Wales

[mythique890]

Hello, everyone!

Having never set foot outside of the continental United States(yeah, sad, not even Mexico or Canada... or Hawaii or Alaska, for that matter) I don't have a clue what other places are like, so I need help. In a novel I'm working on, the main group of characters lived in Wales for a long time. I've done a bunch of internet research, but that can only tell me so much. What is it like to live there? What is the countryside like? What kind of feeling do you get from the land? Is Y Ddraig Goch untouchably sacred, or is it ok if I use the legend for a story?

The characters in my story left Wales about a thousand years ago, but any insights to modern Wales will be helpful.

And is there, by chance, anyone who happens to speak Welsh on the forum?

 

[JCFarnham]

Modern wales.

If you live anywhere but a city area [or the surroundings] like over the border from Chester and the Wirral in the north east, or any number of little seaside resorts or cardiff, swansea, etc, It's safe to say that there's probably quite a bit of land between you and the next town. Right in the middle and west of Wales you'll find quaint little towns and villages where people will greet you first in Welsh and wait for a look of confusion.

Its pretty varied all in all. Wales a thousands years ago, well, tribes, small villages, farming, you know the drill, liike most places in the UK at the time.

I don't speak Welsh no, but if its anything simple, like hello, yes, no, where's the bus, and so on I can bug my girlfriend for some little bits and pieces of language

I wouldn't worry about using legends for a story, legends, folklore and so on, where originally meant as tales people told each other aurally so naturally a bit of "chinese whispers" type moments would have happened over the years. Its like folk music, you're almost obliged to change a few things and reimage stuff.

Though I will say the Welsh are proud of their heritage, so if you ruin it you may lose some people for ever hehe

Was there anything specific you wanted to know of the countryside?

 

[mythique890]

Ha ha, the goal is not to ruin it, so I'll do my best.

I don't know, I guess I'm wondering what the countryside feels like. Rugged, cold mountains? Tame, green, rolling hills? Lonely moors? That sort of thing.

I also wonder about the culture. What kind of things do they love to do? What is it like to grow up Welsh? What are the people like? What are their oldest, most deep-seated values? What do they hold sacred? That kind of thing.

Thanks for your help, by the way!

 

[Chilari]

I don't live in Wales (unless you ask my former housemate Scott), but I live near it, in Shropshire, where the landscape is similar to that of North Wales at least - hills, with fields and rivers and streams in the lower areas in between. Do a Google Image search on Welsh Hills for a rough idea, but a sort of amalgam of what you've suggested seems fairly accurate. Lots of drystone walls from what I recall of my occasional visits across the border, and of course bilingual signage - everything is in both English and Welsh. I gather in the rural villages at least, particularly those further west, Welsh is the dominant language though the majority of Welsh speakers also speak English. In the larger towns and cities, English is dominant but Welsh is still spoken.

In terms of Welsh history, the Druids held out on Anglesea just off the coast of North Wales when the Romans invaded, before being slaughtered when the Romans overwhelmed them. In general, the Romans had quite a lot of trouble with the residents of modern day Wales, the Silures in particular. The bit of sea between Wales and Anglesea is called the Menai Strait, and the bridge which now spans it was built in the early 19th century by Thomas Telford. In terms of the historical period you're asking about, in the medieval period I gather Wales was rather resistant to English expansionism, and in fact conducted raids over the border (much of which is now marked by the River Severn), leading to parts of Shropshire and Herefordshire getting a big old line of castles in an area called the Welsh Marches. Ludlow castle is a prime example of a very well preserved Welsh Marches castle, thanks to Royal patronage throughout the medieval period. So you might want to look up Welsh Marches, Ludlow castle, and Marcher Lords. Also Offa's Dyke, which was built in the 8th century and marked the boundary between Wales and Mercia. Large chunks of it are now lost - we don't know exactly where the line went - but most of what we do know is close to the modern border between Wales and England.

I am sure you are aware that the Welsh flag features a red dragon on a green and white background, none of which appears in the modern Union Flag, so it might be worth finding out where the dragon comes from - I am unaware of it.

 

[mythique890]

Thank you! I'll definitely be doing some google searches!

Yup, I know about the Welsh flag. The red dragon of Wales inspired my only complete novel as of yet, so I'm pretty familiar with the legends. I'm hoping the Welsh don't mind that I'm using their mythology. I have to tweak the dates a bit, but otherwise I'm leaving them pretty much as I found them.

 

[Johnny Cosmo]

I'm hoping the Welsh don't mind that I'm using their mythology.

They don't really get a say .