1. Beginnings of Legends
Aim of Lesson
by the end of this lesson you should be able to:
• Understand what information goes at the
beginnings of legends.
Legends are stories which have been told
for hundreds of years.
Over the years storytellers may have
altered or added parts to the story.
Eventually these stories were written
down.
Legends give us an insight into the lives,
cultures and landscapes of a time long
ago.
The following Legend is from Wales, it gives us an insight into
the lives and beliefs of Welsh people who lived hundreds of
years ago. It is set in the North of Wales in the Conwy Valley
close to a village called Betws-y-Coed, at the foot of what is
now known as The Snowdonia Country Park.
Yr Afanc
Long long ago there lived a gigantic water monster
called the Afanc. The Afanc lived in Llyn-yr-Afanc in
the River Conwy. He was extremely strong and
particularly bad tempered. His eyes were green
black and his hide was a tough as armour. When in a
bad mood he would break the banks of the river
causing the water to flow over and flood parts of the
Vale of Conwy. Homes would be destroyed, crops
were ruined and the people were miserable. The
villagers decided that something must be done to
stop the Afanc.
The village men got together and plotted to kill the
Afanc. They gathered all of their weapons: swords,
spears, bows and arrows. Every man was armed. In
the dead of night they crept through the wood
towards the lake. The villagers could hear the Afanc
resting, his breath coming in long, slow pants. Their
hearts began to pound, they didn’t want the Afanc to
hear them coming. The wood was dark and the path
criss-crossed by trees. Trees which, in the
darkness, looked like strange creatures. Shrivelled,
dead leaves crunched underfoot. Strange sounds
drifted towards them carried by the wind.
At last they arrived at the lake and began hurling the
weapons at the Afanc. The men were keen marksmen
and each weapon hit its target. However, none of the
weapons seemed able to pierce the skin of the Afanc.
His hide seemed impenetrable, no man-made weapon
could puncture it. The Afanc awoke, he looked at the
villagers and roared. The ground shook, trees bent,
the men ran and ran back to their village.
The village leaders resolved to entice the Afanc
from his home and move him to a lake far away
beyond the mountains, where he could cause no
further trouble. The best blacksmith in all of
Wales was called upon to forge strong iron chains.
Hu Gardan and his two long-horned oxen, the
strongest oxen in all of Wales, were summoned to
the village of Betws-y-Coed. There was one problem
left.
How could the villagers tempt the Afanc from his
lake in order to bind him with the chains and hitch
him to the oxen? One wise old man remembered how
the Afanc adored beautiful young women. All the
maidens in the village were gathered together and
told of the plan. The daughter of a local farmer was
willing and brave enough to aid the men with their
plan.
The girl approached the lake. Hu Gardan, his oxen and
the village men hid in the wood near to the lake.
Standing on the shore she softly called the Afanc,
the waters began to heave and churn, and through it
appeared the huge head of the monster. The girl
stood bravely and as the Afanc slowly crawled nearer
and nearer she began to sing a gentle Welsh lullaby.
The song calmed the monster and he lay down beside
the maiden and slept.
In a flash the village men appeared and bound the
monster using the forged iron chains. The monster
began to stir, the men quickly hitched the monster
to the oxen. The Afanc awoke and was furious to
discover that he had been tricked. He gave out an
almighty roar and slid back into the lake. The oxen
stood firm and began to pull the Afanc from the
waters.
Hu Gardan, the village men and the oxen used all of
their strength to drag the creature up the Lledr
Valley to Llyn Ffynnon Las, close to the summit of
Snowdon. There the chains on the Afanc were
loosened, and with a roar, the monster leapt straight
in to the deep blue water that was to become his new
home. Encased within the sturdy rock banks of the
lake he remains trapped forever.
What information would you expect to
find at the beginning of a story?
Setting
Characters
Problem
Read the beginning of this
legend again. Try to answer
these questions.
When did this story take place?
What is the problem?
Where did it happen?
Who are the main characters?
Yr Afanc
Long long ago there lived a gigantic water monster called the
Afanc. The Afanc lived in Llyn-yr-Afanc in the River Conwy.
He was extremely strong and particularly bad tempered. His
eyes were green black and his hide was a tough as armour.
When in a bad mood he would break the banks of the river
causing the water to flow over and flood parts of the Vale of
Conwy. Homes would be destroyed, crops were ruined and the
people were miserable. The villagers decided that something
must be done to stop the Afanc.
When did this story take place?
Answer
Yr Afanc
Long long ago there lived a gigantic water monster called the
Afanc. The Afanc lived in Llyn-yr-Afanc in the River Conwy.
He was extremely strong and particularly bad tempered. His
eyes were green black and his hide was a tough as armour.
When in a bad mood he would break the banks of the river
causing the water to flow over and flood parts of the Vale of
Conwy. Homes would be destroyed, crops were ruined and the
people were miserable. The villagers decided that something
must be done to stop the Afanc.
Where did it happen?
Answer.
Yr Afanc
Long long ago there lived a gigantic water monster called the
. Afanc.The Afanc lived in Llyn-yr-Afanc in the River Conwy. He
was extremely strong and particularly bad tempered. His eyes
were green black and his hide was a tough as armour. When in a
bad mood he would break the banks of the river causing the
water to flow over and flood parts of the Vale of Conwy.
Homes would be destroyed, crops were ruined and the people
were miserable. The villagers decided that something must
be done to stop the Afanc.
Who are the main characters?
Answer
Yr Afanc
Long long ago there lived a gigantic water monster called the
Afanc. The Afanc lived in Llyn-yr-Afanc in the River Conwy. He
was extremely strong and particularly bad tempered. His eyes
were green black and his hide was a tough as armour.
When in a bad mood he would break the banks of the river
causing the water to flow over and flood parts of the Vale of
Conwy. Homes would be destroyed, crops were ruined and the
people were miserable. The villagers decided that something
must be done to stop the Afanc.
What is the problem?
Answer
Read the legend of
LLys Helig
Can you answer:
When? Where? Who? And Why?
LLys Helig
Long long ago, during the 6th Century, Gwendud the pretty
daughter of the prince of Tyno Helig, Helig Ap Glannog, had
reached the age for marriage. She had fallen in love with
Tathal, a young man who was a commoner and therefore
unable to marry her.
Now, Helig Ap Glannog knew that Gwendud, would only ever be
happy in life if she married Tathal, instead of the other
suitors she had chasing her. Helig told Tathal that if he was
to go away and return wearing a gold Torque around his neck –
the same as a nobleman would wear – Helig would allow such a
marriage to take place.
Tathal left the palace and went to find his fortune in the vast
kingdom of Helig Ap Glannog. Tathal knew he had to be quick
otherwise Helig may change his mind over the deal that they
had made. Not long afterwards, Tathal came across a
nobleman passing through the countryside. They began to
fight and soon the nobleman lay dead at Tathal’s feet.
Tathal returned to the palace wearing the dead nobleman’s gold
torque around his neck and the wedding day was set, just like
Helig had promised.
Tathal was madly in love and knew that he must confess to
Gwendud how he had come by the gold torque. She told him to go
back and bury the nobleman’s body so that no one would find out
about this terrible deed. Tathal went back, but as he dug the
grave he heard a voice calling out, “Dial a ddaw, dial a ddaw!”
(Which means – revenge will come, revenge will come). Tathal was
frightened but determined to complete the task of burying the
dead nobleman, until again he heard the voice say “Dial a ddaw,
dial a ddaw!”
“When will it come?” replied the young man to the voice and the
voice answered, “In the time of your children, grandchildren and
great grandchildren.”
On returning Tathal told the princess about the voice and what it
had said. She replied, “Oh, by then we shall be dead anyway.”
The two of them were married and lived happily ever after.
Well nearly happily ever after, for many years later when a feast
was being held at LLys Helig to celebrate the birth of their
great-grandchild, the sea rushed in over the lower lands of the
kingdom. With water lapping at their heels a maid and her lover,
ran until at last they reached the safety of the land. Breathless
and exhausted they waited for the morning. When the sun rose
it disclosed and expanse of rippling water where Helig’s Palace
had once stood.
It is said that at very low tides the ruins of the old palace can
still be seen under the water.
Legend or fact? Recent archaeological discoveries in the area
suggest that until relatively recently, trees once stood in an area
that is now submerged beneath the waves!
How to Write a Legend
Beginnings
Settings
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