Legends & Myths

Gwenllian was a warrior princess, leading an army of Welshmen in 1136 against the mighty Norman forces. Her bravery has made her a beloved figure, revered much like Boudica for her strength and tenacity in the face of great danger.
Blodeuwedd, known as the Goddess of flowers, having been made from wild flowers by a magic spell, was held in human form and kept as a ‘trophy’ in Lleu's Court, in great wealth that meant nothing to her. On finding real love her true vitality is reawakened and she escapes to freedom. The violent spell intended to punish her disobedience gives her a chance to return to the wilderness in the form of an owl.
Rhiannon the Welsh goddess of the horse a strong-minded otherworld woman, once ruler in the fairy kingdom, left the man she was betrothed to, to marry Pwyll, prince of Dyfed. Their infant son, Pryderi is stolen and Rhiannon is accused of his murder, for which she has to carry visitors on her back up to the castle. When Pryderi is found she is reinstated as queen and her son becomes ruler after his father’s death.
The fighting between the Red and White Dragons was causing plagues, miscarriages, crops to fail, animals to die, until an old Chieftain of Britain got them drunk on mead and buried them deep underground. Centuries later Vortigern, the disgraced High King of Britain was trying to build a castle in Snowdonia, but its walls kept crumbling. Merlin told him about the dragons, who on their release continued their fighting, until the Red Dragon prevailed and became a symbol for kings and Wales.
Hoffem gael eich cyfraniadau chi wrth i ni greu llyfr am Gwenllian, rebel o Gymru’r 12fed ganrif, ynghyd â straeon o’r Mabinogion, sy’n tynnu ar fyd cyfriniol y pobloedd Celtaidd, gan blethu at ei gilydd chwedlau, llên gwerin, traddodiad a hanes, gan gynnwys Blodeuwedd, Rhiannon a’r Dreigiau Coch a Gwyn.
Rhyfelwraig o dywysoges oedd Gwenllian, fu’n arwain byddin o Gymry yn 1136 yn erbyn y lluoedd Normanaidd nerthol. Daeth yn gymeriad annwyl ar sail ei dewrder, wedi ei mawrygu fel Boudica, oherwydd ei chadernid a’i dycnwch yn wyneb perygl mawr.
Duwies y blodau yw Blodeuwedd. Cafodd ei chreu o flodau drwy hud a lledrith ac yna ei chadw ar ffurf menyw fel ‘troffi’ yn Llys Lleu mewn cyfoeth mawr oedd yn ddibwys iddi. Wrth ddod o hyd i wir gariad mae ei bywiogrwydd yn adfywio ac mae hi’n ddianc i ryddid. Mae’r swyn cas a fwriadwyd i gosbi ei hanufudd-dod yn rhoi cyfle iddi i ddychwelyd fel tylluan i’r diffeithwch, cynefin lle mae hi’n perthyn ac mae hi’n ildio iddo gyda’i holl enaid.
Duwies y ceffylau a menyw gryf o’r arallfyd yw Rhiannon. Bu’n arglwyddes ym myd y tylwyth teg, cyn gadael ei dyweddi i briodi Pwyll, tywysog Dyfed. Mae eu mab newydd-anedig, Pryderi, yn cael ei ddwyn a chaiff Rhiannon ei chyhuddo o’i lofruddio. Oherwydd hyn disgwylir iddi gludo ymwelwyr i’r castell ar ei chefn. Pan ddaw Pryderi i’r amlwg yn nes ymlaen caiff ei hadfer fel brenhines, ac ar ôl marwolaeth ei dad daw Pryderi yn bennaeth yn ei le.
Roedd yr ymladd rhwng y Dreigiau Coch a Gwyn yn achosi plâu, camesgoriadau, methiant cnydau a marwolaeth anifeiliaid, hyd nes i hen bennaeth Prydain eu meddwi ar fedd a’u claddu’n ddwfn dan ddaear. Ganrifoedd wedyn roedd Vortigern, Uwch-frenin Prydain yn byw mewn gwarth yn Eryri ac yn ceisio adeiladu castell yno ond roedd y waliau’n dymchwel drwy’r amser. Dywedodd Myrddin wrtho am y dreigiau, a barhaodd i ymladd wrth gael eu rhyddhau nes i’r Ddraig Goch ennill a dod yn symbol ar gyfer brenhinoedd a Chymru.
Gwenllian was a warrior princess, leading an army of Welshmen in 1136 against the mighty Norman forces. Her bravery has made her a beloved figure, revered much like Boudica for her strength and tenacity in the face of great danger.
Blodeuwedd, known as the Goddess of flowers, having been made from wild flowers by a magic spell, was held in human form and kept as a ‘trophy’ in Lleu's Court, in great wealth that meant nothing to her. On finding real love her true vitality is reawakened and she escapes to freedom. The violent spell intended to punish her disobedience gives her a chance to return to the wilderness in the form of an owl.
Rhiannon the Welsh goddess of the horse a strong-minded otherworld woman, once ruler in the fairy kingdom, left the man she was betrothed to, to marry Pwyll, prince of Dyfed. Their infant son, Pryderi is stolen and Rhiannon is accused of his murder, for which she has to carry visitors on her back up to the castle. When Pryderi is found she is reinstated as queen and her son becomes ruler after his father’s death.
The fighting between the Red and White Dragons was causing plagues, miscarriages, crops to fail, animals to die, until an old Chieftain of Britain got them drunk on mead and buried them deep underground. Centuries later Vortigern, the disgraced High King of Britain was trying to build a castle in Snowdonia, but its walls kept crumbling. Merlin told him about the dragons, who on their release continued their fighting, until the Red Dragon prevailed and became a symbol for kings and Wales.
Hoffem gael eich cyfraniadau chi wrth i ni greu llyfr am Gwenllian, rebel o Gymru’r 12fed ganrif, ynghyd â straeon o’r Mabinogion, sy’n tynnu ar fyd cyfriniol y pobloedd Celtaidd, gan blethu at ei gilydd chwedlau, llên gwerin, traddodiad a hanes, gan gynnwys Blodeuwedd, Rhiannon a’r Dreigiau Coch a Gwyn.
Rhyfelwraig o dywysoges oedd Gwenllian, fu’n arwain byddin o Gymry yn 1136 yn erbyn y lluoedd Normanaidd nerthol. Daeth yn gymeriad annwyl ar sail ei dewrder, wedi ei mawrygu fel Boudica, oherwydd ei chadernid a’i dycnwch yn wyneb perygl mawr.
Duwies y blodau yw Blodeuwedd. Cafodd ei chreu o flodau drwy hud a lledrith ac yna ei chadw ar ffurf menyw fel ‘troffi’ yn Llys Lleu mewn cyfoeth mawr oedd yn ddibwys iddi. Wrth ddod o hyd i wir gariad mae ei bywiogrwydd yn adfywio ac mae hi’n ddianc i ryddid. Mae’r swyn cas a fwriadwyd i gosbi ei hanufudd-dod yn rhoi cyfle iddi i ddychwelyd fel tylluan i’r diffeithwch, cynefin lle mae hi’n perthyn ac mae hi’n ildio iddo gyda’i holl enaid.
Duwies y ceffylau a menyw gryf o’r arallfyd yw Rhiannon. Bu’n arglwyddes ym myd y tylwyth teg, cyn gadael ei dyweddi i briodi Pwyll, tywysog Dyfed. Mae eu mab newydd-anedig, Pryderi, yn cael ei ddwyn a chaiff Rhiannon ei chyhuddo o’i lofruddio. Oherwydd hyn disgwylir iddi gludo ymwelwyr i’r castell ar ei chefn. Pan ddaw Pryderi i’r amlwg yn nes ymlaen caiff ei hadfer fel brenhines, ac ar ôl marwolaeth ei dad daw Pryderi yn bennaeth yn ei le.
Roedd yr ymladd rhwng y Dreigiau Coch a Gwyn yn achosi plâu, camesgoriadau, methiant cnydau a marwolaeth anifeiliaid, hyd nes i hen bennaeth Prydain eu meddwi ar fedd a’u claddu’n ddwfn dan ddaear. Ganrifoedd wedyn roedd Vortigern, Uwch-frenin Prydain yn byw mewn gwarth yn Eryri ac yn ceisio adeiladu castell yno ond roedd y waliau’n dymchwel drwy’r amser. Dywedodd Myrddin wrtho am y dreigiau, a barhaodd i ymladd wrth gael eu rhyddhau nes i’r Ddraig Goch ennill a dod yn symbol ar gyfer brenhinoedd a Chymru.
The Forces That Shape Our Communities
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The Forces That Shape Our Communities is a 3 year Heritage Funded project based at Craig-y-Nos & the Swansea Valley, looking at old industrial work places, and the history of the workers’ home lives & work conditions, the skills they had, materials and plants they used and the effect their work had on the landscape.
We launched this project with an Open Day at the beautiful Craig-y-Nos Country Park, where visitors could sample workshops with clay, painting, recycled crafts, and video or go on walks to discover the areas history and the forgotten use of plants.
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Throughout the last two years we have held a huge number of events, workshops and walks, that have helped us explore the past and re-imagine the life of those who worked here, whether that was in the kilns or the quarries, the mines or the fields, the servants and gardeners in the big houses, the patients in the TB hospital, or the industries that kick-started the industrial revolution.
The project was designed to open up creativity with workshops, not only at Craig-y-Nos & local centres, but also throughout the Beacons via the BBNPA Sustainable Development Fund’s Beacons & Surround Crafts Festival that we held in June 2022.

Although the project has one eye on the past, it has the other on a sustainable future & environment for the area. We have run creative workshops that focus on zero waste initiatives such as creating crafts from recycling, Make Do & Mend & Proud to Patch projects. Traditional skills have been revived for environmental work, for pleasure, and to under- stand ourselves better now, because of what we did in the past.
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The Curvy Bench was designed and made by a large number of participants and volunteers, with the help of Rebecca Buck. It was intended to be a meeting place by the Stocking Lake that inspired conversation and socialisation. Hundreds of beautiful tiles were made by people across Wales, depicting history or heritage site features.
It is a lovely to sit and look at the collective work that has gone into this bench and what it has represented to so many, and a wonderful place to chat and contemplate.

We are nearing the end of this project, but there are still plenty of ways you can get involved.
Join one of our crafts, traditional skills or bush-craft workshops that can be found on the Workshops page.
Write your family history, or convey it through one of our camera conversations.
Help create the Resurgence sculpture with Rebecca Buck in the beautiful woodlands at Craig Y Nos Country Park.
Please keep a look-out for our posts on events we will be running, as more will go on soon.