[Ansteorra] St Valentine day lovers or love

[Catrin ferch Maelgwn]

Valen...tine?  Ohhh, that must be like your version of Saint Dwynwen!

Dwynwen was a lady, though.  A princess, in fact, and the fairest of
her father's four and twenty daughters.  She was in love with a man,
Maelon, but through some cruelty of fate (some say she was bound for
the convent, some for an arranged marriage) they could never be
together.  So Dwynwen prayed and prayed that they both somehow be
relieved of their pain.  God heard her prayers, and lo, there came an
angel to Dwynwen's dreams, bearing a potion that would cause Maelon to
forget her.  The potion had the unfortunate side effect of turning
Maelon into a block of ice.  God then granted Dwynwen three wishes.
She asked first that Maelon be restored; second, that the Lord ever
aid true lovers in their fondest hopes; and third, that she herself
should never marry.  When God granted her requests, she gave herself
over to a life of service in His name.

There is, to this day, a well on the island of Llanddwyn, where once
stood the abbey that Dwynwen founded long ago.  Lovers still make
pilgrimages to the island, hoping to find answers to their prayers in
the divining waters of that sacred well.  Dwynwen is the patron saint
of lovers and wounded animals (appropriate, eh?) and in Wales her day
is celebrated on the 25th of January.  It is a day for sweethearts to
exchange words of love, and many a young man tries his hand at the
carving of a lovespoon to win the heart of a lady.  This year on Saint
Dwynwen's Day, I made a pot of lamb and leek stew for my poor heathen
Icelander, and filled our little cottage with daffodils, which are
dear to my countrymen and remind me of home.

In service to the dispensation of useless trivia,
Catrin ferch Maelgwn

(Summer says: working tonight, then coming home to exchange gifts with
my dear fiance and gorge ourselves on chocolate. :D)




On Wed, Feb 13, 2008 at 10:38 PM, willowdewisp at juno.com
<willowdewisp at juno.com> wrote:
> I was wondering what legends of St Valentine day  each one of you hold by.
>  I was told the story by my priest when I was a little girl that St. Valentine was a  martyr  that wrote notes of christian love on leaves and passed them through his cell window. I was told it really was a day to celebrate our love for our fellow man.
>  In keeping with that spirit I wish you all a wonderful day surrounded by family and Friends.
>  willow de wisp
>