THE DRAGON OF EMRAIS AND THE DRAGON OF FFARAON: MORE ON THE RULER OF GWYNEDD/ARFON

The Dragons of Dinas Emrys

I was reading through Nerys Ann Jones' notes on the Arthurian 'Pa Gur' poem (ARTHUR IN EARLY WELSH POETRY, 2019) when I came across the following on the dragon of Gwynedd/Arfon:

While this may seem a minor reference, taken with all the other examples I've cited before concerning serpents/snakes/dragons in Gwynedd, we really can't in good conscience continue to support the Galfridian tradition, which ignores the dragons of Dinas Emrys in favor of a cometary dragon and a Roman draco standard.  Even in Geoffrey of Monmouth's tale, it is Uther Pendragon who is sent to Ireland to obtain the stones that will go into the building of Stonehenge at Amesbury.  This is the very same Stonehenge where he and Ambrosius (and Constantine) are said to have been buried.  Which moves full-circle back to the discovery of the cremated remains of dragons, i.e chieftains, at Dinas Emrys.  There is thus no justifiable reason for following Geoffrey's account, which effectively divorces Uther from any association with the Dinas Emrys/Amesbury dragons.  The draco and comet are a literary creation, and serve only to remove Uther from the orbit of Arfon/Gwynedd and its dragons.

Certainly, it is still possible that (as I've suggested several times in the past) Uther Pendragon, the Terrible Chief-warrior or Chief of Warriors, or 'Chief-Chieftain'/Chief of Chieftains', may be a mere doublet for Ambrosius himself.  However, as Ambrosius is an imported folk hero from Gaul (a fusion of St. Ambrose and his father, a Praetorian Prefect of Gaul and Britain), if Uther is Ambrosius, then he could not have been Arthur's father.  But if Uther is, in fact, as I suspect, the founder of Gwynedd, the great Cunedda, then my argument for Ceredig son of Cunedda (= Cerdic of the Gewissei) as Arthur turns out to be quite valid and perhaps even elegant.

A rather puzzling reference to the Red Dragon appears in the poem 'Gwarchan Maeldderw'.  I've mentioned this before, as the line in question seems to assign the creature to Vortigern under his title "Fiery Pharaoh" (a Welsh misrendering of a Latin passage in Gildas).  

When G.R. Isaac translates the G.M., he takes Line 21 -

ar rud dhreic fud pharaon

and re-orders it thusly:

ar fudd draig rudd Ffaraon

He then translates it as "in the presence of the spoils of the Pharaoh's red dragon."  He does this because he is  "interpreting the syntax  as a poetic transformation of what would normally be expressed in the word order (see note to his Gwarchan Maeldderw: A "Lost" Medieval Welsh Classic?, Cambrian Medieval Celtic Studies 44, Winter 2002).  

But if we retain the original word order, another interpretation of the line is possible (something I have confirmed with Dr. Simon Rodway of The University of Wales):

"the spoils/booty of Pharaoh before/in front of/in the presence of the Red Dragon"

Williams in CANU ANEIRIN (.p. 379) says that mention of  'the red dragon of Pharaoh' is suggestive of a reference to the story of the dragons of Dinas Emrys in Nant Gwynant, Snowdonia, as told in HISTORIA BRITTONUM and CYFRANC LLUDD AND LLEFELYS.

By assigning the ddraig goch to Vortigern, the poet seems to be alluding to the fact that before Dinas Emrys belonged to Ambrosius, it had been the possession of the former.  Although Vortigern had failed in his efforts to build a castle atop the hill - a failure due to the presence of the pool of the dragons below the foundations - we are told in Nennius that he gave the place and all of western Britain (i.e. western Wales) to Ambrosius after the discovery of the dragons.  So, in this limited sense, I suppose, he can be said to be the owner of the dragons prior to Ambrosius.  

But the important thing to take from this poetic reference to the red dragon in G.M. is that the monster was seen as emblematic of Gwynedd.  It's transference from one ruler to another was symbolic of the transference of the land itself from Vortigern to Ambrosius.  

I've mentioned before that while the urns with their cremated remains of dragons or chieftains may have provided some of the impetus for the Dinas Emrys story that the Segontium shield device with its two crossed serpents may also be extremely relevant in this context.  We now know that Segontium (see https://cadw.gov.wales/visit/places-to-visit/segontium-roman-fort) was held by the Romans longer than any other fort in Wales. Until, in fact, the very end of the 4th century.  What this tells me is that the fort would have been seen as the control center of Gwynedd.  It's two "dragons" would have been recognized throughout the region as a symbol of military might and administrative authority.

Archaeology has proven Roman occupation of Dinas Emrys 

(see https://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/95284/details/dinas-emrys). The Roman road system would have allowed access to the hillfort from Segontium.  The two sites are under 20 kilometers apart as the crow flies.  We need only except the possibility - a not unreasonable one, in my opinion - that it was a detachment of the Segontium garrison who had manned Dinas Emrys.  It goes without saying that they would have brought their two crossed serpents with them.

While Aberffraw is often put forward as the first court of the sub-Roman Gwynedd dynasty, Welsh tradition insists that Anglesey was taken by Cadwallon Lawhir, grandson of Cunedda. Supposedly, other Irish still held the island up to that point.  If this tradition reflects historical fact, then the "capital" of Gwynedd, where Cunedda had first established himself, had to lie elsewhere.  There is no more probable candidate than Segontium, the most powerful fort in Gwynedd at the time.

Here is what P.C. Bartrum has on Cadwallon Lawhir:

"To Cadwallon, who was probably not the eldest son, it fell to extend the dominions of the family in Arfon and to conquer the greater part of Môn from the Irish inhabitants [Gwyddyl]. This can be gathered from relatively late traditions. A great battle was fought at a place called Cerrig-y-Gwyddyl in Môn, and Cadwallon's war-band tied the fetter-locks of their horses to their own feet [lest they should waver] in the fight against Serigi Wyddel, so that they are called one of the ‘Three Fettered War-Bands’ of Ynys Prydain (TYP no.62). Cadwallon was aided in the battle by his three cousins, Cynyr, Meilir and Yneigr, sons of Gwron ap Cunedda. Cadwallon slew Serigi at a place called Llam-y-Gwyddyl, ‘the Irishmen's Leap’, in Môn (ByA §29(15) in EWGT p.92). Some later versions mistakenly write Caswallon and Llan-y-Gwyddyl. See further s.n. Serigi Wyddel. The cognomen Llawhir, ‘Long-hand’, is explained in an anecdote by Iolo Goch, who mentions ‘Kyswallon Lawhir, the man who could reach a stone from the ground to kill a raven, without bending his back, because his arm was as long as his side to the ground.’ (‘Araith Iolo Goch’ ed. T. Parry Williams, Rhyddiaeth Gymraeg, I (1954) p.107). See also TYP pp.296-7. Llys Caswallon, ¾ mile south-east of Llaneilian, Môn, is probably named after him. This may be why St.Elian is said to have received land from 'Caswallon'. He is mentioned in a poem 'Dosbarth yr Ymrysson' ascribed to Taliesin which begins: Pan aeth Kyswallon hir i Dir mab Don (Cwrtmawr MS.5 p.397, etc.)."