journey through mysterious wales, learn its history, places of battle, its holy sites, castles and ghosts

The Red Dragon and Dinas Emrys

Truth or fiction; Excavations have shown that there was once indeed a pool of some form, and there is in fact the remains of a hill fort in use up to the Roman occupation. Both Norman and native Welsh castle builders built their castles over the remains of earlier fortifications; such seems to be the case with this one.
Directions; The fort lies in the valley of Nant Gwynant off the A498. But beware, the ramparts are fragile and exploration is only recommended for the sure-footed. Click the pic for more info

The Dragon of Denbigh
A Dragon once terrorized the town of Denbigh, Clwyd. It had taken over the ruined castle and was in the habit of darting out to attack and devour cattle and people.
The inhabitants of the town recruited the help of a local man called Sion Bodiau (Sir John of the Thumbs). This strange fellow had two thumbs on each hand, and so in the estimation of ordinary five fingered folk he surly possessed the power to rid them of the dragon. Sir John was urged to approach the castle and tempt the dragon out. He had little choice as he rode out towards it in full armour, lance at the ready. Behind him was a population that would have murdered him had he refused. Ahead was a fire-breathing dragon. Looking back at the faces of the women from the town he decided to take his chances with the dragon. This obliged by charging out of the castle and loomed down on Sion Bodiau. But then the dragon halted short and stared down at the trembling hands, puzzling over the number of digits on display. The grateful knight saw his opportunity and plunged his lance into the dragon�s heart. He then drew his sword and chopped of the dragon�s head. Sion was a hero, the people running through the town shouting `Dim Bych, Dim Bych` in celebration. And to this day even though the town is called Denbigh in English, that name is a corruption of the Welsh Dinbych, pronounced `Dim bych locally (`no more dragon`).

The Gwiber of Penmachno
There was a Gwiber (Viper) in Penmachno that had lived there for hundreds of years. An outlaw from Hiraethog decided it would be a feather in his cap if he could kill the ancient beast. But being rather superstitious he first consulted a local wizard and asked what manner of death he could expect.
On his initial visit the wizards reply was from a `vipers bite`. Highly dissatisfied he visited the wizard for a second time `you will die from a broken neck` said the wise man. The confused man went there a third time and the grim faced magician warned him` You will drown`. The young man laughed, confident the wizard had to be wrong, no man could die three deaths. Now he was certain he could approach the viper without fear. He began to climb the rocks where it lived above a river. But then suddenly the Gwiber lashed out and bit him on the hand. The outlaw fell from the rocks, breaking his neck, then rolled into the river where he drowned.

As far as North Wales is concerned, like many other regions, we claim Arthur fought his last battle here. The story goes something like this.
King Arthur in North Wales
Arthur�s army had left their fort at Dinas Emrys and were marching over a hill called Hafod y Borth to reach Tregalan at the upper end of Cwm Llan. It was during this march that they came face to face with an enemy force and a huge battle commenced. The Knights of the Round Table fought well and drove the enemy towards Cwm Dyli. But As Arthur led his men to the top, a hail of arrows met them, and the king fell mortally wounded. His knights laid him down behind a rock where he died. His body was covered over with stones to form a cairn, after his death the surviving knights ascended the ridge to a cave below the summit of Lliwedd. After the last warrior had entered, its entrance was sealed The knights of the round table are said to be lying there still, their swords in hand and armour at the ready, waiting for Arthur to rise from the dead. According to prophecy, he will do this on an occasion when Wales is in mortal danger.

Truth or fiction.
To this day there is a cairn called Carnedd Arthur (Arthurs Cairn), The mountain pass where he died is called Bwlch y Saethau (Pass of the Arrows). But as far as I know, no one has found Ogof Llanciau Eryri (Cave of the Young Men of Snowdon).

Hard pressed by invading Saxons, the 5th Century King Vortigern, decided to build a fort not far from the village now know as Beddgelert.
He chose a dome shaped hill and set his engineers to work. But try as they might his masons could not establish firm foundations. Each stone laid sank deeper into the ground and the earth began to tremble and boil. Every time a section was built the ground shook and the wall collapsed.
Vortigern demanded answers from his soothsayers who were of the opinion that a human sacrifice was needed. To appease the hill, they said, a man of no earthly father must be slain and his blood sprinkled on the spot.
His men searched for many weeks until such a boy was found, and brought before the king. The boy, understandably reluctanyt to have his blood spilled told the king he had a vision and it told him that they needed to dig beneath the foundations, were he would find his answer.
Vortigern, willing to try anything agreed, and set his men to work. Soon an underground pool was found and when it was emptied two dragons were found, one red, the other white. The dragons awoke and began to fight. Vortigern and his men watched, as the beasts fought this way and that, first the red dragon gaining the upper hand, then the white. At last the white dragon flew out of the cave and the red dragon was victorious.
The boy (who was the then unknown Merlin) explained that battle had been a prophecy which affected the king and the future of Wales. He said that the white dragon represented the Saxons, and the red was a sacred symbol of Wales. It was an indication that the Welsh would never surrender and would eventually drive all invaders from their land.

There are many storys in Wales, some are true, some are just fiction, yet others are a little of both. I will let you decide which parts are which.