Somewhere up on Radnor Forest, the story goes, the last dragon in Wales is asleep. Nobody knows exactly where, and it is probably better that way.
It is kept there by the churches. Round the edge of the forest stand four churches, each dedicated to St Michael, Mihangel in Welsh, the archangel who threw the dragon out of heaven. They are at Cefnllys by the river Ithon, at Cascob in its little valley on the east side, at Llanfihangel Rhydithon near Dolau, and at Llanfihangel Nant Melan below the Water-break-its-neck falls. Together they make a ring, and inside the ring the dragon cannot stir. People used to say that if any one of the four churches were destroyed, the ring would be broken and the dragon would wake up.
Michael dedications are often on high or remote ground, and it is not unusual for a group of them to be found in an area. What makes Radnor Forest stand out is that someone noticed the pattern and made a story of it. The story works because the forest itself is empty, high and often in cloud, exactly the kind of place a dragon could sleep unnoticed.
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