Christening of their first son.

Several times they set off to attend the ceremony and several times the woman insisted on returning home to collect something she had forgotten. Eventually, her exasperated husband patted her on the back, urging her to depart for the ceremony. The woman told him that the gesture registered as a "first strike". She had been waiting for the sky to cloud over because of a premonition that their baby would die if she took him out in full sun that day.

Their relationship recovered and the couple produced a second boy. But a problem emerged at the wedding of the mortal's cousin. During the ceremony, the lady of the lake began to weep. Unknown to her husband she had foreseen the death of the bride and her unborn child. Embarrassed and anxious that his wife's tears should not effect the service, he tapped her arm - realising too late that he had now struck her twice.

They went on to have a third son, but the woman's tragic premonition about the bride proved accurate, and worse was to come. The dead woman's husband also died. At his funeral the lady of the lake began laughing hysterically. She had seen that her husband's cousin was in a better place and happy. But her husband was so distressed by her reaction that he slapped her softly on the cheek to bring her to her senses. Too late he realised that he had now struck her three times and his magical wife left. Distraught, he pursued her, but his search was fruitless. She had returned to the lake for ever.

She only appeared again for the benefit of her sons, instructing them in the healing arts and showing them the best places to harvest medicinal herbs. These healers became known as, "The Physicians of Myddfai", and the last of their line is said to have only died in the nineteenth century, though there are still some people who claim to be descended from this family.

Their collective wisdom is contained in a thirteenth-century document called, "The Red Book of Hergest", which is now held in the British Museum. The legacy of their knowledge continues today and the National Botanic Garden in Carmarthenshire is now growing and developing herbs used by these legendary early medicine men.

Magical Mountain Opposite Our Own Maes-Y-Fron Farm

Our journey begins in the upper reaches of the Swansea Valley - at Mynydd y Drum.
In Ystradgynlais lived a wizard with an iron hand. It seems that this wizard discovered that treasure had been hidden in Mynydd y Drum, but there was only one way to obtain it and that involved persuading a mortal to spend the night on the mountain. Everyone rejected the wizard's offer. Everyone that is apart from Johnny Gethin.
And so the unlikely duo went in search of gold.
On reaching the appointed place, the wizard drew a circle around Johnny. No matter what he saw, no matter what he heard, he was not to leave this protective circle.

Then the wizard summoned the spirits. The first to appear took the form of a fearsome bull. Johnny was fearful, but he did not move from within the circle that protected him.
A series of ferocious spirit creatures followed. A goat, a boar, and then a lion - they all lunged at Johnny. Still he did not flinch.
But worse was to come - a blazing wheel of fire roared towards him, and in an effort to avoid this fiery terror, he made a fatal mistake....he stepped from the circle.

Instantly, he was almost pulled in two as the wizard and and the spirit engaged in a ferocious battle for his very life.
Eventually the wizard secured his companions safety...but at a price.
The spirits agreed to allow Johnny to live, but only as long as a candle lasted.
But the candle began to diminish almost immediately.
Johnny returned home a broken man. The wizard advised him to keep the candle in the coldest place possible. It was never lit, but it still wasted away at a rapid pace. And as the candle reduced in size so did its unfortunate owner. Johnny Gethin died still a young man.

King Arthur's Resting Place

This Welsh legend begins at the unlikely spot of London Bridge. A drover was walking over the bridge, jingling coins he had made on a cattle sale. With him he carried a wooden staff. As he strolled he was approached by a sorcerer who told him that there was treasure close to where the drover's staff had been cut down. The two men set off for Wales and made their way to the tree from which the drover had cut the staff. It was at the head of the Neath Valley, Craig y Dinas, near Pont Nedd Fechan. They dug around the area and unearthed a large stone. Prising it up, they uncovered some steps beneath. They walked down the steps and through a door into a huge cave. And in the cave was a bell. The magician warned his companion not to touch the bell. As their eyes adjusted to the gloom, the drover realised that all around him lay sleeping soldiers, clothed in armour, and with swords and shields. In the midst of these dozing warriors was a great round table and seated around it was a group of knights. They too were sleeping. And on a throne nearby was their mighty leader - King Arthur with the sword Excalibur still in his hand. The magician told the astonished drover that the King and his army had been asleep for a thousand years. Only the sound of the bell would wake them. He gathered up as much gold as he could and urged the drover to follow his example. Then with his arms loaded down, he started to leave. The awestruck drover followed, but when they came to the bell, he could not resist. He rang it.Thousands of men leapt to their feat, and a voice thundered out, "Has the day come?" The terrified magician answered "No. Sleep on." King Arthur got to his feet to reassure his men that it was not time to wake, they had only been disturbed by a gold thief. The army returned to their slumbers and the two men escaped, covering up any trace of the entrance behind them. It was then that the magician vanished, leaving the drover to consider the astonishing events. He returned to the site many times after that, but never found the entrance again.