Week 12 Reading Notes: Celtic Fairy Tales (Part B)

Beth Gellert - I absolutely loved this story, even though it was quite tragic. It reminds me of The King, the Falcon, and the Drinking-Cup. In Beth Gellert, a man thinks his dog killed his baby, but the dog was actually protecting the baby from a wolf (and the baby was fine and safe under his crib). The man doesn't realize this until after murdering the dog out of grief. The story ends by mentioning that the area is now called Beth Gellert, and there is a grave for Gellert there.

It turns out Gellert (also spelled Gelert) is a legendary dog in the village of Beddgelert in Wales. There is a whole Wikipedia article on him, and there is actually a grave for him there.

This story was pretty emotional, especially when you know that there was likely truth in the fairy tale somewhere. If I were to re-write this one, I'd definitely want to keep the emotional aspect. 

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Bibliography:

Celtic Fairy Tales (1) unit. Story source: Celtic Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1892).

Image Information:

Gelert image by Charles Burton Barber from Wikipedia.

Gelert's grave from Wikipedia.