Explore another myth that has helped shape and inspire Jane Austen’s Dragons’ world.

This week’s research rabbit hole ended in Wales. I was writing along, minding my own business, when I realized I really, really needed to know the name of the dragon who met with Uther Pendragon to craft the Pendragon Accords that led to the formation of the Blue Order.

Yes, with all my writerly superpowers, I could have picked a name out of thin air, gone with it, and continue along my merry way. But, geeze, Batman, where’s the fun in that? Wouldn’t it be more interesting to dive down into the the legends of Uther Pendragon and Merlin and see if I couldn’t find a suitable dragon candidate there?

Turns out it was.

Y Ddraig Goch (The Red Dragon)

Meet the Welsh Dragon – also known as the Y Ddraig Goch (“The Red Dragon”) and the Red Dragon of Cadwallader. This dragon appears in Celtic Mythology/Welsh Folklore. The dragon itself is named Dewi derived from the Great Red Serpent that once represented the old Welsh dragon god Dewi.

Unlike the typical evil, malevolent, greedy dragons of Western/European folklore, the Welsh Dragon was seen as a fierce but a benevolent creature similar to the benevolent dragons in Eastern countries like China and Japan.

The dragon is one of Wales’ most recognizable symbols and appears on the National flag.

Tales of the Red Dragon

Two ancient texts, the Mabinogion and the Historia Brittonum relate the myths that tie Merlin and Uther to the great Red Dragon.

It all begins with the tale of Lludd and Llefelys, in the Mabinogion, which tells of the native Red dragon attacked by white dragon/wyvern, a foreign invader called Gwiber (Welsh for “Viper”). A protracted battle ensues.

As Red Dragon’s shrieks cause plants to become barren, animals to perish and women to miscarry, the King of Britain, Lludd, and his brother Llefelys of France try to find a solution.

Llefelys tells Lludd to dig a pit in the center of Britain and fill it with mead, then cover it with cloth. Lludd does so. The dragons (somehow transforming into pigs according to some tellings) drink the mead and fall asleep. Lludd then wraps them up in the cloth and buries the pair inside a hillock in Snowdonia called Dinas Ffaraon.

Ties to Merlin

The Historia Brittonum appears to continue the story with King Vortigern of Britain. After Vortigern’s betrayal by Anglo-Saxon mercenaries and Britain’s invasion by the Anglo-Saxons, King Vortigern’s wise men convinced him to retreat and build a new castle to defend himself.

The wise men declared Dinas Ffaraoning a perfect place to build the castle. Three times the construction was begun, and three times the materials disappeared and the walls fell down.

Vortigern, understandably upset by this, sought counsel from his wise men. They advised him to find a boy will no father, sacrifice him and spread his blood across the ground. An appropriate boy was found and brought before the king and his wise men.

Needless to say, the boy was not too thrilled with the whole notion, so he started asking questions of the wise men. He asked what was under the pavement that had been laid – to which the wise men naturally had no answer.

The boy did, explaining that there was a pool under the hill, which workers then found. The boy then asked the wise men what was in the lake. Which they also did not know (you can see where this is going, right?) The boy explained was essentially was the story of Lludd and the fighting dragons and that those dragons were under the foundations of the castle, knocking down the walls as they were built.

He advised Vortigern to release the dragons, which he did. Despite being outmatched by the White Dragon, the Red Dragon defeated the white. The boy explained that the white dragon represented the Saxon invaders while the red represented Vortigern’s people who would be victorious over the Anglo Saxons.

Vortigern decided to kill the wise men and keep the boy around, naming him Ambrosius Aurelianus or Myrddin Emrys – better known in English as Merlin the Wizard.

… and Uther Pendragon

Sometime later, Vortigern’s past returned to haunt him. Aurelius and Uther, the surviving sons of Constantine III, King of Britain who had fled after Vortigern murdered their eldest brother Constans after he ascended to the throne, returned, with vengeance in mind. Aurelius killed Vortigern and became king. 

Under Aurelius’ reign, Uther helps Merlin bring the stones of Stonehenge from Ireland  to Britain. Later, Uther ledshis army against Vortigern’s son and his Saxon allies. On the way to the battle, Uther saw the dragon-shaped comet, which Merlin interpreted as a sign of Aurelius’s death and Uther’s glorious future (harkening back to the red dragon). Uther won the battle.

Perhaps, at this point, Merlin might have introduced Uther to the Red Dragon Dewi and the Pendragon Accords were negotiated.

Perhaps it did not happen that way. But in the world of Jane Austen’s Dragons, it did.

What do you think this about this new revelation on the history of the Blue Order?