DINAS EMRYS

Dinas Emrys is a hill which stands 70metres high deep in Eryri ( Snowdonia )
Dinas comes from Dîn which is ancient Welsh for hill fort
As to ' Emrys' , well for this we have to go back in time , back to the time of kings and wizards and mythical beasts

Back to the time when y Brenin Gwytheyrn ( King Vortigern) was king of the Britons.
Gwytheyrn was a feisty sort and was involved in a mighty battle with the Picts. The battle was not going well and he sent a message over to the Saxons in Europe asking for support.

The Saxons came but were treacherous and turned on him, killing his son and taking over the territory of Caint ( Kent)
Things were looking bad so Gwytheyrn and his soldiers retreated to the safety of Eryri ( Snowdonia)
He found a suitable location on a sheltered hill.

And set about building a fort. The soldiers worked through the day building the fort however when they awoke the next morning the fort had fallen to the ground. They raised the fort again only to find the next morning it had collapsed again. This happened repeatedly

Gwytheyrn sought consel from his wise men who had no explanation for the mysterious collapses. They however suggested that he should make a sacrifice to the gods , he should find a boy who had no father ( immaculate conception) slay him and pour his blood on to the foundations

Gwytheyrn sent his soldiers to search the length and breadth of Cymru to find such a boy and in a place now known as Caerfyrddin ( Carmarthen) they found such a boy. He was 10 yr old Myrddin Emrys .
Myrddin was brought before the king and told of his intentions.

Myrddin protested and told the king that he knew why the fort kept collapsing. He informed the King that beneath the Mountain he would find a lake and there lived two dragons which rose each night to fight, this fighting caused the earth to tremble and the fort to fall

Gwytheyrn sent his soldiers to explore to see if there was any truth to the tale , and sure enough the soldiers found the lake and beside it a stone chest where lying asleep were two dragons , one white, one red. The actions of the soldiers awoke the dragons who flew into the air

and began a mighty battle. The two dragons fought ferociously however the red dragon was struck to the ground, it rose again and continued the battle but again it was struck down, this time severely injured. However in one final attempt it rose again and bravely faced his foe

On this occasion the Red dragon used all of his might and defeated the white dragon which flew eastwards never to be seen again. The red dragon lay injured but soon dissapeared back to the safety of the mountains depths and has not been since

Gwytheyrn asked Myrddin Emrys what was the meaning of what he had seen . Myrddin told him " The red dragon represents the Welsh , and the white represents her enemies, although the Welsh may appear defeated, they will always rise again in victory"

Gwytheyrn in gratitude, told Myrddin Emrys that he would name the fort after him and he could live the rest of his life there in safety. Hence Dinas Emrys

Who was Myrddin Emrys ?

Well you will know him better as 'Merlin'