Craflwyn & Beddgelert - A tale of 2 dragons - Merlin~Myrddin Emrys-Vortigern’s castle -Dinas Emrys

A tale of two dragons...

at Beddgelert


The red dragon above Dinas Emrys and Llyn Dinas

Beddgelert is the setting for two of Wales’s most celebrated legends.

Probably the most famous of all is the story of Dinas Emrys, the lofty mountain home
of the dragon you see fluttering on a thousand Welsh flags.

Building a castle
Way, way back in the fifth century the Celtic King Vortigern chose Dinas Emrys as the site for his castle.

From here he hoped to escape the Saxons but his plans for a fortress weren't easily achieved.

Every night the royal masons would lay down their tools only to return the next day
to find they'd vanished and their carefully crafted walls had fallen down.

And so it went on, day after day until Vortigern was forced to seek the help of sorcerers and magicians.

They advised that the ground should be sprinkled with the blood of a child born to a human mother
and a father from the ‘other world’.

Merlin and the dragons’ lair

A search was launched and eventually the child was found in Caer Myrddin (Carmarthen)
and preparations for the sacrifice were made.

But the child, Myrddin Emrys, was no ordinary child.

In fact, he was Merlin, the wizard. Merlin convinced Vortigern that two dragons lay sleeping
under a lake inside the mountain and it was they that were destroying the foundations of his fortress.

Convinced the boy was right, Vortigern commanded his labourers to dig deep into the mountain.

They did as they were told and discovered an underground lake, just as Merlin had predicted.

Once drained, the red and white dragons that lay sleeping there awoke and began to fight.

Battle of two dragons
The white dragon represented the Saxons and the red dragon the Welsh.
Eventually the white dragon fled and the red dragon returned quietly to his lair.
Vortigern’s castle was built and duly named after Dinas Emrys in honour of Merlin,
and the red dragon has been celebrated ever since.

Not convinced? In 1945 the site was excavated by archaeologists who discovered a lake
and the ruins of the fortress dating to Vortigern’s time.

The walls all showed signs of having been rebuilt several times…
Tread carefully if you explore this hill. A dragon sleeps beneath it.

 

MERLIN'S WORLD​

An Original Oil Painting
by
Denton Lund



opyright 2001©Denton Lund
All Rights Reserved
20" x 28"​

""The most famous man of all those times, Merlin, who knew the range of all their arts, Had built the King his havens, ships and halls, Was also Bard, and knew the starry heavens; The people called him wizard." Tennyson "

"I can see things others cannot. Beneath the mountains of Dinas Emrys I have seen two dragons, one red, one white... The white dragon represents the Saxons and the red dragon represents the Britons. The white dragon is the stronger of the two but the red dragon will have his day... There shall be a King after you who will drive out the Saxons and bring a time of peace and his name will be Arthur."

In the legends of King Arthur, it is an owl that perches on the shoulder of the wise magician Merlin.

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