Folklore of Wales / Llên Gwerin Cymru

About the stories:

The two stories below are taken, with permission, from 'North Wales Folktales for Children' by Fiona Collins and illustrated by Ed Fisher.

Two Dragons

There are many stories about the great wizard Merlin. This is one of my favourites.

When Merlin was a boy, his full name was Myrddin ap Emrys, and he grew up in Caerfyrddin, which in English is called Carmarthen. Its Welsh name means Merlin’s Castle. But Merlin had no castle there. In fact, he had no proper home.

His mother lived in a nunnery, among holy women who prayed all day and were not interested in children. And he had no father. Some people said his father was an evil spirit. Some said it was a good spirit. But he didn’t know, and if his mother knew, she didn’t tell him.

Merlin was not an ordinary boy, nor indeed a very happy one. Unkind people sometimes bully people who seem a bit different, and Merlin was very different, so he was often lonely or sad.

Although Merlin was still only young, he already had magic powers. So on the day that something strange began to happen, he knew what to do.

Some boys were playing with a ball, on the grass outside the city gate. Merlin wanted to join in, but the others wouldn’t let him. They shouted:

‘Go away, Merlin! We don’t want someone like you. You haven’t even got a father. Go away!’

Merlin knew it was no use to argue with them. He turned and went back through the city gate, back towards the nunnery where he lived with his mother and the silent sisters. But he hadn’t walked far when he realised he was not alone. Someone was following him, staying in the shadows; keeping him in sight, but keeping out of his sight.

Merlin knew, by his magic, that this was a king’s messenger, and that the king had sent the messenger to find a boy who never had a father. He knew why the king wanted such a boy, and he knew that he was the boy the king needed. So he wasn’t afraid. He let the messenger follow him to the gate of the nunnery. When the gatekeeper saw Merlin’s face through the bars on her window, she opened a little door in the gate and let him in, but she stopped the man who followed him, as Merlin knew she would.

‘Strangers may not enter this house,’ she said.

‘Lady, I am on a king’s quest and I carry a king’s ring to prove it.’ He held up a ring with a large jewel set in it, and showed it to the gatekeeper through the bars on the window. ‘I have been sent to find a certain boy, and I believe that the boy you let in is the one I am looking for.’

The old woman looked at the ring for a long time. Slowly, as though she did not really want to, she opened the little door just wide enough for the messenger to squeeze inside.

‘Wait here, please,’ she said. ‘I will fetch the people you need to speak to.’

Merlin did not hear their conversation, but he knew how it would end. The nuns and his mother would agree to let him go to where the king waited, in the mountains of Snowdonia.

Sure enough, when the messenger rode out of the city and turned north, Merlin was sitting behind him on the great horse’s back. They rode through Wales until they came to the high mountains: Snowdonia, which in Welsh is called The Place of Eagles, Eryri.

The king was standing at the top of a hill. All around him were the ruins of a tower: tools that were scattered, stones that were shattered, wood that had clattered to the ground. Behind him stood seven wise men. They looked frightened. Day after day, the king had asked them:

‘Why does my tower keep falling down?’

The wise men did not know.

But if you are a king’s wise man, you cannot tell him ‘I don’t know’. He won’t be very pleased! So the seven not-very-wise men had made up an answer to his question:

‘Your majesty, you must find a boy who never had a father. You must kill him and bury his bones where you want to build your tower. Then your tower will stay strong. It will not fall down.’

They didn’t know if this was the right answer to his question. They didn’t care if it was the right answer. They thought it would be impossible for the king to find a boy who never had a father, so he would never know whether they had given him the right answer or not.

But here was the messenger, and with him was a boy who never had a father … no wonder they looked frightened.

One person who didn’t look frightened was Merlin. He walked right up to the king. He looked straight at him. Then he said:

‘Your majesty, I know why you have brought me here. But if you kill me and bury my bones, you will never find out why your tower keeps falling down. Ask your wise men what is under the ground here, and if they do not know, ask me, because I do.’

So the king turned to his wise men and asked them:

‘What is under the ground here?’

They looked at the king, they looked at each other, they looked at the ground. They didn’t know the answer, so they tried to guess: ‘Earth, your Majesty? Stones? Worms?’

The king looked at Merlin. Merlin shook his head.

‘Your Majesty,’ he said, ‘Just where you want to build your tower, there is an underground lake. If you don’t believe me, tell your workers to dig there. You will see if I am right.’

The king’s workers started to dig. It wasn’t long until their spades broke through the roof of a cave. In it there was an underground lake.

Merlin spoke to the king:

‘Your Majesty, ask your wise men what is under the lake, and if they do not know, ask me, because I do.’

So the king turned to his wise men and asked them:

‘What is under the lake?’

They looked at the king, they looked at each other, they looked at the water. They didn’t know the answer, so they tried to guess: ‘Mud, your Majesty? Weed? Fish?’

The king looked at Merlin. Merlin shook his head.

‘Your Majesty,’ he said, ‘Under the lake, there is a great flat stone. If you don’t believe me, tell your workers to drain the water out of the lake. You will see if I am right.’

The king’s workers started to drain the water from the lake. Before long, the water was gone, and in the middle of the mud they all saw a great grey stone.

Merlin spoke to the king:

‘Your Majesty, ask your wise men what is under the stone, and if they do not know, ask me, because I do.’

So the king turned to his wise men and asked them:

‘What is under the stone?’

They looked at the king, they looked at each other, they looked at the stone. They didn’t know the answer. They just shook their heads.

The king turned to Merlin.

‘Your Majesty,’ he said, ‘Under the stone, two dragons are curled up, fast asleep. All day they sleep, but at night they wake, and then they fight. Their battle destroys your tower each night. If you don’t believe me, tell your workers to lift the stone. You will see if I am right.’

They lifted the stone out of the mud, and found two sleeping dragons, curled up like piglets. One was red, the other was white. When the stone was moved and the light shone on them, they woke up. They opened their eyes, turned their heads, and saw each other. Then their eyes flashed, their teeth gnashed and their claws crashed. They spread their wings and rose up out of the hole in the ground. As they flew, they grew, until they were huge fiery shapes above the heads of the king, his wise men and his workers. They all crouched down in fear.

Only Merlin stood tall, watching the dragons as they began to fight, turning and whirling in the air, tearing with their claws and blasting fire from their jaws.

Merlin shouted out: ‘Watch these dragons, and you will learn about the future! The red dragon is the dragon of Wales, and the white is the dragon of our enemies. They are fighting, and we will have to fight too. Sometimes it will seem as though the red dragon will win, and sometimes the white will be stronger. But even if the red dragon is wounded, she will not die. Watch now, and you will see if I am right!’

They all turned their faces up to the sky, and watched the fight. Just as Merlin had said, sometimes the red dragon seemed to be winning, sometimes the white. The flames and smoke and noise were terrible! Then the white dragon gave a great slash with its claws, and the red one seemed to fall out of the sky. The white dragon spread its wings and flew away. Everyone looked for the red dragon. It was nowhere to be seen.

Merlin spoke again: ‘The red dragon is not dead, but she is wounded. She is the dragon of this land. Now she needs to rest and grow strong again. Then, when Wales really needs her, she will fly out and defend the land. It will not be in my lifetime, or in yours, Your Majesty, but when she is needed, she will be there!’

Everyone stared at Merlin, and then at the hole in the ground where the dragons had slept for so long.

‘Now you can build your tower,’ said Merlin. ‘Nothing will disturb it.’

Without waiting for a reply, he turned and went away down the hill.

Merlin’s red dragon is the dragon that we see on the flag of Wales. If you climb to the top of the hill where the two dragons slept, you will see a pool and the ruins of a tower. The hill is called Dinas Emrys.

Dinas Emrys is one of those places where the real world and the story world meet. In English, its name means Emrys’ Fortress, or maybe Emrys’ Castle. Who was Emrys? Go back to the beginning of this story and you will be reminded … and the names of places can remind us of the stories that happened there, long, long ago.

The Oldest Animals

Once upon a time there was an Eagle who was very old and very lonely. His wife had died long ago and his chicks had all grown up and left the nest.

In the sadness of his heart, he thought it would help to get married again, but he didn’t want to marry a young bird who would make him feel old and tired. He wanted to find a bird who was old. Really old, like him, so that the two of them could sit together quietly and keep each other company.

He had heard of an old Owl living in Cwm Cowlyd, and he thought perhaps she would be a good bird to ask.

‘But is she as old as me?’ he wondered. ‘I don’t want to marry a young bird … ‘

It didn’t seem very polite to ask the Owl how old she was, so the Eagle thought he would ask a friend about her.

‘I’ll ask the Stag,’ he thought to himself. ‘He’s older than me. He will know if the Owl is old.’

So the Eagle went to see his friend, the Stag of Rhedynfre, and asked:

‘Do you know if the Owl of Cwm Cowlyd is old?’

‘Hmmm,’ said the Stag. ‘I am old. Can you see this old tree stump by me? I can remember when it was just an acorn at the top of a tree. I can remember when it fell down and started to grow. It took three hundred years to grow. For three hundred more years it was tall and strong, and then it took another three hundred years to die. All that is left now is this stump, with no leaves and no branches. I have been here all that time, and I am old, and the Owl of Cwm Cowlyd was already old when I first met her. But I do have a friend who is older than me. Perhaps she will know. She is the Salmon of Llyn Llifon.’

So the Eagle went to see the Stag’s friend, the Salmon of Llyn Llifon, and asked:

‘Do you know if the Owl of Cwm Cowlyd is old?’

‘Hmmm,’ said the Salmon. ‘I am old. I have lived as many years as there are scales on my body and as many years as there are eggs in my belly. I have been here all that time, and I am old, and the Owl of Cwm Cowlyd was already old when I first met her. But I do have a friend who is older than me. Perhaps he will know. He is the Blackbird of Cilgwri.’

So the Eagle went to see the Salmon’s friend, the Blackbird of Cilgwri, and asked:

‘Do you know if the Owl of Cwm Cowlyd is old?’

‘Hmmm,’ said the Blackbird. ‘I am old. Can you see this stone next to me? I can remember when it was so big that you would have needed three hundred oxen to move it, and now it is as small as a nut. All that has happened to wear it away is that every night I wipe my beak on it before I go to sleep, and every morning I tap it with my wing when I wake up. I have been here all that time, and I am old, and the Owl of Cwm Cowlyd was already old when I first met her. But I do have a friend who is older than me. Perhaps he will know. He is the Toad of Cors Fochno.’

So the Eagle went to see the Blackbird’s friend, the Toad of Cors Fochno, and asked:

‘Do you know if the Owl of Cwm Cowlyd is old?’

‘Hmmm,’ said the Toad. ‘I am old. I never eat any food except dust, and I only take tiny mouthfuls in case I use it all up. When I came here this flat place was a hill, like the high hills all around; but I have eaten it all up, and now it is a bog, though I only have a small appetite. When I first came here the Owl was already old, and she used to frighten me with her ‘to-whit-to-whoo’, because I was only young. The Owl of Cwm Cowlyd is really, really old.’

Then the Eagle knew that the Owl of Cwm Cowlyd was older than him. In fact, she was the oldest animal in the world. And he knew he could ask her to marry him without being afraid that she would make him feel old and tired. The two of them would be able to sit together quietly and keep each other company.

So the Eagle went to see the Owl of Cwm Cowlyd.

‘Dear Owl,’ he said. ‘Please will you marry me?’’

‘Oh!’ said the Owl of Cwm Cowlyd. She was very surprised. But then she said, ‘Yes.’

So they were married.

The Stag, the Salmon, the Blackbird and the Toad all came to the wedding. But nobody danced. They were all too old. They just sat together quietly and kept each other company.

After the wedding, the Eagle and the Owl lived together for a long time, and neither of them was lonely any more.