The other Bedd yr Afanc legend

Are you sitting comfortably?  Then I'll begin...... this is the better-known version of the Bedd yr Afanc legend.  The stream referred to here is of course the very one that flows past Craig Rhosyfelin, a bit further downstream.

Not  far  from  Brynberian there is  a  most  unusual  burial chamber  on  the bleak moorland. It is a long,  low  gallery  chamber which is said to have similarities with some of the Neolithic  burial chambers  of  Ireland dating from about 2500 BC.  There is no  other burial  chamber like it anywhere else in Wales.  It is shaped like  a wedge,  but along the centre is a double row of standing stones about 35 feet long. It is called Bedd-yr-Afanc,  which may  be translated as "Monster's Grave".  However, some  authorities believe that the word "afanc" originally meant "dwarf", whereas  in modern Welsh it means a beaver.

According  to  a very old legend there was  once  a  terrible water  monster  which  inhabited  a deep  pool  in  the  stream  near Brynberian  bridge.  It  caused great fear in  the  hearts  of  local people, stealing sheep and other animals and laying waste the country round about. At last it was decided that the afanc must be slain, and so  a plan was set in motion. It was known from ancient history  that water  monsters could not resist the sight of a fair maiden,  so  the fairest  girl in the village agreed to be used as a bait. At  dusk  a powerful team of oxen was brought to the vicinity of the pool,  while the  men  of the village set loops of strong iron  chains  along  the river bank, with the chains connected to the oxen.

Later,  when  the full moon was high in the sky,  the  locals waited  with baited breath for the afanc to appear, as it always  did on the night of the full moon.  The brave girl sat some way from  the river  bank,  looking very beautiful in the moonlight, and with  her long  hair falling about her in waves.  She felt  extremely  nervous, for  she  knew that long ago, according to legend, another  afanc  in North  Wales had torn off the breast of a maiden such as she when  it was captured.  At last the monster emerged from the pool. Seeing  the girl,  it was immediately entranced, and lumbered towards her  across the  dewy grass of the river bank. She waited till the last  possible moment,  and  then with a scream she fled. At the same time  a  great shout went up from the men who had been hiding nearby, and the  oxen strained on the iron chains. The chain loops on the grass closed, and the  afanc was caught around its legs.  With a roar of fury it  tried to  return to the sanctuary of its pool, and as it thrashed about  it temporarily  reached the water.  But the oxen were immensely  strong, and  as they were driven by their masters there was no escape for  the afanc.  Bit by bit the chains were drawn tighter about its body,  and bit  by  bit it was hauled out of the river and up  the  river  bank.  Then all the men attacked it, with whatever weapons they could muster -- axes, sickles, spades, scythes, forks and pointed spears.

At last, after a mighty battle, the bloodied monster lay dead on the grass.  A rousing cheer echoed around the moonlit countryside, and as the news spread people came from near and far to see the  dead beast. Nobody slept much that night; the ale flowed freely,  and  the celebrations went on until daybreak.  Then, in the morning, the  oxen hauled  the  dead monster up onto the moor. In a suitable  place  the chains were undone, and the creature was buried in a great tomb  made of  slabs of rock from the mountain.  It was covered with stones  and earth,  and  from that day to this the site has been called  Bedd  yr Afanc.