The Mammoth Book of King Arthur (98 page)

WALES

Clwyd
(Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Wrexham)

Deganwy.
Here, at the mouth of the River Conway, was the fortress home of Maelgwyn, king of Gwynedd. Taliesin is supposed to have visited this court in his youth. Before
Maelgwyn
established this as his home it may have equated to Arthur’s court of Pen Rhionydd, at that time governed by Gyrthmwl.

Llanarmon.
In the Berwyn Mountains, this is the site of Carreg Gwynion, a possible site for Arthur’s eighth battle at Fort Guinnion.

Llandulas,
near Colwyn Bay. The River Dulas here may be one of the sites of Arthur’s battles at the River Dubglas.

Mold.
Just to the north-west is Maesgarmon, the possible site of the Alleluia Victory of Germanus in 429 or 436. The site may, though, be associated with St Garmon and
therefore also connected with Cadell.
See
Moel Benlli in the next entry.

Ruthin.
It has been suggested that Gildas did not mention Arthur in
De Excidio
because Arthur had killed Gildas’s brother Hywel or Huail. That purportedly
happened here in Ruthin. The story tells that in a duel at Caerwys (north of Ruthin) Hywel had wounded Arthur, causing him to limp. Arthur told Hywel to keep silent about the wound. Later, in
Ruthin, Arthur disguised himself in order to meet a woman, but Hywel recognised the limp. Commenting upon it, Hywel broke his bond and Arthur had him arrested and executed. The execution stone is
still on show outside Exmewe Hall in the Market Place.

In the Clwydian mountains north-east of Ruthin are two peaks of interest.
Moel Arthur
(“Hill of Arthur”) is at the end of a valley called
Glyn Arthur
and is passed by
Offa’s Dyke long-distance path. It was occupied in the Iron Age, but it has not been excavated since 1849 and modern methods might discover more. South of Moel Arthur, 5kms east of Ruthin on
a minor road heading up from Llanbedr-Dyffryn-Clwyd, is Moel Fenlli, also called
Moel Benlli,
the hill-fort of the tyrant Benlli who was destroyed by lightning, allowing Cadell to become
king. Excavations in 1879 showed that this hill was occupied in the sub-Roman period. If, as I have suggested, Cadell is one of the candidates for the real Arthur, it may account for the names of
these two, nearly adjacent, peaks.

Dyfed
(Ceredigion, Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire)

Aberystwyth.
On the outskirts is Llanbadarn Fawr, site of an early monastic settlement headed by Paternus (St. Padarn) in the early/mid sixth century. His
Life,
written in
c
ll20, refers to
Arthur as a “tyrant”, who visited Paternus and took a fancy to his tunic. When Paternus would not let him have it Arthur went
into a rage and Paternus asked that the earth swallow him up, which it promptly did until Arthur had sought forgiveness. This may well be based on some incident relating to Artúir of
Dyfed.

3kms south-east, off the A485 before Capel Seion, is
Nanteos House,
which for centuries was believed to house the Holy Grail, known as the Nanteos Cup, apparently brought to the place by
the monks after the dissolution of Strata Florida Abbey. The Cup is now housed in a bank vault and visitors discouraged. Nanteos House, which passed out of the hands of the original owners in 1951,
was again put up for sale in 2004.

Bosherston.
This small village has several purported Arthurian connections. The trident-shaped lake, known as the Lily Ponds, was supposed to be where Bedivere returned
Excalibur to the Lady of the Lake. However, there is no corresponding local site for Camlann and the lake was only created when the creek was dammed in the 18
^th
century. South of the
town is
St. Govan’s Head.
Below the cliffs are the remains of a chapel where Govan is supposed to be buried. The name Govan has been connected with Gawain. The local church will tell
you that Govan was Gobhan, a sixth-century blacksmith from Abergavenny who became a holy man, whilst as Gofan or Ouan he appears in the story of
Culhwch and Olwen
as one of the sons of Caw
(and thus brother of Gildas) at Arthur’s court.
See
Milford Haven.

Black Mountain.
Arthur’s pursuit of the giant boar Twrch Trwyth continued here as described in
Culhwch and Olwen.
It recommenced near Ammanford and headed
across the Black Mountain towards the Brecon Beacons. North of Ammanford, near Pont-ar-llechau (on the A4069), is the hill
Pen Arthur,
below which, in the River Sawdde, are two large rocks,
the biggest of which is called
Arthur’s Quoit,
which he is supposed to have thrown from Pen Arthur. We may suppose that this area was the site of a battle associated with Arthur,
possibly Artúir of Dyfed, but equally any of the Arthurian suspects, especially Vortipor.

Carmarthen.
According to Geoffrey of Monmouth, this was the birthplace of Merlin, and the town was subsequently named after him as Caer Myrddin. In fact, the name was
derived from
the Roman name
Moridunum
which developed into Myrddin. In Geoffrey’s day the town was called
Cair Mirdin,
and Geoffrey made the connection
(albeit wrongly) with the bard Myrddin. The legend has stuck and there are the inevitable local landmarks. 4km east along the A40 is Bryn Myrddin (“Merlin’s Hill”), an ancient
hill fort, with which are associated Merlin’s Wood, Merlin’s Stone and, of course, Merlin’s Cave, where he is supposed to be entombed. Heading south-west out of the town on the
B4312 you will find Merlin’s Quoit, a standing stone near the village of Llangain.
Carmarthen Museum
houses all that remains of Myrddin’s Tree, that used to stand in the centre
of the old town. It also houses the Vortipor Stone, which had been found at Castell Dwyran, and which is inscribed with the name of Vortipor, the ruler of Dyfed at the time of Arthur.

Haverfordwest.
Originally Haverford, the town took its name from a ford over the River Cleddau, but it seems that just south of the town the small tributary of the
Cleddau, called Merlin’s Brook, required a bridge, now called Merlin’s Bridge.

Llamporth.
Near the village of Penbryn, this is a likely site for the battle of Llongborth.

Milford Haven.
The Irish boar Twrch Trwyth passed through here, having come round the coast from St David’s. This is probably a memory of an invading warband,
probably Irish, that landed at Milford Haven and fought its way inland. The original Welsh name for the town was Aberdaugleddau, taken from the name of the river Cleddau, which means
“sword”. The name may signify a naval battle.

Narberth
or
Arberth.
Features several times in the Mabinogion story
Manawydan son of Llyr
as the site of the Throne of Arberth and, by association, with the
Siege Perilous and the Holy Grail.
See
Chapter 16.

Preseli Mountains.
Now part of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, east of Fishguard, the Preseli Mountains must have more surviving standing stones per square km than
anywhere else in Britain. It was from here that the blue stones came that were incorporated into Stonehenge, which Geoffrey attributes to the work of Merlin. The main Arthurian association here
concerns Arthur’s pursuit of the giant boar Twrch Trwyth which took them through Preseli. According to the story in
Culhwch and
Olwen,
there was a major
confrontation at Cwm Cerwyn, which is today the highest peak at Foel Cwm Cerwyn (536m). It was in this conflict, which no doubt is a memory of a real battle perhaps between Artúir of Dyfed
and an Irish warband, that Arthur’s son Gwydre was killed. To the east of Cwm Cerwyn, between Glynsaithmaen and Cwm-garw, are two standing stones called Cerrig Maibion Arthur, “the
Stones of the Sons of Arthur”. Just west is Carn Arthur, sometimes called Bedd Arthur or Arthur’s Grave. In the story Arthur continues the hunt, but maybe the cairn was built to mark
the battle site. South of this site, at Glandy Cross, is a now despoiled stone circle called Meini Gwyr, “the leaning stones”, also known as Buarth Arthur, “Arthur’s
enclosure”. These three sites, being in such close proximity, despite being of much greater antiquity than Arthur, have clearly become associated with some major event, almost certainly in
the reign of Artúir of Dyfed.

St. David’s.
Originally Mynyw, this is listed in the first Welsh Triad as one of Arthur’s three tribal thrones governed, surprisingly, by Maelgwyn. It was
also here that the Irish boar Twrch Trwyth first landed, at Porth Clais, and ravaged the land, working round the coast to Milford Haven before being pursued by Arthur and his men.

Tal-y-bont.
A small village north of Aberystwyth. To the north of the village, down a side road leading towards Moel y Garn, is the grave of Taliesin,
Bedd
Taliesin.

Glamorgan/ Gwent

Caerleon.
Identified by Geoffrey of Monmouth as Arthur’s main court, the City of the Legion. It was the Roman
Isca Legionis,
the home of the Second Augustan
Legion, and was one of the three permanently manned garrisons in Britain (
see
Chester and York). There were periods when the main force was elsewhere but it was in regular use from about
70
AD
to 350
AD
at the latest, and was being run down from about 300. It was probably already in a state of disrepair by the Arthurian period though
the ruins would have been impressive, especially the bathhouse. The amphitheatre was the largest in Britain and encouraged the idea of this as Arthur’s court and “round table”. It
is one of the contenders for the site of Arthur’s ninth battle at
the City of the Legion, though of the four it is the least likely. It is also unlikely to have had any
significant Arthurian connections, the court of the rulers of Gwent being at Caerwent.

Caerwent.
The Roman town of Venta Silurum, it was the tribal capital of the Silures, and continued as the capital of the kingdom of Gwent (Caerwent derived from
Caer
Venta
and
Venta,
which meant “market” or “meeting place”, became Gwent). The Roman town existed from about 90
AD
to 390
AD
, when it was systematically demolished. It had been refortified in the early 300s and was the only Roman town in Wales to have walls. Although Caerwent continued as the capital of
Gwent the main court probably shifted outside the Roman area with some rebuilding to the north in what is now called Llanmellin. Barber and Pykett suggest that Llanmellin may, at the outset, have
been known as Caermellin (before “fort of the mill” changed to “church of the mill”), and that Caermellin could have corrupted to Caermelot or Camelot (
see
Camelot).
They also suggest that Llanmellin was originally Llan y Gelli and thus the original of Arthur’s court at Gelliwig. The adjoining, and now much bigger, town of Caldicot was the home of King
Caradog, probably Caradog Vreichfras. Caerwent remained the chief court of the kings of Gwent, certainly to the time of Athrwys ap Meurig, and the impressive ruins of the Roman fort would doubtless
have raised its status as a town of importance amongst later visitors.

Gelliwig.
The name of Arthur’s court in the original Welsh tales. It was usually believed to be in Cornwall, but there are possible sites in Wales. Barber &
Pykitt have proposed Llanmellin near Caerwent (
see
entry).
See also
under Gwynedd.

Lavernock.
Possible site for the castle of Lawenor where Lancelot is supposed to have arrived in Wales in the Prose
Lancelot. See
Chapter 17.

Maesteg.
South of the town is the mountain range of Mynydd Baidan, a possible site for the battle of Badon.

Pontarddulais.
East of the town, north of Swansea, is Ffynnonfedw, Bedwyr’s Well, and the ridge of Craig-y-Bedw looking down on Cwm Dulais, one of the many possible
locales for Arthur’s early battles.

Tredunnock
or
Tredynog.
According to a legend told in the
Life
of St. Cadog, Arthur became incensed when he learned that
Cadog had
given sanctuary to Llyngesog, who had killed three of Arthur’s men. Arthur and Cadog negotiated from either side of the River Usk just below Tredunnock. The outcome of the debate was that
Arthur would receive nine cows in redress but, clearly of a cussed nature, Arthur demanded that the cows be red and white. Cadog arranged for this and the cows crossed the river, but on the other
side they turned into ferns. The origin of Tredunnock is
Tref Redinog,
“Fern Village”.

Gwynedd and Anglesey

Aberdovey.
On the hills north of the town, above Abertafol, is Carn March Arthur, the Cairn of Arthur’s horse, where a stone is supposed to be imprinted with a
hoofprint. The cairn is on the flanks of Mynydd y Llyn (Mountain of the Lake), and the lake is Llyn Barfog where Arthur is supposed to have killed a lake monster called an afanc.

Anglesey.
The British name for the island was
Môn,
“mountain”, referring to the headland of Holyhead, which in Arthur’s time was called
Caergybi,
“fort of Cybi”, named after the holy man St Cybi who lived from about 480 to 550. Anglesey was the last stronghold of the Druids whom Paulinus was seeking to destroy in
his campaign in 60
AD
. It was in the territory of the Ordovices and was later the heartland of the Venedotians. It would have been the core territory of Cadwallon and his son
Maelgwyn – Gildas’s phrase for him, “Dragon of the Island”, referred to Anglesey. The poem
Pa Gur
says that Cei came here to fight the giant cat Palug – later
legend has Arthur fight the cat. There are several prehistoric sites that have attracted Arthur’s name, especially the limestone pavement at Llanddona called Din Sylwy or
Bwrdd Arthur,
“Arthur’s Table”. It was a hill-fort in use into the Roman period. There is also
Ogof Arthur,
“Arthur’s cave”, near Llan-gwyfan,
Arthur’s
Quoit
at Llwydiarth Fawr and another near Moelfre, and
Arthur’s Stone
near Llanfechell. The concentration of these names, including those on the mainland opposite, show a continued
tradition with Arthur, possibly by association with the worship of the god Artaius. Anglesey is almost certainly the kingdom of Sorelois described in the Vulgate Cycle.