Gelert / Celer | |
|---|---|
| Born | 7th century Wales |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church Anglican Church |
| Major shrine | Chapel of St Celer |
| Feast | June 29 [1] |
Saint Gelert, also known as Celer, Celert [2] or Kellarth [3] [4] (see below), was an early Celtic saint. Several locations in Wales are believed to bear his name. They include Beddgelert ("Gelert's grave") and the surrounding Gelert Valley and Llangeler ("Gelert's church") [5] where there is a church dedicated to him. Through the promotional efforts of an innkeeper in the early 1790s, [6] St. Gelert, the human, has become much conflated with the legend of a saintly dog putatively from the same region, Gelert. [7] [8]
The name "Gelert" is a cymricized variant of Celert or Cilert [2] (also written Cylart, [4] Kelert, [3] [4] Kilart, or Kylart [3] ) and Kellarth (also written Kelarth [3] or Kełłarth [3] ). It is also spelled Geler [9] or Celer, [9] [10] although this probably represents a misunderstanding of Celtic alveolar plosives and dental fricatives, [10] and is sometimes even teutonized to Killhart, Kilhart, or Gellert. It is of unknown meaning or origin.
Gelert was a hermit in the late 7th century [1] who lived in a cave near what is now known as the Holy Well of St Celer [1] near Llandysul. In the Dark Ages, pilgrims would travel to the well for healing by Gelert. Eventually a chapel dedicated to St Mary (called "Capel Mair") was erected over the well, of which the ruins still remain. [1] It is believed that Gelert was at some time a missionary, evangelizing in Llangeler and Beddgelert. [9] According to modern historical belief, he was martyred in Beddgelert, although this is a misconception simply based on the town name's meaning ("Gelert's grave"). [9] It is believed, however, that Gelert was martyred. [1]
Local Welsh legend more often identifies Gelert as a dog rather than a human. Unlike the dog-saint St. Guinefort, who was in fact an actual dog 'sainted' via folk belief for his reputed protection of children, St. Gelert was a man whose human identity has been overshadowed by hucksterism about a mythical martyred dog. According to folklore promoted by an innkeeper in Beddgelert, Gelert the dog was a wolfhound unjustly killed by his owner, Prince Llywelyn the Great, when found with bloody maws near the empty cradle of Llywelyn's son. When the scene was investigated, the body of a wolf [11] [12] was found, which the dog Gelert had killed to save the baby's life.
One modern writer offers this concise explanation of Beddgelert's connection to the "obscure, early-medieval, local saint":
The Welsh dog-hero/saint Gelert, associated with Prince Llywelyn the Great (1173-1240), is, however, a romantic fiction of the late 18th century derived from a 5th century Indian Buddhist work, the Pancha Tantra. The story gained wide currency in Europe [and] the Middle East. The heraldic Rous Roll of the 15th century, for example, depicted the arms of Wales as a helmet on which stand a dog and a cradle. But it was finally applied specifically by a hotelier to the village of Beddgelert, named after an obscure, early-mediæval, local saint. To reinforce the story further, he erected a megalith, Gelert's Bed. The 'new' story became the subject of a poem by W.R. Spencer which Joseph Haydn set to music. [11] Such is the stuff of nationalist legend — and this is one of the more benign examples. [7]
The innkeeper who popularized the dog's story was David Pritchard, who came to the area either around 1793 or 1801, depending on the source. [13] [14] The poem by Spencer is widely available online. [14] [15] Haydn set the poem to the tune of the Welsh air Eryri Wen, which means "White Snowdon[ sic?]", a reference to Snowdon. [16] [17] In the Panchatantra, which dates back to oral traditions prior to 300 B.C.E., the villain is a snake, and the role of the dog is filled by a mongoose. [12] Aesop included a dog-and-snake version. [6] An early Welsh version of the tale appears in the Mabinogion. [8] Other cultures provide other substitutions; even Disney added a non-fatal version of the legend to Lady and the Tramp . [6]
Snowdonia, or Eryri, is a mountainous region and national park in North Wales. It contains all 15 mountains in Wales over 3000 feet high, including the country's highest, Snowdon, which is 1,085 metres (3,560 ft) tall. These peaks are all part of the Snowdon, Glyderau, and Carneddau ranges in the north of the region. The shorter Moelwynion and Moel Hebog ranges lie immediately to the south.
Llywelyn ab Iorwerth, also known as Llywelyn the Great, anglicised as Leolinus Magnus, was a medieval Welsh ruler. He succeeded his uncle, Dafydd ab Owain Gwynedd, as King of Gwynedd in 1195. By a combination of war and diplomacy, he dominated Wales for 45 years.
Gelert is a legendary wolfhound associated with the village of Beddgelert in Gwynedd, north-west Wales. In the legend, Llywelyn the Great returns from hunting to find his baby missing, the cradle overturned, and Gelert with a blood-smeared mouth. Believing the dog had devoured the child, Llywelyn draws his sword and kills Gelert. After the dog's dying yelp, Llywelyn hears the cries of the baby, unharmed under the cradle, along with a dead wolf which had attacked the child and been killed by Gelert. Llywelyn is overcome with remorse and buries the dog with great ceremony, but can still hear its dying yelp. After that day, Llywelyn never smiles again.
Beddgelert is a village and community in the Snowdonia area of Gwynedd, Wales. The population of the community taken at the 2021 census was 460. This includes Nantmor and Nant Gwynant. It is reputed to be named after the legendary hound Gelert. The community is large and sparsely populated and covers 86 square kilometres.
The Mabinogion are the earliest Welsh prose stories, and belong to the Matter of Britain. The stories were compiled in Middle Welsh in the 12th–13th centuries from earlier oral traditions. There are two main source manuscripts, created c. 1350–1410, as well as a few earlier fragments. The title covers a collection of eleven prose stories of widely different types, offering drama, philosophy, romance, tragedy, fantasy and humour, and created by various narrators over time. There is a classic hero quest, "Culhwch and Olwen"; a historic legend in "Lludd and Llefelys", complete with glimpses of a far off age; and other tales portray a very different King Arthur from the later popular versions. The highly sophisticated complexity of the Four Branches of the Mabinogi defies categorisation. The stories are so diverse that it has been argued that they are not even a true collection.
Dinas Emrys is a rocky and wooded hillock near Beddgelert in Gwynedd, north-west Wales. Rising some 76 m (250 ft) above the floor of the Glaslyn river valley, it overlooks the southern end of Llyn Dinas in Snowdonia.
Snowdon, or Yr Wyddfa, is a mountain in the Snowdonia region of North Wales. It has an elevation of 1,085 metres (3,560 ft) above sea level, which makes it both the highest mountain in Wales and the highest in the British Isles south of the Scottish Highlands. Snowdon is designated a national nature reserve for its rare flora and fauna, and is located within Snowdonia National Park.
The flag of Wales consists of a red dragon passant on a green and white field. As with many heraldic charges, the exact representation of the dragon is not standardised in law.
The Welsh Highland Railway is a 25-mile (40.2 km) long, restored 1 ft 11+1⁄2 in narrow gauge heritage railway in the Welsh county of Gwynedd, operating from Caernarfon to Porthmadog, and passing through a number of popular tourist destinations including Beddgelert and the Aberglaslyn Pass. At Porthmadog it connects with the Ffestiniog Railway and to the short Welsh Highland Heritage Railway. In Porthmadog it uses the United Kingdom's only mixed gauge flat rail crossing.
Llanberis is a village, community and electoral ward in Gwynedd, northwest Wales, on the southern bank of the lake Llyn Padarn and at the foot of Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales. It is a centre for outdoor activities in Snowdonia, including walking, mountaineering, climbing, mountain biking and pony trekking, as well as water sports such as scuba diving. The community includes Nant Peris.
Welsh mythology consists of both folk traditions developed in Wales, and traditions developed by the Celtic Britons elsewhere before the end of the first millennium. As in most of the predominantly oral societies Celtic mythology and history were recorded orally by specialists such as druids. This oral record has been lost or altered as a result of outside contact and invasion over the years. Much of this altered mythology and history is preserved in medieval Welsh manuscripts, which include the Red Book of Hergest, the White Book of Rhydderch, the Book of Aneirin and the Book of Taliesin. Other works connected to Welsh mythology include the ninth-century Latin historical compilation Historia Brittonum and Geoffrey of Monmouth's twelfth-century Latin chronicle Historia Regum Britanniae, as well as later folklore, such as the materials collected in The Welsh Fairy Book by William Jenkyn Thomas (1908).
Carnedd Llewelyn, also spelled Carnedd Llywelyn, is a mountain massif in the Carneddau range in Snowdonia, north-west Wales. It is the highest point of the Carneddau and the second highest peak by relative height in Wales, 49th in the British Isles and lies on the border between Gwynedd and Conwy.
Llandysul, also spelt Llandyssul, is a town and community in the county of Ceredigion, Wales. As a community it consists of the townships of Capel Dewi, Horeb, Pontsian, Pren-gwyn, Tregroes, Rhydowen and the town of Llandysul itself. Llandysul lies in south Ceredigion in the valley of the River Teifi and is visited for its fishing and canoeing. The community had a population of 2732, as of 2011. The village itself has a population of 1484.
Afon Glaslyn is a river in Gwynedd, north-west Wales. While not of great significance in terms of its length, it is one of Gwynedd's primary rivers, and has greatly influenced the landscape in which it flows.
Llangeler is a hamlet and community located in north Carmarthenshire, Wales. The name is believed to refer to St. Gelert. Llangeler parish covers a wide area including to the west, the textile village of Drefach Felindre, Waungilwen, Cwmpengraig and to the east, Pont Tyweli which adjoins Llandysul on the Carmarthenshire side of the River Teifi. The population of the parish was 3,222 at the Census of 2001, increasing to 3,427 at the 2011 census.
The Welsh Highland Heritage Railway is a short reconstructed heritage railway in Gwynedd, Wales. Its main station is in Porthmadog.
Gelert, also spelled Gellert or Killhart, was a 13th-century dog of Welsh fable
The Brahmin and the Mongoose is a folktale from India, and "one of the world's most travelled tales". It describes the rash killing of a loyal animal, and thus warns against hasty action. The story underlies certain legends in the West, such as that of Llywelyn and his dog Gelert in Wales, or that of Saint Guinefort in France. It is classified as Aarne-Thompson type 178A.
