Helig ap Glanawg (standard modern

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

orthography: Helig ap Glannog) is a legendary figure described in various accounts dating to at least as early as the 13th century as a 6th-century prince who lived in

North Wales North Wales ( cy, Gogledd Cymru) is a region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders Mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdonia N ...

. Post-medieval tradition says that the

river Conwy , name_etymology = , image = Boats in River Conwy.jpg , image_size = 300 , image_caption = Boats in the river estuary at Conwy , map = , map_size = , map_caption = , pus ...

once reached the sea by the

Great Orme The Great Orme ( cy, Y Gogarth) is a limestone headland on the north coast of Wales, north-west of the town of Llandudno. Referred to as ''Cyngreawdr Fynydd'' by the 12th-century poet Gwalchmai ap Meilyr, its English name derives from the Old N ...

, Llandudno, and to the west lay the great cantref of Gwaelod which stretched all the way to Puffin Island, off

Anglesey Anglesey (; cy, (Ynys) Môn ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms a principal area known as the Isle of Anglesey, that includes Holy Island across the narrow Cymyran Strait and some islets and skerries. Anglesey island ...

. Helig ap Glanawg was said to have lived here when his land was inundated by the sea, which formed the Lavan Sands which lie between the Great Orme's Head and the Menai Strait off the north coast of Gwynedd. The legend states the remains of

Llys Helig Llys Helig is the name of a natural rock formation off the coast at Penmaenmawr, north Wales. There may be a fish weir to the south which tradition dates to the beginning of the 6th century. The sea level was low enough around 1600 AD to make the ...

, said to be his palace but in fact the remnants of a

glacial moraine A moraine is any accumulation of unconsolidated debris (regolith and rock), sometimes referred to as glacial till, that occurs in both currently and formerly glaciated regions, and that has been previously carried along by a glacier or ice she ...

, can be seen at exceptionally low tides, this being near the Conwy channel, about a mile or so off the coast at

Penmaenmawr Penmaenmawr (, ) is a town and community in Conwy County Borough, Wales, which was formerly in the parish of Dwygyfylchi and the traditional county of Caernarfonshire. It is on the North Wales coast between Conwy and Llanfairfechan and was a ...

. The earliest known use of the name Llys Helig for this rock formation is the

Halliwell Manuscript There are a number of masonic manuscripts that are important in the study of the emergence of Freemasonry. Most numerous are the ''Old Charges'' or ''Constitutions''. These documents outlined a "history" of masonry, tracing its origins to a biblic ...

, published in 1859, which is believed to date to around the beginning of the 17th century, eleven centuries later.

Sons

After the disaster both Helig and his numerous sons are said to have embraced a religious life. These sons, according to various sources, were - * Celynin, who has a church dedicated to him at Llangelynin in the

Conwy valley , name_etymology = , image = Boats in River Conwy.jpg , image_size = 300 , image_caption = Boats in the river estuary at Conwy , map = , map_size = , map_caption = , push ...

, and there is another at Llangelynin near Llwyngwril, a few miles south of Llanaber. * Rhychwyn, the saint associated with

Llanrhychwyn Llanrhychwyn is a hamlet in Conwy county borough, Wales. It lies in the Conwy valley, less than a mile south of Trefriw, and a mile north-west of Llanrwst. Today neighbouring Trefriw is a village with a population of around 600, but in the time o ...

church. * Bodfan, to whom the church at Aber, in Gwynedd, is dedicated. * Brothen, who founded the

St Brothen's Church, Llanfrothen St Brothen's Church, Llanfrothen, is a redundant church at the edge of the village of Llanfrothen, Gwynedd, Wales. It is designated by Cadw as a Grade I listed building because it is "a fine Medieval church retaining much of exterior and ...

* Peris, who founded the churches at

Llanberis (; ) is a village, community and electoral ward in Gwynedd, northwest Wales, on the southern bank of the lake and at the foot of Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales. It is a centre for outdoor activities in Snowdonia, including walking ...

and Nant Peris. * Boda and Gwynin, who founded the church at

Dwygyfylchi Dwygyfylchi () is a village in Conwy County Borough, Wales. It is part of the community of Penmaenmawr which has a population of 4,353. The electoral ward of Capelulo which includes Dwygyfylchi had a population of 1,485 in 2011. It was formerly ...

, near Penmaenmawr.

Legend possibly of the same origin as that of Cantre'r Gwaelod

Rachel Bromwich Rachel Bromwich (30 July 1915 – 15 December 2010) born Rachel Sheldon Amos, was a British scholar. Her focus was on medieval Welsh literature, and she taught Celtic Languages and Literature in the Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic a ...

discusses what she refers to as the folk-tale of

Cantre'r Gwaelod , also known as or ( en, The Lowland Hundred), is a legendary ancient sunken kingdom said to have occupied a tract of fertile land lying between Ramsey Island and Bardsey Island in what is now Cardigan Bay to the west of Wales. It has been ...

, another alleged sunken kingdom but in Cardiganshire. As with Llys Helig, there are tales of remains being seen of the sunken kingdom. Bromwich believes that the two stories influenced each other, and that "The widespread parallels to this inundation theme would suggest that the two stories are in fact one in origin, and were localized separately in Cardiganshire and in the Conway estuary, around two traditional figures of the sixth century. She also notes that the Halliwell Manuscript gives Helig the title "Lord of Cantre'r Gwaelod". In the book ''New Directions In Celtic Studies'' Antone Minard wrote that "The Welsh legends of Cantre'r Gwaelod and Llys Helig (Helig's Court) contain the same details of audible bells beneath the waves and ruins which are visible at the equinoctial tides, which are the anchors of credulity in the story".

References

External links

Llys Helig and the legend
{{DEFAULTSORT:Helig ap Glanawg Flood myths Legendary rulers Welsh mythology 6th-century Welsh people