"Au Royaume des poètes et des fous"

Name of traveller

Daniel Elouard

Reason for travel

• research for a special issue of the French travel magazine Ulysse – le magazine du voyage culturel

Date of travel

undated, mid to late 1990s

Tre’r Ceiri – "la ville des géants" – est le site le plus spectaculaire du Pays de Galles, perché à près de cinq mètres de hauteur sur l’un des trois sommets de l’Yr Eifl, dans la péninsule de Llyn. . . . Tout en haut se dresse, encore bien conservée, la forteresse qui enveloppe de ses murs épais de près de deux mètres quelque deux hectares et demi, au milieu desquels ont été repérées quelque cent cinquante constructions circulaires ou rectangulaires, de pierres simplement posées les unes sur les autres. (Elouard 63-4)

Content

• architecture:
  • impressed by the size of the ruins of Segontium Roman fort
  • description of the ruins of the lesser known, but very interesting Tomen y Mur Roman camp
• art: contains a number of photographs to illustrate the essay
• customs: debunks the myth of druids carrying out mysterious ritesamong standing stones
• history:
  • discusses to what extent the Romans would have considered the Welsh as Britons rather than Celts
  • describes the difficulty of the Roman conquest owing to the inaccessible terrain
  • Wales as a desirable location for conquest owing to its natural resources, especially precious metals and wood
  • recommends visiting Celtica in Machynlleth for people who are interested in Celtic civilisation
  • disappointed that often little remains of Iron Age sites in Wales; often no more than earth mounds, remnants of walls
  • gives some details on Welsh saints and early Welsh Christianity
• literature: the Mabinogi serving as a source of inspiration for later myths, such as Arthur
• terrain:
  • finds the grandiose Welsh landscape now populated with sheep who are like white stains on the fields
  • water-logged landscape has taken over the former Roman camp Tomen y Mur
  • Welsh landscape and views often compensate for the lack of impressive Iron Age architecture

Nationality of traveller

French

Language of publication

French

Gender of traveller

Male

Type of publication

illustrated essay

Citation

Elouard, Daniel. "Au Royaume des poètes et des fous." Ulysse – le magazine du voyage culturel 73 (July-Aug. 2000): 60-5. Print.