Oddo The Dragon Lord
Oddo is the first Ddraig Coch, the Red Dragon. It is said that no Dragon ever breathed fire or shed a Tear before Oddo fell in love with the Witch Gwen Gwyn Gwyrdd and the pair of them were tricked by the jealous Witch of Llyn Fan Fawr.
He is given the potion that will turn him in to a man for one day but when the single silver bead rolls into his muoh he and Gwen know they have been deceived and Oddo is given one waking day to live.
He coughs so hard to dislodge the magic he breathes fire but it is too late and he cries before flying to the north to sleep his life as stone on the side of some forgotten, hidden mountain.
It is left to his true love Gwen to collect up his tears and hide them across Wales.
Gwen Gwyn Gwryrdd
Gwen Gwyn-Gwrydd was a Green Witch who lived in the waterfalls. Her name Gwyn-Gwryrdd meant pure green: gwyn is now used as the Welsh word for the colour white but a long time ago it simply meant pure. Gwens’ best friend Oddo Ddraig Coch the Red Dragon, he was the Lord of all Dragons. This was a time when they were happy, gentle creatures before they ever exhaled fire. Gwen and Oddo were very close.
The pair would spend their days walking beneath the falls and forests of Cwn Nedd, chatting and telling tales. She would tell him of the beautiful plants that grew often hidden around them and the magic powers they possessed. He would describe the high mountain peaks covered in snow that he had flown over when he hunted the deep valleys of the North.
As time went on the pair became very close and were more together than apart. One day, in the warm haf (summer) the pair found themselves staring into a deep, clear pool looking for bright stones and silver fish. After a while both realised that they weren’t staring at the water anymore but were staring at their own reflections. Gwen looked at themselves staring back and Gwen felt her love for Oddo gasp within her. She knew that she had fallen in love and Oddo too, could see reflected in his own eyes the love that he felt for Gwen. But both knew it could never be.
Illustration by Ash Designs
