For Dog Gone (who already knows the legend):
In the 13th century Llewelyn, prince of North Wales, had a palace at Beddgelert. One day he went hunting without Gelert, "The Faithful Hound", who was unaccountably absent.
On Llewelyn's return the truant, stained and smeared with blood, joyfully sprang to meet his master. The prince alarmed hastened to find his son, and saw the infant's cot empty, the bedclothes and floor covered with blood.
The frantic father plunged his sword into the hound's side, thinking it had killed his heir. The dog's dying yell was answered by a child's cry.
Llewelyn searched and discovered his boy unharmed, but near by lay the body of a mighty wolf which Gelert had slain.
The prince filled with remorse is said never to have smiled again. He buried Gelert here.
Yes, a profound and cautionary tale of a great injustice.
ReplyDeleteI knew that was too good to be true.
ReplyDelete:)
ReplyDeleteThanks for a nice legend. I'd never heard it, yet it sounded familiar.
ReplyDeletehere is the actual monument, in Snowdonia, Wales.
ReplyDeleteI am also fond of the excerpt from Nial's Saga
“I will give thee a dog given to me from Ireland. He is huge of limb, and as a warrior in battle equal to an able man. Moreover, he hath mans’ wit and will growl only at thine enemies but never at thy friends. And he will see by each mans’ face whether he be ill or well disposed towards thee. And he will lay down his life for thee.”
aka Burnt Njal's Saga
which is an excellent example of weapons and so-called 'polite' armed societies....which all too frequently degenerate into anything but polite, or society. I read the whole thing (in translation) one afternoon when I had too much time to kill; it is ponderously long, in the epic poetry mold.
I particularly appreciate the aspect of the hounds that they never fight or attack if they can avoid it; they personify the premise inherent in the self-defense duty to retreat. But if they need to engage, and only if they need to do so and all other options are exhausted, they will. They are the gentlest, most patient, and least swaggering macho posturing creatures I have ever known.
The only time my own assessment of the danger of a conflict situation was incorrect, as the excerpt from the poem indicates, the hounds judgment was eerily correct.