Recent historical research has proven that there was, until about the 16th century, two lost islands west of the Cardigan Bay shore, near Aberystwyth, the remnants of a lost low-lying coastal landscape that was recorded by Ptolemy's observations two thousand years ago. This landscape would have been substantial, enough to support major towns, farms, ports and coastal wildlife. This land was immortalised in medieval legend as Cantre'r Gwaelod, ruled by the morose king Gwynddo and decieved by the wicked prince Seithenn. As this legend dates from the 12th century - and recounts local tradition - the submergence would have taken place long before then. The drowning of Cantr'er Gwaelod, which possibly inspired the drowning of Númenor and the northernly region of Bereliand in Tolkein's Silmarillion. Image credit: Alan Lee. One clue we have towards this great inundation is found with Gildas, a monastic scholar probably writing from a secure abode either in Durnovaria (Dorch