“Nothing wins hearts like cheerfulness,” said St Dwynwen once, following
this tale of icy love…
January 25th. Just what does this day signify?
For England it is just another cold day at the end of the first month
of the year, yet for most Welsh people it is St Dwynwen’s Day, the Welsh
equivalent of St Valentine’s Day. But just who was Dwynwen and how did
she become the Welsh patron saint of lovers?
Once upon a time in the 5th
century, there was a young woman named Dwynwen, who was one of the 24
daughters fathered by Prince Brychan Brycheiniog, then King of Wales.
Renowned for her beauty, Dwynwen was considered one of the prettiest
of Brychan’s daughters, but she was also very religious and pure.
Dwynwen fell in love with Maelon Daffodrill, who she wished
to marry. There are several different versions of the story: that Maelon
rejected Dwynwen’s love for him; her father refused Dwynwen to marry
Maelon because he had already found a suitor to whom he would have Dwynwen
married; or Maelon discovered the Prince’s plan to marry Dwynwen to another
man and in his frustration, he raped Dwynwen and abandoned her.
In her
heartbreak and upset, Dwynwen fled to the woods where she prayed to God
to make her forget Maelon and her feelings towards him. Falling into
a deep sleep, Dwynwen was visited by an angel who gave her a potion.
On giving the potion to Maelon, he suddenly turned into a block of ice.
Afterwards
God granted Dwynwen three wishes. Her first wish was for Maelon to be
thawed; secondly she requested that through her, God would care for all
true lovers; and thirdly, she wished to never marry. Her three wishes
granted, Dwynwen retreated to Llanddwyn Island, a small island off Anglesey,
and there she devoted her life to God as a way of thanks for the granting
of her three wishes. In her devotion she built a convent and a stone
church upon the island. As well as becoming the Welsh patron saint of
lovers, she also became the patron saint of sick animals.
Dwynwen died
in 640 AD. Since then, Llanddwyn Island and her church have been visited
by hundreds of pilgrims every year. Lovers visit the island annually
to discover their destiny. Many believe that by following the particular
movements of the eels and fish that live in the pilgrim’s well on the
island, lovers will be able to see if their love is true. But maybe they
should just crack a joke. After all, nothing wins hearts like cheerfulness.
....
Llanddwyn
Island Walk >>
