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{{Short description|Iron Age hillfort in Gwynedd, Wales}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox landform
|name          = Dinas Emrys
|type          = [[Hillock]]
|photo         = DinasEmrys1.JPG
|photo_caption = Dinas Emrys with the River Glaslyn in the foreground
|photo_alt     = A view up the hillock, covered with vegetation. See lead paragraph.
|location      = [[Gwynedd]], [[Wales]], UK
|map           = Wales Gwynedd
|map_width     = 256
|map_caption   = Location in [[Gwynedd]]
|relief        = yes
|grid_ref_UK   = SH 60669 49228
|coordinates   = {{Coord|53.022|-4.079|display=inline,title}}
}}
{{Langnf|cy|'''Dinas Emrys'''|Emrys's city|italic=no}} is a rocky and wooded [[hillock]] near [[Beddgelert]] in [[Gwynedd]], north-west [[Wales]]. Rising some {{cvt|250|ft|m|order=flip}} above the floor of the [[River Glaslyn|Glaslyn]] river valley, it overlooks the southern end of [[Llyn Dinas]] in [[Snowdonia]].

Little remains of the [[Iron Age]] [[hillfort]] or castle structures that once stood here, save its stone ramparts and the base of a keep [Grid reference {{gbmappingsmall|SH 60669 49228}}]. Some believe the castle was erected by [[Llewelyn the Last]] to guard the road to the mountain pass of [[Snowdon]].

==Description==
[[File:Dinas Emrys 02480.jpg|thumb|Dinas Emrys, from [[Thomas Pennant|Pennant]]'s ''A tour in Wales'', 1778]]
Little remains of the structures that once stood on the hill. Such remains as are visible today, including three series of [[Defensive wall|ramparts]] and other walls and some foundations, mostly date to the Middle Ages. Archaeologist H. N. Savory described the fortifications as consisting of stone walls between {{convert|2.5|and|3|m|ft|0}} thick, which exploited every irregularity in the rocky hill-top, enclosing an irregular area of about a {{cvt|10000|m2}} in size. The original means of access was by a steep path on the western side of the hillfort. The present entrance from the north-east is a later addition.<ref name=Savory>Savory</ref><ref name=Inventory>{{cite book|title=An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Caernarvonshire: II Central: the Cantref of Arfon and the Commote of Eifionydd|author= R.C.A.H.M.W|publisher=RCAHMW|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TGPu616n3vsC|page=25|accessdate=2014-11-30}}</ref>

Excavations in 1910 and 1954–56 revealed several periods of habitation at the site. The earliest elements date to the [[British Iron Age|Iron Age]], perhaps to the 1st or 2nd century. A pool within the enclosure, thought to be an artificial construction, may date to this phase. It is perhaps connected to the pool found in the popular tale of [[Vortigern]] and the dragons. Other traces suggest habitation into the 5th century, which would put it in the time frame for Vortigern and [[Ambrosius Aurelianus]].<ref name=Inventory/><ref name=gazetteer>{{cite web|url=http://www.gatehouse-gazetteer.info/Welshsites/100.html|title=Dinas Emrys Castle (The Gatehouse Record)|publisher=gatehouse-gazetteer.info|accessdate=2014-11-30}}</ref>

It has long been known that there is a pool inside the fort, but when the archaeologist Dr H. N. Savory excavated the hillfort between 1954 and 1956, he was surprised to find that not only were the fortifications of about the right time frame for either Vortigern or Ambrosius, but that there was a platform above the pool as described in the ''Historia Britonum''. However, he found the platform to date much later than the accepted floruit of either personage.

==Literary tradition==
While it is of interest to archaeologists because it is an example of a [[hillfort]] whose fortifications entirely postdate the [[Roman Britain|Roman]] period, this hill is also of interest to enthusiasts about the legends of [[King Arthur]]. This is the setting of the famous exchange of the warlord [[Vortigern]] and the youthful [[Merlin|Ambrosius]] as told the [[Historia Britonum]].<ref>[http://avalon.law.yale.edu/medieval/nenius.asp ''Historia Britonum'' by Nennius (translated by J.A.Giles), The Avalon Project, ch.40]</ref>
[[File:Vortigern-Dragons.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Detail from [[Lambeth Palace Library]] MS 6 folio 43v illustrating an episode in ''[[Historia Regum Britanniae]]'' (c. 1136). Pictured above Vortigern sits at the edge of a pool whence two dragons emerge, one red and one white, which do battle in his presence.]]
According to legend, when Vortigern fled into Wales to escape the [[Anglo-Saxons|Anglo-Saxon]] invaders, he chose this lofty hillfort as the site for his royal retreat. Every day his men would work hard erecting the first of several proposed towers; but the next morning they would return to find the masonry collapsed in a heap. This continued for many weeks until Vortigern was advised to seek the help of a young boy not conceived by a mortal man. The King sent his soldiers out across the land to find such a lad. The boy they found was called Myrddin Emrys ([[Merlin Ambrosius]]). Vortigern, following the advice of his councillors, was planning to kill the boy in order to appease supernatural powers that prevented him from building a fortress here. Merlin scorned this advice, and instead explained that the hillfort could not stand due to a hidden pool containing two ''vermes'' ([[dragon]]s). He explained how the White Dragon of the Saxons though winning the battle at present, would soon be defeated by the [[Britons (historical)|Welsh]] [[Y Ddraig Goch|Red Dragon]]. After Vortigern's downfall, the fort was given to High-King [[Ambrosius Aurelianus]], known in Welsh as Emrys Wledig, hence its name.<ref>[http://avalon.law.yale.edu/medieval/nenius.asp ''Historia Britonum'' by Nennius (translated by J.A.Giles), The Avalon Project, ch.40-43]</ref>

===Origin and confinement of the dragons===
[[Image:Welsh dragon.svg|220px|thumb|right|The ''Prophecy of Merlin'' which features the enduring legend of the Red Dragon is centred on Dinas Emrys]]
The earliest sources regard the two dragons as distinctly different, and in a metaphor of the ''[[Adventus Saxonum]]'' describes one as being native to the island of Britain (it had arrived first) which was then joined by another new and alien dragon that fought it for supremacy.

As to how the dragons became confined there, the story of ''[[Lludd and Llefelys]]'' in the [[Mabinogion]] gives details. According to the legend, when [[Lludd]] ruled Britain ({{circa}}100&nbsp;BC), a hideous scream, whose origin could not be determined, was heard each May Eve. This scream so perplexed the Britons that it caused infertility, panic and mayhem throughout the realm. In need of help Lludd sought counsel on this and other matters from his brother [[Llefelys]], a King of Gaul. Llefelys furnished the information that the scream was caused by battling dragons. The scream would be uttered by the ''dragon of the [[Britons (historical)|Britons]]'' when it was fighting another alien dragon and was being defeated. Lludd heeded the advice given to him by Llefelys and captured both dragons in a [[cauldron]] filled with mead when they had transformed themselves, as apparently dragons did, into pigs. The captured dragons were buried at the place later called Dinas Emrys, as it was regarded as the safest place to put them.<ref>Gantz, Jeffrey (translator) (1987). The Mabinogion. New York: Penguin. {{ISBN|0-14-044322-3}}</ref>

The main entrance to the fort is on the northern side of the hill and traces of a ruined medieval tower 36 feet by 24 feet have been found on the summit. Nearby is a circle of tumbled stones about 30 feet in diameter which is said to be where the dragons were hidden.{{Citation needed|date=January 2009}} Before Dinas Emrys was so-named the fort was known as ''Dinas Ffaraon Dandde''.<ref>[http://www.vortigernstudies.org.uk/arthist/saintsmove.htm Vortigern Studies, Saints on the move (Robert Vermaat)]</ref>

===Other local legends===

According to local legend Myrddin hid treasure in a cave at Dinas Emrys. The discoverer of the treasure will be 'golden-haired and blue-eyed'. When that lucky person is near to Dinas Emrys a bell will ring to invite him or her into the cave, which will open of its own accord as soon as that person's foot touches it. A young man who lived near [[Beddgelert]] once searched for the treasure, hoping to give himself a good start in life. He took a pickaxe and climbed to the top of the hill. When he began to dig in earnest on the site of the tower, some terrible unearthly noises began to rumble under his feet. The Dinas began to rock like a cradle and the sun clouded over so it became pitch dark. Lightning flashed in the sky and thunder clapped over his head. He dropped the pickaxe and ran home. When he arrived, everything was calm again, but he never returned to collect his pickaxe. Not far from Dinas Emrys is ''Cell y Dewiniaid'' – "The Grove of the Magicians". There is a field here that once had a thick grove of oak trees at its north end. Local tradition holds that Vortigern's wise men used to meet here to discuss the great events of their times. An adjacent field is where they were buried and at one time a stone marked the site of each grave. A white thorn tree annually decorated each resting place with falling white blossoms.<ref name=Rhys>Celtic Folklore, By John Rhys, p. 142</ref>

==Actual archaeological findings==
[[Image:Dinas Emrys Gorge.jpg|220px|thumb|right|Archaeologists have speculated that this may be the platform above the pool where the prophecy was revealed]]
[[Image:Dinas Emrys Tower1.jpg|220px|thumb|right|Ruins of what is considered to be an 11th Century tower]]
It has long been known that there is a pool inside the fort, but when the archaeologist Dr H. N. Savory excavated the hillfort between 1954 and 1956, he was surprised to find that not only were the fortifications of about the right time frame for either Vortigern or Ambrosius, but that there was a platform above the pool as described in the Historia Britonum. However, he found the platform to date much later than the accepted floruit of either personage.

Savory described the fortifications as consisting of stone walls between {{convert|2.5|and|3|m|ft|0}} thick, which exploited every irregularity in the rocky hill-top, enclosing an irregular area of about a {{cvt|10,000|m2}} in size. The original means of access was by a steep path on the western side of the hillfort. The present entrance from the north-east is a later addition.<ref>[http://www.cylchblodeuwedd.co.uk/2010/where-the-dragons-slept-dinas-emrys/ Cylch Blodeuwedd: Druidic Grove in North-West Wales: Where the dragons slept – Dinas Emrys] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120831040713/http://www.cylchblodeuwedd.co.uk/2010/where-the-dragons-slept-dinas-emrys/ |date=2012-08-31 }}</ref> The walls had been "poorly built of stone two or three times ", possibly inspiring the legend's reference to the building collapsing several times during construction.<ref>[http://www.sarahwoodbury.com/?p=1316 Dinas Ffareon (Dinas Emrys) | Sarah Woodbury<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

The most conspicuous object currently on the hill is the base of a rectangular tower. It is generally accepted that this is part of an undocumented castle built by the princes of [[Kingdom of Gwynedd|Gwynedd]] in the eleventh century.

==Dinas Affaraon/Ffaraon==

''Dinas Affaraon'' or ''Dinas Ffaraon'' is a [[placename]] mentioned in some medieval Welsh literature, where it is said to be the original name of '''Dinas Emrys'''.

''Dinas Ffaraon'' (Fortress of [[Pharaoh]]) or ''Dinas Ffaraon Dandde'' (Fortress of Fiery Pharaoh) is mentioned in the tale "[[Lludd and Llefelys]]" as the place where King [[Lludd]] of Britain traps and buries two dragons who are ravaging the land. The text explains that the site was later named "Dinas Emreis".<ref name=Koch>Koch, p. 598</ref> This tale is a prequel to the older story involving the hero Emrys ([[Ambrosius Aurelianus]]) or Myrddin Emrys ([[Merlin]]).<ref name=Bromwich416>Bromwich, p. 416.</ref> In sources such as the ''[[Historia Brittonum]]'' and [[Geoffrey of Monmouth]]'s ''[[Historia Regum Britanniae]]'', a tower built on the spot continually collapses until Emrys reveals the buried dragons as the cause; once they are released the tower is successfully constructed and named after him.<ref name=Koch/><ref name=Bromwich416/> The name "Dinas Emrys" has been associated with a Roman ruin in [[Snowdonia]], a localization that possibly dates as early as the ''Historia Brittonum''.<ref name=Koch/>

== Dinas Emrys in art ==

<gallery mode=packed   heights="180px">
(Barcelona) Snowdon and Dinas Emrys from above Beddgelert - William Turner - Tate Britain.jpg|'' Snowdon and Dinas Emrys from above Beddgelert'' - [[Joseph Mallord William Turner|William Turner]] - [[Tate Britain]]
</gallery>

==See also==
* [[List of hillforts in Wales]]

== Footnotes ==
{{reflist}}

== References ==
{{commons category}}
* H. N. Savory, ''Arch. Cambrensis'', 109 (1960), 13–77.
* {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ASkZUBDZBQsC|title=Celtic Folklore: Welsh and Manx|isbn=9781605061702|last1=Rhys|first1=John|publisher=Forgotten Books }}
* {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bdfYNre-oDoC&q=castles+of+the+welsh+princes|title=Castles of the Welsh Princes|isbn=9780862439705|last1=Davis|first1=Paul R.|date=8 March 2011|publisher=Y Lolfa }}
{{Native Welsh castles and llys in North Wales}}
[[Category:Beddgelert]]
[[Category:Castles in Gwynedd]]
[[Category:Hillforts in Gwynedd]]
[[Category:Castles in Snowdonia]]
[[Category:Hillforts in Snowdonia]]
[[Category:Castle ruins in Wales]]
[[Category:Locations associated with Arthurian legend]]
[[Category:Iron Age Britain]]