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Cantre’r Gwaelod – The Lost Land of Wales |
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© 大象传媒 |
The various versions of this story are all based on the loss of a once fertile area of land, but the different versions throughout the ages may serve as a valuable indicator of the change in social values throughout history. The earlier version warns of the consequences of being distracted from duty by lust, whilst the later legend has become a fable promoting temperance – a popular choice amongst Welsh Chapel goers – warning of the consequences of having one drink too many.
The legend keeps the story alive in the minds of the masses, as do the names ascribed to the geological features, some of which refer to characters from the stories. Whilst there is no scientific doubt that areas beneath present day Cardigan Bay were forested and probably inhabited 7,000 years ago, up until recently, these references may have been the only tenuous ‘proof’ to the existence of the Lowland Hundred as a land above the seas in 600 AD.
Advances in technology today may mean that we can discover the location of Cantre’r Gwaelod. In 2003, British scientists unveiled a scanning technique that can create a map of sea beds to identify where people might have lived in the sea off the current Welsh coastline.
Whether Cardigan Bay is investigated or not, the legend of Cantre’r Gwaelod firmly establishes the story of the lost lands of Wales, and provides a variety of twists to the tale that celebrates and mourns the loss of the Lowland Hundred.
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