Indeed, when the Welsh say someone is “as sorry as the man who slew his hound,” they make the legend a metaphor for the consequences of regrettable actions. It is also true that looks can be deceiving, and that insufficient information may be worse than none—“a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.”

Gelert is the epitome of the Western cultural image of the dog as “Fido,” from the Latin for faithful. As such, the gallant and faithful hound is entirely appropriate as a medium for the messages of the legend.

Beth-Gelert

The spearman heard the bugle sound
And cheerily smiled the morn;
And many a brach, and many a hound
Obeyed Llewellyn’s horn.

And still he blew a louder blast,
And gave a lustier cheer,
“Come, Gelert, come wert never last
Llewellyn’s horn to hear.

“O where does faithful Gelert roam
The flower of all his race;
So true, so brave—a lamb at home,
A lion in the chase?”

In sooth, he was a peerless hound,
The gift of royal John,
But now no Gelert could be found,
And all the chase rode on.

That day Llewellyn little loved
The chase of hart and hare;
And scant and small the booty proved,
For Gelert was not there.

Unpleased, Llewellyn homeward hied,
When, near the portal seat,