What is the legend of the Welsh Red Dragon, and why is it omnipresent in Wales? Helen Fulton, a professor of medieval literature Bristol University reveals all... #YearofLoong #ChineseNewYear
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00:00 It first started, I suppose, in the 9th century with a Latin text that told the story of two dragons,
00:07 a red dragon and a white dragon.
00:09 And the story was set in ancient Britain, which was inhabited by the Welsh.
00:13 And one of the British kings, Fortigern, wanted to build a great fortress,
00:18 but every time he built it, it fell down. There was something wrong with the foundations.
00:23 So he called on a boy wizard, whose name in Latin is Ambrosius, but his Welsh name is Emrys.
00:29 And he said to Emrys, 'What's wrong with my castle? Why is it constantly falling down?'
00:34 Emrys said, 'If you look underneath in the foundations, you'll see a pool of water.
00:39 If you drain the water, you will see two sleeping dragons, one red and one white.'
00:46 So Fortigern had all this done, found the sleeping dragons.
00:50 The dragons woke up and they began fighting furiously, violently. It was a great struggle.
00:56 And in the end, the red dragon drove the white dragon out of the land.
01:01 Fortigern said, 'What does this mean?' And Emrys said, 'The red dragon represents the British people.'
01:07 And the story shows that eventually the British or the Welsh will drive the English out of the island.
01:15 So from then on, that's become a sort of mantra for the Welsh, that Britain is really their land.
01:22 And the English came uninvited. They were conquerors and they conquered the Welsh.
01:28 But one day, the Welsh will take it back again.
01:30 So the red dragon is a symbol of Welsh nationalism, their sense of being a nation.
01:35 So Wales is a nation without being a state. It's a sub-state nation within the United Kingdom.