I wonder how many people know of, or have truly understood the ancient Welsh take of Gelert
The story goes that in the thirteenth-century, Prince Llywelyn the Great had a palace at Beddgelert in Caernarvonshire. The Prince was a great hunter and spent much of his time in the countryside. He had many hunting dogs, but one day when he summoned them, his favourite dog Gelert didn’t appear and Llywelyn went off hunting without him.
When Llywelyn returned from the hunt, he was greeted by Gelert who came bounding towards him his jaws and chest dripping with blood.
The Prince was appalled. He rushed into the castle to discover his son's cradle turned over and the walls spattered with blood! He searched for the child but there was no sign of him.
Mad with grief that his prized hunting dog has killed his son, Llywelyn took his sword and plunged it into Gelert’s heart.
As the dog howled and writhed in a death agony, Llywelyn heard a child’s cry coming from underneath the upturned cradle. It was his son, unharmed!
Beside the child, and under the cradle, was an enormous wolf killed by the brave Gelert.
2 comments:
A lot of people know this story, it is a tourist attraction in the area. I first went there as a child. As an adult have taken foreign visitors there. Anyone with interest in dogs and hunting know of the tale.
There's a very sad old-time song about this very tragic apocryphal story. The loyalty and bravery of our dogs cannot be understated, and yet we often fail them.
Post a Comment