Editing Dinas Emrys (section)

==Literary tradition==
While it is of interest to archaeologists because it is an example of a [[hillfort]] whose fortifications entirely postdate the [[Roman Britain|Roman]] period, this hill is also of interest to enthusiasts about the legends of [[King Arthur]]. This is the setting of the famous exchange of the warlord [[Vortigern]] and the youthful [[Merlin|Ambrosius]] as told the [[Historia Britonum]].<ref>[http://avalon.law.yale.edu/medieval/nenius.asp ''Historia Britonum'' by Nennius (translated by J.A.Giles), The Avalon Project, ch.40]</ref>
[[File:Vortigern-Dragons.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Detail from [[Lambeth Palace Library]] MS 6 folio 43v illustrating an episode in ''[[Historia Regum Britanniae]]'' (c. 1136). Pictured above Vortigern sits at the edge of a pool whence two dragons emerge, one red and one white, which do battle in his presence.]]
According to legend, when Vortigern fled into Wales to escape the [[Anglo-Saxons|Anglo-Saxon]] invaders, he chose this lofty hillfort as the site for his royal retreat. Every day his men would work hard erecting the first of several proposed towers; but the next morning they would return to find the masonry collapsed in a heap. This continued for many weeks until Vortigern was advised to seek the help of a young boy not conceived by a mortal man. The King sent his soldiers out across the land to find such a lad. The boy they found was called Myrddin Emrys ([[Merlin Ambrosius]]). Vortigern, following the advice of his councillors, was planning to kill the boy in order to appease supernatural powers that prevented him from building a fortress here. Merlin scorned this advice, and instead explained that the hillfort could not stand due to a hidden pool containing two ''vermes'' ([[dragon]]s). He explained how the White Dragon of the Saxons though winning the battle at present, would soon be defeated by the [[Britons (historical)|Welsh]] [[Y Ddraig Goch|Red Dragon]]. After Vortigern's downfall, the fort was given to High-King [[Ambrosius Aurelianus]], known in Welsh as Emrys Wledig, hence its name.<ref>[http://avalon.law.yale.edu/medieval/nenius.asp ''Historia Britonum'' by Nennius (translated by J.A.Giles), The Avalon Project, ch.40-43]</ref>

===Origin and confinement of the dragons===
[[Image:Welsh dragon.svg|220px|thumb|right|The ''Prophecy of Merlin'' which features the enduring legend of the Red Dragon is centred on Dinas Emrys]]
The earliest sources regard the two dragons as distinctly different, and in a metaphor of the ''[[Adventus Saxonum]]'' describes one as being native to the island of Britain (it had arrived first) which was then joined by another new and alien dragon that fought it for supremacy.

As to how the dragons became confined there, the story of ''[[Lludd and Llefelys]]'' in the [[Mabinogion]] gives details. According to the legend, when [[Lludd]] ruled Britain ({{circa}}100&nbsp;BC), a hideous scream, whose origin could not be determined, was heard each May Eve. This scream so perplexed the Britons that it caused infertility, panic and mayhem throughout the realm. In need of help Lludd sought counsel on this and other matters from his brother [[Llefelys]], a King of Gaul. Llefelys furnished the information that the scream was caused by battling dragons. The scream would be uttered by the ''dragon of the [[Britons (historical)|Britons]]'' when it was fighting another alien dragon and was being defeated. Lludd heeded the advice given to him by Llefelys and captured both dragons in a [[cauldron]] filled with mead when they had transformed themselves, as apparently dragons did, into pigs. The captured dragons were buried at the place later called Dinas Emrys, as it was regarded as the safest place to put them.<ref>Gantz, Jeffrey (translator) (1987). The Mabinogion. New York: Penguin. {{ISBN|0-14-044322-3}}</ref>

The main entrance to the fort is on the northern side of the hill and traces of a ruined medieval tower 36 feet by 24 feet have been found on the summit. Nearby is a circle of tumbled stones about 30 feet in diameter which is said to be where the dragons were hidden.{{Citation needed|date=January 2009}} Before Dinas Emrys was so-named the fort was known as ''Dinas Ffaraon Dandde''.<ref>[http://www.vortigernstudies.org.uk/arthist/saintsmove.htm Vortigern Studies, Saints on the move (Robert Vermaat)]</ref>

===Other local legends===

According to local legend Myrddin hid treasure in a cave at Dinas Emrys. The discoverer of the treasure will be 'golden-haired and blue-eyed'. When that lucky person is near to Dinas Emrys a bell will ring to invite him or her into the cave, which will open of its own accord as soon as that person's foot touches it. A young man who lived near [[Beddgelert]] once searched for the treasure, hoping to give himself a good start in life. He took a pickaxe and climbed to the top of the hill. When he began to dig in earnest on the site of the tower, some terrible unearthly noises began to rumble under his feet. The Dinas began to rock like a cradle and the sun clouded over so it became pitch dark. Lightning flashed in the sky and thunder clapped over his head. He dropped the pickaxe and ran home. When he arrived, everything was calm again, but he never returned to collect his pickaxe. Not far from Dinas Emrys is ''Cell y Dewiniaid'' – "The Grove of the Magicians". There is a field here that once had a thick grove of oak trees at its north end. Local tradition holds that Vortigern's wise men used to meet here to discuss the great events of their times. An adjacent field is where they were buried and at one time a stone marked the site of each grave. A white thorn tree annually decorated each resting place with falling white blossoms.<ref name=Rhys>Celtic Folklore, By John Rhys, p. 142</ref>