Dylan Ail Don - Mythological Elements

Mythological Elements

In literature on Celtic mythology, the character Dylan is sometimes taken to be the vestige of an ancient Celtic God. According to this line of thinking, representation of Dylan in Welsh literature and in folklore have been used to infer the attributes of his supposed divine ancient Celtic prototype. Squire (2000:158) prefers to see in Dylan the remnants of a god of darkness:

‘wo sons were born at one birth – Dylan and Lleu, who are considered as representing the twin powers of darkness and light. With darkness the sea was inseparably connected by the Celts, and, as soon as the dark twin was born and named, he plunged headlong into his native element...Beautiful legends grew up around his death. The clamour of the waves dashing upon the beach is the expression of their longing to avenge their son. The sound of the sea rushing up the mouth of the River Conwy is still known as "Dylan's death-groan". A small promontory on the Carnarvonshire side of the Menai Strait, called Pwynt Maen Tylen, or Pwynt Maen Dulan, preserves his name.’

Dylan's rock is located north of the Church of St Beuno's Church at Clynnog_Fawr on the seashore, which must be on or near the location of his grave as told in Englynion y Beddau (Stanzas of the Grave) of the Black_book_of_Carmarthen xxxii:

'ynydvna ton tolo.' (Where the wave makes a sullen sound)

'Bet dilan llan bevno.' (The grave of Dylan in Llan Beuno.)

On the other hand, MacCulloch (1911, Ch. VI) has preferred to see Dylan simply as the remnants of a local sea-god of Gwynedd (North Wales):

‘Dylan, however, has no dark traits and is described as a blonde. The waves lament his death, and, as they dash against the shore, seek to avenge it. His grave is "where the wave makes a sullen sound," but popular belief identifies him with the waves, and their noise as they press into the Conwy is his dying groan. Not only is he Eil Ton, "son of the wave," but also Eil Mor, "son of the sea." He is thus a local sea-god, and like Manannan identified with the waves, and yet separate from them, since they mourn his death. The Mabinogi gives us the débris of myths explaining how an anthropomorphic sea-god was connected with the goddess Arianrhod and slain by a god Govannon.’

In the Mabinogi accounts we can perceive the débris of the following earlier mythological prototypes:

• Category:Sea and river gods
• Category:Night gods
• Divine Twins
• Animagus shapeshifting
• Natural Duality
• Anthropomorphism