Elidyr and the Golden Ball

For some reason, Alan Garner is not a commonly read author these days. It is a real shame because I loved his books. I discovered The Weirdstone of Brisingamen back when I was 12 and visiting Alderley Edge was, I think, the highlight of my trip to England a few years back.

I recently shared his book Elidor with some friends and they enjoyed it. Clearly some of the details in the book are taken from Irish mythology like the four cities of Elidor are the very names of the four cities of the Tuatha de Danaan: Gorias, Falias, Murias, and Findias. The four objects that need to be kept safe correspond to the Four Hallows that the Tuatha de Danaan brought with them to Ireland.

Normally, Garner plunders Welsh literature since he lives near the Welsh border, having lived his entire life in Cheshire. He has admitted to using the Mabinogion for names especially the 'Dream of Rhonabwy'. For the name of Elidor, it appears he has plundered a name and an idea from Gerald of Wales (who I am sure won't mind since Medieval authors did not get as fussed about copyright as authors do today).

While Gerald was touring Wales, trying to drum up support for the Third Crusade, he and his group stayed overnight at Swansea, near the location of a story, which Gerald had been told and one of the local priests had claimed to be the Elidyr of the story. The priest was twelve years of age, at the time of the events, and was hiding from his teacher, whom he was tired of being beaten by (the good ole days!). He was hiding in a hollow bank of a river for two days when two little men appeared to him and offered to take him someplace where it was all fun and games. He went and it was a great place, underground, the people treated him well and he played with the son of the king.

He was allowed to come home and visit back and forth, telling only his mother about the land. She asked him to bring something of gold back for her so he took a golden ball that he used when playing with the king's son. He ran home and tripped over the threshold, dropping the golden ball. The little people, who were right behind him, grabbed it and ran off jeering at him. He never found the way back to the land and eventually went back to his studies and became a priest. When he was old, he told the Bishop of St. David's, who was Gerald's uncle about the story. In response to the question of if he believes the story, Gerald wrote that if he were to reject it then he would be placing a limit on the power of God but he cannot accept it either with any real conviction.

What has this to do with Garner's tale besides the name of the otherworldly land the children must protect? It is the loss of a ball that draws the four children one by one into the ruined church which is the gateway to Elidor. Perhaps it is due to Elidyr's having been a priest that he made the gateway in a church.

April Fool

I think I like Gerald of Wales for the same reason that I like Walter Map. He is gossipy and a bit irreverent. He is credited with having written a large number of books, one of which is The Journey Through Wales or Itinerarium Kambriae.

In this book, Gerald mentions a man named Maurice of London. Judging by the name, I think we can safely say that he is of Norman descent. He was given Cydweli Castle in Wales by Henry I and also owned a forest with deer that he was hell bent on keeping from the locals. Gerald does not say where his wife comes from. I wonder if she was Welsh. She played a little trick on him.

Knowing that he was crazy about his deer, she persuaded the household servants and shepherds to join her in playing this joke on him. She told him that he was allowing those deer to run so wild that they were now attacking and killing their sheep and their sheep were being wiped out. To prove her case, she had two stags brought out, in which she had their intestines stuffed with wool. He believed her and set his dogs on those crazy deer. I guess he was a simple minded guy.

Gerald also wrote about another woman: "It is not to be wondered at if a woman bears malice, for this comes to her naturally." Some men just do not understand. :-)

Vacationing the Medieval Way

Last year, I posted an entry on Santiago de Compostella as an example of a trip one could take like people did in the Middle Ages. These were not vacations or they were not supposed to be like vacations but they often were anyway judging from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. I am aware of two groups of pilgrims travelling along the North Simcoe Rail Trail and connecting up to the Tiny Trail to walk from Fort Willow to Midland and the Shrine of the Martyrs.

The martyrs in question are Fathers Brebeuf and Lalemant who were tortured and killed by the Iroquois in 1649 as they stayed behind with eighty Huron warriors who were trying to give the rest of the village enough time to flee the onslaught. They were buried at the site of the reproduction Sainte Marie Among the Hurons. Father Brebeuf is credited with having written The Huron Carol. Pilgrims have a special non-paying entrance to visit their graves and there is a hostel nearby for pilgrms. The two Jesuits were canonized in 1930 by Pius XI.

A church was also built in Midland called the Martyr's Shrine. Pope John Paul II visited it in 1984 and performed a mass at the site.

If you like your pilgrimage sites to be older than this, then you must travel to Europe. (If you do not already live there) I would also recommend St. Winifred's in Holywell, county of Flintshire in Wales. It is one of few, if not the only pilgrimage site, to have survived Henry VIII's destruction of Catholic cathedrals and abbeys. Perhaps it was permitted to remain because Henry's grandmother Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond, was a special patron. The website for the shrine also states that it was beloved by Katherine of Aragon, Henry's first wife.

St. Winifred was a Welsh maiden from the 7th century who was being tutored by her uncle, Saint Beuno. A suitor, Caradoc, wanted to have his way with her but she chose to give her life to God so he cut her head off in frustration. Her head was re-attached due to the prayers of Saint Beuno but she carried a scar around her neck from her ordeal.

The well sprung up at the site where Caradoc cut her head off and is renowned for its healing waters. There does not appear to be a set route for pilgrims to take to the shrine like there is for Santiago but there is sure to be some trails nearby. The official website of the shrine is

http://www.saintwinefrideswell.com/ but this site has some wonderful photos of the shrine http://www.castlewales.com/winifred.html

Whichever site you chose, it appears it be a fun and meaningful way to vacation.

website for the Simcoe rail trails: http://www.ontariotrails.on.ca/

and the Shrine of the Martyrs at Saint Marie Among the Hurons: http://www.martyrs-shrine.com/index.cfm or the website for Sainte Marie : http://www.saintemarieamongthehurons.on.ca/english/index.htm