Jawnomicon

Y Ddraig Goch

Also called The Red Dragon, The Welsh Dragon.

In Welsh mythology, Y Ddraig Goch is the red dragon that battles a white invader dragon beneath Dinas Emrys, its buried struggle later interpreted by the boy-prophet Myrddin (Merlin) as an omen of the Britons' eventual victory over the Saxons.

At a glance

Tradition
Welsh folklore
Region
Wales (place of origin)
Symbols
Dragon

Near this figure

Symbols

Judged against the description by a model. Meanings are our own paraphrase.

Traits

Read from the figure's description, which a model wrote. Open "why" for the sentence a trait came from.

Omens

  • Two dragons buried fight yearly plague
    why

    In "Lludd and Llefelys," a related but distinct account, the two dragons' fighting is described as a yearly plague upon Britain, ended when King Lludd traps both dragons in a cauldron of mead at the centre of the island (Oxford) and then buries them at Dinas Emrys, the same hill later associated with Vortigern and the boy-prophet.

Defensive powers

  • Superhuman endurance
    why

    When the pool is uncovered, the two dragons wake and fight, and the red dragon is at first driven back by the white, before rallying to defeat it and drive it from the hill.

Utility powers

  • Oracular foresight
    why

    The boy interprets the battle as a prophecy: the white dragon represents the invading Saxons and the red dragon the native Britons, and though the red dragon is pressed hard, it will ultimately prevail.

Roles

Judged from the works' own entries, not from the description. Carries: the figure holds the role. Meets: the role is in its stories, held by something it meets.