- Elen (saint)
Elen (known in Welsh tradition as Elen Luyddog; also known as Saint Helen of Caernarfon) was a late
4th century founder of churches inWales who is remembered as asaint . Traditionally she is said to have been aRomano-British princess and the wife of Macsen or Magnus Clemens Maximus, Emperor in Britain,Gaul andSpain , where he died seeking imperial recognition in388 .Church tradition
Elen was mother of five, including a boy named Constantine, but she lived about sixty years later than
Helena of Constantinople , the mother ofConstantine the Great with whom she has, in times past, been confused. She is patron ofLlanelan in West Gower and of the church at Penisa'r-waun nearCaernarfon , where her feast day isMay 22 . Together with her sons, Cystennin (Constantine) and Peblig (Publicius, named in the calendar of theChurch in Wales ), she is said to have introduced into Wales the Celtic form of monasticism from Gaul. SaintGregory of Tours andSulpicius Severus records that Maximus and Elen met SaintMartin of Tours while they were in Gaul.Literary tradition
Elen's story is told in "
The Dream of Macsen Wledig ", one of the tales associated with the "Mabinogion ".Welsh mythology remembers her as the daughter of a chieftain of north Wales named Eudaf or Eudwy, who probably lived somewhere near the Roman base ofSegontium , nowCaernarfon . She is remembered for having Macsen build roads across her country so that the soldiers could more easily defend it from attackers, thus earning her the name "Elen Luyddog" (Elen of the Hosts). She is said to have ordered the making ofSarn Helen , the great Roman road running from Caernarfon to south Wales viaDolgellau ,Pennal and Bremia (Llanddewi Brefi ). Though this road bears her name it is considerably older than Elen's accepted time period. Many other Roman roads in Wales bear her name (e.g. Llwybr Elen) and she is thus acknowledged as the patron saint of British roadbuildersFact|date=February 2008 and the protectoress of travellers.References
*Farmer, David (1997). "Oxford Dictionary of Saints", 4th edition. Oxford. (Listed as Helen of Caernarvon).
*Pennick, Thorsons (1997). "The Celtic Saints". Thorsons.
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