Week 12: Storytelling: The Legend of Geller

Week 12: Storytelling: Beth Geller

The Legend of Geller

There once was a Prince named Llewelyn who loved to hunt. He also loved to take his many dogs with him to help him succeed. One day Prince Llewelyn was wanting to go hunting because it was such a beautiful day. When he blew his horn to let the dogs know it was time to go, his very favorite dog Geller did not answer.

Geller was a dog that his father, the king, gave to him. For this reason, he was very special to Prince Llewelyn. Geller was a very sweet and gentle dog in the home, but in the chase he was as mighty as a lion. In fact, he was the best dog the prince had ever had. The prince finally called him by name to hurry up, but he still did not come. He left without him and for that reason he had no luck hunting that day.

Geller

Prince Llewelyn was very angry at Geller when he got back to his castle. When he opened the gate, Geller was running towards him to meet him. As he got closer, Prince Llewelyn noticed that he had blood dripping from his lips and fangs. Llewelyn was still very upset with Geller for not coming when he was called and so he gave him a very angry and disappointed look. Geller was very confused and sad about the way he was greeted by his master.

Prince Llewelyn instantly had a horrible and tragic thought. He had a one-year-old son whom Geller played with on a daily basis. He wondered if maybe something happened to his son while he was away. He ran inside as fast as he could.

When he got to his son's nursery, the was a room covered in blood. The walls, the floor, and the crib were all painted red. In a panic, he tore apart the room. He saw that the cradle was overturned and drenched in blood. He could not find his son anywhere in the nursery. Horrible and terrifying thoughts filled his head. He could only make sense of it by putting two and two together. He knew that what must have happened was that Geller was killing his precious son while he was away in the woods. He realized that was why Geller did not come when he was called.

He turned around and saw Geller was standing behind him with a bloody face. He screamed to Geller, "You monster! How could you destroy my son in this way?" He took his sword and plunged it into Geller's side. Geller, looking into Prince Llewelyn's eyes, let out a dying and saddened yell as he slowly lay down and died.

Baby and Wolf

This yell led to a baby's cry. The noise came from underneath the overturned cradle. His son had woken up because of Geller's dying scream. Prince Llewelyn found him, and there was not a scratch on the baby anywhere. Right next to him was a beast of a wolf shredded to pieces covered with blood.

Llewelyn had assumed the total opposite of what happened, and acted too quickly upon it. Geller did not answer to his name hours before because he was protecting the child from a wild beast who was trying to destroy him. Llewelyn was heartbroken, but he could not take back the evil thing that he had done. He buried Geller right outside of the castle where all who passed by would see the grave.

Author's Note:
The only little thing I changed about this story was change the name from "Gellert" to "Geller." I just thought that sounded better and was easier to say. I chose to rewrite this story because it is truly heartbreaking. I cannot read a story about a dog who gets killed and not get emotional. For some reason dog stories always get to me. For this reason I could not change the ending. I just reworded the story and left it alone and did not change anything at all about the storyline because I loved, but also greatly hated the story just how it was. As much as I wanted to, I could not touch or change the ending because it would take away the meaning from the rest of the story. I felt that the reason this story was so good was because it was so tragic. If I just had the prince realize what the dog had done then said "Good boy, Geller" it would have been boring. I hope I get the message across as well as the original did.

Biblioraphy
Book: Celtic Fairytales
Author:Joseph Jacobs
Year: 1892
Web Source: Un-Textbook