I was born and raised in Wales, the Celtic land of myths and magic.

No, that’s not me in the picture, not even many years ago! 🙂  But since March 1st was St David’s Day, I thought I’d start by talking a little bit about our Patron Saint.

 Dewi (the Welsh form of David) was born to Welsh nobility in the late fifth or possibly early sixth century.  The Anglo-Saxons had invaded Britain by that point and had driven most of the inhabitants into what was known as the Celtic Fringe: Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Cornwall, and Brittany.

He was educated in Cardiganshire (My home county) and then went on pilgrimages, founding religious centres across Wales and England, including one at Glastonbury. He even travelled as far as Jerusalem, where he was made an archbishop. He eventually settled at Glyn Rhosyn (now St Davids), in south west Wales, where he established a religious community. Many miracles have been attributed to him.including causing the ground to rise beneath him when preaching so that everyone could see and hear him. When David died he told his devoted followers to: “Be cheerful and keep your faith and belief, and do the little things that you have heard and seen through me.” St David’s Day is celebrated all over Wales, as well as in some parts of the USA, Australia, and of course the Welsh settlement of Patagonia.

One of my favourite Welsh legends relates the origin of the red dragon on the Welsh flag. 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 sent messengers throughout Britain in search of a child born without a father.When they eventually found one, they took him to Vortigern.

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 one 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 King was so grateful he spared the lad’s life and 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 is portrayed on the Welsh flag.

This ties in nicely with my fantasy novella DANCING WITH FATE, which is set in 5th Century Wales and features a Greek goddess who encounters a mysterious stranger called Myrddin.   I will award TWO copies of Dancing With Fate to two commenters.

Here is a short excerpt to whet your appetite.  For my second post, I will put up an excerpt which incorporates one of the many Welsh legends. This one is pure Greek though.

EXCERPT:
The sound of the waterfall behind her caught her attention. Oh, how she missed the spring of Hippocrene, created when Pegasus struck the rock of the Helicon Mountain with his hoof and the crystal water poured forth. Beautiful as this country was, it would be good to be home. She turned and gazed at the water tumbling down the mountainside in a frenzy of white froth, the spray catching the rays cast by Helios, making rainbows dance in the clear air. The water called to her – she was, after all, like her sisters, a water nymph. She longed to immerse herself in its cooling spray, to be as one with the living water.

What harm can it do? Cleanse yourself – rid your body of the dust of Earth before returning to Olympus. The voice in her mind was all too familiar.

Dionysus! What are you doing here? Get out of my mind.

Certainly, dear sister, would you prefer me to materialize in all my glory? Before she could answer, he appeared, seated upon a rock, his ever-present maenads fawning at his feet. He held out a goblet of wine. “You seem in poor spirits, sister. Have a drink;, it will put you in a better humour.

“I’m fine, Dionysus. I’m about to go home. I don’t need any of your wine.” She turned her head away from the sight of the maenads who fawned over him, drunkenly running their hands over his body. All at once, the purity of the day seemed tainted. How had he found her? Was it he who had eavesdropped upon her conversation with Apollo? She sighed. Somehow, she did not think so. Dionysus in his state of permanent intoxication could hardly have moved so stealthily, nor concealed his retinue of women followers.

Dionysus hiccupped loudly, causing the vines around his neck to bounce and rustle. Again, he held out the goblet of wine. “Oh, we are “Miss Prim and Proper’ today, aren’t we?! Go on, lighten up, take a sip, it won’t hurt you.” He learned toward her, his handsome, if somewhat effeminate features wearing an innocent expression that belied the glint in his blue eyes. “After all, you wouldn’t want to upset your brother, would you?”

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