In the vicinity to the south of Llangollen there is also fynnon Arthur ( Arthur's Well ) and numerous other geographical references to this ancient hero, his knights and adventures. Steve Blake and Scott Lloyd, The Key to Avalon 2000
Who was the real king Arthur? A question that has been asked for centuries, with many regions claiming this most enigmatic of heroes as their own. Fact or fiction, one thing cannot be denied, Llangollen and North East Wales has a greater concentration of place names linked to Arthur and his extended family than anywhere else in the world. Sites such as
Dinas Bran Castle, Craig Arthur (Arthur's Seat),
Guinevere's Cross and
Valle Crucis Abbey are all indelibly entwined, making Llangollen and the surrounding area a more than plausible location for Arthur and his extended family.
. Even the
River Dee itself could be the source of the 'Fisher King' legends and the names that were etched onto the evocative
Eliseg's Pillar simply add more substance to the claims of this area. But is
Valle Crucis Abbey the real Glastonbury? Well, Llangollen takes its name from
St Collen who set up his church on the site of the present town structure in the 7th century, making his journeying 250 miles to set up a monastery in Somerset highly unlikely!
And what of the mystical 'Land of the Dead' that lies on the mountains high above Llangollen - and the intriguing Offa's Dyke, which defines the boundary of this historically important region. This is the same Dyke that some scholars now believe is the lost Roman wall constructed by the Emperor Severus in the second century AD - only time and more research can tell! All this, allied to the many other myths and legends linked to the area, builds a picture as dramatic as the Dee Valley itself and leaves no doubt that the region's special atmosphere is steeped in Arthurian tradition. Whoever the real King Arthur was, considering all the evidence, there seems a fair chance visitors to Llangollen will discover the true home of this most evocative of heroes
