night. When he awoke the next morning, he looked down at the town and saw that it had disappeared, and in its place was an enormous lake. And there, floating on the surface of the lake, was the young man’s harp.
King Arthur in Snowdonia
There are many folk tales placing Arthur, legendary King of the Britons, in Snowdonia. Perhaps the most dramatic of these claims that Arthur fought his last battle in the region, at a pass near Cwm Dyli. When Arthur was mortally wounded by a hail of enemy arrows, his men raised a cairn over his body, which still stands today and is called Carnedd Arthur – Arthur’s Cairn – while the mountain pass where the ambush happened is called Bwlch Y Saethau, or Pass of the Arrows.
After Arthur died, his surviving knights entered a cave below the summit of Lliwedd and the entrance was sealed behind them. This cave is known as Ogof Llanciau Eryri, or Cave of the Young Men of Snowdonia. It is said that the knights slumber there still, fully armoured and armed, waiting for their king to awaken and fulfil the ancient prophesy that Arthur merely sleeps until Wales is in mortal danger, whereupon he will arise and save his country.
Steven Jones is Senior Tourism Services Officer at Cyngor Gwynedd Council, a Welsh local authority whose not-for-profit Snowdonia Mountains and Coast website provides visitors to Snowdonia with a wealth of useful information about the region, including activities, attractions, history and culture. The site also enables visitors to search an extensive database of Snowdonia accommodation, and to plan their holidays in some of Snowdonia’s most popular towns and villages.