Folklore and Legends of South Wales - the Orgy at Pennard Castle

In the Dark Ages, at Pennard Castle, there lived a great warrior chieftain whose life centered on battle and skirmish. He and his men were a bloodthirsty lot, and they were feared far and wide. The men were so feared that a King called for their service to protect his kingdom.

The King was under threat from a Prince who had a much stronger army. The king sent a messenger to the Gower for the Pennard warriors to come and save his kingdom. If the warriors were successful, the King promised unlimited reward. The warriors accepted the challenge.

The battle on the border of Gwynedd took place with the warriors heavily outnumbered. But the savagery for which the Pennard warriors were known proved too much for the Prince and his allies. The few men left in the Prince's forces left the battlefield fearing for their lives. The Gower chieftain slayed more foes than his men and saved twice the life of the king.

The time came for the King's reward, and the chieftain requested not gold or silver, but the daughter of the king, whom the chieftain worshipped. The princess, although a lady who abhorred violence and bloodshed and was a favorite of the fairies, was so flattered by the mighty chieftain's desire, she agreed to marry him.

The band of warriors and the new bride and groom came back to the Gower. Throughout the journey, the chieftain boasted to his bride of all the savagery and mayhem he had wreaked. He told her of the mighty celebration and feast that awaited them, not to necessarily to celebrate their marriage, but at the success of the battle won.

The princess had begun to doubt the wisdom of her marriage to the chieftain. And when she saw the castle and the bands of drunken warriors she was no longer in doubt. The warriors were brawling and spilling blood, and having their way with the women who lusted after them. This sickened the gentle princess, and she looked for a place to hide herself from the debauchery and mayhem.

She had no sooner begun seeking a hiding place, when the sentinel of the castle cried out that they were about to be attacked. The chieftain called to the warriors to attack with a vengeance. The chieftain and his drunken warriors rushed from the hall.

The princess ran to a window and looked to see who dared attack the mighty warriors. She looked down and saw not warriors on the attack, but the fairies coming to dance at her wedding. The warriors set out to attack the group of fairies, thinking they were a large band of foemen. But their thrusting swords and menacing war cries met nothing but empty air.

The fairies vanished and the princess and warriors heard a great voice booming from somewhere beyond, telling them of the fate which awaited them. They castle and people at Pennard Castle were to be buried and lost, their fame and fortune never to be seen or heard of again.

The castle was surrounded by black clouds that obscured the moon and from which a terrible storm burst forth, whipping the sands about and burying Pennard Castle and all those in her bit by bit. When the morning sun finally came up, all that remained was a great mound of sand.