The Gelert - Please read!

[Eo]

One of my favorite pets is the Gelert. A few years back it was the noble hound of its namesake, although admittedly 2 dimensional. Now it is an adorable puppy with crossed eyes, a squashed nose, and its tongue hanging out. Has Neopets already forgotten the noble namesake? Have you? Or have you never heard it? Well here it is.

Llewellyn And His Dog
by Hon. W. R. Spencer

The spearman heard the bugle sound,
And cheerily smiled the morn;
And many a brach, and many a hound,
Obeyed Llewellyn's horn.

And still he blew a louder blast,
And gave a louder cheer:
"Come, Gelert, come, why are thou last
Llewellyn's horn to hear!

"Oh, where does faithful Gelert roam?
The flower of all his race!
So true, so brave -- a lamb at home,
A lion in the chase!"

'Twas only at Llewellyn's board
The faithful Gelert fed;
He watched, he served, he cheered his lord,
And sentinel'd his bed.

In sooth he was a peerless hound,
The gift of Royal John -
But now no Gelert could be found,
And all the chase rode on.

And now as over rocks and dells
The gallant chidings rise,
All Snowdon's craggy chaos yells
With many mingled cries.

That day Llewellyn little loved
The chase of hart or hare;
And scant and small the booty proved,
For Gelert was not there.

Unpleased Llewellyn homeward hied,
When, near the portal-seat,
His truant, Gelert, he espied,
Bounding his lord to greet.

But when he gained the castle-door,
Aghast the chieftain stood;
The hound all o'er was smeared with gore --
His lips, his fangs ran blood!

Llewellyn gazed with fierce surprise,
Unused such looks to meet,
His favourite checked his joyful guise,
And crouched and licked his feet.

Onward in haste Llewellyn passed --
And on went Gelert too --
And still, where'er his eyes were cast,
Fresh blood-gouts shocked his view!

O'erturned his infant's bed he found,
The bloodstained covert rent,
And all around, the walls and ground,
With recent blood besprent.

He called his child -- no voice replied;
He searched -- with terror wild;
Blood! blood! he found on every side,
But nowhere found the child!

"Hell-hound! my child's by thee devoured!"
The frantic father cried;
And, to the hilt, his vengeful sword
He plunged in Gelert's side!

His suppliant looks, as prone he fell,
No pity could impart;
But still his Gelert's dying yell,
Passed heavy o'er his heart.

Aroused by Gelert's dying yell,
Some slumberer wakened nigh:
What words the parent's joy can tell,
To hear his infant cry?

Concealed beneath a tumbled heap,
His hurried search had missed,
All glowing from his rosy sleep
The cherub-boy he kissed.

Nor scathe had he, nor harm, nor dread --
But the same couch beneath
Lay a gaunt wolf, all torn and dead --
Tremendous still in death!

Ah! what was then Llewellyn's pain,
For now the truth was clear;
The gallant hound the wolf had slain,
To save Llewellyn's heir.

Vain, vain was all Llewellyn's woe;
"Best of thy kind, adieu!
The frantic deed which laid thee low
This heart shall ever rue!"

And now a gallant tomb they raise,
With costly sculpture decked;
And marbles, storied with his praise,
Poor Gelert's bones protect.

Here never could the spearman pass,
Or forester, unmoved;
Here oft the tear-besprinkled grass
Llewellyn's sorrow proved.

And here he hung his horn and spear,
And there, as evening fell,
In fancy's ear he oft would hear
Poor Gelert's dying yell.

[banaplush]

i like the how the gelert looks cute and cuddly and cartoonish!

[Runevalkyrie]

I had to search a little (it has been very well hidden for sometime now), but they do have that page on that tale:

http://www.neopets.com/gelert.htm

The description of the Gelert even mentions "Many Neopian legends tell tales of a Gelert's selfless acts of courage..." so I believe all is not lost in that respect.

Last edited by Runevalkyrie on Tue Jul 20, 2004 7:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Eo]

I would like it if it were on some other pet. Like the Polypup (Gelert's name at one point). But... I mean, the Gelert is supposed to be a tragic noble figure.

[mizzy]

I think most of the neopets have too much of a cartoony look... The gelert is meant to be noble and tragic, not lollopy and goofy Has anyone actually been to Beddgelert? I have

[amarise]

Oh, that is so sad! That tale brought tears to my eyes..... *sniff* I agree, they've over-cutsefied everything that looked fierce or noble on neopets. You know, TNT, not everything has to look like some child's doll.

[Scream]

You know, TNT, not everything has to look like some child's doll.

Sure they do, how else do you expect them to sell plushies?

[amarise]

You know, TNT, not everything has to look like some child's doll.

Sure they do, how else do you expect them to sell plushies?

Ha ha. So make the plushies look like dolls, not the pets themselves. Besides, it's not like there aren't at least 30 pets that are uber-cute. Save a few non-cute pets for us grownups.

[Johnnydontgo]

That work of art gets me every time... I read it first in high school, I love it. If only the gelert could live up to that. He doesn't look regal enough, in my opinion.

[Eo]

Hm, I never knew Neopets even had that thing listed.. but anyway, the Gelert *used* to look better, that's partially why I'm mad! It used to look like a noble hound with long, flowing ears, although it wasn't by any means three-dimensional-looking. The fact that they *changed* it to make it cutesy is what I'm mad at. It could have used editing, but like the Lupe, they edited it in the wrong direction.

[_bubbabubba_]

I'm sick of them changing pets I,and many others, thought looked good in the first place.Not only the gelert but also the lupe and kougra.The lupe is supposed to look fierce not cute.It's very dumb looking now in my opinion.The kougra...well, just look at it.It's picture speaks for itself.The old kougra looked a lot better.So did the old lupe and gelert.

[autechre]

does anyone have a picture of the old pet?

personally, the gerlert looks like it wants to play fetch, its not a bad pet, alot of people like it, but it seems a little off to fit the tale. but still, its a reasonably good pet in my eyes, it depends how you look at it.

[TheClone]

Yes, the old gelert was better.

But I miss my Macy Gray.

Edit: nothingbuyneopets has a list of old neopets. It has the old Gelert.

[adamgnome7]

Thankfully, the only GOOD Lupe change was Superlupe-Werelupe. And I don't believe the Halloween Lupe was changed...Thankfully...I quit neopets and came back and the lupes were all chibified. o-o

I don't mind the revamped pets, it's just that people call pets cute, and cool, becuase it's their own opinion.

[Asthaloth]

You know, TNT, not everything has to look like some child's doll.

Sure they do, how else do you expect them to sell plushies?

i dont know, they sell CThulu plushies quite well