A cautionary tale
The Legend
King John of England made a gift to Llywelyn the Great, Prince of Gwynedd, of a magnificent hound. The Prince was a great hunter and this hound, named Gelert, soon became his favorite. One day as he set out to the hunt, the great Gelert failed to come to the houndsmans summons. He could not be found, and finally the Prince reluctantly set out without him.
After a poor day's hunting, the Prince returned. Gelert greeted him at the gate, covered in blood and gore. Following the trail of blood to the cradle where his infant son should rest, the Prince discovered an empty cradle and blood and bed clothes tossed all around. In a rage, believing Gelert had killed and eaten the child, he turned on the hound and ran him through with his sword.
The hounds dying cry brought an answering cry from the disarrayed bedclothing. A frantic search revealed the heir, the infant in perfect health, beside the body of a wolf, rent to death by the fangs of Gelert.
The faithful hound had killed the wolf to protect his master's infant son. The Prince was striken with terrible remorse and buried Gelert with great honor.
A story whose origins are lost in the mists of time...
The more I research the legend the muddier the waters become!
The basic story itself, of a man who rashly kills his hound only to learn he had made a terrible mistake apparently has roots so ancient, no one origin can be pin pointed. The nearest to an original is an old Buddist story, told as a warning against rash action. Like all good proverbs, it struck a chord, and so was retold over and over throughout Asia, Indian, and finally, the Celtic lands.
Thus, the story, in general, already existed when an enterprising innkeeper decided to turn it into a local legend, to bring in more business. The innkeeper was the manager of the Royal Goat Hotel, built in 1803 in Beddgelert. He and some local businessmen created the "Grave of Gelert" with a lovely statue and plaque, to create what we could call these days, a "tourist destination" out of what was already quite a lovely, and picturesque mountain town.
Beddgelert does translate to the Grave of Gelert, however, it is thought that it is actually named for an early ruler of the region, Celer. The innkeeper was further inspired by an ancient Welsh proverb; "Yr wy'n edivaru cymmaint a'r Gur a laddodd ei Vilgi" translated as "I repent as much as the man who slew his grey-hound".
By the way, the Irish Wolfhound people like to say Gelert was an Irish Wolfhound. Personally, I like to think he was a greyhound - given the proverb. Of course, since Gelert never actually existed, you can think what you want!
No matter - the story has grown in the telling, and even inspired a famous poem, Llewellyn And His Dog by Hon. W. R. Spencer
About the Author: Summer Fey Foovay writes about greyhounds on her website
Demented Pixies Greyhounds and also offers free greyhound clipart at
Dog Clipart by Demented Pixies Graphics
