But once on the big island, these friends became enemies and would not
go back. They wanted to possess all Britain.
Vortigern thought this was treachery. Knowing that the Long Knives
would soon attack him, he called his twelve wise men together for
their advice. With one voice, they advised him to retreat westward
behind the mountains into Cymry. There he must build a strong fortress
and there defy his enemies.
So the Saxons, who were Germans, thought they had driven the Cymry
beyond the western borders of the country which was later called
England, and into what they named the foreign or Welsh parts.
Centuries afterwards, this land received the name of Wales.
People in Europe spoke of Galatians, Wallachians, Belgians, Walloons,
Alsatians, and others as "Welsh." They called the new fruit imported
from Asia walnuts, but the names "Wales" and "Welsh" were unheard of
until after the fifth century.
The place chosen for the fortified city of the Cymry was among the
mountains. From all over his realm, the King sent for masons and
carpenters and collected the materials for building. Then, a solemn
invocation was made to the gods by the Druid priests.
Pages:
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60