St. Dwynwen, as a patron saint of lovers, is the Welsh equivalent of St. Valentine.   Her official feast day, January 25, is celebrated in Wales with cards, flowers, poetry, and pub nights.

        St. Dwynwen was the daughter of a 5th century Welsh saint and king, Brychan Brycheiniog.   She was in love with Prince Maelon Dafodrill, but her father refused this match and promised her to another.   Some say that Dwynwen fled to the woods in grief, others say that Maelon chased her and tried to seduce or rape her.

        Dwynwen, in anguish, begged God to help her forget Maelon.   In a dream or vision, an angel came to her and gave her a potion which eased her heartache.   It also had the surprising effect of turning Maelon into a statue of ice.

        Dwynwen was also given three wishes.   First, she wished that Maelon be thawed.   She also wished that she never fall in love again or marry, and that God would answer all her prayers on behalf of lovers.   Lovers who invoked her either found true love or were cured of their lovesickness.

        Dwynwen became a nun and established a convent on Llanddwyn Island, a small jut of land off the coast of Anglesey in north-west Wales.   Her holy well became a site of pilgrimage and divination for hopeful or forlorn lovers.   The movements of an eel would reveal the lovers’ future relationship, and if the water moved a lot, they would be particularly lucky.

Older roots?

        There are aspects of the legend of Dwynwen that may point to an even earlier layer of Celtic mythology.   Throughout the British Isles, there are sacred springs, holy wells, and other sacred sites that are dedicated to female saints.   In many cases, there was a goddess associated with these locations in the centuries before the Christian era.

        St. Brigid is the most famous figure whose imagery and symbolism arise from the mythology of a goddess and are carried forward and integrated into the life and legends of a saint.   Both goddess and saint were renowned as healers, and the water of Brigid’s sacred well attracts many pilgrims and visitors every year.   Both St. Dwynwen and St. Brigid were known for protecting and healing livestock.   Brigid, both as goddess and saint, had a special role in women’s lives as the patron of midwives and protector of childbirth.   (Perhaps St. Brigid’s services were more needed after lovers’ prayers to St. Dwynwen were answered?)

        St. Dwynwen was not the only early Celtic saint to experience difficulties from an ardent suitor.   Brigid as a young woman was nearly forced into a marriage -- she blinded herself in one eye so as not to be attractive.   She later miraculously healed herself.   (Many Celtic holy wells are associated with eye cures.)

        When St. Winifred (Gwenfrewi in Welsh) refused to marry a prince named Caradoc, he pursued her and cut off her head.   A fountain burst forth when her head touched the earth.   Fortunately, her uncle St. Beuno was able to bring her back to life.   She founded a convent at Holywell, near Whitford.   Pilgrims and tourists still visit her sacred waters.

        St. Non, the mother of the patron saint of Wales, Saint David (Dewi in Welsh), was also attacked by a suitor.   She was raped by Sant, King of Ceredigion.   She gave birth near a spring about a mile from the present site of St. David’s Cathedral on the west coast of Wales.   Her holy well has been revered for centuries.   Again, the waters were famous for curing eye diseases.

        There is a pattern in ancient Greek mythology of goddesses who were raped or seduced by male gods.   This pattern arose in the era when matriarchal, earth-centered cultures and their goddess shrines were overrun and conquered by the patriarchal, Indo-European sky god culture.   Elements of the power of the goddesses survived in local healing sites, springs, shrines, and legends.

        Saints Dwynwen, Brigid, Winifred, and Non bear an archetypal similarity to the earlier goddesses.   The saints resisted the patriarchal power of father or king, and were threatened or overcome by their aggressive suitors.   But each in their own way triumphed over this disempowerment, maintained their integrity, and founded communities.   Their healing power and presence survive in the healing qualities of their sacred wells.

gan Edie Stone