King Arthur and Dinas Emrys
Of course King Arthur's roots are in Wales and we Welsh won't give much
ground on this one! At least, we have as good a claim to
him as Cornwall
as the plethora of sites linked to him for centuries testify. One of the
major sites is that of Dinas Emrys.
The story was written down in the 8/9th century by the monk Nennius and
tells of Vortigern a genuine 5th century character - very unpopular with
his fellow Celts as he was the king who invited the Saxons to help him
defend his kingdom. They stayed and he had to flee his land. On return he
looked for a good place to build a fortress that place was Dinas Emrys.
However once work began, each night the buildings would disappear. His wise
men said that the spell could only be broken by sacrificing a boy without
a father on the spot.
His men found Myrddin Emrys but the boy said (unsurprisingly "Don't
listen to them. Dig down and you'll find a lake with two dragons fighting
a red dragon (for the Celts) and a white (the Saxons) and you'll never be
able to build here because of that fight." Aurelius Ambrosius
who emerged as a romano-celtic leader about the year 472 took him
away - as Merlin his soothsayer. For Ambrosius was probably Arthur
Other
Arthur-associated sites: Dinas Bran, Lliwedd, Snowdon, Llyn Llydaw,
Carnedd Trystam, Bardsey, Caerleon
