Dydd Santes Dwynwen Hapus
Today is Dydd Santes Dwynwen which is celebrated annually in Wales on January 25th. Her story, drawn from the mists of time that veil myth and folklore, is often equated as a Welsh Valentine’s Day.
Dwynwen was a 5th century Welsh noblewoman, the fairest and most beautiful of all the twenty four daughters of King Brychan Brycheiniog. She fell in love with a prince named Maelon Dafodrill and he with her. They wished to marry, but her father doubted Maelon's integrity and, despite the heartfelt pleadings of both Dwynwen and Maelon, he forbade them to marry. Unable to disobey her father, and distraught by his disapproval, Dwynwen ran away into the forest and prayed to God for divine guidance to help her fall out of love with Maelon. She fell asleep on the forest floor and while asleep she was visited by an angel who gave her a potion to erase all memory of Maelon and to turn him into a block of ice. The angel then granted her three wishes.
For her first wish, Dwynwen asked that Maelon be thawed and life restored to him.
Her second wish was that God meet the hopes and dreams of all true lovers.
Her third wish was that she would never, herself, marry.
The three wishes were fulfilled and thereafter Dwynwen devoted the rest of her life to the service of God.
With her father's blessing, she left the court of Brycheiniog, and taking her elder brother Dyfnan and her sister Cain, crossed the sea in a small boat and eventually landed on a small island just off the coast of Anglesey. Here Dwynwen build a small cell of mud and wood, and over the years that followed many young women joined her and so founded a convent.
On the island is a sacred well {as so often happens in the ancient Welsh folk tales} sometimes depicted as a cauldron, and therein swims a sacred fish with the ability to predict the fortunes of couples. Another tradition says that if the water boils while you are present then good luck in love will follow.
At the end of a long life of devotion to God, Dwynwen lay on her bed and prayed for one last glimpse of the sea that had carried her to the island. Legend says that a large boulder blocking her view split asunder and she once more looked out on the ocean that had carried her here.
After her death, aged 80, in 465 A.D. the church became a place of pilgrimage. Dwynwen's belongings were placed in a chest known as Cyff Dwynwen and pilgrims would bring a white pebble and place it on the chest in memory of Dwynwen. Later, money was donated and nearly one thousand years after her death it was used to build a small stone church on the site and was called Llanddwyn, or Church of Dwynwen, the ruins of which can still be seen today.
Dwynwen became the Welsh patron saint of lovers and, according to some, friendship. The most famous quote attributed to her is “nothing wins hearts like cheerfulness”. Over time she became associated with healing of sick animals, a purpose for which she is still invoked today.
Unlike St Valentine, there are no traditional ways to celebrate her day, but of late the commercial practice of card giving seems to be increasing in popularity, if only in Wales. We do not have the hype and hoopla of Valentines Day on Dydd Santes Dwynwen, just a quiet and personal observance of a little known Welsh woman and I think that is a fitting way to celebrate her life. However, we do have one other unique tradition to do with love and marriage and that is the Love Spoon.
The Welsh Love Spoon is the traditional symbol of engagement or betrothal was given by the young man to his future wife. It is hand carved by the young man from a solid block of wood and is full of symbolism to his commitment. For example:
A Bell: togetherness in harmony, marriage
A Ball in a Cage {difficult to carve from solid wood}: each ball represents the number of children he hopes to have
A Chain {difficult to carve from solid wood} the number of links relate to the number of children hoped for, or a symbol of togetherness
Cross: Faith in Christ or God
Heart: Love
Diamond: Wealth and Good Fortune
I hope you have remained safe during Storm Eowyn, who viscously unleashed her wrath across most of the British Isles yesterday, wrecking havoc and leaving mayhem in her wake.
Until next time
Debbie
{pronounced Dwee~n~wen or Dweenwen}
I love history and it's so interesting learning of another country's history. What a sad, but beautiful story.
ReplyDeleteeven here, in her home nation, her story is not that well known
DeleteShe's not a saint I have heard of. Brycheiniog was indeed a prolific father - and ALL his children became saints! Thank you for writing this and telling us all about her. She deserves that remembrance.
ReplyDeletedepending on the sources, there is ambiguity over her actually having been canonised.
DeleteWell, I'd not heard of her.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for this very interesting post.
... Storm Eowyn certainly caused havoc, destruction and regretfully the death of two people according to a recent report I read. Fortunately where I am all was more or less okay, some trees did fall on roads but to my knowledge no serious incidents. We now have Storm Herminia approaching, I don't think I've ever known so many storms or perhaps in past years we just called them very wet and windy days!?
Take care in this awful weather.
All the best Jan