The story goes that in the thirteenth-century, Prince Llywelyn the Great had a palace at Beddgelert in Caernarvonshire, and as the Prince was a keen hunter, he spent much of his time in the surrounding countryside. He had many hunting dogs, but one day when he summoned them as usual with his horn, his favourite dog Gelert didn’t appear, so regretfully Llywelyn had to go hunting without him.
When Llywelyn returned from the hunt, he was greeted by Gelert who came bounding towards him …his jaws dripping with blood.
The Prince was appalled, and a horrible thought came into his mind …was the blood on the dog’s muzzle that of his one-year old son. His worst fears were realized when he saw in the child’s nursery, an upturned cradle, and walls spattered with blood! He searched for the child but there was no sign of him. Llywelyn was convinced that his favourite hound had killed his son.
Mad with grief he took his sword and plunged it into Gelert’s heart.
As the dog howled in his death agony, Llywelyn heard a child’s cry coming from underneath the upturned cradle. It was his son, unharmed!
Beside the child was an enormous wolf, dead, killed by the brave Gelert.
Llywelyn was struck with remorse and carried the body of his faithful dog outside the castle walls, and buried him where everyone could see the grave of this brave animal, and hear the story of his valiant fight with the wolf.
To this day, a cairn of stones marks the place, and the name Beddgelert means in Welsh ‘The grave of Gelert’. Every year thousands of people visit the grave of this brave dog; slight problem however, is that the cairn of stones is actually less than 200 years old!
Nevertheless this story has great appeal. History and myth appear to have become a little confused when in 1793, a man called David Pritchard came to live in Beddgelert. He was the landlord of the Royal Goat Inn and knew the story of the brave dog and adapted it to fit the village, and so benefit his trade at the inn.
He apparently invented the name Gelert, and introduced the name Llywelyn into the story because of the Prince’s connection with the nearby Abbey, and it was with the help of the parish clerk that Pritchard, not Llywelyn, raised the cairn!
Whether the story is based on legend, myth or history it is still an entertaining one. Similar legends can also be found throughout Europe.
Un o straeon gwerin mwyaf adnabyddus a chariadus Cymru yw stori pwn ffyddlon.
Dywed y stori fod gan y Tywysog Llywelyn Fawr palas yn Beddgelert yn Sir Gaernarfon yn y drydedd ganrif ar bymtheg, ac wrth i'r Tywysog fod yn helwr brwd, treuliodd lawer o'i amser yn y wlad o amgylch. Roedd ganddo lawer o gŵn hela, ond un diwrnod pan alwodd ef fel arfer â'i gorn, nid oedd ei hoff gŵn Gelert yn ymddangos, felly yn anffodus roedd yn rhaid i Llywelyn fynd hela heb ef.
Pan ddychwelodd Llywelyn o'r hela, cafodd Gelert ei groesawu a ddaeth yn ffinio tuag ato ... ei gewynau yn sychu gyda gwaed.
Roedd y Tywysog yn syfrdanol, a daeth meddwl ofnadwy i'w feddwl ... oedd y gwaed ar gip y ci ar ei fab un mlwydd oed. Gwelwyd ei ofnau gwaethaf pan welodd yn feithrinfa'r plentyn, crud uwchben, a waliau yn ysgwyd â gwaed! Chwiliodd am y plentyn ond nid oedd arwydd iddo. Roedd Llywelyn yn argyhoeddedig bod ei hoff bunt wedi lladd ei fab.
Yn rhyfedd gyda galar, fe gymerodd ei gleddyf a'i dipio i mewn i galon Gelert.
Wrth i'r ci beiddio yn ei farwolaeth, clywodd Llywelyn griw plentyn yn dod o dan y crud uwchben. Ef oedd ei fab, yn ddamwain!
Ar wahân i'r plentyn roedd blaidd enfawr, wedi marw, wedi'i ladd gan Gelert dewr.
Fe gafodd Llywelyn ei daro gyda chofur a chludo corff ei gi ffyddlon y tu allan i furiau'r castell, a chladdodd ef ble y gallai pawb weld bedd yr anifail ddewr hwn, a chlywed stori ei frwydr werthfawr gyda'r blaidd.
Hyd heddiw, mae cairn o gerrig yn nodi'r lle, ac mae'r enw Beddgelert yn golygu yn y Gymraeg 'Bedd Gelert'. Bob blwyddyn mae miloedd o bobl yn ymweld â bedd y ci dewr hon; Fodd bynnag, ychydig o broblem yw bod y cairn o gerrig mewn gwirionedd yn llai na 200 mlwydd oed!
Serch hynny, mae gan y stori hon apêl wych. Ymddengys fod hanes a chwedl wedi dod yn ddryslyd ychydig yn ystod 1793, daeth dyn o'r enw David Pritchard i fyw yn Beddgelert. Ef oedd yn landlord y Royal Goat Inn ac yn gwybod hanes y ci dewr a'i addasu i ffitio i'r pentref, ac felly o fudd i'w fasnach yn y dafarn.
Yn ôl pob golwg, dyfeisiodd yr enw Gelert, a chyflwynodd yr enw Llywelyn i'r stori oherwydd cysylltiad y Tywysog â'r Abaty gerllaw, a chyda chymorth clerc y plwyf, cododd Pritchard, nid Llywelyn, y garnedd!
P'un a yw'r stori yn seiliedig ar chwedl, myth neu hanes, mae'n dal yn un difyr. Mae chwedlau tebyg hefyd ar gael ledled Ewrop.