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Wales
Dinas EmrysHillfort
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| Recently Country Walking magazine had a featured walk to this site, I thought it was only accessible through permission of the Craflwyn NT warden, I contacted him and he assured me it is still only really allowed through their consent. So slapped wrists Country Walking! |
Posted by skins1st May 2009ce Edited 1st May 2009ce |
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Heading into Snowdonia the weather steadily got worse, flooded roads, wind and rain coming in sideways, but a day off work is a day off work and we were here now so on with the waterproofs. The big rock with the hillfort sits right next to the road and parking place, the easy way up is through the entrance on the north west corner. The weather was rediculous so we didnt hang about, one circuit around the fort and a quick inspection of the medieval tower and we were out of there. On the way in we had just missed the entrance and didn't pick it up till we were leaving, just outside of the fort there is a very worn zig zag road/path leading to and from the entrance. On a clear day a perfect place to be with Snowdon and its near neighbours so very close. |
Posted by postman29th December 2007ce Edited 29th December 2007ce |
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Near Dinas Emrys, Owain ap Macsen fought with a giant. As they were equal in fighting with tree trunks, Owain leapt up a hill on the other side of the river and cast a stone which fell at the feet of the giant, who cast it back. They then tried wrestling. Owain became enraged, threw down the giant, who shattered a huge stone in the fall and a piece entering his back, he was killed. In dying he crushed Owain to death.From T Gwynn Jones's "Welsh Folklore and Folk Custom" (1930), from a Welsh 1875 source. |
Posted by Rhiannon9th December 2005ce |
Local lore adds more about Merlin. He stayed on for a while after Vortigern left. When he left himself he filled a golden cauldron with treasure and hid it in a cave, blocking the entrance with a stone and a heap of earth. The treasure is intended for one particular person, a youth with blue eyes and yellow hair. When he approaches, a bell will ring and the cave will unblock itself. Other treasure seekers have been repulsed by storms and sinister omens.p89 in Geoffrey Ashe's 'The Landscape of King Arthur' (1987). |
Posted by Rhiannon 21st November 2005ce |
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Dinas Emrys is a small hill-fort in the valley of Nant Gwynant. It is thought to be originally Iron Age, but was reused many times since. Nennius wrote about some of the happenings at the fort (with his usual embroidering of the truth - but hey we all like a good story). You can read a translation of the original at the Internet Medieval Sourcebook - this is a bit of a precis. Vortigern had a bit of an embarrassing episode in which he had a child with his own daughter. His advisors told him it might be best to find a nice quiet place in the country and build a secure fort there. Vortigern found an ideal site at Dinas Emrys and arranged for builders and carpenters to start work. However, after the building materials were delivered, they mysteriously disappeared during the night. This happened three times. The advisors were called in again - what was going on? Apparently it wasn't the neighbours stealing stuff - what Vortigern actually needed was to find a boy born without a father, and then to sprinkle the foundation stones with the child's blood. Despite already having a poor reputation Vortigern didn't seem to see anything wrong with this and sent his men out to search for such a boy - and eventually they found one (his mother claimed that she had never slept with a man). The boy was brought back to the king. Unimpressed by the sound of his fate he showed Vortigern the true source of his problems. Under a pavement lay a pool - and in the pool a vase containing a tent. In the tent were two dragons, one red and one white. They began to fight. The white one seemed to be winning, but then the red one prevailed and the white was driven from the tent. The boy explained the scene - it represented how the Welsh would eventually recover their lands from the Saxons. He added that the citidel was actually destined for himself, and that Vortigern would have to go elsewhere. Which he did. The boy's name was Ambrose (Emrys in Welsh, and this bit could be a fudge to fit other stories) - later known as Merlin. |
Posted by Rhiannon 25th June 2004ce Edited 21st November 2005ce |
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The BBCi website advises: Dinas Emrys is a very fragile and vulnerable site, owned and managed by the National Trust. Visitors are strongly advised to contact the warden at Craflwyn beforehand on 01766 890659, or email keith.jones@nationaltrust.org.uk. |
Posted by Rhiannon 25th June 2004ce |
Links |
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Vortigern StudiesAn in-depth discussion of the myth. |
Posted by Rhiannon 25th June 2004ce |
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