Editing Gelert

{{Short description|Hound from Welsh legend}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}
 [[File:Gelert.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|''Gelert'' by [[Charles Burton Barber]] (1884)<ref>{{citation|mode=cs1|url=https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/gelert-41537|title=Gelert|publisher=Art UK|access-date=1 March 2025}}</ref>]] 
'''Gelert''' ({{IPA|cy|ˈɡɛlɛrt}}) is a legendary [[hound]] in a Welsh [[folk-tale]]. He is associated with the village of [[Beddgelert]] in [[Gwynedd]] in north-west Wales, the name of which was formerly believed to mean "Gelert's grave".<ref>{{cite book|chapter=Chapter V. The Legend of Gelert|author=Jenkins, D. E.|title=Bedd Gelert: Its Facts, Fairies and Folklore|year=1899|location=Portmadog|publisher=L. Jenkins|pages=56–74|url=http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000193763}}</ref> In the legend, [[Llywelyn the Great]] returns from hunting to find his baby missing, the cradle overturned, and Gelert with a blood-smeared mouth. Believing the dog had devoured the child, Llywelyn draws his sword and kills Gelert. After the dog's dying yelp, Llywelyn hears the cries of the baby, unharmed under the cradle, along with a dead wolf which had attacked the child and been killed by Gelert. Llywelyn is overcome with remorse and buries the dog with great ceremony, (then leading to the town name) but can still hear its dying yelp. After that day, Llywelyn never smiles again.

The story is a variation on the ''[[The Brahmin and the Mongoose|"Faithful Hound" folk-tale motif]]'', which lives on as an [[urban legend]]. It is classified as [[Aarne–Thompson]] type 178A.<ref>D. L. Ashliman, ''[http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/type0178a.html Llewelyn and His Dog Gelert and other folktales of Aarne–Thompson type 178A]''</ref>

==Poems and other interpretations==
[[File:Gourlay Steell (1819-94) - LLywelyn (1173-1240) and his Brave Hound, Gelert - RCIN 403634 - Royal Collection.jpg|thumb|upright=.8|''Llywelyn and His Brave Hound, Gelert'' by [[Gourlay Steell]] (1880)<ref>{{citation|mode=cs1|url=https://www.rct.uk/collection/403634/llywelyn-1173-1240-and-his-brave-hound-gelert|title=LLywelyn (1173-1240) and his Brave Hound, Gelert 1880|publisher=Royal Collection Trust|access-date=1 March 2025}}</ref>]]
This story formed the basis for several English poems, among which are "Beth Gêlert; or, the Grave of the Greyhound" by [[William Robert Spencer]] written around 1800;<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/childrenslitera00currgoog |chapter=Beth Gêlert |first1=William Robert |last1=Spencer |author-link=William Robert Spencer |editor-first1=Charles Madison |editor-last1=Curry |editor-first2=Erle Elsworth |editor-last2=Clippinger |editor2-link=Erle Elsworth Clippinger|pages=[https://archive.org/details/childrenslitera00currgoog/page/n454 436]–437 |title=Children's Literature |year=1921 |place=Chicago |publisher=[[Rand McNally]] |isbn=978-1-344-64678-9 |access-date=29 October 2011}}</ref> "Beth Gelert" by [[Richard Henry Horne]];<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/balladromances00horngoog |chapter=Beth Gelert |first1=Richard Henry |last1=Horne |author-link=Richard Henry Horne |title=Ballad Romances |pages=[https://archive.org/details/balladromances00horngoog/page/n195 187]–202 |place=London |year=1846 |publisher=Charles Ollier |access-date=29 October 2011}}</ref> "Gelert" by Francis Orray Ticknor<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/poemsfrancisorr00tickgoog |chapter=Gelert |title=The poems of Francis Orray Ticknor |first1=Francis Orray |last1=Ticknor |place=New York & Washington |publisher=The Neale Publishing Co |year=1911 |page=[https://archive.org/details/poemsfrancisorr00tickgoog/page/n90 85]  |access-date=29 October 2011}}</ref> and the dramatic poem "Llewellyn" by [[Walter Richard Cassels]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.readbookonline.net/readOnLine/48793/ |title=Llewellyn |first1=Walter Richard |last1=Cassels |author-link=Walter Richard Cassels |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111202174345/http://www.readbookonline.net/readOnLine/48793/ |archive-date=2 December 2011}}</ref> The tale is also alluded to by [[John Critchley Prince]] in lines 24 to 29 of his poem "North Wales:" "Thou hast not trod with pilgrim foot the ground / Where sleeps the canine martyr of distrust, / Poor Gelert, famed in song, as brave a hound / As ever guarded homestead, hut, or hall, / Or leapt exulting at the hunter’s call; / As ever grateful man consigned to dust."<ref>{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JGZVAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA326 |chapter="North Wales" |title=The poetical works of John Critchley Prince |volume=1 |first1=John Critchley |year=1880 |place=Manchester |publisher=Abel Heywood & Son|last1=Prince |page=326  |access-date=29 October 2011}} poem</ref> Despite this, and despite the presence of a raised mound in the village called Gelert's Grave, historians do not believe that Gelert ever existed. 

It is recorded in ''[[Wild Wales]]'' (1862) by [[George Borrow]], who notes it as a well known legend; by ''[[Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable]]'', which details versions of the same story from other cultures; and by ''[[The Nuttall Encyclopaedia]]'', under the Anglicised spellings "Gellert" and "Killhart". [[John Fiske (philosopher)|John Fiske]] discusses Gelert in his ''Myths and Myth-makers'', saying regretfully that "as the Swiss must give up his [[William Tell|Tell]], so must the Welshman be deprived of his brave dog Gellert, over whose cruel fate I confess to having shed more tears than I should regard as well bestowed upon the misfortunes of many a human hero of romance." He notes that "to this day the visitor to Snowdon is told the touching story, and shown the place, called Beth-Gellert, where the dog's grave is still to be seen. Nevertheless, the story occurs in the fireside lore of nearly every [[Indo-European languages|Aryan]] people."

The tale indeed appears in numerous cultures with minor variations. The [[Ligurian Alps|Alpine ligurian]] poem ''R  sacrifisi dr can'', written in [[Ligurian language (Romance)|Ligurian]], tells of how a shepherd shot his sheepdog after finding it covered in sheep blood, only to later find a dead wolf in the stable.<ref>''Cultura alpina in Liguria'', by Realdo e Verdeggia, published by SAGEP EDITRICE, 1984, {{ISBN|88-7058-106-3}}, 254 pages</ref> 

In India, a black snake replaces the wolf and a [[mongoose]] replaces the dog. In Egypt, the story goes that a cook nearly killed a [[Wali]] for having smashed a pot of herbs, but later discovers that the pot contained a poisonous snake.<ref>''Childhood of Religions: Embracing a Simple Account of the Birth and Growth of Myths and Legends'', by Edward Clodd, published by [[Kessinger Publishing]], 1998, {{ISBN|0-7661-0502-4}}, {{ISBN|978-0-7661-0502-7}}, 300 pages</ref> 

In Malaysian folklore, a similar story involves a tame [[sun bear|bear]], kept by a Malay hunter as the guardian of his young daughter. As in the story of Gelert, the hunter returns home from an expedition, and finds his daughter gone and the bear covered in blood. Hastily thinking the bear has devoured his daughter, the hunter kills it with his spear, but later finds the body of a tiger, killed by the bear in defence of the hunter's daughter, who shortly emerges from the jungle, from where she took refuge.<ref>''Malay magic: an introduction to the folklore and popular religion of the Malay Peninsula'', by [[Walter William Skeat (anthropologist)|Walter William Skeat]], [[Charles Otto Blagden]], edition: illustrated, published by Routledge, 1965, {{ISBN|0-7146-2026-2}}, {{ISBN|978-0-7146-2026-8}}, 685 pages</ref>

In the [[The Walt Disney Company|Disney]] movie ''[[Lady and the Tramp]]'' (1955), Tramp is carried off to the pound after Aunt Sarah finds him in a nursery with the cradle overturned. In this version of the tale, the "Gelert" figure is rescued: Lady manages to show "Jim Dear" the dead rat hidden behind a curtain, and the parents realize that Tramp actually saved their child from the rat.

[[London Children's Ballet]] produced ballet versions of the story at the [[Peacock Theatre]] in 1996 and 2002.<ref>{{cite web |title=Faithful Gelert 1996 |url=https://www.londonchildrensballet.com/faithful-gelert |website=London Children's Ballet |access-date=5 November 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240726130215/https://www.londonchildrensballet.com/faithful-gelert |archive-date=26 July 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Faithful Gelert 2002 |url=https://www.londonchildrensballet.com/faithful-gelert-2002 |website=London Children's Ballet |access-date=5 November 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240727001154/https://www.londonchildrensballet.com/faithful-gelert-2002 |archive-date=27 July 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk/news/183861.naomi-makes-west-end-debut/ | title=Naomi makes her West End debut | date=5 June 2002 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/local-news/ballet-duo-in-top-debut-4857628 | title=Ballet duo in top debut | date=2 May 2002 }}</ref>

In 2002 the ''[[Incredible Story Studios]]'' made a short film called "The Return of Gelert", written by a Welsh schoolchild, which depicts the ghost of Gelert returning to haunt early 21st century [[Beddgelert]].<ref>{{cite news |date=10 January 2002 |title=Boy's story made into Disney film |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/1753646.stm |work=[[BBC News]] |access-date=28 April 2017 }}</ref>

==Gelert's grave==
[[File:Gelert's Grave, Beddgelert.jpeg|thumb|Gelert's Grave in 1850]]
[[File:Gelert's Grave, Beddgelert - geograph.org.uk - 2886483.jpg|thumb|Gelert's Grave in 2012]]
It is now accepted that the village of Beddgelert took its name from an early saint named Kilart or [[Saint Gelert|Celert]], rather than from the dog. The "grave" mound is ascribed to David Prichard, landlord of the Goat Hotel in Beddgelert in the late eighteenth century, who connected the legend to the village to encourage tourism.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-first=John |editor1-last=Davies|editor1-link=John Davies (historian)|editor2-first=Nigel |editor2-last=Jenkins | editor2-link=Nigel Jenkins| editor3-first=Baines |editor3-last=Menna |editor4-first=Peredur I. |editor4-last=Lynch |title=The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales |year=2008 |publisher=[[University of Wales Press]] |location=Cardiff |isbn=978-0-7083-1953-6 |page=306}}</ref>

On the supposed grave of Gelert there are two slate memorials, one in [[Welsh language|Welsh]] and the other in English. The latter reads: 
<blockquote>{{center|'''GELERT'S GRAVE'''}}<br />
IN THE 13TH CENTURY, LLYWELYN, PRINCE OF NORTH WALES, HAD A PALACE AT BEDDGELERT. ONE DAY HE WENT HUNTING WITHOUT GELERT "THE FAITHFUL HOUND" WHO WAS UNACCOUNTABLY ABSENT. ON LLYWELYN'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 THE SWORD INTO THE HOUND'S SIDE THINKING IT HAD KILLED HIS HEIR. THE DOG'S DYING YELL WAS ANSWERED BY A CHILD'S CRY. LLYWELYN 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. THE SPOT IS CALLED BEDDGELERT.</blockquote>

==See also==
*[[Jock of the Bushveld]]
*[[Saint Gelert]]
*[[Saint Guinefort]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

*[https://web.archive.org/web/20051025182133/http://red4.co.uk/ebooks/wildwales/chapt46.htm Borrow's ''Wild Wales Chapter XLVI'': "The Valley of Gelert"]
*[http://www.irishwolfhounds.org/gelert.htm Site about wolfhounds which asserts that Prichard created the grave]
*[https://archive.today/20121215061002/http://etext.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=FisMyth.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=1&division=div1%23n1.3 John Fiske's ''Myths and Myth-makers: Old Tales and Superstitions Interpreted by Comparative Mythology Chapter 1:'' "The Origins of Folk-Lore."]

==Further reading==
{{Commons category|Gelert}}
{{Wikisource1911Enc|Gellert}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.readbookonline.net/readOnLine/48793/ |title=Llewellyn |first1=Walter Richard |last1=Cassels |author-link=Walter Richard Cassels |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111202174345/http://www.readbookonline.net/readOnLine/48793/ |archive-date=2 December 2011 |url-status=dead }} Dramatic poem 
* {{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/balladromances00horngoog |quote=Richard Henry Horne Beth Gelert. |chapter=Beth Gelert |first1= Richard Henry |last1=Horne |author-link=Richard Henry Horne |title=Ballad Romances |page=[https://archive.org/details/balladromances00horngoog/page/n195 187] |place=London |year=1846 |publisher=Charles Ollier}} 
* {{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JGZVAAAAYAAJ&q=John+Critchley+Prince+north+wales&pg=PA326 |chapter=North Wales |title=The Poetical Works of John Critchley Prince |volume=1 |first=John Critchley |last=Prince |author-link=John Critchley Prince |year=1880 |place=Manchester |publisher=Abel Heywood & Son |page=326 }} Poem
* {{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/childrenslitera00currgoog |quote=william robert spencer beth-gelert. |chapter=Beth Gêlert; or, the Grave of the Greyhound |first=William Robert |last=Spencer |author-link=William Robert Spencer |editor1-first=Charles Madison |editor1-last=Curry |editor2-first=Erle Ellsworth |editor2-last=Clippinger |editor2-link=Erle Elsworth Clippinger |pages=[https://archive.org/details/childrenslitera00currgoog/page/n454 436]–437 |title=Children's Literature  |year=1921 |place=Chicago |publisher=[[Rand McNally]] |isbn=978-1-344-64678-9 }} Poem
* {{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/poemsfrancisorr00tickgoog |quote=Francis Orray Ticknor gelert. |chapter=Gelert |title=The poems of Francis Orray Ticknor |first1=Francis Orray |last1=Ticknor |place=New York & Washington |publisher=The Neale Publishing Co |year=1911 |page=[https://archive.org/details/poemsfrancisorr00tickgoog/page/n90 85] }} Poem

[[Category:Welsh folklore]]
[[Category:Individual dogs]]
[[Category:Legendary dogs]]
[[Category:Medieval legends]]
[[Category:Individual animals in Wales]]