Romance that's 'Out of This World'

Sunday, 21 June 2020

Welsh Myths and Legends - the Welsh dragon

Hello again, and if I have any male readers - I hope you had a truly loving and happy Father's Day.

In my series on Welsh myths and legends, the last few weeks have been devoted to mythical legends. It would be very remiss of me not to mention the famous Welsh dragon - Y Graig Goch - which appears on the Welsh flag. (LOL not many countries have a dragon on their flag, do they!)

You might be surprised that it relates to the Arthurian legends.

King Vortigern came to the mountains of Eryri, in Gwynedd. On the summit of one of these, which was then called Dinas Ffaraon, he decided to build a fortress.

Then the king sent for artificers, carpenters, and stonemasons, and collected all the materials for building. In the night, however,they all disappeared. Materials were procured from all parts a second time, but a second time they disappeared in the night. A third time everything was brought together for building, but by morning again not a trace of them remained.

Vortigern called his wise men together and they told him he must find a child born without a father, put him to death, and sprinkle with his blood the ground on which the citadel was to be built.

The king thought the advice of his wise men was good and sent messengers throughout Britain in search of a child born without a father.When they eventually found one, they took him to Vortigern the king.

The boy asked why he had been brought before the king and when they told him he was to be sacrificed to enable Vortigern to build a fortress, he told the king his wise men were wrong and that there was a pool beneath the ground where they were trying to build. In the pool were two vases and in the vases a tent. in the tent were two sleeping dragons, one white and one red.

The dragons fought each other, and the eventually the red one won the battle and drove the white one away.

The boy told the king and his wise men that the pool was the emblem of this world, and the tent that of Vortigern's kingdom. The red dragon was the king's, but the white serpent was the dragon of the Saxons, At length, however, his people would rise and drive the Saxon race beyond the sea. But he must seek another place to build his citadel.

The boy's life was spared. He became famous as the great magician Myrddin Emrys , or Myrddin ab Morfryn (Merlin, as he is called in English), and the mountain on which he proved his mighty power was called Dinas Emrys instead of Dinas Ffaraon. Thereafter the red dragon became the symbol of Wales and portrayed on the Welsh flag.

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Monday, 15 June 2020

Welsh myths and legends Y Ceffyl Dŵr the water horse

After the tale of Rhiannon, the goddess of the horse, which I told you about a few weeks ago, I thought I'd mention one of the mythical creatures of Wales, the Ceffyl Dŵr, literally translated into English this means the 'Water Horse'.

Tales of this creature, which appears as a white horse (for some reason most mythological horses seem to be white, although when I was learning to ride as a child, I was taught that there are no such things as 'white' horses, only 'light greys, or albinos, but I digress.) Depending on which region of Wales one hears the stories, the Ceffyl Dŵr was believed to shapeshift, as well as having the power of flight. For example, in North Wales, it is represented as being rather formidable with fiery eyes and a dark foreboding presence, whereas in South Wales is seen as merely mischievous. She also is known to walk on her hind legs and disappear down the well in the graveyard of St Illtyds church in Oxwich Bay, or to simply evaporate into the sea mist. Over the centuries there have been many sightings of Ceffyl Dwr mostly around St Illtyds church.

The Ceffyl Dŵr is said to inhabit mountain pools and waterfalls and although it appears solid, it can evaporate into a mist. In one legend the Ceffyl Dŵr leaps out of the water to trample and kill lone travellers. In another legend, the Ceffyl Dŵr rises from the sea and entices the unwary traveler to ride her, then takes to the air, and evaporates, and the unfortunate rider falls to his death.
Hmm, rather glad not to have met any horses quite like that, in real life!

Wednesday, 10 June 2020

Celebrate Weddings - N.N. Light's Weddings Bookish Event and #Giveaway

Join me for a celebration of weddings with N. N. Light
https://www.nnlightsbookheaven.com/post/children-of-the-mist

(and there's a bundle of all 30 books in this feature to be won)
--

For insider news and subscriber-only info, subscribe to my occasional Newsletter. I promise not to spam and your in-box will only see an email from me every 3 or 4 months or so - unless of course I have something really Newsworthy to share! I also promise that I never have and never will share your information or email address with anyone or any organisation. http://madmimi.com/signups/196357/join

Sunday, 7 June 2020

Welsh myths and legends - the story of Gelert

Get your hankies out for this one, folks.

In the thirteenth-century, Prince Llywelyn the Great, so the story goes, had a palace at Beddgelert in Caernarvonshire.

He had many hunting dogs, but one day when he summoned them as usual with his horn, his favourite hound, Gelert did not come as usual, when called, so regretfully Llywelyn had to go hunting without him.

When. several hours later, he returned from the hunt, Gelert came bounding towards him…his jaws dripping with blood.

The Prince was shocked and immediately went in search of his one year old son. His worst fears were realised when he entered the child's nursery to see an upturned cradle, and blood spattering the walls. He searched for his son to no avail.

Mad with grief he plunged his sword into Gelert’s heart, believing he had killed the child.

As the dog howled and die, Llywelyn heard a baby crying underneath the upturned cradle. It was his little son, completely unharmed! Beside the child was the body of an enormous wolf, killed by the faithful hound, Gelert.

Llywelyn overcome with remorse and carried the body of the brave dog outside the castle walls, and buried him where everyone could see the grave of the faithful animal, and hear the story of his valiant fight with the wolf. It is said he was so full of remorse, he never spoke to anyone again.

To this day, a cairn of stones marks the place, outside the small village of Beddgelert. The name Beddgelert means Gelert's Grave’. The story is told on two slabs of stone, one in English and the other in Welsh.

(Just to make you feel a little better, the story is probably not true as the cairn is less than two hundred years ago, and it is said it was a tale put about by a local innkeeper to encourage visitors and increase trade. It's till a great story though.)

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Monday, 1 June 2020

More Welsh folk tales and legends - Rhiannon the horse goddess

Apologies for missing my post last week - its been somewhat hectic as my husband has been in hospital (thankfully not the virus, and he's out now) but it's been a worrying time and I just haven't had the time to devote to my writing or my blog. Anyway, I'm back now, and as a horse lover, I couldn't resist telling you about Rhiannon - a horse goddess depicted in the Mabinogion, a collection of Welsh folk tales.

Rhiannon was married to Pwyll, the Lord of Dyfed. When Pwyll first saw her, she appeared as a beautiful woman dressed in gold, riding a magnificent white horse. Rhiannon managed to outrun Pwyll for three days, and then when he shouted to her to stop, allowed him to catch up. When he said he'd fallen in love with her and wanted to marry her, she scolded him for not telling her to stop before, and making his poor horse work so hard. Then she said she'd be happy to marry him, because it would save her from marrying Gwawl, who she despised and who had tricked her into an engagement. Rhiannon and Pwyll conspired together to deceive Gwawl and thus Pwyll won her as his bride.

Three years after they married, Rhiannon gave birth to a son, but he disappeared at night while his nursemaids, who were supposed to have been watching over him, fell asleep. Frightened of the consequences, the nursemaids smeared the blood of a dead puppy on the face of their sleeping queen. When she awoke, Rhiannon was accused of killing and her son and eating him. As penance, she was made to sit outside the castle walls, and tell passers by what she had done. Pwyll, however, stood by her, refusing to send her away or have her more severely punished.

The newborn child had been in fact found by Teyrnon, the lord of Gwent-Is-Coed. He was a horse lord whose beautiful mare gave him a foal every May Eve, but each year. the foal would disappear. Before his mare had her next foal he took her into his house and sat vigil with her. After her foal was born he saw a monstrous claw trying to take the newborn foal through the window, so he slashed at the monster with his sword, before rushing outside. He found the monster gone, and a human baby lying by the door. He and his wife cared for the boy as their own, naming him Gwri Wallt Euryn (Gwri of the Golden Hair). The child grew rapidly, and had a great affinity for horses. As the boy grewTeyrnon who once served Pwyll as a courtier, recognised his resemblance to his father. He was an honourable man, and so he returned the boy to the Dyfed royal house.

Rhiannon is also connected to three mystical birds. The Birds of Rhiannon (Adar Rhiannon) appear in the Second Branch, in the Triads of Britain, and in Culhwch ac Olwen. In the latter, the giant Ysbaddaden demands them as part of the bride price of his daughter. They are described as "they that wake the dead and lull the living to sleep."

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If you're at a loose end in these strange and rather scary times, there are many great books out there to be read, try a new author.

If you'd like to listen to a book rather than read it, again there are some really great books available in audio.

(You can get my own Destiny Trilogy for FREE.)

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Starquest: https://freeaudiobookcodes.com/book_details.php?BOOK_ID=2735
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For insider news and subscriber-only info, subscribe to my occasional Newsletter. I promise not to spam and your in-box will only see an email from me every 3 or 4 months or so - unless of course I have something really Newsworthy to share! I also promise that I never have and never will share your information or email address with anyone or any organisation. http://madmimi.com/signups/196357/join

Monday, 18 May 2020

Welsh folk stories and legends - Y Tylwyth Teg- Welsh faeries

I'm interviewed on my publisher's blog today, if you'd like to find out a little bit more about me and my writing: https://thewildrosepress.blogspot.com/2020/05/garden-interview-with-hywela-lyn.html

https://thewildrosepress.blogspot.com/2020/05/garden-interview-with-hywela-lyn.html

Hello dear readers! I hope you're staying safe and well- today I'm going to tell you about the Welsh faeries, Y Tylwyth Teg (Pronounced 'er-tulwith teg)

According to Welsh folklore, fairies would ride Corgis into battle ...

Known by the native Welsh people as “Y Tylwyth Teg” (“the fair folk”) Welsh faeries typically live in lakes or streams and sometimes in hill hollows.
The are said to ride on Welsh Corgis, or use them to draw little carts. (The Welsh Corgi comes in two types, the Cardiganshire Corgi which has a long tail, and the Pembrokeshire, which has no tail at all.) They were traditionally used as cattle herding dogs by Welsh farmers, and the original two corgis were said to have been given to two human children by the TylwythTeg.

Welsh faery-lore is believed to be closely related to the legend of King Arthur and Guinevere; some believe her abduction by Arthur was abduction by the faeries – of whom Arthur was King.

The magical entities are said to resemble outstandingly beautiful humans, with blue eyes and blonde-white hair. Smaller fairies are normally more virtuous and kindly- the taller fairies tending to be more mischievous and dishonest.

Usually they dress in green, but the courtiers of the Welsh Fairy King Gwyn ap Nudd are described as being adorned in blue/red silk. In Welsh folklore faery interactions with humans feature quite heavily and kind and mindful mortals are typically rewarded with magic and the anyone found to be greedy or spiteful would be harshly punished.

There are various tales of humans being trapped in the fairy realm and the intermarriage between faeries and humans. The most famous faery tale is that of a beautiful young Cardiganshire woman called Shuï Rhys, who allegedly went away with Y Tylwyth Teg and never returned

She was the daughter of poor farmer, and one of her duties was to drive up the cows to the milking parlour. She would often loiter to pick flowers, or chase the butterflies, which caused her mother to scold her sharply. One night Shuï did not come home until bed-time, leaving the cows to care for themselves. Dame Rhys was furious but the girl told her it was the fault of the Tylwyth Teg. She said they were little men in green coats, who danced around her and made music on their tiny harps. Her mother believed the tale because it was well known that the Tylwyth Teg inhabited the woods in Cardiganshire.

Many times after that Shuï was late coming home, but her mother stopped scolding her, for fear of offending the faery folk.

One night Shuï did not come home at all, and although the family and friends searched the woods, she was never seen again. Her mother watched in the field on the three nights of the year when goblins are sure to be out and about, but Shuï never returned.

Another story concerns Llyn Cwm Llwch, a small Welsh lake that is situated in the Brecon Beacons of Powys. It is associated with some rather strange legends and folklore. One relates the story of the Tylwyth Teg and an invisible island,

According to local legend, the lake was the abode of the Tylwyth Teg, or the Fair Folk, who had a garden on an invisible island in the lake. On May Day every year, it was said a doorway would appear in a rock by the lakeside. Those humans who were brave enough could pass through it into a passage, which would take them into an enchanted garden situated on the island in the lake. Although visitors to the island could clearly see the shores of the lake, the island and the garden were not visible from the lake’s shore.

The Faery Folklorist: The Fairy Women of Llyn Barfog, North Wales

Those who ventured through the door and down the passage entered into a wonderful land with gorgeous flowers of the most beautiful colours and intoxicating scents. These were visited by brightly-coloured butterflies and dragonflies, and songbirds sang e as they flitted through the branches of the trees.

In this glorious setting, the Tylwyth Teg provided their guests by with food and drink unlike anything to be found on Earth. Then they entertained them with songs, music, and amazing stories. All the Tylwyth Teg asked of their guests was that they should not take with them a single item from the island or garden when they returned tto the land of mortals.

However, humans have short memories while the Tylwyth Teg never forget. There had never been a single transgression of this rule since the time when they first opened the door. But one day, one irresponsible and ungrateful guest decide he wanted something more than just a memory of his wonderful time upon the island. He picked a beautiful flower which had never been seen in the mortal world, and hid it in the inside of his jacket pocket. The second he stepped out of the door and placed his foot on earth, his senses all left him. He fell to walking round backwards in circles and talking nonsense, and lost all ability to reason, and eventually dropped down dead.

The Tylwyth Teg took leave of their guests with their usual good manners and courtesy. However, the following May Day the door did not appear. Nor was it seen again in the years that followed. and to this day, the door to the enchanted garden on the island of the Tylwyth Teg has never appeared again.

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