Maen Huail

Standing on the west side of Ruthin's town square is a large, ancient stone known as Maen Huail — the Stone of Huail. According to Welsh legend, Huail, son of Caw and brother of the historian Gildas, was beheaded here on the orders of King Arthur. It is one of very few places in North Wales with a direct Arthurian connection in the landscape, however mythological, and it gives Ruthin's market square an additional layer of improbable antiquity.

The Legend

The legend, preserved in Welsh medieval tradition, runs as follows: Arthur and Huail were rivals in love for the same woman. In their quarrel, Huail wounded Arthur in the knee, causing a limp that Arthur was ever afterwards at pains to conceal. Arthur tracked Huail to Ruthin and, finding him there with the woman in question, exacted revenge: he had Huail beheaded on the stone in the market place. The story is related in several Welsh sources and appears in the Red Book of Hergest.

Historians regard the Arthurian connection as entirely legendary — the stone itself is undated and may have had ritual or boundary functions that predate the legend entirely. But the story has been told about this stone in this square for long enough that it has become part of Ruthin's identity, and Maen Huail is worth five minutes of anyone's attention if only because it is the most unexpected object in a Welsh market town square.

Seeing It

The stone stands on the pavement on the west side of the square, near the Myddelton Arms. It is unenclosed and unmarked by any significant signage — you could walk past it without noticing it. It is roughly knee-height, irregular in shape, and considerably more ancient-looking than anything else in its immediate vicinity.