Oxford

Oxford is the measured centre of the Island of Britain in Lludd’s account of the dragon plague. Its importance lies in the precise role it plays in his remedy: the pit prepared there draws the battling dragons down into a cauldron, allowing Lludd to capture them and end the disturbance.

Identification as the Island’s Centre

Llevelys advises Lludd to measure the Island of Britain in length and breadth and dig at the exact central point. When Lludd carries out the measurement, he finds that point at Oxford. The story thus makes the location a practical result of a kingdom-wide survey, not a place chosen by chance.

The Dragon Trap

At Oxford, Lludd has the earth dug and places in the pit a cauldron filled with the best mead, its mouth covered with satin. He keeps watch there himself. The dragons fight, grow weary, and descend upon the satin; it gives way beneath them and draws them into the cauldron. After drinking the mead, they fall asleep, allowing Lludd to wrap the covering around them and secure them.

Capture and Aftermath

Oxford is where the dragons are lured and subdued, but not where they are finally buried. Lludd takes them to the strongest place in his dominions on Snowdon and hides them in a stone chest. The account says that the site thereafter bears the name Dinas Emreis, having previously been called Dinas Ffaraon. With the dragons confined, the fierce outcry in Lludd’s dominions ceases. Oxford’s narrative significance is therefore concentrated in a single decisive operation: the measured centre becomes the point at which a widespread supernatural threat is made capturable.