Indexer
Dinas Emrys is an Iron Age hill fort – now largely hidden by trees – in the Gwynant Valley of North Wales.
<a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dinas_Emrys_-_geograph.org.uk_-_62718.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Source</a>
This is supposedly the site of the event that led to the red dragon becoming the symbol of Wales.
Many centuries ago, so the legend runs, King Vortigern tried to build a castle here but it kept falling down. A wizard told him that he needed to sacrifice a young boy who had lost his father. If his blood was scattered on the hilltop, Vortigern’s castle would stay in place.
A suitable boy was found, his name being Merlin. However, before he could be killed he told the king that in the pool below the hill were two dragons, one white and one red. The king immediately decided to look for the dragons and drained the pool.
Sure enough, there were the dragons lying asleep at the bottom of the pool. They now woke up and started to fight each other. The red dragon, which represented the British people of Wales, put the white dragon to flight, this being the symbol of the invading Saxons.
<a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Welsh_dragon.svg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Source</a>
Merlin was spared and lived to become a powerful wizard at the court of King Arthur. The red dragon has graced the flag of Wales ever since.
Well – at least the hill of Dinas Emrys is real!
Well done! Nice pictures!