The Legend of Beth Gellert

The Legend of Beth Gellert 

(from Celtic Fairy Tales - ISBN 978-1-907256-05-9)

PRINCE LLEWELYN had a favourite grey-hound named Gellert that had been given to him by his father-in-law, King John. He was as gentle as a lamb at home but a lion in the chase. One day Llewelyn went to the chase and blew his horn in front of his castle. All his other dogs came to the call but Gellert never answered it. so he blew a louder blast on his horn and called Gellert by name, but still the greyhound did not come. At last Prince Llewelyn could wait no longer and went off to the hunt without Gellert. He had little sport that day because Gellert was not there, the swiftest and boldest of his hounds.

He turned back in a rage to his castle, and as he came to the gate, who should he see but Gellert come bounding out to meet him. But when the hound came near him, the Prince was startled to see that his lips and fangs were dripping with blood. Llewelyn started back and the grey-hound crouched down at his feet as if surprised or afraid at the way his master greeted him.

Now Prince Llewelyn had a little son a year old with whom Gellert used to play, and a terrible thought crossed the Prince's mind that made him rush towards the child's nursery. And the nearer he came the more blood and disorder he found about the rooms. He rushed into it and found the child's cradle overturned and daubed with blood.

Prince Liewelyn grew more and more terrified, and sought for his little son everywhere. He could find him nowhere but only signs of some terrible conflict in which much blood had been shed. At last he felt sure the dog had destroyed his child, and shouting to Gellert, "Monster, thou hast devoured my child," he drew out his sword and plunged it in the greyhound's side, who fell with a deep yell and still gazing in his master's eyes.

As Gellert raised his dying yell, a little child's cry answered it from beneath the cradle, and there Llewelyn found his child unharmed and just awakened from sleep. But just beside him lay the body of a great gaunt wolf all torn to pieces and covered with blood. Too late, Llewelyn learned what had happened while he was away. Gellert had stayed behind to guard the child and had fought and slain the wolf that had tried to destroy Llewelyn's heir.

In vain was all Llewelyn's grief; he could not bring his faithful dog to life again. So he buried him outside the castle walls

within sight of the great mountain of Snowdon, where every passer-by might see his grave, and raised over it a great cairn of stones. And to this day the place is called Beth Gellert, or the Grave of Gellert.

NOTE: Beth Gellert is now known as Beddgelert

Celtic Fairy Tales - A Victorian Children's Classic

Celtic folklore overflows with vivid stories that fire the
imagination. This book contains 26 stories from around Wales and
Ireland and was compiled by Joseph Jacobs in the 1890's.
While the stories were published in the 19th. C. they probably date
back to the middle ages or even further.

While some of the themes found in Celtic folklore are similar to those
of contemporary fairy tales, other stories in this collection are
infused with a flavour that is uniquely Celtic. In Jacobs' own words,
"The Celts went forth to battle, but they always fell. Yet the captive
Celt has enslaved his captor in the realm of imagination."

Celtic Fairy Tales has tales of horned women, breweries of eggshells,
sprightly tailors, gold and silver trees, King o' Toole's goose, sea
maidens, and more. Of particular interest could be the 13th century
legend of Beth Gellert, wherein the dog of Llewelyn (I) the Great,
Prince of Wales, protected the prince's infant son from a wolf attack.
A memorial to the dog allegedly still stands today in the village of
Beddgelert, near Snowdon, Wales. 

In an attempt to give a library of the Celts' wealthy imagination to
his readers, Jacobs has attempted to begin the readers' captivity with
the earliest recordings of these tales. And captivate he does—Celtic
Fairy Tales not only preserves a cultural history, but also is richly
entertaining.

For more info, the ISBN, a table of contents or to view a sample of the interior, 

go to www.http://www.abelapublishing.com/Celtic.html

To see the books in the Celtic Tales collection, follow this link
http://www.abelapublishing.com/CelticTales.html

Published by Abela Publishing http://www.AbelaPublishing.com A Social Enterprise Publisher.

The Four Ancient Books of Wales - an Anthology of Dark-age Welsh Bardic Poetry

THE dissolution of the religious houses in Wales during the reign of
Henry VIII, and the dispersion of their libraries, led to many Welsh
manuscripts passing into the hands of private individuals. Collections
of Welsh manuscripts soon began to be formed by persons who took an
interest in the history and literature of their country. In the early
1600's many of the manuscripts came into the possession of Robert
Vaughan which he amassed at Hengwrt, his home, preserving many unique texts
which might otherwise have been lost. Later these become known as the Hengwrt-
Peniarth Collection (from the houses from which they were successively
preserved). They then formed the nucleus of the
National Library of Wales and are still in its care.

This is William Skene's anthology of dark-age Welsh Bardic poetry
sourced from this collection. Often cited, this book contains every
remaining piece of Bardic poetry known. The poems are translated from
four manuscripts: THE BLACK BOOK OF CAERMARTHEN, THE RED BOOK OF
HERGEST (source of the Mabinogion), THE BOOK OF TALIESSIN and THE BOOK
OF ANEURIN, all of which date from the twelfth to the fifteenth
centuries A.D. The poems themselves date from much earlier, probably
from the sixth century by internal evidence.

This volume is one of the treasures of world literature. It is also
the only true source material for the study of Bardic lore, which
reputedly preserved the impenetrable and arcane beliefs of the Druids.
Much of the subject matter is related to mead-inspired battles,
particularly the renowned Gododin cycle. However, the poetry rises
above the gory combat to achieve an artistic height that would not be
reached again for many centuries. The poems are infused throughout
with mystic clarity, strange flashes of wisdom, and insight into
humanity and nature.

For more information, a table of contents or to order, click on this
link http://www.abelapublishing.com/welshbooks.html

To view the full Celtic collection at
http://www.abelapublishing.com/CelticTales.html

To view the entire Fairytales, Folklore, Myths and Legends catalogue,
go to http://www.abelapublishing.com/catalogue.html

Published by Abela Publishing - http://www.AbelaPublishing.com