Snowdonia Folk Tales

Book excerpt: The old kingdom of Gwynedd – the mountains of Eryri (Snowdonia), Ynys (Anglesey) and the Llyˆn Peninsula – may be the most mythic landscape in Britain. The ancient Druids and from it sprang the tales of Blessed Bran who protected the land, wizards who made a Woman of Flowers, and Merlin the dragon whisperer whose prophecy echoes still. The poet Taliesin walked these hills, Welsh bards told stories of Arthur by these hearths and saints made pilgrimages along these paths. From these hidden nooks the Tylwyth Teg (Fair Folk) emerged to tease the people, and through these mountain passes rode Llywelyn the Great and Owain Glyndwˆ r, living lives that would be spun into legend. Storyteller and singer Eric Maddern has gathered these old tales here and breathed fresh life into them.