by alfreda · Published · Updated
Hi
New here. I am a storyteller and looking into various forms of the sleeping-arthur’s-knights-under-the-hill story. There is an account of the Craig-y-Ddinas version here on the site but parts of it don’t quite ring true as a myth, and I wondered if anyone knew/had been told a different version? There is AFAIK at least one version related to Snowdonia. I know there are others but I tend to tell Welsh-Irish stories so looking for a Welsh version.
Thanks
Alfreda
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Hi Alfreda
Welcome to the
Hi Alfreda
Welcome to the forum, there is a source mentioned for the Craig-y-Ddynas story;
The Recollections and Anecdotes of Edward Williams, London, 1850, by Elijah Waring, which might be worth checking out – the hollow hill/sleeping king is a common folklore motif and is found all through Britain and, as outlined in another topic, about several other heroes. Finding the original source is difficult, but not impossible given time for research. Quite often research shows that stories are not as old as they first seem but it’s always worth following up. Perhaps someone on the forum has heard another version, I will have a look around and see what I can come up with as well.
Danny P.
In the oral tradition,
In the oral tradition, storytellers localise their story, so when they tell of King Arthur’s last resting place, its always under "That Hill There". He’s buried under half the hills in Scotland too, because of this…
They also transposed any story about sleeping kings who will return onto the most popular one, so all tales of this sort gradually migrated to become ones about Arthur. Maybe thats why this one doesnt ring true, it has elements not seen in others you are more familar with, perhaps?
There is a similar story
There is a similar story about Arthur and his knights sleeping under Blencathra in Cumbria.
I think the distinctively
I think the distinctively shaped bear hills became confused with the legends of Arthur in some cases, because the name Arthur means The Bear. At least in Scotland.
Re: Craig-y-Ddinas
I have been to Craig y Dinas myself a few times, it makes for a good walk if you dont mind the somewhat steep incline… unfortunatly i heared no tolls of the bell… the blonde haired blue eyed boy i was with musnt have been the chosen one
I do alot of re-search in my spare time into the Merlin/Arthur asleep stories… you may want to have a look into the stories surrounding Alderly Edge in cheshire…. its very similar to the story at Craig-y-dinas / Dinas Emrys
I could if you wanted retell you the variations i have heared/ investigated… let me know and i shall type what i know here in this thread…..
A nice trip to the vistitors centre in Bed Gelert Village may be also worth a Jaunt as they sell a very nice childrens story book of the Dinas Emrys story…. i picked one up for my nephiews a few years back
🙂
Re: Craig-y-Ddinas
Jay, if you know differant variations of the tales you could also post them in the comments fields under those specific articles in the gazetteer.
I visited Bed Gelert in May but missed the visitor centre. I might be able to pop back in there later this month.
Re: Craig-y-Ddinas
the centre is a good resource fro further research…. giving you snippets of information about the old texts and their relation to the site… i suppose any visitors centre within the snowdonia national park keeps all the same stock in regards to books… so i doubt its exclusivly bedgelert 🙂